Night Study

by Maria V. Snyder

  “Is Valek the father?”

  “Yes, and he knows all about the baby. In fact, the two of them have exchanged marriage vows.”

  That statement triggered a wave of astonishment throughout the prison.

  “Let me be the first to congratulate you, Yelena,” Bruns said. “I’m looking forward to learning more about what you’ve been up to this last year. Is she ready?” he asked Loris.

  “Yes. She’s mine.”

  “Good.” Bruns gestured to one of the guards. “Unlock her door. We’ll take her to my office, milk all the information from her, then scrub her mind clean.”

  Right now I’d like to scrub the floor with Bruns’s face. Loris laughed. “You won’t feel that way for long. In a couple days, you’ll be his new best friend.”

  “Gentlemen, say goodbye to Yelena,” Bruns said. “The next time you see her, she won’t remember you.”

  The door to my cell swung open.

  Loris said, “Come.”

  The compulsion to obey pushed on my muscles, and I moved to his side. He broke eye contact and I almost swayed with relief. However, my body now followed his commands. Odd.

  As we walked by Leif’s cell, my brother said, “Remember Mogkan.”

  A strange way to say goodbye.

  “Who’s Mogkan?” Bruns asked, stopping.

  “Tell him,” Loris ordered me.

  The strong impulse to divulge the information pressed on me. “Mogkan was a magician who wiped the minds of other magicians in order to steal their magic to increase his own power. He’d attempted to add me to his ring of power, but he failed.”

  “Ah, a little pep talk from your big brother,” Bruns said. “Sweet, but this is very different. I’m sure Mogkan didn’t use Theobroma on her, and she had magic then.”

  We continued to the exit, but Leif’s gaze never wavered from mine. I hadn’t told them everything about Mogkan, and with good reason. When Mogkan had attempted to turn me into a mindless slave, he could only control one part of me. Either my mind or my body. Never both. And I’d been eating Theobroma, except we called it criollo at that time. As for my magic, it had been a survival instinct that kicked in when I was trapped without options. Mogkan hadn’t ever triggered that when we were together.

  Could that natural resistance to Mogkan’s magic apply to Loris’s magic, as well? Leif’s pep talk might just save my life.

  * * *

  The questioning spanned hours. It’d been late morning when we started, but now most of the afternoon was gone. I huddled in the leather armchair in Bruns’s office as he grilled me on Valek, the Sitian Council, the Master Magicians and the Commander.

  There was no need for me to talk as Loris plucked the information from my mind. Each of his forays for details sapped my strength. And the effort to prevent him from my thoughts only weakened my resistance to his probes. I transferred my energy to keeping that bit of free will alive and hiding a few important secrets. However, if this session continued much longer, I’d pass out from exhaustion.

  “Yelena and Valek believe the Commander is planning to attack Sitia after the Fire Festival in Ixia. Which is about five months away,” Loris said.

  “Ah. Good to know,” Bruns said. “Did they tell anyone else their suspicions?”

  “No. They’re waiting for more proof.”

  “Does she know where Valek is?”

  Ha. I knew he’d lied about capturing Valek. Bruns lied with ease. I wondered who else he’d lied to.

  Loris shot me a look.

  You don’t really think you and your sister are safe, Loris. Do you? You’re magicians, and Bruns has made his opinion about people with powers quite clear, I thought.

  Don’t think you can manipulate me. I’m in control here, and I see right through your attempt to distract me. Loris turned to Bruns. “She doesn’t know where Valek is. If he’s not at the rendezvous location, she can only speculate at this point.”

  “And?” Bruns asked.

  Black-and-white spots swarmed my vision, but I imagined Valek clinging to the ceiling right over Bruns’s bed, waiting to drop down and kill him. A guess or wishful thinking? I’d let Loris decide.

  Loris studied me. “She thinks he’ll come after you.”

  Bruns considered. “It would be a sound strategy, provided I was the sole person in charge. However, it’s a Cartel for a reason. Our plans involve a great deal of people, and my death won’t affect it at all.” He drummed his fingers on the armrest. “He’s going to attempt to rescue her. We’ll use her as bait.”

  I dug my fingernails into the leather as the room spun. Loris’s grip on my mind loosened a bit.

  “Right now she needs to rest and eat,” Loris said.

  “All right.” Bruns stood and scooped me up in his arms.

  I yipped in surprise. He carried me to a small room adjoining his office. No windows or other doors, but there was a single bed, night table and lantern. Bruns laid me on the bed and pulled a blanket over me. No doubt his gentleness was all part of a bigger plan. A bit of energy surged through me as I braced for his threat or warning.

  “Get some sleep. I’ll have a tray of food sent up along with your favorite tea. You must stay healthy for the baby,” Bruns said.

  “And a fat, juicy worm works much better as bait.”

  He smiled, but no humor shone from his gray eyes. “You think I enjoy this? I don’t. I value life, Yelena. That’s why we’re doing what needs to be done in order to save Sitia.”

  “Your methods—”

  “Harsh, I know. But we don’t have the time to convince everyone the old-fashioned way. And it’s a good thing the Cartel didn’t hesitate, because we’ll be ready to protect our homeland if the Commander’s army invades us in five months.”

  “You’re not the first person to think that, Bruns. Remember Master Magician Roze Featherstone? She believed she was protecting Sitia when she unleashed the Fire Warper and joined sides with the Daviian Vermin. Look what happened to her.” Roze had been killed, and I’d confined her soul in a glass prison.

  “I’m touched you’re so concerned with my welfare. However, the reason Roze Featherstone failed was due to her reliance on magic and magicians. They’re an unpredictable, egotistical and selfish lot and can’t be trusted unless they’re properly...indoctrinated.”

  “Indoctrinated? That’s a fancy word for brainwashed.”

  “I certainly won’t miss these little chats of ours when you’ve had your change of heart.” Bruns glanced at Loris hovering in the doorway. “Command her to stay in bed until you or I give her permission to leave.”

  A heavy pressure pinned me to the mattress. The compulsion to remain under the covers drained the last bit of vigor I’d summoned. My eyelids drooped as Bruns and Loris left. The door remained ajar mere feet from me. But in my current condition, it might as well have been miles away.

  Unreachable.

  * * *

  Voices woke me...later. I had no idea how long I’d slept, but my stomach growled, demanding food. I sat up. A tray of sliced fruit, cheese and ham slices sat on the night table, along with a glass teapot. Heat radiated from the pot—one of Quinn’s hot glass pieces.

  I wondered how Bruns managed to get one. Had he indoctrinated Quinn, as well? Many of the Keep’s magicians had joined Bruns’s ranks, but I hadn’t seen the young glass mage among them. Perhaps he was at another garrison. It made sense for the Cartel to commandeer as many as possible.

  About to pour a cup of steaming tea, I paused as a knock silenced Bruns and his visitor. The other man left and—

  “Come in, General,” Bruns said.

  “I apologize for the road dust and mud, but Tia said you wanted to see me right away,” a man said.

  There was no mistaking that confident, sly voice. Cahil, or rather, General Cahil of the Sitian army. The man who had gone from my friend to my enemy when he discovered he hadn’t been the King of Ixia’s nephew, and the years he spent planning to retake his kingdom from the Com
mander had been wasted. Cahil had joined with Roze and the Daviians until the horrors of their kirakawa ritual switched his loyalty back to me, but we’d never regained our friendship. It was obvious why Cahil now reported to Bruns. Cahil hated the Commander and Valek and had been itching for a fight since he was six years old.

  I set the pot down quietly, slid from the bed and crept closer to the open door in order to hear them better.

  “...new information about the Commander,” Bruns said. He repeated all the intel he’d stolen from me. “Seems the Commander might make his move after the Ixian Fire Festival.”

  “How did you learn all this?” Cahil asked.

  “From a reliable source.”

  Ah. Interesting.

  “That means nothing. Valek has spies all over Sitia. I wouldn’t trust—”

  “Yelena Zaltana provided it,” Bruns said with an annoyance that bordered on anger.

  “Now I know it’s fake. She’d never—”

  “She’s in my custody.” Again the clipped tone.

  Silence. “Is it true? About her magic?”

  “Yes, and that makes her just as susceptible to Theobroma as everyone else.”

  Cahil huffed. “She won’t ever be like everyone else. Don’t ever underestimate her.”

  “She is in our control,” Bruns almost growled.

  And then I realized, I’d left the bed despite Loris’s order. His command pulled at me, but it’d been reduced to an uneasy feeling, as if it was starting to wear off.

  “Then I suggest you don’t wipe her mind.”

  “Why not? She’s dangerous. You said so yourself.”

  “If she’s cooperating with you, then use her. There isn’t another person in Sitia with her unique knowledge of Ixia’s security and the Commander. I’d bet she’d have good ideas about how the Commander plans to attack. Think about it. She’s been working as the Liaison for years. Plus dating Valek.” Cahil spat Valek’s name as if it tasted rancid in his mouth.

  “Not anymore,” Bruns said.

  A pause. A long pause. “What do you mean?”

  “They’re married and are going to have a baby.”

  I bit my thumb, waiting for Cahil’s reaction. At one point in our relationship, he’d hoped for more than friendship.

  “I see.” Cahil’s flat tone said more than his words.

  “Now there’s more at stake than her own life,” Bruns said. “Which ensures her continued cooperation.”

  “Is there anything else?” Cahil asked.

  “Yes. Where are we with the other garrisons?”

  “We have taken over control of the ones in Moon, Featherstone and Greenblade. Master Magician Bain Bloodgood and the Councilors have been relocated to safety in the base in Greenblade’s lands. Master Magician Irys Jewelrose is at the Featherstone Clan’s, along with the stronger magicians. We believe the Commander’s army will head straight for the Citadel.”

  “Have the magicians along the border with Ixia reported any activity?”

  “Not yet. They each check in at dawn via the super messengers.”

  “Send them orders to keep an eye out for Valek.”

  Another longish pause. “You don’t know where he is?”

  “He’ll be coming here regardless. I’d just like some notice on the timing.”

  “From my experience, he’s probably already here, hidden among your soldiers with a dozen of his corps. And if he isn’t, he can cross the border without alerting anyone. If I was you—”

  “You’re not. We have the situation well in hand.”

  “All right. Then I’ll go check in with the garrison commander.”

  Boots shuffled on the floor.

  “Cahil,” Bruns called.

  I imagined Cahil looking over his shoulder with his hand on the door.

  “Yes?”

  “What would you do in my place?” Bruns asked.

  “I’d put a big bow on Yelena and deliver her to the Commander. It would keep both her and Valek in Ixia. Plus she’d hinder the Commander’s efforts. Yelena wouldn’t want war, and she’d do everything she could to stop him from invading.”

  Actually, that was rather smart. Cahil had matured since I’d seen him last.

  “I’ll think about it,” Bruns said.

  The door clicked shut. I returned to the bed, sliding under the covers. After that charged conversation, I suspected Bruns would want to peek in and make sure I’d remained asleep and under his control. I lay on my side, facing the wall with my eyes closed, just in case.

  A heel scuffed the stone nearby. I kept my breathing deep and even, only relaxing once Bruns’s office chair squeaked under his weight.

  I mulled over all I’d learned as I nibbled on the ham. It had a glaze that tasted Theobroma-sweet. It didn’t sound as if Cahil was being influenced by Theobroma and magic. He might have volunteered, or he could even be a member of the Cartel. I wondered if Bruns kept a list of the Cartel members in his desk. Probably not—he didn’t strike me as someone who made stupid mistakes. No, he was smart enough to ask Cahil what he’d do about me.

  And I would be happy to go to Ixia. But Cahil also said to use me first. Not that I really knew the Commander. Other than his secret, I hardly knew him at all. The man was intelligent, cunning and had the brilliant strategy and forethought to plan and then execute the takeover of Ixia.

  The takeover of Ixia. I clutched the sheets as I repeated those words.

  The.

  Takeover.

  Of.

  Ixia.

  Holy snow cats! The Commander wouldn’t invade with an army and wage war. No. He’d plan a way to take over Sitia with little bloodshed. Just as he did twenty-three years ago!

  29

  VALEK

  “There’s no one at the Keep?” Valek repeated Fisk’s comment because it didn’t make any sense. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. They’ve all left, and my network followed them to three different garrisons in Sitia,” Fisk said.

  “Why?”

  Fisk explained about Bruns’s Cartel using Theobroma to influence even the Master Magicians to join his cause. The magicians had gone to support the soldiers and prepare for when the Commander attacked.

  Valek glanced at Zohav and Zethan, still on the horses but close enough to hear their conversation. Both wore worried frowns, and both their thoughts sounded inside Valek’s head. Zethan disappointed they probably wouldn’t go to the Keep, and Zohav plotting a way to turn this news to her advantage.

  Combined with Fisk’s thoughts, Valek couldn’t think straight.

  “Stop it,” he yelled at the twins.

  “Stop what?” Zethan asked.

  “Stop projecting your thoughts into my head!”

  Alarmed, they exchanged a look.

  “We’re not,” Zohav said.

  “You’ve been doing it since we left home.”

  “No. We’ve had our barriers in place, blocking magic from our thoughts.”

  “Then how do I know you wished you brought more books, and Zethan wishes he’d sent a letter to Rosalie before leaving home?”

  Again their gazes met. Both bewildered.

  Fisk touched his shoulder. “Valek, you’re immune to magic. Even if they were sending their thoughts, you should only feel the magic.”

  Fisk was right. Valek drew in a deep breath.

  “But I was lamenting the fact I didn’t have time to write Rosalie,” Zethan said.

  “Have you ever heard another person’s thoughts?” Fisk asked Valek.

  “No. Sometimes I can tell what a person is thinking by his body language, facial expression, direction of his gaze...things like that, but not actual thoughts.”

  Fisk turned to the twins. “You have magic?”

  “Yes,” Zethan said.

  “Can you try it on Valek? Something benign.”

  Zethan turned to his sister. “Zo can.”

  She pressed her lips together, dismounted, grabbed the water skin and unscrewed the cap
. Zohav stared at it. Water rose from the skin, forming a ball that floated in midair.

  Valek would have been impressed, but the fact that he didn’t sense her magic, that the stickiness didn’t press on him, had him quite distracted. The ball of water approached him and then struck his chest, soaking his tunic.

  “Touch the wet spot with your hand,” she instructed him.

  He pressed his palm to the cold fabric. Zohav’s eyebrows pinched together and the water streamed from his tunic and re-formed into a ball.

  “Wow,” Fisk whispered. “That’s amazing.”

  “What is?” Zethan asked. “That she can manipulate water, or that Valek’s immunity is gone?”

  “Both.”

  “Gone?” Valek fingered his now-dry tunic. “That’s...that’s a big leap in logic.”

  “Zo.”

  She glared at her brother.

  “We need to figure this out. Besides, he’s—”

  “Confused,” Valek said before Zethan said brother.

  Stepping toward Valek, Zohav extended her hand as if for a handshake. “It’s another test. It won’t hurt.”

  That wasn’t why he hesitated. He feared the results more than the pain. But he feared not knowing just as much. Valek grasped her cold hand. A strange tingle zipped through him.

  “I sense the water inside your body,” Zohav said. “Zee’s right. You’re no longer protected.”

  Valek let go of her and stepped back. Unprotected? The desire to draw his daggers pulsed. He craved their tangible weight in his hands. No immunity? The words repeated in his mind, but they failed to find a place to settle.

  “What happened to his immunity?” Fisk asked. “Did you two do something to him?”

  “No. Even if it was possible, we don’t have that ability,” Zethan said.

  Fisk turned to him. “Did something happen to you? Do you know when it started?”

  “I...” Valek pulled his thoughts together with effort. He searched his memories. During the raid on the pirates, he’d been fine. The trip to Icefaren had been quiet. And then...the shock of seeing his parents, the surprise of learning he had three siblings... No. He’d had his share of astonishments over the years without any consequences.

  It had happened sometime that night he stayed by his brothers’ graves. When he’d talked to Zebulon, and Zeb had asked if he could handle it. Handle the fact his parents had moved past the death of their sons and resumed living. When he realized he’d been frozen in time.