Em managed a small smile as they entered the Chamber, but it didn't last long.
She felt the wizard's gaze like a weight, a wolf's stare as though he contemplated tearing her apart to see how she worked. No, not a wolf, she amended as his eyes narrowed to slits; a coyote, some kind of scavenger eager to reap the rewards of another's efforts. She shivered even as Marcus' contemptuous gaze moved on.
Why had she come? she wondered as she and Ambrose huddled near the back of the room. They didn't require her testimony today, had already heard what she had to tell. In part, she supposed she had come to support Darien, but she couldn't fool herself into believing that alone drew her here. No, she admitted, she had come to ensure Destiny received fair treatment, and that the Prince received equal punishment. How she expected to accomplish that amazing feat, she didn't know. A young librarian who hadn't even seen twenty summers yet, a woman at that and base born, how could she possibly hope to prevail on those stationed so high above her to grant justice if they chose to turn a blind eye to Whillim's actions while condemning Destiny's? And how could she presume to know better than everyone else?
Yet King Stefan had encouraged her to speak yesterday; more, he had insisted that others listen. And he had allowed Darien to speak with and for Destiny. The lady wizard and the Prince who had brought her to the capital would receive as fair a trial as Dalasham could grant. So why had Em decided to witness the proceedings today? Why had she subjected herself to the scrutiny of all these eyes again when she could have kept herself hidden and safe in her library?
Again, her attention shifted to Marcus. A myriad of thoughts chased across his face. She couldn't read them all, but she recognised cold calculation, ugly speculation. Whatever the wizard planned as mad delight mingled with disdain in his dark eyes, Em wanted no part of, and began to fear what he might try when Destiny arrived.
Which would happen soon, she realised, as King Stefan and the rest of the Council who hadn't already gathered up on the dais entered from the other side of the room and took their places.
Marcus' expression turned avid as his head swung toward the main entrance. Without thinking, Em turned to look too. Nothing yet, and she thought of the wizard cells down in the dungeon. Just as they blocked Destiny's magic, so too would they hide her presence. By Marcus' intent concentration, she suspected Darien had just brought Destiny into the sphere where magic could once again detect her.
Em feared that level of concentration on Marcus' face, and so, when Darien and Destiny did arrive, she quickly moved to meet them, Ambrose a close shadow at her side. What she could do against a wizard, Em had no idea, and she didn't so much think about the consequences to Destiny as the possible harm to Darien. If Marcus missed his mark, he might hit Darien with whatever spell he might cast. If Em stood in his way, maybe she could deflect it, or at least warn her mentor.
Guards moved to stop her, trying to protect the woman who would shortly stand trial. Em stumbled to a halt. She glanced over her shoulder, past Ambrose, and saw that every eye had latched onto Destiny. So no one, save Em, saw Marcus make his move.
She didn't hear his words, but she understood his outflung arms, weaving fingers, and shout of command that signalled the unleashing of some spell.
Imagining she felt Marcus' magic like the phantom tread of spiders crawling across her flesh, Em shoved past the guard in front of her, intending to reach Darien and push him to safety, for what good it would do. She fell instead into Destiny, Ambrose's fingers curling around Em's arm as he tried to steady her even as the two women tumbled to the ground. To Em's astonishment, every other body in the room also fell amid a great cacophony of thuds, cracks, moans, the clatter of armour and arms striking stone as even the guards slumped down. And the disturbing, power-mad laugh of a wizard.
Em blinked uncertainly at Destiny from mere inches away, and the lady wizard stared back, her dark blue eyes as shocked as Em's as the pair sprawled on the floor. Then Em's gaze slid beyond to Darien. The Chief Librarian lay supine next to Destiny, unmoving though his eyes remained wide open. It looked like he had simply dropped straight back, no effort made to ease his landing. She feared he may have injured himself, as others she could see nearby seemed to have; broken noses, arms bent at awkward angles, gashes to head or other body parts trickling blood onto thirsty stone. But if she tried to reach Darien and check for bumps and bruises, Em feared she would draw the attention of Marcus, who even now bit off his disturbing mirth.
With trepidation, Em slowly turned her head to peer over her shoulder. She met Ambrose's wide-eyed stare, then moved past it to watch Marcus stroll without haste toward the dais where King Stefan lay in an immobile tangle with Fred, Lord Alphonse, and someone wearing dark trews and black boots, a nameless body trapped beneath the weight of others. Unblinking, vacant stares shone from every face she saw, an eerie sensation of captured souls entwined in a net of Marcus' making, sending a shiver up Em's spine.
"Yes," Marcus murmured, a satisfied purr in his voice. "This ought to work quite well."
Em brought her focus back around, stared at Destiny, pitched her voice low.
"What spell did he cast?"
"Some form of immobilization," Destiny replied, her lips barely moving, her voice a breath of air.
"Why didn't it affect us?"
Destiny glanced down to her wrists, to the bracelets linked by a thin chain clapped about each, her brow drawn down.
"Chain out to deflect magical attack," she said. Her gaze drifted to Darien without moving her head. "His precaution saved me." Then she looked down to where Em's hand still made contact with Destiny's arm, a slight tick twisting her eyebrow. "Contact may have transferred the immunity."
Em stared at the chain. She felt Ambrose shift at her back, realised his weight pinned her legs, and that she could still feel where his fingers had encircled her arm when she fell into Destiny, that grip allowing a further extension of this strange shielding. Three of them, then, against a wizard who had just struck down an entire room full of people, and none of the three with access to their own magic. She studied Destiny again, the one Marcus wanted above all others.
"If we drop him, will it break the spell?" Em asked. Destiny's lips quirked into an amused smile.
"I don't know what he cast, can't sense what magic he used or still holds in abeyance. These," she gave a slight shake to her wrists, "make me as vulnerable as you."
"He's not likely to break the spell because we ask," Ambrose whispered. Odd to hear his voice float up from around her shoulder, but Em knew none of them dared give themselves away with excess motion. Marcus might still stand over near the dais, gloating, but it wouldn't take much to draw his attention. "But we dare not leave him able to cause more harm."
"I don't know what killing him will do to those under his spell," Destiny warned.
"Then get ready to knock him out when he comes over," Em decided. "We won't get a second chance."
Even as she spoke, Marcus' laughter echoed in the room again, and they heard him approach, indifferently kicking bodies aside as he moved.
"Ah, Girl," Marcus breathed, contempt and elation twisting the timbre of his tone into something horribly unpleasant. The thump, thump of his boots as he trod closer beat a nasty countermelody to his words. "Too long, Girl, too long you've made Nathan search for you. Too long you've cheated his vengeance. And now, I will bring you to him." His laugh grew a little wild, and Em had to force herself not to tense as the sound grated against her. "I waited two years for this opportunity," he crooned. "Two years where Nathan had only Tyrandel's voice in his ear. But now, I will have his favour again, now that I have his greatest enemy in my grasp."
Em could see his shadow standing over them now, felt his fevered gaze, the brush of the edge of his tunic as he crouched.
"I will give him Dalasham and you, Girl, and this little bonus besides, and have all the reward I could ever desire."
To Em's horror, Marcus brushed his hand against her cheek. She couldn't
help her jerk of revulsion, even as it gave her away.
"What?" Marcus exploded, throwing himself up and back. But Ambrose moved just as fast. He surged to his feet in an instant, bringing the pommel of a dagger gripped in his hand across in an arc that smashed against Marcus' temple. The wizard had time for a startled grunt before his knees gave way and he crashed down atop the guard who had tried to stop Em from reaching Darien earlier.
Em rolled to her knees, freed from Ambrose's weight.
"Tie him with something, secure his hands. Gag him."
She turned to look at Destiny, who stared daggers at the wizard as she sat up. But beneath that hatred, Em saw a hint of sorrow. She didn't think Destiny nursed that sorrow for Marcus.
"What else?" Em demanded, drawing the twilight gaze of Destiny. "What else in case he regains consciousness?"
Destiny just shook her head.
"That will do for now." The lady wizard looked out over the room, at the still motionless, blankly staring forms crowding the floor. "His spell is not contingent upon constant maintenance. He's likely tied it into a sustaining loop." She frowned. "If he truly intended to give Dalasham to Nathan, he might have made it transferable. He's certainly made it long-lasting, unless he expected my brother to waltz into the castle within hours."
Em stared at her, eyes wide.
"Nathan's here?" Her voice squeaked.
Destiny blinked, looked at her.
"I doubt it, but ..." she glanced down at her chains. "I can't sense my ward with these on."
Em stared at the restraints, thinking hard.
"Your ward still exists despite those?" she asked.
Destiny blinked up at her, then pushed herself to her feet, standing a good hand taller than Em. Ambrose left Marcus secured behind him and moved to Em's side, her fierce protector, facing Destiny.
"The ward exists apart from me, so it doesn't matter that I can't reach my magic."
"And Marcus' spell?" Em asked. "Can you tell if it would still hold if such chains bound him? Could cutting off his connection to magic erase this spell?"
Destiny turned her piercing stare on the other wizard. When she made to step toward him, Ambrose's sword, drawn smoothly from its sheath, blocked her path. Destiny glared at him.
"I need to see if he carries a talisman, some kind of token, something he might have anchored the spell to," she spat.
"You need to move with caution," he retorted.
She scowled. Em pressed her back against Ambrose, nudging him aside slightly. She swept her hand toward Marcus, her focus on Destiny, and when the taller woman moved again, Em kept pace with her. When Destiny knelt, so did Em. She met the wizard's stare over Marcus' body, and then watched carefully as Destiny searched him. After coming up empty handed, Destiny sighed and shook her head.
"Unless he anchored it to some feature in this room, he's linked it in his mind," she said, meeting Em's gaze as they knelt facing one another. "I don't know if such manacles," she flicked her wrists again, "will break the spell without causing harm."
Em scowled down at Marcus, not knowing what to do. She glanced over at Darien's still form, wishing she could ask his advice. Apart from the woman across from her and this unconscious nuisance at her knees, he had the most knowledge regarding magic of anyone in Dalasmar. Then she frowned as she contemplated something reckless, an act she knew others wouldn't approve.
Taking a deep breath, at a loss for any other course of action, she raised her eyes to Destiny's.
"If we sever the link, does it negate the spell?" she asked.
"In theory," Destiny replied. "But I cannot guarantee it without knowing how he cast the spell. Did he scatter it randomly across the room, or use one person as a focal point? Does he use his own life force as a nexus, or has he disbursed a thinner shield of power? If he linked it in his mind, then yes, severing the link will release the spell."
Em bit her lip, dropped her gaze to the unconscious wizard, to what she, somehow, sensed flickering around him.
"It looks like filaments of energy expanding from here," she held a finger over Marcus' forehead, allowed it to hover a moment just between his eyes as she dared to meet Destiny's astonished stare. "They cover everyone save us, like a spider's web, or a net."
Destiny's mouth opened, closed, opened again. She finally managed a slight whisper.
"You can see magic." A statement, almost an accusation, no question or doubt colouring the words. Em pushed aside the uncomfortable revelation.
"If you bound Marcus' magic like he did yours," she said instead, "cutting him off from his source, will that break this spell?" Before the wizard could shake her shackles again, Em qualified her question. "If I remove those restraints, can we free them?"
Destiny froze. Em thought she may have even held her breath.
"Emily," Ambrose warned quietly as he stood over them, his sword hovering close to Destiny. "You can't―"
Em held up a hand, gaze steady on the other woman. With her other hand, she took the handle of her dagger, drew the blade. Leaning across Marcus' body, Em lightly pressed the edge to Destiny's throat. She reached for Destiny's wrist, fingers wrapped around the restraints, around the strange seam which sealed the shackles shut. Destiny followed every movement with dark eyes, the rest of her held utterly motionless.
"If I see anything, feel anything, that hints you do aught but what I ask," Em said, voice low, calm, and full of a conviction that would have surprised her had she allowed herself time for thought, "if you try to betray this trust, I will stop you. Do you understand?"
Destiny didn't flinch. She held Em's stare with her own intensity.
"I understand," the wizard replied quietly. "But I ask one thing."
Em tilted her head, impressed by the woman's equanimity.
"Ask."
"Don't let them put me back in that cell."
Em raised a brow.
"I won't let you go free," she began.
"I don't ask that you do," Destiny replied, holding very still against Em's knife. "Only that, if I must sit as a prisoner, it's not in a cell."
Em couldn't read the emotion that briefly flared in Destiny's eyes before the wizard masked it with a veneer of disdain, but she forced herself to trust her instinct.
"Check your ward," she instructed Destiny. "Make sure your brother doesn't walk our lands. Then bind Marcus. Nothing else. You do that, and you won't go back to that cell."
And before her resolve shattered, Em twisted the bracelet on Destiny's left wrist, freeing the wizard from her bonds.
Chapter 9
Destiny stared at her wrist. She heard the slight click of the delicate manacle releasing, saw the bracelet snap open under Emily's hand, felt the gentle weight give way. But more than that, she felt her connection to magic envelop her. Like a door she hadn't known existed suddenly opened, the sweet sensation of her power swirled within her, making her complete. Destiny drew in a deep breath, savouring the wholeness of mind and body, understanding now an intrinsic intensity of magic and spirit that flourished in her world, an aspect of life that no one had ever taught her.
She revelled in this renewed freedom, considered for the briefest moment slipping the last shackle of her imprisonment, evading and escaping the determined young woman confronting her. The sharp edge of Emily's blade caressed Destiny's neck, a promise, or perhaps just a reminder of a pact recently made. Destiny stared into the pale grey gaze of the little librarian, saw an opportunity, a choice: escape persecution from those who feared her, once again running and hiding; or trust one who appeared to understand and oppose the oppression, truly make her own destiny and stand to fight for what she most wanted.
She made her decision and closed her eyes.
Spreading her senses outward, Destiny searched her perimeter ward, caressed each edge of the shield that detected outside interference. The spell remained intact, undisturbed.
"Nathan has not intruded," she breathed. "I don't know if he has crossed your border or walks your
land, but he does not stand within a day of this castle."
She opened her eyes in time to see Emily nod. Without waiting for any prompts, Destiny shifted her attention to the man lying in front of her. The soldier hovering at Emily's side had bound Marcus' hands with the wizard's own belt and stuffed a wad of cloth torn from Marcus' robe into the mouth of her brother's companion. A purpling lump had already started to form on Marcus' temple from where the soldier had struck him down. The sight pleased Destiny, the memory of a little girl in the back of her mind cheering this small vanquishing of one who had tormented her. She pushed aside that petty thought and studied what Emily had somehow seen.
Although Destiny couldn't see the course of energy fuelling Marcus' spell, she could sense the paralyzing net that Emily had described. That the librarian could detect magic surprised Destiny, but perhaps it shouldn't have, given Dalasham's disproportionate abundance of Lesser Magics. Likely Darien didn't stand alone in mastering more than one Lesser Magic. In another time and place, Destiny suspected Emily might also have made a formidable wizard. A thought for later.
With slow and measured motions―Destiny had no desire to give her captors motive to draw blood―she reached her right hand to hover over Marcus' brow, the bracelet still encircling that wrist dangling its mate into the wizard's dark hair. Not knowing quite why, she explained her intentions.
"I will cast a shield over him," she said. "Like encasing him in a suit of armour, only this armour will contain his magic rather than deflect harm from without. Once the shield snaps into place, it will cut off any output from his spell. This will sever the threads weaving his net together, releasing those he has imprisoned, though it will take their bodies a moment to throw off their immobility. I will tie off the shield in a roving knot, trapping his magic behind a barrier, thus making it safe to transport him to somewhere secure." She didn't mention the wizard cells, but imagined Marcus would end up in one. So long as Destiny didn't join him, the idea didn't displease.
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