Magic Unknown (The Elustria Chronicles: Magic Born Book 2)

by Caethes Faron

  A light knock sounded at the door, and in walked Millhook followed by Alex in his human form carrying a tray of food. Relief smoothed out the concerned lines on Alex’s face as soon as he saw me. If I became an outcast, I knew I’d always have friends in him and Millhook. Hadn’t I already decided that I had the best friends a girl could ask for? I didn’t need acceptance from anywhere else.

  “Finally they let us come see you. Furball here’s been driving me crazy worrying about you.”

  “How are you?” Alex asked as he set the tray of food across my lap on the bed. “Lilibet thought you might be hungry.”

  “I’m fine, just a little sore.” The food smelled delicious. I was ravenous and nauseous at the same time. Too much anxiety filled my stomach. “Did anyone go back for Nicole? Is she all right?”

  “I told you, Nicole’s fine. I didn’t have enough time or magic to change her memory, but I had enough to persuade her to go home after I assured her you were safe.”

  “Have you told anyone about her?”

  “No,” Alex said. “We didn’t think you’d want us to.”

  “Once this is all over, I can go back and deal with her memory if you’d like,” Millhook offered.

  “No, thanks. One of the few good things that came from all this is that I didn’t have to end my friendship with her. A girl can never have too many friends. Seems a shame to end that relationship. There’s no reason the Council needs to know about her. Have they told either of you anything about the trial?”

  “Everyone’s in a tizzy about it,” Millhook said. “No person in their right mind would subject you to such a thing today, but they’re going on and on about how justice must be served and their oaths and blah, blah, blah.”

  “How does a trial work?”

  “The Council will summon you and ask you to present evidence of your innocence. They will decide in their own arbitrary way if they’re satisfied.”

  “Shit, I destroyed all the evidence I had.” By saving our lives, I had done the one thing that could condemn me. I needed the pages I had burned in front of Casper to prove to the Council I was willing to help them retrieve the other talismans. They would already view me as benefiting from Meglana’s crime, and then I conveniently lost the clues that would lead to the most powerful talismans ever created. I was screwed.

  “Can you remember anything that was in the notes? Anything for the Council to work from?” Alex asked.

  I had read over everything even if I didn’t understand it. The memory had to be locked away in my brain somewhere. I tried to summon it and visions of the notes I’d destroyed appeared before me. I could read the pages as if I still held them in my hand.

  “Yes! It’s all there. It must be my talisman. It retains my memory as well as my father’s.” The implications were immense. If I figured out how to control this better, there was a lot I could learn. When it came to my mother, I’d only be able to remember things that my father observed, but that would still give me a lot of information.

  “Excellent,” Alex said. “All you have to do is tell them what her notes said. That should be enough for them.”

  As quickly as my excitement had built, it deflated. “But I still can’t use it. Before Casper died, he told me that the Council has a mole, that this goes higher than we can imagine. Anything I tell them will get back to the Directorate.”

  “Then do as you had planned and only give them the notes that lead to the talismans.”

  “That’s still too much knowledge to hand over to the Directorate. Those are powerful talismans.”

  “And this is your life, Kat. Worry about the rest tomorrow. If you don’t give them what they want, they will send you to the Vortex.”

  “Furball’s right on this one. You did nothing wrong. You’re not the one who created those talismans. Whatever happens to them, it’s not your fault.”

  “But it will be my fault if I lead the Directorate to them.”

  “And what good will you be in the Vortex? Do what you need to and deal with the consequences later. If you keep yourself free, you can help the Council get to them before the Directorate does.”

  Alex had a point. “I’ll try to convince them without it, but if there’s no other way, I’ll tell them what I know about where to find them.”

  “Thank you. Now eat something, please. If they summon you, fainting from exhaustion and hunger won’t help your cause.” Alex nudged the tray of food toward me, and I conceded.

  Chapter 34

  Millhook and Alex stared at me as I ate, much too interested in each bite I took. I needed conversation. “Why did the fire I create hurt me? That’s never happened before."

  “Likely has to do with the proximity of Casper’s talisman and the force you both were using,” Millhook said. “I told you, it’s like watching a baby work a cannon. Even as he took most of the impact, his talisman likely bounced some of it back onto you. At that point, it became his magic instead of yours.”

  That made a weird kind of sense. “What happened to your oath? I thought no harm was supposed to come to us while we’re with you or you lose your magic. You call a melted hand no harm? I want my money back.”

  “We fae define harm as something that can’t be repaired. Look at you. You’re good as new!”

  I chuckled. He had a point. “What happened after I came through the portal? I got knocked out immediately.”

  “After you made it, I turned to follow you and Sibelius came through too. Millhook tried to stop him.”

  “If I’d had a little more time to heal, I would've been successful,” Millhook said. “It’s no small feat tearing through space and time to create a portal for you to step through. I’d like to see you try it after being cursed.”

  “Wait a minute, Sibelius is here?” I had assumed he was dead or still in Vienna.

  “Yeah,” Alex said. “I injured him pretty good, but he followed us through the portal.”

  That didn’t seem very smart. He had to have guessed, or at least seen through the portal, that it led to the Citadel. Why would he want to follow me badly enough to come to the Citadel? “Do you think Sibelius is working with the mole? Why else would he follow us here?”

  “If he has an ally here, they haven’t shown themselves. As soon as he came through, they took his talisman. He’s in the room across the hall demanding to see you. He won’t speak to anyone but you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I need to go talk to him.” I moved the tray of food to the foot of the bed and stood, ignoring the wave of dizziness and the throbbing ache all over my body.

  “No,” Alex said as he grabbed my arm to steady me. “You need to stay in bed. You need to think about what you’re going to say at your trial.”

  “Maybe Sibelius will influence my testimony. Without his talisman, he can’t hurt me. I want to hear what he has to say. Millhook, go see if there’s anyone watching outside, and if there is, distract them.”

  “Sheesh, I save your life and still you boss me around like everyone else,” Millhook grumbled as he went to the door. “You there, good sir. We are in need of more victuals. Might I trouble you to get us some?”

  “I’m supposed to stay here.” The guard spoke loud enough to hear even from inside the room.

  “Aren’t you here to take care of Kat?”

  “Yes.”

  “It is of utmost importance to her welfare that she have more food. How is she supposed to heal if you are preventing her from getting what she needs? Get a move on before I cause a scene.”

  “Fine, you no-good imp.”

  Millhook stuck his hand into the room and waved for us to come out. Sibelius’s room was right across the hall.

  “See, he’s no danger, otherwise the Council would’ve left more guards in this hallway,” I said as I darted across the way. “You stay out here. I’ll call if I need anything.”

  “I should go in with you. I’ll stand back by the door, but I want to be there in case he makes a desperate attempt to do some
thing."

  “All right, but don’t antagonize him.” I knocked and entered without waiting for an answer.

  Sibelius lay in bed, looking listlessly at the wall. Claw marks marred his face, and internally I cheered Alex. When I entered, he didn’t move. It aggravated me, not that he ignored me, but that he looked so broken that I actually pitied him.

  “They said you’ve been asking for me.”

  He turned his head to look at me, and a spark of interest lit his eyes. “Ah yes, Kat. Please, come have a seat.” He gestured to a nearby chair.

  I moved the chair to be just out of arm’s reach and sat. “What is it you wanted?”

  “I thought you might have more questions for me.”

  There were things I wanted to ask, but none of the answers would make me happy, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking. “No. I have nothing to say to you.”

  “That’s a pity. I have so much I want to say to you. First, I'm sorry. I loved your mother, deeper and stronger than a person should be able to love. Even after she ruined me, ripped my heart out and ran away with it, I never stopped loving her. Ever since I heard she died, I haven’t known what to do with myself. It’s been years since we’ve been together romantically, but I lived for the moments when she would get in touch to ask me a question or collaborate for a few days or weeks. I lived for those moments, and I don’t even have those to look forward to.” The man before me appeared dejected.

  “What I’ve seen of you doesn’t look like love.”

  “No, it was madness. A part of me died when she did, and when a man loses that much of himself, he goes mad. I became obsessed with finding you. You and your talisman were the last remnants of her.”

  “I suppose your desire for the talisman had nothing to do with its power.”

  “I had hoped that it would have her memory. She wore it. She had it on the last time I saw her. I had thought the amber would retain memory, but she never told me if it did. At the time, I didn't want to know. I didn’t want her having him around her neck.

  “After she died, I wanted the talisman because I wanted a piece of her. I thought if I got it, I could keep her with me. I could use it to remember back to the times we spent together. I could see me the way she saw me, prove to myself that she loved me, that she left me not because she loved someone else more but because she loved knowledge the most. I could take being cast aside for her quest. I had to be all right with it because her pursuit of knowledge, her inquisitiveness, the way her mind worked, those are the things I loved most about her, the things I respected. But I couldn’t take being second to another man in her life.”

  It didn’t have her memories. If it did, finding and following her clues would have been much easier. I felt certain that if it did hold her memories, he wouldn’t like what he saw. I was glad that there was no way to prove him wrong. At this point, it’d be like kicking an injured puppy. “The amber doesn’t have any of her memories because it doesn’t have her magic in it.”

  A resigned air settled about him.

  “That’s that then. She really is gone from me forever. And now you'll go on trial today, and she’ll be remembered forever as a monster.”

  “How did you know about that?” Perhaps he did have inside information.

  “Everyone’s talking about it around here. None of them knew her, but after today, they’ll all think they did. Please, do me one favor: don’t tell them she killed Marty. Blame it on me. Say I did it. I can handle the consequences and their scorn.”

  “If I did that, they'd banish you to the Vortex.”

  A slight smile curled his lips, and he let out a little snort of laughter. “How sweet of you to show concern for me. Tell them Casper did it then. That bastard is already dead.” Bitterness filled his tone.

  “If you didn’t like him, why were you working with him?”

  “I wasn’t working with him. I knew he could help me find you. That’s all I cared about. That man likes to think he’s a genius, but he’s only a gnat. Even if I worked with him, he’s incapable of understanding the level Meglana and I worked at. I wouldn’t sully Meglana’s work by telling him anything about it.”

  The venom toward Casper surprised me. Then again, he and Meglana had worked together. Meglana had enchanted the code of Wizards and Fae to help Casper track down latent mages on Earth. Sibelius must’ve been jealous of the time they spent together.

  “So, will you?” he asked.

  “What?” I had forgotten what he wanted.

  “Will you tell them someone else did it? They all think she’s a monster. Give her credit for the genius of it but not the monstrosity. Put that on Casper’s shoulders or mine.”

  “All right, I will.” It was the only way to get him to stop staring at me with a creepy intensity.

  “Thank you.” He leaned back against the headboard and pulled a tiny flask from under the sheets. He drank it dry. “Thank you.” A peaceful smile rested on his lips, and then he moved no more.

  “Sibelius?” I stood from my chair and shook his arm, but he fell over dead. “Alex!”

  “Come on, get out of here.” Alex opened the door and ushered me into the hallway.

  We didn’t need to go far to report his death: Calista was walking our way.

  “Is something going on?” Calista asked when she saw us rush into the hallway.

  “Sibelius just killed himself,” Alex said.

  “Hmm, I’ll send someone to investigate it.” She turned to me. “Kat, you must come with me. It’s time for your trial.”

  Chapter 35

  I stood in the middle of the judgment room. My trial was over. I’d told them the truth, never lying, but also never volunteering any information. I wanted to be able to confirm everything under truth potion if they insisted on it. They didn’t know I was a pidge or that I remembered all of my mother’s notes. The fact that I had killed Casper went a long way toward convincing them that I wasn’t working with the Directorate.

  And now I stood alone, waiting for the verdict. Oddly, I wasn’t nervous. It wasn’t confidence, merely exhaustion. I wanted it to be over.

  “Kat Thomas,” Calista said from her throne, “the Council has heard your testimony and after thoughtful consideration has concluded that you are innocent of any crimes committed against mages and Elustria. It is our judgment that Meglana’s crimes were her own. We thank you for your assistance in bringing to light the details of those crimes. You are free to go.”

  The Councilors stood and walked to the teleportation rings, talking amongst themselves.

  “That’s it?” Freedom felt strange. It couldn’t be that easy.

  “Actually, I would like a word with you,” Calista said.

  That was more like it. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. No, I had to go screw myself.

  Calista waited until the rest of the Council had left. “You’re a very impressive young woman.”

  “Thank you?” It came out as a question. Where was this going?

  “Few people could have held up through all this as you have. I meant it when I said you’re free to go. You can walk out of the Citadel and never return, but I have an offer for you that I hope you’ll consider.”

  “All right.” I couldn’t help the apprehension in my voice.

  “We have our own covert operations called the Covert Council Service. I’m in charge of the CCS, and I’d like you to join us. I think you could make a real contribution.”

  The surprises just never stopped here in Elustria. “What? Me? The girl who melted her own hand? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, but I don’t want you to answer now. Your life has been full of coercion and duress for a while. I want you to come to this decision on your own. It’s more than a job; it’s a lifestyle, a cause. You can take as long as you need to decide. If you want to experience more of Elustria, this is a standing offer. It’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready.”

  “Wow. Thank you. I’m honored.”

  “All I ask is t
hat you give it real thought.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Good. Now I think you have some friends who are anxious to hear your news.”

  Together we walked through the massive doors out of the judgment room. Alex and Millhook sat waiting for me and stood as soon as I emerged. When I stopped to speak to them, Calista kept walking.

  “So how did it go? You’re by yourself. That’s a good thing, right?” Alex stared at me as if he could divine the answers from my face.

  “Yes. They found me innocent of any wrong doing. I’m free to go.”

  “Woohoo!” Alex hugged me and lifted me into the air. “So where do you want to go?”

  “Truthfully? I want to go to my room and sleep for about a week.”

  “Then to your room we shall go!” Alex kept hold of me and walked a few steps.

  “Put me down, you goof.” I giggled, and Alex placed me back on my feet.

  “The Council doing the right thing for once?” Millhook sounded surprised. “Glad to see it.”

  “Thank you, Millhook. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Of course not. Now go get some rest. You look horrible.”

  “Aww, I love you too, Millhook.”

  The imp scowled, and I laughed all the way back to my room.

  Alex and I headed toward the gardens. I’d told him I’d decided about the future. The last few days I’d rested and explored the Citadel as I thought through all of my options.

  “What are you going to do about their offer?” Alex asked once we were outside.

  I took a deep breath. “I accepted it. I start today. I may not have asked for this, but I’m part of it now. I spent years playing at being a magical spy, now it’s time to take a crack at the real thing.”