Bound

by Hill, J. Elizabeth

  "I'm all right, but we have to save him," she said, and was surprised how hoarse her voice sounded, how flat. Strange too that she was still crying, but it all seemed so distant. Only Keari and her father seemed immediate and real. And Tavis, always Tavis and the heat of his touch.

  "I need you to tell me about this place, first. What is it?"

  "The hedge maze. Father created it himself for Mother, when they first came to live at Iondis. He's been keeping it up all of these years since her death, but I don't think he goes there otherwise."

  Her answer to his question was automatic, a reflex that she hadn't thought about. She hadn't intended to tell him about her father not visiting the maze anymore. She felt puzzled.

  "The center, what's at the center of the maze, Faylanna?"

  She was about to tell him when she felt a pull, a need to not tell him, to keep the center a secret. As she changed her mind about what to say, his question pulled her in the other direction, pressing her to tell all she knew about the maze and its center. For a moment, the competing desires held her in equilibrium and she remained silent. Then the pull of the question grew and became so overpowering that that the magic became apparent to her, the feathery touch that had become like iron buried in the words, compelling her to answer.

  "A garden," Fay gasped over the pull to remain silent. She had to answer before the opposing compulsions pulled her apart. "A special garden. A trellis, covered in flowering vines. Marble benches in a circle."

  At last his hands released her, and she felt the spellwork dissolve out of her. She heaved a deep breath as Keari straightened and looked over her at Tavis and Lydia. A sense of shock radiated in the air around her, and she realized it was Marcius' reaction to what the prince had done. She felt an echo of it in herself. She'd had no idea he could work something so strong.

  "That's where the Mirror must be," Keari said, "In the center of the maze."

  She ignored his words, but seized on the sense of Marcius, of his being close. Give him back, give my father back. Let him go. It's me you want, let him go, she screamed.

  "But do we even know how to get there, Ki?" Lydia asked.

  The response from Marcius was against all expectation. Pleading. I didn't take him, I swear, he's not in my hands. The other, the dark one, it must be him! He hurts people, not me. Please, you have to believe me. Would I ever hurt you that way, my sweet Faylanna?

  "Do you know the way? Faylanna, do you know how to get to the center?" Keari asked. She ignored him.

  Please, you have to let him go, make the other one let my father go, Fay pleaded back, her voice on the edge of tears even in her mind. You can, I know you can. Enough, you've done enough to him, let him go.

  Words buzzed around her, a hand gently shaking her shoulder, all of it senseless. Only his words mattered, only Marcius, who could release her father, held her attention. I never wanted to take him, Faylanna, never. But the others will not let him go. They say they need him still. How could I possibly convince them? I have no power over them.

  Marcius, anything you want of me, you'll have it. I'll give myself to you, I will. Please, make them let my father go, take me in his stead. I promise, I will be yours, just let him go!

  A strange, alien satisfaction was all that she felt, and she thought it was from him at first. Before she could do more than wonder if she had just sprung a trap, it was as if a hand reached out and down into her, latching onto something there. Not the bond, but a magical tether created by her vow. A strange voice, darker than Marcius’ responded. When you are here with us, he shall be released, Faylanna. We await your arrival.

  There was something buried in this voice, something in the words that should have worried her. She knew that she should be asking why Marcius hadn’t said anything himself, but the image of her father being swallowed by the darkness filled her mind until she could think of nothing else. She knew what she needed to do, where she needed to go, but that alarmed voice within her kept trying to warn that something was waiting here, hiding in the shadows to trap her further, and she hesitated. As if he could read in her hesitation all of her doubts, Marcius' voice caressed her mind, a strained whisper, Come to me, come, my sweet. You have nothing to fear from the darkness, the others, for you will be with us, one of us. You will be with me, where you belong. You're so close, and you've promised. Come to me, beloved.

  Still she hesitated, his last word falling oddly on her ears and into her mind. She realized why. She never heard love in his voice, not even now, when he spoke the words of it. Desire, need, hope and a certain amount of caring, but she didn’t remember ever hearing the kind of feeling in his voice that Tavis’ had when he told her he loved her. Before she could do anything with this realization, her head split with pain as her promise demanded she walk forward. Her words roared in her head, deafening her as her own magic demanded the fulfillment of her vow. Her hands flew to her ears, though they could do no good there, and her knees buckled. She would have collapsed to the ground if not for the arms around her chest that tightened reflexively when she sagged forward. She thought she screamed, but the sound was lost in the agony. A force built up and surged through her, breaking something, a barrier. She remembered and moved all at once, pulling her will and intent in as swiftly as she could and then expelling it all outward around her, laced with magic that amplified the force of her will. They flew from her, these people who tried to hold her back. The arms around her lifted away as their owner was thrown from her. As soon as the arms were no longer holding her in place, she sprinted up the path between the gardens and stable, making straight for the entrance to the maze as fast as she could. They would follow, but she could stay ahead of them. As she ran she felt a heat building in her body and the day around her seemed to grow cold and dark. In her mind, she could feel Marcius' exultation.

  Chapter 18

  Fay screamed the moment she stepped through the entrance to the maze. She could feel the wind of the building storm against her skin, but it was nothing compared to the one that suddenly tore at her mind. Her momentum kept her going until she staggered into a side path and fell heavily to the ground, her breath rasping in her chest and her hands clutching her head. The heat beat in her limbs in counterpoint to her heart.

  There was no beginning or end to the storm in her mind and she couldn't shut it out. Her thoughts were swirled away into it, breaking off in the violence and she felt her deeper self, the core of who she was, trying to follow. The insistent pull of her promise was the only solid thing in her entire world. Then a hoarse screaming, her father's agony, rose up from the maelstrom and she clung to it, seeking some direction. Shoving herself back to her feet, she tried to follow the sound down one passage, then another, but she couldn't tell where she was going and then the scream disappeared. Afraid of what it meant for her father, Fay began to run. Left, right, right, she took passages at random, desperate to find him before it was too late.

  Laughter, dark, human but uncaring, drifted out of the storm, wrapping around her mind as she ran. It was as if the source of the laughter found her struggles amusing, a joke for his own entertainment. She would have sworn at first that she had heard the laughter before, but as it went on it grew louder, deeper and took on an echo that bounced off of the walls of her mind, making it sound ancient and evil. Her hands flew to her ears again as she ran, forgetting that it would do no good to try to block the sound that she wasn't hearing with those ears.

  A stone figure of a woman loomed up in front of her as she ran into a dead end and she skidded to a halt, falling to the ground in front of the statue. She looked up at the figure that seemed to dance while holding out hands that cupped a candle and knew she had once known who this woman was but the storm tore the thought away from her. She scrambled to her feet, running back the way she had come, the dark laughter dogging her heels, trying to tear her mind away from her body.

  Another voice danced around this laughter, one that didn't try to hide its evil at all. It wasn't human an
d grated on her mind with every word. You think you can run from me? I am everywhere, little human. Another dead end and she sank to the ground, weeping. She screamed but couldn't hear herself. The dark voice exploded through her head in rage, bellowing until she thought her eyes would explode from the pain. You thought he could protect you from us, you believed him, but we own him! There is no escape from us, child, you will be ours. Like your father, you have bound yourself to us already in your ignorance.

  She crawled along the ground, sobbing in relief as the voice fell silent and only the awful laughter remained to torment her. Another voice rose and faded, in and out of the storm, a voice she knew, Marcius. He was calling her name over and over, but his voice wasn't like before. it burbled and laughed and sounded utterly mad. Even as the promise she had made to him pulled her toward his voice, she recoiled from the sound, refusing to believe it was the man who had offered her everything. She shook her head in denial as she continued to crawl forward. Other voices threaded the storm around her, but she hid from them all. They all hurt, they all scared her. She pushed onward, with no idea where to go, only knowing that they would find her if she remained still.

  The dark, inhuman voice rose again and her sobs increased as it spoke. You can never escape us, Faylanna, you belong to us. You can never get away. We will have you. Come quickly, of your own accord and you will not be broken to your task. Resist and we will bend you to our purposes. The voice rose again into that angry rage, louder this time, and she was sure it was blood, not tears that flowed down her face now from the force of its bellow. You will always belong with us. We made you what you are and we can unmake you, child. You are one of us, now and always!

  She dragged herself into a corner where two paths met and huddled there. The tether of the promise tried to pull her onward and then it shattered like her thoughts in the storm. Nowhere to go, she thought in broken tones, no one to find. Lost, I lost them all. She cried, and laughed and felt something important start to drift away into the darkness when she was snared by a new voice, but not a new voice. She knew this voice, the warmth of it, the way it wrapped around her battered mind and heart like a shelter, the way it tied the broken pieces of her back together. She listened and soft words emerged miraculously from the sound.

  Faylanna, you're here, I know you are, I can feel you even if I can't find you. Hear me. I know you can hear me. The faint voice cooled the burning heat in her body that threatened to light her on fire, sliding smoothly through her like cold water on a hot day. She held the quiet words in her mind to hear them better over the storm, and a name filled her. Tavis. Please, Faylanna, I can't find you here. I've tried, but I don't know how. Hear me and follow my voice. Come back to me, my love, my Faylanna, come to me.

  The words were familiar. She knew another had said something like them, but in this voice she heard their truth. On the heels of this, she realized that the storm in her mind had become distant. It no longer tore at her reason and she could think again, a little. She was aware of the mind storm, but felt sheltered from its fury. Tavis, she thought again and smiled. His words were there, only the same words repeated, but she still cherished them, held them in her mind. Pushing herself up out of the corner, she followed the words down the passage as the wind of the storm in the air tore at her hair and clothes.

  Every step she took toward him, every word he gave her brought more calm to her mind and heart, and healed the damage from the voices of the mind storm. The storm itself grew more distant still, unable to touch her even when it snarled and screamed at her. When she saw him at last, leaning against a hedge at an intersection of passages, his tanned, lean arms folded across his chest and his eyes on her, she almost cried with relief. He was real, he was there, and she began to run toward him. His broad smile spread across his face as she approached, his green eyes brilliantly sparkling even in the gloom, and he shrugged away from the wall. Everything was right for a moment.

  Movement drew her attention down one of the paths of the junction Tavis stood in and she saw the darkness rising up to crash over him from his right. She took the last few steps to place herself between Tavis and the roiling cloud before he could do more than begin to turn. She felt his hands grasp the tops of her shoulders, his grip tightening to pull her away. Before either of them could move, it was nearly on top of her but flinched back as if burned. She felt Tavis' hands loosen but remain where they were as the dark cloud retreated a little then slid to the right. Fay side-stepped to keep Tavis safe.

  She could feel the frustration of her tormentors rise in the mind storm as the darkness shifted again and she mirrored it. Tendrils unfurled and drifted forward. She cast a shield around them, and relief flooded through her as the tendrils backed away from even touching it. In the distant storm, she heard the evil inhuman voice begin to snarl in a language she didn't recognize but that made her soul hurt, and the laughter died, replaced by a very human sounding voice cursing fluently. Again, she realized that she knew the voice. Marcius screamed, Step aside, Faylanna, come to me, leave him behind. You were meant to be with me, always with me. We need each other, we belong together. You promised!

  She ignored this too, though she felt her vow trying to tug at her. She held her shield firm until finally the darkness let out a piercing shriek and fled back down the passage at great speed. In a second, it was around a corner and out of her sight. She held the shield for a little while longer, making sure, before letting it drop. She turned and threw her arms around Tavis' neck. His arms slid around her, holding her close and his head dropped to her shoulder. The pull to go to Marcius broke up again as Tavis held her and she sighed, burying her face in his chest. They stayed that way for several moments.

  "I thought I'd lost you," he murmured, and the relief in his voice made her heart sing.

  She pulled back a little and he lifted his head just enough for her to see his serious, worried expression. The realization of how close she had come frightened her. Her voice kept giving out as she tried to explain. "You saved me. I- The storm, it was- I was almost gone when I heard you."

  His smile resurfaced. "Then I guess we're even, because without you, that thing would have gotten me. That was what you saw in Voleno, wasn't it?"

  She nodded and hugged him close again. This time his head stayed up, and he said, "It's not over. I want to take you away from here to a safe place but Ki and Lydia are out there, somewhere in this damned maze. We all ran in after you but somehow I got separated from them. They may have even been separated from each other, I don't know. And whatever is going on here isn't over yet."

  She released him, though he caught her hands in his. Looking up at him, she said, "I know. I have to go, to finish this. I- I did something stupid. I promised I would go, and it's not possible to ignore this promise. I don't feel it right now, but I don't think the promise is undone, and Marcius won't forget that I made it. And I would have to go, even without that. I have to go for my father. Whatever he was part of is still in motion. He's in here somewhere too, and I'm sure he's in danger. I heard him screaming before, but I haven't for a while. I- I'm worried. I don't know if I can save him, but I have to try, Tavis." He nodded. "Follow me. I can take us to the center of the maze easily."

  He looked dubious. "Really?"

  Fay looked around, compared the layout to her memory and led him into the right side passage. "Of course. I used to run around this maze all the time as a child. We can find the others after. Ki and Lydia will have to take care of themselves for now. Even if they have been separated, they'll be able to find each other easily, Tavis. I don't think any of that will matter if we don't finish this."

  Tavis followed her through the twists and turns of the maze, never letting go of her hand. The mind storm was barely audible to her now and she was grateful for that, as the mounting roar of the winds over the top of the maze was bad enough. But it was too easy and Marcius wasn't trying to pull her to him anymore, which worried her more than anything. When they found the brick wall that cu
rved around the center, they followed along it to the first wide entrance they found. Though Fay knew she should have expected something after what she had seen at the house, her heart still ached when she looked around the gardens that had been her mother and father's special place.

  Smoke drifted around the entire circle in wisps and patches with no origin she could see. The smell was awful, like sulfur and burning rocks, though she thought she had smelled it before. A third of the trellis had been blown away, splinters stirring in the eddies of wind that reached down into this open space. The rest of it was groaning and swaying slightly in the gale. One of the three curved marble benches lay blasted to the side, shattered pieces littering the beds full of dead flowers. One of the other two was overturned and both were covered with dirt and slime of some sort.

  The Mirror stood where the destroyed bench had been, facing the entrance where they stood. She shivered at the implication. Its golden frame was at least the width of her hand all the way around and picked up the low light that the sun was managing to push through the dense clouds above, giving off a dull gleam. The frame was ornate, sculpted swirls all around it. The glass in that frame caused her to clutch at Tavis' hand and he squeezed hers gently. It was like the blackness that had attacked them was trapped behind it, dark clouds that constantly roiled and changed direction and speed but never stopped. Something about it seemed evil to her, yet she felt it trying to hypnotize her at the same time, to draw her to it. Forcing her eyes away from it, she saw a mound of cloth beside the Mirror, and wondered what it was doing there, until she saw it move feebly and recognized her father's clothes.

  She tried to lunge forward to him, but Tavis had seen him first and already had an arm around her waist, pinning her to him. His other hand still held hers. "They want you to rush in. That's why they put him there. Don't give them what they want."

  The logic of his words pierced her desperation and she stopped struggling. He let his arm drop, but she stayed where she was, feeling her hip brush against his. It disturbed her how easily they were manipulating her. She kept close to Tavis, realizing she'd have to rely on him to stop her from responding because she didn't dare trust herself to do so. She forced herself to finish looking around the circle, feeling in the distant mind storm the frustration of the once-laughing person as this gambit with her father failed too. She saw the darkness swirling, tucked back among the swaying trees that lined one side of the garden. She flinched back from it and felt Tavis turn to follow her gaze. She knew he had seen it when his hand tightened on hers, but she couldn't look away from the inky cloud. What she was seeing stunned her. The black mist swirled around someone, a man, standing in the center. The tendrils that flowed in and out of the cloud reached up to caress him as she watched, before dropping back into the moving darkness. She tried to see who it was, but her eyes kept sliding away from him. She shifted her sight and nothing about the man or the cloud changed, surprising her. She could feel something diverting her, keeping her from peering too close, from even remembering what details she might pick out, but there was no spellwork around him. Before she could shift back, she saw something that made her shudder. Sickly yellow traces moving in every direction around the space and into the maze beyond. She realized that she could feel it out there, the vygazza, that same feeling that had alerted her to its presence in the forest around Eliar's cottage. She tugged Tavis a step inward and to the side until the wall was at their back and breathed a small sigh of relief that the creature couldn't sneak up on them at least.