Yes. I could just imagine the surprise he’d have for him.
“If I find out you’ve gone against any of my instructions, you can say goodbye to the fool.”
My fist clenched, but I forced myself to relax. No. I must remain calm. Now would be the absolute worst time to lose control. “His name is Ivan.”
“Noted. Poor, sweet little Ivan’s life is on the line, so get moving.” He tapped his ear. “I’ll be listening. Watching too.”
“Watching?” I repeated stupidly. “There’s no spell for that.”
“Wasn’t till now. I developed one in recent months.” He pointed a finger at me and uttered an incantation. I felt magic settle around me in an odd cocoon I didn’t like. “There. Now it will show me everything that you see. Get going.”
I took one last look at Ivan, lying in the corner limp and helpless. Visions of Mrs. Pitts with her broken legs moved through my memory. I hurried out of the room.
What if Kurke killed Oscar while I was gone? What if this was all a ploy to get Oscar alone so he could perform his killing spell?
No, he wouldn’t kill him, not yet. He wouldn’t have trammeled Oscar if he didn’t plan on waking him up first. Besides, if I knew Kurke, he’d want an audience for his killing spell. Me and Master Wendyn, at the least.
Halfway down the stairs, I met the master coming up.
“What’s taking you so long? Where’s grandfather?”
I couldn’t let the master go into Oscar’s room. Who knew what would happen. I had to keep him out of there for as long as possible. “Perhaps he’s in the library?” I said, too brightly. “Or scrying outside?”
Master Wendyn gave me a strange look. “In the snow?”
“Yes, well, you never know with Oscar, do you? He’s done some strange things,” I said briskly.
He nodded and seemed to accept that. “True enough. Very well, I’ll go check the library. If you find him before I do, tell him that Bastian and Cailyn are determined we’re sitting down for a meal together before they go, and it’s just about ready.” He huffed out a quick sigh. “I understand why they want to, but still, it’s blasted inconvenient right now.”
“Yes. Well, I’ll look in the sitting room. He may be reading.”
“Wherever he is, he must be with Ivan. I haven’t seen him either.”
“Yes. Nor I.” I continued down the stairs and promised myself if we made it through this alive, I’d never lie to the master again. Not that it meant much, seeing how I was supposed to leave Ryker Hall tomorrow. But still.
Behind me, I heard Master Wendyn turn and follow me down the steps. At the bottom of the staircase, I veered to the left toward the sitting room while he went to the right toward the library. The front hallway was empty, and I continued right on past the sitting room and through the servant’s hall to the kitchens. On the way, I passed Edwin and Peck and another stable hand and told them they were dismissed for the day, per the master’s order. Their faces brightened, and they beat a quick path to the side door.
In the kitchens, Cailyn and Edie looked up from something that must be a soufflé.
I didn’t waste words. “Edie, Master Wendyn has dismissed you for the day.”
She looked up, a frown on her face.
“If you hurry, you can catch up with Edwin and the others on their way back to town.”
“Edwin?” she repeated. “But—” Then she looked at Cailyn, and her face smoothed out. “Right. I’ll just be going.” She wiped her hands and left.
I turned my attention to Cailyn, who had leaned herself over a bowl in order to spoon something velvety white and smooth into it. Tendrils of golden hair fell around her face. “And you, Ms. Wendyn—”
“Call me Cailyn.”
“Yes, well, you’ll have to go too. Oscar’s not feeling well, so supper together is out of the question.”
“Not feeling well?” Concern dotted her brow. “Is this Garrick’s doing? He’s backing out of what he said earlier, isn’t he? He hasn’t forgiven anything.”
“No, of course not. He doesn't say things he doesn’t mean.”
She tilted her head and looked at me. “True, but this illness seems to have come on quickly.”
“Many illnesses do.” My eyes dropped to her swollen belly. “Think of your baby.”
That ought to be a hard enough push.
I couldn’t stop my next thought. If Kurke’s spell succeeded, Cailyn’s husband and baby would both die.
Her eyes followed mine, and she rested a hand on her belly. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. I’d better find Bastian.”
“No,” I told her. “Just go. I’ll send you through the wizard door to the Conclave. Don’t you live in Hampstone? It’ll be quicker, and I’ll send your husband through as soon as I locate him.”
“But we brought our carriage, and the footman—”
“I’ll send him through too,” I told her as the flash of an idea came to me. “It’s too dangerous to stay here. The wasting sickness is quite contagious.”
“Wasting sickness?” she repeated. “Oscar has the wasting sickness?”
I lowered my voice and looked around. “Maybe. It’s too dangerous for you to be here. Just wait for your husband at the Conclave.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. I motioned for her to follow me, and in less than a minute, I’d sent her through to Hampstone.
One more Wendyn to go.
***
I found Cook sulking in the larder, as if the tiny room was the last domain she could still lay claim to. Dismissing her took more work. “I will see Master Wendyn fed, come what may,” she insisted, when I told her she’d been dismissed. But when I explained to her that Oscar’s “illness” might be the wasting sickness, she exclaimed about her children and fled the kitchens.
Master Wendyn must be making a thorough examination of the library, because I didn’t see him as I investigated the lower level of the house, dismissing the last remaining servants as I ran into them. I sent three more manservants and a serving maid off into the night and then the footman through the wizard door. I argued with Mrs. Pitts for at least five minutes, and when she still refused to leave, regardless of what illness might have swept the household, I shoved her into a closet off the breakfast room and cast a privacy spell around her so no one would hear her shouting or knocking.
Even though I did it for her own safety, I couldn’t say I didn’t take satisfaction in it.
I stuck an ear to the library door minutes later and discovered voices emanating from within. A quick turn of the door handle and I looked inside the room.
“—funny how it all happened. Both of us in Hutterland and the same city, even. We never meant—”
“Never mind that.” I could hear the weariness in Master Wendyn’s voice. Whatever generosity pushed him to proclaim his forgiveness to his brother, it had worn thin. “Why don’t we go eat? It must be ready by now.”
I cleared my throat. “I apologize for interrupting, but I have bad news. Ms. Wendyn—that is, Cailyn—felt unwell. I sent her to the Conclave with the footman. I thought it would be the quickest way back to your home.”
These lies were coming easier and easier.
Bastian came to his feet. “What? What’s the matter?”
“She wasn’t looking well. Not at all. Said something about...headache. And...nausea. And bleeding.” Yes. That sounded dire enough.
Alarm colored his face. “I must join her.”
“Calm yourself, Bastian. I’m sure everything will be fine.” The master arose and gestured for his brother to follow him. “It sounds like we’ll need to postpone our supper for now.”
I tailed after the two of them, out the library door, down the hall, around the corner. I waited outside as they entered the study.
The whole house felt empty, devoid as it was of servants. The extreme quiet struck me as odd and obvious. Hopefully Master Wendyn noticed.
A few minutes later he came back alone, a hand to his fo
rehead. “What a relief. Good work, Mullins.”
“What do you mean?”
“Coming up with that lie. Whatever you said to get Cailyn to go, you have my thanks. There are more important things to think about at the moment.”
My mouth opened in surprise. “How did you know I made it up?”
His head tilted as he considered. “I don’t know. Something about your expression, but it was mostly a guess. And now you’ve confirmed it. Did you locate Oscar?”
I bit my lip. “He’s in his room. Did you...see anyone in the hallway?”
“Like who?”
I shrugged. “Just anyone.”
“No. Only Edie.
Well. I hoped he wouldn’t be able to tell I was lying now. “Yes, I did. He thought the best place for the three of us to meet would be his room. So that’s where he is.”
Master Wendyn nodded. “Very well. Let’s get this over with. Come along.”
I followed the master back up the staircase, planning what to do next. Defense spells, those were what I needed. The fire spell would be an ill-advised choice for the indoors. But there was the freezing spell, although I wouldn’t trust my own to hold Kurke for long. There was a killing spell in that forbidden book of Hapthwaite’s which I memorized. Oh, and also the Dry as Desert spell, with which I dried up my own tears. Master Wendyn said it was a killing spell.
He stopped at the top of the landing. “Was he outside?”
The question took me off guard. “Hmmm? Was who outside?”
“Oscar. Was he out with his scrying stick?”
“Oh. No. No, he was in the sitting room.”
“Ah. Well then. At least he won’t be chilled.”
Something about the way he was looking at me gave me pause, but then he turned and headed for Oscar’s room. Perhaps I imagined it. As he took the door handle and turned it, something shifted in the surrounding air. Not until I followed him through the door did I realize it was the magic. Master Wendyn had cast a spell.
And then we were inside the room, and a blinding blast of magic exploded just in front of the master.
Bones, what had he done? He shoved me further behind him. “Get down, Mullins!”
I crouched, wondering what in the three kingdoms that spell was, when another blinding flash of magic rushed toward us. That was when I realized that explosion wasn’t Master Wendyn’s doing. It was Kurke, the slimy toad. He’d moved Oscar’s bed so it was perpendicular to the door, and now he was crouched behind it, using the man’s unconscious body as a shield. The master, meanwhile, had performed a shielding spell that was keeping Kurke’s magic from hitting us. That must be the power I felt him gathering.
He knew I was lying.
Another blast of magic hit the master’s shield spell. He was at Kurke’s mercy, unable to send a spell back at him because of the risk of hitting Oscar.
I peeked around the master, toward the corner of the alcove where I last saw Ivan. He wasn’t there. “What did you do with Ivan?” I shouted at Kurke.
“Got rid of him. Don’t feel so bad, either, now that I know you double-crossed me.”
“I double-crossed you?” I came to my feet without thinking about what I was doing. “If you’ve so much as left a scratch on him—”
“Mullins, get back!” Master Wendyn shoved me to the side, and magic bounced off the spot I was just standing in, with a hiss and crackle that sounds as though we’re standing in the middle of a flaming fire.
Had Kurke gone even crazier than he already was? He couldn’t kill me. If I died, he would too.
But no, he wasn’t trying to kill me. That wasn’t a killing spell. He wasn’t trying to kill Master Wendyn either. He was just trying to stop us, control us, use us to his advantage.
Then he’d kill us.
“What’s this all about, Matt? Why are you doing this?”
Kurke came to his feet. “It’s simple, Garrick. You Wendyns killed my family. Today, I’ll kill yours.” He let loose another spell, one that sizzled across the master’s shield like butter on a hot pan. It licked the back of my hand, the only part of me unfortunate enough to be sticking out past the edge of Master Wendyn’s shield spell, which didn’t encompass me. The flesh burned like it had been dipped in liquid fire. I hissed and slunk back further behind the master, hand clutched to my chest.
Bones. I was out of my depth here. What sort of spell was that?
“Nobody’s killed anyone. Your family died in an accident.” Master Wendyn’s tone was placating, like he was speaking to a confused child.
“Stop being so smug and sure about how right you are. That’s one thing I hate about you.” Another spell flew at us. This one set the master back on his heels, but his shield spell held.
Now with Kurke more exposed, Master Wendyn dared to throw a spell his way. Magic exploded toward Kurke like a vacuum of energy, a spell that knocked into his shield like a giant fist. He fell back two steps and then gave a wheezy laugh. “A pummeling spell? That’s the best you can do?”
“I don’t want to fight you, Matt. None of this is necessary.” Frustration laced the master’s voice.
“But it is. Oscar killed my family—no, don’t argue with me; it’s true. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this day, when I’d be able to tell you and your grandfather how much I despise you.”
“So tell us. Both of us. Wake grandfather—or are you afraid that you won’t be able to handle him, even bound and trammeled?”
Kurke’s brow darkened, and then, all at once, he disappeared.
I blinked and look around. I was crouched behind the master, hand still stinging like I stuck it in the fireplace. It only took a few seconds to ascertain that Kurke was no longer in the room.
He must have used a transporting spell. He couldn’t have gone far as they only worked for short distances. I pushed to my feet and rushed to the overturned chair Ivan was lying in when last I saw him. “He’s done something with Ivan,” I said. “He was here. Kurke said he’d hurt him—”
“Calm down. We’ll find him.” Master Wendyn approached the bed and looked Oscar over.
“How did you know Kurke would be here? You had that shield spell in place before you even opened the door.”
He looked up from Oscar. “Your left eye squints when you lie.”
My mouth opened. “Is that true?”
“Believe it or not. How long ago did he give grandfather a sleeping potion?”
Oscar was still sleeping as peacefully as he was when I left him earlier. I chewed on my lip. “That was me. I gave it to him before I went on that stupid expedition to find you.”
The look of betrayal on the master’s face twisted my gut. “Because Matt forced you to?”
I closed my eyes. “No. Because Oscar wanted to take me to the Conclave to explain myself to the Council. I wanted to avoid the Punishment.”
When I looked again, the master’s jaw was clenched. “Mullins, later you and I are going to have a long talk about your aversion to telling the truth.”
He flicked a waking spell at Oscar, and after a moment, then two, the form on the bed shifts and made signs of waking. Master Wendyn put a hand to his face and tapped him on the cheek. “Grandfather?”
“What if he’s dead?” I asked. “Not Oscar. I mean Ivan.”
“He’s not dead.”
I wished he sounded surer. “But—”
“Garrick?” Oscar said sleepily. “What’s...going on? S’this a...trammel?” He ran a hand over the metal contraption around his neck and then yawned and closed his eyes again.
“Just how much sleeping potion did you give him?”
“Only...maybe half a bottle.”
“God’s ghost, Mullins, that’d take down an elephant!”
My mouth opened. “Well...how was I supposed to know? It’s not like you label the bottles with instructions!”
“That’s because it didn’t occur to me anyone would use them other than me.”
I sighed. “All ri
ght. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it, but I was in a bind.”
He ran a hand over his face. “This isn’t productive. We need to get this trammel off him.”
“We can’t. See that smudge on the floor over there? That’s the key. There’s not even enough left of it to do an unbroken spell.”
Master Wendyn cursed. “We need another trammel, then. One for Matt.”
“Where do you suppose he’s gone, anyway? Is he off preparing his bloodlines spell?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll be back. I want you to promise to stay out of the fight, Mullins, whatever happens.” Master Wendyn’s hands were before him. He was building a spell, drawing magic inward. “No stupid heroics.”
“Do I strike you as the heroic type? And also, are you saying you don’t think I can be of any help?”
“No. What I’m saying is I haven’t forgotten how you became my apprentice—running into a fight you couldn’t win. A lot of lives are at stake here, and I understand oaths. Let me handle this.”
“What’s your plan? How can we get rid of the—” Nope, couldn’t say blood oath. “—the...you know. What I swore.”
“That’s the thing. We can’t.”
“But you said—”
“I said I’d handle it. Here’s what we’ll do. Capture Matt, but don’t take him to the Council; they’ll Punish him for sure, and that’d kill you. We’ll find a place to imprison him for life. That way you can live your own life out somewhere else, doing...well, whatever you plan to.”
“We’ll still be connected.”
“Yes, but you’ll be alive.”
“Until he dies.”
“That could happen when he’s ninety-nine, for all we know.”
I glared up at him. “I thought you did your Postulate on oaths. You’re supposed to be some oracle of wisdom on the subject. And you’re telling me this is the best plan you could come up with?”
A frown tugged his mouth downward. I knew I was drawing his concentration from whatever spell he was weaving, but this was my future we were talking about here.
“Believe me, this is the best option. The other doesn’t even bear thinking of.”
“So there is another?”
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