by R. K. Thorne
“You are wise to recognize all those things.”
He ducked his head as if embarrassed by the compliment. “So yes. I’m lucky that we’re all mages. You want a Lanuken on the throne, you get a mage, I guess. What are the chances for all of us, without Father?”
He asked the question rhetorically, but Miara raised her eyebrow and smiled slyly in response. “Indeed. What are the chances.” He frowned at her with a tilt of his head. He caught her implication, and she’d leave it at that. “Do you want to join us then? Your mother, Siliana, and I were reviewing our options in the creature mage group. Well, honestly they’d gone off topic into gardening, but I didn’t have the heart to stop them and remind them we have a war to plan. I’m sure you could also go about your evening and pretend none of this is happening.”
“Alikar is stalking the halls already. I had to dodge him twice to get here.”
She frowned. “Not because—”
“Yes, because. He wants me to be king. And if I have to choose between the two, I definitely want to be here.” He strode past her.
Miara reached out to Aven. Dom came here on his own. He’s a creature mage. You wanted to know, sorry to interrupt.
An enormous sigh of relief flowed from Aven. Thank you.
As Dom approached, Elise’s eyes lit up, though she strove to conceal the expression. Her face held no hint of surprise.
Of course she’d known all along. If one of the princes had not been a mage, they would have had a hugely different situation on their hands. It would have been reckless for her not to know. And on top of that, certainly Elise must have wondered when they were children as well. If Miara ever had children, she’d certainly be excited to see what type of mage they turned out to be—
She stopped still for a moment and blinked. Where had that thought come from? She had never thought about having children with any kind of anticipation before.
No time to unpack that idea at the moment. Back to Elise. Realizing how the queen had sought to know the lay of the land ahead of time, Miara realized it had been foolish for her to not have already sought the information out. She was being idealistic, naïve even, to think she should abide by some kind of polite privacy in this situation. Their enemies wouldn’t. If Alikar had a mage on his staff—and he would, if he were clever—then he could easily find out as well.
Understanding the complete situation was just part of protecting herself. No, not just herself. Protecting Aven too. And all of them. Next time she would have to check sooner and gather information faster. Politeness and privacy were silly things to put over their own safety, especially since the subject of her investigation wouldn’t even know she’d been snooping about them. She had so many things to learn here. She’d slipped up because she had so many things to investigate it was hard to track them all.
Leaving the creature mages to their discussion, she crept over to where images flew through the air beneath Wunik’s hands. The forests, the rivers, Anonil, now the fields of wheat. Then Mage Hall loomed beneath them.
“You’re just in time, Miara,” said Wunik without looking up.
A bronze-skinned man who looked like he could be from Takar, or possibly Detrat, gasped at the sight. And indeed, it looked especially looming as darkness fell around the black, hulking shadows of the buildings. Wunik skillfully slid the view straight back to the dorms where she had spent so many years with her father and Luha. Again the windows were shuttered, and again guards stood outside the door. But there was something different, something she couldn’t quite put her hands on. Had there been two guards yesterday or four as there were today?
And worse, there was no one about.
Miara stepped closer. “Something’s different,” she said.
Wunik nodded, not moving his eyes from the image. “More guards. Are those windows boarded shut?”
“I think so.” Her family’s windows. Wunik pushed the view back so they could see more of the compound. “There’s no one anywhere.”
“Could they have caught Jaena so quickly?” Aven said.
“She was planning to wait until tomorrow to try to leave.” Gods, what if she had been freed only to be recaptured and re-enslaved without leaving?
“Did she tell you she was going to talk to anyone in particular? Anyone we should try to find, who will be looking for us?”
“Uh, yes, Menaha. Another friend of hers she thought of. I don’t see any of them at first glance. Menaha’s rooms should be in that building over there.” Wunik deftly swung the view to the other side of the large grassy center of the Mage Hall compound.
“There—look.” Aven pointed to a window near the top of the building. The shutters were open, and two people were not quite leaning out, but close.
“Go closer,” Miara breathed. Wunik complied. “It’s them!”
“We’ve got to free someone while we can,” Aven said. “Which one should I start with?”
“The older one, Menaha. Don’t go killing yourself now.” She was only partly joking.
“I’ll help,” said Derk, surprising her. “No need to get shit-faced.”
Well. She’d never heard it put quite like that.
“You explain what to do, and I’ll feed,” Derk added.
Wunik nodded. “Let’s get started.”
As Aven explained how he reached out to the star and poured the energy toward the brands on their shoulders, Miara’s stomach twisted a little. It was not much of a stretch to realize that a map that freed slaves could also reverse the process. As much as more help in freeing them was immensely valuable… what danger did they risk by planting thoughts of slavery in the minds of even a few powerful air mages? She sighed. It was a risk they had to take.
Miara blocked them out and reached out to Menaha instead.
Menaha—it’s me.
Oh! Thank the gods, Miara.
What’s going on?
Oh, stars in heaven, do I have news for you.
My father? Luha?
I haven’t been able to get to them, but as far as I can determine, they’re perfectly fine and just locked in their rooms. I was able to walk by and hear the sounds of the hearth fires. I don’t see why they’d guard the rooms if they weren’t in there and alive. Sorry I couldn’t find out more.
It’s all right. What news then?
Something serious has happened. We can’t figure just what, but it was around midday. They locked everything down for a few minutes. The deep warning bells rang. They shut the gates and sent those in the fields back inside. They even took horses out and brought the farther shepherds back in and left the flocks abandoned. Insanity. They haven’t even let us out of these buildings yet for dinner. I’m not sure when or if they’re going to. Every so often you can see the Tall Master going from building to building. He’s looking for something, I think.
The Tall Master. Strange indeed. What could he be searching for? They rarely saw him doing anything but torturing people in the smithy. Could Jaena have escaped early? Would that have led them to lock everything down? They hadn’t done that when Miara escaped.
Perhaps the Masters thought one was an anomaly, but two was a pattern.
“It’s done,” Aven said softly. “She’s free.” Miara tore her eyes and mind away from Mage Hall for a moment. His face had paled, and he slumped against the bench’s back. At least he was conscious. He glanced at Derk. “Got strength for two?”
Derk glared at him. “I’ve got the strength for ten. Go.”
What was that all about?
Miara turned back to the mages. Menaha. You should feel different—the spell is broken. You should be free.
Menaha’s eyes widened. Kae? Her voice was not hopeful. She dreaded hearing they could only free one. Miara hadn’t even realized the boy stood next to her. Boy or sort of a man, perhaps sixteen or eighteen, with an earnest, innocent face that might have concealed some of his actual age. Was this the friend Jaena had spoken of?
They’re working on it.
M
enaha heaved a mental sigh of relief. Just then, a terrible slam drew all their eyes. The Tall Master stormed from Menaha’s building, grumbling obscenities at the guards he had in tow. He marched toward another building and toppled a statue of Nefrana with a kick on the way.
Damn hypocrites. Miara wasn’t sure if Menaha had intended to share that thought with her or not. But, yes.
Miara reached out to the young man’s mind. Kae?
His eyes and ears perked up, far less subtle than Menaha. Yes?
They are working on breaking the spell in your bond right now. It will take a few minutes. Then the two of you should get out of this window, lie low. Do you know anything of what has come of Jaena? Where is she?
She was going to wait until tomorrow to escape. I saw her heading to work a trifle late, but she was still here this morning just before the bells began to ring.
Where had she gone to work?
I saw her heading to the smithy. She sometimes assists the blacksmiths.
Miara rubbed her chin. What could have happened? Or did it have nothing to do with them, and Jaena was simply asleep inside somewhere?
“It’s done,” Derk’s voice cut in.
Miara reeled herself back to reality and saw Aven with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands—groaning, rubbing his face, but conscious. Excellent. She went back to Kae and Menaha.
Miara spoke first to Menaha, then repeated her message for Kae. Well. The plan was to wait till tomorrow at sundown. If they keep you locked up, though, you may need to take whatever chance you can get. See if you can find out what happened to Jaena and if she’s still there. But the most important thing is that you get free. They are reacting harshly, and it will only become harder with time. You don’t happen to be a creature mage?
Air. Both of them responded the same.
Miara sighed. Air magic wouldn’t help them escape, but the growing number of air mages on their side was certainly not a bad thing. If they could make it out. All right. Head to Anonil, to the Apple and Arrow. We’ve sent someone there to watch for you. She repeated the instructions to each of them.
To Menaha alone, she added, If you can find Brother Sefim, can you tell him to attempt something like this tomorrow night? We can only free people at night.
That is a problem then. We’ll have to hope this curfew doesn’t last, as the temple doesn’t have shuttered windows. But yes, I’ll try to find him and tell him. Menaha nodded her understanding.
Thank you. May the Balance protect you.
No, thank you, Miara. Menaha’s words were heartfelt. Even if I don’t make it out, a few moments of relief after all these years means so much to me.
Don’t talk like that. We need you, Menaha. We need to understand what they are planning. Let’s make it not just a few moments, but years of relief. Of freedom. I’m sure this is temporary while he searches for… whatever he’s searching for. They have to feed you sometime, right?
Menaha nodded, but Miara knew the older woman was not so sure. Menaha was just being realistic. In that environment, especially if it worsened, escape would be hard.
Good luck, she told Kae. They would need all they could get.
Miara snapped back to reality. Aven caught her eyes with just the corners of his mouth curving in a smile. His skin was even paler now, and his head rested against the back of the bench heavily. Wunik looked like he would tip over if he got up.
“Well, two in one night,” he said softly.
“That’s double, and all we are going to find anyway, I think.” Wunik was scouring the area around Mage Hall, but only guards were coming into view. “Quite an improvement, eh?”
“Yes.”
Wunik glanced at Aven, seeming to remember him. “Oh! You made it through awake. Good job to both of you.” Derk had a you-better-say-that expression on his face, but he did smile. Maybe he just didn’t receive quite enough recognition from his teacher, hence that huge chip on his shoulder. “Aven, should we wrap up? I think we’ve done a great deal tonight.”
Aven looked like he wanted to nod but was too tired to do so. Want me to get their attention for you? she whispered to him.
That’d be a help. I’m not sure I can move my arms. Fortunately, he seemed more amused by this than alarmed.
Miara stood and strode back to the door where the nearest brazier would easily light her for all to see. “Everyone? Aven would like to say something before we retire for the evening.”
Slowly, the other groups of mages rose and gathered around the air mages. Wunik continued to scour Mage Hall, but no one came into sight.
“Is that—where they kept you?” Thel pointed at the window of light.
“Yes. And a whole lot of others too,” Aven replied. “How did things go, everyone?”
“Teron and I are planning to scour the libraries tomorrow, since I hear that worked out well once before,” Thel reported.
“And I’ll be meeting tomorrow with our newest creature mage to give him a few pointers. Since I have nothing else to do.” Siliana shot Wunik an annoyed look, before beaming a smile at Dom. Oh, that annoyance was a cover, wasn’t it.
“Great. We freed two more warrior mages. We’ll meet here again tomorrow night to try again, if any of you care to join. The more we can figure out before we head to Panar, the better. Feel free to keep working, but I am retiring for the night.”
Nods all around. Miara realized too late she had ended up rather far from Aven, and that perhaps this would be the appropriate time to simply head back to her room alone. If there was nothing between them, then that’s what she would do.
She couldn’t bring herself to do it, though. She drifted back toward him, feigning interest in fresh sights of Mage Hall even though seeing it only gave her pangs of nausea and dinged her hope.
“See anything?” Miara said. She knelt next to the water bowl, in front of Aven’s feet and to Wunik’s right.
“No,” Wunik replied. “We may quickly be unable to make an impact if they keep this up. Let’s hope this is only a temporary measure.”
I want to help you back to your room, she said to Aven without looking at him. Or make sure you make it there safe. I didn’t like letting Fayton handle it last night.
She caught his smile out of the corner of her eye. You have a talent for good excuses, my love. You know Fayton is perfectly trustworthy. Interesting how talking this way makes… ulterior motives more obvious.
She snickered to herself, then hoped no one noticed. I miss sleeping beside you too, of course.
I do too. If we could think up a reason…
That buoyed her hope, and she strained to think of something while Wunik scanned the same area of Mage Hall again. They saw no mages, and she thought of nothing plausible. Short of him suffering from some kind of fever or illness, she had no special skills that would require her to attend him in a non-romantic manner. And there were other healers, like his own mother and doubtless non-magical royal healers, who could also do the job and were already married or men. Although, come to think of it, she wasn’t sure if that mattered.
Damn. I can’t think of anything legitimate.
It’s all right. Maybe something will come up.
“All right. Enough.” Wunik let the window of light fade. “Who’s helping Aven back to his room? Looks like he needs it.”
“I will!” she and Derk said simultaneously. Then they looked at each other in surprise, Derk’s eyebrow raised, Miara frowning. What was he up to? She couldn’t let him go off with Aven alone, that was for sure.
“Hey, wait. I have some questions for my brother before he sleeps,” Dom called out. Siliana had been in mid-sentence, and he whispered an apology. Miara had to remind herself not to stare at Siliana’s mooning eyes. They exchanged a few more words, and Dom joined them. “Tired, Aven?”
Aven started to lean forward and did indeed lurch to the side—unfortunately into Derk, who caught him.
“C’mon, let’s help him back,” Derk said pointedly to Dom, giv
ing Miara a suspicious glance. Oh, as if she was the suspicious one. She couldn’t completely trust either of them.
“I can help too,” she managed weakly, knowing she had already lost.
Derk didn’t even acknowledge her statement, just kept on pulling Aven to his feet.
Damn it, I wanted to come with you at least.
It’s okay. Dom joined Derk in lifting one arm of Aven’s over his shoulder, and Aven finally stood.
Try to keep a little bit more energy next time. Just a little, if you can.
I’ll try—it’s like a whirlpool. Hard to resist.
Can you trust Dom? Are you sure? The three men eased past her and toward the door.
Oh—yes. Don’t worry.
And Derk?
It’s fine. Sorry we couldn’t, I don’t know… His thoughts trailed off into images and swirls of thought, but she didn’t pull back right away. For once, she let their minds mingle. Sorry we couldn’t think of an excuse, he’d been intending to say. She let her borders drop further. He also felt sorry they couldn’t sleep side by side. Sorry we haven’t told everyone. Sorry I listened to my father instead of telling him to go to hell. Sorry we can’t… And if she’d held doubts about his attraction to her versus his new suitor, those concerns evaporated as she watched the images circle and flash by—memories of his lips brushing her neck, his hands stroking her palm, her shoulders, her… The images shifted to moments that were not memories but sounded even more delicious. Sorry we have to wait. Sorry we aren’t already married.
Oh, that’s all right, there’s time, just rest, she thought as she pulled away. Besides, if that were true, she would be close to being queen. And she was not sure she was ready to be. Or would ever be. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for all this. Would she even be happy as a queen, with so many eyes on her all the time? And yet, she couldn’t imagine being anywhere but by his side for the rest of her days.