by Krista Walsh
“Maybe we should go to the capital,” Maggie suggested. “They have a much larger library than we have—the archives alone are said to take up the entire sublevel of the palace. I have friends who could get us in.”
“We can look at that,” said Jasmine. “For now, I need to get to work.”
“Honey, you need to get some sleep.”
“Sleep sounds wonderful,” said Jasmine. “But there’s no time.”
“No time for what?” another voice piped up behind Jeff.
Jeff looked over his shoulder to see a very sleepy Venn sidle into the room and sink down on the other side of him. She had returned to her usual attire of black, and her blue eyes stood out sharply against the dark colours.
“To figure out why the world is falling apart,” said Jeff, reaching up to muss her hair.
She swatted him away and yawned. “Touch my hair again and you’ll be the one falling apart. Did we learn anything to make it worthwhile being up so gods-be-damned early?”
“No one told you to get up.”
“I’m still on my work schedule. And there’s no coffee here. So don’t piss me off.”
“Coffee?” asked Maggie.
“A hot juice made from beans that makes you feel like you’ve run a thousand miles and keeps you awake as long as you need to be,” said Venn, her tone dreamy, as though just the thought of it soothed her morning grump. Then she frowned. “Unfortunately, it’s also as addictive as dragonweed and my body now feels like it doesn’t want to move another inch without it.”
Jeff patted her arm. “In a few days you’ll be fine.”
Venn grumbled and rested her head on her arms, the mirror of Jasmine a moment ago. “So fill me in. What are we learning? If I start to snore, just leave me here.”
“We think it’s a portal into the veil,” said Maggie. “Thanks to Brady and Talfyr, we know there are two worlds being affected, but Jeff says he doesn’t think it’s his.”
“Why not?” asked Jasmine.
“Because my world is normal,” said Jeff. “Nothing getting swallowed by flashes of light as far as I know.”
Venn sat up so quickly, Jeff jumped. “Coffee.”
“Yes,” said Jeff. “We know. Withdrawal. It sucks.”
She elbowed him in the ribs. “No, you idiot. The coffee cup. Did you seriously forget? It was sitting on the counter and then whoosh. Gone.”
Jeff frowned, having no idea what she was talking about, and then smacked his palm to his forehead. “I am an idiot.”
“Coffee cup disappears in front of you and you just put it out of your mind?” asked Jasmine. “It’s either a sign that you’re crazy or that you have seen far too much shit.”
“I vote both,” said Jeff. He looked to Maggie. “Then yes, I guess we have the answer to that one as well. I was in the coffee shop and the cup just… vanished. But it was one incident and over a month ago. If it’s happening all the time here, then maybe it’s not as big a problem in my world as the Sisters made it sound?”
“Unless it’s exactly like what happened with you,” said Venn. “People are seeing things they don’t know how to explain. They don’t want people to think they’re crazy, so they don’t mention it.”
Jeff shook his head. “You’ve seen our news. Portals of light opening in downtown Montreal would have been noticed. But that part is irrelevant. What’s important is that it’s happening here, and is obviously a more serious issue here. If we solve the problem in this world, it will go away in ours.”
“Which brings us back to where do we start,” said Venn, fully awake now after her epiphany.
“Which brings us back to Raul’s followers,” corrected Jeff, turning to Jasmine. “I was just asking Maggie if you’d followed up on any of them.”
Jasmine rested her forehead on her palm and nodded. “We kept a close eye on as many as we could. Watched as they got onto their boats and horses and got as far from Andvell as possible. We caught the ones we found in time, and they’re sitting in the dungeons of the palace, awaiting sentencing.”
“I hope Ansella keeps them locked in there a very long time,” muttered Maggie, glaring down into her book.
Having experienced being locked in a dark cell, part of Jeff wanted to say he hoped she didn’t. But he remembered Tanner and the other lunatics that had done Raul’s bidding for so long, tearing worlds apart, and his sympathy faded.
“As for whether they could be casting these spells,” Jasmine continued. “I don’t think so. We would have heard something.”
“So square one,” said Jeff, shoulders slumping.
“Not quite,” a fourth voice spoke up. Jeff felt he was sitting on the wrong side of the bench, having so many people sneak up behind him. Jayden joined them, moving to the other side of the table to stand next to the cauldron. Once he came into view, Jeff was confused to see him dressed in travel gear. With a smile that didn’t look the least bit happy, he said to Jasmine, “Courier just arrived. You’ve been requested by Her Majesty the Queen to attend her in the capital.”
Chapter Seven
Jasmine frowned. “I’ve received a summons? Why would the queen want to see me?”
Jayden pulled a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket and flicked it open. “The invitation comes from the queen’s own pen. And I quote: I request your presence at the Royal Palace to discuss the disturbing news I have received from multiple sources throughout the country. I dare not write in more detail in an effort to avoid panic, but your discretion and haste would be most appreciated. I await your reply, and hope that your persons come close behind it. Ansella Gendron, Queen of Andvell, etc.”
Jeff blinked. “What do you make of it?”
Jayden frowned. “You heard the same words I read. I don’t have a secret connection to the queen’s mind that helps me read between the text.”
Jasmine reached out a hand, and Jayden passed over the letter.
“This is addressed to both of us,” said Jasmine. “As far as I recall, I do not hold the place of Lord and Lady Feldall. You’re coming with me.”
Jayden clenched his teeth. “No. I’m not.”
Jeff raised his eyebrows. “But you’re already dressed to go.”
“I’m going somewhere else,” he replied, picking at the hawk insignia on his jacket.
Jasmine sat up straighter. “And where would that be?”
“I figured I would get a head start on finding Cassie. I doubt Jeff will argue too strenuously against that.”
Hope flared in Jeff’s chest, quickly dampened by fact and reality.
“You’re just going to ride out and hope fate takes you to her?” he asked. “I thought we agreed last night to solve the vortex problem first.”
“I don’t think we all need to go to the capital,” said Jayden, moving to his next argument. “You and Jax should go, since the Sisters say you’re a critical piece of the puzzle. You can fill me in when you get back.”
Jasmine frowned, swirling the dregs of her tea. “You would willingly ignore a summons from the queen. What’s going on, Jay?”
Jayden’s fist clenched on the table. “Nothing. It’s just a long journey and one of us should start the search. Or at least stay here in case more reports come in about the vortices.”
“Which we can’t do anything about,” said Venn. “So you’d be sitting here on your ass doing nothing on your own while we go to the palace and get pampered like the heroes we are? Sounds fun.”
Maggie covered a laugh with a cough, and Jayden cast her a dark look.
“I appreciate your sudden interest in stepping up to oversee the management of our territory, brother,” said Jasmine, sounding equally amused. “Up until now you’ve been happy enough to let me handle the paperwork. But you know you can’t ignore the queen.”
“Not even if you are her—” Jeff started, but stopped when he caught Jayden’s expression, ending instead with, “favourite world-protecting guardian.”
Venn kicked him under the table, an
d he jabbed her back.
“Fine,” said Jayden. “Then we leave in an hour. Make sure whoever is coming is packed.”
The other four at the table exchanged pressed-lips glances as the lord turned on his heel and marched out.
***
Jeff had no worries about meeting Jayden’s one-hour deadline considering he had no belongings to pack except for his borrowed clothes. After he’d rolled those into a pack, he went off in search of Brady, who he found in the library, much to his lack of surprise.
“Already out and about?” he greeted.
The counsellor smiled, looking well-rested for someone who had kept his friends so sleepless. He stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, tome open in his hands, writing something into the back of it.
“Any reason I shouldn’t be? These books aren’t going to catalogue themselves.”
Jeff pulled himself up onto one of the desks, leaning forward on the edge as his feet dangled above the floor.
“Well, the seizure, the nightmares, the dragon messages,” he said. “I don’t think I’d be quite so chipper the next morning.”
Brady frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Jeff narrowed his eyes. “You don’t remember? You were having some kind of fit last night. You wanted to see me. Gave me and Jasmine a message that we’re thinking is from Talfyr. None of this ringing any bells?”
His friend paled and closed the book. He set it down on the table before pulling out the chair at Jeff’s desk and dropping into it.
“I remember the nightmares,” he said. “I didn’t realise anyone else heard me or was there. Gods, Jasmine must have been terrified.”
“She wasn’t overly calm,” Jeff agreed. “She’s worried about you. And from what I saw last night, she has reason to be. What do you know?”
Brady pushed his hand through his hair and cupped the back of his neck. “They weren’t too bad at first, these nightmares. For the first month or so after the battle, I hardly felt the connection with Talfyr. But it’s because he was sleeping, healing from his injury. Now that he’s awake, I sometimes feel like my mind is being torn apart.”
“Do you see what he sees? Hear him in your head?”
Jeff knew he shouldn’t sound so intrigued, that his interest could be misconstrued as encouragement if Jasmine were to come in and hear him, but he was fascinated. And the way Brady’s grey eyes shone told Jeff that, nightmares or not, the counsellor was, to a certain point, just fine with being a guinea pig if he could study everything about his situation.
“I get flashes sometimes,” said Brady. “Memories, maybe? It’s not really clear because he doesn’t see things the way we do. He has thoughts, but the thoughts come in a series of images. Probably just like we do, but without the language element that goes with it.”
“When you spoke to us last night, first it was in some language I didn’t know, but then it switched and you were speaking just as you are now. Can he do that? You can tap into his memories, but can he also tap into yours?”
Brady shook his head. “Fascinating. I wish there was a way to record these things so I could hear them. It must be what happened. He tapped into the language centre of my brain to translate his message into something you would understand.” He leaned his elbow on the desk, resting his chin in his hand. “I would love to know more about how this works. It’s unfortunate I seem to be the only person who’s survived it.”
“Which I think officially makes you the luckiest bastard this side of the universe,” said Jeff. He found himself irritated by Brady’s almost flippant response to his situation. “If only for Jasmine’s sake, if not for your other friends—me for example—maybe you should put in some extra effort to find a way to control the connection. There have to be people who studied this ritual even if they didn’t perform it. In my world, we have experts on all sorts of random subjects. It has to be the same here.”
Brady nodded slowly. “You’re right, I know.” He tapped his finger against his bottom lip. “If there are any, the capital would be the most likely place to find them.”
“So come with us,” Jeff suggested.
Brady grimaced. “I don’t think so. There’s so much to be done here, and someone needs to stay behind to look after management.”
“Jasmine will find someone. This is important.”
“I—”
Jeff could see he was about to argue further, so he said, “It’s not just for your sake I want you to come. I get the feeling we’re going to need as many buffers as we can get.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. “What’s up with Jayden? I’ve seen the guy grumpy before, but he’s acting more like a warbear than the actual warbear did.”
Brady smirked. “He’s been brooding since life returned to normal after Raul’s death. I suspect it has something to do with the reminder that he’s not a free man, romantically speaking.”
Although he suspected the truth, Jeff opted to play dumb. “If he wants to get out of the marriage so badly, there has to be a way. She’s the princess of Andvell. They could probably sweep it away in a heartbeat.”
“I think that’s the problem,” said Brady. “I suspect our friend doesn’t want to be rid of her at all.”
“Then consider your suspicion another incentive to join us. We need to keep an eye on our Feldall lord,” Jeff said. “Who knows what kind of political minefield we’re walking into.”
***
In the end, Jeff managed to convince Brady to join the trip, and Maggie, agreeing that one of them needed to stay behind to make sure the Keep continued to run smoothly, opted to remain.
“Not that I can promise a war won’t break out—I’m no diplomat—but at least you know no one’s going to run off with the silver,” she said. “Brady, here’s a list of possible books and authors to start your search. I don’t know if they’ll have what we need, but they’re referenced in the books we already have.”
Brady tucked the list into his coat. “Consider it done.”
With the adjustment in travellers, they were soon mounted and ready to go, just over the hour Jayden had allotted them.
Swish pawed at the ground beneath Jeff, head swinging longingly back towards the warmth and comfort of his stall. Jeff couldn’t blame him. Ahead, enough snow had fallen to leave the road barely visible, with only the ruts of carts and tracks of a few travellers to guide them.
I should have written in a better snowplough system, Jeff’s creative mind piped up.
His conscious mind pressed that voice down. Andvell was no longer his playground. Imagination returned or not, this world was far too real to be mucked about with on paper anymore.
But he couldn’t push the snowplough system from his mind as they headed out, the pace slow as the horses plodded along carefully.
“I’ve broken the trip up into six days,” said Jayden, “with messengers riding out to various Houses along the way for accommodation so we don’t need to camp out in this shit.”
Jeff pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at Jayden’s bad mood. Although if the lord stayed this sullen the whole trip, Jeff suspected he’d soon be travelling alone.
“Six?” asked Jasmine. “Why the extra day?”
Amusement and annoyance blended together in her tone, as if she knew very well why he was trying to extend journey, and didn’t appreciate the delay when their reason for going was so important.
Jayden was apparently so caught up in his brooding that he missed the subtext in his sister’s question. Or, if he did catch it, chose to ignore it.
“I figured the weather would slow us down,” he replied.
Jasmine didn’t push the matter, but Brady and Jeff exchanged a glance, and Jeff saw Brady felt the same about casting Jayden off soon if he didn’t cheer up.
“Man,” said Venn. “You have got to lighten up. This trip is going to be miserable for all of us if you keep sulking. Whatever’s got your armour in a twist, get over it.”
Jasmin
e coughed to cover a laugh, and Jayden’s shoulders hunched over, urging his horse to outpace the rest and ride ahead.
Brady’s shoulders shook with silent laughter as he stared after Jayden.
“This is why we can’t take you out in nice company,” Jeff said to Venn, although he really wanted to pat her on the back for saying what everyone had been thinking.
“What?” asked Venn. “Does he think we haven’t noticed his moping? It’s not sexy and it’s getting old.”
“And pushing him to want to kill you will make everything better?”
“At least he’d be doing something. And look, he’s pushing the pace. Maybe we can get to the capital in five days after all.”
Jasmine laughed aloud at Venn’s words, and the others increased their pace to match Jayden’s.
“All right, all right,” Brady called to Jayden. “We’ll leave you alone for now. Where are we headed tonight?”
“There’s an inn a few hours’ ride from here.”
Jeff groaned. “Not the Queen’s Head, is it?”
“I thought you liked their food,” Jayden replied.
“The stew was great. The getting my throat cut not so much.” He shot a look at Venn, who rolled her eyes.
“Hey, I’m sorry about that, all right?” said Venn, in her usual unapologetic way. “But I’m on your side now. You can count on me to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“I’ll sleep much better knowing it,” he said dryly.
Venn reached over to punch him in the arm, and he punched back with a laugh. Swish snorted and trotted forwards, preventing their horseplay from turning into a scrap in the street.
As Jeff rode up beside Jasmine, Brady allowed his piebald mare to slow down to keep pace with Venn. Jasmine chuckled.
“You two are like me and Jayden growing up. So much hate for someone you care about so much.”
“Isn’t that what siblings are for?”
“That’s exactly what they’re for. Wrestling, name-calling, driving everyone in the household mad with the shouting. But they’re the first person you rely on when you need someone.”