The Magelands Epic: Soulwitch Rises (Book 7)

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Shella will be able to tell us,’ her mother said as they walked into the sitting room. Daphne went over to the window and lit a cigarette, her gaze on the grey clouds covering the sky.

  Jemma came back with Corthie and a tray, which she set down on a table.

  ‘You brought tea?’ said Daphne. ‘Good girl.’

  ‘Will this take long?’ said Corthie.

  ‘Don’t adopt that tone,’ said Daphne, as Jemma poured tea into cups. ‘It shall take as long as it takes. We have a little announcement. Karalyn has decided to return with us to the Plateau.’

  Jemma glanced up from the table, a broad smile on her face. ‘Really? Oh, how wonderful. Though, you know, of course I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you and Lennox.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Does that mean we can get back the same way we got here?’ said Corthie. ‘We can use the thing we’re never supposed to talk about, the metal thing?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Daphne, ‘but not yet. First we must collect it.’

  ‘And how long will that take?’ said Corthie.

  His mother shook her head. ‘What an impatient boy, always asking how long things will be. In answer to your question, it shall take no more than a few days by wagon. Now listen, this is very important. As we’ll be leaving Severton by road, no one must speak a word regarding the device that will take us home. As far as everyone else is concerned, we will be starting a very long journey by wagon. The Quadrant is still a secret – no one must know about it. Understand?’

  Corthie sighed and nodded. ‘Yes, mother.’

  ‘When are we leaving?’ said Jemma.

  ‘It’ll take a few days to get the wagon and supplies organised,’ said Daphne. ‘By the tenth, at the latest.’

  ‘Are we finished?’ said Corthie. ‘Can I go now?’

  ‘Off with you,’ said Daphne, shaking her head.

  The boy ran from the room as Jemma retrieved Cole from Karalyn’s grasp.

  ‘I’m going to put him down for a nap,’ she said.

  ‘Thank you again for the tea,’ said Daphne, holding a cup in her right hand.

  Jemma smiled and left the room, Cole slumbering in her arms.

  ‘You didn’t tell them about Colsbury,’ Karalyn said once she had gone.

  ‘No,’ said Daphne, ‘that is a secret that should remain between us for now. No one must find out about our planned destination, so please refrain from mentioning it to anyone before we leave.’

  ‘Jemma’s going to be disappointed when we get there. She thinks she’s going back to her family on the Holdfast estate.’

  ‘We’ll deal with that when it happens.’

  Karalyn opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when a loud banging came from the hallway. She and Daphne left the room and walked to the front door.

  ‘You using battle-vision, mother?’ Karalyn said.

  Daphne shrugged as she placed her hand on the door handle. ‘You can never be too careful.’

  She opened the door.

  ‘Where is he?’ cried Carrie, putting her foot in the doorway to prevent it from being closed. ‘What have you done with him?’

  Daphne narrowed her eyes. ‘Step back from the door at once.’

  ‘Let me deal with this, mother,’ Karalyn said, easing Daphne to the side. She turned to the Kellach Brigdomin woman standing on the threshold in the rain. ‘Carrie, please come in. We can talk about it.’

  Carrie frowned, her eyes narrow. ‘Is he in here?’

  ‘No,’ said Karalyn. ‘He left Severton days ago.’

  ‘How did you know we lived here?’ said Daphne, her battle-vision still thrumming in Karalyn’s ears.

  ‘I saw your carriage up at the cottage,’ said Carrie. ‘I’ve been up there every day, and I followed it here. Has he really gone?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Karalyn.

  The Kellach woman started to cry. ‘He didn’t even say goodbye.’

  ‘Come inside,’ said Karalyn. She turned to her mother. ‘It would be best if I speak to her alone.’

  Daphne frowned, eyeing the Kellach woman with suspicion, but nodded. ‘Very well. I shall be in my study if you need me.’

  ‘Thank you, mother,’ she said, opening the door wider.

  Carrie stared at her for a moment, then entered; and Karalyn closed the door to the wind and rain. She led Carrie into the sitting room.

  ‘Have a seat,’ she said. ‘Tea?’

  Carrie went over to a chair by the fireplace and sat, warming her hands. ‘I don’t understand. I saw the look on his face when you told him you were pregnant. Why would you break up? How could he just leave?’

  ‘We had a row.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘What happened in Rainsby.’

  ‘Ah. Shit.’

  ‘You were there, weren’t you?’

  ‘Aye,’ Carrie said, keeping her gaze on the flames. ‘I won’t excuse what he did; it was terrible. I’ve seen soldiers do some pretty bad things, but this was worse, not because of how cruel it was, but because it was Lennox doing it. I’d known him for years; he never acted that way. Up until then, he’d got our squad into trouble because he’d refused to harm civilians. Up in the mountains near Liberton, and then in Stretton Sands when he disobeyed a direct order to slaughter the locals. But in Rainsby? Something snapped in him that day.’

  ‘His girlfriend died, didn’t she?’ said Karalyn. ‘Libby, was it?’

  ‘He tell you that, did he?’

  ‘Aye,’ she said, covering the fact that she had torn it out of his mind when she had read him.

  ‘It’s true,’ Carrie said. ‘Poor Libby; at least it was quick. That might have set him off, but it doesn’t explain it.’

  ‘After it had happened, why did the rest of you stick by him?’

  ‘Leisha didn’t care what he’d done, and I think Cain might have approved of it. It was different for me. I could see he was in a bad way afterwards. Guilt and shame were tearing him apart, and I thought he was going to kill himself. Instead, we ran away. I know what he did was bad, but he was still my friend. And now he’s run off again, only this time with Cain. That’s what really gets me; I was a much better friend to him that Cain was, and yet he didn’t even say goodbye to me. It hurts.’

  Karalyn said nothing.

  ‘So you had a row?’ Carrie went on. ‘And you’ve split up?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘And then he left with Cain?’

  Karalyn nodded.

  ‘It still doesn’t make sense. Lennox would never have given up so easily, he was crazy about you, I could see it in his eyes; he adored you. You had a fight and he just walks out? No, you’re keeping something else from me.’

  ‘I’m sorry that you’ve been hurt by this,’ said Karalyn. ‘You should know that my family and I will be leaving in a few days. We’re heading home.’

  Carrie put her head in her hands. ‘At least you have a family. I’ve lost everything. Leisha’s gone out to work on the peatlands, and I’m living alone in that apartment; on my own for the first time in my life. Lennox was the closest thing to a brother that I had. Tell me the truth.’

  ‘I can’t, but please don’t blame yourself.’

  ‘I’m not blaming myself,’ said Carrie; ‘I blame you.’

  ‘That’s fair.’

  ‘I’m going to look for him. Where did he go?’

  ‘I don’t know. I only know he left Severton.’

  ‘We had another job offer,’ Carrie said, ‘with the caravans that travel between Threeways and the Plateau. He might have gone there.’

  ‘I can’t take you to Threeways, but I can give you a lift as far as the western end of the Domm Pass.’

  Carrie frowned at her. ‘A lift?’

  ‘It’s the least I can do.’

  ‘Aye, the very least.’ She turned back to the fire, her gaze on the hot flames in the hearth. ‘Alright. You owe me the truth, but in lieu of that I’ll take a lift.’

 
; Karalyn nodded, wondering how she was going to explain it to her mother.

  Chapter 27

  Relieved

  Plateau City, Imperial Plateau – 5th Day, First Third Spring 526

  The trees lining the broad avenue were showing green at the tips of their branches, and the sunshine made Nyane feel as though she had been transported to a different world from Rainsby. The streets of the New Town in the imperial capital were as neat and clean as she remembered, with the elegant, tall townhouses reaching up into the blue sky. Ahead, the towers and spires of the university came into sight, and she smiled despite the knot of shame and humiliation that was festering in her stomach.

  The carriage turned, and entered the inner courtyard of the university, passing through the stone archway. The new term had not yet started, and most students had returned home for the New Year’s holiday, but a few had remained. Some were sitting out on the benches by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, enjoying the mild spring weather. Nyane glanced away from them. She had hoped to be able to get back to her old rooms without anyone seeing her; but there was nothing she could do except brazen it out.

  The pair of horses pulling the carriage slowed by the entrance to the southern wing, and the driver jumped down. Nyane gathered her coat as the door was opened.

  ‘Ma’am,’ the driver bowed.

  Nyane nodded back and climbed down to the ground in silence. A few students were glancing over from the fountain, but Nyane kept her expression neutral as she walked towards the main doors, not willing to meet anyone’s eye. She opened the door and stepped inside, the quiet corridors echoing to the sound of her boots on the marble floor.

  ‘Shall I bring your bags upstairs, ma’am?’ said the driver.

  ‘Yes, thank you. Do you know the location of my apartment?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘Do you need a hand?’

  ‘No, ma’am, there’s not much to carry. I should be able to manage it in one trip.’

  She nodded and turned for the stairs that led up to the library and the tower where her apartment lay. She would need to pass the library in order to get to the next set of stairs that led to the tower, and she quickened her step. Long glass windows ran alongside the library, and Nyane’s eyes scanned the desks and lines of bookcases and shelves as she walked.

  She paused, unable to keep her feet from halting as she saw him.

  Dean. He was walking by a row of shelves, a great pile of books in his hand, his gaze directed at the rows of stacked volumes. He stopped, and placed one of the books in his pile up onto a high shelf, then moved on. She wondered if he had missed her, or if he had even thought of her at all. He turned as she was about to move on, and his eyes widened.

  Oh, bugger, she thought.

  He waved, then put the books down onto a trolley. She tried to smile as he strode across the library floor towards her, but the muscles in her face refused to respond.

  ‘Nyane!’ he said, opening the library door. ‘Welcome back. Have you been in the city long?’

  ‘Hello, Dean. I arrived this morning.’

  ‘How was Rainsby?’

  ‘Challenging.’

  ‘Well, it’s good to see you. Are you here to see your parents?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Well, yes, but not exactly.’

  He frowned. ‘That didn’t make any sense at all.’

  ‘Word’ll get out soon enough. I’m moving back into the university.’

  ‘You are? Why?’

  ‘Her Majesty has relieved me of my duties, and I am no longer herald.’

  He stared at her, his mouth opening.

  ‘I’d best be on my way,’ she said.

  ‘Wait; what happened? You were sacked?’

  She glanced at him. ‘What are we, Dean? Friends? What?’

  He flushed, his eyes lowering.

  ‘Goodbye,’ she said, turning.

  ‘Can I get you a coffee?’ he shouted as she walked away.

  ‘Why?’

  He hurried after her. ‘So we can talk. Listen, there are things I need to say to you; things I’ve been thinking about for thirds.’

  ‘I’m not sure I care any more,’ she said, continuing to walk towards the tower stairs.

  ‘Stop, please. I’m sorry.’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘For being such a fool.’

  She paused, frowning. She didn’t have time for Dean’s excuses, but didn’t want to have to live so close to him if they were going to be on bad terms. She would probably see him every day; maybe it would be better to be civil.

  ‘I can spare five minutes.’

  They went to his rooms above the library. He made a pot of coffee, and laid out some cake onto a plate, then brought it all through on a tray to his study. They sat, and he poured out coffee into two mugs, then lit a cigarette.

  ‘Are you smoking now?’ she said.

  ‘Aye. Is it alright? Do you mind?’

  ‘No, it’s fine; in fact, give me one.’

  He raised an eyebrow, then lit a second cigarette and passed it to her.

  ‘Out with it,’ she said. ‘Tell me those things you need to say.’

  ‘I love you,’ he said. ‘I know I fucked it up. I took you for granted for so long; it was only when you were gone that I realised how much you meant to me. I’m lost without you, Nyane. I want you back, and I need you to know.’

  Nyane hardened her face, determined not to cry in front of him. His eyes were gazing at her in the way he used to, and part of her longed to be held by him. Her career was in ruins, and she had been shamed by the Empress; but it would be easy to slip back into her old routine with Dean. Too easy.

  ‘Thank you for telling me,’ she said, ‘but it’s over.’ She stood. ‘I hope that, even if we can’t be friends, then we can at least be courteous whenever we bump into each other.’

  He stared up at her. ‘But…’

  ‘Thank you for the coffee. I’ll see myself out.’

  She hurried to the door before he could get up, and walked out of his rooms and back into the university corridors. She paused, leaning against the wall with a hand to her eyes, fighting back the tears. Could her day get any worse?

  Her father beamed as he opened the door to the tower apartment.

  ‘Nadia,’ he cried. ‘Come and see who it is.’

  ‘I’m busy,’ yelled her mother. ‘Just tell me.’

  Her father rolled his eyes. ‘Welcome back, daughter,’ he said, letting Nyane into the hallway. ‘What a lovely surprise.’

  Nyane leant forward and kissed him on the cheek. She hung her coat up and they walked through into the living-room, where her mother was sitting, a mass of notebooks and papers spread on the low table before her. She glanced up, and her eyes widened.

  ‘Mother,’ Nyane said, smiling.

  Nadia got to her feet and rushed forward, scattering papers to the floor. She flung her arms around her daughter.

  ‘I was so worried,’ she said. ‘So many have died in that horrible town, but you’re home.’ She stepped away, keeping her hands on Nyane’s shoulders. ‘Let me look at you. Are you in good health?’

  ‘Fine, mother.’

  ‘Is that smoke I smell on your breath?’

  ‘Would you like some tea?’ said her father. ‘I was just putting the kettle on.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Nyane.

  ‘When did you get back?’ said her mother.

  ‘I arrived just before dawn.’

  ‘Have you eaten?’

  ‘She probably hasn’t got the time,’ said her father from the kitchen. ‘I would imagine she’ll have lots of work to catch up with back at the palace.’

  Her mother walked through to join him. ‘I’m sure she can stay for long enough to eat a plate of food.’

  Nyane sat, watching her parents through the kitchen door as they bustled about.

  ‘So, tell us all about your trip,’ her father said.

  ‘I wasn’t a “trip”,’ her mother said
, ‘she was on a dangerous mission, sorting out Rainsby for the Empress. The Herald of the Empire doesn’t go on “trips”.’

  Nyane puffed out her cheeks. ‘I’m not the herald any more.’

  The kitchen fell into silence. Nyane glanced up as her parents appeared at the door.

  ‘The Empress decided,’ she went on, feeling their eyes upon her, ‘that I was no longer fit for the role. Calder is now the sole herald.’

  Her father came over as if to embrace her, then paused a foot away. ‘Poor flower. Oh dear.’ He put a hand on her shoulder.

  ‘But why?’ said her mother, her eyes wide. ‘Why would the Empress do that?’

  ‘I disobeyed her orders.’

  Her mother let out a stifled wail, her hands to her mouth.

  ‘There’s more,’ Nyane went on; ‘I’ve been confined to the grounds of the university, while her Majesty decides if I am to face criminal charges. I’m lucky, I suppose. Others suspected of treason would not have been treated so leniently. According to the law, I really should be locked up in the fortress dungeons.’

  ‘Treason?’ her father said, his face paling.

  ‘I refused to carry out an order, but I’m not a traitor. I did what I thought was best for the empire, and for her Majesty, though it turns out that she disagrees.’

  The kettle whistled, its harsh note filling the room. Her father turned and hurried back to the kitchen. Her mother took his place, and sat next to Nyane.

  ‘What did you do? What order did you disobey?’

  Nyane frowned. ‘I was supposed to bring the two young mages; Keir and Thorn, back with me in chains to the capital, but instead I left them in charge of Rainsby.’

  ‘The two renegades?’ said her mother. ‘Why would you do such a thing?’

  ‘Because without them, Rainsby doesn’t stand a chance.’

  Her father came through carrying a teapot and some cups. He pushed some of the papers aside and cleared a space on the table.

  ‘I’ll be moving back in here,’ Nyane said. ‘You keep the bedroom; I’ll sleep on the couch. It’ll be a bit cramped, sorry.’

  ‘Don’t you worry about that,’ said her father. ‘We’ll manage. I can go back to work now that your mother’s feeling a lot better.’ He sat down next to her and began pouring tea. ‘She’s even been able to leave the apartment and go to the shops on her own.’