Marked For Magic

by Daisy Banks

  Her fingers worried at the shells on her wrist, stroked the cool, smooth, shimmering surface as she rushed along the corridor, where one or two of the young pages gawped at her as she passed. All manner of fears raced in her mind. Though he’d not said, he couldn’t hide that he went into danger. Gods, let him return. Please, keep him safe.

  The tears ran free by the time she got to the workroom. Wrapped in Cecile’s embrace, while Tab fed her sips of wine, she wept until her throat ached. That he would not tell her of the journey’s destination frightened her, to have him gone hurt so she could scarcely breathe, and no matter how kind her friends, their embrace was not his.

  * * * *

  His cheek warmed by her lips, he memorized every line of the blue swaying gown when Nin hastened away.

  Cassandra waited, a sympathetic smile on her face but urgency in her eyes. Both her compassion and need reached out to him.

  “Ah, yes, I will do it, my lady.”

  “You knew I would ask?”

  “I suspected.” He gave a small smile. “The thought has grown in me all week. But we will not talk of it here.”

  “We’ll go to the tower room where we won’t be disturbed.”

  “Yes.” He followed her out of the hall and across the colonnaded walkway.

  Does Nin walk here in the cold mists? I must clear my mind of her.

  Nin could not know or suspect this journey. She was in no way ready for the knowledge. It would frighten her, and her fear might be strong enough to call him back.

  The small, circular tower room was reminiscent of home. The logs in the hearth glowed. He sat in the chair and stroked his fingers over the elaborate, carved scrolls on the rounded edge of the armrest.

  “We must have news, Mage, and more quickly than we are receiving it.” Cassandra took the seat opposite.

  “I know.”

  “The girls and I will produce more potions as we find they are needed. I am sure your work has saved some of the poor creatures. I have thought, with your skill, if you could search and see for us, we would have a much better chance to deal with the sickness.” She glanced away, the action unlike her.

  He swept his hand over his hair. She had seen it, too.

  “Cassandra, you have seen the darkness grow?” To even name it, gave it more power.

  She nodded, and in an expression as girlish as Nin’s, bit her lip. “Yes, in fleeting moments it comes, and there is flame.”

  “So, you believe as I, this sickness is more than the mere spread of disease?”

  She nodded again in response.

  “I am gladdened you agree, my lady. The understanding has grown on me over the weeks. I have seen the darkness and flames, and…”

  The fear in her eyes told him not to go on.

  She took a deep breath and got up from her chair to pace to the small window. “If this thing, this evil has its way, all of us will be gone. Every one of us with any link to the alternate realms are in danger. You, me, the girls, and countless others in this land—we are all at risk.

  “I have felt the hunger for power emanate in a way I’ve never known before. We need you to seek this out.” She turned back and faced him. Her normal, serene composure lost as she wrung her fingers together. “But not to face it alone, Thabit, the danger grows each day.”

  “I will do all I can.”

  She returned and sat again, her fingers still intertwining until she reached for his hand. “Remember, I said do not face it, simply find its source.”

  He nodded, but her request was impossible, in honor and in Magean creed. If he found the source, he would do his best to break its stranglehold on the land. “One thing, Cassandra, my Sparrow is not to know of this. I do not want you to tell her, not until my return.”

  Cassandra gave a tiny nod.

  “I would not be called back by her. When I am gone, I need the freedom to move as I wish, you know it. To gain news will be easy enough, but the other, I will not have her fear for me more than she might if I traveled the coast road.”

  “Where would you wish to rest?”

  He looked about him. This seemed as good a place as any of the other apartments in the castle. A curtained bed stood in an alcove opposite the hearth. It would do. “Here. I will begin it now before my courage falters.” He gave her a half smile.

  “For how long will you be gone?” Her long pale fingers plaited themselves together.

  “I cannot tell. The first search for news, the rest of today will suffice. The other will be a longer journey. I could be a day, a week, perhaps a month. There is no knowing what I may find. If I lie here still after half a season…” He laughed. “Burn what is left of me. You will probably need to by then.”

  “Don’t even say it! You will return whole. How could I face that sweet girl if you don’t?”

  “I will come back, the gods willing, and if they are not, it is because it is meant to be so.” He strode over to the alcove and pulled back the curtain. “Leave me to it, Cassandra. Once this first journey is over, I will write of all I see.”

  Her face grew pale. “There will be a page in attendance outside the room, so no matter when you return you can give him a scroll to bring to me.”

  “Good. Please tell Nin I will see her soon.”

  Cassandra held back the curtain, and he settled back on the bed. He closed his eyes and began the slow, increasingly deep breaths to take him from his body and out to freedom.

  This was ever an adventure. Although the end remained in doubt, he was eager to begin. The last sound was the sweep of Cassandra’s skirt as she left.

  Like a stone down a well, he dropped deeper and deeper into the trance. All sensation paled until his consciousness unwound, and he rolled from the confines of his flesh. The sense of freedom from time and all physical constraints swelled through him, and he reveled in it.

  He soared from the tower, up and out into the gloom of a winter afternoon. The land spread like a tapestry below him. His consciousness rose further and his vision expanded to cover the whole of the realm. To seek the news they wanted, he swept down from the heights.

  This is easy, and by the gods of the air, this part is fun.

  Faster than a diving peregrine, he sped over toward the western boarders. Here, his joy in the journey was lost. All the signs of the sickness struck harsh. A haze of gray smoke hung over some villages, while others lay deserted. In one place, not even the pillars of smoke told of the dead. Small bundles of rags lay inert in the dust. Not enough of the living to build and light the funeral pyres.

  A sea of destruction crept in a slow flood over the land, and as he soared higher, tiny lines of creatures wended their way south. He would have to prepare Cassandra for an influx of many at the castle. He saw no sign of the riders they had sent out. The mystery of it deepened.

  Early twilight dimmed about him, and the tiny lines of the people who walked lit up with torches. Like glowing skeins of tapestry silk, they crossed the land, and all headed in one direction.

  His consciousness turned back to his body with a sense of regret.

  Once he settled into the cool flesh that belonged to him, it took several minutes for him to relax, to breathe and dismiss the gallop of thought and sensation. When he calmed, his muscles knit to his bones.

  He sat upright. The physical world shimmered about him. Two candles burned on the hearth beside the banked fire. Night clouds darkened the window.

  On the small table by the chairs, a tray with a silver-rimmed ewer of water, a crystal glass, and a plate of sweet biscuits beckoned, also parchment and ink. He drank a glass of water, picked up the quill, and wrote.

  While he ate one of the small biscuits, he reread his words, and could think of nothing more of import to tell Cassandra.

  When he opened the chamber door, a young, sleepy pageboy lay curled up at the top of the steps. He shook the lad awake. “Here, boy, take this message to Lady Cassandra. There is no need for you to
return tonight, your task is done.”

  Rubbing sleep from his eyes, the lad nodded. The scroll in his hand, the boy took slow steps down the stairs.

  Thabit closed the door. He could do no more to prepare them. The fate of the riders remained in doubt, but he would not permit his concern for them to rule his thoughts now. The rest of this mission needed his full focus and all the skill he possessed.

  After another draught of water, he began the methodical process to strip his thoughts down to the one thing that mattered. The last distraction to leave was Nin.

  Now, reduced to the essence of his search, he lay once again on the bed. He closed his eyes, and this time in the trance, he went much deeper until his breath was lost.

  He floated up and out and awoke in another realm.

  Chapter 18

  The girls sat before the star in their final meditation for the day. Cassandra sat with them, too fretful for contemplation. At a knock, she turned to the door and the small pageboy trotted in. She seized the scroll the lad offered. Dismissing the boy to his bed, she took a seat near the hearth and read.

  She nodded at Thabit’s words. Of course, the one place the populace would expect to find safety was the castle. For generations, this had remained a focal point. The people would think to find protection and help within its bounds.

  The situation could become difficult if the folk arrived in the numbers Thabit suggested. To contain the sickness would be doubly hard. She must see Ranulf. They needed a plan.

  She glanced at the sand clock. They had all been here long enough. “Ladies, go to your beds. Tomorrow we must begin a new task.”

  All three young women stirred and rose slowly from the cushions where they sat. Nin’s eyes still bore the signs of tears. Tab and Cecile had the pallor of too little sleep. “Goodnight, my dears, sweet dreaming to all of you.”

  Thabit was right, for Nin’s sake, it was best she did not know he had gone from here in spirit.

  The parchment clutched tight, she made her way to the library where Ranulf studied his maps. By moonset, they had devised a plan for refugees to camp in safety. Utilizing the forested areas and the huge green swathe by the lake, there would be room for several encampments. How they could prepare to feed so many people remained an issue. She glanced out at the darkness as Ranulf yawned. They could accomplish no more tonight.

  “Brother, go and sleep, you must rest. Do you wish for a draft to help you?”

  “No, I’ll sleep better without. You need rest, too. Tomorrow we will begin a hard campaign. Sleep well because I’ll need all your skills.” He yawned and rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin.

  Before she went to her bed, she returned to the tower. Small crackles from the fire were the only sound within the room. The familiar noise brought her peace. Her fears stilled as she replaced the candles either side of the hearth. If Thabit awoke day or night, it would be to light.

  She glanced at him. Only if she concentrated hard could she see his occasional shallow breaths. His stillness was sculptural. She touched his forehead in blessing and found his flesh as cold as the marble he resembled.

  Gods, protect him, bring him back safe when his task is done, and let me hear his call if he needs aid.

  * * * *

  Nin stepped through a strange world. Darkness swallowed its edges. No stars shone in the violet sky, tongues of flame lapped and rippled at her. Closer and closer, the flames crept toward her toes on the cinder path.

  She raised her nightgown to her knees and pulled it tight against her body to avoid the tiny flames licking up. Strange, stunted, and blackened tree forms loomed in the darkness, small hisses and sparks shot from fissures in rocks bordering the path. The heat stung her eyes.

  “You are here at last. I can feel your presence. This way, Sparrow.”

  Thabit’s soft call kept her moving, his voice faint and indistinct as though from a great distance. He had been so quiet when they first spoke in the silent words. Try as she might, she could not see him, and she followed the blackened track.

  Sweat beaded her brow. She clasped the flapping length of her nightshift tighter. The path grew hotter. Her feet stung and blistered, but still she continued. She must find him in all this strangeness.

  “All will be well if you can reach me. This way, hurry.”

  The heat intensified, sweat ran down her neck, between her breasts, and the backs of her knees. She longed for water because the air scorched and parched her throat.

  “Find me. I will give you water when you get here.”

  The call came stronger than his others. He must be near. She hurried through the heat. “I’ll find you, Thabit. Call to me again.”

  “You are so close. I need you. Just a little more.”

  His voice disappeared. The weight of the darkness increased until it pressed her toward the ground. She sank down to her knees.

  An unseen load crushed her so she slipped forward, her arms outstretched. A cry tore from her at the heat searing her palms.

  She crawled to find his voice. The ground beneath her dissolved. She tumbled and tumbled, floated weightless in the darkness.

  Another voice called to her, softly at first, but became more insistent.

  “Nin. Nin! Wake up.”

  I must listen. I have to answer the call.

  Sensation blasted back through her body. The pain and heat so fierce she screamed in the darkness. An unseen hand yanked the bed sheet from her.

  A shrill cry faded away.

  * * * *

  Nin opened her eyes.

  Lady Cassandra sat beside the bed. She wrung out a wet cloth and wiped it over Nin’s hot forehead. “Don’t try to speak yet.” Cassandra’s gentle hand rested on her arm.

  Where am I?

  Why does everything hurt?

  She glanced down at her hands outside the smooth covers. White bandages wrapped from her wrists down to her fingertips.

  “Here, drink this. Just sip.” Lady Cassandra held a small horn cup to her lips, and she swallowed the bitter pain brew.

  “Thabit?” she croaked.

  The lady’s eyes flashed wide. “What of him?”

  “He was there in the darkness. I heard him.”

  “Drink this, Nin.” Cassandra tilted the cup again.

  She fought to rise as the pain brew took her senses. “I must find him. He is lost in the darkness.”

  * * * *

  Cassandra turned to Cecile and Tab, who stood nearby in their nightgowns. “She’ll sleep for some time and not dream again. Dress and watch over her while I’m away. I will return shortly.” She hurried out and dashed along the corridors up to the tower room.

  Her breathing fast from her fears and the race up the many steps, she threw the door open. She stood beside the bed and counted. His chest rose twice to twenty of her rapid heartbeats. His pale face told her nothing of where he journeyed, or what he encountered. His power was great enough to keep anything from the alternate realms away from his physical shell here.

  Nin had none of those skills. Whatever evil or pain touched the girl when she searched for him, the injuries returned with her.

  Where was he? What was happening? How could she prevent Nin going to him again? She backed away and sank onto the chair by the hearth but continued to stare at the alcove. How could this have happened? Thabit would never have called Nin if there were danger, not deliberately. She dared not leave the castle to try to aid him, and there was no time to prepare Nin. Sighs of fear and frustration escaped her as she watched his stillness. What could she do?

  She took a deep breath to calm herself before she returned to the room where Nin lay, burnt and blistered. Cecile and Tab sat, one each side of the bed, their faces pale and strained.

  “Try not to worry. If one of you will stay with Nin until noon, the other can help me with the arrangements for the refugees.”

  “I’ll stay,” Tab whispered. “Cecile can help you, and at
noon, we’ll swap.”

  Cecile agreed to the arrangement with a nod, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

  “Very well, Tab, I’ll return at noon when Nin should begin to wake. If you see any sign she seems to dream, send for me at once.” She smiled in reassurance and went down to the hall with Cecile. Until Nin woke, nothing more could be done for her.

  Together, she and Cecile finished off the plans for the housing of the refugees. Cecile wrote up the instructions for the small number of guards left at the castle. No riders returned.

  Cassandra stared out at the gray morning. All she could do was wait, and hope.

  * * * *

  Nin struggled to breathe in the hot darkness. Thabit’s thoughts came to her again.

  “This way, Sparrow, you are almost here.”

  He was much closer. She could even hear his ragged breath. Using everything she had learned from him, she blocked the pain in her feet, the heat, and her terror caused by the surges of flame. The fires leaped fierce at the edge of the cinder pathway. Fingers of blue snatched at her.

  “You are so close to me. Look up.”

  “Thabit!” The silent scream ripped through her.

  A cage, with narrow bars like molten gold, contained him. High above the ground it swung in the choking hot air.

  His robes smoldered, charred black in places. A spatter of burn holes decorated his shoulders. Scorched patches from the heat of the bars marked his arms. His boots glowed and smoked.

  The smile she loved welcomed her, but she swallowed hard as he patted at the smoking length of his hair. His hands were blackened.

  “Sparrow, I need you to control the fires. Make them quiet. Make them silent if you can.” His thought slid over her like a cool wave.

  “How, Thabit? What shall I do?”

  He laughed, and his expression brought a lump to her throat.

  “The same way you did with the singing, Sparrow, just like that, but more, bigger, stronger.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “The flames will obey you. The fire loves you. It always has. Try for me. Otherwise, I will be here until I roast.”