A Ragged Magic

by Lindsey S. Johnson

  I realize for the first time that her head only comes to my shoulder. Her gaze catches mine and holds it by force of will. How can I not trust her?

  “Yes, your Highness.”

  She leaves and I am alone in the apartments with a sullen Linnet. “You can put your things in this chest,” I say to her, twisting my hands. I walk through the short hall between rooms into the solar.

  Linnet sits where the princess left her, staring out the window. “I don’t have any things. The guild confiscated the manor when the priests came.”

  The news punches me low in the stomach; but of course they did. The manor, the looms, Mum’s gardens: all of it confiscated at our family’s shame. The manor was to go to Linnet: her inheritance.

  “Oh, Linnet.”

  “It was quite a fight. Deacon Bertram was extremely angry. He understood the land was to go to the kirche. Guildmaster Aman persuaded him otherwise.”

  “Aman is Guildmaster now?”

  “He took Da’s place while they carted everyone away. He said the manor was his now.” Her voice struggles toward emotionless, but snags on bitter. Her hands roll the edge of the kerchief she pulled from her hair.

  I touch her shoulder, and allow a small flicker of hope when she lets my hand stay. I close my eyes and listen to our breathing, unsteady and loud.

  “That must please Melisande no end,” I say, feeling a little bitter, myself. Melisande is Geoffrey Aman’s daughter. She and I dislike one another, but she always was jealous of our social status.

  “Melisande is stupid,” Linnet snarls.

  I shrug — Melisande isn’t stupid, but I’m not going to take up on her behalf.

  “Francis showed up right away, I heard, and Aman passed all the waiting journeyfolk to master without even looking at their master works.” Linnet glares out at nothing. “Da would never have done that.”

  “No, he wouldn’t,” I say, feeling even more bitter. Francis is — was — my betrothed. He’s been passed over for master three years running: his works have always been terrible. I guess he wanted master status more than he ever admitted to me. “So Francis and his father must be pleased, too.”

  “Francis is stupid,” she says.

  I can’t refute it, although a part of me still wants to try. I let it go and try to think of anything else to say to her. Anything at all. We were never as close as Keenan and I were, but Linnet was always laughing, always happy. And she always had a smile for me. I don’t know how to deal with this angry Linnet.

  “Did His Grace treat you well?” I try, and she shrugs my hand away, angry again.

  “What do you care? What do you care about anything but yourself! You ran off and left us to die!” She shouts at me, standing, gesturing, and suddenly I feel choked on power — rushing through me, filling the air, coming from everywhere, but mostly from Linnet.

  I don’t know how to react to her power. I didn’t even know I could feel magic like this, and my heart starts to pound.

  “Linnet — this — what is this? Do you feel this?” I ask, as cushions and papers rattle and shuffle from her anger. “This — you have magic now.”

  “I know! And I hate it! What am I supposed to do with this now? Now it’s too late to do anything with it.”

  “You, did you ever … before?”

  She glares at me, but finally answers. “Yes. Some.” The papers settle, her power bleeds away, unused. “Not this much. But after — after. And then that stupid deacon — anyway, he was surprised. More surprised than I was.” Her mouth quirks, but her eyes are savage. “He’s convinced we’re a huge family of witches, now.”

  “He — what did he do?”

  “What do you think,” she snarls. “Deacon Bertram likes to hit people. He said beating the evil out of me was his duty. I persuaded him otherwise, with his own whip.” She tosses her hair. “And choked him with his robe.”

  A flash of rage through my limbs. I almost forgot about Bertram. “Good,” I say, feeling savage. “I hope he was terrified.” I try to reach for her hand, but she snatches it away.

  “At least His Grace showed up when he did. Nice of you to send him along.”

  “I didn’t send him. He — the princess, and the earl and the duke —” I take a breath, try again. “They rescued me — us. And they want me to help them.”

  “I know you didn’t send him. I know all of it. His Grace told me. So you don’t have to go on about it.” Her agitation grows, and she starts to pace. Small items in the room start floating to follow her.

  “Linnet,” I start, but she ignores me.

  “Now I’m stuck in this — this situation, with no friends, no family — you don’t count,” she throws over her shoulder. “And I’m cut off from my whole life! My education, my weaving, my reputation in the guilds — all vanished!” She spins to face me. “And it’s all your fault! If you had just stayed put! You didn’t have to run off like a coward and leave us like that!”

  “Linnet, I had to run. Keenan told me to run! They were going to take all of us — I thought — we thought, if I ran, they would just —”

  “They took all of us anyway! And look what happened!” Her face is a livid red, and tears pour down her cheeks. “You left us there, and you didn’t stop any of it! You and your stupid Sight, and your stupid cowardice! I hate you!”

  Her shouting and temper cause the items to swirl around us both. With the temper comes a spike in her power, and it draws something in its wake.

  Around us I can hear a sibilant chanting, hissing voices, and the skin of my body starts to sting and burn. Linnet and I stare at each other as this new magic filters into the room, and the paper and things in the air float or thump down as Linnet’s magic releases.

  “What is that?” Linnet asks. I can feel my skin trying to crawl off of my bones, and my body starts to tremble. The demons have found me.

  I try to scream at Linnet to run, to get out, to find Connor, anyone, but my voice is silent.

  Linnet stares at my gaping mouth, my gasping, shaking form. The susurrous whispers of the demons slither through the air, and all I want to do is run and run.

  “Is that some other magic? For pity’s sake, Rhiannon, don’t just stand there like a baby! Do something!”

  But I can’t do anything except try to breathe through damaged, spell-scarred lungs, and gesture at her to run.

  She does not. Confused and angry, Linnet walks over and shakes me. “What is going on?”

  There’s a wrongness to the room. The whispering and pressure increase — now it is not only me who can’t speak. Linnet grabs at the fireplace poker, ready to do battle. I don’t think the demons will find it much of an obstacle, but I admire her determination. So this, now, is when the demons will take me. I take heart from Linnet’s bravery, and make myself stand up straight, draw breath. I will fight, too. If only I knew how.

  Something tugs at me, trickles along my scars. I scramble for what Keenan taught me; how to make a barrier, how to push things away. The creeping feeling of the magic fills the room. I can feel it testing me, tasting the air. Linnet and I stand back to back, both of us trembling.

  The door from the hall flies open, and the duke and Connor rush in. His Grace chants something, grabbing Linnet and me by the wrists, and I feel suddenly muffled, cut off from the noise and the weight of the magic. The lightness in my head staggers me, and I sink bonelessly into the chair.

  Duke Hugh chants and weaves his magic into the air, and the wrongness in the room dissipates. Within moments, it’s as if nothing happened.

  Except for the agitation and presence of two very upset men. Connor prowls the room looking for anything to fight as the duke berates Linnet.

  “Where are your barriers? We’re right on top of the largest power-well in the province, and I still felt your lack of control half the castle away! Don’t you remember anything I told you?”

  “Gantry,” I gasp, and both of them look at me.

  Hugh runs his hand over his face, glares
at me. “How did that spell get in here? This room is shielded. What in Dorei’s name were the two of you doing?”

  Linnet glares and is about to reply when Connor holds up his hand. “We don’t have time. Others will be here any moment. You two,” he says to Linnet and me. “Get in your room and stay there until you’re told otherwise.”

  “Too late,” Hugh observes, as the door smacks open again, and in rush several kirche guards and Gantry. Orrin steps in behind them, his face drawn tight in fear.

  “Treason!” Gantry yells. “Unsanctified magic! It was —” He looks around. “Where is she?”

  Connor looks murderous. “Are you speaking of Princess Julianna?” he asks, his voice quiet and menacing.

  Gantry snarls something about treason again, and I can feel his magic crawling around him, beginning to crawl around the room, searching.

  I don’t know what will happen if it finds me, so I just go with an instinct that I hope isn’t disastrous. “Intruder!” I cry, standing suddenly.

  Everyone stares at me.

  I’m shaking, and tears leak down my face. I’m sure I look frightened enough. “My lords, there was a man in here — or — or someone! They ran back out? Did you see them? I — there was such a noise! I don’t know what they wanted. We were so frightened, oh,” I say, as everyone continues to stare. I stare at Linnet.

  She blinks for a moment. “Oh! Oh, my lords,” she says, breathless. “Please go and catch them! What would have happened if the princess had been here! Oh!” she cries, and pulls her apron up to cover her face, the way our old cook used to do. She wails, and I join in the carrying on.

  “Oh! The princess! Is she safe?” I know Julianna is with her mother, but likely they do not. “Oh, my lords, where is the princess? My lady, Oh!” I cover my face with my hands, lacking an apron. I hear Connor start to bark orders to the kirche guards, the confusion and counter-orders from Gantry.

  “What is going on in here?” Julianna’s voice carries over the din.

  With a quick glance at Linnet, I hurry to her side, pushing past all the men. Orrin winces when I look at him. I frown at him, and keep wailing. “Oh! Your Highness! We were so worried! An intruder! Someone in your rooms! Are you quite safe?” Now Linnet is with me, both of us pulling Julianna further into the room, fussing, getting her closer to her brother and Connor.

  “An intruder? Here? Are you certain?” The princess looks around at the men, standing and staring. “Then why is no one searching for this person?”

  “I will summon the castle guards, Highness,” says Connor, and he starts to leave, raising his eyebrow at me as he passes.

  “This should be handled by the kirche guards. There was unsanctified power used here,” Gantry insists.

  Connor ignores him, brushes by.

  “When the intruder is found, my Lord Bishop, I am sure we will consult with you on how best to handle the matter,” Hugh says. “Right now, I trust the castle guard and my cousin to begin the search. I think your kirche guards can go back to the Inquisitor’s Building, at present. Come with me, my lord. Tell me what you felt.”

  Hugh leads the rest of the men out of the room, leaving Julianna with two seemingly hysterical young women. They mostly seem happy to go, although I catch a wry look from Orrin as he closes the door.

  My hysteria is not entirely feigned. The close call, the spell, the demons, the fight with Linnet — I feel my heart has hammered a hole in my chest.

  “Well, now,” Julianna says. She settles herself on the chaise, gazing at us both.

  I take a deep breath, but Linnet starts before I can. “There was some kind of strange magic, and it was crawling all over the room. And Rhiannon just stood there, and then His Grace and that earl ran in and chased it off. After that those other men came in here shouting about unsanctified power, and —”

  “That was Bishop Gantry,” I say.

  Linnet stops, glaring at me. “So what? He didn’t seem that scary to me.”

  “It was his magic you found scary enough just before that,” I snap, angry now. “And since it was your lack of control that brought his spell here in the first place, your unsanctified power he was talking about.”

  “Rhia,” Julianna breaks in. “You’re sure the spell was from Bishop Gantry?”

  I nod.

  “And it was Linnet’s magic that — summoned it?”

  “It — yes.” I can’t say anything else about it. I know I can’t, so I don’t try.

  “It might have been anything that brought it! I didn’t do anything. How do you know it was me?” Linnet yells.

  “I just do. And the duke did, too, he said —”

  “You’re just mad because it showed you up a coward again. I wouldn’t trust her, your Highness. She has a tendency to turn coward and run.”

  “Linnet!” I think I’m more upset at her rudeness, although I feel my eyes sting.

  “I think that’s more than enough,” Julianna says with reproof.

  Linnet flushes, but it’s hard to tell under the flush of anger she already has.

  “Why don’t you retire for now, Linnet. It would do everyone good to calm down.”

  Linnet shrugs, sullen. “Fine.” She turns to go, then turns back. “Where am I going?” she asks neither of us in particular.

  “The door in the little hall there,” I say. She starts to go. “Linnet — ask pardon first,” I say, surprising myself in how much I sound like Mum.

  Linnet’s gaze leaps to mine, but she turns and curtseys. “Your Highness, I am sorry. May I go?”

  “Yes, Linnet.” Julianna watches her go, her eyebrows raised. When the door closes she turns to me. “Quite a morning, Rhia.”

  “I’m sorry for Linnet’s behavior, your Highness. I don’t know — she never used to be so fresh, or so rude. Our mum would never have allowed it.”

  “She is rather high-strung at the moment. But I suppose it is understandable behavior, considering.” Julianna draws me down beside her and strokes my hand. “So the intruder: your idea?”

  I swallow, nod. “I hope it doesn’t make things worse. I just couldn’t think of anything else. And it seemed as though the bishop was about to maybe —” I swallow again. “Recognize me, or figure out it was Linnet. And I couldn’t let him just accuse you of treason, so I just, just —”

  “It was quick thinking. I don’t know what we’ll do about the intruder. But you managed to turn a very ugly situation around.” She smiles and cups my cheek. “Well done, Rhia.”

  I feel myself blushing.

  Patting my face, she sits back, rubbing her chin. “She should have more training. Magic schools are thin on the ground in the region — and closing, or being closed, due to Prophetic edicts. But Hugh was trained by our grandfather for many years, and could probably keep teaching her. He wrote me he’s been showing her the basics.”

  “His Grace is a Healer, too?”

  Julianna chuckles. “Oh, no. No, Hugh is a magician. He can cast minor illusions, speak into other’s minds, and call Light. His training was different from mine. I don’t know how much he can help Linnet. But it’s worth a try. I’ll speak to him about it after dinner.”

  I rub my neck, nodding. I am exhausted and sore, and the day is not yet done. Julianna rises, gestures to me.

  “Why don’t you stay up here with Linnet while I go and see what Connor and Hugh are up to.”

  I nod gratefully and watch her leave. Traversing the short hallway between the solar and her rooms, I stop outside my door, listening. The only sound I hear is the beating of my own heart.

  I enter my small room — now our small room — with some trepidation. Biting my lip, I ease the door closed behind me. The light of a rainy spring day through the small window does little to illuminate anything. I turn the knob on the lamp beside the door to activate the spell and bring the light up.

  Linnet lies sprawled on the bed under the window, face down in a pillow, asleep.

  I step quietly to her, and ease her boots fr
om her feet. The blanket is stuck under her knee, and I can only imagine the crick she’s going to have in her shoulders when she wakes up. But I can’t bear to wake her and relive the accusations in her eyes. I slip a blanket off my bed to cover her. When she’s sleeping I can pretend that the only family I have left doesn’t hate me.

  Chapter Ten

  The walls of the long room seem to glow of their own accord, the bindings of the books shining in the morning light from the high windows. I turn slowly, craning my neck to peer at the upper gallery and see more shelves, packed tightly with more books than I’ve ever seen, apart from the monastery’s library. And that I saw only once when we visited Keenan.

  Breathing in the musty smell I love, I hug myself tight to keep from touching any of His Grace’s books. One thick brown tome lies open on the long table before me, and I can’t help leaning over it to see if I know the author.

  “I thought I was the only one who liked Perrine around here,” a tenor voice sounds behind me.

  My hand over my mouth, I whirl to see the duke ensconced in a window seat, the shade drawn behind him. “I-I beg pardon, your Grace. I didn’t see you.”

  “Not to worry. I often lurk.” He smiles and stands from the window and approaches me, leaving his book on the seat. Sweeping a bow, he takes my hand in his and passes a kiss over it, as if I were a true lady.

  I blush, flustered.

  “Come, please sit. I’m glad you could take some time for me today. Julianna tells me that you and Linnet need a teacher.”

  Blanching, I look around wildly to be certain no one has heard him.

  He chuckles mildly as he guides me to a chair. “Don’t fret, Lady Rhia. I know this castle, and its denizens. I know when I am being watched, and when I’m not. It’s perfectly safe to be frank.” Sitting next to me in a brown leather chair, he smiles and leans back.

  I try not to gaze helplessly into his eyes — he’s as charming as his sister, and as beautiful. Women must fall into his lap.

  And men too, I realize as a fleeting vision passes through my head. My cheeks burn fiercely, and I try to pay attention to him as he begins to ask me questions.