The Unbound Queen

by M. J. Scott

  Elarus made a sound that was somewhere in the region of “hmmmm.”

  "I'm sorry, I really don't know what I did."

  "I can show," Elarus said. "Like with the bond."

  "Show me in my head? Like a reveilé?"

  "Same. Maybe."

  Not at all reassuring. But she was already breaking the rules that Henri and Madame Simsa had set for her in trying to use her water magic without their supervision. They might be able to teach what she needed to know to be able to make this work, then again, maybe not. Imogene had said this was not a common ability. Besides, she didn't have time to learn the slow way. "Can you show me by doing it while I watch? I'll try and see what the power does while you lift."

  "Sanctii not do the same way. But watch."

  Elarus turned to face the bed more directly. Sophie let go of her control over how she saw the ley lines and let the magic bleed through. Elarus shone with a cool silver light. But Sophie couldn't quite see how Elarus was connected to the ley line.

  "All right, I'm ready. Show me."

  Elarus lifted her a hand. The silver light flared, and Sophie had a faint sensation of focused power, but she couldn't tell if Elarus was using water magic or something else entirely. It didn't matter to the bed. It rose into the air and hovered a few feet above the carpet, as though it was designed to float. Sophie took time to look at both it and Elarus, but she couldn't tell how it was done. She sighed. "Put it down. I can't see this way."

  The bed lowered again. Gently, Sophie was glad to see. She didn't want to have to explain a smashed bed frame. She studied the wood and the now rumpled covers as though they might reveal the secret to her. The silver glow was fading now, and she still couldn't see anything to hint at how Elarus had managed to raise the bed in the first place.

  "All right, let's try this the other way." She braced her shoulders. "Is this going to hurt? Like the other times?"

  Elarus shrugged. "Not big magic. Should be easy."

  Sophie looked around a moment, then dragged a chair over to be nearer the bed and took a seat. Maybe Elarus was right and there would be no searing pain or dizzy nauseas after this particular sanctii lesson, but she would rather not fall to the floor if there was. Explaining such a mishap to Cameron would be as awkward as explaining a broken bed to the Academe's chatelaine. Worse, perhaps. The chatelaine probably wouldn't yell at her. Cameron wouldn't hesitate to if he thought she had done something foolish.

  Elarus watched her silently. Sophie smoothed her skirt and then smiled, trying to look braver than she felt. "All right. Let us try."

  Elarus moved closer and stretched her hand toward Sophie. She stopped before she made contact. "Touch?" she said in a tone that was as close to nervous as Sophie had ever heard from her.

  "You need to touch me?" Sophie hesitated for an instant, then nodded. Elarus hadn't touched her since the night they'd bonded, but Sophie either trusted her or she didn't. If she was going to ask Elarus to help her fly a ship over the ocean using their magic, then there was no point balking at this. "Go ahead."

  Elarus put her hand on Sophie's shoulder, the weight of it heavy but not as heavy as Tok, who was muttering at them from where he was shut in his cage.

  "Ready?"

  Sophie nodded again.

  [Watch] Elarus stretched her free hand toward the bed. Sophie made herself focus on the flows of magic. The thread that stretched between her and Elarus flared brightly, then as the bed began to rise from the floor, a blurred rush of images and sensations tumbled through her head. Followed by a pinwheel of stars in front of her eyes that blocked the bed from view entirely. Her head throbbed once as though someone had punched her, but then the pain vanished, and the stars dissolved.

  She stared at the bed. Saw how Elarus was using the flow of magic to hold it in place. And realized that she done it slightly differently back in Imogene's bathhouse. Her way had been a combination of magics. Water and earth and blood mingled together, which was why perhaps, she had been able to do it at all.

  "Done?" Elarus asked.

  "Yes. Put it down. Let me try."

  The bed hit the floor with a solid thump. Sophie winced. She'd used the aural wards around the room but that didn't necessarily mean that whoever lived in the rooms below hers wouldn't notice their ceiling vibrating.

  But she would worry about that when someone started pounding on her door. Until then she would see if she could avoid adding a thump of her own.

  She rose from the chair slowly, wanting to make sure that there were no lingering after effects of whatever Elarus had done to her. Once she was sure that her legs were steady, she crossed to the bed.

  It looked smaller now that she had seen Elarus lift it. But that didn't mean it would be easy. "Won't know until you try," she muttered to herself and stretched out her hand, reaching down to the ley line to tighten her hold on the magic.

  Then she tried to remember what she had seen. What she had remembered about how she'd worked the magic in the bathhouse. Tried to recreate it.

  The bed began to shake, then lifted a few inches from the ground. When Sophie tried to increase her efforts, nothing happened, and she blew out a breath in frustration. Which did nothing but result in the bed thumping to the floor once more.

  Tok squawked, "Sophie!"

  Sophie glanced over her shoulder at him. "Sorry."

  "Not same," Elarus observed. "Why different?"

  "I think this is what I did in the bathhouse. I know that works with salt water around me, so I want to try and do it that way."

  Elarus nodded. "All right. Try again. I will watch."

  Sophie did as asked. She was beginning to regret the fact she hadn't stopped to eat before attempting this. The appetite she'd lacked all day was returning with a vengeance now that she was using magic.

  The bed wobbled into the air once more, this time, she fancied, higher than before. But, like before, she lost control of the magic and the bed crashed back down.

  "Again," Elarus said.

  Sophie repeated the exercise. Bed. Lift. Wobble. Thump.

  "Unbalanced," Elarus observed.

  "The bed?" Sophie frowned at it. It was a simple rectangle. Four posts. The weight should be evenly distributed.

  "Not bed, magic. Too much earth. Need more blood. If not do it other way."

  "More blood. Right." She tried to sound as though she understood. More blood. Maybe if she drew on her bond with Cameron? But he was still at the palace. She had no idea if she could use the augmentier in anyway when they were so far apart.

  She flexed her hands and closed her eyes, preparing to try. Then opened them again as the door swung open and Cameron stepped through.

  He spotted Elarus and stopped short. Then turned and carefully closed the door before joining Sophie. "Elarus, hello."

  He bent and kissed Sophie's cheek. "Lonely without me, were you?"

  "Elarus is helping me try to lift the bed," Sophie said. "Practice for the navire," she added hastily before Cameron could ask why.

  Cameron sighed and shook his head. "My wife wants to float beds." He sounded as though he wasn't sure whether to be amused or alarmed. "Have you finished practicing? I was looking forward to lying down."

  "No," Sophie said. "In fact, you've arrived just in time. Elarus and I were discussing why this wasn't working and she suggested I needed more blood magic. You blood mages can move things. You can lend me some of your expertise."

  "We sometimes shove or break things, we don't make them fly," Cameron pointed out.

  "Semantics," Sophie said, flipping a hand. "Anyway, I'm the one making things fly. I just need some of your magic to help me."

  "You want to use the augmentier. You've never done that on purpose before."

  "No, but people do. That's what they're there for, after all. And we know a little of the theory. We have to try this. If I can't fly the navire, then innocent people are going to die because of my failure."

  Cameron shook his head. "Not because of you, beca
use of Eloisa and the domina."

  "Semantics again," Sophie said. "It's us—or me—that they want."

  Cameron looked as though he was going to argue but held up his hands in surrender. "All right. What do you need me to do?"

  She reached for him. "Just hold my hand."

  His mouth quirked. "Sounds like an invitation to trouble."

  "You like holding my hand."

  "I do. But I like it more when we're not trying to do magic no one has ever attempted before."

  "Where's your sense of adventure?"

  "At this point, running for the hills," he said then grinned ruefully. "That didn't sound like something a Red Guard should say, did it?"

  "I won't tell anyone." She tightened her fingers around his. "Now, let me concentrate."

  She faced the bed again. This time, when she looked for the magic, she split her focus three ways, reaching for Cameron, Elarus, and the ley line.

  Tried to gather them together as she pushed at the bed.

  It floated up into the air. What's more it stayed there while she blinked at it, shocked that it had worked.

  "I guess that answers one question," Cameron said, sounding surprised.

  "Yes. Now all we have to do is see if we can work it on something a lot bigger."

  "We?" Cameron said absently. He stared at the bed warily as though he half-expected it to grow wings and fly around the room.

  Sophie waved at the bed. "I couldn't do that before you arrived back. Well, not and keep it there."

  "But I wasn't there at Sanct de Sangre when you floated the soap. And I didn't feel anything through the bond when you did."

  "Soap is smaller. Maybe I didn't need you. Or maybe I used the bond without realizing it. And didn't need much. Maybe you weren't paying attention." She frowned. "Did you feel it this time?"

  He nodded. "Yes. I can't describe it exactly. But I knew you were using magic. Like that time in the ballroom when you shoved that idiot who was harassing you."

  "All right. We've learned something." She looked at the bed. "Elarus, is there a gentle way to put this down?" Floating was one thing. Delivering whatever she was floating safely back down to earth was equally important. Particularly once what she was lifting changed from a bed to a ship full of people who wouldn't appreciate a crash landing. And maybe wouldn't survive it either.

  Elarus shrugged. "Let go of magic slow," she said, her tone vaguely amused. As though Sophie should have known that was the answer.

  Well, that made sense. She focused on the magic flows. Thought about releasing them slowly, like loosening her grip on the reins of a fractious horse. Ready to take control again if necessary but easing off her power. Or their power.

  The bed settled back down to the ground.

  Sophie let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Then turned to Cameron. "I guess you are coming with me to see Imogene in the morning.”

  Chapter 18

  There were far more workers swarming around the navire than there had been on the night when Imogene had first revealed it, and it bore far more resemblance to a ship than it had then. In fact, it looked complete. It seemed that Imogene had put her extra workers to good use. Sophie stared up at the vessel and tightened her grip on Cameron's arm. The navire was huge. It seemed ridiculous to think that she could move it an inch, let alone fly it to Anglion.

  A bed was one thing, but this was another game altogether.

  But a game she couldn't afford to lose. This had to work.

  "She's made good progress," Cameron said. He stared up at the navire, no doubt, cataloguing every inch of it.

  "Yes," Sophie said. The air was dusty, filled with the scent of fresh sawn wood, varnish, and something more acrid. She squinted through the faint haze, looking for Imogene. She'd sent a note telling them to meet her at the navire at ten. There were many people wearing the black uniforms of the Imperial army on the navire's decks, but Sophie couldn't tell if Imogene was one of them.

  "Almost as though she'd already increased her efforts before you came up with your plan," Cameron added.

  Sophie glanced up at him and shrugged. "Anglion must have been always partly on Aristides’s mind when he let Imogene pursue this project. They only lacked the answer to the problem of how to fly it."

  "Which you have neatly provided."

  "I'm sure someone would have figured it out eventually. Imogene told us the sanctii thought it could be done with the right combination of powers."

  "I wonder," Cameron said. "You said Elarus lifted the bed using her magic. And told you to do it her way. Why would the sanctii think of mixing human magic?"

  "I don't think Imogene would have given up. She's tenacious."

  "Agreed. And now she has her solution."

  Sophie sighed. One day she would find out exactly how much Imogene had known about Aristides’s plans to put Sophie on the throne before he had made the offer. She doubted he had made that decision entirely on his own, despite the fact that some of his counselors seemed less than supportive of his announcements.

  But there was no time to waste in recriminations, or accusations, or trying to understand exactly how far she could trust Imogene. The Illvyans wanted to use her magic, and she was willing to trade it to get back to Anglion to free Eloisa and their families with minimal bloodshed.

  "Admiring my handiwork?" Imogene's voice came from behind them. Sophie turned on her heel in unison with Cameron.

  "You have been busy," Sophie said. The words were sharper than she had intended. Perhaps she had time for recriminations after all. "It looks complete."

  Imogene didn't flinch or look at all regretful. She met Sophie's gaze. "Time is of the essence, is it not? But no, it is not quite ready."

  "Does it really matter if it is one hundred percent complete?" Sophie asked. "It's not as though it has to be watertight?"

  "Actually, it does," Imogene said. "Or not watertight, exactly, but airtight. If the hull isn't properly sealed, and air flows through the gaps in the wood, then that affects my calculations of how the navire should move through the air. No one wants to plummet to the earth because it became unbalanced due to an unexpected force."

  Sophie didn't understand most of the sentence. But Imogene was a Mage ingenier. She had all of the best minds and mages in Aristides’s service at her disposal, Sophie had to trust they knew what they were doing.

  "How long until it's done?"

  "A day." Imogene stared up at the structure, her expression intent. "No more than that."

  So fast. The thought was both encouraging and terrifying. "Then why are we here today?"

  "Because the navire has taken a lot of time and money to build. I didn't think it was necessarily a good idea for the first thing you attempt to lift into the air was something of its size and weight. It would be an expensive experiment if you were to drop it, not to mention a significant setback to our plans. You seem to want to avoid an invasion, therefore, I thought it might be best to practice with something other than the final product first." She began walking back in the direction she'd come from, clearly expecting them to follow. They hadn't taken more than a few steps when Elarus appeared, taking up a position next to Sophie.

  A few seconds later, Ikarus materialized and moved to Imogene's side. Imogene didn't stop walking or slow her pace. Ikarus stayed by her side but glanced from time to time back at Elarus as though he'd prefer to keep her within his sight.

  They took a circumspect path, moving around piles of supplies and worktables and groups of workers to the farthest corner of the work room, where scaffolding hung with linen panels blocking Sophie's view of what lay beyond. The scaffolding was much smaller than the structures surrounding the navire, which was comforting.

  When they reached the scaffold, Imogene lifted a flap in one of the panels and gestured for Sophie to go through. She did, Elarus and Cameron still trailing her. Ikarus grunted softly as they passed, and Sophie heard something close to a snort in her mind, but Elarus didn't say an
ything more.

  [Is everything all right?] she asked.

  [Males,] was all Elarus offered in reply. Sophie didn't press further. Sanctii relationships were not something she felt qualified to offer any opinion on.

  [Ignore him, if you can. We have work to do.]

  [Is not my problem.]

  Sophie hoped that Elarus was referring to Ikarus's attitude rather than the work that lay ahead. Because there was definitely work to be done.

  On the floor, cradled in support structures that looked as though they had been hastily thrown together were three boats. The first was a small dinghy of a kind Sophie had ridden on various lakes and rivers with Eloisa at palace entertainments. The second was more the size of the smallest of the fishing boats that worked the Kingswell harbor—a vessel maybe twenty feet long. The third closer to forty.

  She sucked in a breath, trying not to panic. They weren't as big as the navire but still seemed huge.

  Think. One step at a time.

  All right. The smallest of the boats was larger than a bed but not by much. And the bed in her rooms was carved from solid hardwood. A boat would be lighter. If it was, she and Cameron—and Elarus, if needed—should be able to lift that one at least.

  "Practice," Imogene said, sweeping a hand at the boats. "I thought it might be helpful to find out what your limits are. If you struggle with any of these, then we will need assistance. If," she added, "you've worked out how you did your trick with the soap in the first place."

  "Elarus and I experimented last night," Sophie said. "We seem to have come up with something that works."

  Imogene's face relaxed. She tilted her head at Cameron. "And are you part of this, Lord Scardale, or merely here to observe?"

  They'd discussed whether they should tell Imogene exactly how they'd managed to lift the bed. That it had taken all three of them. Sophie had suggested it might be better if Cameron was seen to be uninvolved. If by some chance someone else decided to attack her on the navire, it would be useful if they thought that Cameron was with Sophie to guard her, rather than so she could use his blood magic. Of course, it would be more than foolish for someone to attack her while she was flying the navire—assuming she ended up being the one to do so—as that would result in everyone being plunged to their deaths. But Sevan had been willing to die for his mission. It didn't seem completely impossible that another assassin reconciled to the fact he might have to die to accomplish his task might be sent.