by CM Raymond
Karl grinned. “Took time to find other mindnuts, huh?”
“Yeah, you could put it that way.” Hadley laughed. “We know we’re a peculiar bunch, rearick. We’ve made peace with that. Our peculiarity drives us to a life of reflection and contemplation that connects us with the world—both inside and out—in ways that your brethren would never know.”
Reminded of why he was so sour, Karl only grunted. It was the wrong day to argue the point.
“Why else did you go?” Parker asked.
“Something Selah always taught, and I think he learned it from Ezekiel, was that to excel in the mystical arts, one must remain connected to the world around them, if even only on occasion. Our magic influences minds, and only by spending time among other minds can you really push yourself. Staying in one place your whole life—it’s bound to make anyone close-minded—mystic or otherwise.”
The party fell back into silence. Parker thought about his own firmly rooted life. Maybe this mystic was right after all. The world was a big place.
After an hour of the journey, Hadley finally asked, “So, how’s Hannah doing?”
Karl and Parker looked at him, both with narrowed eyes. Hannah had become, in ways, like a daughter to the rearick. Their bond had become thick through bloodshed and lives saved. He would protect her from boars, and remnant, and from mystic men.
Parker had his own reasons for suspicion. He cleared his throat. “She’s fine. Just fine.”
Laughing, Hadley replied, “I bet she is. Damn, she’s strong. If those Arcadians know what’s good for them, they won’t mess with her. Is the mental magic working for her?”
“Well enough,” Parker said.
“What does that mean? Has she been able to veil herself from the world? Are they buying her illusion?”
“Aye,” Karl said. “The lass’s got some skills. Besides the way she curses and kicks ass, I’d never know she was raised on the Boulevard.”
“Nice. You guys know I trained her, right? She picked things up faster than any mystic I’ve seen. Some think she could be more powerful than Julianne—maybe even Selah—if she had time to commit herself to the practice.” The mystic trailed off, losing himself in the thoughts of his time in the Heights with Hannah. “That sort of training… it’s so, well, intimate. It’s like you get a piece of you inside of them and—”
Parker’s face grew red, and he nearly burst at the seams. “Could you just please bloody stop? It’s a long walk back to Arcadia. I suggest we spend that time in meditation.”
Hadley opened his mouth to respond, then saw the look of murder on Parker’s face. The mystic kept his thoughts to himself, but the way he smiled made Parker wonder if he was giving Parker the same luxury.
Damn mystic, Parker thought. Why the hell do we need him anyway?
“Because I’m good,” Hadley said with a smirk. Then he skipped ahead of them down the road, whistling as he went.
****
Doyle glanced over his shoulder. His men all walked behind him since the horses—except for Doyle’s—were being used to drag a large, strange object. It was the artifact they had pulled out of the ice. It took two horses to pull the weight of the device from Cella. The little city’s Governor was happy to supply the transportation they required. Working for Adrien had its advantages.
While he didn’t exactly know the thing’s purpose, he could only assume it was important—important enough to send he and the Captain of the Guard on the mission. As they approached the gate, Doyle couldn’t help but smile. He felt like a victorious general of old, riding into the city with his spoils of war. But the feeling didn’t last long.
“Hey, Captain—” a soldier at the gate pointed at their load and yelled “—heard you pulled that shit from a frozen hell single-handedly!”
The men surrounding the Guard clapped for their Captain, but Stellan knew enough to wave them off. “Took a lot of hands to find her and even more to bring her home, but thanks, gents,” he responded with a grin. “Now, get yer lazy asses back to work!”
Even with Stellan’s acknowledgment, Doyle flushed. The Guards talked more than a damn noble ladies’ sewing circle. Word must have spread throughout the Capitol already, and Doyle knew that he might not be taking the credit for the successful mission.
But then he wondered to himself, If Adrien was so damned suspicious of that bloke, why send him along with me in the first place? Doesn’t make sense unless he trusted me to flush out a traitor.
His eyes cut to the Captain riding in silence. The man had been the one to find the artifact. And he designed a way to get it out of the ice. Why would a traitor go to all that work? Unless he wanted to get close to Adrien. Doyle bristled at the thought.
Stellan was likable, strong, everything the Chancellor admired in his underlings. Maybe I wasn’t sent North because Adrien trusts me, Doyle thought. Maybe he was just trying to get me out of his hair?
Doyle’s image of himself riding into the city as a conquering hero suddenly vanished. He needed to do something to show Adrien that he was the true hero. And the quickest way to become the hero was to vanquish an enemy.
As they finished their trip down to the factory, Doyle silently began crafting a plan to expose Stellan as the traitor—and kill two birds with one stone.
It’s like the Chancellor taught me, Doyle thought. Proof is less important than persuasion.
****
“Make room, you little bitch,” Hannah said with a grin as she nudged Sal off the couch.
The dragon was growing every day, and his weight made the furniture creak as he jumped down to the floor.
Gregory furrowed his brow. “Wait a second. Sal’s a girl?”
Hannah pushed the dragon, and he rolled onto his back to have his belly rubbed by his master. “Let’s check.” She scanned the dragon’s underside. “So hard to tell with these creatures!”
“Seriously?”
Hannah laughed. “No, Sal’s a boy dragon. But he’ll always be my bitch.”
The dragon rolled up to his feet and flicked his tail playfully at Hannah’s legs. He then curled up at her feet and fell asleep.
“All that thing does it eat and sleep,” Gregory said.
“Yeah, it’s the life. I have a feeling Sal has his work cut out for him, though. The fight is coming, and I doubt this lug will sit on the sidelines.” Hannah scratched her nails on the dragon’s side. He kicked a hind leg in rhythm with her strokes. “But now, his job is just to get big and badass. I just need to figure out how to make him breathe fire!”
Gregory couldn’t help but wonder if she was serious or messing with him. He hadn’t known the girl or her dragon long, but the thing had grown significantly since he’d met them. The fact that it existed made little sense—why wouldn’t it breathe fire?
“You were great tonight,” Gregory said. “Just perfect.” The two had just returned from the Winter Ball, after making a hasty exit. Despite her illusion, Gregory could see the anger in her eyes and decided that they had better get out of there. It was nearing its conclusion anyway, and several people had left before them. The two students wouldn’t be missed—probably.
Hannah smiled and batted her eyelashes. She looked like her old self, although she was still wearing her red dress. “Why, thank you, Sir Gregory. I’m sure it was due to the honor of the gentleman on my arm.” She smiled and pulled on the ball gown. “Now, I can’t wait to get the hell out of this dress. It’s been squashing my boobs all night.”
“Very classy, Deborah.”
The two turned to see Ezekiel in the door grinning and looking like himself. Amelia, the Dean of the Academy, stood beside him.
“Now,” Ezekiel said, taking a seat across from his students, “You two sure got out of there fast. Let’s hear the rest of the story. Is everyone OK?”
Hannah walked them through the details of the evening, starting from the beginning. She took time in describing the dance with Adrien and in confessing how close she came to gutting him l
ike a hog. Her rendition of finding the blueprints in Elon’s office made them all smile, though it turned Gregory’s stomach. He knew that before long, the hunt would begin for the thief—and he was one of the people who would have known precisely where to find the plans.
“And that’s it. Mission accomplished.”
Ezekiel raised a brow. “Nothing else?”
“Well, there was the complete shitface Morgan who tried to take advantage of me in one of the guest rooms, but I took care of that.” She explained her failed attempt to alter his memories and the backup plan.
Ezekiel glared at Hannah. “That was very reckless. What if he tells someone? It could ruin everything.”
Hannah couldn’t help but smile. “Patience is a virtue Zeke, but not when some shit is groping you in a backroom and won’t let go. Then violence is a virtue. But I wouldn’t worry about him squealing too much. Let’s just say I put the fear of the gods in him. And something tells me that Morgan isn’t the kind of guy who brags about being told no by a woman. Not to mention, he’d be bringing the fact that he was forcing himself on the daughter of one of the most influential nobles in all of Arcadia… and one of his professors.” She glanced at each of them. “I think we should be fine with him.”
Amelia leaned forward. “I could call him to the office. Tell him we have gotten reports from some of the ladies that he has been a bit, well, aggressive. Might encourage him to keep his mouth shut. Morgan wants nothing more than to receive a recommendation for Adrien’s scholar’s program. Could do the trick.”
Ezekiel sat silent for a moment. “Let’s wait on it. See if it blows over. But keep a close eye on the boy—whenever he gets out of the infirmary.”
“Enough about douchenuts,” Hannah said. “Let’s take a peek at Elon’s project.” She pulled the blueprints out from her dress and unrolled them on the table in the middle of the room. Gregory placed candlesticks on either end, holding the edges down.
The four of them stared at the work of art before them. The fine lines were clearly drawn with a precise hand. And while the numbers and words made no more sense to Hannah now than they did in the safe, she could clearly see the outline of a large ship—the weapon that could end them all.
“So,” Hannah said. “Does this tell us how to stop it?”
Amelia and the students looked up at Ezekiel after a few beats of silence. He laughed. “I’m a magician, not an engineer. Beats the hell out of me. I was hoping you’d have something for us, Gregory.”
Gregory pulled a pen from his pocket and, with the non-writing side, started tracing lines. “I mean, most of this is just the body of a ship. Steel and siding. It’s designed to be light, but still strong enough to take a beating. This here is the cockpit, where they’d steer the ship from. And this—this is the magitech core.”
“The rest of this…” He stared perplexed at the paper for another moment before rolling them up. “Let me take this with me to my workshop. This is tech like I’ve never seen. I have some notions of what might be going on, but I need to crosscheck it with some other tech I have. If I can reverse engineer some of the more complex magitech and then expand for scale and purpose, I might just be able to—”
“OK, boy wonder,” Hannah interrupted. “Just go get busy. We need this, yesterday.”
Gregory nodded and left the room.
Just as he left, the door rattled and started to open. Hannah spun, instinctively drawing fireballs into her hands.
“Aye, good to see you too, lass. Is that any way to welcome a friend?” Karl’s beard rose with a smile.
Parker, grinning like a schoolboy entered behind him. Hannah felt her pulse pick up. It had been days since she had seen him, and it had felt like a month. So many things had happened since he and the rearick had set off, and she couldn’t wait to tell him everything.
When Hadley crossed the threshold just behind Parker, her heart dropped. Seeing the mystic she had connected with so deeply in the Heights enter, everything in her spun out of whack. It was part of the plan to bring back reinforcements, but she never really believed he would be among their ranks.
“Hadley,” she finally said. Then she realized she had said nothing to her best friend. “And… Parker.” Her face burned, and she hated everything about being herself at that moment. For a second, she considered bringing the entire mansion down on all of them, just to finish this moment. “Good to see you guys.”
Hadley’s eyes moved up and down her body, taking in Hannah’s noble garb. “Damn. You dressed up for me. Really didn’t have to.”
Karl poured drinks as they all awkwardly took their seats. Hannah tried to catch Parker’s eye more than once, but he refused to comply.
The rearick raised his glass. “In memory of the rebellion. She was a damned clever idea, had she only been accepted by more than a few magicians and a couple of screw ups.”
Tentatively, they all raised their glasses and downed a drink. Karl wasted no time pouring another.
“So, it went that well?” Hannah finally asked. The booze was already rushing to her head.
“Trip was a damned bust, darlin’,” Karl said as his cheeks turned red. “Looks like we’re gonna have to take this shit to Adrien ourselves. At least I brought one of the mind engineers back with me.” Karl nodded at Hadley.
“I guess this means we’ll need the perfect plan,” Ezekiel said. “Luckily, Hannah here was a success tonight.”
They quickly recounted the night’s events. Parker seemed furious when Hannah described Morgan’s assault, but Hadley only laughed. “What did I tell you, Hannah?” the mystic asked with a grin. “You and your physical magic. You have power over minds—you prove it every day by disguising yourself in the Academy. Now that I’m here, we can continue your lessons. I’ll teach you what you need to scramble the mind of someone like Morgan. That way, you don’t have to always lean on your physical magic crutch.”
Hannah nodded. She too was happy about continuing her mental magic training, and Hadley was an excellent teacher. She opened her mouth to say so when Parker cut in. “It sounds like this Morgan douche will be the one in crutches. I for one am glad you had your physical magic. You should have roasted his nuts off.”
Hadley turned and gave Parker a strange look, but Parker stared straight at Hannah, ignoring it. Something was going on between the two men, but she didn’t have the energy to try and figure it out.
Ezekiel rose from the table. “Karl and Parker, I appreciate your efforts to bring in rearick allies, but we always knew it would be a long shot. Moving forward, we stick to the plan. Parker and Hadley, you will hit the streets, starting tomorrow. I must believe that there is enough grit in the Boulevard to stand against Adrien’s cruelty. You must give them the hope they need to fight.”
Parker leaned forward. “I know my people; they won’t back down from a fight. I’ll make sure they see the truth.”
“Good,” Ezekiel said. “Hannah, you’ll return to the Academy—keep searching for allies. But be careful. Now more than ever, you need to blend in. Give them no reason to suspect you had anything to do with tonight’s break in.”
Hannah brushed her hair behind her ears and giggled. Putting on her best noble’s voice, she said, “That shouldn’t be a problem. No one would expect any talent from little old me. I’m nothing but a pretty face.”
Ezekiel smiled. “Luckily for all our sakes, you are much more than that. Amelia, you and I will work on plan B. If our young rebels here are unable to sway the city to do what’s right, then it is on us to finish things. It seems the time for half measures has come to an end. Rebellion or no, Adrien must die.”