by Lisa Cassidy
While the lack of results should have made them relieved, it left them the opposite. They didn’t dare meet privately too often, and when they did, they kept their discussions short. All were anxious, restless with the need to do something—anything—to deal with the fact Shakar might be out there.
“What more can we do?” Tarrick reminded them one night over dinner at the A’ndreas home. “Brynn is out there searching for evidence and Ladan is tracking down Terin. We can’t risk going near Casovar again in the short term.”
“Maybe one of us should go to the council anyway,” Dawn suggested. “We might be assuming incorrectly that they won’t believe us. Aren’t we being irresponsible by not doing more?”
“Irresponsible is walking away from the whole mess,” Tarrick muttered. He hadn’t taken news of Cario’s departure well. Of all of them, Tarrick’s sense of honour was most deeply offended by Cario’s decision.
“Maybe you’re right, sis,” Finn said. “Tarrick, you could go. You’re a Tylender. Maybe they’d listen to you?”
“Casovar would question why Tarrick has suddenly left,” Alyx pointed out. “But Dawn is right. Why don’t we give Brynn a few more days to find something, and if he has no luck, we ask him to go? His word might carry more weight than ours.”
“Two days,” Tarrick said firmly. “I don’t want to wait any longer.”
So they continued working under Casovar’s scrutiny—always in the back of their minds the knowledge that if their mental shields failed at the wrong moment, even a single lapse in concentration, he could know everything.
Casovar kept to his initial promise that he would keep Tarrick and the twins in Alistriem to spend time on their training—the single positive amongst all the anxiousness. It was impossible to know what his real motivation was, equally impossible to tell how much, if at all, he suspected them of being involved in the break in at his home. Dawn claimed his thoughts were locked up tight, and neither she nor Alyx had enough confidence in their telepathic skill to try and read his thoughts without detection.
“The only mage I’ve come across with such an impenetrable shield is Romas, and now you, Alyx,” her friend confided one night as they sat in one of the palace gardens together. Finn and Tarrick had gone to get some sparring training in with Dashan and his Bluecoats. Alyx had begged off, claiming that she didn’t dare risk word getting to Casovar that she was capable with a staff, and Dawn was exhausted after a particularly intense session with Casovar earlier in the day.
“Me?” Alyx asked, startled.
“Yes.” She chuckled in amusement. “It’s like you’re hiding the secret code to open a chest full of gold or something the way you clamp down on your thoughts.”
Her friend was joking, but it was impossible to share her amusement. She was hiding so many secrets—it was exhausting, both the effort it took to maintain the shield and the guilt that swamped her along with it.
“The training sessions with him are dangerous,” Dawn continued, oblivious to Alyx’s turmoil. “He works us to exhaustion, which makes it difficult to maintain a shield.”
“At least if nothing else we’ll all be experts at shielding by the time we get back to DarkSkull,” Alyx said dryly. “Howell will be impressed.”
Dawn looked startled at her words. “You want to go back to DarkSkull?”
“Do we have a choice?” Alyx lifted her eyebrows. “Once Casovar is out of Rionn and Astor is back to being lord-mage, we have to finish our training. Unless like Cario you want to stay out of the fight against Shakar?”
“I do, actually.” Dawn’s face turned bleak. “When I think about what we’ve learned from the time when Shakar was fighting the council... so many mages died. That could be us. It will be people we know and love.”
“Maybe we can prevent a war,” Alyx said, trying not to shiver. “If we neutralise Casovar, and the council can act to remove Shakar before he does any damage.”
“Maybe,” Dawn said, but she didn’t sound any more convinced than Alyx was.
A comfortable silence fell as they settled back and watched a cloud of fireflies zooming through the night sky around them. It was relaxing, and some of the knot of tension inside her begin to uncoil.
“I was surprised when we got your letter,” Dawn spoke eventually.
Alyx knew instantly what she meant. “Agreeing to marry Cayr was the right thing in the circumstances. I just wish it had come up two years ago, when I actually wanted it.”
“I have to admit it’s rather surreal to be having this conversation with you.” Dawn gave a little smile. “You pined over Cayr for so long. But you wouldn’t have necessarily had much choice in marrying, right? At least you and Cayr are good friends.”
“All that is true,” Alyx agreed. “And I think I would have been fine with it, happy even, if I hadn’t already...” She stopped herself, shaking her head when Dawn looked puzzled. “I’m being self-pitying and maudlin, and I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right, I’m luckier than I could have expected to be.”
Dawn’s arm crept around her. “As long as you know I’ll be here if ever you’re willing to admit you’re not fine.”
Two weeks after the break-in at Casovar’s home, Alyx, Cayr and her father attended a formal dinner with the king and several other senior lords. Now that they were officially betrothed, Alyx sat with Cayr rather than her father, although he was still directly across the table from her.
Casovar sat beside him, and Sparky and Dashan’s father were there too, along with Jenna and Dashan’s older brother. The lower half of the table was similarly filled with lords and their wives all familiar to Alyx.
Conversation flowed easily. Though there were faint shadows under his eyes, the king was in a good mood, and the wine and food flowed freely. Earlier discussion had centred around Cayr’s betrothal—still considered big news amongst the court—and Alyx had done her best to smile and blush and appear like a young woman thrilled with marrying the prince.
Fortunately, the conversation had eventually moved on, freeing her from their attention. Her glance fell on Casovar, considering. Brynn had left a few days earlier for Tregaya after having no luck in Alistriem finding proof of Casovar’s connection to Shakar.
None of them held out much hope that the council would believe them without proof, but all agreed they couldn’t wait any longer without doing something.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Dashan’s brother spoke into a lull in the conversation, asking Casovar if he’d made any progress on finding out who had broken into his home.
“None at all, I’m afraid.” Casovar put down his napkin. “I have no doubt that I will eventually find the perpetrators, but it is proving more difficult than I expected.”
“An unfortunate affair.” The king frowned. “And unprecedented. The City Guard does an excellent job keeping the crime level in the city down, and I can’t remember the last time a lord’s home was broken into.”
“Lord Egalion suggested that the motive may have been personal,” Casovar said smoothly. “He could be right.”
“Indeed. There haven’t been any other break-ins since,” Garan said.
“When you catch them, they’ll experience the full weight of my justice,” Darien promised.
Cayr shifted at Alyx’s side, and she reached out to discreetly touch his hand. He gave a slight nod and settled.
“It shouldn’t be too much longer, Your Highness.” Casovar settled his pale grey eyes on Alyx. “Not much longer at all.”
He knew.
The words screamed through her mind, the ice-cold certainty of them settling in her chest like a stone. It took everything she had to smile lightly at him, then pick up her wine glass and take a casual sip.
“Lord-Mage, has Lord Dunkeld received any further information on the unrest in Shivasa?” Tirian Caverlock asked, unknowingly saving Alyx by breaking Casovar’s gaze. The lord-mage turned away and replied, but she didn’t hear what he’d said over the sound of her thundering heart.
He knew.
Her stomach was still twisted in knots by the time dinner was over, and she’d had to force herself to keep eating, not wanting to betray to Casovar that anything was amiss.
Afterwards, she and Cayr took a walk in the moonlit gardens. It was a warm evening, the moon bright and full above them, but it was impossible to enjoy the beauty surrounding her.
It didn’t take Cayr long to pick up on her mood. “What’s wrong?”
She glanced around, ensuring they were alone. “I think he knows it was me who broke into his house.”
“What makes you think that? You said nobody saw you that survived.”
“Just now at dinner... the way he looked at me.” A chill went through her just thinking about it. “He knows, Cayr. I’m not sure how much he knows, or whether he has any proof, but he knows.”
“All right, take a breath,” he soothed, running his hands along her arms. “You’re tense and on edge. All of us are. If Casovar knew, he would have acted by now.”
“Maybe,” she muttered. “Or maybe he just doesn’t have proof.”
“Even if you’re right, then without proof he can’t do anything,” Cayr said.
Alyx stepped away, unable to stand still. “We can’t keep this up much longer. Eventually he’ll sense something in one of our thoughts, and if he knows it was me, he can find—or manufacture—the proof he needs. It’s a matter of time.”
“You’re not to worry about me,” Cayr said, the force in his voice taking her by surprise. He stood straight shouldered before her, the determination of his features making him look older than his nineteen years. This was the future king of Rionn talking to her. “I will make Casovar see me as nothing more than a silly prince too in love to think straight. I won’t give him a reason to suspect me. I promise you.”
Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “Thank you. Cayr, I... ”
“What is it?”
“You are going to make a fine king. A better one than your father, I think.”
He seemed stunned by her words, how confidently she’d spoken them. After a moment he cleared his throat. “I hope so.”
“I know so.” She smiled sadly. “You should go before someone comes looking for us. Technically we should have a chaperone.”
“All right.” He hugged her briefly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night.”
Worry clawed at her as she watched him walking away. Resolutely, she pushed it away, refusing to allow herself to have doubts. Everything was going to be fine.
Chapter 29
Once again, he wasn’t trying to hurt her. She fought, as always, more from stubbornness now than anything else, but it was to no avail.
“We want the same things, Alyx Egalion.”
She closed her mind off, refusing to acknowledge him.
A light chuckle. “Your determination is impressive, but we both know I can see through you. The council is twisted and corrupt. You know that as well as I do. I just want to see them gone. Don’t you?”
Her sleeping body curled in on itself, hands clutching at the bedsheets. She didn’t want to listen to this, fought to keep herself apart from him.
“We’re the same, you and I. We want the same things. The Mage Council should be destroyed.”
“We are not the same!” The response was instinctive, out before she could stop herself. But even before the words had left her mouth, her heart started thudding. Destroying the Mage Council. She’d heard that recently—talking with Tarrick and the others after they’d come back, after they’d gotten through telling her that they thought Shakar was alive...
Shakar.
The darkmage who’d burned for the destruction of the council in the same way this man haunting her nightmares did. Shakar—the extraordinarily powerful mage of the higher order who had possessed the ability to create nightmares. Howell had been so close to realising. Her stomach heaved and her shock and horror were so powerful they were almost enough to send her flying out of the nightmare. His magic caught her though, inexorably dragging her back—and she barely noticed. Even in a dream it was a struggle to catch her breath, to process what she now knew to be true. No, no, no. Fear flooded her, dark and overwhelming.
“Shakar... ” the word leaked from her mind unbidden.
It had to be. Who else could have the power she felt every time she was dragged into his dream? He was alive, and he’d been the one haunting her nightmares, talking to her. His delight curled through the dream at her realisation.
“I was starting to wonder when you’d figure it out.”
She was wrenched away then, the vision of a battlefield flashing before her eyes. It was blurry, unclear, but Tarrick was there, along with Cario and the twins. A blast of magic exploded right where they were standing, and Alyx watched in slow-motion as they were destroyed in front of her.
“That doesn’t have to be their fate,” A crooning whisper, almost pleading. “You don’t have to stand against me. We could take the council down together.”
She twisted away from him, fighting, clawing, to no avail. All rationality had left her. This was animal fear making her desperate to get away, to escape him. But while he was no longer trying to hurt her, his magic gripped hers with insulting ease.
“With me, you would be allowed your Taliath lover,” he whispered, triumph infusing his thoughts. “If the council was gone, he would be safe. You could have him.”
“No.”
“It’s what you want.”
“No!” she screamed, coming awake and sitting bolt upright. Her breath came in shuddering gasps as she tried to re-orient herself to the waking world. The moon above was bright, illuminating the plains surrounding the small town Casovar had sent them to. The cluster of roofs and fields were just visible in the distance, and Tarrick’s sleeping form lay a short distance off. A soft night breeze played with tendrils of her hair.
She tossed off her blanket and stood, the adrenalin flooding her body leaving her unable to sit still. The tall grass of the plains brushed by her legs as she walked up a small hill, stopping at the summit. At the top she began pacing, her body alternately chilled and too warm. Her hands trembled. She tried focusing on the view as a distraction—she could see out over the west coast of Rionn, and south and east to the grassed plains surrounding her—but it didn’t work for long.
Finally, after all this time, she knew the source of her nightmares.
Shakar.
And he wanted her to join with him.
She shivered again as the sweat began drying on her skin. The nights were cooler, and they would only grow colder as they settled deeper into autumn. She and Tarrick were not far from the large village town of Reside. Casovar had sent them there, claiming reports from the Mage Guard that the Shiven had a safe house for their spies in the town. He wanted Tarrick and Alyx to investigate.
After two days of following up on the scant details contained in the Mage Guard report, they’d found no evidence of Shiven spies or a safe house, and were now on their way back to Alistriem.
The whole thing had increased Alyx’s anxiousness to extreme levels. Had there truly been reports of a safe house, or had Casovar wanted them out of the city for some reason? Tarrick, who often trusted Alyx’s instincts even more than she did, was equally worried. Neither of them had wanted to leave the city, but there had been no way to avoid it.
Shakar.
Alyx shuddered. Her thoughts were going around and around, trying to avoid the mere reference to what she’d realised.
“Alyx?”
She stopped her incessant pacing—Tarrick was climbing the rise towards her. “Sorry, did I wake you?”
“I noticed you weren’t sleeping and wanted to make sure you were okay.” He stopped a short distance away. “Something is wrong. Another nightmare?”
“He wanted to talk to me again.” She swallowed. “There’s something else.”
Tarrick’s eyes went wide with shock as she told him. “That’s... I
don’t even have words for it. And he wants you to join him?”
“He says the council is corrupt and needs destroying, and he can see enough in my head to know that I’m not a big fan of the council either.”
“Anything else?”
Alyx looked away and shook her head, hating lying to him. But if she mentioned what Shakar had promised her, that destroying the council would keep Taliath safe... she dreaded Tarrick looking at her like she was the enemy, like she might be tempted by that offer. And she wasn’t. Would never be. Alyx slammed shut the tiny part of herself that tried to reason that maybe... No.
She expected fiery words and a promise to protect her always, so she was surprised when he walked over and pulled her gently into a hug. “Can I do anything to help right now?”
“I’m fine. Go back to sleep. It’s not long till dawn, and I won’t be able to go to sleep, so I think I might just keep watch.”
He squeezed her arm reassuringly before heading back down the hill. Alyx remained where she was, staring out into the night and trying not to think of anything.
A short distance away, one of the horses snorted, possibly irritated by one of the night insects. She glanced down at them, but they quieted soon after. A moment later, a familiar mind brushed across her thoughts—a sense of urgency—then it was gone.
The only telepath that was close enough to be familiar to her was Dawn, and Alyx immediately closed her eyes and focused, drawing upon her magic. When the faint tendril of thought tickled her mind again, Alyx grabbed hold of it with her magic and used more power to bolster the link. Her reserve started to drain quickly; she wasn’t as powerful a telepath as Dawn.
“Alyx?” The voice was faint with distance.
“Dawn, what is it? Hurry, I’m about to lose hold of you.”
“Dashan…” The voice broke off, then came back. “He’s been arrested… Casovar’s men.”
