Phoenix Ashes (The Landers Saga Book 3)

by Nilsen, Karen

  "You like my library?" he asked with a thin cackle.

  "Yes," I said. I could have said more but decided to remain as circumspect as possible. Likely anything I said he'd find some way to use against me. Besides, I was too tired and concerned about Safire to be clever this morning.

  "Good. Come down here," he commanded. "There's a staircase near you. Unless, of course, you want to fly." He cackled again.

  "Ha, ha, Your Majesty," I said, fatigue blunting my anger to a smoldering irritation. Of course he knew about the glider. And the weirhawk. The assassins had surely witnessed it. Why should that surprise me? I followed the assassin down a graceful spiral staircase, the iron risers rasping in protest at our combined weight.

  "I wish I could have witnessed your flight. Perhaps you'll demonstrate it for us one day."

  "Perhaps, but not now. We have to return to Cormalen as soon as possible. That turncoat you hired to spy on us tried to kidnap Safire last night, and I'm in an ill humor," I snarled. "So if we could speed this along, Your Majesty, I have some business to attend to."

  King Rainier started, his eyes narrowing to obsidian gleams. "Turncoat? What's he talking about?" he demanded, glancing at the assassin beside me.

  Tersely, the brute related the events of the previous evening. "And I haven't had a coherent thought from Safire since," I added as he finished. "I fear the worst." As I said it, I realized, a depthless chasm cracking open inside, that I meant it. My hands began to shake, the foundations of my being called into question as I contemplated the unthinkable. She could be dead right now, and it would be at least a week before I knew for certain . . .

  When I blinked, hard, smooth stone lay beneath me, the cold surface so reviving and solid I clutched at it like an anchor as the chamber whirled above me. "What happened?" I muttered.

  "You fainted, Quicksilver." A cool claw of a hand ran over my brow, through my hair, and I turned my head to find Undene's glowing milky eyes darting over me. Her witch vision allowed her to sense auras and "see" visions of distant events in a mirror despite the fact she was blind. King Rainier and the assassin hovered behind her, the odd angle and the difference in their heights especially jarring. I blinked again.

  Then I grabbed Undene's withered hand. "Can you see her? In one of your mirrors?" I demanded. "What's wrong with her?"

  "Ah, Quicksilver. Always so patient and polite." She cawed laughter, looking like an ancient crow with her black dress and shrunken claws for fingers. "Not even a good morning for a lonely old lady who's missed you so terribly these past three years?"

  "Quit mocking me, damn it--what do you see?"

  "Nothing. I saw nothing of her. The mirror went dark." She clutched her wattled neck as if her throat constricted. "I'm sorry."

  "What do you mean, the mirror went dark?"

  "It could mean nothing. She's very powerful and often blocks me scrying in any mirror she's near, the feisty bratling."

  I gripped her hand between both of mine. "What about Dominic? Can you see him?"

  She nodded. "I did see him--he's with her sister."

  "Dagmar--why's he with her?"

  "I don't know, Quicksilver. I'm sorry."

  I patted her hand. "Thank you," I said before I sat up, the chamber still whirling around me.

  "Careful." Her hand rested on my back now, light as a dried leaf. "Give yourself a minute--you've had a shock. If it's any consolation, His Majesty and I believe that if either you or she were to die, the other would soon follow. So the fact you're still breathing indicates that Safire is still alive, even if neither you nor I can reach her in our thoughts."

  "Mutual death because of the mind bond," I said thickly, putting my hands over my face.

  "You've braided it very strong, perhaps too strong."

  I turned my head, uncovering one eye so I could look at her. "You talk like we had some choice in the matter."

  "Imagine that when you and Safire came into being, a thin cord stretched between your souls." Her singsong cadence, her witch hand still resting on my back, her glowing eyes, lulled me into a half trance as I listened. "At first this cord was tenuous at best, and you shared similar cords with other souls."

  "What?"

  "Yes, Quicksilver, other souls." She made a gesture as if she pulled an invisible needle and thread through the air. "Though I can't be certain of this, I believe such a cord exists between Safire and Bara's souls--that's how she was able to hear his thoughts as her powers grew, why he's so obsessed with her. Now these cords I speak of--they're involuntary. Although they're tenuous, they can't be severed. However, two souls connected by one of these cords can choose to strengthen it into a mind bond, if the man and woman in question possess witch talents. When you and Safire met, you started strengthening the cord between you. First it thickened to twine, then a rope, and now it's bigger than one of those huge ropes they use to lower anchors, hundreds upon hundreds of strands twisted together, each one a thread of emotion connecting her soul to yours."

  "If it's about strong emotions, why do such bonds exist only between mates? Why not between parent and child, between siblings?"

  King Rainier cleared his throat. "I theorize it has to do with the perpetuation of the species, that witches and warlocks form such bonds to ensure they stay together, protect each other, and produce more children to inherit their parents' abilities."

  "Fine theory," I said dryly. "You have any others you'd like to share, Your Majesty?"

  His mouth crooked in a nasty smile. "When you and Safire and your children reside at this court, I'll tell you everything I know, young Landers, not before."

  I bristled but bit my tongue. I shouldn't have bothered, however, as Undene laughed and exclaimed, "Oh, Your Majesty, he didn't like that. He didn't like that at all. Keep saying things to upset him--he has so much energy to spare. It's like inhaling divine sparks when he's angry. My rheumatism has diminished already, just being around him."

  "Undene." King Rainier's voice dropped in a warning.

  She hooted a laugh. "What? It's a shame to let it go to waste. I could gain years with him around. You could gain years. So much life force crackling through him." She stroked my shoulder as if I were a prized pet, and I grimaced, finding the strength to clamber to my feet and get away from her. I swayed for a moment as the library slowly stopped revolving around me. I suddenly wondered if my continued dizziness had been caused by Undene drawing energy from me. I wouldn't put it past the old witch. Her mouth twisted in a grin then, and I knew my instincts were correct. With a guard's help, she shuffled over to the huge chair the king had vacated and sank down on the seat with a satisfied sigh.

  "So, Your Majesty, what is the purpose of this meeting? As you can imagine, I'm rather anxious to catch the next ship back to Cormalen."

  Rainier reached under his fur-edged robe and drew forth a scroll. "Something for you and Lord Rankin to ponder. I've followed your translation of Talus's journals with interest."

  I unfurled the scroll and scanned over it. It was a list of titles, such as Ancient Corcin, The Weir and Their Elements, Werewolves in Sarneth . . . "Where can we find these?" I demanded.

  Rainier smirked. "As far as I know, this library is the only place in the known world."

  "When Lord Rankin has been at the embassy here, why haven't you told him of these titles?" I held out the list with a rattle of parchment.

  "I don't know, young Landers. Why haven't you told him about transforming into a weirhawk?" Rainier's eyes were oily gleams.

  "The same reasons I'd rather not discuss it with you. There's a whole world of difference between writing out a translation of the term weirhawk in an ancestor's journal and experiencing it firsthand. I can't discuss it with my father, who witnessed it. I can't even bring myself to discuss it with Safire." I crumbled up the list of titles and thrust it in my shirt pocket.

  "Why do you think that is, Merius?" Undene asked softly, oddly hesitant for her. And she'd used my real name--even odder. I got the sense that s
he and King Rainier performed this little ritual often, playing off each other as a form of manipulation.

  "You know, Safire said something one time about being my wife, not my experiment. I've never forgotten it, and after all your forced doses of Ursula's Bane, I understand even better what she meant. We're no one's experiment." I glared at King Rainier.

  He looked down, rubbed an ink stain on his finger. "So you have no curiosity about what's happened to you, about that list of titles?"

  "I wouldn't say that exactly," I answered after a long moment.

  "The only way you or Lord Rankin are getting your hands on those books is if you and Safire reside at this court," he said flatly. "Do you understand?"

  "All right. I understand, Your Majesty." I shrugged. He must have been insane if he thought that I would willingly bring Safire here just so I could get a look at a few books . . .

  "I don't think you really understand," Undene said, her voice hollow like the sound of the wind rattling dead branches. "I hate to consider it, but there may come a time when you need the knowledge in those books to save your family. You had best start being more cooperative with His Majesty--I think you've upset him."

  "I've upset him? I don't know--he's the most powerful man in the known world. Seems he could handle a few wisecracks from the likes of me. I just think you're trying to provoke me so you can feed off my aura again, you depraved crone."

  She gave a fiendish guffaw. "Your Majesty, I do believe Quicksilver has a ship to board, which makes me sad. We'll have to have him and Safire back for tea and biscuits soon, sooner than he thinks, perhaps."

  King Rainier clasped his hands behind his back. "Young Landers, given what's occurred, it's unwise for you to return to Cormalen on the same vessel."

  "I agree, Your Majesty."

  "Vrendane?"

  "Yes, Your Majesty?" The brute assassin stepped forward.

  "Secure passage for him and yourself on the Sea Hawk. Give the captain this." Rainier went over to a table with several ink wells, pens, and parchment, scribbled something on a bit of parchment, then folded and sealed it before he handed it to Vrendane. The brute now had a name, after almost three years. That was going to take some time to get accustomed to.

  "Quicksilver, I have some news before you leave," Undene said. "You'll have a new king when you return to Cormalen. King Arian is dead."

  "What?! How?"

  Her bony, narrow shoulders stabbed the air in a shrug. "I don't know. I saw Queen Verna, Princess Esme, and Prince Segar in mourning garb when I looked in the mirror this morning, then I saw His Majesty's coffin on display in the great hall."

  The floor seemed to shift under my feet again--soon I would have to go everywhere with bent knees to keep from toppling, not just on board ship. "So you can see all of them but not Safire in your mirror?"

  "They're not naughty little witches who like to hide from me, Quicksilver," she said simply, a hint of wry sadness tingeing her tone.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Midmarch, Sarneth

  October, last year

  The cool quiet inside the thick, white walls of the convent refreshed me. I remembered feeling confined and restless when Safire and I had hidden here with an infant Sewell, but if I had known then what horrors awaited us at the palace, I would have appreciated this sanctuary more.

  The abbess's leathered, hawkish face cracked in broad smile when she came around the corner of the hallway. She strode forward and clasped my hands, her work-toughened grip firm with purpose as she gazed into my face with dark-eyed acuity, disconcerting in her directness. She had seen me at one of my worst moments, the moment right after I had told Safire I would never be able to accept Sewell as my son.

  "Merius, it's so good to see you. I never did get the chance to thank you for what you did to rid this city of Queen Jazmene and my cousin Toscar's poisonous influence. You risked your life, and Midmarch has been far the better for it."

  "Thank you, dear abbess, though I think you give me too much credit. Truly, I wasn't thinking of Midmarch when I killed Toscar--I was thinking only of my own hide. And Safire and my father, of course--Toscar tried to stab Father in the back, and that's when I killed him."

  She nodded "I heard that--I usually don't hold with violence, but violence in defense of yourself and your family--that's another matter. I have a better opinion of your father because of you--he took some care with your training, and not just with fighting and arms."

  "That he did. I trust you feel as well as you look?"

  "Never better. How's Safire?"

  I swallowed. "She was well when I left Cormalen."

  Her hands tightened. "What's wrong?"

  I managed a rueful smile. "Perceptive as ever, aren't you?"

  "You forget, I can sense your aura, Merius. Here, why don't we go to my cell where Sewell is, and you can tell me about it." Without waiting for my acquiescence, she turned, her gilt-edged white robe rippling around her feet, and marched down the hall. I followed with an inward grin--she was a tough bird. I'd love to see her trounce Talia in an argument.

  "He's taking his afternoon nap, so we'll have to be quiet," the abbess whispered, easing the door to her cell open. I crept past her. Sewell lay curled on his side in a narrow crib, a stray beam of light from one of the high, recessed windows across his hair and back.

  "He has a few strands of red in his hair," I remarked, watching as he sighed in his sleep, his thumb finding his mouth. "Must get that from Safire."

  "He got a lot more than that from her--just wait till you see him smile. And he's quite a sensitive little fellow. We had him sleeping in a cell by himself up until a few weeks ago, but he started having terrible nightmares, so I moved his crib in here."

  "Nightmares?" I angled my face toward her. "Any sign of witch talents?"

  She shrugged, gazing down at him, her expression soft. "Perhaps, though it's hard to know for certain yet. I hate to see him leave, but it's time." She sighed, her eyes suspiciously bright. I handed her my handkerchief, and she dabbed her nose. "If he were a girl child, he could stay here till he came of age, but as he's a boy, I'd have to send him to a monastery soon."

  "You've been most generous, keeping him safe here for us and caring for him so well. Safire and I both appreciate it--we can never repay you . . ."

  She flicked the handkerchief dismissively. "He's been a joy." Her eyes ran over my face, and then she nodded, as if satisfied about something. "You've matured some since you were last here. I'm glad to see it. I'll be frank, Merius--I worried at first when I got your letter. I know you're a good man, but this is a difficult situation. You would never mean harm to an innocent child like Sewell, but I'm certain you still wish harm to his father your kinsman for what he did to Safire."

  "I won't deny it." I sighed and grasped the edge of Sewell's crib as I stared down at him.

  "You're afraid for her, aren't you? What's happened, Merius?"

  "I don't know." My grip tightened on Sewell's crib as the world tilted under my feet again. "You know about the mind bond, right? Well, since last night, I've had no words from Safire. Just these strange images and unearthly singing. It's not like her. I mean, we've kept things from each other sometimes, but not like this." I gulped and covered my burning eyes with my hand. "I'm sorry," I said, the air suddenly heavy in my lungs.

  "I'm sure there's some reason. I'm sure she's fine . . ." the abbess trailed off. "Oh, someone's awake."

  I lowered my hand and watched numbly as Sewell rolled over on his back, his eyelids fluttering open. His bluish-green eyes went wide at the sight of me as he gnawed on his thumb. Then his gaze flitted to the abbess. "Abby!"

  "I'm here, little one." She picked him up, supporting him on one hip. "This is your father, Sewell." Then she looked back at me. "He's not used to seeing men here."

  "I don't suppose," I said, trying to keep my voice soft. "Sewell," I leaned down so that we were on eye level. "You won't remember me, but I remember you from when you were very small." He looked
unconvinced, his mouth pursed.

  I glanced down and saw a few wooden toys scattered on the floor around the crib, just the inspiration I needed. I picked up the ship, a few triangular pieces of wood joined in graduated layers with a couple pegs for masts, even some canvas pieces hardened with resin to look like sails. "Not bad," I muttered, already getting ideas on how to make such a toy for Dominic. Safire had said our next one would be a daughter, which pleased me--I had vague notions of a sweet-natured little angel with red curls like her mother's. Surely girls didn't yell as much or kick as hard as boys, did they? However, I doubted it would be anywhere near as fun to make a girl playthings as it was making toys for Dominic. And now Sewell.

  I held out the ship to him. "Is this yours?"

  He nodded and grasped it in his chubby fist. "Ship."

  "That's right. This is a little ship." I touched the toy in his hand. "Sewell, do you want to see a big ship?"

  "Big ship?"

  "Bigger than this room?" I stretched my arms out for emphasis.

  He seemed intrigued. "Big ship," he repeated, his hand fisting around the edge of the abbess's wimple. "Abby, what big ship?"

  "Remember the ships when we go to market? The ships at the locks?" When his chin bobbed in a vigorous acknowledgement, she continued, "You like those ships, don't you? Your father," and here she pointed at me, "Your father will take you to see the big ships at the locks. Do you want to see those ships?"

  He nodded again, then glanced back at me. "I go see big ship."

  "That's right. Let me show you something."

  I ended up sitting cross-legged on the floor of the abbess's cell. Sewell was my captivated audience as I identified the rug near her bed as "Sarneth" and then placed a book flat on the floor near the washstand to represent "Cormalen." I inched his toy ship from the rug to the book to show him that we would be sailing together across the sea, demonstrating with several dips and raises of my hand how the ship moved over the waves. Then I let him have the ship so he could imitate me. Soon his mouth turned up in a dimpled smile, then a loud laugh.