I looked to Alex to clarify.
“On Earth you have months. Here we judge time by the cycles of different moons. I don’t know where we’re at in the cycles.”
“You have five days,” Thaddeus said without giving any indication of the craziness of this timeline.
“That’s insane.” I had a good feeling I’d regret my next question, but I needed to know. “And what happens if I’m found guilty?”
Thaddeus’s lips settled into a grim line. “You’ll be banished to the Vortex.”
Millhook and Alex gasped.
“What’s the Vortex? Prison?” I asked, not knowing if I wanted the answer.
Thaddeus and Calista shared an uncomfortable glance, but Alex took my hand and spoke before either of them could. “Yes, it’s prison.”
Chapter 7
I followed Lilibet to a teleportation ring in a haze of shock. My eyes automatically closed as we entered the ring. When they opened, we were outside.
“I wanted to take you the long way so you can see some of the scenery.” Lilibet walked through a courtyard and Alex, Millhook, and I followed.
While I was curious to see as much of Elustria as possible, I still reeled from the conversation with Thaddeus and Calista. “Did you know my mother?”
Lilibet looked at me the way people do when determining if they’re going to tell you the truth or what they think you want to hear. “Yes, I knew her, but not well. I only met her a few times. I knew more of her than I did her.”
My mind itched to ask, and it was out of my mouth before I thought better of it. “Was she capable of what Thaddeus said? Do you believe my mother was working with the Directorate?”
“Yes, I do. It makes sense given her personality. I wouldn’t have guessed before your questioning but only because Meglana preferred to work alone.”
Great, so the only reason my mother didn’t get caught earlier was because she was a loner. Like mother like daughter. “Just because someone likes to work alone, doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.”
“I know. I prefer to work alone myself. Don’t worry though, no one here is judging you based on your mother. We don’t believe in judging people based on their parents. It’s why we don’t use last names often. The family you belong to has no weight on the merits of your actions.”
“But it appears the Council is willing to judge me based on my mother.”
Lilibet shifted uncomfortably. “I will admit that the Council’s overreaching here. It’s the circumstances that have them acting this way. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been in my lifetime. Violence with the sorcerers is increasing, and the Council’s working constantly to prevent escalation, but the Directorate is doing everything they can to undermine those actions. The Council will do almost anything to stop it.”
“Including blackmailing an innocent person.”
“In this instance, unfortunately, yes.” The soft-spoken surety with which Lilibet stated the truth without apology or equivocation was strangely comforting. For the first time in a while, I felt myself trusting someone other than Alex. “I suggest you make the best of this situation. You’re in a new world now; this can be a fresh start for you.”
“What are those people doing?” Alex’s question drew my attention from Lilibet and up to where he pointed in the sky. Overhead, a clear, open box floated above us carrying a group of maybe fifteen people, many of them shooting sparks from the tips of their wands and watching them strike what appeared to be a transparent force field protecting the Citadel.
Lilibet appeared unperturbed. “Tourists. They never seem to tire of testing the shield.”
“Wait, so they’re attacking the Citadel for fun?” Maybe the Council should focus on that.
“No, they’re just shooting sparks. They like to see that the shield is intact. It’s the largest in Elustria, and it’s been operating continuously for longer than any other shield.”
Her statement begged the question. “How long?”
“At least three thousand years. I’m sure the tourist gift shop would have an exact answer for you.”
I marveled at the world around me. From what I saw, Elustria looked nothing like steampunk as Mikael had said, but I couldn’t fault him for making the comparison, especially since he didn’t have a full understanding of Earth culture. This world was a strange blend of technology and magic, old and new.
The Citadel itself was such a blend. The massive stone structure with its sea of domed rooftops stood on top of a mountain, lit by two suns high in the sky—which explained why the judgment room had light coming in from each window. It had clearly been built for protection first, with high walls constructed out of thick stone. But the grounds we walked through were beautiful rather than utilitarian. Manicured lawns and gardens surrounded the building.
The inside of the Citadel held some of the most amazing art I’d ever seen. While the people dressed in clothes that clearly didn’t come from a time of factories and “made in China” tags, illuminator orbs floated above each person’s head and a copper-colored balloon equipped with propellers kept the box of tourists aloft.
“I don’t understand. Why don’t they use magic to fly?” I asked.
“Can you fly?”
“No.”
“Not everyone wants to learn. It’s a difficult skill to master. Even when one has mastered it, why not just float aloft in a machine made for the purpose and use your magic for other things?”
“Such as shooting sparks against the shield.”
“Exactly.” Lilibet resumed walking.
Human nature didn’t change much whether on Earth or Elustria. People took the common and abundant for granted, even magic.
Lilibet led us down through many levels of gardens. The only people I saw were gardeners lovingly tending their flowers and what I assumed were Elustrian vegetables. Many of them had wands out, pruning bushes and removing weeds. Some were even on their hands and knees digging in the ground. I supposed for someone who liked gardening, nothing beat the feel of earth beneath their hands. Magic couldn’t replace everything.
The distinct lack of people was a little eerie. “Where is everyone?”
“There’s a teleportation ring at the gate. Most people teleport straight there. There’s another ring outside the gate. The rings inside the Citadel cannot be accessed from the outside and vice versa for security, but I thought you might enjoy the walk.”
“Well, not all of us delight in walking out in the middle the day, wasting our time,” Millhook grumbled.
“No one is forcing you to stay, Millhook,” I said.
“That’s not true. Furball here won’t let me leave.” Millhook pointed to Alex.
“Ah, I think you like us more than you let on,” I said. “I doubt we could stop you from leaving if you really wanted to.”
“Nope,” Alex replied, “not until I release him from his vow. He promised us safe passage, and we haven’t completed our passage yet.”
Keeping Millhook against his will didn’t sit well with me. But the idea that this might all be a trap by the Council didn’t sit well either, and I appreciated the bit of security Millhook provided. If I had learned anything about the imp, it was that he was supremely self-centered. If his magic was on the line, he’d do whatever it would take to protect us.
When we reached the gate, we queued up behind a few other mages who had teleported there to exit. Looking behind us, I saw the four levels of gardens we had walked through. The Citadel towered over us, and the tourists flying above were mere specs against the blue sky.
Lilibet spoke with the guard stationed at the gate, and he waved us through. On the other side, we gathered in the teleportation ring. “We can go to the base of the mountain and walk through the city some, or I can take you straight to your house.”
As much as I wanted to see Elustria, I wanted to see my mother’s home more. Hopefully, it would give me answers, though I hoped the answers pointed me to a different conclusion than the o
ne the Council had come to. “Let’s go to the house.”
“Very well. The teleportation rings inside the house have been disabled. I’ll take us as close as we can get.”
I blinked, and we were on the outskirts of a small village. In the distance, I could make out the Citadel atop the mountain.
“Your mother liked her privacy,” Lilibet said. “The house is a bit secluded.”
A man waited for us, one Lilibet appeared to know.
“Greetings, Gareth.”
“Greetings. So this is the girl?” Gareth appeared about Thaddeus’s age, with blond hair and pale sea-foam green eyes. An easy smile graced his face, and he looked relaxed in a pair of well-worn brown leather pants and a smart shirt and waistcoat with the sleeves rolled up. I noticed he kept his wand at his hip in a small leather holster. The friendly openness of his expression made it easy to forgive him for calling me “the girl.”
“This is Kat, Meglana’s daughter. Kat, this is Councilor Gareth.”
Gareth nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. While I serve on the Council, I feel the need to apologize for the position you’re in. We don’t relish placing so much pressure on you, but it’s essential to the security of our people that we know what your mother was doing.”
Before I could respond, Lilibet motioned to Alex. “And this is her companion, Alex. He’s a panther shifter.”
“It’s a pleasure. Will you be joining Kat at the house, or do you have a pack to get back to?”
“No, I’m staying with her for the foreseeable future.”
“I thought that might be the case given her testimony. I have a carriage waiting for us.”
“Sure, don’t say hello to the fae. I might as well not even be here,” Millhook groused.
“I know who you are, Millhook, and you’re just as annoying and ornery as ever. If you want people to speak to you, try being more pleasant,” Gareth said without looking in Millhook’s direction.
Gareth led us to a carriage that a horse might pull, but there wasn’t a horse. When we climbed in, Gareth pointed his wand to a little contraption in the front where a horse’s reins would lay. It appeared to be a miniature wheel, and as soon as the spell touched it, it began to turn, and the wheels of the carriage followed suit. That done, he focused his attention on the conversation as the carriage drove itself.
“We’ve been through the house inside and out. The teleportation rings have been disabled for security. We haven’t found any traps or anything of use. It should be safe for you. However, we have sensed a muted enchantment, but no one has figured out what it is or how to break it.”
“So how do you know it’s safe?” Alex asked.
“If it were dangerous, it would’ve done something to us with all the poking around we’ve been doing. She had traps set, but we disabled them without doing much harm. Now, I’ve stocked the house with food and everything you should need. We’ll also have someone stationed outside the door at all times, should you require anything.”
I couldn’t help wondering if the guard was to keep me in or to keep intruders out. Not to mention that he would probably report back to his superiors on all my activities.
Despite its appearance, the carriage we traveled in sped down the dirt road without bouncing or jostling at all. I wondered if the smooth ride was due to enchanted suspension or if the carriage hovered. A few minutes later we turned round a bend in the road and saw a quaint little cottage at the end of a long driveway.
The cottage looked like something out of a fairytale, complete with a thatched roof, brick chimney, and cute windows framed with shutters and flower boxes in full bloom. The flowers must be enchanted since my mother had been dead for quite some time, too long for untended flowers to still be alive. Or maybe she had a gardener.
As we approached, a man exited the cottage and waved at us. Gareth returned his greeting.
“That’s Simon, a Citadel guard stationed here.”
“Is a guard really necessary?” I asked.
“Yes, at least until we know more of what’s going on.” Gareth’s tone brooked no argument.
When we hopped out of the carriage, Simon met us and led the way into the cottage. “It’s all checked out clean. There’s nothing here that’s going to do anyone any harm.”
Stepping over the threshold, the first thing I noticed was how comfortable and lived-in the place looked. It seemed so at odds with the distant image of my mother, a woman whom I had no real memory of. It felt as if she might walk in right behind us.
“As you can see, there’s not much to it,” Gareth said. “I want to show you around, and you tell me if that talisman of yours perks up at anything. We think it’s the key to the last enchantment that we can’t figure out.” Gareth led me to the left into the little living room area. “Do you feel anything?”
“No.” I shook my head. I wanted to go through everything on my own. Threadbare carpet covered the uneven wooden floors in the living area. A giant chest acted as a coffee table, and a few comfortable looking chairs circled it, none of which matched. The green velvet one with the matching ottoman was well-worn in the center, and it was positioned perfectly in front of the window and by the fireplace, providing lots of natural light to read by and a cozy spot on a cold night.
“And what about over here?” Gareth took me to the right of the front door to the small kitchen area. It looked nothing like a kitchen on Earth except for all the cabinets and a sink. There were no appliances or anything else I recognized.
“No, there’s nothing.” The only thing I felt was curiosity and a desire to be left alone in my mother’s home.
“Well, you’ll find all your food here. It seems Meglana was quite a fan of ordering delivery, but since the teleportation rings inside the cottage have been disabled, that’s not an option anymore. If you need anything else, you can ask Simon for it.”
If I had it my way, Simon wouldn’t be staying.
Gareth led me through a doorway to the back of the cottage where a giant bay window housed a cozy reading nook. Cushions and a knitted throw rested on the window seat right where my mother must’ve left them. Shelves were built into the walls and filled with books around the little nook. I already knew that for however long I stayed here, this would be my favorite spot in the house.
As I took a step closer to get a better look, the magic in my talisman leapt, and it took all my self-control to not betray this new development on my face. I had already decided that I wouldn’t be sharing my discoveries with the Council until I investigated myself.
“Do you feel something here?”
I shook my head and took a breath to make sure my voice was steady. “No, nothing.”
The same pattern continued in the two bedrooms and bathrooms, one on the left side of the living room, and one on the right off of the kitchen.
“I had hoped your talisman would react to something, give us some clue to what the enchantment is.” Disappointment filled Gareth’s voice.
“I’ll keep looking. I’m sure my mother wouldn’t make it too obvious.”
“Gareth, it’s getting late and they still need to get settled in. Perhaps we should leave them to it,” Lilibet said, and I wanted to kiss her I was so grateful.
“I suppose you’re right. If you find anything, tell Simon, and he’ll get word back to us.”
“About that, I’d much prefer Simon not stay. I don’t need his protection.” Judging by the look on Gareth’s face, I came off more cocky than intended.
“She’s right. There’s no need for him to stay for her protection. That’s what I’m here for, and we have Millhook who has sworn to protect us,” Alex said.
“I don’t see any harm in leaving them alone,” Lilibet said. “We’ve searched the house. They’re not going to find a hidden danger that eluded us.”
“Besides, you said yourself the teleportation rings aren’t active in the house.” I tried to sound as reasonable as possible. “So you don’t need to worry about me wanderin
g off. Even if they were active, I’ve never been to Elustria. The only place I could teleport to was the Citadel. The Council is asking a lot of me, and I’ve agreed to it. I’m entitled to a little respect in return, and that includes privacy.”
Gareth looked between me and Alex. Respect shone from his eyes when he sized Alex up. It seemed he didn’t hold the same prejudices against shifters that other people in Elustria did.
“Very well. I’ll leave you with this communication orb. You can use it to reach anyone you’ve been in contact with at the Citadel. Someone will be by tomorrow to check in on you, make sure everything’s all right. Know, though, that if you get in trouble, it’s unlikely someone will get here in time to help you.”
“I understand.” What could go wrong?
“We’ll leave you to it then. Come on, Simon.”
Lilibet approached me. “Call me tomorrow when you’re settled in. If you have any questions or need anything, don’t be a stranger.” Lilibet leaned in and kissed me on each cheek and did the same to Alex. “Millhook.” She gave a little nod to the imp and then left.
When the door shut behind Simon, Gareth, and Lilibet, only Millhook remained. I had become fond of the imp in our time together, but what I wanted more than anything was privacy. He no doubt wanted to leave, as he never tired of telling us.
“See you two later,” Millhook said as he made his way to the door.
“I haven’t released you from your vow yet,” Alex said.
“I know you think I vowed to give you safe passage, but I didn’t. I’m not foolish enough to step into that loophole. What I actually vowed was that you’d be safe as long as I was with you.”
“So why did you stay?” I asked.
“Eh.” Millhook shrugged. “The pay’s good.”
“Well, thank you.” He didn’t have me fooled. I knew he cared more than he let on.
I stared at Alex expectantly until he got the point.
“Yeah, thanks.” Alex nodded to Millhook.
“Aww, you’re welcome, Furball. I can’t say I agree with what the Council’s doing. It’s mighty strange how they’ve handled all this. If you find yourselves in trouble or if you need me, just carve my name into a tree. I’ll get the message, and I’ll come wherever you are. I hope it doesn’t come to that, so good luck, and keep yourselves safe.” With that, Millhook opened the door and walked down the long driveway. As soon as he got to the street, he vanished. There must have been some enchantment that prevented him from disappearing while on my mother’s property.
Magic Unknown (The Elustria Chronicles: Magic Born Book 2) Page 5