“I’m sorry, sir.” I was not sure what else to say. I clasped my hands together, unsure of what to do. This was really awkward. Lockonis stood on the other side of my desk, watching me. Her silence told me something was wrong, but I had no idea what.
I fidgeted with my hands, unsure what they wanted from me. Too many thoughts hit me at the same time to parse them into any semblance of order.
Vince tossed the pen back onto my desk and said sharply, “I’ve held this off so you could heal, but it’s far past time we talked. What I want to know is about you and teleporting. Last I knew, the only people the Arcane College allowed to learn that spell had to be Magisters and higher.”
I jumped at the movement and the sharp tone. This was a question I should have been expecting. For some reason I had filed it away as forgotten about.
It struck me for a moment that Vince knew that much about the Arcane College. Taking a deep breath, I quickly glanced at Lockonis before I said, “I am classified as a Researcher - I can pull up my records in the library if you need me to.”
“Yeah, I double-checked on that. Wanted to make sure I had read it right,” Lockonis chimed in. Her voice was even, giving me not a clue as to her thoughts. “And where Donovan had been ranting about you ‘only being a Researcher’ I’m positive the records weren’t falsified. Not that you’ve ever given me a reason to doubt you.”
I bit my lower lip for a moment before continuing, “I had access to the information about teleportation and taught myself. When no one was around, I would use it to get the books and scrolls that were too high up for me to reach. Flight spells are easier, but were too obvious with the amount of dust they kicked up. No one ever commented about seeing teleport lines.”
There was silence for a moment and then Lockonis started laughing. Vince shook his head for a moment - an amused expression on his face.
Vince looked at me and said, “That is certainly original. And perhaps the most mundane use of teleport I have ever heard. I believe you, but you have to understand my questioning after finding out Brown’s rank wasn’t as advertised. I’m going to contact Magus Engelil after the first of the Terran year and ask the EAC reevaluate you for rank. After this latest debacle with the Arcane College, I would like to keep them out of this process.”
“Why have they been trying to recall me?” I asked. The question was out and I covered my mouth. I should not question those above me. I could only imagine the repercussions for this.
The look on Lockonis’ face told me she had not been prepared for my sudden question.
“I’m so sorry, sir, I didn’t mean…”
Vince held up a hand for me to stop. His face went hard. He said, “It is a question I don’t fully have the answer to myself. Lockonis informed me of your conversation. You’ve certainly been more vocal lately, which is a good thing. You are harder to read than the others because you’ve kept yourself closed off.”
I fidgeted with my hands again, unsure of where I stood with the heads of the TIO. Lockonis crossed her arms over her chest, sizing me up. Even in a shiny blue dress, she still came across as intimidating.
Vince changed the subject, “I’m wondering about the issues with your Arcane College pin Savanas described. Any ideas?”
I shook my head and told him, “There was a thread between me and the pin that broke during the last conference call, but I don’t know what the connection was. I never encountered anything while I was storing information in it.” There was no point to keeping it to myself. “The first time I saw it was after Silver held it.”
I did not want to go into what it felt like when I was pulling against the thread. I suppressed a shudder at the memory. Feeling like I could not breath and that something was tightening around my chest would have had me keeping my distance from my pin if it had not been taken away. I felt stupid about being afraid of a pin.
Vince sighed and leaned forward, obviously not happy with the answer. He looked to Lockonis for a moment who shrugged. She said, “I’ve got both pins and will process them myself to avoid exposing Ket to further possible danger.”
I thought about my student pin, which I kept in a box in the bottom of my closet. “I have one more pin if it would help you have a reference.”
Lockonis raised an eyebrow at me.
“My student pin - it’s in my quarters. I almost forgot about it,” I said quietly. It had not crossed my mind for a while now.
“I’ll get it from you tomorrow,” Lockonis’ face softened a bit. “And then we’ll talk.”
I nodded and rubbed my left arm where it had been broken. It was still sore and I refused to take the pain killers. I did not know if I should be looking forward to the talk with Lockonis. At least I would get some questions answered.
Vince glanced out the door and waited a moment to see if we were done. I mentally cursed having my back mostly to the door.
Vince said, “Actually, there is another reason I called you in here. As much as I would like to spare you from potentially dealing with another situation like this, I need a team dedicated to finding and bringing this group down. I will be assigning you a partner and you will have access to others as needed. You’ll continue your work in the lab for now until we can find someone else.”
“A partner?” I asked. I doubted he would break up any of the other current teams and those who ran solo were typically specialists - filling in on different teams as needed as Retanei and I had done. Though Retanei was not normally pulled like this - she usually worked with Ted only or they would form with a larger team if needed.
Vince waved to someone outside of my office door.
I turned toward the door and I was not sure I was seeing right. Silver opened the door quickly and pulled me into a tight hug before I could decide if this was real or not. He said, “The Gods only know how truly grateful I am to see you well again.”
Lockonis snickered from her spot, but said nothing.
I did not have a chance to react before he released me. I asked, “How?” I backed up a step to regain some personal space, pulling my lab coat tighter around myself.
I looked at him, still not entirely certain this was real. He wore different clothes, but that long silver braid still hung over his right shoulder. He wore a black jacket over a light blue dress shirt, khaki pants, and black boots. He retained the circlet, belt, and gloves. I figured the metal bracers were hidden under the jacket.
Ironic now that I was the one wearing white.
Vince stepped back into the conversation, “Silver has agreed to join the TIO full time as a free paladin, which means he has no affiliation with any particular church. He will have a lot of training to catch up on, but I needed someone well versed in the divine and who can work closely with an Arcane Investigator.”
When did all of this happen? Apparently there was a more that I was missing and no one thought to fill me in on.
“Silver will spend a couple of weeks here while we get him processed. Then he’ll return to Ocean’s Edge for training. During this transitional time, Lockonis has offered the assistance of the cyber team to help get the two of you started,” Vince elaborated.
“Not that they have any say in the matter either,” Lockonis spoke again, grinning broadly.
Vince looked up at her with slight annoyance. “I’ll let the two of you catch up and I expect to see both of you at the celebration this evening.”
As soon as they were gone, Silver picked up my hand, kissing the back of it. I quickly pulled away from his touch. He said, “Please don’t scare me like that again. I thought I may have lost you.”
My mind rolled its eyes at yet another person with a similar statement, but I pushed it back. I said, “I don’t understand, I thought you went back to your church.”
“I had, and I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you woke. They ordered me back to help clean up and prepare the funerals for those few who were to be buried.” Silver said solemnly.
Silver brushed a stray lock of hair out
of my face and I resisted the urge to bat his hand away. I had a feeling we were going to be talking about not touching me again very soon.
He explained, “The Director proposed the position to me shortly after we got you to the hospital. He insisted I take time to think about it. It took me a while because I was kept busy, but once I learned the new paladins had cast such an unfair judgment, knowing the circumstances…” He trailed off. “I spent time in meditation and found the path the God of the Sun wanted me to walk was here, with you. I managed to contact Brad to make arrangements and, well, here I am. Retanei was kind enough to pick me up on the evening you departed.”
I backed up another step, trying to get some space again. I apologized, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to fulfill your request.”
Silver smiled gently and said, “You did. Retanei showed me a video of the music you played along with the other gentleman on the flight here. Thank you.”
I saw Retanei was still in the main part of the lab. Her attention was on Artemis. Guess I was not getting help from her for this awkward situation.
Finding something to do, I picked up the pen Vince had tossed across my desk and put it away.
“So this is your domain, huh?” Silver asked, looking around the office.
I fidgeted. “I’m usually in the main part of the lab, but I guess.” I rubbed my left arm where it had been broken. I hated taking the pain killers because they messed with my head and my control was lacking enough as it was.
Silver came over and put his hand over the area on my arm. It felt warm for a moment before the pain dissipated. “You should still be recovering from your injuries, not working.”
I glared up at him, folding my arms over my chest. I did not care how ridiculous it might look, given our height difference. “Look, I can’t just sit around. There’s a lot of work to do and it won’t process itself.” Why was my stubborn streak coming out full force now? “Besides, no magic in the lab.”
“Someone needs to put up a sign. Come on, it’s the Winter Solstice.”
“So?” I asked, my tone confrontational. I struggled with my control, but I should not be giving in. Sighing, I walked over to the office door. “Sorry, I’m just… This hasn’t been…” Why could I not find the words to explain? “You should probably go. I need to get some work done.”
“Ketayl,” Silver put his hand on the door to keep me from opening it and said, “You’re still trying to deal with what happened, but you can’t do it alone. I can’t promise that I can make things better, but I can at least listen.”
I could not look up at him. I moved away from the door, needing space. I sat down at my desk and just stared at the blank screen. The real truth had been in the back of my mind as much as I tried to ignore it. Why did I want to tell him about what I had hidden from everyone else?
After several moments, I admitted, “It was my fault I didn’t figure out Brown’s goal sooner.”
“That’s crap and you know it,” Silver said sharply. I looked up at him, not expecting his tone.
Silver moved to stand over me, anger plain on his face. I was not about to back down though, not without a good reason why I should. I adjusted my lab coat. This was my domain, as he said, and I wanted to remind him of it.
“I didn’t figure it out either and I feel like the answer was right in front of me. Retanei couldn’t track down the group without your help. Savanas and her team would have been running in circles if you hadn’t been there to at least point them in the right direction,” Silver’s voice was sharp, but not loud. At least not enough to get Retanei’s attention.
I remained silent. I would let Silver speak his peace, but Brown was an Archmage from the same school I came from. Someone that I had done some of the research for that he then used to trap and murder all of those people.
Silver’s face softened, resigned. “And yes, I wish everyday that we had gotten to them sooner. That all of those lives could have been spared. I have forever lost those I counted as brothers and sisters, other people of the community I had come to care for deeply, but I can’t change what happened.”
I stared at my partner, trying to process what he was saying. The logical side of me told me he was right. I just did not want to be logical right now.
Silver squatted down next to me, his face serious. “All I can do is work toward the next sunrise and try to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But I’m going to need the help of my partner.”
I stared at him for a few moments longer, still attempting to understand what he was saying. I nodded and said, “Okay.” Even if I could not accept his words right now, in time I would. I knew he was right, as much as I refused to admit it.
Silver’s face changed to a mischievous grin. “Good. Now I saw them setting up a dance floor while I was being given a quick tour. Would you do me the honor of one dance?”
I forced down the heat I could feel rising to my face. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to dance.” I still did not understand my own reactions to him sometimes.
The smirk had not left Silver’s face. He said, “I shall have to teach you then.” He started tugging me out of my chair.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea…”
The look I got told me I was about to eat my words. Silver said, “Of course it isn’t, but you seem to like bad ideas. This won’t be nearly as bad as teleporting yourself with an arcane bomb into freezing ocean water.”
Silver would make light of that particular event, but the strange part was I actually found it amusing.
We were in the main part of the lab before Retanei rescued me - only to drag me off to get ready for the evening’s festivities. Apparently Kitteren had told her about the dress.
Acknowledgements
Joshua Jackson for encouraging me along an indulging me in this crazy adventure. Also for dragging me down the path of publishing.
My local critique group: Brandi Burns, Kenneth Jorgenson, Skip Knox, and Rick Just. Brandi put up with my insistent messaging and the others indulged me on this weird adventure. Most of them also were subjected to being beta readers as well. Without you I would not have learned as much as I have and ever put this out.
Loni Townsend for both beta reading and putting up with my many questions.
My gaming groups for giving me space to develop a few of the characters that appear in this book.
And all of my friends and family who have been cheering me along.
About the Author
J.C. Jackson is originally from New England and currently lives in southwestern Idaho with her husband and daughter.
On top of writing, she enjoys gaming whether that is picking up a controller or throwing down some dice in a tabletop RPG (as well as other board games). She has also been a fan of science fiction and fantasy since she was little.
Blog: https://jeicjackson.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeicjackson/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeiC
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
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Twisted Magics (Terra Chronicles Book 1) Page 24