by T J Kelly
We had memorized the locations Harris gave us to check out. The next one took us underground to the Washington Metro. There we had more luck, sensing the Irregular trace without a problem, and only about a day old. We hopped seats for a while, playing around as if we hadn't a care in the world and the only people who existed were the two of us. But really, we were both digging deep into the trace, tying it to a tail from the Perdo clan. The doors opened at the next stop and a trace on the platform outside had us scurrying to make it out before they closed again.
"I think somebody jumped him," I said.
"That's what I'm sensing. Come on, let's see where it leads." Peter and I rushed off, still taking in our surroundings, but with more purpose than before. We weren't a couple on a leisurely date any longer. Now we gave off the impression of two people in a hurry. Maybe getting close to their curfew. Nobody paid us any attention, although one of the Reeves stationed in the Metro noted that we were magicians. She said nothing, but nodded her head slightly in acknowledgment. Not everyone transported everywhere. It did take a lot of magic to perform the spell. Most magicians saved it for longer trips.
Ten minutes of brisk walking, using the Earth to lift and push us slightly faster than normal, then we came to a halt. In front of us was a grouping of townhouses. We were under strict orders not to engage, so with great reluctance, we marked the spot with a beacon spell and then kept going after only the briefest of pauses.
"I wish we could just go inside," I grumbled. "There's no telling what's going on."
"Yeah. This has always been the hardest part. I'd rather fight than leave a man behind."
We ducked into an alley. After a few minutes listening to our own heartbeats slowing to normal, we decided we hadn't been followed. I was glad we found where the agent had been taken, but I wasn't happy with leaving him there until other agents could rescue him. Darkness rose up in response to my mood. I latched onto it and threw a shield up, filling it with the scent of shortbread, and then heaved the two of us back to our rendezvous point.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Nine...
I finally figured out how to get my uncle to use the limo.
"Of course, little one," Armageddon assured Sera. What a sucker. "We can take the shiny long car if that's what you want."
He eyed me but I remained impassive. As long as I kept a straight face, there would be no need to admit I put her up to it. But who wanted to return to their school after Eostre break riding in a carriage? I mean, really? It was in Sera's best interests.
"Thank you, Uncle Ged," she said. I was thrilled. We had been working on manners and it was paying off. The more polite she was, the easier it was to get my way. No. It was better for her to learn how to interact with others with respect. That's what it was all about.
Really.
The limousine rolled up to where we were waiting near the castle doors. One of the guards on motorcycles waved. Sera hopped with excitement when the rider lifted the smoky black visor and we saw that it was Cephalaea. Now that her charge was returning to school, she had resumed her regular duties.
"Are you happy to see your friends again?" I asked as we climbed into the vehicle. When Sera nodded vigorously, chattering about all her different playmates, I grinned. She was so enthusiastic.
The school was a fabulous recommendation from Poltens Sanator, the famous healer and a family friend. Healers worked closely with alchemists, and his own children were attending the same school. I wanted Sera to learn alchemy. I promised her father to apprentice her when she came of age - right after I reached my final majority of twenty-one. But before then, she needed to learn the basics like all alchemist children did. Anything we did together during her apprenticeship would be experimental, but I didn't want her to miss out on the traditions of her people just because she lived with magicians now.
"How did she take the news?" my uncle asked over Sera's head.
"I think she'll be fine," I replied. I had spent the evening with her, explaining that she was going to stay at the school every day instead of the normal three days a week. War preparations and combat practice weren't the best activities to hold around a little girl. And despite Castle Laurus being one of the safest places on the planet, that didn't mean she couldn't be hurt or traumatized. "I told her we would take turns visiting on weekends and the summer solstice."
"I may swing by on random weekdays," my uncle added. Two days a week, students were supposed to learn from their families. Poltens agreed to take her with him to learn from the alchemists in his healing compound. It made sense that when all of this revolution stuff was over, she would continue to do so.
"Yeah, me too. That way I won't miss her so much. Plus, we have these now, too," I said, pointing to a simple yet elegant crystal dangling from a gold chain around Sera's neck. I had a matching crystal woven into a flat leather bracelet on my wrist next to the tri-metal band I wore in honor of her father and his sacrifice. Many magicians wore jewelry to symbolize different events or people. Some even got tattoos, but we had to be careful about what we chose. Every mark, depending on where it was placed, could affect our magic. Jewelry was safer.
Armageddon studied the necklace's magic. "Communication and comfort? With a protection shield that responds to physical threats. Is that new?"
"Yeah. I've already patented it," I added. I had so many ideas that Mort, who was also my lawyer, assigned one of his junior attorneys to handle my account. There was a lot of paperwork and processing required for each invention, and I was always coming up with something. Any new variation or combination could lead to a new patent or trademark, but only if I could demonstrate the capabilities using the proper legalities. I knew enough about it all to work the system, but corporate law was complicated and as my father said, a wise CEO used an expert. Besides, they had to help negotiate contracts with other clans to support the manufacture of the items and I definitely didn't have time for that. Not now.
And since this was a separate company from Rector Enterprises, which had two more years left on the three-year freeze against new business, an attorney also had to prepare for the time when I could move all products to the main corporation.
"We should -"
"Already making some for the agents," I interrupted with a grin. "Except I altered it. No comfort needed. That left extra room for a spell that reflects magic back on the caster."
"But not on Sera's?"
"No, I was worried what an enemy may do to a small child if they felt they were in danger from an attack. They might not know it's a ricocheting spell. Hers will set off an unholy screech of an alarm, though. Mine, too, and it will pinpoint her location. I'll then transport straight to her."
"Good thinking," my uncle said with approval. "I assume there is a locator element to the agent-tuned crystals you're making?"
"Yeah. Not everyone can sense their partners." I sat back. We were about the drive through the castle gates, which meant the dreaded transfer was about to take place. "Although Peter is easy to find."
I slipped my hand into Sera's even though we wouldn't be able to feel each other in the nothingness. But then I tried an experiment. I generated a small ball of Light and pushed it gently into the crystal on my wrist. As I suspected, it split into two and the other half made Sera's necklace glow. I pushed more power into it and soon a golden aura surrounded the little girl.
A thump from the driver warned us we were about to transport to Madagascar where Sera's school was located. I took a breath and then held it.
No sight, no sound, no touch. Nothing. Except a ribbon of Light that I could feel around my wrist and the aura surrounding Sera, warming my hand as I held hers.
Then we were back in reality, halfway across the world. Outside the sun was just coming up. I had woken Sera at a specific time, evening in the Pacific Northwest, to prepare for her day at school, now morning in Madagascar.
The limo drove around a bend in the road, and there was her school. It consisted of several Roman-style buil
dings with pillars and stately edifices, and even statues of men and women in various poses. They were ancient marbles but had been restored by magician historians to look the way the artists originally designed them. That meant they were painted with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, and decorative clothing. It was so different from what I was used to seeing in museums, where they were all mostly just a plain off-white. It was stunning and a beautiful environment for Sera to learn.
There were extensive botanical gardens since it housed a healing school, and ponds here and there separated by cobbled pathways and tracks of deep emerald green grass. It was a shock the first time I had seen it. I didn't know what to expect, but a Roman paradise had not been it.
Armageddon exited first. He glanced around, making sure there were no telltale signs or traces of danger. Then I followed with Sera on my heels.
"Can I play too?" she asked. She had spotted several children climbing on a jungle gym to the side of the main building. A staffer standing on the steps ready to greet returning students heard her and gave us a nod.
"Sure," I said. "Uncle Ged and I will be right here if you need us."
She ran off. "You're doing a good job with her," Armageddon murmured. He watched as Sera let herself in through the little chain-link gate. She had been afraid to be without one of us within two feet after her father had died. Fortunately, things had settled down.
"She's such a great kid." We turned back, and I spotted Poltens Sanator in the distance coming out of the healer hall. "Is it okay with you that I speak to Poltens while you check Sera in?"
"Sure. If there's anything I'm good at, it's paperwork."
I laughed. He did spend a lot of time writing up mission reports and journal entries. "Thanks, Uncle Ged. I'll be quick."
◆◆◆
"It's so nice to see you again," I said as I shook hands with Poltens. "How was your holiday?"
"Wonderful. I think this year will be an eventful one." He shifted to the side as we walked down the marble steps to reach the garden nearest the playground. I spotted snap peas growing close to the chain-link fence, climbing and twisting and offering sweet tidbits to any of the children who were curious and wanted a healthy snack. My mother had massive flower gardens, but she always had room for vegetables, too. Some of my happiest memories from childhood were walking through the vegetable patch and eating snap peas and strawberries.
"That's what I thought, too," I agreed. Eostre was the time of year we could see many signs and portents. Most of us were just guessing, but seers like my aunt were more in tune with the universe on that day than any other and often spouted prophecies to anyone who dropped by to say hello. Peony had been particularly busy, and many of us received messages to be prepared for frantic activity.
Which made sense considering we were currently trying to save the world.
We stopped under a tree where we would still be visible to Sera if she looked for us. "My wife has a room ready for your apprentice," Poltens said. "I'm afraid it's not nearly as grand as the chambers she occupies at Castle Laurus."
"Nobody needs such a huge room," I scoffed. "Besides, sometimes having a cozy space is better than a monstrous cavern. I'm grateful to you both." I was going to miss her.
My eyes roamed over the playground. Sera was with a small group of children her size, waiting her turn on the seesaw. Poltens glanced her way and smiled.
"She's quite popular," he said. "Sera's in a small class with only nine students. But several of the students in the level above hers play with her at recess, and the older children dote on her. They had been informed that she was orphaned shortly before her arrival and they feel protective of her."
Memories of the many different schools I had attended flickered through my mind. Sera was fortunate that Poltens Sanator had made the recommendation for her to attend this school. They worked hard to teach acceptance and support along with their education.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Do you see that man over there?" he asked, pointing his chin towards a small building in the distance. The markings indicated it was an infirmary. There was a man shuffling to a bench, too far away to discern his features. "He was injured during a healing. His patient was a close associate of the Taine clan, although that connection wasn't known to us at the time. There was a backlash, purposefully set."
"An attack?" Healing could be dangerous, but a deliberate move against a healer was of grave concern.
"He's the third in the last month."
My eyes flew to his. In an instant, we were no longer just friends discussing Sera's progress. He was the head healer speaking to an agent of the Irregulars, reporting in aberrant behavior. "I see," I responded. "I'll speak with Armageddon."
"Our healers have been reporting for months that they sense something dangerous on the fringes. It has been nebulous at best. Now we have events we can point to and report. But it's not just our healers. Our alchemist brothers and sisters have been under the same cloud. Nothing concrete has happened with them, but considering the similarities, I feel justified in reporting it."
"You did the right thing. And please feel free to approach me about anything, even something you can't quite put your finger on. The Irregulars specialize in sorting out that kind of thing," I assured him. Although we hadn't spoken openly about the impending war - a time of revolutions, modeled after the American and French revolutions when dark magicians made their last power play - Poltens was a frequent visitor at the castle and close enough friend that he had a sense of it. "I wouldn't be surprised to find this is a tactic."
"Erode away at the edges. Attack the weak and marginalized. Demonize those who can't fight back."
"Exactly," I replied. I wasn't the only one who had paid attention in history class. "I would be interested to hear anything you have."
"We have seen these issues before, although not at this scale. I will ask those involved to write up their suspicions and incident reports and bring them to you."
"Thank you, sir. If my uncle or Mort arrive for a visit with Sera, you may pass the information to them as well. I'll make sure they know to expect it. That way it looks like just another visit."
Poltens nodded his understanding. Covert communication would be best.
We spent several more minutes discussing Sera's new accommodations. I asked to swing by their home before I left. I wanted to thank Poltens Sanator's wife for opening her home and helping us keep Sera away from the line of fire.
After he returned to his duties, I continued to watch over Sera, my mind occupied with thoughts about the people on the fringes of magical society. I couldn't shake the sense that they needed more of our attention. I would have to discuss that with my uncle. He had asked to come with me on my visit to Rector Enterprises the next day. That would be a good time to speak with my employees and see if they had been experiencing the same vague rumblings. Or outright attacks.
It occurred to me that Poltens was an asset. I hadn't set out with deliberation to cultivate him, but we had developed a relationship of mutual trust and respect. He wouldn't be in danger because of our association - at least, not any more than he normally was. I felt better about that than any of my previous attempts at developing an asset. He wanted to help and wasn't likely to get killed for it. The last thing I wanted was to be responsible for another man's death.
Shaking off my reflective mood, I said my goodbyes to Sera as I toured her new accommodations as promised. Then I returned to the steps of the main building to meet my uncle. It looked like the paperwork was done and he was visiting with the staff. He was one of the most famous magicians in the world, but always made sure he took time to speak with the people around him. Notice the peripheral. It was what made him a good agent. And a good man.
I could learn a lot from him.
CHAPTER NINE
Oversight
"So I think I should tour the alchemist building," I said, concluding my report to Armageddon about my conversation with Poltens.
"I visit every time I'm at Rector Enterprises," I said. "I'm not as close to the staff there as I am to Iuvo and Caeli," I added, naming the floor manager and plant manager at our main facility. "But I've known them my whole life."
"Make sure you are respectful and don't come across as more familiar than your current relationship would warrant. I know you care about the people who work for you, but often the marginalized in our society feel used by those who pretend to a relationship that does not exist."
Wise words. "I understand. I mean, I always say hi and ask about their families, but I get it. The more I get to know Sera, the more familiar I am with alchemist culture and issues. It makes me feel closer to them than ever before, and that can come across as fake to people who don't know me well."
"You're doing a good job," he said. He was sitting across from me, legs crossed and relaxed. But there was a look in his eye that brought tears to my own. Sometimes, in a rare moment when we were together, my father looked at me that way. As if I was something more than he could have ever hoped.
"Thanks," I squeaked before taking a sip of soda. It was a great excuse to pause and allow myself time to recover my emotions. "I have so much going on all the time. I get worried that I'll mess up or forget something and then everything will fall apart." It was something that occasionally kept me up in the early morning hours when I was supposed to be sleeping.
