In all the excitement, she could not help but steal glances to Gabriel, the Head Mage Select at that time. He could not stop himself grinning throughout the entire celebration. She had selected him to be her first dance partner as Queen, and they held nothing back. It had been years since they truly danced like that, besides practicing now and again, and she had forgotten how much she loved to dance with him. He was so graceful and sure, strong and accurate. In that moment, despite all the torture and new politics, he was simply Gabriel, the boy she fell in love with.
Miranda had stepped down from the throne with dignity and relinquished her titles as per law. Robyn, while infuriated with the actions of the Novaculas, knew they were family. Rather than stripping them of all lands, she let them keep Brackenrock Castle as long as they vowed never to return to Anatoly City. Miranda and Kindle had taken the four mothers of Nolen’s bastards to Brackenrock, while Jaden took Tabor, Nolen’s father and Miranda’s husband, to be executed for his crimes. Ruling a kingdom meant to serve justice, and while Robyn hated to punish her subjects, she knew she would lose control if examples were not made.
She returned her focus on his back. As the minutes passed, she worked up her courage and threw a leg over his hips to center herself above him.
He jumped and looked back. “Off, please.”
Dejected, she pulled her leg back and sat beside him, continuing to work his back. To stimulate the skin, she tapped and dragged her nails across him gently, waking the flesh. He finally turned his head to look.
“What are you doing?”
“Tap and draw method,” she replied, surprised. She had done this before. He craned his head back further to look and muttered something she could not hear. It took her little time to work out his surprise. “I forgot your nerves never healed fully.” she stated. “You can’t feel this.”
He gave a sympathetic look. “You are correct.”
“Where else?”
“A few places here and there.” Her silent glare forced him to look back after a minute, and he rolled to his back and pointed to various locations. A knee, a spot over his ribs, part of his collar bone, a place on his forehead, and several spots over his arms.
“Why weren’t you healed?”
He chuckled. “You’re used to being healed by a Class Ten. We had at best a Class Five, and most were lower than that.”
“Can you be fixed?”
He nodded. “By another Class Ten.” She slumped further. “Broken nerves always heal broken unless someone strong enough can manage it.”
“So nothing can be done.”
He shook his head sadly. “I’ve learned to deal with it.” Sitting up, he put his back against one of the chairs, extending his feet to the fire. Robyn knew he controlled the fire by the way it alighted on the wood without burning it, something he recently started doing upon release from the Castrofax.
“Is there anything I can do?”
He raised a brow with a look that asked if she hadn’t been listening, but his expression quickly slid off as she leaned in to kiss him. She knew no other way to lighten his mood and express her full concern. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him all the harder. He hesitated as he was want to do, but after a while gave in, twining his arms around her back. She took it as an invitation for more and quickly repositioned herself, throwing a leg over his to sit in his lap.
He abruptly stopped and pushed her back, his face horrified. “What are you doing?” he gasped, moving away.
Abashed again, she grew angry. “What are you doing?”
“You can’t—I can’t—”
“I’m not trying to—”
“I know. I know, but I can’t have any of this right now.”
She frowned, trying to work out his motives. He said the Arconians did nothing to him, but something must have happened for him to behave so irrationally. “What did those Arconians do to you?” she whispered a touch more vehemently than she meant.
He gathered his shirt and slipped it over his head. “Goodnight, Highness.”
‘Oh dear,’ she thought as she watched him leave. He never used that term unless he was angry. ‘WHAT happened to you?’
Chapter 5
Gabriel woke in Kilkiny Palace as he usually did: alarmed. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and another moment to remember he was no longer in the Castrofax. He brushed a hand down the back of his neck to be sure, taking in a deep breath. At least his nightmares had stayed at bay that night.
He rose, tracing through the paths he had taken a hundred times while under imprisonment. Washing and dressing, he made his way into the anteroom when his parents usually took their morning meal. He had to wait, a book in his lap, for a servant to arrive with breakfast, and even longer for his parents and Lace to show. The girl looked pale, but she managed to keep her meal down. When Cordis and Aisling finally appeared, they had little to discuss beyond Void and the lack of their knowledge. Robyn did not join them, most likely because he slighted her, but Aisling said she often took her breakfast alone.
“I wish we could remain longer, but Lace and I must return to the castle,” Gabriel finally said, standing and offering his hand to his Arconian companion.
Aisling gave him a pinched look. “Will you not bid the Queen farewell?”
Gabriel gave an absent nod and made his way down her hall. Robyn could be notorious for holding grudges. He honestly could not believe he reacted that way at such an innocent gesture, but there were too many memories he could not deal with yet.
He opened the door without regard for the soldier inside and found her at her desk, garbed in dark green. She had a half-eaten piece of bread in one hand and a parchment in the other, but her eyes were on him.
“Forgive me for last night,” he began, and she gave an absent wave of her bread.
“All’s forgiven,” she replied, but he could hear the hurt still in her voice.
“I must return to Jaden.”
She set the parchment down. “I thought you were staying all day.”
“I have been summoned back,” he lied.
She stood and rounded the desk with a whisper of skirts. “Let us hope they found the information you need.”
“I usually do.”
She stepped up, but rather than her usual parting kiss, she hugged him halfheartedly. ‘Oh yes, she’s still mad.’
“I’ll be back at my earliest convenience.”
She nodded and went back to her desk, but he closed the door before she could look back. Grumbling to himself about moods, he returned to the anteroom to gather Lace, bid his parents goodbye, and lay the sidestep pattern.
Castle Jaden had a ward that prevented Mages from sidestepping into it, but Gabriel had another way in. Laced through one of his rings was a pattern that bent the sidestepping ward. He could appear wherever he wanted behind the walls. Unfortunately, he had record that two rings had been made, the other for his Secondhand, and it was not within Jaden.
They arrived in his anteroom, and Lael greeted them from his desk.
“Did anything eventful happen in my absence?” Gabriel inquired.
“Blessedly, no.”
“I will be reading in my quarters then.”
“Keep in mind you have a sparring session with Markus today at noon.”
Gabriel waved a hand and retired to his study. Mikelle was hard at work copying notations.
She raised a finger in greeting. “How is my friend Robyn?”
“Moody.” He hung his cloak and took a seat at his desk, lifting a leather-bound book. “How is my friend Mikelle?”
“Taciturn.”
“Learning new words, I see.”
“Affirmative.”
He chuckled and unbuttoned his coat as he began reading. Mercifully, the word ‘Void’ usually stood out on a page, but he already learned a lot of information on the history of Jaden. Each Head Mage left their mark on it somewhere, from the ever-flowing fountain in the courtyard, to the hidden cav
erns. The first Head Mage, Jessu Horin designed the layout of the castle with a central courtyard and large streets that branched out like sunbeams. The third Head Mage, Trace Sporan made the castle self-sustaining with the reservoir and gardens that dotted balconies and rooftops. One Head Mage designated training grounds for each Element, while another created glowing blue lights that illuminated the streets at night.
Mikelle made a small guttural noise and stopped her writing, staring ahead at the desk. Swallowing with a grimace, she returned to her writing. Her weakness was upon her.
During their time in Kilkiny, she had often hung off Gabriel’s arm when walking and usually sat or perched against something. He finally wrung the reason from her but could not come up with a solution. Previous Spirit Mages said her kidneys were too small, but he could not understand why it would make her fatigued or pained. Several books on the body sat in one of his drawers, but with Void pressing on him, he had no time to devote to other research.
“Did Head Mage Casimir really leave you no information on Void?”
Gabriel shook his head. “If he uncovered how to unlock it, he never said.” Casimir had left him detailed notes on everything from the relics he would find helpful, to the hidden loft in his study, but the man said nothing of Void.
They sat in silence as his pages turned and her pen scratched across paper. Both lost in their work until Mikelle finally pushed back her chair and stretched.
“Can we not go for a walk?”
“Can I read as we go?”
“Only if you want to appear taciturn.”
He made an exasperated huff and stood, offering her his elbow and handing the black Mage cloak he presented her with on the day she swore in for the Council. Marked with her Water Element and a sigil of an open book stitched of gold to signify the Council, he also set a pattern of vigor in it to keep her strong when she walked. His own cloak had ten patterns set through it, everything from pain numbing and prevention of blackouts. It kept him from getting too hot or cold, one wicked dirt and liquids off, so it remained pristine white, and another muffled his footsteps.
“Giving up so soon?” Lael chuckled as they walked past.
The castle was packed with people who fled from their homes, but the Lodge was quiet. The Lodge held the Council and important members Gabriel needed at a moment’s notice, and it connected to a massive tower where he resided. The center hallways were open, so he could lean out of floor four and talk to someone in the foyer. The stairs made one complete spiral that spanned all floors for quick traveling. History said one of the Head Mages was an avid hunter and mounted all his kills on the walls and spread their skins across the floors. No one saw fit to change the décor, though someone had taken down the mounted kills Ages before.
Gabriel pushed an oak double door open for Mikelle and followed her out into the chilled courtyard. Few people were out, but far across in the business street, people milled, buying foods or warm drinks in the hop houses. Jaden even boasted a few wineries and tea houses. It had everything the outside world offered with the added bonus of safety.
Mikelle clutched his arm tightly but walked valiantly despite her ailment. The brisk afternoon air helped clear Gabriel’s mind from his impending tasks, and he welcomed the distractions of greetings from passersby.
As they strolled up one of the quiet streets that led to the library, a woman in a black cloak stepped from a doorway and walked alongside him.
“It is a beautiful day fo’ a walk, though I cannot imagine how you find the extra time, a man as busy as you.” She was tall, coming nearly to his eyes, and walked with expert grace.
“It is not time that we waste, but time that wastes us. We must enjoy the little things before it is too late,” he replied.
She tittered a sound like little bells. “Well spoken, Head Mage.”
Gabriel did not recognize her, but there were many Mages he did not know yet. She had a quirky smile, as if she knew something he did not. Her pale blonde corkscrew hair fluffed the hood of her cloak and framed her pale face beautifully. Her light blue eyes caught the sun so they glowed at the bottom. “I’m afraid I have not had the pleasure of your name.”
She stopped and faced him. “I have jealously kept it from you. I fear my name will drive you away, and I would rather delight in your company. Had I known you were so fair, I would have arrived sooner.”
Mikelle made a quiet gagging noise.
The woman chuckled. “It is well, he knows he is handsome. All beautiful people know they are beautiful.”
“That much is true,” Mikelle replied and smoothed her hair.
Gabriel began to wonder. “I insist, I must know a name to call you by. You seem familiar to me.”
“Do I? I am flattered the Head Mage would know me. Perhaps you can guess it. I hear you have a penchant for large cats. My own name is feline.”
His alarm slowly rose, hidden behind a coy grin. ‘A familiar face, an accent I never heard, a feline title.’ He glanced to her Mage cloak for the Elemental insignia, but it was hidden behind a fold except for the tiny spire of gray. He cleared his throat and used the noise to adjust his shoulders, pulling Mikelle back behind him half a step. He loosened his arm from her grip and laid patterns in both.
“Well, an accent like yours puts you somewhere in the south, I would imagine…Echoveria about two Ages ago. Maxine Flint.”
Her face seemed surprised. “You are as clever as Nolen said.”
Gabriel lashed out, a firefly-pattern of Fire in one hand, and a Harlon-shot of Earth in the other. The firefly-pattern, made of a hundred compressed spheres of fire, flung at her body while the Earth pattern forced soil and stone from the ground and threw her back, pinning her to the wall. The Mage cloak deflected most of the fireflies, but two had struck her cheeks and hands. One punched all the way through her palm. She gripped it tightly, her sultry expression now angry.
“You are as fast as Nolen says.” Blood dripped down her neck. He prepared another volley, but her eyes and hair suddenly became white, and with a flick of her hand, she vanished in a cloud of black threads.
Gabriel snapped to Mikelle. “Can you run? Run to the gates. Tell them to let no one out.”
“If she just shifted, she’s gone already,” Mikelle cut in. Gabriel grimaced, remembering no one could shift or sidestep into Jaden, but anyone could leave.
“Still here,” Maxine whispered in his ear. His head jerked back as she grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling down but surprisingly releasing him a moment later, and she vanished.
She appeared right in front of him. Her hood thrown back, and her white eyes bore into him. Her bloodied hand was already wrapped in red cloth, and in her fist, he could see blood-stained black hairs. “I so enjoyed our meeting. I hope to see you again soon.” She vanished, reappearing beside him. “It would be such a shame to waste your fairness behind a warded wall.” Vanishing again, he took a breath but caught it when she appeared seconds later. “Would that I could see your face each day.”
He was ready for her this time, throwing a creeping-choke pattern of Earth to latch and spiral around her. It pinned her body tightly together, but she simply gave him a radiant smile, squeezed her hand, and was gone with a whispered “Farewell”.
“Now we run,” he said and grabbed Mikelle’s elbow, pulling her along as they dashed down the street, into the courtyard, and to the Lodge.
“How did you—know who she—was by the feline name?” Mikelle gasped as they rushed into the Lodge.
“Leopard of Luxantine—she destroyed it in the Third Age. And she’s a shape-shifter.” He left her behind as he took the stairs two at a time. She resigned to sit, gasping an annoyed “I will die here” as he rushed upwards. Lael must have heard running, for the Secondhand met him in the hall.
“Maxine was here,” Gabriel stated, bending over to catch his breath. “She was in the castle. I think she shifted out.”
“Are you hurt?” Lael asked first, gipping Gabriel’s shoulders to
get a better look.
“No, she only pulled my hair.”
Lael squinted his narrow eyes and turned a lip up. “How did she get in? What did she want?”
Gabriel hefted his hands. “The gates are the only way in. The gatekeepers wouldn’t have known her face.”
“She used Void?” Lael gave him that exasperated look Gabriel was beginning to understand. They needed answers that a dozen researching people could not find. He threw his hands up. “Has anyone spoken with Aelony?”
Gabriel frowned. “Who?”
“I told you!” Mikelle said behind him, making her way slowly with a hand on the railing. “I told you the library was haunted.”
“Who?” Gabriel asked again.
“The specter in the library.” Lael answered.
“You think me foolish.”
“No, I think you immensely wise. Come with me,” Lael grabbed Gabriel’s arm and pulled him back down the stairs to Mikelle’s pitiful “I will die here then.”
“Explain.”
Lael nodded. “No one seems to know how it happened, but Jaden has almost always hosted a specter named Aelony. He was a Mage that died back in the Second Age, I believe, after Jaden had been built.” They strode quickly into the courtyard, making for the library.
“Why was I never told?”
“You have had a few other things on your mind.”
“But we had a wealth of knowledge sitting here this whole time.”
Lael scoffed. “No, no Aelony is not a pleasant person—specter—thing. No one ever gets him to talk, but you might with your title.”
“What has he been doing all this time?”
“Reading.”
Madison Library housed a thousand-thousand books on every subject, each grouped by Element or Age in coves built along the long hall. Mages in mantles of red tended the books, and Gabriel had kept them quite busy the past weeks. The ceiling stretched far above them, carved of white stone, and lit with tall windows. Fire was not permitted within the library, and many anti-fire patterns were set in each cove.
The long hall echoed the taps of their boots as they marched to the back and descended into the basement, into the Forbidden Section. Here, blue glow lamps hung every few steps to illuminate the darkness. It smelled musty, of earth and old books. Gabriel welcomed the scents as Lael led him into a large storeroom.
Unlocking Void (Book 3) Page 4