by R. K. Thorne
Jaena’s brow furrowed, as if she was putting the pieces together. “You were in Mage Hall?”
“Your former masters sent Miara to kidnap me. And she succeeded, I might add.”
“Former. I like the sound of that.”
“Definitely former. Hopefully no one’s masters by the end of this.”
“Menaha mentioned something seemed to have changed after her last mission. That she thought she saw Miara’s scar healing.”
“Yes. That would be me.”
Jaena was still frowning. “Why you?”
He tilted his head, questioning.
“Why was she sent to kidnap you in particular?”
Oh. She didn’t know anything about him, other than that he’d learned to break the spell. That was surprisingly pleasing. How interesting to have someone know him for an actual accomplishment as a mage and not know him as royalty. He rather hoped he could keep it that way a few moments longer. “I can fill you in on our journey till this point, but we may not have much time separate from the others. What did you want to tell me privately?” He glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the procession to emphasize his point.
She nodded brusquely, although the crease between her brows said she hadn’t missed his dodge. She pulled the pack off her back. As she opened the strings at the top, his nose caught the scent of charred fabric, and in a moment, he understood why. She pulled out a long rod of iron with a simple handle, at the end of which squirmed another twisted circle of metal. No, the metal itself didn’t move, but with his mind’s eye, he could feel the enchantment. What looked like an ordinary piece of iron to his eyes was a disgusting, squirming mess to his mind, as if it craved new flesh to enslave.
The brand.
Reflexively he skittered back a few feet before he stopped himself. Her eyes flicked from it to him. “You know what this is. Don’t you.”
He slowly nodded. “How did you… Menaha said you disappeared a day early. And the place was locked down. Was this why?”
“I got lucky. After you freed me, I was determined to go about business as usual. Sometimes my business as usual includes assisting the mage smiths with their craft. They brought in a new mage to enslave, but he escaped. I was nearby and knocked down, and there it was on the floor beside me. I couldn’t pass it up. Even if it meant no one else escaped, it seemed worth it.”
“That was quite an opportunity. I’d have done the same myself.” He was quick to reassure her. “This means they can’t make any other slaves?”
“Well, they can still chain people up. But not as they have done with this. We must destroy it.”
He stared at her. Gods, after everything that had happened, things had only gotten worse and worse. And now, a victory he could have never hoped for had fallen into his lap. “We’ll need help from the others. Other Akarian mages, I mean. There’s not many of us, and we’re not as well trained as you.”
She shrugged. “I was enslaved two years ago. Most mage slaves have years of training on me.”
“And yet—you seem to be effective enough.” He grinned. “Can we show the others? I can’t destroy it by myself. Besides, we’re already Kavanar’s prime target. Having that brand won’t make us any more so.”
“I’d still prefer to make it as hard as possible for them to find it again.”
Hmm, true. If mages assaulted them again, it would be ideal if their attackers were unaware of the brand’s presence. If fewer Akarians knew about it, their enemies couldn’t discover its location and go hunting for it so easily. Maybe it would be safer if she went on without them and met them in Panar, or if they broke the party in two so the brand traveled separately from him. But then if either group was attacked… The Masters may also have connected Jaena to the brand’s disappearance, so they might be looking for her specifically. In that case, Aven should give it to anyone other than her, such as a non-mage that no one would expect to have such a thing. But he doubted he could convince her of that just now. He rubbed his chin, thinking.
“Wait—why are you already Kavanar’s prime target anyway?”
Aven grinned at her. “Because, in addition to being able to free mages like you, I am also—for the time being—the king.” He tried not to laugh at her wide eyes.
“For the time being?”
“I was the crown prince until we were ambushed by mages earlier in this trip. My father fell into a canyon roused by one of your fellow earth mages—”
“I’d rather not be associated with them.”
“—and we lost him. I still hope he will be found.”
“But he could be dead. Or you wouldn’t be calling yourself king.”
Aven winced. He couldn’t manage an immediate reply.
“I’m sorry. Was Miara with you? Was she also lost in the attack?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “She stayed behind in Estun, for reasons too long to explain now. But she’s disappeared from there. I hope she’s snuck away unseen, but two were found dead in her room.”
“Dead? By the gods.”
“Yes, dead. As far as I can tell, she’s nowhere near those mages who attacked us. And that’s all the better.”
After a short break, the procession rode on, Jaena joining them. They camped out along the side of the road in a meadow, too eager to reach Panar to take the time to find an inn large enough to hold them all. In the morning, they made it far enough to see the fair towers of the capital rising on the horizon.
The White City. Aven had visited it a few times, especially when he’d been very young, but each time he saw Panar from afar, he caught his breath as if it were the first time. Pale towers spiraled toward the horizon, all waving flags of pearl and the pale blue of the sea that lay beyond the city in the distance. The walls and ramparts, all the color of bone, rose the height of four or five men, and three gatehouses guarded impressive entrances on the north, east, and west sides of the city. Homes and small hovels crowded around the city as if for comfort or shelter, their dark thatched or tarred roofs peppering the grassy, flat landscape. Fields of crops and pastures of small herds dotted the countryside.
Thank the gods, they’d made it. He hated to arrive without his father, but arriving at all felt like an accomplishment after all they’d been through.
The king’s Panaran stronghold had sprung to life as word had reached it of the Assembly meeting. For the first time, the head steward of Ranok took him not to the rooms he’d visited as a child and young man, but to the king’s suite. The castle boasted a meeting room, an extensive collection of maps, a private library, and many other things useful at a moment like this. But Aven couldn’t bring himself to take advantage of any of them. Everywhere he looked, when he tried to think of what they were going to do, of what awaited him in the Assembly’s vote—all he saw was his father. And his absence.
So he was relieved when a knock on the door sounded to announce Jaena. Good. Someone who thought of him as a mage, valuable for things he’d actually done, like freeing her. The servants of Ranok treated him with a reverence beyond any in Estun would have, and it was driving him crazy.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping I could ask for a small favor.” Jaena poked her head in the king’s door, her heart pounding. Gods, was it ridiculous to bother a king about this? But what other choice did she have? She knew no one else here to ask.
“Uh, you don’t have to call me Your Majesty. Aven is fine. Or sire or what have you. But, of course, come in. What is it? Have a seat.” King Aven sat at a large oak desk in the main room, one leg bent with his boot resting on the seat of the chair, an arm propped on his knee. He gestured to the seat across from him. She approached slowly, taking in the plush room around them. At least three servants were busy with unknown tasks in different parts of the room, maybe more she couldn’t see. Dozens of beautifully bound books lined the walls behind the desk, golden inscriptions catching the midday sunlight. What would Tharomar have made of them? She swallowed the lump that
rose in her throat.
“A man helped me in my escape,” she said. “A local blacksmith. When the Devoted found us in Anonil, he stayed behind to slow them down. To fight and hopefully follow. I’m concerned he hasn’t joined us. I was wondering if an air mage could help me find out what happened.”
“Yes, of course. Wunik’s rooms are just down the hall, and I believe he’s mostly recovered by now. Sanai, can you—”
The door shut as a servant slipped out, already heading out to find this Wunik without waiting for the request. The king frowned at the closing door.
“Thank you, by the way,” Jaena said as they waited in slightly awkward silence.
He glanced up in surprise, having been lost in his thoughts. “For what?”
“For freeing me. A mere thanks doesn’t seem like enough. But it’s a start.”
He smiled wide. “No thanks are necessary. It’s my privilege to right these wrongs. Just wait, we’ll make the Masters pay for this in the end.”
Wunik mustn’t have been doing anything terribly important because an older man in an exquisite dark blue robe rushed in before Sanai could properly finish announcing him.
“Anonil, you say?” Wunik said. “Do you know the name of the inn? I could help you find it.”
King Aven bowed slightly with a grand flourish in Wunik’s direction from his casual posture in his seat. “The elder air mage Wunik, my lady. You’re welcome. Glad to see you’re feeling better, Wunik.”
The mage set himself up oddly with a bowl of water before him, but she certainly wasn’t going to criticize. She leaned out of her chair and over the view of the countryside sliding away as he guided the view to the Apple and Arrow.
“He planned to hide in the stables,” she said, “so look over there, around the—” She stopped short as a jolt of pain shot through her. Tharomar lay near a campfire, still, eyes closed, and wrists bound behind his back. A bloody gash marred his temple. “There. Gods, is he alive? Can you get closer?” The window floated toward him. The necklace was gone. Gods, in all the seven hells. They must have discovered he was a mage somehow. She hadn’t told him; the Devoted had.
The sense that she’d failed him overwhelmed her.
Although… perhaps the fact that he was a mage had kept them from killing him. More than a dozen dark hoods patrolled the area. Others were loading up horses, pulling up tent poles.
“Is that him?” Aven asked.
She nodded, remembering suddenly that she wasn’t alone.
“He’s breathing,” Wunik said.
She let herself start breathing again. “Damn. Are they leaving? Can we figure out where they are taking him?”
“We can stay on them and follow.”
“Are you sure you have the time? I can feed you energy,” Jaena said.
“I have nothing else I need to be doing,” Wunik replied. “Sire?”
Aven frowned at him. Not yet used to his newly acquired title? The king pointed back at the glowing circle of light. “Look there.” A tent had been pitched behind the inn.
“Odd, since they could simply stay in the inn,” Jaena muttered.
“Perhaps it was full?” Aven said. “Can you get a look inside that tent flap? It looks familiar.”
Peering at the tent flap closely wasn’t necessary, though, because just as they inched closer, the flaps flew open and a black-cloaked woman wearing a beaded headband of sapphire and gold strode forward.
“Evana,” King Aven growled.
“You said that man was a blacksmith?” Wunik asked.
“Yes, but he was also a mage,” she said. “I never got to tell him. He didn’t know yet. Do you recognize her?”
“We’ve had a few run-ins. She’d like my head on a platter, I think, and I nearly return the sentiment. She’s a princess of Isolte but more importantly a knight.”
“Do you think they’re going to kill him?” Jaena said softly.
“I think if they were planning to, they would have done it already,” Aven said, his expression grim. “Wunik, watch them as closely as you can. If she’s working with the Masters, then they will head back to Mage Hall with him. But let’s make sure. I want to know where she’s going.”
Wunik nodded.
Jaena watched as the Devoted camp unpacked and took to the road with Tharomar in tow. She leaned back in the chair. Exhaustion washed over her. Perhaps she would just close her eyes for a moment while Wunik rode…
“Ho, ho. What have we here?” Wunik’s voice roused her from sleep. She sat up, shaking herself awake as King Aven strode in to join them.
“What is it?” she said.
“They aren’t taking him to Mage Hall, my lord,” said Wunik.
“Where did they take him?” the king replied.
“Trenedum Palace.”
Aven frowned, looking shocked. “Truly? When we were stopped in Anonil, and you were still healing—I tried this myself, and—”
“You did! And it worked?” Wunik said.
“Yes, and—” Aven tried to start again.
“She’s right, you are a fast learner.”
“Who’s right?”
“Miara. One of the first things she said to me.”
The king’s expression darkened with worry. “What I saw was Daes taking a man and a girl—possibly Miara’s family—to Trenedum Palace. Why would they go there?”
“Perhaps the king requested an audience?”
“Daes might have an audience with King Demikin, but Evana? A random mage captive? Maybe Daes is there to see the king, and Evana is there to see Daes.”
Jaena frowned. “Maybe the dungeons in Mage Hall are getting full?
“Hmm. Or could this have something to do with the troop movements?” Aven muttered.
“What troop movements?” said Jaena.
“We’ve had reports of Kavanarian troops mobilizing, heading south. We’re not quite sure to what end.”
“Coming after us, perhaps?” Wunik said.
Aven nodded. “So I assume.”
“But wait—back to this palace,” said Aven. “If the mages that attacked Estun captured Miara, might they have taken her there as well?” Wunik and Jaena both shrugged. The king leaned forward, peering more closely at Trenedum Palace.
Wunik eyed him. “What are you thinking, Aven?”
“I’m thinking… what if we paid this palace a visit?”
“And did what?” asked Jaena.
“And broke them all out of there.”
“Them all?” Jaena said quickly, grinning, but Wunik looked stunned.
“I have a hunch Miara’s family is there. Maybe Miara too. And we can save someone who helped saved Jaena. The blacksmith, correct?”
“Well, actually he wasn’t just a blacksmith. He belonged to an order of Nefrana, like a priest, but they sought to protect mages. I’d never heard of such a thing. But there must be others in his order. The temple is based in Evrical, I think.”
“Hmm, Kavanar is full of surprises these days,” Aven murmured. “A potential ally inside Kavanar would be valuable too. And look at this place. Highly unfortified. It’s practically just a sculpture. An Akarian would never live in a such a pathetic excuse for a building.” The king looked to Wunik.
Wunik hesitated, glancing from the window of light to Aven and back. Then he sighed. “Do you really think Miara is there too?”
“Sanai, can you fetch Siliana and Derk, please? And my brother Thel?” His attendant vanished without a word or acknowledgment. “I have no idea if Miara is there. It’s a wild hunch. But Daes did make an attempt to blackmail her, saying he would kill her sister if she didn’t provide the correct location for the Assembly meeting. Of course, we sent something back but not the correct location. We have until tomorrow before the girl is likely killed.”
Wunik winced. Jaena sucked in a sharp breath.
“If we go and rescue them, we thwart Daes. We had planned to try to rescue them somehow, or at least to explore the option, before all the chaos s
et in.”
Before Wunik could argue further, the woman in the tidy red shirt who had healed her foot arrived. Another mage followed, with a tall, blond, slightly awkward fellow only a minute or so later. Was everyone in this castle sitting around wishing for something better to do?
King Aven gathered them around Wunik’s pool of farsight and explained his idea. “Siliana, do you think you could you fly us there?”
She nodded. “That looks maybe an hour or two in flight from here, by this map. Maybe a little more.”
“That’s fast—are you sure?”
“Do I need to be able to do anything once I get there?”
“Yes. At the very least, fly us back.”
She shrugged. “Better consider it two hours then, but yes, I can do it.”
“How will you get in?” Jaena said. “You’ll need a distraction. I can create one.” If she could create something like her dogs, or her mud monster… but bigger…
“A distraction?”
“Yes. Shake the ground a little, perhaps frighten them out of the building.”
King Aven smiled ruefully. “That’d be a nice twist of revenge.”
“What? Never mind, not now, you can explain later. I have an idea of what we can do.” Her eyes had been scouring the palace as her brain raced while the king had explained his plan. She gestured at the palace while she spoke. “This here is likely their dungeon, correct? Where they are probably held? You will need to get through there. Well, what if I blow out the earth on the side instead? Then you can just walk in.”
The king nodded. “That would be… excellent.”
She hesitated, studying the building.
“I can tell you have more,” King Aven said. “Go on.”
“If I make a distraction on the other side, over here, it should draw people’s attention. We can set down by this willow, and Siliana and I can hide under it. Do you think you could also defend me or at least stand guard while I work?”
Siliana nodded. “Of course. Lots of creature energy is in reserve here if we have an emergency—between the pond, the trees, the gardens. Should be easy to refill for the return flight too.”
