by M. J. Scott
But Cameron had pointed out that if they told Imogene, then there might be time to find out if there were any other pairs of water mages and blood mages who could work together to help fly the navire. There hadn't been any rational argument to counter that.
"I'm here to help," Cameron said. "Turns out the sanctii were right. It does take a combination of magics to do this. Or, at least, that is true for us."
"All right," Imogene said. "Show me. I'll watch but afterward, you'll need to explain exactly what you're doing."
Sophie nodded. "I'll try." She turned her attention back to the three boats. "We'll start with the smallest."
Half an hour later, after each of the three practice boats had been successfully lifted into the air, Sophie leaned against Cameron, while Elarus, Ikarus, and Imogene held a long conversation in the sanctii tongue.
"Tired?" Cameron asked.
Sophie shook her head. "Hungry. But no, not tired. Not yet. I'm not sure I'd want to do that for hours on end, but I think I could carry on for some time if needed." She shook her head. "I guess that's something else we will need to test."
"That seems wise," Cameron agreed.
"Are you tired?" Sophie asked, searching his face. She'd tried to limit the blood magic she'd drawn on through the bond, leaning more heavily into Elarus this time. She wasn't sure if that was smart or if it would work if the salt water proved troublesome to the sanctii, but she wanted to spare Cameron while she could.
"I'm fine, love," Cameron said. He raised his voice. "Major du Laq, we're going to have to try this over salt water. And do some trials to determine how long the mages can work the magic. We don't have much time."
Imogene turned back to them, frowning. "I agree. We need the ocean. But it can't be the harbor. If there are any Anglion spies left in Illvya, they'll surely be watching the docks."
"Not to mention the ship that brought the queen's message," Sophie said. "Are they still in port?"
"I believe Aristides sent them back out to sea to await any response," Imogene said. "Apparently they didn't argue. I imagine your delegation have carried tales of terrifying sanctii back with them."
Ikarus made a dry chuffing noise that Sophie thought might be laughter. Elarus sent him a look, and he quieted.
"Not terrifying enough if Eloisa turned around and sent someone straight back here," Sophie muttered.
"Be that as it may. We can't practice in the harbor in case we tip our hand."
Sophie nodded. "But it has to be salt water. There's no point attempting this if Elarus can't help once we're out to sea."
"Yes. From what I understand of what she told me, it is the combination of your magics that's working. But maybe we can replicate it. There are plenty of blood mages and water mages in the Imperial army."
"Bonded?"
"No, but a temporary bonding can be formed. Whether or not it will work the same way for a pair who don't have—" she stopped and gestured at them—"your level of augmentier is the question."
"Perhaps you should ask a few of the Academe mages to try. They have to be best at the theory of all of this," Sophie said.
Imogene's lips pressed together. "This is a matter for the army."
Cameron held up a hand, palm up. "It won't be a matter for anyone if no one else can do what we can or if we run into problems over water. A wise soldier uses all available resources, Major. And Henri's daughter is among the hostages. He deserves a chance to join the efforts to rescue her."
"I know you do not like the Academe, particularly," Sophie added. "But I am sure they would be willing to help."
Imogene grimaced, the expression drifting into a sad sort of smile. "You have that the wrong way around, Sophie. It is the Academe who is less than fond of me. Or, Maistre Matin, at least."
"Henri?" Sophie said, startled. "Why?"
"Chloe Matin and I were best friends. We studied together. And she met her late idiot of a husband at my betrothal ball. Henri, I believe, holds me partially to blame for all that came after that." Imogene looked down for a moment, then straightened. "But you are right, Cameron. This is a problem bigger than old wounds. Henri will want to lend what aid he can. I will send word for Academe mages along with some of the Imperial corps."
"Which leaves the question of where to practice."
Imogene frowned again. Then her expression lightened. "I have the perfect place. As it happens, there is an old shipyard a few miles down the coast from the city limits. It isn't busy these days, but I'm sure it will offer sufficient options for our experiments."
"Do you think the owner will mind?"
"No," Imogene said, and she smiled. "Because the owner is me. Or Jean-Paul, I suppose, but he will not quibble if we break a few of the ships-in-progress. Aristides will make it up to him."
Cameron surveyed the gathered mages milling around Imogene's shipyard and tried to not to feel like they were doomed to failure.
Since arriving, there had been a lot of heated discussions about which mages might team up and how that might be accomplished and what the protocol for practicing would be but nothing resembling actual action. Sophie, standing in the middle of the group in her pale gray dress, was starting to tug at the end of the braid she'd pulled her hair into. Imogene, standing beside her, stern in her Imperial black, looked like she'd like to do the same.
Venable Marignon said, "It's like trying to get a gathering of cats to agree how one should best hunt a mouse. And whose mouse it is in the first place."
Cameron couldn't disagree. "Any suggestions? You're familiar with Illvyan mages."
"Not the Imperial mages," she said. "I have stayed clear of those."
"Any particularly reason?" She was one of the most skilled fighters and best blood mages he'd ever met. Yet she taught at the Academe.
She shrugged, face somber. "My father was an Imperial mage, and he died serving the emperor. Likewise my older brother. I saw what it did to my mother and my family when we lost them. My family had more than paid any nebulous duty we might owe the empire. When I manifested and it seemed my talent lay in blood magic, I decided that I would rather teach people than kill them."
"Don't some of your pupils go off and join the Imperial mages anyway?"
"Yes," she said. "I can't stop them from making that choice. But I can give them the best chance possible of surviving before they go."
"Is being in Aristides’s service still dangerous these days? It's not like he's waging wars across the empire."
She gestured at the scene before them. "We're here today because he wants to invade Anglion, are we not? Don't fool yourself that the empire is entirely peaceful. There's still plenty of death and misery to go around." Her mouth went flat as she pressed her lips together, perhaps hoping not to say more than she should.
"Yet you came here today to help anyway?" Cameron asked.
"You're a good student. And, from what I've seen of your wife, she's a good woman. She doesn't deserve to be put in the center of these games. Neither of you do. So I'm here to do what I do best. Help you be prepared. But I will not be joining you on Aristides’s jaunt to Anglion."
"I can't say that I blame you," Cameron said. "I'd rather stay here myself."
"You don't want to return to your homeland?"
"My homeland is not the same place I left. Or perhaps Sophie and I are not the same people who left it. Either way, I don't think it's safe for us. If it was, we wouldn't have come to Illvya in the first place."
"Even if the emperor succeeds in making your wife queen?"
Cameron hesitated. They hadn't yet explained that the work they would be doing today would be serving a slightly different objective. The mages who learned to fly the boats would join them on the navire, but others would remain behind. For caution's sake, they wouldn't explain the mission until they had decided who would be going.
"If she is queen, then I will command the Red Guard. I will keep her safe if humanly possible. And if it's not humanly possible, well, she has a sanctii no
w." Elarus stood near Sophie, watching the humans around her with an expression that seemed somewhat disgruntled, though it was, as always, hard to judge what a sanctii might be thinking.
He had noticed, however, that the other sanctii who had arrived with their mages seemed to give her a wide berth. Even when their humans approached Sophie and Imogene, the male sanctii—he was assuming they were all male—hung back. Snatches of the sanctii tongue rumbled amongst the hubbub of human voices. The whole thing was beginning to give him a headache.
Someone needed to take charge and get things underway. Imogene was the ranking Imperial mage as far as he could tell. It should be her. The other soldiers would listen to her, but he didn't know if the Academe mages would take as kindly to her being in charge.
In the distance he heard a familiar chime. The du Laq shipyard, small and not particularly busy as it was, possessed a portal. Because goddess forfend, that the duq should be inconvenienced by having to ride between Lumia and the shipyard if he ever wanted to inspect it. It made Cameron wonder if there was a portal at Sanct de Sangre after all. One they'd missed. One they could have used. But it was too late for that now. If they had left, their families would have paid the price.
He turned in the direction of the chime. The portal was located in an unprepossessing hut, nestled back against the sandy hills that curved around the small cove that housed the shipyard. The door pushed open as it had many times already as the various mages arrived. To his relief, Colonel Perrine emerged from the darkness, and, in his wake, Henri Matin and Madame Simsa. A few seconds after Madame Simsa began to move carefully along the somewhat shaky wooden pathway laid over the sand, Belarus appeared behind her.
Between the colonel and Henri, they should be able to quell the chatter and move the mages towards cooperation. If that didn't work, then maybe Madame Simsa could scare them into obedience. She had to have taught most of the assembled mages at some point. Even if she hadn't, he wouldn't put it past her to start whacking people across the shoulders with her cane if she wasn't satisfied with their behavior. She was old, yes, and moved slowly, but he had no doubt that she could more than hold her own if she ever had to.
Colonel Perrine and Henri nodded greetings as they joined them, looking over the rest of the mages.
"What exactly is going on here?" Colonel Perrine asked.
"They're wasting time posturing, no doubt," Madame Simsa said as she came stumping up behind them. "Wasting time we don't seem to have." She pushed her way between Cameron and Colonel Perrine. "Your wife continues to exercise her talent for trouble, I see, Lord Scardale."
"My wife hasn't really chosen any of this," he said. Not entirely true. This was Sophie's idea after all.
"Well, she's chosen something because here we all are. Henri tells me that you have been putting your augmentier to some interesting use for once." She flapped a hand toward the group of mages. "You may as well show us what you have come up with. Put this lot to work." She glanced at Belarus. "You can stay up here if you'd rather." She turned back to Cameron. "Give me your arm, Lord Scardale. The du Laqs may have money, but they certainly haven't spent it on these paths. I won't be able to intimidate all these young fools if they see me fall on my behind on the way over." Her pale eyes twinkled.
He smiled back. "My pleasure, Venable." He offered her his arm, and they headed for Sophie. Belarus didn't follow.
"Won't you need Belarus?" he asked.
"He can be with me quickly enough if needed. It's not as though I'm going to try to float one of these boats. I'm here to advise, not participate."
"And staying up there keeps him farther away from Elarus," Cameron murmured. "The male sanctii seem to be nervous...around her."
"Noticed that, have you?" Madame Simsa glanced up at him. "I'm not entirely sure why. The females are rare here, yes, but not unheard of. There used to be a mage with a female at the Academe twenty or so years ago, and Belarus had no issue with her. Maybe it's because your wife and Elarus didn't do things by the rules." She half shrugged one shoulder. "Whatever the reason, I haven't been able to get Belarus to explain. But no point upsetting him, if it's unnecessary. The sanctii who go with you are going to have to get used to her though. Let's hope their mages have a strong hand."
That would be all they needed. A sanctii rebellion. Was that even possible? Every small smattering of information on water magic he'd come across in Illvya was crystal clear on the matter that the mages had control over the sanctii. He hoped it was true rather than merely good propaganda.
Before he asked Madame Simsa, they reached Sophie and Imogene. Colonel Perrine and Henri had been faster in traversing the pathway and were already talking quietly with the two women.
"Do we have a plan?" Madame Simsa asked.
"Madame, we were just discussing that." Sophie bobbed a swift curtsy. Nervous. She fell back on court manners when she felt nervous.
Madame Simsa let go of Cameron's arm, leaning on her cane. "Talk faster. None of us are getting any younger, and I doubt your queen is growing any more patient either."
"We were discussing the best way to teach the technique," Sophie said.
Colonel Perrine cleared his throat. "Perhaps the simplest approach might be the most expedient in this situation, my lady. If you and Lord Scardale demonstrate, the rest of the mages can watch. Then we can decide how best to attempt replicating what you do. Between the maistres, Imogene, and your sanctii, hopefully a solution will present itself."
Cameron looked at Sophie who merely shrugged as though to say she had no better plan. He nodded. "Let's get to work. Colonel, Major, if you want to call your Imperial mages to order and perhaps, Henri, you can do the same for the Academe mages. Then Sophie can explain what we are trying to do."
A few minutes passed as the mages bustled around and moved into pairs—one blood mage with each water mage—selected by the colonel and Henri. The pairs grouped themselves in front of the small unfinished hull that Imogene had offered up for demonstration. It sat in a wooden cradle near the center of the shipyard. The sanctii moved too, but most of them stayed to the rear of the sandy stretch of ground, away from the edge of the shipyard where the ocean lapped onto the beach. Apparently, they didn't like the prospect of salt water any more than they liked Elarus. When everyone was settled, and the hum of chatter had mostly died away, Sophie stepped forward.
"All right," she said. "You have heard what we are here to do. Lord Scardale and I will show you the technique we have been using. Then each pair can try it for themselves. Save the questions until afterward as we don't have much time." Her voice was clear and firm and rang out over the group with no hint of doubt. She may not want to be queen, his wife, but she had learned certain lessons from her years at court. She could do haughty-aristocrat-who-will-be-obeyed with the best of them.
To Cameron's surprise, none of the mages offered any argument. In Anglion they would have quibbled at taking orders from a woman. Or asked him to lead the demonstration. He was grateful not to have to waste any time in explaining that it was Sophie using his power rather than the reverse. On his own, he could no more float a pencil than he could float into the air himself. He tried when Sophie had been bathing. Tried and failed.
He took his place beside Sophie and wondered if Elarus would come closer. But the sanctii stayed where she was. So he simply reached toward the ley line that they had established lay slightly north of the shipyard and waited for Sophie.
She stood still a few more seconds, as though she wanted to ensure that everyone was focused on her, then raised a hand toward the ship they were gathered around. Her magic flared and he felt the no-longer-strange feeling of his own magic flowing to her, whether drawn by her will, or offered freely of his, he wasn't quite sure. He couldn't feel Elarus exactly, but Sophie's magic had a weightier feel he was beginning to associate with her working with the sanctii.
As the magic flowed, the ship began to rise free of its cradle. That broke the silence. The assembled mages reacted with
noises ranging from gasps to cut-off cries of shock; more than one of them goggling as though they'd never seen magic before.
Sophie held the ship in the air while the mages around them whispered and muttered. The male sanctii didn't look entirely easy either, glancing between Sophie and Elarus warily. Ikarus and Martius were silent, but they’d had more time to grow used to Elarus than the others. Belarus remained near the portal hut farther up the beach. When Cameron noticed Sophie shifting her stance, he leaned forward and whispered, "That's enough, love."
One side of her mouth quirked up in acknowledgement and a few moments later the ship settled back into the wooden cradle.
Chapter 19
Almost immediately the mages broke into a babble of shouted questions. The result was incomprehensible chaos. They may as well have all been speaking the sanctii tongue. Indeed, there were sanctii voices mixed in amongst the noise. One of them was distinctly shaking his head.
"One at a time," Sophie yelled.
Cameron didn't know if perhaps Elarus was doing something to increase the sound of her voice, but the sound cut through the tumult and the mages fell silent.
"Thank you," Sophie said. She smiled tightly. "It appears that some of you have questions. Let's do this the civilized way. Raise your hand and we'll go through them one by one. This will go faster if we can actually hear what you're asking."
Cameron hid a smile. Several of the mages lifted a hand. Sophie pointed to the first and began to deal with the questions. This led to another quick demonstration along with asides from Imogene and Madame Simsa. This time the mages watched more closely, with less fuss, and after Sophie let the boat settle back into its cradle a second time no one else raised a hand.