Arcane Enchantment (Unbreakable Force Book 2)

by Kara Jaynes

  Luna pushed the file over to him, brushing some wayward strands of graying hair out of her face. “This contains everything we were able to discover about the sky jewel.”

  “Thank you.” Aaric looked down at it. The file was smaller than he had anticipated, but even if it contained more than the scant bits he had read in his father's notes and what Oisin had told him, he'd be farther ahead than where he was now. He opened the file and began to read.

  19

  Adaryn

  I woke to the sound of voices. Keeping my head still, I glanced up through the trees. Night had fallen. I needed to get back; Aaric would be worried sick.

  The voices came closer. They sounded hushed, and were quiet enough that I couldn't make out what they were saying. I saw some dark figures move by, several paces away. They didn't see me, and within moments were gone. I stood, and quietly made my way after them. Despite having wandered throughout the garden earlier, I couldn't remember which way was out. Everything looked different at night. Perhaps the people ahead would be able to show me the way.

  The garden was filled with the scent of night flowers and the sound of nightingales. If I wasn't in such a hurry to leave I would have preferred to stop and walk at my leisure. I kept thinking of Aaric though and that spurred me on. I could only imagine how upset he must be.

  After several minutes of walking, I frowned, frustrated. The cloaked strangers moved quicker than I had thought, and I couldn't find them. I looked over to my side, and saw a tall brick wall, overrun with ivy. I hurried over to it and started climbing, hoping the height would help me find my bearings.

  I looked down on the other side, and saw a tall man strolling through the garden, clad in a white, hooded robe. He was alone. I was thinking he looked familiar when he stopped walking, turning his head to peer upward in my direction. I frowned. I’d been silent. Did he know I was hidden up here?

  I didn’t have time to dwell on the matter. Several dark clad figures burst out of the foliage, surrounding him. They were armed, and began advancing on him. “Surrender, Matias, and you won't be harmed,” one of the black-cloaked figures said. He raised a sword.

  It was a tactic often used in Ruis. The Oppressors would surround the outnumbered nomad and close in.

  I didn't think before reacting to the scene below me. I leapt from the top of the wall, landing next to the ambushed man. Pain shot up my leg but I pushed it away. I needed to help this man. The king, I thought distractedly. I summoned magic and held two glowing orbs of blue fire in my hands, ignoring the gasps of surprise from Matias' attackers. I lunged at the man holding the sword and he moved back, clearly reluctant to fight me.

  “He was supposed to be alone!” one of the others cried out.

  In one swift, silent movement, Matias moved past me and, dodging the sword, broke the man's neck using only his hands. I cringed, hearing the snap of bone. Just as quickly, the other attackers melted into the shadows and were gone.

  I blinked, staring down at the dead man. His sword had been useless. Events moved so suddenly. I glanced up at Matias, suddenly feeling unsure of my safety, but the man merely looked down at me. His white hood was thrown back, exposing his face. In the firelight I still held, I was able to get a good look at him. He looked to be maybe middle-aged. His skin was pale, his hair jet-black, ending a little below his shoulders. He had a long, straight nose and firm chin. His eyes were an intense blue, as blue as my own. He smiled, stepping closer.

  “And to whom do I owe my thanks?” He had a deep, almost musical voice. “You came hurtling out of nowhere, your claws bared like a sand cat.” He laughed, clearly amused.

  “Adaryn.” My name came out before I could call it back. I bit my lip, wishing I had given him a fake name, as I didn’t know him yet.

  “Adaryn.” He repeated my name, his face thoughtful. “And you use magic.”

  “You wield enchantment, too.”

  Matias smiled. “Yes. I don’t make a point of telling everyone, but it’s not easy to hide the ability from another magic user.”

  “Who were they?” I asked. “Those men?”

  “I do not know.” Matias frowned, thinking. “I suspect some of the commoner’s are upset with the turbulent times, such as they are, but this is the first time I’ve been ambushed.”

  “We should alert your men. Your attackers may come back.” I started to walk forward and winced. I sprained my leg when I jumped from the wall.

  “You’re hurt.” King Matias came forward, and knelt down to get a closer look. “May I?”

  I shrugged, lifting my skirt a little so he could get a better look at my ankle. “It’s just a little sore,” I said dismissively.

  “It will swell if not treated,” he said simply. He seized the magic, and started to weave it around my ankle.

  “Wait,” I said, almost desperately, and blushed when he looked at me questioningly. “Could—could you show me? How to heal, I mean?”

  He smiled, still holding the weaves of enchantment. “Certainly.”

  “Weave it . . . like so.” Matias held the magic, deftly working its strands around my ankle. I could see them, but the pattern he wove was extremely complex. I summoned my own magic and, tongue sticking out with the effort, tried to mimic his magic.

  Within moments I had tangled my strands hopelessly, the magic winking out of existence.

  “Blast it!” I muttered, and Matias laughed. He set the magic and a cooling sensation entered my ankle, replacing the pain before it dissipated completely.

  “Thank you,” I said. “For healing my leg. And for trying to teach me. We don’t have any healers in our clan, so I was hoping I’d be smart enough to learn it.”

  He looked at me a moment before saying quietly, “I would have been astounded if you had gotten it on your first try. You did very well.” He studied me a moment, his head cocked to one side. “Would you like me to teach you? Give you lessons, I mean.”

  I stared at him, flabbergasted. “Oh, no. I mean, yes! That is . . . I couldn’t impose on you . . . Your Majesty.” I added the last part belatedly, but Matias didn’t seem to notice.

  “I offered,” he said simply. “It’s not imposing. Besides,” he added with a rueful smile, “you’re the only other magic user here, as far as I’m aware. It’d be nice to talk magic with someone who actually understands it. None of my wi—” he cut off with a grimace and spoke again, “—no one else in the palace can wield it.”

  “That would be amazing.” I smiled at him, feeling a surge of excitement. With Aaric’s and my future so uncertain, I needed every scrap of magical knowledge I could get.

  20

  Adaryn

  I hurried through the empty streets as light began to creep over the horizon. Aaric would be sick with worry. Talking with King Matias took all night. I increased my speed, ignoring the early risers in the city who turned to gawk at me as I ran. I soon found myself standing in front of the Dancing Cat. I ran up the steps and into the front room.

  Bran was sitting slumped over one of the tables. He sat up with a start and peered bleary-eyed in my direction.

  He stood and glared at me, his eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep. “Where in blazes did you go, Adaryn? Why did you take off like that? Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

  I stared at him, surprised. I had forgotten about leaving him and Grace alone. “You were worried?” I asked blankly. “What about Aaric?”

  “What about him? I haven’t seen the man since yesterday morning.” Bran said, still frowning at me.

  “He’s not here?”

  “Don’t try and change the subject, Adaryn.” Bran crossed the distance between us in a few easy strides until he was standing right in front of me. I hated when he did that, as I had to crane my neck to look up at him. “Where were you?”

  I opened my mouth to answer when the inn door opened behind me, and Aaric came striding through. His eyes were every bit as red as Bran’s but he had a huge grin on his face.

  “I w
as up all night reading,” he said happily. He didn’t notice the tension between Bran and I. “I went through some paperwork that my father and Luna wrote about the sky jewel.”

  “Did you learn anything new?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Aaric said. “There is a lot of lore around the jewels, and some rumors on them that I hadn’t known about previously. Absolutely fascinating.”

  “Anything useful?” Bran asked. He still looked disgruntled but at least he wasn’t glowering at me now.

  “Perhaps,” Aaric gave an enormous yawn, stretching his arms. “I could sure go for some breakfast and a nap.” He headed for the kitchen, leaving Bran and I alone. I didn’t follow after Aaric, knowing his mind was still wrapped around his studies, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointment that he’d given me about as much attention as he had given Bran.

  “So?” the nomad asked, bringing my attention back to him. His arms were folded and he was looking at me with his dark brown eyes. “Where were you?”

  “I’ll tell you later, I need to sleep,” I said tiredly. I brushed past him and went to my room. Closing the door, I threw myself on the bed. I pushed the two irritating men out of my mind, thinking of last night.

  King Matias had asked me a lot of questions after healing me. He seemed interested in the nomad way of life and was appropriately disgusted when I talked to him about slavery in the north.

  “What brings you to Sen Altare, Adaryn?” Matias had asked. I’d hesitated. I didn’t want to give away our quest. The sky jewel could very well be something that the king would decide he wanted for himself. Instead, I told him about my escape from slavery and how we wanted to start a new life for ourselves away from Ruis. It seemed plausible enough and it wasn’t a lie at any rate, just not the complete truth. Matias hadn’t questioned it.

  As dawn began to creep over the horizon, Matias bid me farewell, thanked me again for intervening during the ambush, and reminded me that I was to come see him again.

  Getting back to the inn I had thought Aaric would be worried about me. Only he hadn’t come home himself. I grinned. With his nose in a book, the world could come crashing down around Aaric’s head and the man wouldn’t even notice.

  I fell asleep, exhausted by the night’s events. When I woke it was well past noon. I left my room and headed over to Aaric’s, knocking lightly on the door. No one answered. I pushed the door open and looked in, only to see it was empty.

  My brow creased in puzzlement. I had expected to find Aaric there, either sleeping or reading a book. I headed downstairs. The common room was empty save for a maid mopping the floor. My frown deepened. I couldn’t guess where they had gone. Maybe to Luna’s?

  I thought of Grace, and my frown turned into a scowl. If I found Aaric there I’d skin them both alive. I started for the front door when a clattering sound caught my ears. It was coming from the stable yard. Curious, I went out to look and found Aaric and Bran, both stripped to the waist. They each held practice swords. Neither noticed me, so I crouched by the wall, not wanting to interrupt them.

  Bran barked some instructions to Aaric, and the Oppressor—reformed Oppressor, I reminded myself—widened his stance and lunged at Bran with renewed vigor.

  Bran fought off his attacks with almost laughable ease; there was no question as to who was the better swordsman here. A flick of Bran’s wrist sent Aaric’s practice sword flying, landing a couple of feet from me.

  Aaric turned to retrieve it and saw me. His ears reddened as he bent over to pick it up. “I didn’t realize you were watching,” he said awkwardly.

  I shrugged. “You’re fine. Sword practice is a good idea.”

  “That’s what I told him,” Bran said. “Especially here.”

  “Sen Altare?” I asked, puzzled. “What do you mean?” Looking at Aaric, I saw he was just as confused.

  Bran arched an eyebrow at the two of us. “Maybe if you spent more time in the city you would see, but as I have said before, some of the people are getting pretty tired of the king’s high taxes and the endless harassment of brigands just outside. There was a riot outside of the palace yesterday when Grace and I left. People demanding lower taxes. I barely got Grace out of there unscathed.”

  “I haven’t seen anything like—” I stopped, remembering the men who had ambushed the king.

  “What?” Bran asked, eying me.

  I took a deep breath and told Bran and Aaric about my meeting with the king.

  “The king?” Bran frowned. “You didn’t tell him about our quest?”

  “Of course not.” I snorted with indignation. “I’m not stupid.”

  “Be careful, Adaryn,” Aaric said. “We can’t possibly know what his character is like. I would advise against any future meetings with the man.”

  “He knows healing, and has offered to teach me,” I told him. “We don’t have any healers in our clan. I can’t pass up this chance, Aaric.”

  Aaric bit his lip, his brow furrowing.

  “There’s a faction here who have been calling the commoners to action against the king,” Bran interrupted, going back to our original discussion. “I don’t know who is behind it. They’re a secretive lot. I’ve talked to people who have talked to them, supposedly, but I haven’t been able to figure out who’s behind it.”

  “They probably aren’t any better than the brigands,” I said dismissively. “Why bring down King Matias when he’s trying to protect the people? Of course he has to raise taxes for that.”

  “The taxes are unreasonably high,” Bran countered. “And despite sending guards out to fight the brigands, the problem isn’t getting any better. He’s not an effective leader.”

  “Either way, it’s best to be on our guard,” Aaric said. “We don’t need to swear loyalty to the king but we don’t need to join a rebellion, either. We’re here to find the sky jewel. Once we get some leads we can leave.”

  I nodded grudgingly. It made sense.

  “Agreed.” Bran walked to the inn door. “The longer we stay here the longer my people are in danger from the Oppressors.”

  I thought guiltily of my clan. It was true. Aaric was my first concern, but I wanted to help the nomads, too. I hadn’t given them much thought since arriving in the city.

  I considered the king. He seemed nice enough. He had killed, true, but it had been in self-defense. I was curious about the rebel faction though, and resolved to ask him about it later when the opportunity presented itself.

  21

  Aaric

  “Here.” Aaric opened the sky jewel file and pushed it over to Adaryn. It was the following day and Aaric brought her to the Guild to go over the papers with him. “It says right here that about ten years ago a fearsome outlaw named Fyrsil held a sky jewel in his possession, making him all but impossible to be captured by Sen Altare’s law enforcers.”

  “Really?” Adaryn read the document with interest. “Do you think he’s still out there?”

  “I have no idea,” Aaric admitted. “I asked Luna about it. She said my father tried to find him without success, so it’s possible it was just a rumor. No one was able to confirm it.”

  “Hmm.” Adaryn leaned over the paperwork, her hair falling in her face. “Fyrsil is a nomadic name. Bran and I might be able to find him, if he’s out there.”

  “How?” Aaric asked, surprised. He peered at the nomad over his reading spectacles.

  Adaryn smiled at him. “We’re magic users. If we get close enough, we’re able to sense other magic users if they wield their magic. It’s just how it works. I can’t explain it to you.”

  Aaric smiled, feeling his face flush with excitement. “That might actually work. Course,” he reminded himself, “it’s probably just a local legend. We shouldn’t get too worked up over it.”

  “Quite,” Adaryn agreed, but her eyes shone, and she shared the same smile. “We should go tell Bran.”

  Aaric nodded agreement, pushing his chair back to stand. He held out his hand, and Adaryn took it as they walke
d out of the Guild archives.

  Bran was at the inn, upstairs in his room, counting out a fair amount of coppers and a few silvers.

  “Where did all that come from?” Adaryn asked in amazement. Money had been running quite low.

  Bran looked up and smiled. “There seems to be a lack of magic users here. We’re the only two as far as I know. Us and the king. Thought I’d use it to my advantage.”

  “How so?” Adaryn sat on the bed across from Bran.

  Bran shrugged, a little self-conscious. “I used my magic to street perform.”

  “What?” Adaryn laughed. “Tricks? Like when we were children?”

  Bran arched an eyebrow. “At least I’m bringing in some coins. What have you and Aaric done?”

  That shut her up.

  “I’ve been busy with my research,” Aaric said, shrugging.

  “Sky jewel research won’t help us if we starve to death in the meantime,” Bran said matter-of-factly.

  “Well, with any luck, we won’t need much more time here,” Adaryn said eagerly. “Aaric said there used to be a brigand leader in the wilderness who was said to have a sky jewel. It was several years ago, but it would make sense with all the brigand attacks and the king’s guard’s efforts being ineffective. We need to track his magic.”

  Bran pursed his lips in thought. “It’s doable. The tricky part will be tracking the brigands in the first place. I can’t imagine they will be easy to find.”

  Adaryn snorted, clearly confident in her abilities. “We’ll find them,” she said. She tapped her chin. “Maybe we should travel with the king’s soldiers. Strength in numbers and all that.”

  “No,” Bran said emphatically. “No king, no soldiers. I don’t trust them either.”

  Adaryn frowned at him. Aaric spoke up. “Bran is right. If the soldiers find out what we’re after, it will make our job that much harder.”