Stained Glass Monsters

by Andrea Höst

  She'd prepared for an ambush by Eferum-Get, but the dark sea showed no unusual signs of life, and her divinations revealed only minor creatures some distance away. Perhaps, now that the Sentene were sealing these major breaches, there would be no more attempts at spectacular incursions.

  Still cautious, Rennyn next triggered the divination which would measure the force approaching her. Soon. She cupped the vessel in both hands and waited, having no plans to linger a moment longer than necessary. The wave was coming.

  And a tiny star came with it. Rennyn frowned, but it was not headed for her. A single Eferum-Get, one of the scaled and winged Darensi, was guiding a compact mote of tightly-wound Efera toward the forming breach. Some kind of casting? It looked like the hint to change tactics had been a warning that the Eferum-Get were about to alter theirs.

  Knowing there was little chance of being able to return before that thing had gone through the breach, Rennyn concentrated on making the attunement, choosing the best moment rather than rushing. The younger focus pulled at her till she felt she was a fisherman who had hooked a whale. She would have to set her circle further from the breach next time, or risk being dragged in.

  "Hello cousin."

  As shock sent a cold spike down her spine, arms closed around her waist. And, far worse, two injunctions settled on her as he spoke, binding her from casting and moving. Immediately she tried to break them, to overwhelm them with her sheer strength, but they were an odd structure, layered as if she were wound in a thousand cords which flexed instead of snapping. She couldn't stop Solace's second son as he tightened his arms, pressing against her back.

  "We have so much to talk of, cousin, but first I think a moment's silence only appropriate. You must say goodbye to your little friends."

  Rennyn couldn't make the adjustment to look through the veil, couldn't see what that mote was doing. She couldn't even close her eyes. But the hot circle of power which was the shield abruptly flared and vanished, leaving her surrounded by darkness.

  She pushed harder against the invisible bonds, feeling them stretch and fray. It would break, strand by strand if necessary, but the question was how much time she'd have to do it. Rennyn had never met an injunction so well built, its strength not drawn from any massive amount of power, but the intricacy of structure. What kind of mage was he? She'd not been able to detect his presence, but he had unerringly found her. She hadn't had time to trigger even one of her defences. But he hadn't killed her yet.

  "How your heart is beating, cousin." The arms around her waist tightened further, and he rested his cheek against the side of her throat. She could feel his heart beating too. Fast. Excited.

  "My name is Helecho," he continued, in a conversational tone. "I thought you should know. I'm going to have you, you see. You're mine from the moment I walk into your world. You should know the name of the one who owns you."

  With unhurried deliberation he undid the top four buttons of her shirt and pulled it loose at the throat, then began to kiss the side of her neck. The touch of his lips sent a blank incredulity through Rennyn, but the jolt woke a spark of hope. He wasn't going to kill her, not right away at any rate. And no matter how well-built these injunctions, she had the advantage of strength. The longer he delayed, the more certain became her escape.

  An injunction was an unequal battle of strengths. Structured magic was always stronger than the pure will of Thought casting which was the only recourse of a person under an injunction. Rennyn had been able to break Lady Weston's injunction quickly because she was that much stronger than the Grand Magister, and the woman had not been prepared and so used a very straightforward Sigillic spell inscribed on a bracelet. This Helecho's injunctions hadn't used even half as much power as the Grand Magister's, but their layers stretched instead of obligingly snapping.

  Anger helped. All she was able to do was stand there while he nuzzled and licked her throat, his arms wrapping so tightly back around her waist her stomach felt bruised. It was revolting, infuriating. And then he freed one arm so he could slide a hand inside her shirt, beneath her thin camisole to fondle her breast. Outrage roared through her and she stoked it, concentrated it, fed it. Thought magic was as much will as raw strength, and the injunction was becoming badly frayed.

  "I can't promise to treat you well," he murmured, nipping lightly at her skin. His teeth were sharp. "Rather the opposite. But you mustn't give in. Too dull, if you crumble straight away."

  He was so pleased. Enjoyment of her situation radiated off him, and his excitement was reaching a fever-pitch as he bit her again and again, each time coming closer to breaking the skin. He squeezed her breast in painful accompaniment, twisting soft flesh cruelly, and made a little noise in his throat, one of triumph and satisfaction, and it was too much. It was enough.

  Shedding fragments of the casting, Rennyn thrust him furiously away, and triggered one of the spells she'd prepared. The Efera all around her ignited, white fire blasting out into the darkness. Without pause she followed it with three expanding circles which would cut through anything, but they sliced into nothing. Unlike her, he could easily move through the Eferum.

  "So powerful." The gloating words drifted out of the darkness, out of her reach. "I am going to enjoy you, little cousin."

  Shuddering, Rennyn refastened her shirt as she tried to isolate from which direction the voice had come. "Not if I see you first, worm." She guessed a direction and spent her anger in a meaningless bolt of pure force, but there was no sign that she'd hit anything. This was his home ground and there was no value in lingering, so she made the shift back to the far side of the veil. And fell.

  Strong arms caught her. Rennyn gasped, and clutched at an unseen shoulder, then stared about her. She'd forgotten the mote of worked Efera.

  It was night, with a low sliver of moon. The carefully smoothed earth where she'd marked her circle was gone. Most everything was gone, replaced by a massive crater, a dozen feet deep in the centre. It covered a quarter of the lawn, shearing the stone-lined pool in two. The explosion hadn't reached the house or even the rose garden, but dirt and stone had been flung in every direction, sparing little.

  The arms holding her tightened, and Rennyn looked up. Captain Illuma, faintly luminescent in the moonlight. There were others: Danress, Faille, and Illuma's partner Vesan. Waiting patiently for her return.

  "How many dead?" Rennyn asked, struggling to control herself.

  "Three," Captain Illuma replied, and started walking out of the crater. "But few escaped without injury."

  Looking around, Rennyn was surprised there hadn't been more deaths. "The shield didn't contain the blast?"

  "The shield was the blast," Lieutenant Danress explained. "Some kind of spell which converted the shield's energy. You were a long time returning."

  "Yes." It was a dry little word, and Rennyn closed her eyes to push away the sudden roil in her stomach. "Solace's second son calls himself Helecho, and he is enjoying himself far too much. I don't think the intention was to kill me, though. He didn't even try to take my focus, and he could have very easily. A taunting kind of creature, this uncle of mine. Playing games."

  They had reached flatter ground, so Rennyn slid free of Captain Illuma's hold, concentrating as tightly as she could on business, on what must be done. "I learned a couple of things. He's at a disadvantage in terms of power. He can't have summoned a focus of his own, perhaps is unable to without coming to this world first. So though his castings might be technically skilled, there's a limit to the scope of them."

  "Broad enough." Danress' voice was bitter.

  "He's nigh-undetectable in the Eferum," Rennyn continued. "So I will change my approach there. I think I should be able to avoid another ambush. What do the Hand say about using the shield again?"

  "They debate the point," Illuma said, leading the way toward the drive. "And will put the question to the Grand Magister."

  Rennyn nodded, then retreated into silence for the walk to the coaches and the ride to the
nearby village. She was tired, cold, hungry, and had been...wounded. And three more people were dead. Just for the night, she wanted a way to stop thinking. She wanted her father.

  "Why are you frightened?"

  Startled, Rennyn looked up. She hadn't even noticed the coach draw to a halt, or the door open. Captain Faille was a pearl-tipped shadow blocking the way out. "What?" she asked, not equal to any better answer.

  In the pause before he responded Rennyn could hear the sounds of people moving about, of horses. They'd reached the inn the Hand had commandeered.

  "You are perhaps not so arrogant as you pretend," Captain Faille said finally, in his soft, attenuated voice. "But you are secure in your abilities. You did not so much as flinch when we met at Finton. During the incursion in Asentyr your plans were completely overset, and that casting was one which had every likelihood of killing you. It barely made you hesitate. In Surclere, this second son's existence was simply a new factor to include in your calculations. But now you are frightened. Why?"

  Rennyn stared, resenting the uniform which hid so much of his face, and the lighting which always conspired to make Kellian impossible to read. Surely she could not be so transparent as he made it sound. How much more had he seen? He was risky, more dangerous than she'd realised. But, all the same, the question deserved an answer.

  "I was raised to do everything I could to stop Solace," she said. "Or to die trying. I'm used to that idea. But I never pictured anything but a quick death. The idea of being...brutalised by this son of Solace, that is new to me." Her skin crawled at unwanted memory, and she pressed her lips together to control them.

  A slight shift of position was all of his response, and then he stepped aside. Rennyn escaped upstairs, to the room she'd left her bags in hours ago. A tray of food had been set out waiting but, hungry as she was she couldn't face it, and stood by the fire clenching her fists. Frightened. It was true. It was what that gloating snake had been trying to achieve.

  A tap at the door broke into her angry thoughts, and Rennyn turned a less than pleasant expression on the two maidservants who opened it.

  "You ordered a bath, M'Lady?" the first girl asked uncertainly, balancing one end of a large tin tub.

  Rennyn hadn't, but realised it was precisely what she needed and nodded stiffly, then went to the food tray and forced herself to eat while the maids carried in bucket after bucket of steaming water.

  Captain Faille saw entirely too much.

  Chapter Twelve

  The stables of the Houses of Magic were crowded, for most of the Sentene had returned to Asentyr ahead of Rennyn's small party. Re-grouping to lick their wounds and make new plans. The undoing of the shield had been a bad blow.

  "Can you tell Lady Weston I'd like to talk to her when she's free?" Rennyn asked, lugging her bags out of the coach.

  "Of course," Lieutenant Danress replied, not managing to hide a flash of curiosity. Rennyn saw her give Captain Faille a quick glance, but the man only turned to remove his overlong sword from the second coach.

  "I'll be with my brother." Rennyn wandered off, cheating a little with the weight of the bags. She hadn't slept and was still very tired, but felt herself again. So long as she didn't think too much.

  Asking about, she was directed to a small room in the Sentene's building. "I see you're making good use of the library," she said.

  "Ren!" Seb jumped to his feet and hugged her tight.

  She was glad of it, holding him close for a long moment before she let him pull away.

  "You look terrible."

  "Thanks. Have you heard much of what's been happening?"

  "Hardly. They see me as babysitting, nothing more. The way they moved me this morning, I had a feeling they needed the infirmary."

  "Yes." Rennyn cleared a few books from the bed, then took him through the events of the past few days. The excitement died from his eyes, but then he frowned and shook his head.

  "It shouldn't make any difference, really. Well, not to our plans, though if we think of any way to help the Sentene with the incursions, we could make a few suggestions. But – this Helecho – do you think he's as loyal a son as Tiandel?"

  Seb was always quick to the vital points. "The Summoning will be taking most of her concentration, so that...creature gives her a free agent. Whether he was supposed to come through a breach himself and work from this side, or whether this invasion attempt was even part of her plans, that I can't guess. The Eferum may have changed her to the point where having a horde of Eferum-Get loose in Asentyr is acceptable to her."

  "If he's making a play of his own, he'll not want her to complete the Summoning. Which would be reason enough to not kill you when he had the chance. It may mean things won't play out as we expect." He looked at her anxiously.

  "Possible, I suppose." Rennyn sighed. "Though there's no proof he's not acting on her instructions. Either way, he's a nasty creature."

  "Ren..."

  "Mm?"

  "The way this ends–"

  "I know. I'll try my best." She clasped his hand, forestalling anything else he might say in this place where anyone could be listening. "How are your treatments going?"

  "The worst is gone, but it'll be a couple of weeks yet before I'm clear of it. I'm clumsy, can't write properly, and if I stand up too long I go all shaky. In a way – in a way I'm glad it happened, that I came here."

  "Yes." Rennyn looked down at her hands. "It's better to face some things, isn't it? No matter the complications."

  "Speaking of which – I may have been a little tactless." With a certain amount of relish he told her of an encounter with the royal heirs.

  "You do get these righteous fits."

  "You'd have done the same thing."

  A knock at the door ended the conversation, and it opened to reveal Lieutenant Danress.

  "Lady Weston is ready to speak with you now."

  Rennyn blinked. The Sentene mage had her uniform fully fastened, hiding the lower part of her face but totally failing to disguise simmering fury. Rennyn reviewed her conversation, wondering what she could have revealed, but then she realized that Danress was barely looking at her. This was nothing to do with the Claires.

  Exchanging a blank look with Seb, she allowed herself to be led away. It wasn't just Danress. Rennyn caught a glimpse of several people having what seemed to be a heated argument in the Sentene's central hall. The whole atmosphere was charged with sudden upset. Decidedly worrying.

  Lady Weston was alone in a cavernous and slightly musty study. She looked old, closer to her true age instead of the forty-ish woman magic allowed her to remain. She didn't seem surprised when Lieutenant Danress, instead of politely delivering Rennyn and departing, abruptly launched into speech.

  "M'Lady, please, is there nothing you can do?"

  The Grand Magister made a quelling gesture, fond but stern. "There are some battles it's better to concede, Jolien. This is one."

  "But it's uncalled for," Lieutenant Danress said, tugging her collar open as if it stifled her. "They've done nothing to deserve it. And it's so ungrateful. Not to mention unjust."

  "Justice and politics rarely walk together," Lady Weston said.

  "Has something happened?" Rennyn asked, though she had a suspicion.

  Lieutenant Danress turned to her, with a hint of doubt which told its own story. "The Queen has ordered that the Kellian be placed under injunction and put to the Question," she said, her voice quavering with anger.

  "Someone's actually taking the idea of them worshipping Solace seriously?"

  "Perhaps not worship. But the demand is growing that they submit some proof that there remains no lingering allegiance." Lady Weston shook her head. "The Kellian have their enemies, and this is naturally an ideal moment to strike. It comes as no surprise."

  "An ideal moment?" Lieutenant Danress took a frustrated step, as if she were longing to hit someone not there. "Haven't they noticed what's been going on? There couldn't be a worse moment! Don't they understand an
ything at all about what the Kellian do for us?"

  "Possibly not," Lady Weston said dryly. "But this is a command from our Queen, Jolien. The time for argument is past."

  Rennyn was finding it very hard not to think about Captain Illuma catching her and carrying her out of the blast site. Nor of a badly-needed bath. She had been spending more than a little effort, these past couple of weeks, trying not to think constantly of the Kellian. It would have been so much easier if she'd been able to avoid working with them until the last moment. But Seb was right.

  "Where do I fit into the interrogation schedule?" she asked, and smiled at their arrested expressions. "After all, I am Solace's direct descendent, and head of the Montjuste-Surclere family. If anyone's going to be accused of lingering allegiances, it should surely be me."

  "You would allow that?" Lady Weston's surprise was palpable.

  "I don't guarantee to answer everything, but somehow I suspect the questions they'll ask are ones I have fairly definitive views about." She considered Lieutenant Danress. "You're a descendent of one of those Eferum Travellers, aren't you? Maybe you should be interrogated too, just in case you're some kind of advance spy. Really, is there anyone in the Sentene who can truly be considered above suspicion? Questioning only the Kellian is a trifle lax, Lady Weston."

  "That is an excellent point." Lady Weston glanced at Lieutenant Danress, who nodded eagerly.

  "If it's the only way to balance this," the younger mage said. "Gladly."

  "Very well." Lady Weston pulled a sheet of paper from the reports spread on her desk, and began writing. "Take this to Councillor Allerton, Lieutenant," she ordered. "And then pass my command to the Senior Captains."

  "Yes, M'Lady!" Lieutenant Danress said crisply, and strode out of the room. She looked very happy for someone who'd just been added to an interrogation list.

  "A show of solidarity is little enough, but it will make all the difference to morale," Lady Weston said. "There are few Sentene magi who don't owe their lives to their partners. Particularly after Darasum House. Only the Kellian could have saved that situation."