“Gently,” she whispered as Nolen drew. She took up Gabriel’s hand and Nolen’s forearm. “You lead.”
Nolen took the remaining four patterns and pushed them together in a column around Lace’s. The pattern fueled, and Gabriel felt lightheaded. The surroundings slowly changed as though a fog blew through and brought with it new sights. The salon faded into a dark tan background, and sharpened into a wall with blue sky above it. Faintly, they heard someone give a shriek, and it grew louder as the new world thickened and Kilkiny Palace faded. Someone ran passed them, dressed in odd garb, and several others backed away.
Structures sharpened, and Gabriel saw a magnificent building in the foreground made of dark tan stone, stacked high in a spiraling fashion. Similar spiraling pyramids came to view in the background, and painted a variety of colors. Gabriel knew each pyramid was a house, and as he looked about, he saw more ranging in height and angle. They were in Cinibar’s capital city Viorica.
Sounds of horses trotting and people shouting reached his ears as the last of the salon vanished. Nolen and Lace cut the patterns and looked about. Someone shouted at them in a sluggish, full-tongued Cinibarian accent and pulled his middle and index fingers across his forehead in a crude gesture.
A man on a simple garron trotted up wearing the dark-and-light blue uniform of Cinibarian soldiers; a sturdy tunic banded with a black sash. His rank was sewn down the chest in white. Gabriel did not know what the crescent-shaped markings ranked him, but the man was older and carried himself with a distinguished presence.
“You,” the soldier declared and saw the Mage markings on Gabriel’s coat. The man smoothed and looked at Nolen. His face fell slack for a moment. Gabriel had not noticed the silver coronet on Nolen’s head before. The soldier dismounted swiftly and bowed. “You gave us a right fright, my Prince, appearing out of naught. What business do you have with us today?”
As Nolen gave orders to the soldier, Gabriel looked around. It was evident he was in a courtyard, and he judged the largest red stone structure to be Telmon Palace, but he had only seen sketches of it before.
He felt a tug on his cloak and realized they were moving. The Prince and soldier spoke to themselves, so Lace reached up under Gabriel’s cloak and found his elbow. “How do you know Mikelle?” he asked after a while.
“We attended the Mage Academy together,” she answered in Arconian. “We have been friends since before our Classing.”
“You test for your Class earlier than we, don’t you?”
“We test at seventeen. The Headmaster of the Academy decides at the end of our schooling, along with his Quorum of Seven.” The Headmaster acted much the same as the Head Mage but had less power, answering instead to the King. The Head Mage answered to no one but his Council.
“Does your Head Mage not know about these?” she asked and touched a nail to his wristlet. He found it interesting that no Mage would touch them with their skin.
“He knows.”
“You have an excellent grasp of our language. Have you been to Arconia?”
“Not yet. I studied Arconian when I was younger, and my instructor refused to speak anything but his tongue.”
“We are required to learn your tongue early. Nearly everyone speaks it if they come from a highborn family.”
“I am woefully unpracticed,” he answered in his mother tongue, and she tittered.
“You will learn it well enough by the time we leave.”
“When will that be?”
She patted his arm. “As long as it takes.”
‘Robyn will be twenty in a few weeks. I just have to hold out until then. Then we’ll see if she will let the Arconian Queen leave with her skin attached.’
The air was warmer than in Anatoly City, and Gabriel could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow under the hood. They walked through the main doors standing wide open. The Queen was holding court this morning.
The halls inside were a warm cream with deep blue marble tiles paralleled either side by little brown tiles. Cinibar’s wealth came the best fabric dyes, oils, wine, fine leathers, and tropical fruits; however, she was best known for her production of strong blades. Cinibar had a dozen mines that produced fine metals and had hundreds of master smiths. Gabriel remembered General Calsifer had a Cinibarian blade, wrought with the decorative handle of a master smith. While each kingdom produced their own weapons, a Cinibarian blade would hold out far longer than any other, and it would not need to be sharpened as often.
Cinibarians had dusky skin and darker eyes with brown or dark red hair. They were of average height and build, and most bore the signature bold nose of their race. Their bloodlines came from Shalabane many Ages before, and years of generations had bred out the droopy eyes, wide mouths, and faint mustaches both Shalabane men and women bore.
Cinibarians were also known for their bold women, and their willingness to bed whom they pleased. As he passed women in the hall, those who caught his eye gave him a hot look. A few made passes at Nolen, and he responded back with a playful word or well-placed pat. A passing solider smiled at Lace, and she pulled Gabriel’s arm closer giving him a sharp glare.
The doors to the throne room were open, and people milled about waiting to speak with the Queen. The room was smaller than Kilkiny’s and less decorated, but regal nonetheless with tall overarching supports and blue tiles creeping up the walls. The Moon Throne sat on a long dais on the far wall. The chair was made of a single block of white wood carved into a full moon with a crescent inlaid of gold highlighting the Queen sitting in the center. A thousand lit candles stood behind her on the walls like twinkling stars, and above the chair hung the yellow banner with two black gloves holding the sword of her house, Du’Bray.
Mage Queen Challis wore a beautiful blue gown with a tight bodice revealing the shoulders. Atop her head was the Moon Crown; a burnished silver coronet with a center piece set to look like a crescent moon on its side, surrounded by twinkling diamonds to mimic stars. She had not aged since Gabriel last saw her almost five years ago. Her long brown hair was done up and curled into one coil hanging down her left shoulder. It was the same style he first saw her with.
To her right sat a man in green writing on a tablet, and to her left sat a pretty young woman in pink who looked bored as she played with the folds of her dress. Their entrance stopped her fidgeting. Nolen marched up the center of the aisle, pushing peasants out of his way and raising several protests. Queen Challis looked at the commotion and straightened in her throne. Pinching her lips she held a hand up to the man standing before her to silence him.
“You have some nerve, Mage Prince Nolen,” the Queen said reproachfully.
Nolen put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder in what Gabriel thought was almost friendly, until he pushed all his weight down and forced Gabriel to a knee.
“And you have information I want,” Nolen replied sternly. “Where is my sister?”
Challis put a brow up. “What makes you think I know?”
“You will tell me,” Nolen barked.
“You have manners to learn, Prince.” Challis snapped and stood. Guards immediately flooded from the wings with raised halberds and unsheathed swords, but she put a hand up to stop them.
Nolen tightened his fingers on Gabriel’s hood and pulled it back with a fistful of hair. Challis looked at him for a moment before the recognition passed over her eyes. “Mage Gabriel?” Her eyes flew to his neck and wrists and returned to his face. “No,” she whispered and clenched her fists into her divided skirts. “I thought the note from the Head Mage to be a forgery, for no man would knowingly put another in a Castrofax.” Her eyes snapped to Nolen’s. “You dare set foot in my city! Are you here to threaten me?” she yelled. “You know our kingdoms have long-standing alliances.”
“Your Grace, you need us more than we need you,” Nolen replied haughtily. “Now, my sister’s location and we will leave.”
“You will leave, Prince Nolen.” She looked at Gabriel. “I had hoped your father
would marry you to my eldest daughter, Celise, or one of my other two daughters,” she gestured to the young woman in pink who watched the show with interest. She had lovely eyes like her mother’s with a nose not so bold as most Cinibarians. “I am sorry, Mage Gabriel, I cannot have your power here uncorked. You must leave.”
Gabriel lowered his eyes. She could not help him, and a little hope ebbed from him.
“Councilwoman Selene, you, and my mother are the only people who know Kindle’s location.” Nolen stated. “I know this because Selene voiced it.”
“Have her tell you.”
“She cannot. She is dead.” Challis stiffened. “Arch Mage Ryker Slade killed her,” Nolen said, and Challis threw up a palm.
“Do not speak his name here.”
“It is no secret. Your people should know of this.” He turned to the people around him who had moved well away. “The great Arch Mage who started the Mage Wars has awoken and escaped Castle Jaden.”
“You taint this room with your very breath,” Challis snapped. “I will not have a servant of Ryker Slade here.”
The guards moved into action without an order, rushing forward with brandished swords and spears. Gabriel felt the power leech out of him as Nolen laid a pattern and threw it out. The soldiers buckled and screamed as their knees shot out.
“Go ask your mother where your sister is!” Challis yelled as people ran from the room.
“I would rather not kill her or destroy her palace in the process.” Nolen replied and drew deeply from Gabriel’s stamina. As a pattern fueled, Gabriel felt the tiniest weakening of the energy in the room. Someone died. Challis screamed at him to stop as one by one pinch-patterns and light shards shot through the pushing crowd. Nolen had learned the patterns quickly, and though they were sloppily laid, they were correct. Ryker must have instructed him. When the people were gone, half a dozen laid dead on the floor.
Drawing Earth, he tore at the ceiling. Chunks of stone and plaster fell upon the royal throne. Lace threw up a shield protecting them and the Queen. The side of the room gave a tremendous crack and split down the center, while fresh soldiers rushed in. Nolen struck them down one by one.
“Do something,” Challis mouthed to Gabriel, but he held up a defenseless hand, still crouched on his knee. Soldiers fell all around the room, some with shards of mortar and wood imbedded in their torsos, others bleeding from the eyes and nose. As Nolen raged, Gabriel felt…stretched, as though he had been drawn too far and could not bounce back to his former flexibility. Lights danced before his eyes, and his vision blurred.
The man in green grabbed Princess Celise and rushed her out, but Nolen threw an Air pattern in their path. Celise screamed in a high pitch as stone dropped around her.
“Protect her!” Gabriel shouted to Lace and pointed. The Arconian quickly laid another shield above the Princess. Gabriel felt the sharp kick of Nolen’s boot slam up into his calf, and in the Prince’s rage, he hurled a sparkling Spirit pattern at the Princess.
Challis threw up a hand with a Water ice-pattern on her forearm, but the shard passed through it with a sizzle. The Princess crumbled to the ground with a scream.
“Kindle is in the Nevis Range!” Challis shrieked. Light filtered through the ceiling. “Just leave!” The Queen rushed around the Moon Throne and fell by her daughter; she shook and bled from her face.
Gabriel struggled to rise, out of breath. Nolen’s patterns had taken more out of him than he expected. Lace put a hand under his arm and helped haul him up. Nolen ceased his tirade, and all that filled the room was the sound of moaning, crumbling stone, and the unintelligible weeping words of Celise.
Nolen mounted the dais. Gabriel followed close behind with Lace supporting him.
“Where?” Nolen snapped.
Challis looked up from her bleeding daughter, holding two hands on her face. The skin was ripped up the cheeks and bled profusely as all face wounds did. The girl fell silent as shock set in. “A manor just outside the town of Veir. Please do something for her.”
“Have you no Spirit Mage in the city?” Nolen chuckled. “Why was Kindle sent away?”
“Even I do not know that.” Challis replied tersely. “No man but the Head Mage himself knows.” The beam of sun caught the dust falling from the ceiling behind her, and to her far right one of the spilled candles caught the plaster and fallen wood. “Prince Nolen, please mend my daughter.”
“Kindle knows where the Silex is, Councilwoman Selene knew that much,” Nolen chuckled. “And Ryker Slade wants it.”
Her face fell as she realized what she had done. “You star crossed fool,” Challis hissed. “You have damned yourself and this poor Mage by allying with a monster.”
Gabriel stepped close enough to see the damage done to the girl. She was ripped from lip to eyebrow on both sides, and he could see the bone of her cheek sticking from under Challis’ hand. Her eyes were closed, and her hands shook as shock took its effect. She had such a pretty face before Nolen ruined it.
“Do you have no Spirit Mage here?” Gabriel asked quietly. Nolen clocked him across the scalp with the control piece. The metal bit into his flesh but did not break it.
“Mages have been fleeing to Jaden with the rumors,” Challis replied. There were tears in her eyes and voice. “Please just go.”
“Gladly,” Nolen snapped and drew the Elements from Gabriel’s chest. Lace stood looking on at the girl, her face full of sympathy and regret. Slowly, she laid the Air sidestep-pattern.
Nolen’s draw on Gabriel’s Elements was not as vicious as it had been, but Gabriel feigned weakness and fell to a knee. Gabriel waited until the moment before the patterns were fueled.
Gabriel drew Spirit from his chest with difficulty, laid a powerful healing pattern that would mend from bone to skin, and touched a hand to Celise’s ankle. Queen Challis snapped her head up as Gabriel fueled the pattern, and her mouth fell open in surprise. It took half a second for the pattern to race up Celise’s leg and into her face. In the span of a breath, the girl’s face mended, layer by delicate layer.
Gabriel’s calf suddenly gave with a sharp crack where Nolen had kicked it before, and his scalp gashed open, spilling hot blood down the side of his face and neck. The sidestep-pattern was already fueled, and as Nolen realized what happened, he struck Gabriel again across his head. Gabriel’s mouth was open as the scream tried to find a way through his clenched vocal chords. He dug his nails into the marble of the floor, feeling carpets form under his hands.
Challis was becoming translucent as his eyes opened. She reached her hand out to touch as tears streamed down her cheeks, but he was no longer solidly in Viorica, and her hand slipped through. “Thank you,” she wept, but he could not hear her voice. He held her gaze until Nolen hit him again. When he opened his eyes, Challis and the throne room were gone, replaced with the carpets and decorated walls of the Willow Wine Salon.
“You—you—!” Nolen kicked him sharply in his thigh. The jar to his calf, which was certainly broken, brought a sharp cry to his lips. “Find a Spirit Mage to heal you, then spend the rest of the day in the kitchens!” He grasped a handful of Gabriel’s hair slick with blood and brought his face to his eyes. “You did not lie with that Arconian last night, did you?”
“I did,” Gabriel whispered, pain taking the conviction from his voice.
“Then she was too kind to you. I will be sending someone else tonight who will not be.” He released his hold and stormed out.
Lace put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me fetch our Spirit Mage.” She rushed from the room and Gabriel put a hand on his head to feel the wound that wept down his neck. He eased himself to his side and hunched over with his hands on his head until footsteps sounded nearby.
A hand pulled his fingers off the wound and parted his hair. “It is long,” the woman said in a wary tone. She took a knee beside him, and he saw a green dress over round hips and windblown red hair falling behind her. Putting both hands on his head, she fueled a healing pattern, an
d he felt the skin stitch back together slowly. He dropped his hands to his lap, caked with dried blood.
The woman came into his vision as she scooted closer to his leg. Her face was fair, with curly red hair pulled back in a bushy tail. She gave him a sympathetic smile with plump lips and set her long, slender fingers on his leg, lacing a probe-pattern to feel for the break.
Lace appeared on his right. “This is Bianji, one of ours.”
“Hello, Star Breaker,” Bianji said, her gaze on his left leg as she repositioned her hands over the break. “Only one bone is broken.” She met his eyes with her pale green ones. “Ready? Or would you like something to hold?”
“Just do it,” he replied and grit his jaw. Bianji wasted no time and quickly pushed the two broken halves together. He gasped and let out an exasperated breath as his hands balled into fists. She made short work sealing the break and lifting the bruise.
“You may feel that in the morning. I was never good with broken bones.” She gracefully sat down beside him and brushed her hands of the drying blood. “We are going to have to learn who Nolen is sending tonight,” she said to Lace in Arconian. “There are a few out for his skin, though I can see why. Had I not vowed to Mikelle I would not touch him, I would probably jump—”
Lace threw a hand up. “He speaks Arconian!”
Gabriel popped his head up and glared at her.
Bianji’s face tightened. “Jump…jump in—never mind.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with Mikelle,” Lace waggled a finger.
Bianji huffed and held her hands out. “She has an addictive personality. When she talks, people listen, and she has been talking about muscles.”
Despite himself, Gabriel blushed.
“She said something about six,” Bianji whispered and moved her hand to her stomach.
“Mikelle can’t count,” Gabriel sighed and pushed himself to his feet. His body was weary and the blood rushed from his head. He still felt stretched after Nolen used his Elements and had not bounced back to his usual strength. It felt as though his stamina left and not returned as it should have.
The Castrofax (Book 1) Page 25