by J. J. Green
“Another nice name,” the ranger said.
He didn’t show any signs of recognition, Parthenia noted with some relief. It was something to be grateful for, but she knew now that the ranger knew their real names they had to leave as soon as they possibly could. They must also leave no indication of where they were going. News of the missing Sherrerr children would probably arrive soon and then the ranger would be bound to remember them.
“I’m Jace,” he said, still gently examining her ankle. “So, what are—”
“Ouch,” Parthenia exclaimed, though Jace hadn’t actually hurt her. She’d only wanted to stall him a little longer. What could she tell him about what they were doing there?
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said. He stood and wiped dirt from his hands with the wet cloth. “Your ankle’s clean enough now anyway. Would you two like to wash off the rest of that mud?”
Parthenia readily agreed to delaying the moment she would have to spin her tale. She also welcomed the opportunity to prep Darius so he wouldn’t give away that she was lying.
“The bathroom is on the next level,” Jace said apologetically.
“That’s okay,” Parthenia said. “I can manage.” With Darius’ help, she hopped over to the stairway, which continued to wind around the wall of the room before disappearing into a hole in the ceiling. Jace led them up the stairs to the next floor. This room was his bedroom, and above the kitchenette on the floor below was a bathroom.
Jace found two clean shirts for them to wear and told them he would wash their dirty clothes, though Parthenia wasn’t sure her dress was worth the effort. It was mostly rags.
Jace went downstairs and Parthenia went with Darius into the bathroom. As she helped her brother to wash off all the mud, she quietly explained to him that she might have to tell Jace some things that weren’t true.
“But it’s wrong to lie,” Darius protested.
“It is, usually,” Parthenia replied. “But sometimes we have to lie. Like if telling a lie stops someone from being hurt. Then it’s okay.”
“Is it?”
“Yes, it is. You know you can’t tell anyone about being a mage, don’t you? If someone asked you if you could Cast, you would say no. That’s lying, right? This is similar. We can’t tell Jace who we are or where we’re from. If we do, we might end up being hurt. Or someone we love could be hurt. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Darius replied emphatically.
“Then, if you hear me say something that you know isn’t true, you mustn’t jump in and say something, okay?”
“Okay.”
Parthenia finished helping her brother dry himself and then put a shirt on him before sending him out to wait for her while she washed. She undressed and hopped into the shower. It was a very basic kind and it had no blower so you had to dry yourself with towels, but Parthenia didn’t care. Washing away the disgusting mud was blissful, even though it made all her cuts and scrapes sting. She was bruised and scratched head to toe and when she washed her hair the rinse water ran brown.
She wondered what Mother would have made of her and her brother if she’d seen them as filthy and disheveled as the poorest village children. Then Parthenia cried, because she knew that her mother wouldn’t have minded at all. It had been their father who would be driven to a rage by messy hair or a besmirched face. She missed Mother so much.
When she was clean and dry, Parthenia put on the shirt Jace had given her and hopped out of the bathroom. Darius had disappeared. Gripped by fear that he was telling Jace their life histories she hopped in the direction of the stairs but in her haste she stumbled and fell. Then she saw a stick propped against the bathroom wall that hadn’t been there before. Thinking it was probably for her use, she took it and used it to help her walk to the stairs.
“Darius,” she called. “Are you down there?”
“He’s eating,” Jace replied. “Do you need some help coming down?”
“No, I’ll be fine.” Parthenia went carefully from step to step, the warm air of the living area wafting up to her welcomingly.
Darius watched her as she came down. He didn’t look troubled or guilty, so she guessed he hadn’t said anything he shouldn’t have. His cheeks were bulging with food.
“Feeling better?” Jace asked her.
“Yes, lots,” Parthenia replied. “Thank you for helping us. I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t found you.”
“It’s no problem,” Jace replied. “Though I have to say you’re the first two young waifs who have ever walked out of the woods around here as far as I know.”
“How did you know we came from the forest and not from the other direction?” Parthenia asked. This was it. She was going to have to tell Jace the story she’d made up while she was in the shower. She doubted it was very convincing but it was the best she had.
“I guessed that was where you got your scratches,” said Jace. “Not many thorns in the scrub around here. You fell down the forest ridge into the ditch, right?”
“We did,” Parthenia conceded. That part of her story was true. “I guess you must be wondering what we were doing there.”
“I was, actually,” Jace said. “The forest belongs to the Dirksens. It was lucky for you that you came here and found me before you were picked up by one of their gamekeepers. There are severe penalties for trespassing on Dirksen land. Or, worse still, you could have been mistaken for game and shot. How did you end up in there?”
The forest belonged to the Dirksens? So the Sherrerr rivals controlled Ostillon. Parthenia didn’t know whether that was good or bad news for her and her mage siblings. “Well, we—”
Parthenia? Can you hear me?
Jace was looking at her expectantly.
Parthenia? It was Ferne. Ferne was Sending, at just about the worst possible moment. She had to answer him.
“Is something wrong?” Jace asked.
Parthenia wailed and covered her face. She pretended to sob. It was the only thing she could think of to do that would give her space to reply to Ferne. I hear you. Are you okay? Is Oriana with you?
We’re all right. We only just managed to make some elixir. How are you and Darius?
We’re okay but I don’t know where we are. I can’t speak right now.
Darius put an arm over her shoulders, consoling her, not knowing she was speaking to Ferne.
Okay. I’ll Send again in an hour, Ferne said. Then he was gone.
Parthenia’s relief at hearing from her brother was so great she really did cry a little, which helped to maintain her subterfuge. She wiped her eyes. “Sorry. We had a terrible time today. I was explaining what we were doing in the forest, wasn’t I? Well… ”
Ferne was okay and so was Oriana. And they’d managed to make elixir. Parthenia felt a massive weight drop from her as she told Jace her story. With luck, she and Darius would be able to reunite with their siblings that night. But what had happened to Carina? That was a mystery that remained to be solved.
Chapter Nine
Harmon woke Carina up by prodding her and stepping away as she came around. He was clearly trying to avoid being punched in the head again. After the Mech Battle had ended and they returned to Langley’s estate in the early hours of the morning, Carina spent couple of hours working toward her escape before finally falling, exhausted, into bed. She’d scraped away some of the mortar between the bricks in the wall, but it would take her several days to create a hole large enough for her to crawl through.
Carina had only slept a few hours before Harmon came in to wake her. Langley Dirksen was giving her no respite. She guessed the older woman didn’t want to leave her to her own devices for too long, knowing that she would be doing her utmost to leave. It was wise of Langley, but Carina was determined to get out soon nevertheless. The longer she remained there, the more agitated the Dirksen matriarch would become at her refusal to comply with her demands, and the temptation to force the issue would increase. Carina knew only too
well what that might entail.
She also wanted to leave because she was worried about her siblings. She couldn’t stop wondering where they were and what they were doing. They could be in dire danger and there wasn’t anything she could do about it, or at least not while Langley Dirksen had her locked up. She also wanted to find out more about the ritual she’d witnessed the previous evening. What it meant she had no idea, but it had to mean something.
After a breakfast at which neither Langley nor Reyes appeared—they were apparently free to sleep in after their late night—Harmon told Carina she had the freedom of the first floor of the house, though she was never to leave his sight. After informing her of this fact, he leaned closer and whispered, “If you’re thinking of trying something, please, be my guest. I’d love an excuse to knock you around a bit.”
So, her shadow in tow, Carina spent an hour or so wandering through the mansion’s rooms. She didn’t bother hiding the fact she was trying to find escape routes and relished the look of frustrated anger her behavior provoked in Harmon. She guessed he expected her to be more cowed by his presence.
Each room that she entered, she checked the windows, examined the ceilings, and looked for secret doors. Though she’d never been inside such a luxurious residence before, she’d read that secret doors and passages were often found in such places.
The mansion contained rooms that appeared to have been unused for years: lounges full of dusty furniture, playrooms stocked with piles of toys, a holo room with twenty seats for viewing vids, and an expansive bare room that seemed to be for large gatherings like parties or dances. Most of the rooms had a stale, neglected air. Carina also wandered into the staff area. When she went into the kitchen, the man and woman working there were alarmed by her presence. Carina quickly checked the place over. Here, she would find something she could use to create a naked flame, she was sure. And the pot on the windowsill that held a plant would provide the soil she needed. Noting that there was no lock on the door, she left.
“What about outside?” she asked Harmon as they reached the end of the corridor that led to the entrance hall. “Can I go out into the grounds?”
“What do you think?” He cocked an eyebrow at her.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Carina strode toward the front doors. Harmon was quickly behind her. He grabbed her hair and yanked her back.
“Harmon,” a voice admonished from the top of the double staircase. “Please don’t treat our guest so roughly.”
Langley Dirksen was wearing a loose gown of silky material, and her hair was down around her shoulders. She descended the staircase. “Good morning, Miss Whoever-You-Are.” As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she said, “Really, I can’t go on not knowing your name. Won’t you tell me it? Just your first name, so that I have something I can call you.”
“Oh, all right,” Carina said. “I guess it won’t hurt.”
Langley smiled brightly at her small victory.
“You can call me… Prisoner,” said Carina. Langley’s expression fell. “Or maybe Captive? Detainee?” Carina put a finger to her lips and frowned. “I know! Just call me Caged One. That’ll do. Or would you prefer Slave? It’s up to you. I don’t mind.”
“That isn’t funny,” Langley Dirksen said. She looked as though she was about to stamp her foot. “Why can’t you be reasonable? Believe me, you could have things a lot worse. I could give you over to others in my family. They’re asking for you, you know. It’s only because you happened to arrive within my jurisdiction that I’ve managed to hold on to you. But I can’t protect you forever. If I don’t show them some results soon they’ll be demanding you. I won’t have much choice but to give you to them and then you’ll find the rest of my clan won’t be as lenient with you as I have.”
Carina didn’t doubt that Langley was telling her the truth. The information didn’t have its desired effect, however. She only resolved to work harder to escape as soon as she possibly could. “I don’t even know what it is you expect me to do. I rescued some kid. So what? I was only doing my job. Nothing extraordinary about it. If you do hand me over to the rest of your evil family, they’ll be just as disappointed in me as you are. Now let me go.”
Langley tutted. “So stubborn. I’m going to eat breakfast. Tonight I’m having a small dinner party. I want you to attend. Perhaps when you meet some of the people who would like you for themselves, you might change your mind. I really am your best option. I hope for your sake you realize that.”
***
Langley insisted on Carina’s presence while the older woman went about her daily business. Carina hated sitting around with nothing to do while Langley chatted with business colleagues over vidcalls or discussed the management of her estates. By the time evening arrived, Carina was simmering with barely controlled anger, partly fueled by plain boredom. Langley sent Carina up to her room to “get ready for the soiree.” It was the first time she’d been allowed to be alone in her room all day. A selection of fine dresses had been prepared for her. She took great pleasure in ripping them all to shreds and throwing them out into the hall. Taking out her frustration on the dresses did little to appease her feelings. She was furious at being forced to attend the coming social event like a performing animal, and she’d devised a plan that would result in her leaving it at its earliest stages.
When Harmon witnessed her destruction of the dresses, he followed her into the suite, strode over, and stood in front of her, his fists clenched. He managed to restrain himself, however. He only pushed her down, marched out, and closed and locked the door.
Carina leapt up and ran into her bedroom. She had a short time before she would have to go down to the party. She closed the bedroom door and pulled the bed away from the wall. Taking up the base of the metal ornament she’d left there, she carried on scraping away at the mortar between the bricks. If she could escape into the next room, she might be able to go from there to the kitchen where she could create elixir.
As she worked, she thought of Langley’s son, Reyes. The kid hadn’t appeared all day. Carina guessed he usually avoided his mother’s company. That’s certainly what she would have done in his position. She doubted she would see him that evening either.
After ten minutes Carina heard the main door to the suite open. She jumped up and pushed her bed into position, throwing herself onto it just in time as Harmon opened her bedroom door. He frowned, seeming to sense she’d been doing something she shouldn’t have. He looked around the room. When he couldn’t locate any evidence of her subversive behavior, he said, “Come with me.”
Carina walked across to her guard. It was time for her to party. Her clothes were dirtier and smellier than ever. Good, she thought. Anything she could do to ruin Langley Dirksen’s fun and reputation would be worth it.
When Carina arrived in the lounge where Langley was holding her gathering, several guests were already there, richly dressed and adorned with jewelry. Some of the women wore elaborate hairstyles that had probably taken hours for their hairdressers to craft. All the guests turned when Carina entered the room. Their eyes popped and silence fell like a death knell.
“Am I in the right place?” Carina announced loudly. “I was told there was a party here. I love parties.” She marched to the nearest group, which consisted of a woman and two men standing together, drinks in hand. Their mouths gaped. “You don’t mind, do you?” she asked the woman. Taking her drink from her hand, Carina drained it, wiped her mouth on her sleeve, and returned the empty glass. “Urgh. That tasted terrible. How could you drink it? What about yours?” She snatched a drink from one of the men and drank it down. “Not bad. Getting better.” When she moved to take the other man’s drink, he put his other hand in front of it protectively and glared at Langley.
The matriarch was sitting with three women on a sofa and chairs. Her shock at Carina’s behavior quickly turned to fury. She rose to her feet and said coldly to Harmon, “Take her away.”
Harmon grabbed Carina�
�s upper arm and tried to force her from the room but Carina dug her heels into the carpet and resisted. She wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity to get revenge by creating the biggest spectacle she could. “Oh surely the party isn’t over yet. I’m having so much fun.” She twisted from Harmon’s grasp and dodged past him before running around the edge of the room. As she passed a table spread with food, she grabbed the tablecloth and dragged all the dishes onto the floor. “Whoops!”
Gasps came from the guests along with a few titters. Langley was crimson, Carina noted with great satisfaction. Then Harmon caught her.
Not making the same mistake twice, this time he picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. The man was just too large and strong for Carina to do much about it. But as she was carried from the room, she lifted her head and waved at the gawping party guests. “So nice to meet you all. Sorry I can’t stay.”
It was in that final glimpse that one of the partygoers caught Carina’s eye. A woman who was sitting with Langley had an unusual hairstyle. Her hair was wound into a spiral above her head. It wasn’t the style that caught Carina’s attention so much as the fact that it looked familiar. She’d seen the woman somewhere before.
When they reached the stairs, Harmon climbed them still carrying Carina. He carried her down the hall to her suite where he threw her on the floor. He left and locked the door but a few minutes later he was back, a satisfied smirk on his face. “I want to thank you for your little performance. Mistress just gave me permission to teach you to behave better. I’m going to enjoy this.”
Harmon moved closer, smiling as he reached for her.
“Not as much as I am,” said Carina, punching toward his groin. Harmon caught her fist in his giant paw and twisted, causing Carina to spin around to avoid a broken wrist. Harmon switched his grip to her forearm and dragged her to her feet. She flew at him, aiming a kick at his knee, but he chopped sideways, the edge of his hand whacking her ear and skull and sending her sprawling. Her ear hurt like a bitch and began to ring.