by Guy Antibes
“Hold onto this,” Jack said to Sera.
They rushed to the townhouse that wasn’t very far away. Lin pounded on the door until Oscar arrived to unlock it. He had been waiting in the lower lobby, but he rubbed his eyes, so the man must have fallen sleep.
Jack carried Penny up the stairs and put her in an easy chair, while Lorton laid Sera on the couch. After rubbing Penny’s hands for a few minutes, she stirred.
“Why did you do that again!” Penny said. “I—” She looked around in the sitting room. “I’ll have a talk with you later,” she said.
Penny looked pale to Jack. He thought she should have been flushed like she was the last time he had overloaded her with power.
“I can’t give you power anymore,” Jack said. “You sucked most of what I had right out of me!”
“I did not!” Penny said. She frowned and looked around. Jack could tell she had something to say, but she pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. “I’m well enough to take another look at Sera.”
Penny’s friend moaned with pain but turned to Penny. “I think I am fine. I’ve never been healed like that before. The pain and the heat…” Sera shook her head. She tried to look down at the wound. “Am I scarred?”
“A tiny bit,” Penny said. “At least I closed the wound in the right way before Jack did whatever he did.” She looked at Sera’s wound. “I can’t do any more.”
“I’ve never been the patient before, but I think I’m healed,” Sera said. She looked at Jack. “You just power your way in, don’t you?” Sera said.
At first, Jack thought she was angry at him, but then Sera said. “You are amazing. I’ve never observed anyone with the power you have to heal with a general spell. It is as if all my tissues were ordered to return to normal.”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t do anything specific on purpose,” Jack said. “I sort of will you to heal on your own because I don’t know what to do.”
Penny sat back and looked at Jack with amazement. “It is a spell, Jack. Your spell makes the patient’s body heal on its own.”
“I can’t do much of that,” he said. “I wasn’t able to teleport anyone after I did whatever I did to you and gave Sera a healing spell.”
“And it’s time I healed your arm,” Penny said.
Jack looked down at the slice in his new boiled wool jacket. He opened the hole. “It didn’t make it to my arm.”
Penny looked inside. “Right.” She put her hand through the rent. It isn’t that bad, after all. I won’t waste a spell on you. It should be better in the morning.”
“Are you surprised you overdid your power?” Lin asked, who had been silent during the conversation. “You need to learn to stop and think about the power you are using.”
Jack didn’t want to be scolded by Lin, yet again. “Sometimes you shouldn’t pause and should proceed instead, to do whatever comes naturally. I got this wound,” Jack said, lifting his arm, “because I reacted. If I had stopped to think, Lorton might not be with us.”
Lorton clapped as soon as Jack finished and bowed to Jack.
Lin gave the policeman a nasty look and pressed her lips tightly together. “We will talk about this tomorrow. Those who are able, write your notes tonight rather than try to recreate them tomorrow. We have to make sense of what we learned tonight and see what paths have opened up to us. I am heading upstairs to do that and then collapse into my bed.”
“Are you well enough to do such a thing?” Penny asked Sera.
“I can make a few notes tonight and flesh them out tomorrow,” Penny’s friend said, getting up. “I’m pretty sure I can head to my room myself.”
“No, you won’t,” Lorton said. “I will help you to your room.” He looked at Jack. “I suggest you do the same with Penny.”
Oscar had not intruded in the sitting room, leaving Penny and Jack by themselves. Jack looked at Penny.
“Now what is it with the unfinished sentence,” Jack asked.
“I spent a little time with a mutual acquaintance.”
“Takia?”
Penny shook her head. “Yvessa gave me a warning.”
“About?”
“She made it clear she is not happy with our meddling in Antibeaux affairs,” Penny said. “I think she is a bit afraid of us. She tried to do something to me, but whatever it was I don’t think it worked on me. When that happened, she cast me back from wherever she was, and I woke up in this room.”
“Afraid of us?” Jack saw that her wrist didn’t have Ari’s bracelet.
Penny nodded. “I felt your power within me, fighting against hers.”
“It might have been my magic that attracted her to you,” Jack said. He rubbed his forehead. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m too powerful, and I don’t understand myself.”
Penny grimaced. “That is a chronic condition that no healer can fix. I have no idea what happened either. I think it is time to talk with Fasher,” she said, but she raised her finger. “No, now is not the time. We wait until morning, or Fasher will be very unhappy for waking him up.”
“He doesn’t like to be disturbed, that is for sure,” Jack said.
Penny left him for her room. Lorton appeared a moment later.
“I don’t suppose you want to go out and see if any bodies are still outside?”
Jack nodded. “I was going to go by myself.”
Lorton gave Jack his Lajian sword. “I thought you might need this.”
The pair of them unlocked the lower level door and walked back toward the scene of the altercation about one hundred feet away. The assailants had been removed, but the pavement was still stained with their blood. Jack checked the alley and found the same thing.
“I doubt if they will be calling the guard,” Lorton said. “I don’t regret taking the women to safety,” he said, “even if we weren’t able to interrogate one of the culprits.”
“Lin didn’t even lift a finger,” Jack said. “Penny claimed she was an expert at martial arts.”
Lorton looked disgusted. “It is one thing to be proficient in training and another to face danger and react. I’ve never seen her under duress. Don’t underestimate her abilities, though. I have observed her training Sera and Penny. She is an expert with a wand and with her hands. But I still think it odd she just stood there.”
“You think this was staged?”
Lorton frowned. “I wouldn’t say that, but I wouldn’t say I trust Lin. Something in between trust and suspicion.”
Jack stared at the bloodstained pavement in the alley. Lorton and Lin working together might not have been able to take care of the magician that had initially attacked them. Jack was able to keep Lorton from serious injury only because Jack had touched the void. Still, Lin hadn’t come to anyone’s aid. Penny had reacted to the two men confronting the women. He shook his head. If anyone didn’t suggest going to the guard, Jack would go on his own.
~
Fasher wasn’t pleased by Jack’s story. Penny wasn’t injured?
No, Jack said. She used her throwing knives. She is actually very good with them.
Fasher paused. That is something she will have to deal with. What else happened?
Jack told his mentor about the dance and their strategy to meet all the nobles and get their factional loyalties.
It is easier to meet someone than to find out who they are allied with, Fasher said. I don’t know what else you can do. What is Ari Gasheaux doing?
I don’t know, Jack said. I haven’t talked to him for a few days. I should contact him again after we have made our list. It might be easier for him to find out the alliances.
That is good thinking, Jack. Ask him. Anything else? Fasher asked.
Yvessa gave Penny a warning last night after I put her out with another pulse of my power. Jack said. According to Penny—
You must be careful about how much magic you use. Penny is somehow aligned with you to absorb your power, and it is too easy for you to overload her. I don’t exactly know w
hy. It might be due to when you first resurrected her. I’m uneasy that Yvessa was able to contact her directly rather than through you. Maybe it is because you put her under. That’s all I will say on the matter, Fasher said.
I want to contact the police about the attack. Do you see a problem with that?
Fasher said, I don’t. For that kind of thing rely on Lorton. I will let you go.
Jack pressed his lips together. Fasher had been more verbose than usual about Jack’s magical relationship to Penny. He went down to breakfast. Oscar and Lorton were the only ones so far.
“Why don’t we report the attack to the police?” Lorton said. You can come along and show your injury. I assume there is still a scar?”
“There is,” Jack said. “I have a good collection; they can take their pick.”
Chapter Twenty
~
T he Bristonians called their police constables, Jack learned as he looked at the sign on the building. Lorton and Jack waited at the counter until a constable showed up.
“What is it?” the constable said.
“We were attacked in the underground passageway close to our house last night,” Lorton said. “This man and one of the ladies in our company were injured.”
“You don’t look injured to me,” the constable said after eyeing Jack.
After removing his coat, Jack showed the scar. “We have a healer at our house.”
“Why are you bothering me if you have a healer already.”
Lorton raised his eyebrows. “Because we were attacked, and a lady of our group was pierced in her shoulder with a magician’s bolt.”
The constable swiveled to Jack. “This was a wizard bolt injury?”
Jack nodded.
“How did anyone survive?”
Lorton sighed. “We have multiple wizards in our group, including the injured woman. The perpetrators were killed or injured, but we were close to our house, so we retreated. When we returned, what was left of the attackers had been cleared off.”
“I’ll send a couple of men over. Did you get a good look at the assailants?”
Jack shook his head. “You’ll have to ask one of the ladies. I was too busy to notice.”
The constable nodded and took down the names of everyone at the townhouse and told them to return. Constables would be there soon.
As they walked down the steps in the chilly air, Ari walked up to them. “I was told that you had an altercation and would be at the constable’s office.”
“We’re here,” Lorton said. “We’ve just come out, as you can see.”
Ari smiled. “I can, I can indeed. Do you mind if I join you on your walk to your house?”
Two constables walked down the steps. “Lorton Reedbrook?” one of them said, looking at the three of them.
“I am Lorton Reedbrook. This is Jack Winder and Ari Gasheaux.”
Ari grinned at the two men. “I’m Ari.”
The constables nodded. “We would like to see where the assault took place. Perhaps you can describe what happened while we walk.”
Lorton gave him a version of the story, and then the two constables asked Jack questions about his experience.
“Were you there?” one of the constables asked Ari.
The wizard smiled. “Do I look like I would be invited to a royal ball? No, I was elsewhere. These are my friends, but I don’t live with them.”
That was enough to make the constables ignore Ari as they walked through the streets full of crusty, melting snow. When they arrived at the townhouse, Ari still followed them down to the lower level and out to the underground passage.
Jack showed them the blood, still on the pavement, where Penny had taken care of two of the attackers. The constables looked down at the evidence of the pair that accosted Lorton, and Jack showed Ari the blood in the alley.
“Five men against two men, one unarmed, and three women?” a constable asked.
“One of the women was armed,” Lorton said. “Jack is an accomplished wizard and was able to subdue the attacker in the alley, and we each took one out in the street here.” Lorton pointed down to the pavement.
“Is there any more evidence?” one of the constables said.
“They all wore dark clothing,” Lorton said.
“Where did you get your weapons training, Reedbrook?”
“I worked for the Dorkansee police and left them to protect Lady Kanlinn on her trip.”
The constable asked Jack the same question.
“I’ve been an adventurer for the past four years. My training has been during errands I have been assigned by my mentor, a wizard.”
The other constable said, “I can see why you are confident enough to stay in Bristone for the winter. The city can get a little hostile.”
“To whom?” Ari said, bending down and examining the blood with a tiny, but strong wizard light. He stood and walked closer to the four of them. “I’m from Chancey, and our visitors don’t get organized attacks like these folks had to fend off. Are you implying that my friends were attacked because they are Corandian?”
“What else could it be?” one of the constables said.
“Are the factions heating up in Bristone?” Ari asked.
The constables looked at each other. “There have been instances,” one of them said.
“And who is attacking whom?” Ari asked, yet again.
“The WWS, if you must know. The assailants were wizards. That might be an indicator,” a constable said.
Jack thought a bit. “Do the different factions use different kinds of guards?”
“There are a few indicators—”
His companion elbowed the speaker in the ribs. “It is not for us to tell you. We will get someone to clean the pavement. I’m afraid there is nothing we can do without more evidence or better descriptions.”
“I said we might not have a description,” Jack said. “I don’t have a perfect memory, but one of the ladies does. Why don’t you come in and interview her?”
The elbower grunted, obviously unhappy he had to continue the investigation, but they trudged back up to the main level. Jack met Oscar hanging around at the top, as a good butler would, and asked him to summon Penny and Lin.
In the sitting room, the constables asked the same questions that Jack and Lorton had answered. When it came to describing the assailants, Penny and Lin had precise descriptions. Between the two of them, even Jack could see they had given the constables enough information to pursue the investigation.
“We will document our descriptions,” Lin said, “so if you need us to remember, we will be able to refresh our memories.”
The constables nodded. “You have given us more than we thought. We have some records of the people the various factions use in pursuit of their goals,” one of the men said. “We will be getting on our way.”
Oscar let them out. Jack noted that Ari had stayed out of the sitting room until the constables left. He sauntered in and took a seat.
“How is Sera doing?” Ari said. “Can I visit her?”
“Alone?” Lin asked.
“Of course not. Who would like to accompany me?”
Jack stood. “I will.”
They left the sitting room as Penny moved to the desk to document their descriptions. Oscar showed them to Sera’s room.
“Should you need anything, I will be right outside this door,” the butler said, eyeing Ari Gasheaux.
Sera sat in a chair, her shoulders covered with a woolen wrap. “Oh, Ari! Forgive me if I don’t stand,” she said.
“How are you feeling?”
“There is little pain, but I’m weak. It is normal for healing like this.”
Ari chuckled. “I almost forgot you are a certified healer like Penny.”
“I’m not as accomplished as she is, but I am certified.”
“Let me hold your hand and check for myself,” Ari said. “I don’t know if Jack told you, but I know a bit about healing in the Bornan style, of course.”
Sera held out her hand.
“It is normal for you to lose consciousness, but it will be for only a moment,” Ari said.
Jack looked on as Sera relaxed and fell asleep. He felt power build in Ari and push some kind of spell into Sera. Ari was no ordinary healer, and he knew the man was a helper, himself.
“While she sleeps, tell me about the ball and the subsequent events in detail.” Ari sat down and pointed Jack to a chair in the room. “Don’t worry about Sera or Oscar.”
Jack explained everything, including Penny’s encounter with Yvessa.
“She shouldn’t have removed my charm. Yvessa would know it was your power inside of her. It is important that both of you keep the charms on you at all times. Yvessa will have less power to make mischief that way. Penny was lucky it was only a warning.”
“What did you do with Oscar?” Jack asked, remembering Ari’s comment.
“He is slumbering like Sera, but he doesn’t need to anymore. I will wake both of them.”
Sera blinked awake and raised her arm. “Whatever you did feels marvelous, and you gave me some energy.” She looked at Jack, “What did you teach him?”
Jack smiled. “I did nothing. It is a Bornan technique,” he said. “Why don’t you go downstairs and show Penny.”
“I will,” she said, beaming and touched her wound. “Marvelous.”
Jack leaned forward, but they were interrupted by Oscar, who yawned. “Sera looks much better. Was that your doing, Jack?”
“It is a Bornan spell that Ari knows. We will be using Sera’s room for a few more minutes, so you can go about your duties.”
Oscar nodded. “Of course.” The butler closed the door on the way out.
“You are more than a normal wizard. I wouldn’t think anyone but a helper could heal like that.”
Ari smiled. Jack thought it was just on the appropriate side of being smug. “I am more like you than Penny or Lorton is,” the Bornan wizard said. “Fasher and I go way back. He told me about you.”
“I hope it wasn’t too bad. It took me a while to learn, and I’m still learning.”
“Good. Keep at it. You have the right instincts, and that was what impressed Fasher. I would like to stay here, but I will be better roaming around Bristone by myself. No one will notice me as much as a lord.”
