Mageborn: An absolutely gripping fantasy novel (The Hollow King Book 1)

by Jessica Thorne

  The king was dying. The queen had no power without him.

  ‘Tread carefully, Bastien,’ she all but growled. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. But it wasn’t grief for her dying husband, Grace knew that. Lost power was much more of a tragedy to her.

  ‘Or?’ he said in a voice as cool as a winter wind.

  Then, before the whole court, Aurelie curtsied to Bastien and left, sweeping from the antechamber before another word was said, her hangers-on following. Asher Kane was last to go.

  ‘Your highness,’ he said, the consummate diplomat again. But Grace couldn’t forget the cruelty she had seen in him last night. ‘She’s overwrought.’

  ‘I’m sure she is.’ Bastien folded his arms in front of his chest, waiting.

  ‘But she has many who love her. Many who doubt the wisdom of a mageborn king. Who would not look kindly on…’ He spread his own arms wide, indicating Bastien and the rest of them. ‘Well, you know how things are.’

  If it was a threat or a warning, Grace couldn’t tell. She didn’t like the sound of it either way. Bastien, however, appeared unmoved. He’d taken on that same cold statue-like quality that had made her fear him.

  He fixed Asher with one of those looks, the kind that said he wasn’t angry, just disappointed. The kind that made you want to curl up and slink away.

  ‘Asher? You were my friend once, remember? When you and I were friends?’

  ‘You remember things differently to me, Bastien. I remember my sister. I remember what happened.’

  When she died. When Celeste killed her. When…

  ‘It was an accident.’

  ‘So everyone said.’

  ‘Celeste didn’t mean to…’

  Asher glared at Bastien as if he was mad. ‘No, of course, your highness. Celeste didn’t mean to. She never does. Neither do you. But these things still happen, don’t they? You can’t take the throne. Not you, nor your line.’

  Bastien’s jaw fell open, his face going white. Asher took it in, with a cruel smile.

  Then he bowed – so curt it could only be taken as an insult – and strode after the queen.

  ‘Well,’ Daniel murmured. ‘That was—’

  ‘Shut up, Daniel,’ Grace said quietly. She wasn’t sure what she had just witnessed but there was no need to rub it in when Bastien was standing right there.

  Luckily Daniel caught her line of thinking. ‘Shutting up, boss.’

  ‘Fan out, trust no one, secure the entrances.’ They moved without hesitation as she and Bastien entered the chamber. Around them, the Royal Guards fell back, manning the door. Inside, in a huge raised bed, Marius looked very small, like a child asleep, and Simona sat by his side. When they entered, she got to her feet and bowed to Bastien.

  ‘Your royal highness,’ she said. ‘It’s good that you’re here. Give me a moment if you will.’

  At Bastien’s nod, she bent down to the king and whispered gently in his ear. Marius stirred, his body shivering as he did so, and he gazed past her, to Bastien. With enormous effort, he reached out a hand and Bastien shuddered, forcing himself forward. When he reached the bedside, he knelt, but Marius wrapped his hand around his and pulled him close.

  Grace drew herself up to attention, tried not to listen and scanned the room. Simona was doing the same thing, trying to ignore their hushed conversation, trying to give them the space they so desperately needed.

  But Bastien’s voice rose in pain.

  ‘I can’t, Marius.’

  ‘You must. There is no one else. It is time. But not here. You have to leave. It isn’t safe. She will guard you and Simona will guide you.’

  ‘You don’t… you don’t know what will happen…’

  The king laughed fondly. ‘Neither do you. None of us do.’

  ‘Marius, there must be another you can name.’

  ‘My wife asked me the same thing.’ He began to cough painfully, each one racking his body. Blood flecked the snow-white pillow beside his face. When he fell still again, Simona offered him a drink, but he waved her away. ‘She doesn’t understand what it means, Bastien. This power, this magic. Our curse. She isn’t a Larelwynn. She is drunk on power. Please Bastien. You are all there is. Protection, not control. Celeste is too far gone. You must do this for me. Then at last the curse can end.’

  ‘You are the king.’

  ‘And you will be.’

  ‘Marius, this is madness. I can’t. I’m… you know what I am.’

  ‘My love, I know that better than anyone, even you.’ He pulled Bastien’s face close to his and kissed his cheek. ‘You’re my blood, my proclaimed heir, the line of my line. No one can deny it. But first… Do as Simona tells you. Every word of it, mind.’

  ‘Please…’ Bastien whispered, but from the tone he already knew that it was useless.

  ‘Divinities be with the king,’ Marius whispered, and closed his eyes. ‘Long may he reign.’

  Bastien stumbled back, tears streaking his face, his hands shaking. Simona laid her hand on the king’s forehead, and then his neck.

  ‘He’s just sleeping,’ she said, her voice loud for the benefit of the guards no doubt eavesdropping on everything. ‘Still with us, thank all the glories. Do you want to stay, your highness? Sit with him? He would like that, I’m sure.’ Bastien nodded, helpless before her commanding tones. ‘Good. It will be done, your highness. Close the doors,’ she told the Royal Guards directly. ‘Take yourselves outside and hold them against any incomers. No matter who they are. I will call when it is time.’

  She waited until her orders were carried out, leaving only herself, Bastien, Grace, Ellyn and Daniel with the king. Grace watched the guards leave and thought they were highly armed for attending a dying king. Once the doors closed, Simona turned back to them. And then, in that instant, her serene demeanour transformed.

  ‘Quickly, there isn’t much time. Captain Marchant, you have to get him out of here. The moment those doors open again they mean to kill us all and lock him up.’

  Bastien looked up at Simona, startled. ‘What?’

  ‘The queen isn’t going to let you succeed her husband, Bastien. Not without bloodshed. Marius knows this. She has those guards in her employ and half the nobles on her side. Perhaps more. We need to get you to safety. This is Marius’s last wish. He would not see you enslaved to that harpy. You must leave Rathlynn. Now.’

  ‘But Marius…’

  ‘Do as I say and we can protect you. There are many who will fight for you, but not if Aurelie has you in chains. Or worse, in her thrall. She can make you obey, do whatever she wants, and you know it. She just needs that warrant. Why do you think Marius gave it to Captain Marchant? To keep you from his wife.’

  ‘I would never serve her,’ Bastien interjected. ‘You know…’

  ‘You wouldn’t even know, pet. That drink, that potion. You’d forget.’

  ‘How do you…’

  But the shame in her face answered him. ‘I know. I’ve always known. This is my burden to bear. My shame. I gave it to you, on his father’s command, when he was a boy. And I’d do it again for him, if he commanded it. Do you understand?’

  For a moment Grace thought he’d lash out, scream, but he looked at Marius again and his face fell. The despair was complete. It even swamped the betrayal in his eyes.

  ‘All his stories… were any of them true?’ But he looked back to Marius and shook his head. ‘I can’t just leave him, Simona. I can’t just—’

  ‘You have to, you foolish boy.’

  ‘And what about Celeste?’

  ‘We don’t have time to go for Celeste. I’ll find a way to get her out. I’ll send her to you. I swear it, my Lord Prince. Captain, if you will?’

  Grace joined her, trying to keep her equilibrium. ‘You have a plan in place?’

  ‘Of course,’ Simona assured her. ‘There’s a secret passage. Marius was always a canny man.’

  ‘He isn’t dead yet,’ Bastien growled but Simona just waved his anger away. She didn’t ha
ve time for niceties.

  ‘It will lead you to the dungeons and from there to the crypts. You can access the lower city from there. Bastien knows the way.’

  ‘The Rats’ Path.’ The pain in his voice made it grate but Grace had to ignore that now, ignore the urge to comfort him, to tell him it would be all right. She couldn’t promise that. No one could.

  ‘A royal secret,’ Simona said. ‘We never thought you’d need it. But we are where we are.’ She pulled him into her arms and he didn’t fight her. She dragged his head down, kissing his forehead like a grandmother. ‘There are things you’ll need to attend to on the way. The storeroom and…’ When Bastien frowned, guilt spread over her face. ‘I’m sorry, love. So sorry. We tried to stop them but they had your work.’

  ‘My… my work?’

  He stepped back, confusion bleeding into something else, something horrified and full of rage. ‘What… what do you mean?’

  ‘You can still fix it. There’s time. The storerooms… they aren’t empty.’ She glanced at Grace and then leaned in, whispering to Bastien. His face froze and then went ghostly with shock. Grace frowned, concern for him making her reach out, but Simona was already pushing him forwards, towards the doorway. He stumbled away from her. ‘Go to Thorndale. I’ll send word as soon as it is safe to return. Now, go.’ She thrust a roll of papers at Grace. ‘Permits and identities, maps and some contacts who will help. There are horses waiting for you at the Academy. They’re well supplied and Craine knows everything. Her wife works for me, Lara Kellen. It’s all arranged. She’ll have all you’ll need ready and waiting for you. Lara will meet you beyond the Main Gate.’

  The Academy, and Craine. Grace almost felt a rush of relief. Craine would know what to do. They’d be safe there, if only for a while. And Thorndale? That was Bastien’s family home, wasn’t it? A fortress in a vast forest estate miles from the city, somewhere in the mountains, far to the north. They just had to get there. Across open and potentially hostile land. With assassins coming after them, if not an entire army. Easy.

  Still Bastien hesitated. He looked back at his cousin. ‘Tell him… tell him I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this.’

  ‘He knows, pet,’ said Simona. ‘Divinities protect and defend you, he knows.’

  They stepped through the hidden door which slid shut behind them, plunging them into a strange half-light, illumination coming through cracks and vents, lines of light which made the world around them eerie and unknown. Grace led the way, the other two following Bastien. Silently, they made their way down through the secret pathways of the palace. All the time Grace was painfully aware that Bastien didn’t say another word. She didn’t want to ask what Simona had told him, but clearly it had affected him.

  When they reached the lower levels of the palace, deep inside the tunnels, Grace checked the map.

  ‘This way,’ Bastien said, heading off in completely the wrong direction.

  ‘No it isn’t,’ she told him. But he didn’t even hesitate, just walked away into the darkness, his head down in determination. Grace glanced at the other two. Daniel opened his mouth to speak but Ellyn slapped his shoulder gently, silencing him.

  ‘Bastien, stop,’ Grace called.

  He was already almost out of sight, his clothes and hair blending in with the shadows completely. Damn it, where was he off to? She strode after him, heedless of the darkness.

  ‘Bastien, wait.’

  He didn’t pause but with a snap of his fingers a row of torches sprang into life, illuminating the way ahead.

  ‘There’s something I need to do, Grace. It cannot wait.’

  Grace nodded back to the other two who followed at a discreet distance. She could always rely on them for that.

  Something he needed to do…

  Like escape before Aurelie seized control of his kingdom, drugged him, stole his memories and his freedom without him even knowing it was gone. That would be something.

  Three more flights of dark uneven steps downwards, with Bastien lighting torches as they approached and putting them out behind them, apparently without thought.

  ‘Can he do that?’ Ellyn asked.

  ‘Clearly he can,’ Grace replied. What was wrong with him? What had Simona told him? Grief and anger didn’t account for this, not all of it. She could sense betrayal and outrage coming off him in waves. This was something else.

  ‘How… how many things can he do?’ Daniel said. ‘We’ve seen him leech, and he killed that archer by sending the arrow back, and—’

  ‘And he has excellent hearing,’ Bastien finished for him.

  The look on Daniel’s face said if he could have made the ground swallow him up, he would have. But Daniel wasn’t a Loam. Bastien could probably do it though.

  Grace took pity on her old friend. ‘He’s asking a fair question. Most mageborn just have one skill. You on the other hand…’

  The question lingered on and she realised Bastien had finally stopped at a nondescript door in the wall. ‘Me, on the other hand, I have many skills. I’m not like other mageborn. I’m blood royal. I can do many things, like my sister.’

  But he wasn’t crazy, or at least she hoped he wasn’t.

  Wherever they were going, they had reached their destination. He didn’t look happy about it though.

  His hand rested on the handle of the door, but he didn’t turn it. He just stood there, waiting, his eyes closed.

  ‘Bastien? What’s in there?’

  He inhaled deeply and ran his hand over the lock. She heard the bolts turning, and the door swung open without even being pushed.

  ‘I want you to understand,’ he said. ‘I never meant for this to happen. I was trying to help Celeste. And countless others. I was only ever trying to help. This was never meant to happen.’

  Light spilled out into the hallway, flickering, dancing light, different colours, different intensities. Grace stepped past Bastien into a room shelved from floor to ceiling the whole way around. On each shelf, small round jars glowed with the light of magic extracted from mageborn. Like those in his study. But so many more of them. Countless jars, bound and sealed and full of light. It moved, glowing petals of it blossoming as she watched, alive. Countless flowers of magic, trapped behind glass.

  She glanced at Bastien but he just stood there, his eyes downcast and his mouth a hard line. But there was a flicker of something like relief in his eyes. Had he expected something worse? Behind him her team were staring in wonder. They didn’t even know what they were looking at. But she did.

  ‘Goddess, how much magic is stored here?’ she asked him.

  ‘A decade’s worth at least. Those I’ve helped, those I’ve removed magic from when they asked. Those who didn’t ask and cursed me for it. Those I syphoned because they were just too dangerous. Like you saw. Homage day offerings.’

  Like I saw. I saw far too much. The burns on his hands. And now this.

  There were so many; far too many to take with them.

  ‘What do you want us to do with them?’ Ellyn asked.

  ‘We can’t leave it all here. Not with Aurelie and Miranda… doing what they’re doing…’

  Daniel stepped inside, looking around in wonder. He didn’t even make eye contact with Grace, just stared. ‘Are you aware of what this is worth?’ he asked.

  ‘You sound like your brother,’ Ellyn muttered. ‘Once a Parry, always a Parry.’

  ‘Well, Kurt would be right too.’ He turned on Bastien. ‘And where are the mageborn who kindly donated it?’

  ‘Danny,’ Grace said, unsure about the tone that had entered his voice. ‘Enough.’

  ‘Damn it, Grace. Can you imagine what could be done with all this?’

  She could. That was the problem. ‘Reel it in, Danny. He’s right. We can’t leave it here.’ Not given what she’d seen at that so-called banquet. With this much magic at her disposal, there would be nothing stopping Aurelie taking over the kingdom. If Bastien ran now and left this behind, he’d never come bac
k. The queen would make sure of that. ‘So what do we do?’

  ‘I’ll do it. You might want to step outside. I don’t want you to get in the way.’ Or become collateral damage. Still she hesitated. His voice gentled suddenly. ‘Please Grace. I have to do this.’

  ‘Isn’t it dangerous? Where will it all go?’

  He hesitated and a shadow of regret passed through his dark and endless eyes. ‘Into me,’ he whispered.

  Surely, that wasn’t going to work. Too much magic in his system and he would be overwhelmed, just as he almost had been before. The Maegen would swallow him whole. She turned to tell him exactly that, but he caught her hands in his and all the argument seemed to fade inside her. His face said it all. There was no other way.

  ‘Too much power inside you…’ She’d seen him almost collapse from it the last time. She’d seen the magic tearing its way out of him. Not to mention the agony and madness that had claimed Kai.

  ‘I’ll just have to manage.’

  ‘Let me help.’ She almost didn’t recognise her voice as she said it. It certainly didn’t sound like the type of thing she’d say. It wasn’t the type of thing anyone sane would say.

  If it was anyone else she would have said he looked horrified. ‘Absolutely not. It will drink your memories, destroy your mind. I can’t have that. I will not allow it. I could lose you.’

  He wouldn’t allow it? Of course he wouldn’t. But if that was what he thought…

  ‘Bastien, I want to help.’

  He rested his hands on her shoulders, fixed her with his endless gaze. The light flickered, reflected in the darkness there, different colours, different shades, all the magic in the world. It was like staring into endless space.

  ‘I know you do. And I thank you for it. But I’ll need you, all of you, if we’re going to reach Thorndale safely. And get Celeste out of the Temple. And…’ He groaned. ‘And everything else. Please, Grace. Trust me. I can do this. I just… I just need to be careful.’

  ‘But that much power—’

  ‘I can do it. It’s just a case of not losing control.’

  Easier said than done. She wanted to argue, but he clearly wasn’t going to move unless they cooperated.