Forsaken by Magic: A prequel novella (The Baine Chronicles: Fenris's Story Book 0)

by Jasmine Walt

  The guards dragged her away, and I stood in the middle of the room, stock-still, her words playing over and over again in my ears. Screams and sobs echoed in the hall as the family was carried away, and their anguish continued echoing in my mind long after I finally left the prison.

  4

  The moment I returned to the palace, I summoned Frantina to my office. She appeared twenty minutes later, brushing sandwich crumbs from lurid yellow robes that did not flatter her rotund figure and not at all apologetic about making me wait.

  “Sorry, my lord,” she said, sitting down in the chair in front of my desk without waiting for an invitation. “It was lunchtime when you called.”

  “Yes, it was.” I met her stare coldly, and after a few moments, she began to look uncomfortable. “When I say that I wish to see you immediately, that means right away, not in twenty minutes. Your sandwich will not get cold in the meantime, I assure you.”

  “Of course.” The words were spoken without inflection, without even an ounce of humility. “What did you want to speak to me about, Lord Polar?”

  “About this.” I pulled out the arrest report she’d sent and placed it in front of her. “There seem to be a few details missing from your report.”

  Her thick eyebrows rose. “Is that so? I can assure you, Lord Polar, I did not miss any of the salient details.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “You did not think it pertinent to mention that you came to that farmhouse to solicit a bribe?”

  Frantina went still, but a momentary flicker in her eyes told me all I needed to know. “Where in Recca did you hear that?” Her indignation and surprise sounded almost authentic.

  “From the family,” I said. “I went to interview them this morning, and the story they told me was quite different from yours. You claim the attack was unprovoked, and yet here I find that you yourself were engaging in illegal activity. Might I remind you that bribery is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison?” Leaning forward, I lowered my voice a little. “Perhaps it would be best for all concerned that you drop the matter, so I can overlook your own lapse in judgment. Your boss appears to value you—she would not want to let you go.”

  Frantina looked at me as though I’d just asked her to scrub her mouth out with a toilet brush. “With all due respect, Lord Polar, you have no proof at all that I solicited a bribe from these farmers. Why in all of Recca would you choose to believe these human criminals over me? They will say anything to get out of their desperate situation, but their lies do not change the fact that the girl did attack me with magic. It is a matter of principle that she be punished, or the citizens will think it is acceptable for dangerous, untrained magic users to run around unchecked.”

  “You dare to lie to my face?” I said softly, my fingertips buzzing with magic. I was suddenly seized by the irrational desire to lash out at Frantina, and the mere notion shocked me. I could tell she knew it too, for the color drained out of her face, and her grip tightened on the arms of her chair.

  “My Lord—” she started to say, but a knock on the door interrupted her.

  “Lord Polar,” Gelisia began as she walked in, then froze. Her dark eyes swept over us as she took in the scene. “What is going on here?”

  “I am questioning Frantina about the execution order she requested me to sign,” I said tightly. “It is generally considered rude to enter someone’s office without being given leave first.” When did the women working for me suddenly become so brazen? Or had they always been this out of line, and I’d never noticed because I’d been too focused on my scrolls and linguistic studies? No, surely not. This was something new, and Frantina was taking her cue from her boss.

  “It is also rude to question someone else’s subordinate without giving their superior any notice,” Gelisia snapped. Her eyes flashed as she stalked over to stand by Frantina, who was now looking decidedly smug. “What is it that you are questioning about the order? I saw it myself, and it looks quite straightforward to me.”

  “Frantina, you are dismissed.” I didn’t even bother to glance her way, my gaze glued to Gelisia. For once, there was no trace of the seductive woman who was constantly trying to tempt me into marriage—only a shrewd harpy determined to block me from exercising my authority. Was that why she’d offered yesterday to sign those documents for me? So that she could undermine me even further? Well, she would soon rue her insubordination. I knew better than to tolerate that sort of attitude among my staff.

  “Go ahead,” Gelisia said quietly when Frantina seemed to hesitate. That only demonstrated how far the rot had gone—I outranked Gelisia, and she had no say in whether or not Frantina could stay in my office. Frantina would be out of a job before the day was over.

  “Are you angling for my position, Ms. Dorax?” I demanded once we were alone, not bothering to hide my deep displeasure. “Is that why you have started to encroach on my authority? To push me out of my own office so that you might roost here yourself?”

  Gelisia’s eyes widened. “Of course not! I cannot imagine what gave you such an idea. Are you feeling quite all right?”

  I forced myself to take a slow breath, reining in my irritation. In the meantime, Gelisia minced toward the silk-covered sofa, crossing her long legs as she sat down. She regarded me steadily, her red lips pursed. “You are taking all of this far too seriously, if you are starting to see dangers and enemies where there are only friends and supporters. Have you considered taking a vacation? You haven’t taken more than a week here and there since I’ve known you, and must have accumulated tons of leave. A month or two away from the office might make you feel and act less uptight.”

  Was everyone around here determined to give me the same advice? “You mean so that you can have unfettered run of the place while I’m gone and turn a blind eye to the corruption in your department?” Gelisia might deny her ulterior motives, but they were crystal-clear to me now.

  Gelisia stiffened. “What corruption? My department is run with the utmost correctness, I assure you.”

  “It has come to my attention that Frantina has been soliciting bribes from taxpayers.” I briefly explained what I had learned from my visit to Plassis Prison.

  Gelisia scoffed. “There is no way to prove that is true, and why you would take the word of those humans over Frantina’s is beyond me. Besides, Polar—”

  “It’s Lord Polar,” I corrected frostily.

  Gelisia raised her eyebrows. “Very well, Lord Polar. It is completely improper for you to bully or influence Frantina the way you just tried to do; in fact, such behavior is remarkably similar to what those humans accused Frantina of doing. Besides, she is correct in insisting the girl be punished. The law is the law, Lord Polar, and even a Chief Mage cannot change that.”

  “Fine. Have it your way. Now get out of my office.”

  Gelisia’s eyes widened. “You cannot just dismiss me so—”

  “I can do whatever I like.”

  She did as I commanded, slamming the door so hard that the frame rattled. No doubt the rest of the Guild would be gossiping for weeks about this. But at least I was not the only mage who had trouble controlling their emotions today.

  There was no chance of a marriage between Gelisia and myself now, I decided, forcing myself to breathe slowly, deliberately, until my heart rate had slowed to normal. I could never respect a spouse that cold or heartless, or trust her to raise our children. If there was one good thing that had come out of this confrontation, it was that I’d saved myself from a nightmare of a marriage.

  Still, that would be cold comfort to the Mundell family once their child was lying six feet below ground. And there didn’t seem to be a damn thing I could do about it.

  5

  Dammit, I thought, rolling over in bed for what had to be the thousandth time. No matter how much I tossed and turned, how many sheep I counted, how long I did the breathing exercise that helped calm me, I couldn’t relax enough to fall asleep.

  And why should you deser
ve to have a good night’s sleep? my conscience demanded. Do you suppose the Mundells are sleeping well in their cell right now, counting down the hours until their daughter’s execution? Until little Rellia’s MURDER?

  I flinched as the word “murder” echoed in my head. There was no escaping the truth—law or not, killing that little girl was murder, and I couldn’t justify it, no matter how hard I tried. If I signed that order, if I stood by and did nothing as the executioner’s axe fell on that little blonde head, it would leave a stain on my soul that no amount of praying or studying would be able to erase.

  It wasn’t as though I could pardon her, or even stretch out the legal formalities for more than another week or two. I’d been checking up on precedents and the exact wording of the Great Accord all afternoon and found not even the shadow of a possible loophole. Unless some miracle occurred, something totally unexpected and, yes, illegal, that child was doomed.

  Suddenly, I understood what Resinah had meant. No matter which choice I made, I would be paying a price. If I had that girl executed, the price would be a piece of my soul. And if I showed mercy, I would be subverting the law I had sworn to uphold. I firmly believed the law was wrong in this instance, but doing anything to thwart it could very well cost me my position, everything I had worked for all these long decades. Even so, I knew quite well which price I’d rather pay.

  Besides, who said I had to pay either? I was the Chief Mage, not some untrained apprentice. Surely I could come up with a plan that would allow me to evade suspicion.

  Whatever happened, this doubt and inaction had to cease immediately. I threw off the bedcovers, then dressed in a black riding tunic and cloak. A simple spell turned my shoulder-length blond hair pitch black and my skin a dark chocolate color so that no one might recognize me. I went a step further by silencing my footfalls with a stealth spell so that my steps would make no sound against the rasping stone hallways. I stole out of the castle, sticking to the less-frequently traveled halls used by servants, and made my way to the palace stables. In the safety of the shadows, I used a long-distance sleeping spell to take out the stable boy—it hardly required any effort, as he was half asleep to begin with. He slumped in his chair by the stable entrance, and I hurried past him as he started to snore.

  My usual horse, Charin, was sound asleep, but his ears perked up as he heard me approach. “Sorry, boy,” I murmured as I roused the horse next to him instead. “Can’t take you this time around. Too many people would recognize you.”

  Charin snorted in displeasure, but luckily he made no further noise. The other horse, a thoroughbred mare, seemed happy enough to go out for a midnight ride, and I had her saddled and bridled in no time. Urgency filled my veins as I mounted the mare, but I didn’t gallop out of the stables. Doing so would almost certainly draw attention. Instead we calmly trotted out, cutting through the gardens to the long driveway that led down the small hill Plassis Palace had been built on.

  Even with our slower pace, it took less time to reach the prison than it had yesterday, as there was no traffic to speak of. The mare’s hooves sounded unsettlingly loud as they struck against the pavement, and I did my best to keep her out of residential neighborhoods so that we wouldn’t wake anybody. I wouldn’t be recognized in the dim moonlight, but it was still better to be safe than sorry. I looked back over my shoulders once or twice, irrationally feeling that somebody was watching, but no human or mage was anywhere close.

  As we climbed the hillside to the prison, I laid out a map of the grounds in my mind. The prison had its own stable of horses and barracks for the guards. There would be at least four men guarding the perimeter, one at the front desk, and likely not more than two guarding the cells themselves.

  Seven humans against one mage. It almost seemed unfair.

  A thrill rushed through me as the prison finally came into view, and I urged the mare into a gallop. The two guards at the entrance were startled at my sudden appearance and made to challenge me, but I hit them with stun spells before they could shout an alarm, and they collapsed into awkward poses. I’d already activated my magic sight, and the entire fence was glowing with ward magic. I cantered around the perimeter of the fence and soon enough found the object that powered the ward—a fist-sized stone imbued with defensive magic buried in the ground. I shattered it with a gesture without dismounting. The ward flickered and died, turning the electrified fence into simple wire that I easily cut through with a hatchet spell.

  “Intruder!” another guard shouted as I burst through the fence. I swung around to face the guard, who was on foot, and blasted him with a stun spell. Four more guards galloped around the corner on horseback—more than anticipated. I deflected several throwing knives and a sword strike before taking down the others. They toppled from their saddles, and the horses neighed shrilly, hooves rising up into the air as they prepared to bolt. My mare was also upset, and I was forced to slide out of the saddle to better control my magic.

  “Oh no you don’t,” I muttered, summoning more magic to my fingertips. I used a rancher’s spell to rein the horses in and draw them all together. “Go and wait by the back entrance,” I ordered them, my voice heavily layered with magic. They couldn’t understand the words, but the intention was loud and clear, and they immediately turned and trotted toward the back of the prison with my mare at the head of the bunch. Meanwhile, I charged up the steps and through the front entrance.

  “S-stop right there!” the remaining guard shouted from behind the thick glass pane, clutching his cudgel. He was clearly trying to be brave, but a tremor in his voice betrayed his fear. I snorted at that—he should have been waiting for me, weapon drawn. I wished I’d been able to get to him sooner, because he’d probably heard the commotion and called for reinforcements, but there was nothing I could do about that now. I stunned him as I raced past, my boots silent on the tiled hallway floor.

  Cell number forty-two, I thought, remembering what the front desk guard had told me yesterday. I veered left toward the cell block. It seemed as though I was caught up in a dream, perhaps a nightmare, for this was the strangest and most unexpected thing I had done in at least a century.

  Some two dozen or so inmates were already wide awake, shouting and clamoring for me to release them. More than a few tried to grab at my cloak through the bars as I rushed past, and I was forced to use magic to push them back. Part of me wanted to release them all—a mass escape would cover my tracks much better. But many of the inmates were genuine criminals, and I could not set them free to prey on unsuspecting victims once more. Besides, I didn’t want to spend tomorrow dealing with the pandemonium that releasing them would cause.

  I skidded to a stop in front of the Mundell family’s cell, shattered the lock with magic, and wrenched open the cell door. “Come on,” I growled, waving for them to get out. “We don’t have much time.”

  “Who are you?” Mr. Mundell demanded, gathering his wife and children close.

  “I’m from the Resistance,” I snapped, the only explanation they were likely to believe. “Do you want to be rescued or stay in the cell? Hurry up!”

  “Let’s go, Xido,” the mother urged, her voice trembling between fear and hope. She ushered the children forward, and the father followed, though I caught a hint of skepticism in his eyes. He was careful to put his body between me and his family as I herded them toward the exit, down a hall, and to the back entrance where prisoners were dropped off.

  Or, in this case, released.

  “Grab a horse!” I commanded, snagging the bridle of the nearest one. I helped Mrs. Mundell mount one of the mares, then lifted her daughter into her lap while the father jumped onto a gelding and the boy easily swung up on another mare. Clearly they were all experienced riders. Once they were mounted, I jumped into my own saddle and led them down the backside of the hill in a fierce gallop. We crashed through the trees as we raced along an old, overgrown path—the main road up to the prison was on the other side, and that’s where the reinforcements would gat
her. We made it down the hillside unscathed, then continued north for several more miles until I was certain nobody had managed to follow us.

  “All right,” I panted, finally slowing the horse to a trot. “We can breathe for a minute.”

  “Thank you,” Mr. Mundell said gruffly, matching my pace. “But why is the Resistance bothering with us? We have no ties to them, and this was a dangerous stunt.”

  “You are not the first family we’ve rescued,” I said, and that was true enough. The Resistance was a rag-tag band of humans and shifters that had cropped up in recent years, protesting what they considered a harsh regime and demanding more rights for non-mages. They’d broken out a handful of criminals across the Federation in the past two years, mostly dissenters, so it was plausible to claim that I was one of them.

  Especially since I was committing treason myself.

  “News about your family’s arrest has spread in the past few days,” I told them, pulling a purse from the inside of my cloak. “We weren’t able to pull together very much in the way of provisions on such short notice, but take this.” I pushed it into the father’s hands. “You’ll have enough money to purchase food, but stay off the well-known roads and try not to sleep in the inns—they’ll be looking for you there. You’ll be safe once you cross the northern border.”

  “You mean to have us run away to Parados?” The mother’s face went white.

  “We’re leaving the country?” Rellia asked, her blue eyes wide. Her lower lip began to tremble. “But what about the farm?”

  “We can’t go back to the farm,” the boy said quietly, his dark eyes filled with sadness. “The government will probably seize it, and that’s the first place they’ll look for us anyway. We’ve lost it, Rellia.”