Catalyst Moon: Breach (Catalyst Moon Saga Book 2)

by Lauren L. Garcia

  Kali nodded. “She does, eventually. But Tor went first, to avenge his soul-bonded after the Laughing God raped her.”

  Now Sadira sat upright, her blue eyes flashing with ire. “No. That is wrong. Amara was never… harmed by the Laughing God.”

  Though the hearth before them had burned to embers, flames suddenly roared to life and the air around the women grew almost unbearably hot. Beads of sweat rolled down Kali’s back and she gaped at her fellow mage. “Are you doing that?”

  “Forgive me.” Sadira’s mouth pressed to a thin line. As abruptly as they had appeared, the flames died and the heat faded, leaving Kali cool and shivering.

  “But how?” Kali asked. “You’re wearing hematite.”

  Sadira nodded to the book. “Go on.”

  “But how did you–”

  The other woman’s hands tightened into fists in her lap, although her voice was neutral. “Do not trouble yourself with me. Please,” she added, softer. “The less you know of my magic, the better. Please, Kali. Let it go.”

  Kali stared at her a moment more, then looked back at the book, skimming until she found one of her favorite sections. “Tor’s conviction was as strong as his blade; his eyes burned with gold flame and he stepped forward until the darkness consumed him, utterly. And he was lost….”

  She trailed off again, staring at the words. “His eyes burned,” she whispered. Like the creatures that hunted Stonewall and I?

  But glowing eyes were a poetic, vivid image that fit the tone of this myth; surely there was no link between a glimmer story and the monsters she and Stonewall had encountered on their journey to Whitewater City.

  But what if there was a connection? How could it be possible… and what would it mean?

  A soft touch at her arm made her look into Sadira’s concerned face. “Kali, what is it? You look…” She considered and then shook her head. “I do not know the Aredian word, but in Zhee, we would say you were taarhidh’ev. Your gaze is on the stars, yet you dwell upon the earth.”

  Despite her strange inklings, Kali had to smile at the word. “I think the Aredian term would be ‘woolgathering.’ I do it quite a lot.”

  “Woolgathering,” Sadira repeated, though she wrinkled her nose. “But are you well?”

  How in the stars could she explain her idea? Well, it wasn’t even an idea, merely a random thought. “My knee still hurts,” Kali admitted. “But it's fine. I'm fine.”

  Sadira glanced in the direction of the tables, where more and more mages had congregated. “Perhaps we should stop for the day. It’s nearly suppertime.”

  The air around them was still too chilly. Still shivering, Kali rose with some difficulty from the padded bench. “I’m going to fetch a warmer tunic, but I'll meet you back here, all right?”

  “Shall I save you a seat?” Sadira asked, a note of trepidation in her words.

  Kali smiled at her. “Aye, as usual.”

  The Zhee mage returned the look, even as the air around her began to warm once more.

  Kali slipped out of the common room and hurried to her small room in the dormitories. It took her a few minutes to find a suitably warm—and clean—tunic amid the clothes, books, and other oddments she'd collected since arriving here. Most of the clothes were gifts from other mages, since Kali's belongings had been lost on her journey from Starwatch, but the rest of the clutter… well, she was something of a magpie.

  Her viol, though, rested safely in its case, intact, save for the strings. She spared one moment to examine the instrument, checking to make sure her magical repairs were holding, then locked her door and stepped into the hallway that would lead back to the mage's common area.

  “Kali?”

  She whirled at the familiar voice. “Eris!”

  Her friend stood with a dark-skinned man, just a few paces away, presumably also on their way to supper. Eris looked much the same as the lanky, pale girl of Kali's memory, though her hair was longer – damp, unbound and falling to her ribcage. She wore a high-necked crimson tunic, her cheeks were hollow, and there were deep shadows beneath her green eyes. The male mage had dark skin and his black hair was coiled into tight strands lashed together with a strip of leather.

  The women regarded each other before Kali rushed forward, though she paused an arm's length away. Even when in a good mood, Eris had never been one for open displays of affection; there was no telling how she'd be after two weeks in the garrison's detention area.

  “How… how are you?” Kali asked.

  “I'm…” Eris exchanged glances with the man beside her, who squeezed her hand. “I'm here,” she finished. “So are you, I see. How long have you been at Whitewater?”

  “About a fortnight.” Kali hesitated. “I arrived the day you… err… left.”

  “After Gid and I were arrested and thrown in hematite cells, you mean?”

  Kali flushed “Aye. The First Mage told me you tried to escape.”

  “Well, Foley had the truth of that, at least,” Eris replied. “What else did he tell you?”

  “Not very much,” Kali admitted. “After I arrived, I think everyone was still in disarray from your arrest. I asked about you, he returned my viol and took note of my abilities for missions. After all that, he said you'd been arrested for trying to escape the bastion. I haven't spoken to him much since.”

  “You should keep doing that.” The male mage hugged Eris' shoulders. “Foley Clementa is not to be trusted.”

  “Hush, Gid,” Eris said, glancing around the corridor. “Not here. Not now. Unless you want Talon to give you one of these things as well.”

  Gid glared in the direction of the garrison. “Let them sodding try. Perhaps I can’t fly away like you, but I bet I could leave a mark.”

  “Shut up,” Eris hissed.

  “What do you mean?” Kali asked her friend. “What did Talon give you?” Eris tugged at the tunic to reveal a thick leather collar around her neck. Kali sucked in a breath. “Oh, Eris…”

  Eris touched the collar before covering it once more, though the outline was still visible beneath the fabric. “It's got strips of hematite fixed on the inside, and a hematite clasp that they fused with more hematite. I can't so much as imagine a particle, let alone do anything with them. Clever, isn't it?”

  Clever… and horrific. Kali’s stomach flipped and she could inject no levity into her voice. “No hope of cutting through the wretched thing, I suppose?”

  Eris shook her head. “Even if we did, Talon made it clear what will happen if I’m seen without it.”

  “Those sodding shits,” the male mage growled. “They'll regret it, love. I swear to you; I'll make the bastards regret it.”

  Eris lowered her chin briefly before looking back at Kali. “This is my husband, Gideon Echina. Gid, this is the friend I was writing to: Kalinda Halcyon. Kali and I grew up together at Starwatch.”

  “The bastion wasn’t the same after you left,” Kali said. At Eris’ inquiring look, Kali grinned. “It was so much quieter.”

  “It must have been quiet without someone for you to pester,” Eris replied, though there was only warmth in her teasing.

  Kali laughed and gave Gideon a short, informal bow. “Eris told me quite a bit about you.”

  As quickly as his foul mood had come on, it seemed to dissipate, and Gideon nudged Eris' side. “Only good things, I hope?”

  “Of course,” Kali replied, winking at her friend.

  Eris rolled her eyes and Kali caught a glimpse of the girl she'd known all those years ago.

  “A friend of my wife's is a friend of mine,” Gideon said. “Have you eaten, Kali? We wanted to get cleaned up before we saw everyone, but I think it's still suppertime.”

  In response, Kali's stomach snarled and she chuckled. “Aye, I could eat.”

  As the trio made their way through the corridors back to the dining hall, Eris cast a speculative look at Kali's knee. “You're still limping. Has Sadira not been able to
help?”

  “She's… working on it,” Kali replied. “With her help, the pain's not as bad as it's been in the past. She thinks she can maybe ease the worst of it with time, but she can't completely heal me.”

  “That's a shame. It's bothered you as long as I've known you.”

  Kali shrugged. “Aye. A good thing I'm used to it.”

  Gideon looked at her knee as well, his dark eyes appraising. “Hmm. Perhaps I can help. I've a talent for fashioning metal,” he added at her curious look. “If I can make a false hand for Foley, I'm sure I can figure out something for your knee.”

  “You made his… hook?” Kali tried not to shudder, and failed.

  His mouth twisted in a grim smile. “Aye, poor bastard. Can’t say I like the fellow, but he is one of us – barely. And besides, we're lucky his fate wasn't ours.”

  “It still could be,” Eris replied sharply, rubbing her right wrist, which bore her mage mark—twin crescent moons, back-to-back—and the elaborate star that branded her as a second tier. Had she been born without magic, Eris would have led quite a comfortable life. But Kali, whose earliest memories were of Starwatch Bastion, bore no tier mark.

  When they entered the common area, all conversation ceased and every head turned their way. Twenty-six mages lived at Whitewater Bastion; aside from a few that were out on a healing mission, all were present. Nearly two dozen pairs of eyes landed upon the newcomers and silence fell across the room.

  “There you are,” came a female voice from the kitchens. A short, fair-haired mage in her mid-forties leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over her apron and flour dusting her plump cheeks. “The Echinas… late, as usual.”

  Gideon swept into a low bow. “Forgive us, Serla Talar. We were enjoying the comforts of the sentinel garrison, and lost all track of time.”

  The silence that had filled the room fractured into uneasy laughter and several mages rose to greet the newcomers. Gideon and Eris were soon surrounded, clasping hands and offering reassurances. As before, no one so much as looked at Kali. She caught her friend's eye and jerked her thumb to the table where Sadira sat alone. Eris nodded once and turned back to the others.

  At Kali's approach, Sadira pushed over a plate of food: dark bread, roasted squash and thick, buttery mushrooms. “I wondered how long the commander would keep her locked away,” the Zhee mage said after Kali thanked her and began to eat. “How did she seem?”

  Kali considered the bread in her hand without really seeing it. “Much as I remember, though it's been a few years.”

  Sadira looked at the cluster of mages that had gathered around the couple and touched the torc around her neck. “She's wearing a collar beneath her tunic. That means the sentinels don't want her doing magic at all.”

  “Is that why you…?” Kali trailed off at a warning look from the other mage. Right. Time to change the subject. She pretended to be only interested in buttering a slice of bread. “What sort of magic did Eris do to escape?”

  “I'm not certain.” Sadira toyed with her fork, then placed her hands in her lap and sat very still, chin tilted slightly down; she seemed to shrink in on herself. “But it doesn't matter. Eris' collar is for the best. Magic is dangerous. She must remember that. We all must.”

  Kali nearly dropped her bread and abandoned all pretense of changing the subject. “Sadira, you must tell me–”

  “I must do nothing.” Sadira collected her plate and stood. “I’m feeling tired. I shall welcome her and Gideon back tomorrow.”

  “Very well,” Kali said, but Sadira had already gone, slipping past the other mages and out of the common room. Kali watched her go, but without a tangible tether to her current reality, without something substantial to occupy her mind, her thoughts drifted loose again and wandered, inevitably, back to him.

  “No matter what happens, I'll let you know if I'm to be sent back to Starwatch.”

  She could still feel Stonewall’s arms around her; still smell his leather armor and the faint, metallic tinge of hematite that clung to all sentinels. She could still taste his lips on hers. Two weeks with no word. Had he broken his oath?

  “I will find you again, Kalinda Halcyon. Even if all I have to say is goodbye.”

  Don't be foolish, she told herself as she ripped off a piece of bread. He meant every word.

  And even if he'd not meant any of what he'd said, it didn't matter. Though the days she'd spent with him had been harrowing, they'd been few in number. She'd not known him long enough to truly feel anything other than physical attraction. Her worry was silly and irrational, and she would do well to put it behind her and focus on the present rather than the past or the uncertain future.

  Besides, caring for a sentinel would bring nothing but sorrow.

  The bench she sat upon shifted as Eris and her husband settled beside Kali, plates piled high. They were not alone. Adrie Talar, who ruled the kitchens, sat across from Eris, while Cai and Marcen took their seats as well, Cai sitting beside Gideon while Marcen sat across from him.

  Startled, Kali glanced around to see if any others were coming. But the rest of the crowd had dispersed to other tables, though more than a few glances were cast back at the Echinas and their companions. Kali turned back to her food, though she had no interest in any of it. The other mages had probably just followed Eris and Gideon here. Should she stay? Well, it would look odd if she got up and moved to another table, so she tried to act unaffected.

  “It's ridiculous,” Gideon was saying as he speared a hunk of mushroom with his fork. “Collaring her like some beast.”

  “How’d you make it back here without one?” Cai asked.

  Gideon shook his head. “Apparently, I’m not, err… gifted enough to worry the hemies.” The others nodded in understanding as Gideon added, “But any way you shake it, the collar is an abomination. They can't possibly think we'll allow it.”

  Marcen scanned the room, his slender shoulders hunched. “You should watch what you say, Gid. Foley's right over there–”

  “The First Mage can lick my magical ass,” Gideon broke in. “Hemie-loving sod was probably delighted to have us out of his beard for a fortnight. I'll wager he danced a jig after they dragged us off.”

  “Aye, maybe so,” Adrie replied, glancing at the First Mage, seated with an older woman across the room. “But I'd not risk him overhearing that kind of talk.”

  Gideon scowled, but Eris placed a hand on his forearm. “Leave it for now.”

  He regarded her, eyes darting between her neck and face, before he let out a deep, weary sigh. “For now.”

  Cai's dark eyes flashed with ire. “How did they treat you otherwise?”

  Eris did not reply immediately as she sipped from her mug of water. Only because Kali was so close to her friend did she notice how Eris’ hand trembled. “They didn't,” Eris replied at last. “They threw us in our respective cells and left. Someone brought food and water, and changed the chamber pot while I slept, but we were each alone for a fortnight.”

  “I should have shat all over the floor,” Gideon muttered. “Just to make their lives that much harder.”

  “Aye, that would've taught them a lesson,” Eris replied dryly.

  A ripple of laughter broke over the mages. Kali smiled, but could not find it within herself to chuckle. Had Stonewall been tasked with those things? Had he helped keep her friend captive?

  “I don't want to talk about this any longer,” Eris said. “Kali, I heard you had some trouble with Canderi raiders on the trip here. What happened?”

  Kali glanced up from her plate to see the others regarding her as if they'd only just noticed she was there. So now they were interested in what she had to say. She tried not to indulge her irritation as she spoke. “Three days after leaving Starwatch Bastion, my carriage was attacked by the blue-eyed warriors.” She paused in recollection of the vicious, inhuman screams the raiders emanated. “They were… strange.”

  Eris frowned. “Strang
e, how?”

  “They looked like men and women, but were far stronger and faster than any human,” Kali said slowly. “They killed the squad escorting me… save one.”

  Marcen's pale brows shot to his hairline. All traces of his earlier reluctance to speak to her were gone and his blue eyes were round as he studied Kali. “An entire squad?”

  “I heard similar stories on my last mission,” Adrie said before Kali could reply. “The common folk have started calling the creatures 'thralls,' and are convinced they're demons prowling the countryside, wearing the skins of men and women as you or I would slip into a coat.”

  “More of these 'thralls' have been sighted?” Kali asked, sitting up.

  “According to the merchants I overheard,” Adrie replied.

  Gideon rolled his eyes. “Dregs will believe anything.”

  “Aye, including the nonsense that our blood has healing properties,” Cai muttered. “How sodding morbid is that?”

  The others echoed similar disgruntled sentiments, but Kali's throat went dry and she shuddered at the memory of the creatures with star-bright eyes. Those thralls were not even animals. From what she'd seen, there was no fear within them, only a desire to kill. There was little chance that non-mages or civilians could face thralls in battle and survive.

  But she and Stonewall had survived, in part due to his fighting skills, but in part due to her magic. Kali, whose every step ached, had not been helpless against those monstrous things. A strange notion, indeed. Could she fight them again?

  “Well, whatever they are,” Cai was saying, “they've been keeping the hemies busy.”

  “What do you mean?” Eris asked.

  Cai's brown eyes seemed to glitter as he leaned forward. “Ah, that's right. You won't have heard. Talon's been sending one squad after another into the province to chase after these 'thralls.'”

  Gid frowned. “Why not send soldiers? Why send sentinels?”

  “I think the queen has sent soldiers, too,” Cai said. “But no one knows what to make of the thralls; if there's magic involved or not.”

  “It's meant fewer bastion patrols,” Adrie added pointedly.