by Ashta, Lucia
A stout breeze whipped to life now. Had we been alive, it would have been enough to muss Lady Gosselin’s hair. As it was, not a hair drifted out of place.
But I still felt the air flit across my skin, making me feel more alive than I had since I died.
“You feel it?” Lady Gosselin whispered to me, so as not to interrupt what Mariana was doing, I thought.
“What, the wind?”
She nodded, eyes wistful.
“Yes, I feel it. Don’t you?”
She shook her head, too sad for words, it seemed.
“What does that mean?”
“Perhaps you’re right and you have a chance to return to your body. We no longer feel anything.”
Well, that was incredibly sad, so sad that I whispered before thinking. “So why don’t you cross into the light?”
Lady Gosselin fully turned to face me and offered me a bitter smile. “We aren’t finished here yet.”
“Maybe you were waiting to help me?”
“Perhaps.” But by then her attention was back on Mariana.
The wind licked at my skin, and I suddenly wanted—no, needed—to return to my body. I needed to feel the breeze against my skin again, to experience the sunshine on my face, the scents of plants in bloom. I needed to hug my brother and share time with my friends. It would seem, too, that I needed to learn magic.
For something that had been so foreign to me not all that long ago, magic was fast becoming an important part of me. I didn’t think Mordecai’s runes had been wrong about me in the least. Not anymore.
All that was left now was for me to learn magic. I hoped to get started in earnest soon, assuming I could manage to regain life, of course.
Mariana’s lips stilled, as did the rest of her. She stood, unmoving, to the side in the center of this haphazard circle.
Though she did nothing overtly, I could sense the magic. It crackled and sparked beyond my sight, but in such a way that I could feel it running through my body.
I’d never experienced magic like this before, and I wondered if it was an aftermath of my intervention in the dark magic curse that had landed me here, dead. It was as if I’d become some sort of gauge of magic.
Mariana’s spell crawled across my skin. Or maybe it wasn’t her spell at all, but the elements, working to fulfill her wishes. Whatever it was, I experienced the raw power of the spell.
The ordinary-looking witch might be dead, but her magic was far from it.
Then the sensation simply... ceased. The air settled into stillness, and my skin felt almost normal—like I was alive again.
Mariana opened her eyes and pursed her lips into a grim line. “I know where he is,” she said to me. Then, to Lady Gosselin and Steven, “And you’re not going to like it.”
Chapter 7
Before I could recover from the ominous feeling of Mariana’s prediction, Lady Gosselin had already taken charge. “Well, where is he? Don’t make us wait, Mariana.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Mariana said with an innocent look plastered on her translucent face that seemed enough to convince Lady Gosselin that she was under her control. But I didn’t miss the rebellious spark in those otherwise lifeless eyes.
“So? Where is he?”
Mariana turned to face me, and Lady Gosselin bristled, evidently expecting to be the primary recipient of any important information. “He’s at Maurisse’s.”
“Maurisse?” I asked at the same moment that Lady Gosselin thundered, “Maurisse!”
“Yes, Maurisse.”
“That rapscallion!” Lady Gosselin continued to fume. “I presume he’s found a way to hold Lord Albacus against his will?”
“That’s what it felt like.”
“That—” Lady Gosselin’s eyes erupted in indignation. She spun on her husband. “That terrible, horribly awful man,” she spat. Her hands were alight in front of her face, fluttering here and there as they expressed her emotions. “Can you believe that he would dare to take a wizard of the likes of Lord Albacus?”
“Actually, I can very much believe it,” Steven said coolly. “He’s precisely the kind of sorcerer I’d expect such actions from.”
“But he’s the head of the Magical Council!”
The head of the Magical Council? Oh, that was bad, incredibly bad. I knew little about the organization, but I understood enough to realize that it set the rules for the magical world. If the organization had been infiltrated by the SMS, then we were in big trouble—big like the ocean trouble.
Unless it was a simple misunderstanding.... Maybe this Maurisse was holding Albacus for some other reason, a benevolent one?
“Perhaps he means well—” I suggested, but didn’t get a chance to say more. Lady Gosselin sputtered. “You can’t possibly be suggesting that.”
Yet I had been.
“If Maurisse is involved, it’s bound to be bad. Isn’t it, Steven?”
“It would seem like it.”
“More than ‘seem like it’. Definitely.”
“Are you so certain?” I asked. “I don’t think he’d be head of the Magical Council if he were evil or something.”
Lady Gosselin scoffed. “Then you’re ignorant of the reality of the magical world.”
I started to take offense to her words until I realized it was the truth. I was ignorant. I didn’t want to be, but I was.
“Maurisse has always had people under his charms and influence. People have a tendency to believe every ridiculous thing he says.”
“How? Does he enchant them or something?”
“I only met the man once, but even I almost fell for his charms, and I’m a very astute witch.”
I suspected Lady Gosselin would believe herself astute whether she was or not, and risked a glance at Steven. The slight upturn of his lips suggested that his wife had a higher opinion of herself than he did.
“I wasn’t around him long enough to figure out how he did it,” she added.
“Nor was I,” Steven said, with the confident yet understated look of a man who had the abilities to do exactly what he claimed. “I don’t think it was a spell though. The other members of the Magical Council were no fools.”
“Of course they are,” Lady Gosselin snapped. “Why else would they fall for his act?”
Mariana smiled. Apparently Lady Gosselin had forgotten that she’d just admitted that she’d fallen for his charms.
“The members of the Magical Council aren’t fools, Gosselin, no matter what you say. They can’t be. They’re chosen for their prowess. They’re some of the best of the magical world.”
“You don’t even know who the other members are.”
“Nor do you.”
“But I’m not the one making such outlandish claims.”
There was no reason to think they were outlandish, but this was Lady Gosselin. I was beginning to suspect that her ability to create drama was what kept her from crossing into the light. She appeared to enjoy it far too much.
“You can’t be sure of any of what you say without knowing who the other members are.”
“I know who two of the members are,” I said quietly, but every ghost there, including Steven and Mariana, spun to stare at me.
“You do?” Lady Gosselin gasped, her hands to her chest. “That’s—but that’s coveted information. It’s supposed to be a secret guarded until death.”
It wasn’t really my news to tell, but I was dead, and so were they, and I didn’t figure it could hurt to share. As much as I wasn’t overly fond of the overbearing Lady Gosselin, the look of pure enthusiasm on her face made me smile. These people were all dead and apparently stuck with each other for the time being. I wouldn’t mind offering them something.
“I know of only two of them.”
“Two?” Lady Gosselin squeaked. “There are rumored to be only seven of them beyond the head of the Council. Two is more than a fourth of the organization!”
I chuckled. This side of Lady Gosselin was much more enjoyable.
/> “Tell us,” she ordered, and I stopped finding her enjoyable.
“I will, but you all have to swear that you won’t reveal the secret.”
“Who would we tell?” Lady Gosselin asked. When every single one of us ghosts simply stared at her, she had the self-awareness to look chagrined. “Fine, we’ll all promise not to divulge the information.”
She whirled her hands in front of her face, hurrying everyone along for once, now that she was the one who wanted something. “We all swear, don’t we?”
A chorus of we dos and of course we dos satisfied me that they’d protect the secret.
“See?” Lady Gosselin prompted. “We won’t tell a soul. Now, spill.”
I opened my mouth to obey, then hesitated. When I first offered to tell them, I hadn’t realized the information would be as coveted as it was. I wasn’t sure I needed leverage in my current situation, but neither was I sure I didn’t.
I decided to hedge my prize nugget. “I’ll tell you who two members of the Council are, but only after Mariana tells me more.”
Lady Gosselin narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re negotiating?”
I did feel a bit guilty about it, but yes. “It’s just that I’m about to reveal a super important secret, one that hardly anyone knows.” My placating seemed to be working on the great lady, not so much on her husband. “Think of it as a treat. Dessert last.”
My argument was a bit illogical, but it’s all I could come up with on the spot.
“Fine,” Lady Gosselin said. “Mariana.”
Mariana smiled, and I wished all ghosts could be like her. She appeared unruffled by what occurred around her. Stalwart even though she was dead and stuck in limbo. Maybe she isn’t stuck. But I couldn’t think of a single reason why anyone would want to share the spirit world with the likes of Lady Gosselin otherwise.
“Maurisse has Albacus locked up in some sort of magical cage. I’ve never seen anything like it, so I can’t tell you exactly how he constructed it. But I sense that it’s a network of complex spells holding him there.”
“All right.”
“Isadora, the spells are incredibly dark. As dark as I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve been around dark magic a lot.”
What? She had?
“You shouldn’t go there alone.”
“I’m not planning on it.”
“Of course she isn’t,” Lady Gosselin interjected. “We’re going with her to rescue Lord Albacus.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean, you ‘don’t think so’?”
I hurried to press Mariana for more information before Lady Gosselin took over again. “Where is Maurisse holding Albacus?”
“At his castle.”
“His castle? He has a castle?”
“He does.”
“Who is this man?” I asked before I realized I’d asked the question aloud.
“This sorcerer is very bad news,” Mariana said. “You can’t face him alone.”
“I have no intention of doing so.” I was well aware of my numerous limitations. I had no intention of pushing their boundaries with a very-bad-news sorcerer. I might be young and inexperienced—and also dead—but I wasn’t stupid. It seemed I was no longer ordinary as I used to be, but I certainly wasn’t about to be foolhardy in this instance.
“Maurisse is a man of incredible power and influence.” Lady Gosselin looked wistful, as if she coveted such reach. “He’s brother to the king.”
“Brother to the king?” My voice was barely a whisper. That was beyond very bad news. That was... that was... devastating news! As brother to the king, he’d be unreachable.
“Not only brother to the king,” Steven said. “But his favorite brother.”
“The only brother that matters to him,” Lady Gosselin supplied. “Maurisse is the duke next in line to inherit the throne.”
It had gone from bad to worse. “Does this Maurisse use magic against the king?”
“Not overtly,” Steven said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He’s smart enough to do it and not get caught, I think, especially since he already has the king’s trust.”
“And the duke is head of the Magical Council? Does the king know?”
“Of course not,” Lady Gosselin said. “The king supports punishment of anyone purporting to practice magic.”
Mariana said, “Maurisse is holding Albacus within his castle, in some sort of dark dungeon-like place.”
“Certainly the castle has a dungeon,” Lady Gosselin said.
“Certainly, but there was no one else with Albacus. He was alone. If it were the duke’s main dungeon, there would be many other prisoners there with him.”
“That’s true,” Lady Gosselin said, and Steven and several other ghosts nodded.
My nonexistent gut churned. A dark sorcerer, who kept a dungeon filled with people, and was capable of bamboozling the king? Yeah, that was awful. His prisoners probably hadn’t even done anything wrong beyond not satisfying his desires somehow.
“That’s all I saw,” Mariana said. “But Albacus did feel me, I’m almost certain.”
“He did?” I asked, unsure whether it was reason to be hopeful or not.
Mariana nodded. Her brown hair never slid out of place when she did.
“He looked up at me.”
“But you weren’t actually there, were you? I mean, you were still here?”
Mariana smiled gently. “I was still here, of course, but half of magic is the projection of your imagination, of what you believe you’re capable of doing. Albacus seemed to sense the ‘me’ that I projected outward toward his location.”
“That makes sense,” I said, before I realized what I was saying. Was this really starting to make sense to me?
“Is that all you can tell her, Mariana?” Lady Gosselin asked.
“It is.”
“Then it’s your turn.” Lady Gosselin pinned her imperious expression on me.
“Very well,” I said. “You’re all sworn not to speak of this secret beyond the members of this circle?” I made eye contact with every single ghost, and every single one affirmed the promise.
“The two members of the Magical Council I know of are Mordecai, Albacus’ brother, and the Lady Arianne of Acquaine.”
Lady Gosselin clapped excitedly again, her palms not emitting a sound. But her mouth was producing plenty to make up for it. “Oh, how exciting! Isadora, dear, you’ve brought us great news at a time when we desperately needed it.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that exactly, but I nodded anyway.
“Lord Mordecai is a great choice for the council, of course,” she said.
“I think Albacus was on the council when he was alive,” I added, feeling generous. If news made her this excited, then why not give her more? She was dead and in limbo. It was the least I could do.
She clapped silently again. “Oh, of course he would be!” she nearly squealed. “Both of them are superb wizards. Didn’t I tell you that? Aren’t they, Steven?”
“That they are,” Steven said. His eyebrows were arched at the news, but otherwise he was the same. It would seem that in their relationship Lady Gosselin got so much of the exuberance that none was left for him.
“And Lady Arianne of Acquaine, you say?”
I nodded. My hair slid in front of my face. Mariana’s eyes widened, and I experienced a wave of relief. I was different from the rest of them. I still had a chance at life.
Lady Gosselin brought a hand to her chin. “I thought Lady Arianne had died a while ago. Isn’t that right, Steven?”
“I believe so,” he said, looking curious again.
“She’s very much alive,” I said, though I couldn’t entirely discount that she might have died. I was planning on coming back to life, after all, wasn’t I? I had no idea what might be in Lady Arianne’s past. If my weeks at the Magical Arts Academy were any indication, unbelievable things happened all the time.
“That’s very interest
ing,” Lady Gosselin said, sounding distracted by the implications of her misunderstanding.
I took that as my opportunity to leave. I was sure my way of determining the passing of time wasn’t accurate, and Nando had only given me two hours. I had to make my way back to my body, and I had no intention of taking dozens of ghosts with me.
“Thank you for your help and information.” I directed my thanks mostly to Mariana; she bowed her head graciously. “But I really must be going now.”
“What?” Lady Gosselin snapped her head up. “What do you mean, you’re going? I thought you were going to rescue Albacus?”
“Yes, well, that had been the plan at one point, but I can’t afford the time anymore. It’s enough that I can tell Mordecai where his brother is. He’ll devise some way to rescue him.”
“No. That won’t do. You need our help.”
“I thank you, but I don’t have the time to do anything else anymore. I’ve used up what I had speaking with you.” I hadn’t meant it as an insult, but it was the truth, and I wasn’t in the mood to shy from it. Everything took long when Lady Gosselin was involved, including this conversation.
“Thank you, but I have to go,” I said dismissively.
“You can’t. Steven, tell her she can’t.”
I shot a look at Steven that told him exactly what I planned to do. He responded by looking between his wife and me, probably trying to decide whom he wanted to agree with. Given that I was leaving and he was stuck with his spouse, he was going to choose her.
I didn’t wait around until he made his decision. “I beg your pardon, Lady Gosselin, but I don’t need anyone’s permission. I’m leaving now because I have to return to my body. Any delay will compromise my ability to return to life.”
When Lady Gosselin didn’t say anything right away, I added, “You wouldn’t want me to remain dead when there’s a chance that I don’t have to, would you?”
Her look said it all. She didn’t particularly care whether I lived or died. She was back to thinking entirely of herself.
Well, that wasn’t going to work for me. I did care whether I lived or died. I cared very much, in fact.
With a final smile at Mariana and some of the other more kind-looking spirits, I closed my eyes. I felt my hold on my lifeline tight and pictured myself back at my body.
