by Unknown
Luc circled the glade, asking for the Wilding God’s indulgence, while I rewound the last two sunsets. Ghostly figures, both human and animal, entered and left the holy circle. All of them walking, hopping, crawling backwards. I would have laughed if a young man’s life and soul weren’t at stake.
“There,” Luc said. “Hold there.”
I saw nothing but shadows. However, he moved quickly, marking the spot with his own magic.
“I have her trail.”
At his affirmation, I let the threads of the past slip, and the world snapped back to the correct moment. We thanked Lord Wilding for his indulgence, and his children skittered and leapt back through the yellow foliage from whence they came.
The soft orange glow of Luc’s spell disappeared down a different path than the one directly from the city. We followed it a short distance before it hit the National Road, the main route through the land. The same road we had arrived on only yesterday.
The tracking spell threaded north towards the capital and south toward the rest of the port cities along the coast. Luc cursed and kicked a cobblestone. I knew his words before he said them. “We shouldn’t split up.”
I set my fists on my hips. “Do you seriously believe each of us alone cannot handle our culprit, much less a petty, pampered aristocrat?”
He made a low sound of displeasure deep in his chest. “A candle mark. No more. We meet back here in two.”
“Fine,” I agreed before I pivoted and ran south.
~o0o~
Near the end of the agreed candle mark, I despaired of finding the point of Lady DiMara’s journey. Marco had to be relatively close in order to present him to Kam on the morrow.
I jogged around a bend in the road when the orange trail made a sharp right turn. The driveway would be nearly hidden by the foliage from most humans’ sight as well as my own if not for Luc’s spell.
I picked my way through the brush to side of the drive but kept an eye on the trail. Through a break in the trees, a dark purple monolith rose from the bluffs. A manor house from its outline, yet I encountered no guards.
The gardens and yard were unkempt and overgrown. Since the DiMaras prided themselves on appearances, this could not possibly one of their holdings. Or had I totally misread the situation?
Above me, leaves rustled. I glanced up, half-expecting a night predator. Instead of the warm glow of a living creature, something cold black perched on the limb.
Something I’d never seen before.
I stepped away from the tree. More of these creatures gathered in the surrounding branches. Automatically, my hand reached for my sword hilt. The rasp of pulling the reinforced steel normally reassured me, but there was something wrong with these things.
Crickets stopped chirping. The rustling mice paused as they scavenged for seeds. The night itself seemed to hold its breath.
I swung as the first creature leapt. My sword connected, but the blow felt like nothing I experienced before. As if I’d struck stone, only to have the creature melt after jarring my arm.
Its fellows followed, and I found myself buried under a multitude of frigid bodies. When a fist struck my temple, it remained stone. I couldn’t stop my fall into a different kind of blackness.
~o0o~
Strange muttering infiltrated my aching head. I tried to raise my hand, only to find it fettered by cuffs linked to heavy chains.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” The clap of pleasure sounded as loud as a crack of thunder directly overhead.
Very carefully, I pushed myself upright. Nausea threatened, but I couldn’t afford to give in to my head injury. Taking stock, I found I had been left only with my trousers, tunic and undergarments. Matching shackles encircled my bare ankles.
Soft lavender light emanated from the walls, the same kind I’d seen on damp stones in caves. A man crouched before me, but my attention was drawn by one of the cold shadow creatures perched on a bookcase. Suspicion of what it may be gnawed on my gut.
The man unshielded a candle. The flare of white-hot light drove a spike of agony through my head, and I ducked my eyes against my shoulder.
“You react to light the same as a normal person. What are you, my dear?”
The tug to answer his question frightened me more than his shadow pets. He was definitely not as much as a fool as I’d thought if he’d laid a truth spell on me while I was unconscious.
“A human.” To my relief, my answer did not result in a cascade of pain. He had the talent and knowledge to cast such a spell, but he hadn’t been trained in logic or questioning.
His chuckle sounded like one of an elderly uncle indulging his favorite niece. “I mean, how did you get your unusual red eyes?”
“I gave them to myself.”
“Why?”
I couldn’t wiggle out of this answer. A bitter laugh poured from my lips. “It was my poor attempt nearly twenty winters ago to restore my sight so I would be released from the Temple of Balance. I received ten lashes for the temerity to circumvent the Goddess’s will.”
His face turned from pale orange to crimson. All joviality fled him. “Who are you? What is your name? Your rank?”
Again, the pull on my soul to spill my secrets. If I resisted, he’d know I was hiding something, assuming the spell didn’t kill me. Maybe he’d think twice about his actions with the truth.
My chin lifted. “Justice Anthea, the circuit judge assigned to Orrin until the Reverend Mother of Balance names a permanent justice.”
The man jumped to his feet. He must be younger than my original estimation.
From the bookcase, an odd, guttural noise came from the creature.
“No, you can’t eat her,” the man snapped. “Be silent. I need to think.”
“Is that a demon?” I wanted my captor to say it wasn’t. Goddess, I take back this morning’s jest with all my heart and soul.
He ignored both of us, set the candleholder on a table, and started to pace the workroom.
Or dungeon, I decided. It was a good six strides long and an equal number in width. Deep blue chains hung at regular intervals along the wall to which I was shackled.
I tried to call for Luc, but my mental shout bounced off the shielding spell. It only added to the ache in my head. The demon, for surely that is what it was, growled. Since he’d already decided he wanted to eat me, I took his warning under due consideration.
Interesting that I didn’t recognize it, but the descriptions of demons were based on normal human sight. I needed to add my observations about complete lack of body heat to the temple’s chronicles. If I survived the night, that was.
From the occasional word I picked out from my captor’s muttering, he had schemed as far ahead as Lord and Lady DiMara. Which is to say, barely at all.
“Might I make a suggestion?”
He halted and from the odd feeling on the back of my neck, he glared at me. “What?”
“You were planning to block Marco DiMara’s memory. If you haven’t yet, you should cast the spell on us both.”
“Why would I do that?”
I was correct in my original assessment that he was an idiot. However, it didn’t make him any less dangerous, and I needed to buy time for Luc to find us.
I sighed. “If neither Marco or I remember you, you cannot be charged with kidnapping or holding us prisoner. We both live, and you’ll still get your payment from Lady DiMara.”
“I already received my payment in advance. I am not stupid.”
I sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess that he didn’t phrase his words in the form of a question. “And you won’t be hunted like a dog for murdering a priestess,” I pointed out.
He turned to the demon. “Bring the youth in here, and do not eat him.”
The demon jumped down from the bookcase. Instead of exiting the room properly, it seemed to dissolve before it slid through the crack between the door and the frame. Interesting. Hopefully, the creature would take the time to open the door when it returned
with Marco, or my efforts to keep the boy alive would be for nothing.
“What is your name, sir?”
“Uhn-uh.” My mysterious sorcerer waggled his index finger. “I’m not falling for that.”
I gave him a smile, as polite of one as I could muster. “I would need your true name to cause any mischief.” I shrugged. And became painfully aware of a huge bruise on my shoulder. However, I didn’t let the smile waver. “Besides, I won’t remember the name you give me anyway.”
“Who knows you are here?”
My smile fell. “Only you and your demons,” I said. Thank the Goddess, he couldn’t properly ask a question. “All you have to do is leave me on the National Road with the gear I came with, and you’ll be perfectly safe.”
He made a derisive sound. “If you are a circuit justice, where is your partner priest of Light?”
I clenched my jaw. The pain started in my belly, similar to eating the obscenely hot peppers of the arid regions of Cant. It quickly escalated to what I suspected a glowing poker shoved through my gut would feel like. I fell to my side. My body curled into a ball. “Heading north on the road, tracking Lady DiMara,” I gasped.
“Stupid, stupid bitch.”
It took a moment for his meaning to penetrate the dissipating haze of pain while he shouted for his demons. He referred to the noblewoman, not me.
I pushed myself back to a sitting position. If only he’d leave the dungeon, I could pull out one of my remaining hairpins and pick the Goddess forsaken locks.
Instead, the door swung open with such force, it crashed into the stone wall. Two of the demons dragged in a struggling man. I was sure the third demon behind them was the one who desired to pick his teeth with my bones.
From the hot bruises on the man’s face and hands, he’d fought his captors. He shouted imprecations at the demons with every step they took until he was chained next to me.
“Marco, it will be all right.”
He grew silent at my attempted reassurance and addressed our captor. “Are you insane, Samael? Did my mother pay you to kidnap her as well?”
Now, I had a name. One Luc had read from the list.
“Shut your mouth,” Samael shrieked. “Or I’ll have the demons eat your tongue.”
I stared at him. “Samael DiRoy. Youngest son of the Crown Prince. Scholar and herbalist. Magical talent limited to languages.” Goddess help us, he had the demons place the spells on the veterinarian Jovis. “How in the names of the Twelve did you manage to summon demons?”
“Jealous because I can, Priestess?” he hissed.
“Not particularly.” I winced as I replied. Bloody Sword, this truth spell will be the death of me. “Actually, I’m impressed. All such texts were supposedly destroyed by the Temples a century ago.”
My fawning tone hit his ego just right. “I found a tome tucked away in the rare books section of the capital library. I translated a few phrases, realized it was a grimoire on the forbidden magics, and I smuggled it out.”
“But, Prince Samael, why bother with this child—” I gestured at Marco “—when you can command demons?”
“I need the money.” His boasting shifted into whining. “Do you have any idea of how expensive summoning and feeding these things are?”
An awful suspicion grew in me. “Do Marco’s parents know about the demons?”
“Of course.” Samael’s confidence chilled me more thoroughly than the demons’ touch.
“Holy Mother,” Marco swore. “They want you to raise a demon army for them once I’m out of the way.”
I wanted to kick the youth for giving voice to my fears. We were both dead now.
Samael slowly shook his head. “I’m so sorry. For both of you. I’ll make this as easy as possible.” He pulled a knife from the worktable.
My dagger.
I curled and pretended to cower against the wall. I prayed there was enough slack in my chains, prayed that the stories I heard as a child of the demons’ weaknesses were true. I had to be faster than the three demons in the room.
He approached me and reached for my hair. I slammed my heels into his knees. With a sickening crunch, tendons tore and bones shattered. He screamed. My dagger slipped from his hand as he collapsed and clattered against the stone floor.
I swept one of the arm chains around his throat and yanked him against my chest. The first demon, the one who wanted to taste my flesh, crouched inches from our faces.
“Back away, or I snap his neck,” I growled.
It huffed before it said something to the others in their guttural language. All three edged away from us. Their actions confirmed one of the old tales. They needed the sorcerer who summoned them alive in order to remain in this plane.
And if I killed a member of the royal family without benefit of a trial, I’d find my neck on the business end of another justice’s sword.
The problem of getting Marco and myself out of this dungeon persisted. I rolled the possibilities through my mind, a process that became more difficult by the moment for reasons that had nothing to do with Samael’s hoarse cries. With a sickening realization, I understood my situation. My head injury was worse than I originally suspected. Blood pooled inside my skull, and the growing pressure would kill me if we didn’t escape soon.
“Where’s the key?” I tightened and released the chain to gain his attention.
“If I tell you, you’ll kill me,” he whimpered.
Telling the idiot he was dead already wouldn’t improve the situation. “I can grant you clemency if you cooperate,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Don’t bargain with him, Justice.”
From the corner of my eye, I found Marco had already picked the locks to his wrist cuffs. Goddess bless the boy. He’d had the presence of mind to snatch my dagger when it fell.
The steel would be ruined once he was finished, but I didn’t care. It was by far the least of our worries.
Marco quickly released the locks on my shackles while I kept a tight hold of the chain around Samael’s neck. He stayed close to me when the demons started muttering under their breath.
“I need your help to lift him,” I whispered.
Marco was no dandy. He hauled the sorcerer upright, and Samael screamed at the pressure on his ruined knees.
I gained my feet, only a rush of vertigo threatened to knock me down again. Clutching the wall, I made my way to the worktable. Relief swept through me when my fingers wrapped around the pommel of my sword. Feeling around the wooden surface produced a great many objects, none of which were my boots or the sword’s sheath. We couldn’t waste any more time.
“Stick to the wall,” I muttered.
“Yes, m’lady.” Marco replaced the chain with his arm and dragged the sorcerer, keeping him between us and the demons.
“Over there.” I pointed at the opposing corner with my sword. The stones were only cold under my right foot. My left was numb.
The first demon spat an obvious insult, but he and his fellows edged around the dungeon while we made our way to the door. The instant we were through, I slammed the door shut and slid the iron bolt into place. The heavy wood shivered as the demons threw themselves against it. The barrier wouldn’t last long.
Somehow, we climbed the stairs and exited the front door of the manor house. We backed slowly down the drive, the young nobleman literally dragging the screaming sorcerer. My own footing became more unsure.
“They’re coming,” Marco murmured.
Black shadows climbed the surrounding trees and swung through branches toward us.
I’d never killed someone without an appropriate trial. A growing disquiet said Samael’s death would be the only way for Marco to survive. Deep down, I acknowledged I would never be greeted by the goddess at my passing, much less make it back to Orrin
“Luc, I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
Anthea!
Luc. I nearly collapsed when the pounding of hoofs raced toward us from the main road.
�
��Marco!”
I recognized the feminine voice that shouted. The name was out of my reach. I’d sent her away, hadn’t I?
“Here!” For all our shouting, the cold shadows would reach us before Luc. I couldn’t fight them off before. I couldn’t let an innocent die.
“Drop him, Marco.”
The boy complied, and the sorcerer shrieked.
“Samael DiRoy, you have been charged with using forbidden magic by your own admission.” My hands shook. I wished it was rage and fear instead of my injury.
“I, Marco DiMara, hereby affirm the justice’s account, having heard the confession myself.” The ritual response of a priest of Light.
I wanted to weep with relief. Marco was a good boy. A smart boy. I hoped he’d find his happiness.
Luc. So many things I wanted to say to him. So many things he needed to know.
A wave of frigid air hit me. “Samael DiRoy, you are found guilty of using forbidden magic. The sentence is death.”
Wordless cries were his only answer. Marco held him down by the shoulders.
I prayed the old stories were true. That demons hadn’t tricked me in the dungeon.
I slammed the sword point into the base of Samael’s skull. Shrieks of demon outrage echoed through the woods. With muffled pops, the black shadows disappeared from this plane of existence.
Hands caught me as I pitched forward over the corpse of my deadly idiot. My last thought was that I was finally free.
~o0o~
The scent of vanilla and cinnamon twined around me. My eyes fluttered open. The dark blues and greens of a marble ceiling met my gaze.
“Where am I?” My voice was a hoarse croak.
“You’re in the bedroom of the Justice of Orrin. Here, drink this.” Familiar hands held up my head.
I gratefully sipped the water.
“Do you have a headache?”
I had to think about it since my entire head seemed to be wrapped in cotton. “No.” Recognition slipped into place.
Luc.
“Good. Katarina needed to eat and sleep. The girl hasn’t left your side. She’s beside herself with guilt for putting you at the mercy of demons.”
“She—” It took me a moment to pull the threads of memory from the tangled skein my mind had become. “I sent her to Nastine.”
