Venom

by Bex Hogan

  ‘Where is the boy?’ The Viper is not pleased.

  ‘I have men looking for him as we speak,’ I say smoothly. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find him.’

  ‘You’d better. My orders are to wipe out every living member of this family.’

  ‘I understand your orders,’ I say with sudden ferocity. ‘You wouldn’t be carrying them out at all without my help. Remember that.’

  To my astonishment the Viper cowers a little. I’ve never seen a Viper scared. ‘You will be well rewarded for your assistance. Payment shall be precisely as you requested.’

  ‘I’ll need the blood fresh, and any body parts you can spare.’

  The Viper nods. ‘My men will see to it. Can I ask what you intend to do with them?’

  ‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you …’

  The connection is severed abruptly, as Gaius finally manages to break my tie with his mind. But I already know exactly what he planned to do with them.

  He’s staring back at me, and I wonder how long we were linked and what he saw in my memories.

  ‘You betrayed them,’ I say, the strength leaving my legs. My gaolers catch me before I fall, and Gaius shouts at them to return me to my cage.

  As I’m dragged back across the cavern, I seethe as the reality of what he’s done sinks in. He isn’t descended from the Mage who served the Western royalty – he is the Mage. He helped the Viper murder the royal family – my family – and in exchange took their flesh and blood. I once wanted magic instead of a throne because I thought magic was a power that couldn’t be taken. Now I realise I was wrong about that too. The only reason Gaius would want their bodies is for the magic that ran through their veins. To strengthen himself. To become more powerful. And he’s lived for centuries since on stolen power.

  I’m so lost in my despair that I don’t even realise we’ve returned to the original cavern until I’m pushed back into my cage. I look around me at the flowers and the animals in a new light. I think of the children in the adjoining cavern. He’s draining life from all of them to feed his need. There are no limits to his depravity.

  Gaius comes to sit with me, and I close my eyes. ‘You let them die.’

  He doesn’t deny anything or ask me what I’m talking about. He knows exactly what I’ve seen. ‘They deserved to die,’ he says with undisguised contempt. ‘What right did they have to rule? They were fools, the lot of them.’

  ‘They trusted you.’

  ‘Just one of their many mistakes. You see, for centuries Mages told royalty what to do. We were the wisdom and sense behind everything. But still we were treated as inferior, as disposable. Less than them.’ He spits the words with malice. ‘Summoned when it suited them and dismissed when it didn’t. Always my advice became the King’s words. What credit did I ever get?’

  I stare at him, disbelieving. ‘Credit? You killed them because you wanted credit?’

  ‘I wanted to exist!’ He’s shouting now, bitterness still quick to flare even after all these years. ‘I was invisible to them, and yet who enabled them to rule? Me! It was all me.’

  ‘You were their advisor.’

  ‘And that’s exactly the problem. For too long we Mages were relegated to the sidelines, kept in our place, when all along we should have had the power – we should have ruled. I vowed I would change things and have devoted my life to the rise of the Mage.’

  ‘But you’ve failed,’ I taunt him. ‘You’re still just an advisor.’

  ‘It’s a funny thing, power,’ he says. ‘Over the decades I’ve learned that sometimes you can have more from the shadows. You think Greeb or that imbecile Prince are running things? They were my puppets, my cover until I was ready to rise. And when you arrived I thought our time had come. Finally a fellow Mage, one with royal blood no less. Together we could have ruled all Twelve Isles, Marianne. No one would have been able to stop us. But you fell short of what I hoped. You are too weak to rule. Now I will have to make other use of you.’

  ‘You want my blood?’

  ‘I want your magic.’

  A sickening pressure tightens in my stomach. I don’t think he’s going to ask nicely for it.

  ‘We’re almost the same you know,’ he says. ‘We both have a connection to the life force in all of nature. But I see it for what it is – a valuable resource. While you wish to restore it to others, I seek to possess it for myself.

  ‘You asked me once what test I had to pass to become a Mage? I always knew what it would be. Knew what had to be done. My mother was a weak woman who feared my magic. Thought a strap would beat it from me. It pleased me that she should be the one to help me unlock my power for good, as I drained her of her energy, her dormant magic, her life.

  ‘Death held no interest for me, my plans needed time it wouldn’t allow for, and so I used my gift to extend my life, taking others’ energy for myself. The magic I extracted from your ancestors’ blood made me more powerful and kept me alive for a long time. But once it ran out I had to find other ways to build my strength. I discovered my own fingers and toes could fuel the magic for a while, but eventually I ran out of things to cut off. Stealing a bird’s voice or a flower’s colour isn’t enough to increase my power – it barely sustains me. So I had Greeb fetch me children. Their youthful souls are a more substantial nourishment. But what I really need if I’m to destroy my enemies once and for all is real power. And you, my dear, are brimming with untapped reserves.’

  ‘You’re going to kill me?’

  ‘Eventually. One thing I’ve learned is that taking energy from the living is more potent than the dead, so your magic is distinctly more valuable to me while you still breathe. But ultimately I will outlive you, having stripped your magic from you like flesh from bone, and then you will die. But don’t worry, that’s years away.’

  How comforting. If Gaius was willing to butcher his own body, I hate to think what he’ll do to mine.

  ‘Let the children go,’ I say, my voice breaking with desperation. ‘If I’m that much more valuable to you, then let them go. You don’t need them any more.’

  ‘Why is it you care one way or another for strangers?’

  ‘It’s just human decency. Perhaps you’ve lived too long to remember what that is.’

  ‘As you so astutely pointed out, you’re my prisoner. You don’t get to make requests. I, on the other hand, have some things I’d like to know from you.’

  Clearly my notebook wasn’t the only thing he was after.

  ‘Where is the Mage?’

  That wasn’t what I was expecting. He’s the Mage. ‘Who are you talking about?’

  ‘The woman. The one you came here to see. When we connected, I saw your memory of her cocooned underground. Only a Mage could cast such a hibernation spell. Where is she?’

  Esther! All that time I kept thinking of the cocooned woman it was Esther I was seeing? Finally it makes sense. If Gaius is looking for more ways both to keep himself alive and gain more magic, then another Mage would be the perfect source. She must have felt some warning and gone to ground.

  Now it’s my turn to laugh. ‘That wasn’t a memory. Simply a dream. I have no idea where she is.’

  His face curls into a scowl and he grabs the thing closest to him, which happens to be a bowl, and flings it at my cage. I recoil, though the bars keep me safe. ‘Then where are the books?’

  I watch his rage and wonder how long he’s been trying to figure it out. Since the day I first mentioned all the manuscripts I discovered in the East? Given that a fair few of them are with Bronn, there’s nothing he can do to me that would make me reveal their location.

  ‘Why do you want them? What do you hope to learn?’ Even as I ask the question, I comprehend the answer. My gift. It always mattered too much to him that I master it. Is it simply because it’s a rare talent that he wishes to possess it? Or are there even darker motives to his obsession with restoring life?

  Gaius’s lip is trembling with the effort of controlling his temper. ‘You
will tell me where they are.’

  I match his determination. ‘No. I won’t.’

  His eyes narrow. ‘He’ll die, you know.’ He smiles when he sees my frightened reaction. ‘The Prince you abandoned? The blood moon is close at hand, only a few cycles away, and with it comes his death. I’ve seen it. You can no longer save him in person, but if you tell me what I want to know, I will see to it that he lives.’

  Oh, Torin. This is all my fault. I have failed him. But I will not place his life in the hands of this murderer. I’m done trusting the wrong people. From now on it’s Bronn I’ll trust. If anyone can save Torin, it’s him.

  ‘You think I’ll believe any more of your lies?’ I say. ‘I’ll tell you nothing.’

  Gaius watches me closely and a menacing smile stretches across his face. He has another plan. ‘Then I’ll have to discover your secrets the hard way, won’t I?’

  He takes my first finger three days later. Before this he’s made me watch his experiments, forced me to witness him bleach the colour from the most vibrant flowers, and, worse, silence the song in a bird’s throat. He has serpents whose venom he milks like an act of humiliation. Every time, the exchange of energy causes him to swell with life, while his victims fade away. I’ve yet to see him do his magic on the children, which is the only thing I’m thankful for right now.

  I try to use my magic to escape, try to summon it back, but nothing happens. I can’t even feel it within me any more.

  ‘As long as you fear who you are, you cannot possibly hope to use it,’ Gaius says derisively, when he finds me collapsed after one such attempt. ‘Fortunately for me I have no such limitations.’

  The removal of my finger hurts more than I imagined it would, an agony I couldn’t prepare for, but still I don’t tell him where the books are. He has his men hold me still so he doesn’t have to touch me. He clearly doesn’t want a repeat of our connection; though he could try to learn where the books are through my memories, apparently he still has secrets he is unwilling to share. Through tear-filled eyes I watch as he takes a part of me and adds it to a cauldron, then spends hours working on his incantation. When finally he drinks it the effect is immediate. I can see ripples beneath his skin, the magic burrowing like worms through his veins.

  I hate him more than ever, as I watch him consume what belongs to me. Not just my finger, but my magic. It’s not his to take. That he’s making it part of him is the worst violation.

  Apparently, though, he likes the taste of it, for over the next few days he removes another two fingers and four of my toes, choosing to store them in jars for future use.

  ‘In case you die from infection,’ he says to me as he wraps cloth round my stumps to stem the bleeding, taking care to keep material between our skin at all times. ‘I want to have some of your energy preserved.’

  I think that’s the worst of it, but I’m wrong.

  One morning, Gaius comes to visit me. The far end of the cavern appears to be open to the outside, and I can tell the time by the light and shadows that move across the floor. It’s a form of torture in itself to count the days passing, and know the chances of my friends finding me fade with each one. Not that I really expect them to – Gaius is far too clever for that – but I cling desperately to this scrap of hope.

  It’s become his custom to sit with me as if I’m his pet. He holds up his clawed hand. ‘Now I know you’ve been wondering how I did this. You’re far too nosy not to.’

  I can feel myself cowering slightly.

  ‘I’ve taught you about sacrifice, Marianne. It wasn’t your strongest subject, let’s be honest. Long before I met you, I wanted to master the art of healing. I told you experiments had to be undertaken to learn more about magic, and my hand was just that. Could I break my bones and heal them?’

  He waves the claw and laughs. ‘Clearly, I failed, just as you did with the rats. But I think it’s time we both revisit our studies, don’t you?’

  Two of the Hooded come for me again, just as they did when he stole my fingers and toes. I don’t cry this time. I don’t scream, or beg, or any of the things I did when he first sliced me up. I’m too empty to struggle.

  ‘I wonder,’ Gaius says, ‘if you were unable to heal the rats with a single touch because you lacked the necessary incentive. I think perhaps I can help you with that.’

  He brings the butt of an axe down hard on to my arm. I hear the bone snap and hot white pain blazes through me. I would fall to the floor if I wasn’t being held up.

  ‘Now heal yourself.’

  I barely hear his words through the agony clamouring in my head, but he’s broken more than my arm. My spirit is crushed and I’m too afraid to disobey him.

  I press my other hand to my injured arm, and will it to mend. But just as every time I’ve tried to summon my magic to escape, there is no answer to my call. Only a hollow void inside me where my despair stretches endlessly.

  When I start to sob, Gaius slaps me hard, offended by my weakness. It was an impulsive action, made without thought of the consequences, but he quickly realises what just happened. Our skin touched and there was no connection.

  He looks at me with a cruel sneer. ‘Interesting. It seems that now I possess your magic, you can no longer see into my mind.’

  Through my tears, I glare at him. ‘And you can’t see into mine either.’

  His eyes narrow with hatred. ‘No matter.’ And he rests his hands roughly on to my arm, smiling when I gasp in pain. ‘Now. Let’s see if I can wield your magic more effectively.’

  He mutters his incantations for most of the day, but my bone doesn’t heal. Eventually – mercifully – he gives up and has me thrown back into the cage to punish me for my failure.

  Out of kindness – or so he says – Gaius waits until the pain isn’t so raw before he tries again. This time, when he breaks my shin bone, I do lose consciousness for a while. Yet again, we both fail in our attempts to mend me. I expect nothing else any more, but Gaius is furious.

  For all his power he cannot master the art of healing in any capacity and somehow, through the pain, that gives me a twisted satisfaction.

  ‘You envy me,’ I say, my head leaning against the bars of my cage. My voice is soft, drained of vitality, but I know he hears me. ‘You’ve spent all these years acquiring power, but my type of magic eludes you. Even when you attempt to take it from me.’

  ‘You think I envy you? Look at the state of you, you pathetic, worthless creature.’

  ‘Which just makes you hate yourself even more. To envy something you despise.’ And I start to laugh and cry at the same time, because we are both doomed to keep living this nightmare.

  After that his visits become less frequent. Days pass without his presence, until he returns one morning, poring over papers, trying to find the answers he so desperately seeks.

  ‘Are my friends looking for me?’ I hate myself for asking, aware it reveals my vulnerability, but unable to bear not knowing.

  Gaius glances up. ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’ All foolish dreams of a rescue disappear. Not even Olwyn?

  ‘Because they believe you’ve run away.’

  I lift my head as far as I can. ‘Why would they think that?’

  ‘Because Mordecai was lying dead in your room. I simply convinced everyone that he had become infatuated with you, that he came to see you wanting more than you were prepared to give, and that you killed him in self-defence. I told them you fled out of fear and guilt.’

  ‘They’ll never believe you.’ My friends would hear the lie in such a story.

  ‘Why not? You did. You trusted me completely – just as they all do. The Guardians belong to me.’

  I stare at him. ‘What do you mean?’

  His eyes sparkle with glee as he sees my uneasiness. ‘I made them. I had to keep an eye on your ancestors, after all.’

  Misery consumes me entirely. ‘You created the Guardians?’

  ‘I knew the remaining boy lived after the massacre of the W
est. Had to hunt him down and finish what I started. Only, the thing was, I learned something from his family that I’d never realised before. The royal family do have magic in their veins – but it is dormant. The Isles themselves recognised it, but it was a rarity for a ruler to command it. That’s why they needed the Mages; they could not wield the power contained within them. When I tasted their blood I felt its weakness, its impotency. I could have killed the boy, yes, but what then? I realised that to access the power I craved, I would have to be patient. Bide my time. Because I foresaw that one day a child would be born who would be able to control what pulsed through their blood, one rare ruler whose magic would burn brighter than the very sun. I desired that power above all else and so I waited.’

  ‘That’s why you needed the Guardians. To keep the bloodline alive.’

  ‘I saw an opportunity. Encourage hope within the people. Let them fight for a future they could believe in. Obviously I controlled them from a distance, but they served their purpose over the years. To watch and protect the descendants until the one I needed was born.’

  ‘Why keep the other lines alive too? Why Rafe? Does he have magic?’

  Gaius scoffs. ‘That imbecile? No, only the direct line has magic in their blood. The other lines were there only to be useful when I needed them. When I wanted to start my war. It really is terribly easy to twist people to your will with the promise of power. How quickly they believe that they deserve it, that they are more worthy than others, that no cost is too high to hold on to it.’

  So there is a war coming. One that will destroy the Twelve Isles and force them into servitude to Gaius.

  ‘I thought your mother was the one I’d been waiting for,’ Gaius says. ‘Her magic simmered under the surface and I watched it grow as she did. I had a plan, to destroy her world and then swoop in to save her. And then your father ruined everything.’

  I think of what my grandmother told me on the Ninth, that my parents said they were being hunted. I thought she’d meant Adler. ‘They were running from you?’