“I had no right to snap at you, as though you were deliberately searching for trouble,” she admitted, though, under the circumstances, I didn’t agree with her reasoning.
“For the second time in five years, I was suspicious of the man you love. You had every right to yell and scream. However,” — I leaned over the edge of the bed and poked her silk-covered arm— “if you had stayed angry for, what was it last time, three months, four— Well, I might have grown impatient this time and not let you continue your little temper tantrum.”
“Is that what it was? Anyway, unlike you, I do learn some lessons.” Too late to cover a yawn, Elena shut her eyes for a moment. “I did have another reason for coming here. Three, actually, if Anders doesn’t mind waiting another minute before getting back to sleep.”
“Sleep? I don’t know the meaning of the word when I’m in your fortress,” Anders grumbled, lying across the foot of the bed, his chin propped up on one hand.
“Let me guess the first reason,” I cut in, before the two of them continued bantering. “You want to know if I’m ready to strangle my father for having another secret child.” At the flush in her cheeks, I reassured my friend, “No. I’m fine about Corey, believe it or not, particularly since the old man didn’t know about him, either. But I refused to let Father off the seahook and pretended to be furious, just to give him a hard time.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Elena laughed, though her eyes were somber. “Poor man, though you’ve come a long way, old friend.”
“Well, yes. I do learn some lessons, too. Besides, I didn’t get to this incredible level of maturity on my own.” Studying her face, it was easy to see the sleepless nights. “Jackson has you worried, which is your second reason for this uncivilized visit.”
“I’m worried about you, too. Seeing you both dealing with this loss, I feel helpless.” Elena glanced at Anders, who nodded. “I don’t know how to make either of you feel better or ease your pain.”
“You’re not alone in that,” Anders reassured her. “All we can do is give comfort where we can and never give up the search for an antidote.”
“More for Emmy’s sake than mine,” I told them both. “The poor child had only a glimpse of her magic, took such joy and pride in it, right before it was stolen.” Shutting my eyes tight, grieving for my daughter’s pain, I fought back tears of rage. “When I lost my magic as a child, it was because I forced it away, denied it from fear. What happened to Emmy— She was so distraught when we returned to Glynnswood, so distressed that it was gone. I don’t ever want to see that sorrow on her face again.”
“You can’t shield her from all pain, Mage Protector, even as you can’t shield me, either. You can only do what’s in your power to do. And knowing both you and Jackson, even without mage talent, you’re both quite resourceful.” Elena leaned over to kiss my forehead. “Try and get some sleep.”
“You, too. But what about the last reason for your visit?”
“I must be getting old. I nearly forgot.” Standing beside the bed, she kept her eyes fixed on mine. “Before you bite off my head—”
“Now I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.”
“Just giving you fair warning. Listen, Brendan has come back to the capital. I was so caught up in all those mixed emotions before, I forgot to tell you. Jackson and I were talking after you left, Alex. In light of the news Corey brought, I’d like to summon the Crown Council, test the waters a little. If you can bear to stay another day in Ardenna, I think you both should attend the meeting.”
“You always manage to find a somewhat-legitimate excuse for me to stay in this hateful city,” I whined. “Why is that?”
Slanting a sidelong glance at my husband, Elena said, “Because I know you despise being here.”
Chapter Twelve
“Ready for this meeting, Mage Protector?” Elena’s murmur was solely for my hearing, with both our backs turned toward the others seated around the huge oak table in her less-formal council chamber.
“Hmm.”
I knew, without turning around, that Brendan, Elena’s heir and younger brother, sat between Anders and Jackson at the near end of the table, the friendlier end. Farthest from their monarch and her impotent Mage Protector were the four members of the Ardenna Crown Council: Seamage Jenny Bretan, the voice of the Mage Council, as Charlton Ravess had been five years earlier. Kiran Frase, firemage, Colin Revers, earthmage, and Chase Matten, windmage, all here at the polite request of their queen, though none of them dared refuse to make an appearance.
“Is that a yes or no?” Elena’s voice sounded a trifle impatient, though she tried to disguise it by adding, “Not that I’m pushing you, mind, but they’ve been quite patient while you’ve been sightseeing outside my window.”
“It’s not a yes or a no. I’m— Well, I’m not entirely sure.” Sliding Elena a glance from beneath hooded lids, I bit back a smile. It wouldn’t do for the already-uneasy Crown Council of Mages to suspect their queen of plotting right before their very eyes with her Mage Protector. Heaving a huge sigh that felt as though my chest would burst, I turned to face the expectant and hostile council members, all of whom were recently stripped of their magic.
Elena said nothing, though her eyes watched everyone and everything, a skill she’d learned from her father before his unexpected death eight years earlier. Rather than sitting at the table, Elena stood upright behind her ornate carved chair, encouraging me to start the discussion with a slight nod.
“Seamage Bretan.” I bowed a respectful greeting to the older woman, whose tight blonde braid left her face ashen and devoid of emotion, and then made the same gesture toward the others. “Thank you for coming at such short notice. I would not have had the queen disturb your work unless it was a matter of grave importance.”
“To you?” Jenny Bretan challenged, not daring to look at Elena, which was amusing in its way. “Or to the queen?”
“To all of us here, mages and nonmages alike.” I inclined my head in Brendan’s direction, and earned a sly wink for my efforts. Unruffled by the seamage’s open dislike, I leaned back against the window ledge overlooking the Kieran River and the bustling city below, my face in shadow against the morning sunlight that surrounded my body and warmed my back and shoulders.
“Speaking for the council, I may say we’re all quite, well, curious. After all, while the queen has summoned us to advise her in the past, though rarely often,” —Jenny shot a quick glance at Elena, whose features were chiseled in stone— “she has never once done so with both you and the Crownmage in attendance.”
“Ah, well, those meetings might have been a little crowded, don’t you think? Besides, there hadn’t been any need for all of us at those sessions, but there is now. To be honest, I never wanted the queen to force my presence on you since I’m well aware you have no great love for me, or indeed, any affection, for that matter.” I smiled to take the sting from my comment, noting the seamage’s open look of surprise at my direct words. “But none of that matters. Though I will say one thing more. I doubt any of you will believe my sincerity, which is genuine, but I’d hoped, as both Elena and Brendan have shared my hope, that you and I could have bridged our differences and found a way to work together for the common good of Tuldamoran.”
“You give us little credit.”
“You gave me little welcome,” I said without hesitation, watching the fire flash and fade in her eyes. “But the past no longer matters. It seems,” I added, before the seamage could make a token protest which would only serve to irritate Elena, “I’ve finally found the way to bridge our differences, though it brings me no joy. In fact, it was our mutual enemy who handed me the key.”
Jenny Bretan narrowed her eyes and stared at me, the words “mutual enemy” hanging in the air between us as I pushed away from the window ledge and started to pace as Elena often did. In fact, I half expected both of us to be pacing, though she hadn’t moved from her position behind the chair at the head of the table. When no one said a word
to break the awkward silence, I stopped at the non-hostile end of the table and leaned both hands on the smooth wood, opposite Jenny Bretan, holding her gaze.
“I, too, have been given feyweed to drink.”
Chaos ensued, and all four mages spoke over each other, until Seamage Bretan, not Elena as expected, raised both hands for silence. “Can you prove it?”
“Seamage Bretan—” Elena’s face lost its stony composure, her cheeks scarlet with rage at the challenge. I edged closer to her chair and touched my friend’s tense shoulder to stop her potential movement, afraid she’d haul off and smash her fist in the woman’s face. When Elena glared at me in open annoyance, I shot her a silent warning, relieved when her dangerous anger subsided.
“It’s a fair question, your majesty,” I said calmly, having doubted Jackson only weeks earlier, but not wanting to bring up that nasty reminder in front of the Crown Council. “But one I can’t prove any easier than Seamage Bretan can prove to you, except to say the loss inside me, the empty ache that never ceases to go away, is a pain no mage should ever feel. However,” —I met and held Anders’s quiet gaze and smiled— “I could always place myself in dire peril and prove I can’t save myself. But before I did something so patently foolish,” I added, more to reassure Elena and Brendan, who looked horrified, “I’d ask the Crown Council to do the same. And since we haven’t yet reached that level of trust, though I still hope someday we might, it seems we have to accept on faith that I, as well as Jackson Tunney, and the entire Crown Council, have been stripped of magic by a mutual, as yet unknown, enemy.”
Smoothing the soft leather of my white vest, the Mage Protector symbol embroidered on the chest, I glanced at Elena and smiled. Though her face had lost its brilliant angry hue, she didn’t smile back.
“It also occurred to me during the night, when I should have been resting peacefully beside my husband, that you all may have thought I gave the order for feyweed to be mixed into your wine.”
Jenny Bretan’s smile was predatory. “It occurred to me, too.”
“I’ll bet. Here’s a question to consider. Did it occur to you on your own, Seamage Bretan? Or did someone whisper that treasonous thought in your ear?” Holding the woman’s gaze across the polished table, I wanted her to squirm and blurt out the fact Derek Frontish of Spreebridge had poisoned their minds even further against me. Though I was likely doomed to disappointment, I needed indisputable proof that after they had lost their mage talent, possibly at the hands of Elder Frontish, that same gentleman offered them comfort in the form of providing a possible suspect, namely me.
“No one said any such thing, Mage Protector. I am” —her smile was chilly, though I caught the merest hint of doubt— “perfectly capable of independent thought.”
“That’s good to know. And yes, well, let me reassure you the mere act of watching three renegade mages from Spreebridge take the potion and lose their magic turned my stomach. Not that I wouldn’t do it,” I hastened to add, lest the Crown Council think me weak, even though I still refused to learn the ingredients for the feyweed mixture, “if I had good reason. But not one I would do on a whim. I may be vicious, but I’m not often needlessly cruel.”
“So you say. But your actions prove otherwise,” she challenged, and I braced for the attack I knew was coming, had indeed expected. “I, for one, though not a member of the Crown Council of Mages who served beneath Charlton Ravess at the time, was present at Tucker’s Meadow for the Mage Challenge.” Her eyes searched my face, as she added, “Cruelty was quite evident in that duel.”
Along with the hostility and smugness on Jenny Bretan’s face was fear, though why she should fear me now, without mage power, made no sense, unless she really believed I was lying about my loss. All the more reason to keep Anders safe at my side, with his formidable mage power intact.
Before I could reply, the seamage added, “You made spectacular use of your mage talent that morning.”
“I was defending my life and my queen.”
“Yes, thus the title of Mage Protector. Very apt, though the abuse you piled on Charlton Ravess was, shall we say, excessive? Not that I minded. The man was, after all, a traitor.” Seamage Bretan chuckled, though there wasn’t a hint of humor in the sound. “And so, our beloved queen names you Mage Protector,” she repeated my title as though it were an insult, and maybe, considering her next comment, it was. “As I said, quite fitting. Until now, anyway, since you’re powerless to wield any magic.” Or so you say, her steady gaze implied. “You think our enemy is mutual?”
“I like to think we have some things in common,” I said, amused as Elena rolled her eyes behind the mage’s back at my bright smile. “Mutual, yes, but not for reasons you might find flattering. I have a theory regarding the potential parties, but nothing solid, not yet. And until I do, I’ll keep that theory close to my chest.”
“You’re not very discreet in your mistrust of us.”
“Think of it instead,” I suggested, “as not wanting to smear a person’s good name unless one has definite proof. One other thing has made me curious,” I said, keeping my tone very casual. “No one’s told me how you came to drink the feyweed? Were you all gathered together? Sharing a bottle of wine? A pitcher of water or ale? Was it crushed and mixed in with your meat gravy?”
“I don’t see why that fact should make a difference, but we were sharing a bottle of wine. Your favorite, in fact,” —the seamage shot me a crafty look— “which is why I did wonder about your involvement.”
“Logical.” Scratching the tip of my nose, I asked, “Do you usually enjoy wine at your council meetings or was this a special event?”
“Why all the questions, Mage Keltie? Aren’t we entitled to privacy?”
“Absolutely.” Which meant they were likely sharing a bottle of wine Derek Frontish had somehow delivered in secret, if what I suspected were true. How else to explain that he, as a mage from Spreebridge, remained unaffected if he shared that same bottle? “My apologies, Seamage Bretan. I was simply curious. My own experience came with Marain Valley wine, too. In any case, I have a favor to ask of you all.” Not missing the open suspicion and resentment in the woman’s expression, I laughed, taking not the slightest insult. “Yes, I know. I’d be pretty suspicious, too, but believe me, it’s important, and more than that, it’s definitely not a trick.”
“Again, so you say.”
“Yes, again, so I say.” It was difficult not to smash my fist in her face, or even call upon magic simply to frighten the wits from her brain. But I’d reached for what wasn’t there too often in past weeks, and the pain simply wasn’t worth it. “I need your help. The mages in Tuldamoran need your help. You must spread the word, discreetly and swiftly, through the local Mage Councils in each Duchy, warning them of strangers from Spreebridge, warning them of feyweed and its distinctive odor, sometimes easily masked, I’m afraid. And—”
“Spreebridge is what you fear?” Surprised, Seamage Bretan glanced at Elena for confirmation. “How is this possible? We’re on the brink of starting a new trade relationship with their merchants, an endeavor based on trust and good will. Yet by allowing their ships to enter our ports, we make ourselves vulnerable if we let strangers into our kingdom.”
“They are not all suspected of dealing in feyweed, I assure you. The trade agreement will greatly benefit our own merchants years into the future, long after this danger has passed. Think of how beneficial our commerce has been with Meravan, despite our earlier misgivings,” Elena slipped that little dig into the conversation, reminding the seamage of the protests made against interaction with our southern neighbor when Elena first ascended the throne. “Besides, we are not fools, Seamage Bretan. Trust that we will take precautions,” she added quietly. “For the good of both our countries, we need to go forward with the agreement. But that doesn’t mean that we will blindly welcome any stranger from Spreebridge, not until this matter is settled. Nor that we will hesitate to take whatever action is required to keep our p
eople safe.”
Considering Elena’s somber words, Jenny Bretan glanced around the table at her colleagues, all of whom looked as though they’d swallowed something distasteful. If I’d managed to make them wary of Derek Frontish, without openly accusing them of duplicity, I’d be satisfied. “You forget one other group, Mage Keltie. What about the renegade mages in Tuldamoran?” Seamage Bretan demanded, her expression a mockery as her unvoiced words resounded in my head.
“Ah, yes, the more independent mages, like me. In fact, like my mother, is what you really meant to say, I’d guess, if I were a woman who delighted in wagering,” I challenged back, not daring to look at Elena and give her an excuse to haul off and put the entire council in chains. “I hope in future those independent mages will be able to trust their local councils and go to them for training and guidance. But until the old corruption is washed away—” I shrugged. “I myself, with the help of the Crownmage, will spread that particular word.”
“A very good reason why there is so little trust between us, Mage Protector,” Jenny Bretan took careful aim and shot a verbal arrow at my heart. “Apparently, you hold far more allegiance to renegade mages who travel freely without guidance or rules.”
“Not true. They have guidance and rules, ones set down by my own mother before I was even a flicker of thought in her heart. As such,” —I smiled at Anders, knowing how hard he’d worked to spread my mother’s word— “I place a lot of trust in those renegades, who would indeed join the local councils if they respected them. We all have much work to do before we reach that point, Seamage Bretan, including me.” I set one hip on the table, my profile to the mage. “One other favor, I’d ask, if you’re willing—” Taking her silence for assent, which was certainly doubtful, I said, “In time, I’d appreciate your help in purging the local councils of corruption and greed. Though some changes have been made, trouble spots remain. And if you agree to cooperate, maybe at that point you’ll begin to believe that we’re on the same side.”
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