Wildfire and Steel

by J. J. Green

  Jace left them to help the woman.

  “I’m not sure about this,” said Parthenia.

  She addressed her comment to Carina. It was the first time she’d spoken normally to her sister since Carina had Enthralled her.

  “It’ll be all right,” Carina replied. “I’m sure Jace wouldn’t have brought us here otherwise.”

  They stood and watched the woman catch and then attach some kind of harness to the animals and then put a seat on their backs.

  As she led the first horse over, the woman said, “You don’t have anything to be frightened of. I picked the quietest, gentlest ones. They’re a bit slow, but they won’t bolt or try to throw you off. This is Rainbow. Who wants her?”

  “I do,” said Oriana. Her face was bright with excitement.

  “Step up here then,” the woman said, gesturing to a box next to the fence.

  When Oriana was in place, the woman led the horse over to her and explained how to climb onto it. Soon, Oriana was sitting on the back of the beast looking like she’d just received the best birthday present she’d ever had. The woman taught her how to hold the straps that controlled the creature’s head and told it which way to go. She also told her how gentle kicks would encourage it to go faster.

  “But you’ll only be walking into town,” the woman concluded. “The horses will follow Jace’s naturally. You won’t need to do much.”

  While Carina had been watching Oriana, Jace had mounted one of the horses and walked it over.

  “Jump up onto the step, Darius,” he said. “You can ride in front of me.”

  A shadow of distrust passed over Carina’s heart. Was Jace about to disappear with the precious new Spirit Mage? She caught Jace watching her expression. He gave a slight shake of his head as if rankled.

  Darius leapt onto the steps and allowed Jace to lift him onto the horse. He was beaming with pleasure the same as Oriana.

  Soon, they were all seated aboard the animals, their provisions slung over their shoulders. Jace thanked the woman and said goodbye. Carina noticed that he hadn’t once spoken her name. He kicked his horse and rode to the front, heading out along a track worn through the grass. Carina’s animal didn’t need any direction from her. It followed Jace’s without Carina’s guidance or urging.

  Parthenia looked scared and was holding on tightly, but Carina guessed she would be fine in time. The motion of the horse as it walked was soothing.

  “Do horses live on many planets in this region?” Ferne asked Jace.

  “Only five planets as far as I’m aware,” the older mage replied. “I’ve heard that mages brought them on their colony ship when leaving Earth.”

  “I can’t imagine these creatures living on a starship,” said Carina.

  “Perhaps they brought them in deep sleep,” Jace replied.

  Deep sleep was used to travel long distances that took months or years, such as when traveling out of the galactic sector. Carina had never been on a ship that had that kind of equipment.

  “Do you think that’s how the mages first came to this region?” she asked Jace.

  “It’s certainly possible. Sadly, we’ll never know. That first ship must have rotted to dust thousands of years ago.”

  Carina got the sudden urge to talk more with the man. He would soon be leaving them and she might never see him again. She guessed he probably knew more than most mages about their origins and that first journey.

  She gave her horse an experimental kick. The animal responded by moving a little faster. By trial and error, Carina finally found herself riding next to Jace. He glanced across at her with a quizzical but not displeased look.

  “Is it correct that mages were the first colonists of Ostillon?” she asked.

  “That’s generally thought to be the case, but how did you know?”

  Carina told him about the religious scripture she’d read on the planet, which seemed to tell the story from the viewpoint of the second wave of colonists, who were regular humans.

  “Hmm…. Mage lore relates that story a little differently, but that seems to be basically what happened. The mages tried to get along with the newcomers, but the new arrivals were too frightened of mage powers. It was the same story as what happened on Earth: the mages were persecuted and driven into hiding. There’s actually a place in the mountains not far from the capital that was their final refuge until it was decided that the best course of action would be to split up and scatter to the stars to live in secret and only meet at certain gatherings like the Matching.”

  “You mean there are other gatherings?” asked Carina.

  “You know I can’t tell you any more, Carina.”

  “Okay, I understand. Sorry for asking. But….”

  Jace rolled his eyes.

  “Do you know the Ostillonians burn Characters as a ritual?”

  “I do. They also burn the Map.”

  “Ah, of course.” Carina recalled the moment in the temple when she’d seen a paper thrown into the ritual flames. “The paper covered in dots.”

  “That’s right. It’s the Map, and it has numbers too.”

  Carina sat upright in her saddle and swiveled to face the older mage. “You’re kidding! They must be coordinates.”

  “If they are, they’re wrong.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because people have traveled to them. They lead to empty space.”

  “What people?”

  “Mages who lived a long time before you or I. You aren’t the first person to try to find their way back, you know. Earth is lost, Carina. You should forget about it.”

  “Do you think the entire system was blown apart?”

  “I think they would have found the remains of it at those coordinates if that were the case, but according to the stories there was nothing. Either Earth never existed and our origin story is a myth, or the coordinates are wrong.”

  The conversation was such a revelation, Carina rode on in silence for a while as she digested the information. “I think the coordinates must be wrong. They were written so long ago, we no longer use the same system for mapping the galaxy.”

  “Whatever the answer is, it means we can never go back. It would be impossible to find an unknown planet without correct coordinates. The galaxy is too vast to search.”

  “But we know they came to Ostillon or a nearby planet first. That’s a start.”

  “We know nothing of the kind. It’s all guesses. And, anyway, if you did manage to find Earth, what are you imagining you’ll find there? Mages left the place for a reason. What makes you think it’s livable or we’ll be welcomed back?”

  Carina didn’t have a good answer to the questions. “I guess I would just like to see where my ancestors came from. And maybe I hope that things might have changed there in the intervening time. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a home where we could live without fear of torture and slavery?”

  “Mages had that on Ostillon, and look what happened. It’s the nature of humans to fear anyone different from themselves and to persecute them. Human nature will never change.”

  “I used to think that too, but Bryce taught me differently.”

  Jace’s expression twisted as if he were uncomfortable. “There’s an exception to every rule.”

  As they rode, the city drew nearer, and soon they reached the end of a street of cheap, one-story houses and shacks that petered out into the prairie.

  “This is where we part ways,” Jace announced. He halted his horse and immediately the rest of the animals followed suit, except for Oriana’s, which turned its head as if wanting to go home.

  “Whoa, there,” Jace called at the animal, causing it to stop and shuffle restlessly on the dirt track. “Don’t try to get down yourselves,” he said to the younger riders. “Wait for me to help you.”

  Carina watched him dismount and then did the same herself as he lifted Darius down. Soon, everyone was off their horses and waiting while Jace tied a line between the animals to lead them ho
me.

  When he was finally done, he strode to Carina and enveloped her in an unexpected hug. Though she wasn’t a small woman, she felt crushed in the large man’s embrace. He released her and thrust a packet into her hands. “It’s the local currency,” he explained. “Earned by honest means.”

  “But I can’t accept—”

  “We’re mages. We help each other. One day you’ll have the opportunity to help someone else. Now, that money should pay for a few night’s lodging and food. Simple, low-paid work shouldn’t be too hard to find. Good luck, Carina, and the rest of you. I hope our paths cross again someday.”

  Before Carina had the opportunity to answer, Jace had swung himself up onto his large horse and walked it away. They watched as the train of animals slowly departed.

  “It looks like that’s it,” said Carina. “Let’s find somewhere to stay.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kee was taking a landing party to Pirine’s largest city, Ulcawell. Castiel was to accompany the group and, worse still, Reyes was to be his ‘minder’. He was enjoying brandishing a weapon.

  Kee addressed the team in the Elsinore’s shuttle bay. He had assembled eight soldiers and four regular crew as well as Castiel and Reyes. Barrett Dirksen was also coming along. Castiel had not figured out the man’s role in the Dirksen clan. Slim, dark-skinned, and black-haired, he dressed plainly but expensively, as Sable did, though Castiel could not see an actual family resemblance. But his status was clear from Kee’s deference to him.

  “There’s no point in trying to hide who we are,” said Kee to the party. “A battlecruiser in orbit is kind of hard to disguise, and as soon as we arrive at Ulcawell spaceport we’ll be met with plenty of questions. But I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that you are not to give away the true reason for our presence on Pirine. If anyone asks what we’re doing here, the answer you must give is that we’re paying a diplomatic visit as a gesture of friendship from the Dirksen Federation.”

  So that’s Barrett Dirksen’s role, thought Castiel. The man was to play the diplomat while Kee got on with the real task of locating Carina and Castiel’s other brothers and sisters.

  “Remember,” Kee continued, “your role is to mingle with the local population. Ask about new arrivals in Pirine. A group of five children and a young woman looking after them. This is a quiet place with a small population. Someone might have noticed them. Also ask about reports of odd happenings, things that cannot ordinarily happen.”

  “Permission to speak, sir,” said a soldier.

  “Yes, corporal?”

  “Could you give us a few examples?”

  Kee turned to Castiel. “What do you suggest?”

  Castiel was about to refuse to answer, but Reyes was one step ahead of him. He knocked the butt of a weapon into Castiel’s shoulder and said, “Tell him.”

  A quiet fury had been simmering in Castiel for days, threatening to boil over, but he managed to keep a lid on it. “You might hear reports of people acting strangely, as if not under their own control, doors unlocking themselves, things moved by unseen hands. That kind of thing. Mages can also Transport themselves from place to place, so you might hear of people suddenly disappearing or appearing. But we’re usually very careful never to do that anywhere that it might be noticed.”

  Except when trying to escape. The moment he was allowed to get his hands on some elixir, that was Castiel’s plan. He would Cast Transport and put as much distance between himself and Kee, Reyes, and the rest of the landing party as he could. Pirine might be the middle of nowhere in terms of significance in the galactic sector, but he would rather be stranded there than spend another minute under the control of the Dirksens.

  His experience of the last few days had taught him that all his plans had come to nothing. He had become a slave to the clan, to be treated the same as His father had treated his mother and his mage siblings.

  Yet he had not resigned himself to a sense of inevitability about his fate. Castiel had only given up on relying on others to assign him the power that was fitting to his abilities. Now he knew that if he was to rise to prominence he would have to do it alone.

  Only first he had to escape.

  His plan carried a certain level of risk. Reyes had delighted in telling him that Sable had given permission to shoot Castiel the moment his actions became suspicious, such as if a Cast took too long to work. But it was a risk Castiel was willing to take.

  His situation was not the same as Mother’s. He would not be abandoning anyone by Transporting himself away, or splitting up a family. He had no one he loved who would be tortured as punishment for his transgression. The Dirksens had less control over him than they thought, and if the right opportunity arrived, they were about to learn that fact.

  The landing party was walking up the ramp to enter the shuttle.

  “You too,” Reyes said to Castiel, pushing him again with a weapon.

  “Enjoying yourself?” asked Castiel as he stepped onto the ramp.

  “As a matter of fact, I am,” said Reyes, grinning. “It’s a pain in the ass to have to hang around with a loser like you. I might as well get what I can out of it.”

  “Don’t think I won’t forget this, Reyes Dirksen,” said Castiel.

  “Oh, I’m sure you won’t forget it. You’ll just never be able to do anything about it.”

  They walked into the shuttle’s interior. Reyes made Castiel sit down in a seat at the back of the vessel. The rest of the party took their seats too, and Kee went into the pilot’s cabin. The shuttle doors didn’t close, and after a few minutes, Castiel and everyone else was looking around, wondering what was causing the delay.

  Footsteps sounded on the shuttle’s ramp, and Sable Dirksen entered. Despite his hatred of the head of the Dirksen clan, Castiel was forced to admit she looked sublime. She was wearing a calf-length dress heavily brocaded in threads made from precious metals. Iridescent gemstones studded the fabric, and the choker around her neck seemed to be made from the shell of a rare mollusk. Castiel remembered his father giving his mother a hair comb made from the same, extremely expensive material, and flying into a rage when she wasn’t delighted with her gift.

  “Don’t look at her,” Reyes hissed. “You aren’t fit to kiss her feet.”

  Castiel saw the look in his guard’s eyes and recognized his own lust and covetousness toward Sable Dirksen. He smirked. The chances of Reyes Dirksen possessing her were probably little better than his own.

  Sable passed them by without a glance and disappeared into the pilot’s cabin. The shuttle doors closed and the vessel took off.

  Castiel guessed that Sable had decided she would also form part of the ‘diplomatic mission’ to Pirine. Perhaps she wanted to be on hand if and when his mage siblings were captured. He doubted that would actually happen. There was no guarantee they had ever come to Pirine, and if they had, Carina was smart enough to keep them all hidden.

  Sable could not remain on Pirine forever. Eventually she would have to concede defeat and depart.

  These combined realizations made Castiel’s heart sink. If no sign of mages could be found on the planet, it was unlikely he would be called upon to Cast. He would never be allowed access to elixir, and he would never have the opportunity to escape.

  He would remain a prisoner indefinitely. Perhaps Sable would never require him to Cast. Perhaps she would take him back to Ostillon and lock him away in a cell deep under the mountain castle, along with Calvaley. If Castiel were in Sable’s position, that is probably what he would do.

  She had spoken of mages as threats and liabilities, and, after all, at the end of the day he would always be a Sherrerr.

  “Thinking about what you’re going to do to find your sister?” asked Reyes, leaning uncomfortably into Castiel’s shoulder.

  Castiel didn’t deign to answer.

  “I would, if I were you,” said Reyes. “If I were you,” he repeated, “I would make myself as useful as possible. Otherwise we might see no reaso
n for keeping you alive.”

  Castiel stared doggedly ahead at the seatback in front of him. Would the Dirksens actually execute him? He hadn’t considered that. The notion that someone would or could put an end to his life was too detestable to contemplate. Yet now that Reyes had brought up the possibility, Castiel could not exclude it.

  His resolve to escape the Dirksens at the earliest opportunity became even more urgent. Remaining under their control was a constant threat to his liberty and his life.

  The shuttle was touching down in Ulcawell Spaceport, and Sable and Kee emerged from the pilot’s cabin. Kee began to address the troops and members of the Elsinore’s crew. Sable walked directly to the back of the cabin, where Reyes and Castiel sat.

  She was holding something in her hand. When Castiel recognized it, dismay coursed through him.

  “Reyes, put these on his wrist and your own,” said Sable.

  Reyes took the handcuffs and did as he’d been instructed, closing one band around his left wrist and one around Castiel’s right.

  “Right,” said Sable, giving Reyes a metal fob that Castiel assumed was the unlocking device. “You’re both to accompany Kee. Do whatever he says. And if Castiel tries to escape, shoot to kill, remember?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I would rather have the filthy little traitor dead than working against us.” Sable shot Castiel a glance filled with disgust before leaving them.

  “Not going far now, huh?” asked Reyes, lifting his left arm.

  Castiel’s right arm was dragged upward by the cuffs. Their appearance had certainly made things more difficult for him. If he did manage to Cast Transport without being shot, Reyes would be coming along.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Carina and her family had found a street that petered out at the edge of the city, and they stepped from the prairie onto the dust road. Their priority was to find somewhere they could all sleep that night. Carina planned on leaving Parthenia in charge while she and Bryce went out to look for work.

  The wages they would receive for the low-level jobs they might expect to find would be small , and they had five children to feed as well as themselves. That would place a considerable delay on Carina’s plan to return to Ostillon and face up to Castiel. It would take a long time to save enough for passage to the planet, yet there wasn’t anything Carina could do about it. Protecting her siblings came first.