by Becky James
Where had she been, under a rock? “Yes,” I said slowly.
Her eyes darted up toward the stairs. “I’d like to see some. Can we go to the Academy?”
I stilled. I didn’t want her dragging me down to the depths of the Academy. Everyone there glared at me and darted around suspiciously, avoiding my eyes or scuttling away from me. It never failed to set my teeth on edge. “Wait for some magework displays or similar. Mages and mancers typically don’t like the sight of red.” Folding my arms, I said, “Special Forces puts them off coming to the castle, even.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. We have the Accords, but that’s not enough.” She looked flustered. “The Magical to Mundane Accord? Negotiated and agreed between Gough and Waker MasterMage?”
Shaking her head, she bit her lip. I nearly rolled my eyes. All those visits to the library and she knew nothing! I explained, “They promise that they will not burn us all or stop our hearts or whatever else unnatural thing they can do when they pervert the laws of nature; mundanes promise not to combine forces and overwhelm magic users in masses. It lets us live alongside each other in relative peace.
“Magic users aren’t beholden to the king at all, though if they are born in and live in our country, they should be. Instead, they answer to their MasterMage, the Master of all Masters of Magic. Waker MasterMage is supposed to suppress rogue magic users, but she can’t be everywhere all at once, and we would not have the care of the family charged to her in any case.
“The royal family has always had Special Forces to guard them and their interests from magic and more mundane threats. An elite troop of men and women, taken from the best in the Oberrotian army and trained to fight magic, whether that be wide-area effects or targeted to a single person.” I tapped my chest.
She chuckled. “You sound like you’re drumming up business. Don’t worry, I don’t want to join your little outfit. But how can you fight magic?”
“Overwhelming numbers and high individual skill. We act in concert, with each man and woman a deadly threat in their own right. A decent sword thrust in the gut stops most, if not all, magic users. Taking off the head works on the outliers.”
She winced at that. “Graphic.”
“And we’ve spread some stories around.” At that she frowned. “You know, the children’s tales. Like the long-lost realm of Earth, and how the royal family all used to have Earthian souls.” Her face turned suddenly pale. “You know, it’s supposed to give them immunity to magic. Earthian blood enhances magic when used outside the body, but dampens attacks against them, so they’re supposed to be invulnerable to most magics. According to the stories, if you have an Earthian soul companion, you’ll get that immunity too.”
“Mm, yeah.”
I used to like the old legends; scary stories of spirits coalescing together to live again, the Seer and how they saw all the possible futures, through to tales of Earthians. The latter were said to be so beautiful that men would fall in love with them instantly. I wondered what that would be like.
I shrugged one shoulder. “Special Forces likely crafted the tales so mancers and mages would be hesitant to attack the royals.”
She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Yeah, like propaganda. Well, I’d like to see some magic, but Mum would throw a fit.”
“Throw a what?”
“Nevermind.” She gazed up at the map.
I tapped my fingers on the hilt of my sword. “Where do you hail from?”
“Oh. Little village. You probably haven’t heard of it.”
“I can’t place your accent. Is it near Tergue Hall?” I pointed up at the colonnaded city north-east of Oberrot City, Queen Ellesmere’s hometown and one of my favourite places to visit.
“Yeah, um, like I said, you wouldn’t know.” She shook herself. “So, you guard the entire royal family?”
“Just Gough and Rogan, for the most part, as they have the royal bloodline. We hardly see the king’s brother, Prince Torgund.”
“Is that all you do? Guard the king and his…” She waved at herself. “Interests?”
“We guard the family. Gough, Ellesmere, Rogan. Their souls: Rose, Gadamere, Lora. Special Forces can also act in normal mundane matters that the Upholders can’t deal with, like border disputes, rogue magic users, investigations into murders or other things that disturb the peace.”
I flinched, recalling a recent altercation; a rogue mage on the border of Skien, and the shattered remains of a village there. It was so much like the first foray I had been sent on as a mere Regular. That was why it was still playing on my mind. Pulling away from the memory, I forced my hands to stillness.
She was staring at me. I struggled to find the thread of what I had been saying.
She cleared her throat. “Guarding the king, mundane matters. Although murders sounds very far away from mundane.”
“Ah, yes. We can do that, but the king must order it. We listen only and absolutely to the true rulers of Oberrot, those who have the bloodline. That’s Gough and, one day, Rogan. And I suppose Torgund.” Gough’s younger brother Torgund acted as Oberrotian ambassador to and a Lord of Daron, since they were both half Daronian. Hopefully he could open the border soon. My soul must be inside that insulated country.
She nodded, saying nothing.
I added, “It’s been a while since there was a serious threat from a rogue mancer or mage because Special Forces is such a big deterrent.”
Evyn smiled briefly. “You’re enthusiastic.”
I shrugged. “I’m also not a docent.” I meant it to explain that my knowledge lacked depth, but she flushed and glared at me before looking back down at her feet and moving off toward the library, her hair bouncing with every angry step.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. What did it matter? My stomach curled a little but, really, if she searched for her soul companion as well, it was best that we kept clear of each other.
I mulled that over as we gained the spiral stairs on the library level. Aubin passed by going the other way, giving Evyn an appraising look. His eyes passed over me, brow dipping. He probably thought we were souls as well. Setting my jaw, I stared him down, and he passed without smart comment.
When we stepped into the library, instant nerves churned my stomach. Dark wood stretched out three lengths or more on the arched ceilings, doming over walls of books. All those baffles and redoubts could harbour enemy forces. Despite the ludicrous idea, I checked down each one, leading Evyn down the centre alongside long tables where older men and women lingered.
After greeting Evyn warmly, a researcher showed her to a table already strewn with papers and books. The researcher offered her a drink; Evyn seemed confused while accepting it. I resolved to stand next to the table, close enough to the window to keep an eye for intruders scaling the walls outside, as unlikely as that would be. Scanning the room, I set my body into an active attention stance. Perhaps we would only be here for a short time.
Evyn got up. We were leaving already, even before her peche arrived? I moved to follow her. “Oh. I’m just getting another book,” she whispered. I glanced back at the table littered with writings. She needed more? Nodding, I trailed her anyway. She padded all the way to the other side of the library to a bookshelf, and then all the way back.
She did this multiple times during the morning. It gave me an excuse to move but ultimately was pointless. She seemed constantly in and out of her seat. Eventually I stayed put while she went back and forth, retrieving a book, leafing through it, reading through another, taking it to be reshelved. While she sat, I watched the training outside the window, my muscles aching to be involved in that rather than posted up here.
“I’ll be right back,” she murmured again. I grunted, watching Gavain and Aleric spar. Aleric seemed to have the upper hand with his height and strength, but Gavain was the faster. He was always on at me to improve my speed, but no one could move as Gavain could. I mulled over how I would even improve my performance to be big yet
fast and responsive.
Gavain ducked to the side. He would move out of the way until he was ready to press an advantage. It was not a tactic to use to decisively end a threat like a mage or mancer. Special Forces were taught to press, press, engage, never letting up. Endurance and tenacity were prized above all else. Gavain was trying to save his energy, a good tactic for the Regulars who were expected to last through long battles, but Special Forces had to spend it all in the defence of their charges…
I jolted alert and tried to put a location on Evyn. The ice had melted in her peche, the books piled neatly nearby. A quick search of the library proved fruitless. My charge was gone.
Walking quickly enough to cover ground but not to draw attention, I ran a list in my mind of where she could be. Bathrooms were an obvious one and quickly eliminated by dint of me ducking in to take a quick sweep and ducking out again. Fortunately it was just one older woman who shrieked when she saw me; I was moving fast enough that she might not be able to identify me.
I located Evyn’s rooms and checked there, rapping the door and then slamming my fist against it. Unless she was deaf, dead, or ignoring me, she wasn’t in there. I had a servant check, snarling when it turned up empty. Ears buzzing, I pressed on.
How had she gotten away from me? Lulling me into a false sense of security and then ducking out. If any of the royal family saw her without me, my career would be in question. If Special Forces saw her without me, Shard would have my head. And if he saw me without her, he might even lynch me there and then.
Damn and blast! Where could she have got to?
I paused to think, my heart hammering painfully in my chest. Drawing in deep breaths, I called down the calm of battle. When I got hold of her, I could unleash my anger, but for right now careening around the castle would attract unwelcome questions. I needed to think.
Where would someone not from the city want to visit on their first time here? I thought quickly about all my favourite places to visit. These were ever-changing with the latest fashions and able to cope with large numbers of raucous soldiers on leave. She wouldn’t be found there. Where would a timid librarian want to go if not the library?
A trickle of fear unrolled a tendril in my chest. Rose had been worried about her daughter, about something she had or knew that meant she was at risk. What if someone had indeed taken her? What if, through my inattention, I had actually let something happen to my charge?
If that was the case, then my career really was over, but I was less concerned about that right now. I determined to report to Shard immediately. If her life was in danger, then I had no other choice; I needed Special Forces back-up straight away to deal with the threat and, once that was eliminated, I would face the consequences.
Breaking into a run through the castle corridors, I raced past functionaries and courtiers. Sylvia waved to me, but I could not halt and merely nodded toward her on my way past. Maybe once my father was done hanging my corpse on the gibbet, I could see what Sylvia wanted.
Once I was outside, I picked up speed, moving to run on the grass and clear of the pedestrians on the path. A flash of brown hair caught my attention. Skidding to a halt, I tossed up clods of sod, turning back.
There she was! Walking down the path with Aubin without a care in the world, that wide smile on her face. Stomping up to her, my relief was overtaken by a wave of anger. She could have ruined me! I had very nearly mobilised the entire castle force on a desperate search for her, and she was walking around as she pleased!
I barely restrained my rage as I rounded on them. “So this is where you are.”
Evyn blinked in surprise, then scowled. “What do you want?”
“Me? What do I want? How about a charge that doesn’t deliberately deceive the bodyguard assigned to her safety?”
Her lips thinned at that.
“Safety?” Aubin asked.
Evyn rolled her eyes, motioning to me. “Mum’s being a bit… overprotective.”
“That’s classified. Aubin, good day,” I said, dismissing him.
He looked between us. “Ah, new souls—”
I snarled. I’d had it up to here with people assuming that! Anger spiking, I grabbed his shirt, hauling him up in a burst of feeling. “She is not my soul! She will never be my soul! Do you see any similarities whatsoever? Do I look like an incompetent clueless fool who doesn’t even know what a fathername is? Or even a soul for that matter! She is not anything to do with me, and she never will be!” I panted.
Quite a crowd had gathered around us. Good. Let them take this as confirmation that I had yet to find my soul companion and that this would be the last I would hear of it.
Aubin was wide-eyed in my grasp. I slowly lowered him to the floor.
Evyn stood absolutely still, as if she practised her own type of attention stance. I couldn’t even see her breathing.
I set my face.
Aubin extracted himself from my hands. Loosening my grip, I let him pull his shirt free. He held out his arm for Evyn. “My lady, we were heading this way before the oaf so rudely interrupted us.”
I opened and closed my fists repeatedly. My ears rang. I was in some kind of suspension, either waiting for something to happen or sitting in the shockwave of something large having passed by. As if a tidal wave had thudded into me and I was floating in the debris, wondering if I were dead and what it would feel like if I were.
Then a terrible pain ripped open in the back of my head. I gasped.
Evyn stared past me again. “Yes, you’re right,” she murmured to Aubin. “But actually, I need to go… go. Somewhere.”
“Evyn…” Aubin shot me a dark look. “Go bodyguard your own pride, Shardsson. It’s huge and needs a lot of guarding, lest something taint it.”
“Aubin, it doesn’t matter.” Evyn sounded far away. The pain in my head was sharp, a migraine so powerful, it was as if my head were being squeezed between the castle gates. “Bye.” She turned and walked back to the castle.
I could barely take two steps after her before I stopped, swaying.
“You’re a pretty stupid outfit, but you win the medal for complete obliviousness,” Aubin said to me.
“What did you… do to me? Poison?”
“Your head? Probably soul pain. Back of the head, right here?” I could barely focus on Aubin as he tapped the base of his skull at the back of his neck. I murmured assent. “Soul pain,” he confirmed.
“Someone’s… hurting… my soul?”
Aubin laughed mirthlessly. “Someone? Thorrn, you did, you ass.”
I managed to make it to the coolness of the barracks. I reported to Shard, who took one look and barked, “Where’s your soul?”
“I… I don’t know,” I gasped before I passed out.
When I woke up, the pain had diminished to bearable. Shard sat at my bedside, putting down his report as soon as I stirred. “You will be relieved to know we found her,” he said without preamble. “She was in her rooms. We checked her over for wounds, non-magical and magical, couldn’t find anything. What was it, Thorrn? Who or what attacked her?”
I shook my head minutely, leery of reawakening that sharp pain. “Nothing, sir.” I held back from saying that I hadn’t found my soul yet.
What had that been? Could Aubin have poisoned me with something when I grabbed him? Could Evyn actually be a mage and put something onto me? These rang hollow to me.
“We’ve let her know you’re here. She is probably on her way, lad.” I turned an incredulous look onto him. “You’d be amazed at the healing touch of your soul companion. I’ve been holding back from saying so because, well, it took you so long to find her, but… when your soul smiles at you, your heart, it sings.”
He cleared his throat, and I wanted to look away. Please let this be the last time I witnessed him spouting poetry.
He went on, his voice low, “And she has a lovely smile, your soul. She’s a genuine person. She’s hard working, too, don’t think I haven’t noticed her trying in training.
It’s not her strength, but her attitude is in the right place. She shows up, goes as hard as she can, doesn’t go easy, and expects the best from herself.” Shard patted me on the shoulder. “Those qualities will balance you out and take you both very far, lad. I’m pleased for you. She’ll be the rock that steadies you, brings you back to what’s important, pushes you on to be your best and do the right thing for you regardless of what those around you are doing.”
“Water please, sir,” I croaked. Shard poured me a glass. I drank it slowly, taking the time to gather my scattered thoughts. They eluded me, except I knew something was deeply, terribly wrong.
“Whoa, stay there!” Shard protested as I got up, swinging my legs over the side.
“No sir, I need to… I need to be somewhere,” I said, pushing past my father.
“She’ll be here any heartbeat now, wait here for her.”
I shook my head, wincing when it stabbed at me. “No, sir, you don’t understand.”
“I understand more than you think, lad. I know it fills your world. I promise you, she was fine before you met, she’ll be fine for just now, and she’s not the one who collapsed, remember.”
Having no energy to argue with him, I ignored him, forcing myself to march out of the barracks, past Aleric shouting after me, up the path past the training grounds to the castle.
The sun had moved toward evening time, when the populace at the castle would be gathering for dinner, either private affairs or in one of the mess halls. My thoughts rolled over each other as I made myself take the stairs two at a time, welcoming the breathlessness, the mindless movement as I travelled up and up and up to the royal apartments.
“Thorrn!” Sylvia stood in a group along the corridor at the top. Swishing her clothes, she hustled and intercepted me, turning in a full circle in front of me. “What do you think of my culottes?”
“What?” I panted.
“They are the latest thing! Everyone agrees how perfectly functional and sensible they are for summer. I can actually dance in them, and my legs don’t touch together!” Prancing, she turned again. “It was bound to happen, as Rose’s daughter is the talk of the court right now, but I didn’t realise how comfortable this trend actually is!”