Elgarion wrinkled his nose. “Yes, that was my opinion too,” he agreed with a hint of annoyance. “But for some reason he’s taken an interest in your case and demanded to see you immediately.”
An interest in my case? Just what the hell was that supposed to mean? A chill went through me as Elgarion turned and led the way up the right side of the staircase. The last thing I needed was the most powerful mage in the city taking more than a passing interest in me, especially when the man was known for holing himself up in this admittedly gorgeous palace to perform magical experiments. I wasn’t interested in escaping my death sentence only to end up as a lab rat.
The apprentice led us down a carpeted hallway, and as we passed by several open doorways I caught glimpses of crystal chandeliers, rich, colorful drapes and carpeting, and parquet floors. The number of rooms bordered on ridiculous – the Chief Mage could house a third of Solantha’s homeless population based on what I’d seen so far.
I bet that would just mess with his magical energy, I sneered inwardly. Having a bunch of humans and shifters running around breathing his sanctified air.
The hallway branched off into a separate wing of the palace, and my nose wrinkled as the scent of magic intensified abruptly. This must be where the Chief Mage does most of his work, I thought apprehensively as Elgarion stopped outside a set of double doors made of dark, heavy wood.
“Prepare yourself,” he told me sternly. “We are about to enter the audience chamber.”
Well la-dee-dah, I thought crossly as he turned to open the doors – and then nearly swallowed my tongue as I was ushered into the room. I was expecting something smaller, like a fancy office, but this chamber was more like a hall. Tall, gleaming mahogany columns held up the soaring ceiling, and the walls, of pale pink granite veined with gold, gleamed in the warm glow of multiple lamps. A long blue and gold carpet carved a path through the center of the parquet floor, and the guards escorted me to the other side of it, where a tall man dressed in dark blue robes awaited us behind a large desk made from the same pale pink granite as the walls. Standing off to his right was Director Chartis, who stared imperiously down at me, his arms tucked into the folds of his dark green robes.
As I was hauled before the Chief Mage, I shoved aside my awe and anxiety and conjured up the simmering resentment from earlier so that I didn’t show weakness. And then I met the eyes of the man who held my fate in his hands.
“Iannis ar’Sannin, the Chief Mage of Solantha,” Elgarion announced, as if the Chief Mage needed any introduction. I fought the urge to roll my eyes as the apprentice bowed low. “Sir, I have brought the prisoner you requested.”
As if, I thought irritably. All you did was meet me at the door and walk me up a flight of stairs. The guards had done most of the work, and as usual, a mage was taking the credit.
The Chief Mage said nothing as he studied me impassively, and I stared back, not knowing what else to do. He’s handsome, I thought, and was immediately annoyed with myself. But it was true. Hair the color of dark cherry wood framed his oblong face, and though his nose was a little too long to qualify as classically handsome, his sharply defined cheekbones and strong jaw still placed him firmly in the good-looking camp. But it was his eyes that were truly arresting – they were an iridescent violet, unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life. The only people I’d heard of who had eyes like this were the Tua, a magical race of beings who lived an ocean away, and were so reclusive they were rarely seen unless they chose to show themselves.
Umm, hello??? You’re standing before a high-level mage who can change his appearance at will. He could make his irises rainbow-colored if he wanted to!
I snorted, both at the image and at myself for getting caught up by the Chief Mage’s looks. Without his magical glamour he probably looked like any other human on the street. This display was just another way of trying to show that mages were better.
The mage in question arched an eyebrow. “Is there something that amuses you about this situation, Miss Baine?”
I bristled at his cool, slightly condescending voice, which carried a whisper of a musical accent. “I’m just wondering why you don’t drop the glamour and show me what your real face looks like.” I shrugged. “No reason to impress the criminal, right?”
A flicker of surprise disturbed the austere expression on his alabaster face, but before I had time to gloat at the reaction I’d caused, the guard on my left punched me in the kidney. Hard. A gasp flew from my lips as the left side of my body exploded with pain.
“Show some respect!” the guard growled.
Like hell. “That. Fucking. Hurt!” I snarled, baring my fangs at him. Before he had a chance to hit me again, I raised my knee high and brought my boot crashing down on his foot, scraping my heel along his shin as I went. The big bastard howled, and I used the opportunity to jump away from him. The guard to my right moved forward, and I swung my right elbow up as he closed in, smashing it under his chin. He staggered back into the third guard, who had to pause mid-rush to catch the guy. The sharp ring of steel caught my attention as the fourth guard drew his sword and aimed it at me, prepared to deliver a killing blow.
Fuck, I thought as I turned to face him. I could really use my crescent knives right now. They were great for catching an opponent’s weapon. I raised my manacled hands, thinking the best I could hope for was that his sword would slice through my chains so I could regain full use of my hands, because my magic sure as hell wasn’t going to step in and save me this time.
“ENOUGH!”
We all froze as the Chief Mage slammed his open palms against the stone desk, the sound reverberating off the granite walls. His violet eyes burned with cold fury as he turned to the Director, who’d stood off to the side next to his gaping apprentice the entire time, watching the fight. “Get them out of here.” His voice was as frigid as Solantha Bay in the middle of a snowstorm.
“Yes sir.” Director Chartis motioned toward the two guards who were still standing to collect me, and I bared my fangs at them, fully prepared to be dragged back to my cell kicking and biting.
“Not her,” the Chief Mage snapped before they could lay a hand on me. “The guards.”
The Director froze. “You want me to remove the guards?” he sputtered. “After that violent display from this… this beastly girl?”
“Are you questioning my ability to defend myself against a hybrid?” The Chief Mage asked coolly. His face had turned to stone again, no hint of the emotion from earlier, but that was okay – I was furious enough for the both of us. How dare he refer to me so dismissively!
“N-no,” Chartis faltered, glancing at me uncertainly as I glared at both of them. “It’s just… this is against protocol.”
“I’ll remind you that I’m in charge here,” the Chief Mage said mildly. “Now have these guards escorted outside, or I will have you escorted out as well. And if that happens, rest assured you will not be coming back.”
The Director’s face paled at the threat. He nodded tightly at his boss, and turned to shoot me a death glare before waving the guards out the door. The sound of the double doors closing behind them echoed through the chamber with an awful sense of finality.
Before the Chief Mage could address me again, a hidden door to his right slid open, and a brown wolf shifter with yellow eyes prowled into the room.
“Ah, Fenris.” The Chief Mage turned to greet him. “You are late.”
I narrowed my eyes as the wolf shifter settled next to the Chief Mage and regarded me balefully. I glared back at him, disgust rising up in me at the sight of a shifter, any shifter, relegating himself to little more than a mage’s pet.
“I would not be so quick to judge a book by its cover.”
I blinked, startled as the wolf shifter’s deep voice echoed in my head. I hadn’t actually expected him to speak to me, and what was he talking about anyway? Was he reading my mind somehow?
“Director Chartis,” the Chief Mage said, drawing my attention away from
Fenris. “Please read the charges.”
“With pleasure, sir.” Chartis pulled a sheet of paper from the sleeve of his robe, then listed off the same charges that Talcon had read, back at the earlier hearing. But this time, instead of being filled with anger, a kind of hopelessness stole through me. The Chief Mage didn’t look like he had a single ounce of compassion in his magical bones. What made me think that the outcome of this appeal was going to be any different?
“I see.” The Chief Mage drummed his long fingers on the table as he regarded me with those strangely colored eyes. I fought the urge to squirm beneath his piercing gaze, and instead lifted my chin and stared back at him as if I could see into the depths of his stone heart.
Not that I actually could. But as Talcon had so sweetly informed me yesterday, I was good at bluffing.
“Why was Miss Baine not identified as a magic user during the mandatory school testing?” the Chief Mage asked, never taking his eyes from me. “According to her file she attended a state-run educational facility.”
I blinked. The man had read my file? Maybe he really was interested in me. My insides squirmed uncomfortably at the thought.
Chartis cleared his throat. “She did, sir, and the tests were run. As to why they failed, I cannot say, but her status as a magic user is beyond reasonable doubt now. It’s an open-and-shut case.”
Fenris growled at that, and I glanced down at him, curious as he turned his glare on the Director. Was the Chief Mage’s pet shifter actually on my side?
Maybe he’s not so bad after all.
“I’m not quite so eager to rush to judgment,” the Chief Mage said, giving the Director a mildly disapproving frown for his trouble before turning his violet gaze back on me. “What do you have to say about all this, Miss Baine? Why was your magical talent not discovered during your school years?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” I challenged. Truthfully, though, that question had been burning in the back of my mind for many years. I’d never understood how I had managed to slip past the magic testing even though my magical outbursts, when they happened, were so powerful. Quite frankly it was amazing I’d been able to go undetected all these years from everyone. “It’s your test. I don’t know, and don’t care.”
“I’m not entirely certain I believe you, Miss Baine.” The Chief Mage steepled his fingers. He studied me as if I were an interesting puzzle that had been presented to him as a way to pass the time. “And I find that unlike you, I do care. I don’t like the idea of citizens slipping past the test so easily, especially one with a magical talent as strong as yours. I’ll need to study your case further to determine exactly how it was done and to make sure it does not happen again.”
“Study?” I echoed as images of me being strapped to a metal table under a set of bright lights danced through my mind. “As in, like, an experiment?”
To my surprise, the Chief Mage’s lips curved, a hint of amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Rest assured that no part of your body will be altered. Experimenting on humanoid subjects is a long banned practice, in any case.”
“Right.” I let out a breath. Because I fully expect you to follow the letter of your own laws. However, something about him made me wonder whether or not he really did hold himself to the same standards he was subjecting everyone else to.
“Argon, have her taken to a secure location where she can be kept until I am ready for her,” the Chief Mage ordered the Director. “Also, remove the shackles from her wrists. They won’t be necessary any longer.”
“Sir,” the Director protested, though I wasn’t sure whether he objected to removing my shackles or the fact that the Chief Mage wasn’t calling for my head. But a single frown from the Chief Mage silenced him.
“Very well,” he sighed, coming forward to remove my shackles. I held my wrists out to him with a cheeky grin, and he glared at me as he passed a hand over them, muttering some kind of incantation. The shackles glowed briefly before they dropped from my wrists into his outstretched hand. “Don’t think this is some kind of vacation, Miss Baine. You will be brought to account for your actions soon enough.”
I smirked as he and Elgarion escorted me out of the room to the guards waiting in the hall beyond. Maybe that was true, but I had another day to live, and that was good enough for me. The longer I stayed alive, the greater my chances of escape. And once I was out of this forsaken place, I could solve the poison murders and join the Resistance to overthrow the mages once and for all.
Chapter Six
I’m not sure why I expected to be led to a five-star chamber instead of a sparse tower room with rough-hewn furniture and iron bars fitted over the single window. Maybe it was because every single room I’d seen in this palace was dripping with wealth and grandeur, and I assumed they could have spared one of those rooms for me. But in any case, there I was, twiddling my thumbs as I sat on my narrow mattress, wondering what I was supposed to do with myself now.
At least I have a nice view, I thought sullenly as I gazed out at the glittering bay. My eyes followed one end of the Firegate Bridge to the other, the metal, which was enchanted to look red, contrasting starkly against the pale blue sky. A mirror to the Bay Bridge on the other side –though that one lacked the gorgeous coloring – it was the pride and joy of Solantha, a feat created through a combination of magic and human engineering, and proof that humans and mages could work together to create things if they really wanted to.
If only mages thought that way all the time, I mused. But they only collaborated with humans when it served their purpose, and from what I’d heard, they’d only collaborated on the bridges because a human engineer had brought up the project and designed the schematics. The long-lived mages were the opposite of innovative, and would have never undertaken such a project without human involvement.
Shaking off my melancholy thoughts, I returned my attention to the beauty of the bridge itself. My eyes traced its sleek line all the way down to the other side, then traveled further along the coast where a small island rested smack dab between the two bridges.
Forget the view, I thought to myself, shuddering a little. At least I’m not over there. That little spot of land was Prison Isle, where Solantha’s convicts were sent to serve their sentences. I’d gone over there once, to question a prisoner regarding a bounty I was chasing, and the memory of the heavy scent of depression combined with filth and squalor suddenly made me appreciate my little room. Sure, it was basically a closet with a bed and a dresser inside it, but it was a hell of a lot safer and cleaner than any of the cells on Prison Isle.
My stomach growled, calling attention to the fact that I hadn’t eaten anything since that sandwich Talcon had given me. I frowned, wondering where I could find the kitchen. Elgarion had informed me that I had free run of the palace and could go into any room that wasn’t locked, but he hadn’t given me a map or explained where anything was. Hell, I didn’t even know where the bathrooms were around here, which would be great to know because I could really use a shower. My hair was getting a little greasy, and I still smelled of alcohol, ash and old sweat.
Stripping off my leather jacket, I left it atop the dresser and wandered down the spiral staircase in my tank top and leather pants. It didn’t take me too long to find a servant, who directed me to the bathroom in the East Wing with a beady eye and a warning not to linger too long.
I quickly found out from peeking into a few of the rooms that the East Wing was where all the nice, well-behaved people got to stay, as it was practically brimming with sumptuous bedrooms. Which must have been why Snappy over there had told me to make it fast, because I wasn’t a guest, but a glorified prisoner.
Then again, most of the rooms were empty, so maybe the Chief Mage really did stick his guests in the tower. It would definitely discourage return visitors, and since he didn’t seem to be interested in entertaining, I wouldn’t put it past him.
Thankfully, even reprobates like me were allowed to use the bathrooms, and I was pleasantly surprised
to discover a claw-foot tub with running hot water. I hadn’t been sure there would be hot water, since every single source of light I’d seen in the castle was fueled by spelled candles, indicating a lack of electricity. I figured the mages probably just spelled the water hot themselves when they used the facilities. But even though the Chief Mage, like most of his kind, refused to use technology himself, apparently he wasn’t above using his magic to achieve the same effects to provide hot water for everyone. I frowned, wondering whether he’d enchanted the water pipes himself or if it was something the Mage’s Guild maintained. From what little I understood of magic, using it to run hot water through such a huge place was no mean feat.
My grumbling stomach urged me through my bath faster than I liked, and with a fluffy white robe wrapped around my body I headed back up to my tower room to dress. As I was debating whether or not I should wear the same pair of underwear for the third day in a row, it occurred to me that I should look in the dresser. Maybe the last ‘guest’ had left behind something I could wear.
My eyes nearly popped out of my skull when I opened the top drawer. There was a lot more than just someone’s discarded granny panties inside here – the drawer held several pairs of underwear and tops. A chill went through me as I pulled out a pair of basic white panties and held them up to my hips – they were exactly my size. The black tank top I pulled out was the same, as were the stretchy black cotton pants I pulled out of the second drawer.
What the fuck? Had the Chief Mage ordered clothing for me? There was enough here for at least a week’s worth of outfits. The only reason I could fathom as to why these would be here, was because he’d already been planning to keep me here for an extended length of time.
The thought filled me with a combination of hope and apprehension. Hope, because it meant I had at least a week to figure out how to escape this place, and apprehension because I had no idea what the Chief Mage had planned for me. Maybe he was lying, and he really did plan on using me for one of his experiments. I had no trouble envisioning his face hovering over me while I lay on a table, his cold violet eyes observing me clinically as he used his magic to scramble my intestines or something.
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