“Hell, no. That’s why we came all the way up here!” William shouted.
Alexandra stepped forward, placing a hand on William’s shoulder as she did. “This is magic more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen. Worth doesn’t know how to stop it either. I’ve heard of you, Linda Carrington. I’ve heard you’re the one who taught people how to use their magic here, and that you learned it elsewhere, beyond the ocean. I’ve heard that you retreated to this deserted land a long time ago, and I thought if anyone could help Riley, it would be you.”
“Why would I help her?” Linda asked.
“Because if you don’t, I’m going to run my sword through your stomach,” William said.
“I have no use for the world outside this city anymore. Whether she lives or dies makes no difference to me.”
The woman completely ignored William’s threat.
“You know the name ‘Rendal Hemmons,’ don’t you?” Alexandra asked.
“I do. He was a student of mine long, long ago.”
“Do you know what your student is doing now?”
Linda sneered as she looked at Riley. “Clearly not what he was instructed.”
“He’s taking over this continent. He’s already taken the largest kingdom, Sidnie, and now he’s going after New Perth. After that, there will be no one left to stand against him.”
“How is that possible? He wasn’t my only student. There are others who will oppose him.”
“You’re looking at her, ya old bid—”
“William!” Alexandra interrupted. “Hush your big mouth. Linda, he’s developed technology I don’t understand. It allows him to drain people’s magic? Their magic potential? I don’t know, not truly. I think the woman lying in front of you understands it better. Regardless, he’s able to make himself even more powerful.”
“He most powerful mage in Irth, maybe,” Worth interjected.
“And this one here,” Linda whispered, “What’s her role in all this?”
“Surely you must be able to sense it,” William scoffed. “Someone as high and mighty as you?”
“I sense that a building may fall down on you before you leave here if you’re not quiet, young man,” the woman snapped back.
William could not remember the last time he’d been called a “young man.” He glanced at Worth, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“She’s powerful,” Linda continued. “I could tell that when she was still in the little wagon you brought. Or, she could be powerful, but something is off. Something’s not right. So tell me, one of you, what is her role in all of this?”
“She is our Savior,” Alexandra said. “She’s going to change the world in ways we can’t imagine.”
William spoke up. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what the queen here thinks. Her real role is, she’s going to kick Rendal’s fucking ass. She’s the only person on this continent who can stop him. Plain and simple.”
“And if I don’t save her, she will die. You all recognize that?”
“Can you?” Alexandra asked. “Can you save her?”
“I might be able to.” Linda removed her hand from Riley’s brow and turned around to face the group. “I don’t want to, though. I don’t want anything to do with this. Not her, not Rendal, not any of you. I want to be left alone to live out the rest of my life in solitude and peace.”
“That would be a nice thing to have, Linda,” Alexandra agreed. “But that’s not how life works. Rendal won’t stop at New Perth. He will come here. This place of tranquility and peace will be first razed to the ground, then rebuilt in his image. If Riley dies, you will too. It’s only a matter of time before Rendal comes here.”
William wanted to grab the old witch and throttle her. This was Riley they were talking about, and she was acting as if it were no big deal.
The woman grew quiet and looked down at her feet.
“I thought I could escape the world,” she finally said. “I’d done my part. I’d done what I said I would.”
“Sometimes the world needs you, Linda, and I’m telling you right now, we need you.”
The old woman looked up. “Go outside. I need to be alone with her.”
William’s eyes narrowed. “For what?”
“Did you purposefully find the dumbest brute in the land to bring with you, or did it happen by accident?” Linda asked.
Alexandra smiled. “He cares about Riley. We all do.”
“Look, lugnuts,” Linda quipped, “I need to be alone with her to understand if I can help. Now get the hell outta my house, and I’ll let you know when you can come back in.”
“Come, come.” Worth’s hand fell on William’s shoulder. “Leave her. Leave. Let’s go.”
He turned William, whose blood was just about to boil inside his veins, and the four left the bedroom.
They made their way through the house and back out onto the street.
“She’s lucky you were here.” William shook his head. “I would have ripped her limb from limb otherwise.”
“Ha!” Worth laughed. “That old woman break you!”
“He’s right,” Alexandra agreed. “You wouldn’t stand a chance against her power. She would have made mincemeat out of the two of us without much problem.”
“You two are just wusses,” William said, although his anger was fading. The woman was inside with Riley, and that was really all he could ask for. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” Alexandra responded. “And we hope.”
“How are things on the streets?” Rendal asked Harold.
His second-in-command stepped farther into the room.
“There’s been rioting.”
“How did we handle it?”
“We squashed it.”
“Good,” Rendal mused. “Good.”
The two of them were in Goland Ire’s chambers. Rendal had brought his military, which was comprised of mages and warriors, inside the gates last night. There had of course been some necessary deaths; those things couldn’t be avoided when sacking a city. Overall, though, Rendal thought it went pretty well.
“Now, this paint here? I can’t stand it,” he told one of the decorators. There were five of them in the room, and Rendal had been having a discussion with them before Harold arrived. “I want this to be red. Blood-red. The entire living room here, you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I do,” the young woman answered.
“Sir?” Rendal asked. “Am I some bar owner down on the street?”
“No… No,” the young woman stammered. “I-I-I’m so sorry.”
“What is my proper title?”
“Prefect.” The decorator’s face was pale.
“And what do you call me instead of sir?” Rendal asked.
“’Your Grace.’ I call you ‘Your Grace.’”
“That’s right, and don’t forget it. Now, leave me. I need to speak with Harold here.” Rendal smiled at her, a warm expression although it didn’t touch his eyes.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” The woman scampered away, looking very much like a terrified mouse.
Rendal turned to Harold. “Sorry about that. These people—they’re dumber than I remember. I’ve been the Prefect for nearly twenty-four hours, and none of them can seem to remember.” He rolled his eyes playfully, as if he hadn’t been about to burn the young lady alive. “Now, Harold, we need to discuss a few things. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Harold answered.
“And that is why you’ve risen so high, my friend. You remember the important parts.” Rendal grinned and walked over to Goland Ire’s large desk. “I like this. It fits me well, wouldn’t you say?”
“It does, Your Grace,” Harold answered dutifully.
“I’m going to have this whole place redone. Goland had it done up in such a drab way. We can really liven it up some. I’m going to do it for the entire castle, actually. I never liked how this ancient thing looked. But I know you didn’t come here to talk about decorating. Tell me, how is Artino doing? Has
he gotten all his engineers and such situated?”
“Yes, your Grace. He is still working on it, but things are going as expected.”
“That’s good. That’s what we want.” Rendal leaned back in the chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. “This kingdom…it’s not like Sidnie, is it? Riots outside, and people dying when we came in. That didn’t happen at all in Sidnie, but that’s why this is my home. New Perthians are not easily swayed. They are strong people. This is where I belong. I only need to show them that I’m stronger. Then they will obey.”
Rendal inhaled deeply.
“Place smells like tobacco. Hey!” he shouted to one of the decorators. “Whatever in here smells like smoke needs to be removed. If it’s in the walls, figure out how to get rid of it!”
“Yuh-yes, your Grace!” one of the decorators called back.
“Sorry, Harold. So much on my mind, as you can see. Now, magic usage. I asked you to look at that. What’s your report?”
“It’s non-existent,” Harold responded. “No one in the entire kingdom uses it.”
“You’re sure? This place is completely devoid of magic?”
“I’m not sure of much, your Grace, but I am sure of that. You and the people you brought are the only ones who use it. Lucie has magic, but as you know, she’s locked up.”
“Ah, Lucie,” Rendal mused, thinking about his old lover. “Yes, too bad she chose wrongly. Now she’s feeling the consequences. Let’s not focus on the past, though. There’s too much promise in the future right now. We need to begin teaching the New Perthians the use of magic, but that’s going to be quite an undertaking.”
Rendal sat up, taking his feet off the desk.
“I’ve been considering this for a long time, as you well know, Harold. It’s an endeavor that will need to be controlled. Sidnie was right about using magic, but wrong about how they let every commoner on the street practice it if they had the ability.”
“What do you have in mind, sir?”
Rendal stood and walked to the window behind him. The streets were empty. Harold’s guards having swept them clean, breaking noses until they got the point that rioting or protesting would only cause them pain.
“We’re going to institute a class system,” Rendal explained. “Those who use magic, and those who don’t, and do you know who will be at the top of that class?”
“I have an idea, Your Grace.”
Rendal grinned, his back to his second-in-command. “I’m sure you do, Harold. I’m sure you do.” He clapped his hands and turned around. “Okay! I’d like to see Mason. Bring him to me.”
“Any use for Goland?” Harold asked.
“No, let the old man begin rotting. I may bring him out later, but for now, I’m fine leaving him there.”
“Yes, your Grace.”
Harold left the room, and Rendal turned back to the decorators. He was keeping his mind busy, that was for sure. There was much to do, both inside and outside the castle.
When he first had imagined taking New Perth, this had been it. Becoming Prefect. Nothing else.
And yet, Riley Trident nagged at him. If she wasn’t dead, she would come for him again.
Would she bend, and if not, would she be too powerful?
“How do you like your new home?” the dark mage asked.
“Well, truth be told, Rendal,” Mason said, “It’s about the same as the rest of my homes have been lately, so if you want me to grovel, you can kiss my ass.”
Mason felt sick to his stomach, looking at the sight in front of him. Harold had personally come and got him from the prison and brought him up here to his father’s old chambers.
The bastard had movers taking furniture out while Mason stood and watched it go. His father’s furniture.
“You like what I’m doing with the place?” Rendal grinned.
Mason forced a smile. “I’m going to like it more when your head is on a spike outside the kingdom’s gates.”
“Oh, Mason,” Rendal mocked. “We’ve been through so much. Why must you talk to me like that?”
“Why am I here?”
The dark mage’s grin faded, and he stepped around Goland’s desk.
“Where is she?”
“Who?” Mason asked, his eyes wide as he played dumb.
“Careful, boy. I don’t have time for your fucking games right now.”
“Sorry, I’m just a bit confused. Who are you talking about?”
Mason couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Rendal angry, but now his eyes flashed red in an instant. His voice was nearly a growl.
“What did you do with her, Mason? Tell me, or you’re going to regret it.”
Mason gave a sad smile. “Do you think you can really threaten me to say anything? After everything you’ve put me through, you think I’m just going to give up Riley now?”
Rendal’s hand moved upward, his fingers wrapping around an invisible throat.
Ten feet away, Mason could no longer breathe, his airflow suddenly restricted.
“I think you’re going to do whatever I tell you,” the mage whispered. “Or I think you’re going to die.”
Mason’s face was turning red, and his lungs were aching for air. He struggled to open his mouth, managing to say, “Go fuck yourself, Rendal.”
The mage’s hand dropped to his side, and Mason felt air flood back into his throat.
He collapsed to his knees and started coughing
“Maybe I won’t hurt you, then. Maybe I’ll hurt your father.”
Mason shook his head. “He won’t tell you anything. He’s not like you, Rendal. He has a backbone. He has integrity.”
“Oh, integrity-insmegrity,” Rendal mocked. “He might not talk, but maybe you will if you’re watching him suffocate.”
Mason slowly pulled himself to his feet. “No one in this place will help you find her. We’ll die first.”
“Yes,” Rendal said, the anger fading from him. “You very well may.” He leaned on the desk. “The thing is, I’ve already won. I have the kingdom. I have the military. I have the mages. New Perth was taken without a single battle—”
“Then why in the hell are you so concerned about Riley?” Mason managed a “fuck-you” grin despite the pain in his throat.
“You know she’s dying, right?” Rendal flashed a grin right back at him. “That was what I did to her. I corrupted her insides since she won’t listen to reason.”
“Since she wouldn’t corrupt herself, you mean.”
“To-may-toe, to-mah-toe. She’s going to die, if she hasn’t already. That’s what I’m thinking might have happened here. She might already be dead, and you just don’t want to tell me. You think the threat of Riley might be enough to stop me or at least hold me at bay.”
“Tell me, do I appear sad? Do I appear heartbroken? She’s not dead, you prick, and I don’t know where she is. You can probably use some kind of magic to dissect my brain, but you won’t find that piece of information. I won’t tell you because I can’t. She’s going to come again, since you just can’t seem to stop her, can you, Rendal?”
The mage sighed and walked behind the desk, facing the window as Mason’s father had done so many times.
You’re not half the man my father is, Mason thought.
When Rendal spoke, his voice was just above a whisper. “You’re going to make me do things I don’t want to, Mason. You’re going to make me hurt a lot of people. My own people. New Perth’s people. That’s too bad.”
Mason looked down at his feet for a second. “She’s not dead, Rendal, and she’s still coming. Do what you want here, but you’ll pay for it when Riley arrives. Do everything you want, but just remember: that fucking bill will come due.”
“I should never have listened to any of you.” Brighten shook his head. “I didn’t have the best life in Sidnie, but it beat the hell out of being locked up in a foreign kingdom.”
“Oh, you’re such a fucking wuss,” Kris shot back. “Think of it as an adventure.”
Brighten chuckled without amusement. This wasn’t an adventure, it was a nightmare. They’d traveled across the desert at a breakneck speed, arrived at New Perth, and promptly watched the mage and a vast army show up just behind them.
And what had come after that?
Well, all Brighten had to do was look around. Metal bars for days and days. Stone floors and no beds.
“Plus,” Kris said, “it could be worse. At least you have a roof over your head.”
Brighten groaned, laying down on the cold ground.
“You two cut it out,” Erin said. She and Lucie were in here with them. Lucie and Brighten had those damned necklaces on, the ones that kept them from being able to use any of their magic.
“How do you always sound so positive?” Brighten asked. “We are locked in an evil mage’s dungeon with no hope of rescue or escape, yet you sound as if we just won a prize or something.”
“The power of positive thinking, young whipper-snapper. The more positively you think, the better things will be.”
“How’s it working out for you so far?” Brighten asked.
“Better for me than you, because I’m thinking about how to get us the hell out of here rather than rolling around on the floor like a slug, moaning about my woes.”
The cell fell quiet. No one had mentioned escape. Brighten had hardly thought the word.
He rolled over on his stomach and stared out past the bars. The four of them had been placed in an offshoot of the rest of the prison. They were in solitary confinement, a very small room with this cage stuck in the middle.
No guards were in the room right now. Indeed, they hardly came. They delivered food and allowed the group to use the bathroom, and that was it.
“What are you talking about?” Kris said.
Lucie stood up slowly from her place on the other side of the cage. She’d been mostly quiet for the past few hours.
Erin leaned against the bars and looked at the other three. “I’m not going to sit in here and wait for my execution, if that’s what’s coming. I’m going to try to get out of here. You three can sit here and do nothing if you want, although I’d advise against it. You all should be just as ready to leave as I am.”
Magic Unchained (Hand Of Justice Book 4) Page 3
