The Unbound Queen

by M. J. Scott

  He didn't look particularly reassured by that information. "All right. I'll make you a deal. I won't fuss about her if you don't fuss over me resting."

  That was cheating. "Elarus didn't hurt me. You had a carriage fall on you."

  "How much would you care to wager, oh wife of mine, that your Elarus is more likely to have longer lasting repercussions than my carriage?"

  She stuck her tongue out. "I'm not going to answer that. And I reserve the right to fuss if necessary."

  "If that's what you want. But if you can, I can." His brows drew down. "And, I have to say, you look tired. What exactly did this lesson involve?"

  No one was close enough to overhear them. "Scrying. Or attempting to."

  Was she imagining things, or did he flinch? Fear of water magic was as ingrained in him as it was in her. After her experience this morning, she couldn't say she could blame Anglions for banning it.

  "Did you see something?" Cameron asked cautiously.

  "I'm not sure," she replied, equally cautious. "Nor am I sure that it's something to discuss here."

  His expression grew more discomforted. "Then perhaps we should return to our rooms?"

  She wanted to sleep. More, she wanted Cameron's body curled around hers, holding her safe. But she also wanted to be away from the Academe. She didn't want to talk about her vision anywhere there could be mages or sanctii to overhear. So she had to convince Cameron. "It seems a waste. I have no lessons. You have no lessons. Perhaps we could do something together. Outside of the Academe."

  "I'm not sure that's advisable." He had his soldier face on.

  "The Anglion delegation must be back on their ships by now, at least those whom the emperor isn't interrogating. If those ships are still in the harbor, then I'm sure they are under as much surveillance as the emperor can muster. We must be safer now than we were yesterday."

  "Assuming they don't have any fellow conspirators in the city."

  "We can't hide away forever." The words were bolder than her heart felt, but she knew they were truth. If they were to make a life here—if Aristides gave up his madcap plan and they were allowed to just be Sophie and Cameron—they couldn't live in fear. They could have done that back in Kingswell with far less trouble.

  "Not forever. But staying out of sight for a few more days might be prudent."

  He was right. But the walls of the Academe felt as though they were shrinking toward her. She needed to breathe. But Cameron clearly wasn't going to agree to leave if he thought they would be at risk. She thought for a moment. Somewhere safe. Somewhere peaceful. Somewhere she would be able to think for a moment. Shake the fear the vision had conjured and regain some clarity. "We could go to one of the temples. That should be safe enough."

  "What do you want with a temple?" Cameron said. He didn't sound enthusiastic. He'd attended the weekly rituals with the court back home, but she'd never really discussed his belief with him. Perhaps blood mages didn't have the same direct sense of the goddess as earth witches did.

  But she missed the ritual of it. Domina Gerrard, who she'd met at the temple near Helene's store, had been kind. Meeting her had been a first step in restoring the part of Sophie's faith that had been damaged by Domina Skey. The temple here in Illvya was different. They wouldn't expel her for being a water mage for a start.

  More importantly, there had been familiarity in the small temple, in the smells and sounds of it, and the welcome from the dominas. A hint of home. "I miss it," she said simply. Truth enough.

  He raised a brow, but his expression softened. "Not the temple by the palace, I presume?"

  "Goddess, no," she breathed. That particular temple was the center of the worship of the goddess in the empire. She had no desire to mingle with the adepts there. If they were anything like those who served the goddess at the Kingswell temple, then politics would be as central to their lives as religion was. No, thank you. Nor did she want to go anywhere close to the emperor. "I was thinking of the one near Helene's. It would be somewhere safe to...talk about things."

  His brows rose higher. "I see." He tilted his head, studying her, worry clear in his eyes. She knew he wanted to ask her more. But he seemed to understand her reluctance to speak here.

  "I'd have to ask permission to take one of the carriages," he said.

  If they asked, they could be refused. "Or we could ask Willem if there's another way. There must be transport for hire."

  "That requires money."

  "We have some, don't we?" Cameron had managed to find a money changer on one of his earliest ventures into the city and change a few of their Anglion coins.

  "Some. Do we want to spend it on this?"

  A reminder that they hadn't been able to bring much with them. So far they'd been fortunate, and the Academe had not asked for any sort of payment for their food and board, but still, they should be prudent. They'd need all they had if worst came to worst.

  She hesitated. "What about a portal? It seems logical that there would be one near the temples."

  "Portals make you unwell."

  "Not for long."

  Cameron sighed. "You really want to go, don't you?"

  "Yes. And if you don't want to stay, you could leave me there for a time. If you wanted to explore...the city more." She knew the restrictions on their movements chafed on him. Knew he was probably dying to know if the Anglion ships were still in the harbor.

  "I'm not leaving you alone." He squared his shoulders. "Let me speak to Willem, he may have some ideas."

  "Don't do anything that would get him in trouble," she said. The younger boy was somewhat in awe of Cameron and eager to please. She didn't want him doing something to aid them that would only rebound on him.

  "It's either him or ask Henri," Cameron said. "Pity your new...friend can't take us there."

  Sanctii moved between places in a manner that no one quite understood, appearing out of thin air and returning to the same. As far as she knew, it wasn't a service they could offer to humans.

  "She may know something of the portal system," Sophie said.

  "I don't think sanctii use portals," Cameron said.

  "No, but they spend time in this city. They live a long time. She probably knows more than we do." She had no idea if that were true. But the sanctii had found her at the palace, on the streets when the carriage had been ambushed, and here at the Academe. She obviously knew something of Lumia. Sanctii might not be quick tongued in human speech, but they were in no way stupid.

  "Can you call her?" Cameron asked. Then seemed to think better of it. "No. Don't. It would be better not to have her show herself here where we have an audience."

  "I'm sure the word has already spread," Sophie said. It seemed the moment she and Elarus had bonded had been noisy. It had woken most of the mages in the house. The rumor mill had no doubt taken care of the rest of them and the students who were yet to manifest their powers. "And sanctii are not unusual here."

  "True. But people don't seem to bring them to meals. If she comes here, it will guarantee that people pay attention to our conversation. Let's go back to our room."

  She couldn't fault his logic. And it was pleasant to walk back through the halls with her fingers twined in his. More than pleasant. If she hadn't suspected she would fall asleep the moment she let herself lie down on a bed, she might have been tempted to come up with another way to spend their unexpected afternoon.

  But when Cameron carefully locked the door to the apartment before taking up a position in front of it, as though he wasn't sure whether he might face invasion or need to be able to make a fast retreat, all Sophie's amorous inclinations died.

  "Might as well get this over with," Cameron said.

  Sophie hesitated. Before this morning she hadn't tried to call Elarus deliberately. Hopefully her success in the practice room wasn't pure chance. She remembered Madame Simsa's instruction to keep her eyes open and tried to focus on the memory of the sound of the sanctii's gravelly voice. [Elarus?]

  [Y
es?]

  [Could I talk to you for a moment, please?]

  [Talking now.] The sanctii sounded faintly amused. Maybe. Sophie needed far more experience speaking with sanctii before she would lay any claim to being able to interpret the slight variations in intonation in their voices. Henri spoke to Martius in the sanctii tongue sometime, a language that sounded like shovels scraping over snow, harsh syllables and near growls. Goddess, was she going to have to learn that too?

  Or could Elarus do what Martius had done when he had performed a reveilé to improve her Illvyan and gift her the language? Sophie didn't think Elarus had done so as part of their bond. No phrases sprang to mind. [I'd like to talk to you in person.]

  She waited for the sanctii's response. Instead a sudden chill rushed over her skin and Elarus appeared at the foot of the bed. Sophie flinched but managed to stifle the accompanying squeak of surprise. She had to get used to sanctii movements.

  "Hello, Elarus," she managed over the sudden pounding of her pulse in her ears.

  The sanctii nodded, dark eyes focused on Sophie. Then her gaze moved to Cameron. "Mate," she said.

  "Husband. Cameron." Sophie said. She turned to Cameron, angling her face so Elarus couldn't see and mouthed, "Say something."

  Cameron swallowed. "Hello, Elarus," he said, echoing Sophie's own words. "It's nice to see you again. And thank you. For the help with the carriage." He bowed slightly, then straightened. "I didn't get to say that last night."

  "Yes," Elarus said. "I help."

  Hardly the most illuminating response. Sophie turned back to the sanctii. "We are very grateful—I am very grateful." Somewhere in her brain, something stirred in the knowledge of water magic that Elarus had planted there. Something about rituals and correct forms of address. But she and Elarus weren't bound in the usual way, and she'd heard Henri and Madame Simsa speak normally to their sanctii and ask them questions. She doubted there was any real risk in talking to Elarus as she would any other person. "Can we ask you some questions?"

  "Question of what?" Elarus said.

  "About Lumia," Sophie said. "And the portals. Do you know about those?"

  The sanctii tipped her head. "Humans use. Not sanctii."

  "But you know where they are?"

  That got her a nod rather than another sentence. "Is there one near the temple in Isle de Angelique?"

  Elarus nodded "Why temple?"

  "We want to pay our respects to the goddess," Sophie said.

  "Water mage," Elarus said.

  Was the sanctii's tone sharper? "Yes, but I am also an earth witch. I was raised in the temple."

  "Human goddess, not sanctii goddess."

  Did the sanctii have gods? Another thing she didn’t know. or have time to ask about. “I’m not asking you to come with us—we only need to know about the portal. If you know this, it would be helpful to us."

  "I can give map," Elarus said.

  Give? The last time Elarus had given her something it had been the bond. Which had come with pain. Having experienced a sanctii sharing information in that way twice now, she had no desire for a repeat performance anytime soon. "Can you show me the symbol? Draw it?" Each portal location was keyed to a unique glyph. The right symbol was all they needed to travel from the Academe to their destination.

  The sanctii held up her hand. Her fingers were long and thick and moved slowly as she flexed her hand. Not exactly designed for wielding a pencil. "No draw."

  "Can you show me a picture the way same way we talk when we are apart?" Sophie asked. "Not a gift. Can you send me an image of something you see or have seen?"

  The sanctii considered. "Maybe." The crags in her forehead grew deeper, which Sophie thought was probably a sanctii frown. Or a sign of concentration, perhaps.

  [This.] Elarus' voice was in Sophie's head again. Her voice and, for a second, a flash of something that might have been a feather. Or a fern. A stylized curve of darkness edged in light. It vanished before Sophie could quite make it out.

  [Almost. Can we try again?]

  The flash came again. Slightly longer. A curve with a spiral at one end and smaller arcing curves coiling in the from the spine of the line. It was vague but portal symbols were designed to be distinctive. Sophie was sure if she saw the one that corresponded to the image Elarus was sending that she'd know it.

  [Thank you.] She paused. "How do I say thank you in your language?" she asked aloud.

  The sanctii blinked. Then said three slow syllables. Even spoken at that pace, they sounded impossible, but Sophie cleared her throat and attempted to repeat them.

  One side of the sanctii's mouth lifted.

  Sophie grimaced. "That was terrible, wasn't it?"

  "It was," Cameron said. "You sound like you need oiling. No offence, Elarus."

  Elarus blinked again. "If wish speak sanctii. I give."

  Ah. That was confirmation of what Sophie suspected. That water mages acquired the language via magic rather than by hard work and study alone. "I think we will wait until the Maistre says that would be the right thing to do before we try it."

  Elarus looked past her at Cameron. "You?"

  He held up his hands. "I will wait for the Maistre too. Besides, I'm not a water mage."

  "Mate," Elarus said and looked back at Sophie, dark eyes unreadable. "Learn."

  Sophie wasn't sure that Cameron would be taking marriage advice from a sanctii. If marriage advice, it was to suggest that the husband of a mage should learn the sanctii tongue. Nor did she know if learning it was something expected of him.

  "I have to learn it the human way," Cameron said.

  "Humans slow," Elarus said.

  "Yes, we are," Cameron agreed. "It's probably because our brains are smaller than yours."

  Elarus's mouth curved again. Cameron, it seemed, was amusing.

  Sophie tried the phrase again. It didn't sound any better. But she was trying. "We should be going, if we want to get to the temple," she said. "We'll need to be back for dinner if we don't want to raise any alarm bells."

  [I come?] Elarus said.

  [Do you want to?] She didn't know if a sanctii could enter a temple. In Anglion, the temples burned salt grass and the walls were blessed annually with seawater. There had been salt grass in the temple in Isle de Angelique, but who knew if they blessed the walls. Probably not, given the Illvyan acceptance of sanctii. Then again, perhaps such things weren't enough to repel a sanctii. They could be mere ritual. Used by the Anglion temple to reinforce the fear of water magic. After all, sanctii were claimed to be able to rip humans limb from limb. That had to be a bloody process, and there was salt in human blood.

  [Safety.] Elarus replied. [I watch.]

  Having a sanctii accompany them through the streets of Lumia should ease Cameron's concerns for their safety, even if he wasn't yet used to Elarus. The added element of protection that a sanctii could provide had been a large part of the reason why she'd agreed to the bond. Elarus had proven several times already that she was prepared to act to protect Sophie and Cameron. Sophie wasn't entirely sure what the sanctii gained from the arrangement they had, but that was something to concern herself with later. For now, she would take the safety Elarus offered.

  "Elarus is coming with us," she said to Cameron and went to gather her things.

  Chapter 5

  The short journey through the portal left Sophie feeling vaguely ill. But the queasiness wasn't as severe as usual. Perhaps water magic helped in that department? Still, she took a moment to breathe deeply as they left the portal vestibule and Cameron consulted their map.

  [Elarus?]

  [Here.] The sanctii hadn't chosen to be visible but it was a relief to know that she was nearby. Sophie couldn't feel an immediate chill, so she didn't know how close Elarus might be, but distance didn't seem to be any particular challenge to their connection. Close enough to come to their aid, should they need it. Hopefully they would not.

  The temple was only a block away, and Cameron set a brisk pace, ke
eping himself between Sophie and the road. Isle de Angelique wasn't thronged with people at this time of day, and few people they passed offered as much as a glance or a polite smile. They walked past rows of near-identical red brick buildings, all with neat iron fences and doors painted dark blue or black or gray. Brass plates near some of the doors proclaimed them to be the offices of businesses of one kind or another. But most of the buildings offered no clue as to what might go on beyond the doors.

  As they approached the temple entrance, Sophie felt a sudden breath of cool behind her. [Elarus? Is that you]

  [Yes. I wait.]

  [You can't go in?]

  [Can. Boring.]

  Well, that answered that question. Sophie had never considered boredom might be an affliction the sanctii suffered from. They lived such long lives, maybe it was inevitable. Was that why Elarus had been drawn to Sophie? Because she was interesting? She should try harder not to be. [All right. Stay close.]

  She turned her attention back to the temple door. The only difference between it and the others they'd passed was that this one was marked with the quartered circle of the goddess.

  "You know that's strange, don't you?" Cameron said.

  "What's strange?"

  "You get this odd look on your face when you're talking to her. At least, I assume you are talking to her, and you haven't adopted a habit of pausing to daydream at random moments." He sounded half-curious, half-amused.

  "Yes, we talk."

  "Strange," he muttered again, but then he shook his head. "Let's go inside."

  Elarus or no Elarus, he clearly wasn't comfortable with them being on the open street.

  They stepped into the foyer of the temple, an empty white-walled room lit by hanging lamps. Across the room, a larger door with a more elaborate symbol of the goddess barred the entrance to the temple itself. Sophie's gut twisted uneasily as she reached the door, and she hesitated.

  "Sophie?" Cameron said.

  She shook her head. It was nothing. She was overtired. Some time spent here in the peace and quiet of the temple would do her good. Give her time to think. And then, to talk with Cameron.