“Yes, Your Majesty,” Charity said. She didn’t want to do it, but she had no choice. “Hold still, please.”
The Emperor snorted as she cut away his jacket, then stared down at his chest. There were scratches everywhere ... and, under a chest of grey hair, a series of nasty scars that didn’t seem to have healed properly. Compared to the glossy black hair on his head, it was a striking sight. She had to fight to conceal a sudden bout of amusement; did Vlad Deferens, the ultimate macho man, dye his hair?
She sobered as she studied the sight. There were blood clots on his chest that didn’t seem to have been removed by the spell he’d used in the chamber, something that struck her as odd, while some of the scars looked to have been made by creatures rather than by human swords or spells. She hesitated, then walked back to the bathroom to get a cloth and a bucket of warm water, which she carried back to his side. And then, carefully, she started to wipe the blood away from his body.
“You would definitely make a good nurse,” the Emperor said, snidely. “Such a gentle touch. You must have practiced.”
Charity coloured. There were few rules concerning how magicians could have relationships with other magicians – or even mundanes – as long as they were discreet and careful. Her father wouldn’t have been too pleased if she had managed to get pregnant, or had the entire city branding her a slut. Indeed, apart from a handful of kisses she’d exchanged with a boyfriend during her final year at the Peerless School, she hadn’t been intimate with anyone until now. Wiping the blood away from the Emperor’s body was the closest she’d been to a near-naked man.
She looked down at him, silently measuring his looks. A handful of girls would probably consider his rugged features to be attractive, although she knew enough about his politics to know better than to willingly form a relationship with him. Maybe he was vain enough to dye his hair, but there was nothing fake about the muscles on his arms and legs. She’d thought her father was strong, yet the Emperor was unquestionably stronger. It was rare for a magician to put so much effort into developing his muscles.
“Magic is one form of strength,” the Emperor said, as if he’d read her mind. “Muscles, knowledge, discipline ... a cool head in a crisis ... they are all alternate forms of strength, young lady. You can go quite some distance merely by keeping your head when everyone else is panicking.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Charity said. She took a breath. “How old are you? Really?”
“Thirty-three,” the Emperor said.
Charity wasn’t sure if she believed him or not. She was no expert, but her father had been in his fifties and he barely had the first hints of grey hair in his temple. Maybe he’d been dyeing it too, or using a glamour to hide the first signs of old age. And yet ... if someone had spent half of their life experimenting with dangerous or forbidden magics, maybe it would give them grey hair ahead of time too. It wasn’t something she had been encouraged to explore at the Peerless School.
“I see,” she said. “And why do you develop your muscles so well?”
The Emperor snorted. “Didn’t I tell you that life in my homeland is a constant struggle for supremacy?” he asked. “What sort of fool would I be if I drained my magic, without something else to fall back on?”
Charity considered it. She had never really thought about fighting without magic ... or done more than practice duelling, at the Peerless School. But she could see some advantages to being physically strong as well as skilled in magic. The opponent might not have thought to ward himself against a punch to the face.
“Thank you for your touch,” the Emperor said. He pushed himself to his feet, then walked unsteadily towards the bedroom. “I will sleep until I wake. You will go to the Throne Room and handle all business, in my absence, aside from that which touches on the ritual. If any of the sorcerers ask to see me, you will tell them to wait unless it is truly urgent.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Charity said. She sighed under her breath – she would need an energy potion to remain awake, although at least she would be spared nightmares – but she rose to do as she was told. “How long will you sleep?”
“As long as necessary,” the Emperor said. “You will have sole charge of the city, in my absence. Don’t do anything that might make it harder for me to regain control.”
“I couldn’t, anyway,” Charity said, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. “I have to serve you.”
“You made your choices,” the Emperor said, coolly. “You have only yourself to blame.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
It hadn’t been a pleasant night. Johan had thought he was used to Elaine’s presence in his head, but he hadn’t really tasted a proper apprenticeship bond. Strange dreams tormented him; some erotic, yet horrific; others nightmarish, yet strangely attractive. By the time he finally gave up on sleep as a lost cause and stumbled into the shower, he felt a curious mixture of refreshed and utterly exhausted. Offhand, he couldn’t recall any of the apprentices he’d read about having the same problem.
But they were partnered with men, he thought. Or women, if they happened to be women.
He shuddered as he stared at his face in the mirror, feeling oddly as though he were looking at a stranger. It felt almost as though he should be looking at a feminine face, framed by long brown hair. Elaine’s face. Was that normal, he asked himself, or had they managed to mess up the bond still further? He dressed quickly, then walked down to the dining room, where Elaine, Daria and Cass were seated around the table. None of them looked as if they had had very much sleep.
“Something happened last night,” Elaine said, by way of greeting. “Something bad.”
“Black magic,” Cass said. “I think the whole city could feel it.”
Johan frowned. “Was that why I couldn’t sleep last night?”
“Probably,” Cass said. “Even people with a tiny sensitivity to magic, no real gift to speak of, would have felt something. I dare say the whole city will be on edge.”
“More than before, you mean,” Daria said, dryly. “I mean ... we’re only occupied by a few million soldiers and a bunch of strange magicians.”
Elaine snorted, rudely. “I think most people will try to get on with their own lives,” she said, “because it doesn’t really make much difference to them if we have an Emperor or not. But black magic ...? The entire city is going to be worried.”
Johan met her eyes. “What did he do?”
“Something big,” Elaine said. “I think he sacrificed the children. There are rituals that could boost his power, or do all sorts of other things, if he offered magical children in return.”
“Shit,” Johan said.
He shivered at the thought. Magicians were ruthless, he knew; his father certainly hadn’t shirked from doing whatever was necessary to expand his power base. And Jamal ... Johan had always thought his father was simply too indulgent towards his eldest son, but it was quite possible that his father had seen it as training for the day Jamal took over as the head of the family. A softie wouldn’t last long in the dog-eat-dog world of the Great Houses, let alone in the endless struggle for power in the Golden City. Indeed, it was a surprise that his father hadn’t arranged an accident for Johan himself. No one would have questioned his word if his son had accidentally cut his own head off while shaving.
Elaine gave him a sympathetic look. It struck him, suddenly, that she had to be feeling the same way too, only worse. He, at least, was used to having her at the back of his mind; she had to be struggling to control her own reactions, having no time to rest and meditate. And the black magic hadn’t made things easier. Perhaps she was so tired because she had had no real chance to sleep.
“Whatever he did is immaterial,” Cass said, into the silence. “The important issue remains getting out of the city.”
Daria scowled at her. “And how do you plan to do that, oh great and powerful Inquisitor?”
Cass scowled back. Johan felt a flicker of tired amusement that, he realised in shock, c
ame from Elaine. She was ... amused ... by the verbal bickering? It surprised him, until he realised that Elaine liked and trusted both of the other girls. And, deep inside, she didn’t expect either of them to betray him. He couldn’t help feeling envious at the thought; she might have grown up in a hellish orphanage, but she had friends. He’d never had anyone he could trust until he’d met Elaine.
“I don’t know,” Cass said. “The tunnels are heavily guarded, both by the soldiers and sorcerers. Should we try to break through one, the guards will be on us like flies on shit.”
Elaine leant forward. “How are people getting in and out of the city?”
“People are walking in as normal,” Cass said. “But no one is being allowed out of the city.”
Johan thought about it as he poured himself a cup of tannin. It tasted foul – everything seemed to taste foul, as if there were something unpleasant hanging in the air – but it helped jerk him awake. The Golden City produced nothing, apart from orders from the Imperial Palace and magical artefacts, put together by the alchemists and enchanters. Everything the city would need to eat or drink had to be brought in through the tunnels, which meant ... he tried to work out how much food the city would need, each day, and gave up in annoyance. It didn’t seem likely the blockade could be maintained for long before food prices started to rise.
He frowned. “Wouldn’t we starve sooner rather than later if they’re not letting anyone out of the city?”
“Eventually,” Cass said. “The city has thousands of tons of food delivered each day. Some of it gets preserved, just in case of a transport shortage, but most of it is eaten within the first few days. I don’t know what will happen once people start to starve ...”
“Riots,” Daria said. “The city’s population will have nothing left to lose, if they’re faced with starvation.”
“I thought there was an emergency food supply,” Elaine said, in surprise. “Something we could use to save the city if necessary.”
“They earmarked most of it for the Conference,” Cass said. “I have a feeling they didn’t really plan on having the tunnels barricaded while the Court Wizards are here.”
“They must be worried stiff,” Daria observed. “Elaine, do you know any of them? Personally?”
Elaine shook her head. “Most of them wouldn’t have come to the city for years,” she said, dryly. “They’d know Miss Prim as the Head Librarian, if they bothered to take note of whoever was in that post. The only person I know from outside the city is Bee” – Johan flushed as he sensed a wash of emotions shadowing her words – “and I don’t think he would accompany the Court Wizard.”
Daria’s lips quirked. “Not even to see you again?”
“He took one look at my eyes and fled,” Elaine growled. There was something in her voice that made Johan want to kill Bee, wherever he was. The bastard had hurt Elaine! “I don’t think he will ever show himself in the city again.”
“Probably not,” Daria agreed. “I think you should have spent more time building up your power base.”
Elaine lowered her eyes. Johan tasted her emotions and felt a flicker of sympathy. Elaine didn’t have the cutthroat determination to succeed that his father had developed, nor did she have the bloody-minded unpleasantness of Jamal that could sometimes pass for determination. It didn’t strike him as a weakness to enjoy books more than the company of other people, but it had rendered Elaine largely ineffective as a power in the city. Perhaps, the cynical side of his mind wondered, Light Spinner had counted on it. Elaine would cast a vote in the Privy Council and not much else, rather than trying to undermine the Grand Sorceress or position herself for the inevitable struggle when the Grand Sorceress passed on.
“I think it wouldn’t have mattered in any case,” Cass said, briskly. She tapped the table with one pale hand. “The real question is just how we get out of the city.”
Johan looked from Elaine to Daria and realised they were both out of ideas. Short of climbing the mountains, there was no way out that wasn’t heavily guarded. Perhaps, with his magic, they could punch their way through one of the barricades, but the tunnels would simply be collapsed on top of them ... or they would be intercepted as they left the tunnels at the far end. And there was no way they could sneak through the tunnels either. If no one was being allowed to leave, there was no point in trying to forge papers or use glamours to get past the guards.
“Perhaps we should try to escape over the mountains,” Daria mused.
“Perhaps you should swallow molten silver,” Cass snapped. “It would be quicker and more amusing.”
Johan looked down at his hands. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, something so obvious he should have seen it at once. And yet it wasn’t coming into view.
“We could try to convince him we were dead,” Elaine said, hesitatingly. “There are spells to fake our deaths.”
“You’d be trying to fool Inquisitors,” Cass pointed out. “We’ve had people trying to fake their deaths before, you know. Even had someone who took a long-term poison to escape prison. It didn’t work.”
“I could force-grow blood,” Elaine said. “With some effort, we could make it look like a teleport spell that went badly wrong.”
“They’d know that no one in their right mind would try a teleport spell,” Cass said. “I would be suspicious, if I had been asked to investigate, and Dread would be even more so. He knows you.”
“I thought we agreed we were trapped,” Elaine said. “We might be desperate enough to try.”
Johan cleared his throat. “Perhaps we’re approaching this from the wrong angle,” he said, slowly. The vague idea at the back of his mind had finally come into the light. “There are other ways to look at the world.”
Elaine turned to look at him, encouragingly. “What do you have in mind?”
“Ask the Levellers,” Johan said, simply. “There isn’t anyone else with experience in thwarting the Inquisitors without magic.”
Cass barked off a laugh. “Are you joking?”
“I’m quite serious,” Johan said. “They’re still intact, despite having magicians searching for their heads. Even the Inquisition hasn’t managed to destroy them.”
“They were never considered a serious threat,” Cass sneered. “What’s the point of claiming that ... that I am equal to a fishwife from Tyre, when I can snap my fingers and turn that fishwife into a haddock? Or my adoring slave? No one was really concerned about them, save for a handful of weak magicians who lacked confidence in their own powers.”
“Then they exist under the range of any scanning spells,” Johan said. “I was without magic, Inquisitor. It doesn’t make you helpless.”
“You were practically helpless,” Cass said. “Or did you believe that you could one day use your mind to kill your family?”
“Even the greatest of magicians can become careless and eat a poisoned meal,” Johan pointed out, sweetly. There had been times when he’d seriously considered dropping something nasty into Jamal’s food and watching him die. The wards might have saved his life ... or they might not. “And even a flea can be dangerous, if it happened to bite the right place.”
“Or merely distract the wizard from looking in the right direction,” Daria said. “It seems like the best idea we have, Blondie.”
Cass shook her head. “Do you think we could rely on them to help us?”
“I think we don’t have any better ideas,” Elaine said. “There’s no one else in the Golden City who might have an interest in helping us. The Great Houses gave up hostages to the Emperor ... and even if they are prepared to let those hostages die, they might not want to face the Inquisitors and the small army of sorcerers Deferens brought with him.”
She shrugged. “The other option is waiting here until the Emperor gets tired of blockading the city and gives up.”
“Or the searchers start poking through this part of the city instead,” Daria said. “They’ll know we’re not in the poorer parts of the city soon eno
ugh, if they don’t already.”
“I dare say the crime lords will have done their best to convince the searchers that we’re not there,” Cass mused, reluctantly. “You can’t rely on anyone these days.”
“How true,” Elaine agreed, dryly.
Johan picked up a flicker of amusement from her and smiled back. She was pretty, really, prettier than he’d ever realised ... or was that the bond, pushing them together? Elaine lacked the rough-edged attractiveness of Daria, or the glowing blonde hair that enshrouded Cass’s face, but she was still attractive. Or was the feeling caused by the bond? There was no way to know.
“We do have another problem,” Cass said. “The children.”
“Leave them here,” Johan said. Cold hatred boiled at the back of his mind, mixed with a certain kind of shame. A brother should not hate his younger sisters so much he wished for their deaths. “Wipe their memories and abandon them. They’ll be fine.”
Elaine reached out and squeezed his hand. “They can’t stay here indefinitely,” she said, flatly. “Charity will be back soon, just to check they’re fine.”
“Probably,” Johan conceded, reluctantly. So far, Charity hadn’t come ... had she known the servants had fled? Stupid question, he told himself; of course she knew. “Perhaps we could send them back to the Peerless School.”
“And then they’d tell everyone about us,” Cass said. “I’d prefer not to use memory-altering spells on young children, if it can be avoided.”
“You wouldn’t show so much consideration if the children were mundanes,” Johan pointed out, snidely. “Who cares if a mundane shows up with memory loss? Or mental problems caused by losing part of his mind?”
Elaine cleared her throat. “We can take the children to Lady Lakeside,” she said. “I think she would take care of them, if asked.”
“And what,” Cass asked, “is to stop Lady Lakeside from telling the Emperor that we gave her the children?”
“I could threaten her,” Johan said, reluctantly. “Let her know that I will take her magic, if she tells the Emperor anything.”
Bookworm III Page 25