by Becky James
“So, we know we can influence things in dreams. This is someone else’s dream now, so we should be careful.” Evyn swung her arms around like Aubin. The blades flashed in the sun.
“That looks really impressive,” I told her approvingly.
“Thanks. I might take these up. Get Aubin to teach me.” She winked as we started walking.
The streets opened up into sun drenched piazzas, ones with tables and chairs set outside and welcome pitches of cold peche glinting in the light. I touched it, finding it quite solid. I poured a glass and drank, and it was just as sweet as I remembered. “Hm. My feelings about him have changed somewhat.” I handed Evyn a glass.
“Has it anything to do with a beautiful, silver-haired mage?” Evyn grinned, running her finger around the rim to make it sing.
“No! No. Well, no.” I put my glass down firmly and hiked up my sword belt. “She’s a mage. I cannot have a mage anywhere near my Earthian soul.”
“Are you convincing me, or yourself?” Evyn laughed. “Look, they both had every opportunity to stick me and drag me off while you were… um.”
“Being tortured and maimed.” I paced away from the table and led her towards the sound of the music, coming from the centre of town.
Evyn threaded her arm through mine. “Mm. And they didn’t. I think we can trust them.”
“Trust and Aubin don’t go in the same sentence together. But… at the same time, recent events mean I feel more comfortable about you two being in proximity to one another.” I rolled my shoulders. “Not that I am condoning or recommending that we change our arrangement in any way,” I added. “It’s a transactional relationship.”
Evyn shook her head with a smile. “You Oberrotians like your transactions and balances and contracts. What’s the balance like for you now? I know where it is for me. Your life for some Earthian blood? No contest which is worth more.”
“Fighters are cheap. Earthian blood is dear,” I said, pulling her arm in closer to my body.
“Your life is priceless. My blood is not.” She shrugged, looking up at a tall, graceful statue of the perfect female form.
“Evyn…” I pulled her to a halt.
She glanced up at me, a crease between her eyebrows. “Come on. A bit of blood? That’s nothing.”
“Be careful. Things like this start small and manageable. She might need a little more, then a bit more. Some more for this and that, and before you know it, she needs it all in one go.” We walked on.
“Are you saying my blood is a gateway drug?” She looked up and down a crossroads. “Which way, do you reckon?”
“All roads lead to Ellesmere,” I declared. Flinging my arms wide, I turned in a circle. “There. Any way will work now.”
“Love it.” Evyn resumed walking next to me, moving close enough to my side that I could put my hand on her shoulder. “Anyway, I’ll watch it. But so far so good, right?”
“I’ll grant that they haven’t tried to kill me. Unless they plan to do something thoroughly sadistic.” I gulped.
Evyn sighed. “You have an overactive imagination.”
We came to a town square. This place looked familiar, and I stopped to try and identify it. The soaring white columns supporting graceful marble arches looked iconic, but I could not immediately place them.
“There she is!” Evyn rushed toward the little queen in the centre of the square. Queen Ellesmere sat at a table in the open air working through a mountain of paperwork.
“Ah, Rose!” Her blue eyes sparkled. The queen was tiny and darling. Smiling, I pulled up in front of the desk, saluting her.
“Um, it’s Evyn actually. Rose’s daughter.”
“Oh, my mistake… and Luc. What brings you here?”
I turned around to see who she was referring to. “Me? Your Majesty, Thorrn Shardsson at your service.”
“Who’s Luc?” Evyn asked her.
“Nevermind.” Ellesmere’s smile went brittle for a moment, but soon warmth flooded back. “I need assistance with this treatise, you two. I have to redraft it by sundown.”
“Elley, this is actually a dream,” Evyn explained. “We’re here dreaming as well, but we could come across because we have a mental link, you and I.”
The queen furrowed her brow. “Dreaming? But I’ve been here for so long…” Her eyes unfocused. “Wait. No. I’ve only been here for a turn of the glass or so…” She looked around. The landscape started to get unsteady around us. She gasped. “This is a dream!”
“Yes. Gaddy and Gough are also trapped asleep. We thought we’d wake you up first and then—”
“Run. Run! She’s coming!”
“Who’s coming?” I sank into a guard stance, gratified to see Evyn do the same, brandishing her blades like a proper Skienien Battlemistress.
Ellesmere stood. “Thank you for trying to help me. I’ll do what I can to wake up.” The sky darkened. Her white hair crackled around her face, and the papers scattered in a sudden wind. “Now, you two had better get back to your own dreamland.”
“But Elley—” Evyn said.
“Go!”
We were slingshot out of her dream into wakefulness.
“Ah!” Evyn gasped next to me. Curled into my side, she flailed against the blanket. Cold air replaced her steady warmth.
“Indeed,” I groaned, sitting up. My arms were sore, but they were not on fire as before. I tried moving them; while the pain was sharp, it was bearable.
Aubin sat next to our fire, arms around his knees. “Did it work?” His pale eyes were lit by the flickering flames.
Evyn rubbed her face. “I think so.” She smiled at him. He returned it, a slow and cautious thing.
“Yes. One of the bodies is moving.” Tuniel closed her eyes. “I can’t tell which one, but I assume Ellesmere.”
“I should go retrieve her,” Aubin said, uncurling from his seat. “She will need water and sustenance.”
“I’ll come with you.” Evyn bounced up.
“Wait for… Well, hurry back,” I grumbled. I kept my eyes firmly on Tuniel.
The Journey Mage stirred a bubbling pot set directly against the heatstone. Welcome smells of chicken tangled my stomach in knots.
She murmured, “Can I help you with something?”
I grunted, then said, “Perhaps you can. The men that you put into the pit. Are they…?”
“Crushed into paste?” She looked up into my eyes, and my jaw dropped. She smirked. “No. There’s a channel down there so they have water. They can even find a way out if they—” She dropped the spoon and it splashed into the pot. “Rhona!”
“Who?” I glanced to put a location on my father’s sword, less than an arm span away.
Tuniel hissed. “There are huge masses down there. That can only mean Rhona the Journey Mage of Monsters is involved. She is able to direct monsters and mindless beasts through a type of mind control.” Tuniel paused. “She’s helping the men get back up to the caverns!”
“That’s a whole contingent down there.” And Gavain, I silently added.
“The real threat are the three monsters she has.” Tuniel’s lips thinned. “There. I caused a rockslide, but she might suspect it was me. I can’t do anything large scale without…” She glanced at me under her thick white lashes. “More power.”
I flexed my arms again. I could open and close my fists, but squeezing them was out of the question. However, Tuniel did not need to know that.
Picking up my father’s sword was hard, and my muscles ached fiercely. I concentrated on running a corner of my clothes along the blade, cleaning the sword slowly and methodically as if nothing were wrong.
Tuniel held her hand above the pot, the spoon lifting itself into her palm. “One sword against a monster is not going to be of much use, you know.”
I wiped a drop of sweat from my brow. “You’re not having any more of her blood.”
“I can see that’s hurting you.”
“No, it’s not. I’m hale and well,” I replied eve
nly.
Tuniel frowned, then blew out her cheeks. “I’ll do what I can without. You should rest until we get Gadamere to look at you.”
I raised my chin. She looked between my eyes, then at the sword again. “You are aware I am a stone and metal mage? A sword is nothing against me.”
“Don’t.” I dropped my father’s blade in my lap, leaning over it as if that would protect it.
She rested her chin in her hand. “I could sharpen that for you, and to a deadly edge.”
Looking into her eyes I could sense no guile. “Very well.” She stood and reached into my lap.
I immediately regretted letting her take the sword; I was helpless as she stood over me, wielding it, but she merely ran her whole thumb along each side of the blade and passed it back. “You will have to be careful with that. It is sharper now.”
“I know how to use a blade, mage.” I nearly dropped it when I nicked myself. “Damn and blast, that is sharp.”
Tuniel said nothing. She simply turned slowly around the room before sitting back down. I fancied that she was composing herself.
Evyn and Aubin came back supporting Queen Ellesmere between them. I tried to lever myself upright, getting only to my knees before a wall of pain forced me back. When the queen saw me, she baulked. “Luc?”
“No, Elley, this is Thorrn,” Evyn reminded her gently.
“Oh! Uh. Thorrn, yes, Thorrn.” She glanced at my sword on my lap. “A soldier in the Regulars.”
I frowned. Ellesmere knew me by sight. “Thorrn Shardsson, Special Forces, at your service in life and in death,” I said.
“Oh, yes, sorry. I’m a bit fuddled from the sleep.” She held a hand to her head, then glanced at Tuniel. “And the Journey Mage of Stone. Well met.”
“Well met, Your Majesty.” Tuniel made a complicated hand signal.
Ellesmere’s eyes narrowed and then she smiled. “Ah yes. Yes, of course.” She made a sign in return. Tuniel nodded slowly.
“Who is Luc, Your Majesty?” I asked her.
“I don’t think I will be answering questions from Special Forces,” Ellesmere said.
Evyn raised her eyebrows at me over her head.
The queen sat next to the heatstone warming her hands. “Have you ought to eat?”
“A stew, Your Majesty. Simple fare.” Aubin offered her a bowl.
Soon we were all eating. My arms could rest in my lap but bringing the spoon to my mouth was painful. Pushing through the pain made my arms shake. Evyn tried to take it from me, but I put the food down; I could not afford to reveal how weak I was. That some strength had returned heartened me, but I was acutely aware that the full extent of the damage – and what it meant – was still unknown. That uncertainty tamped down any hope I might harbour of a quick recovery.
“When you’re ready, Elley, we need to try and wake Gadamere and Gough,” Evyn said.
“I have a mental link with both through my magic. Similar to what you did for me, I can take you to them,” the queen said. “All of you.”
“All of us?” Aubin took a step back, mouth tight.
“Yes. It would need all of us to help break their enchantments from within. I was able to succeed, but Gadamere and Gough may be trapped further in dreamlands of their own creations. Who knows what hazards we may need to overcome.”
Aubin’s mouth worked. “I will stay here to guard in the real world.”
“No. I do need you all. That is an order.” Ellesmere was firm.
Tuniel glanced at her soul. “I will stay to guard. Rhona is down there with monsters, assisting a contingent of Special Forces back up the ravine.”
“You dare to disobey a direct order?” The queen straightened up.
Tuniel raised an eyebrow. “A direct order from the queen to her subjects. I am not one of your subjects.”
“Ah yes. Yes of course.” Ellesmere’s beatific smile spread across her face. “I suppose I cannot argue with that.”
I glanced at Evyn. Ellesmere was acting strangely. Evyn shrugged at me. I suppose I had never seen Queen Ellesmere in a situation where she had to take charge and rescue her husband and her soul.
The queen sipped her stew briefly, then put it down. “We should begin immediately.”
She had Evyn lay next to her and myself next to Evyn. She motioned for Aubin to lie on her other side.
“I don’t – I can’t – I don’t have a link with you.” Aubin folded his arms tight across his chest.
“That is easily corrected. Sit, my boy.” Her face hardened. “That is an order.”
“I don’t want anyone in my mind!”
“Did I ask what you wanted?” Ellesmere smiled again. “My apologies. The strain of being without my soul companion is getting to me. Please, I do need you all. It will not hurt. Come closer.” Aubin sat with his back stiff and lay down next to Ellesmere.
“Good. Very good,” Ellesmere said, closing her eyes, and I was immediately pulled into a deep sleep, falling into the dark.
“Evyn?” I called uncertainly.
A soft voice replied, “Thorrn.” I whirled around.
Tuniel strode toward me, skirts billowing and shoulders bare. I put my hand on my hip for my sword but gasped. I was completely naked! I bared my teeth at the Journey Mage of Stone, ready to fight her barehanded if necessary.
“I yield,” she breathed. She came into my range raising a hand. I flinched but she merely stroked my shoulder up to my neck. “I cannot take another moment apart.” Her lips were so close, her chest rising and falling with every breath. I glanced down at the ties straining in her bodice. “It’s so tight,” she murmured.
I grinned at her, pulling at the laces. “I can help with that.” The bodice unravelled pleasingly and fell to the floor. Tuniel surged forward into my arms and I cupped pliant, supple flesh, admiring the curve of her arms, the softness of her—
“Thorrn!”
I startled and dropped the Journey Mage of Stone. “Evyn?”
Evyn stood open-mouthed, hands on her hips. “What are you doing to poor Tuniel?” She picked up the mage’s discarded clothes. Tuniel simpered at her. “Oh, be off,” Evyn said, not unkindly. Tuniel vanished.
I wiped my face. “What are you—”
“This is a dream, Thorrn.”
“Yes, and not a bad one, actually.” Evyn rolled her eyes. “I can have dreams about her! It’s not as if I’m going to do anything in real life.” I sulked. “I’d wager you have dreams about Aubin.”
Evyn sighed. “Sure.”
A dream Aubin strode forward from behind me. He wore his jerkin and shirt just a little looser than normal, so it opened at his throat. “Evyn, want to go catch a film with me?”
“What’s a film?” I asked. “Oh, is that another bus beast?”
Evyn slowly nodded her head at this dream Aubin. He sneered. “Hah! As if I’d be seen dead anywhere with you. Loner freak.” He turned on his heel and left.
“Would you like me to punch him?” I asked.
“No, no,” she said with a sigh. “That’s just what I expect to happen. Obviously, you expect women to fall head over heels for you.”
“They generally do, yes.”
Evyn tried not to smile. “Oh man.”
We walked through our meadow to the bridge, Evyn waving her arms as she spoke. “Try not to imagine a bunch of soldiers there this time … oops.” She clapped her hand to her mouth, staring at the sudden appearance of men in green bristling with weapons in our path.
I cocked my head. “Look, they’re forming an honour guard for us.” I grinned at Evyn as the men turned and saluted, making an arch for us to pass. “Belief and confidence seem to count for much when manipulating dreams.”
“So, your towering self-belief and my crippling self-doubt will balance out.” Evyn squinted. “Ellesmere’s city sort of looks the same, but it’s empty now.”
She was right. The city slumped, deserted and dark. Windows sat unlit and doors firmly shut. We jumped down from the precipic
e but this time my ankles twinged and Evyn hit the floor with a sharp groan. I set her on her feet.
She bit her lip. “Could that be my foreboding coming into play?”
I scanned the crannies of the alleyways we passed, which were now cramped and crooked. “Best not to read too much into dreams.” I slowed at each mouth to check within, seeing shadows in the corner of my eyes but nothing of substance.
“Maybe we should, here. You know, Freud would have a field day.” Before I could ask her what she meant, she gave a shout, running into the centre of town.
In the square, Ellesmere sat locked in a cell, looking up at Evyn’s cry, her cheeks tear-stained. “Evyn! Thorrn! What are you doing back here?”
“You brought us in, Your Majesty,” I reminded her. “You woke up, had a meal, and then insisted we come here to rescue Gadamere and Gough.”
She gaped at us. “No, no, that wasn’t me. Waker caught me here and imprisoned me in the dreamlands. I’m afraid that what you saw was her!” She put a hand to her mouth. “And now she has you as well!”
Chapter 20
Ellesmere explained. “Waker MasterMage’s power is the use of dreams and nightmares to manipulate people’s thoughts and emotions. A person’s dreams can keep them enthralled and contained, unaware of where they truly are. I had no idea I was trapped here until you told me. I expect you had some pleasant dreams before coming here to find me?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.” I avoided looking at Evyn’s face.
Evyn said, “I did, but I didn’t believe mine. It turned out how I expected it to, though.” I remembered the contemptuous look her dream Aubin gave her, wondering what else Waker had sent against her only for my soul to disbelieve it.
Ellesmere fretted with her hands. I examined the lock on the cage as the queen went on, “The dreamlands are powerful. You should not be able to escape the dreams… except… ah! You are Earthian. You are naturally fighting her magic. And you’re becoming immune to it as well.” Ellesmere beamed at me. I nodded back, pleased that the legends were true, turning the lock this way and that.
The queen’s face fell. “After dreams, Waker uses nightmares, turning a person’s weakness on them and bringing what they fear to life. That is what has happened here.” Ellesmere looked out with sadness at the deserted city. “Oberrot has fallen to the darkness in human hearts. My home of Tergue Hall has been abandoned to mobs and violence. You have to escape before my nightmares catch up to you!”