by V. St. Clair
“What just happened?” Hayden blurted out dumbly, caught off-guard by the abrupt translocation.
“I see you are still fond of questioning the obvious,” Mrs. Trout said in her typical curt manner. “You translocated away from Mizzenwald before my colleagues could bring you to the Crystal Tower to stand trial.”
Hayden released Bonk, who was beginning to squirm in his grasp, and said, “But I don’t know how to do translocation magic yet—not even inside Mizzenwald with the wards helping me.” He frowned. “And I wasn’t even looking through a prism or trying to think through the spell.”
The Master of Elixirs chuckled and said, “We performed the magic for you. Magdalene told us when the Council got formal permission to move against you, so we were able to plan your extraction. Speaking of which, I must return to the school before I am missed.”
Without explaining anything else to Hayden, Master Kilgore clasped his Mastery Charm and vanished from the Trout estate.
“I thought it was almost impossible to translocate someone from a different location without their assistance,” Hayden continued questioning Mrs. Trout, for lack of anyone else to pester. “Or else my father could just vanish people at will and bring them to him from all over the world, without ever having to leave the house.”
“It is extremely difficult, which is why we channeled the magic through Slasher and Bonk.” She gestured to the familiars, who were now perched on opposite sides of a grand fireplace mantel like gargoyles. “Magical creatures of one family can form a sympathetic link between them with long-term proximity—”
“Yeah, I know about that,” Hayden interrupted her. “It’s why I knew Cinder was in trouble during my third year in the Forest of Illusions—because he and Bonk were close and Bonk started feeling his pain.”
Thinking of Cinder was uncomfortable, given that they were probably now officially enemies.
“That link also enables us to channel some of the more difficult magic through them—especially as they’re dragons, the most powerful of familiars,” Magdalene continued, not looking upset by the interruption. “We weren’t sure that Slasher and Bonk were close enough acquaintances for it to work, but it seems we got lucky.”
Hayden frowned thoughtfully, his mind still racing to catch up with this new development.
“So why didn’t the Masters warn me to run if they knew the Council was coming after me?” he asked after a minute of silence.
“They would have been dragged into this whole mess as well. The last thing we need are more people on trial at the Crystal Tower, and Calahan is unstable enough right now to press the issue.”
“I thought the Masters were already in the middle of things, since they stopped those three mages from abducting me as soon as I came back through the schism.”
Mrs. Trout shook her head.
“They were well within their rights to protect you at that time, as no formal charges had been laid against you, nor did Calahan have a Writ of Extraction. Now he does, so the situation has changed, and the Masters can’t be seen helping you evade the Council.”
Well, that explains why everyone was conveniently avoiding my eye when those three goons barged in to haul me to a jail cell.
He looked around at his surroundings again to convince himself that they were really there. At the beginning of the year he had wondered if he would ever see this place again; he never thought he’d be enjoying the hospitality of his former nemeses again so soon.
“Why am I here, of all places?”
Mrs. Trout gave him that look she used when she thought he was being particularly obtuse. He was surprised by the wave of nostalgia it evoked in him.
“You resisted arrest. You’re officially on the run from the law,” she pointed out casually, in the tone one might use when explaining the features of the dining room.
“Yes, I know, but why here?”
Magdalene’s eyes lit with understanding and she graced him with a slightly mocking smile.
“Who would ever think to look for you here? It’s a well-known fact that you and my children do not get along, and I am an upstanding member of the Council itself, so there is no reason for me to harbor a fugitive.”
Calahan is a fool to underestimate this woman.
“Not that I don’t appreciate it and all, but why did you agree to hide me here again? As you pointed out, you will get into a world of trouble if old Cal ever finds out that I was here…”
Mrs. Trout had such a haughty look on her face that for a moment the resemblance to Oliver was alarming.
“It would take more guts than Calahan possesses to get up the nerve to search my estate,” she informed him coolly. “And unlike him—and some of his cronies—I am not shortsighted enough to risk the fate of the Nine Lands over a petty grudge. I’m convinced that if anyone stands a chance at defeating Aleric a second time around, it is you—the one who stopped him the first time he was powerful. You can hardly do that if you’re locked away in the Crystal Tower, and believe me when I say that if Calahan ever gets you inside that place, you will never see the light of day again while he is in power.”
Hayden shuddered at the thought.
“Not to sound like a nay-sayer, but people keep crediting me with beating my father when he showed up at my mother’s house, like I deliberately blasted him into that schism. But honestly, I still don’t remember what happened that day—I didn’t even know I had magic, so I can’t have overpowered him.”
Mrs. Trout pursed her lips and said, “Just because you don’t remember it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. You are currently our best hope, and so you are an integral part of our planning. At the very least, you’re a part of Aleric’s plans, and we must keep you from him for that reason alone.”
Hayden tilted his head to concede the point. As long as people knew that he didn’t have a solid game plan for besting his father in open combat, he didn’t mind them going out of their way to help him.
“So,” he said after another long minute of silence. “What do we do now?”
“See if you remember your way around well enough to find your old room. I need to be prepared for Calahan’s summons when he gets news that you’ve eluded him.”
“How angry do you think he’ll be?” Hayden asked curiously.
A truly evil smile lit Magdalene Trout’s face when she said, “He’ll be apoplectic.”
“Sometimes you frighten me,” Hayden pointed out mildly.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
4
Allies
Hayden was excited to take part in his very first strategy meeting in the effort against the Dark Prism. It was late that night when Mrs. Trout returned home from wherever she spent her days and summoned him back to the formal dining room. Bonk squawked at the lateness of the hour and stubbornly refused to be dragged out of bed, but Hayden was wide awake at the prospect of doing something productive, especially after spending the day alone in his room with only his familiar for company.
When he arrived in the large dining room, Masters Kilgore, Willow, Laurren and Asher were already seated around the table, as well as Master Mandra from Valhalla and—to Hayden’s utter disbelief—Kiresa, the Prism Master of Isenfall. Hayden’s last memories of Master Kiresa were not pleasant; during his second year of school the man had lied to him, terrified him, and then nearly let him die during the penultimate round of the I.S.C.
He didn’t realize he was standing there gape-mouthed until Kilgore said, “Take a seat and close your mouth before something flies into it.”
Shaking off his shock, Hayden did as he was told and settled into a seat beside Master Mandra, across from Asher. Both men greeted him pleasantly enough, though the latter looked tired and careworn. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a new look for Hayden’s mentor these days.
“Frost,” Master Kiresa greeted him with a smirk. It was the derisive note in his voice that prompted Hayden to respond with, “What are you doing here?”
“Normal
ly, your unflattering disbelief would amuse me, but I’m far too tired for it right now,” the Prism Master answered flatly.
“All of us want to stop Aleric before things get out of hand,” Master Willow explained patiently, shooting a brief glance at Kiresa to accent the point. “No one wants to repeat the ten years in which the Dark Prism ran around, unchecked, doing as he pleased with the world and everyone in it.”
Remembering his last interaction with the Prism Master of Isenfall, Hayden wasn’t prepared to swear that was true, but knew better than to argue the point. If the Masters of Mizzenwald trusted him, that was good enough for him.
Hayden almost jumped out of his seat when the last two people entered the room and shut the large doors behind them. Oliver Trout he halfway expected, this being his mother’s house and all, but the man beside him was another member of the Council of Mages. Hayden had mentally classified the entire Council as “the enemy” in his mind, with the exception of Magdalene, so seeing another member in their top secret meeting nearly made his heart leap out of his chest.
“Calm down,” Oliver chided him, barely resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. “He’s on our side.”
“For now,” Master Mandra muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Hayden to hear. Under the cover of everyone getting up to shake hands with the newcomers he added, “Laris wants Calahan’s job as much as Magdalene. They’ve both been gently feeding his fears and leading him to ruin in the hopes he will be deposed. When that happens, I expect Laris and Magdalene’s alliance to fall apart quite rapidly, as they battle over who will replace him.”
Hayden raised his eyebrows to show he appreciated the whispered explanation, though he privately thought that anyone who put themselves against Magdalene Trout was a fool.
“Let’s get started,” their host called everyone to attention, taking her seat at the head of the table. There must have been some planned order to this meeting that Hayden wasn’t aware of, because Master Willow immediately began.
“Your colleagues are still tearing apart the school in search of Hayden, stone-by-stone,” he addressed Magdalene Trout. “We’re slowing them down as much as possible, but they’ll likely satisfy themselves that Hayden isn’t hiding there by tomorrow morning.”
“Keep them looking as long as you can,” she answered with a curt nod. “Time is of the essence.”
“Kirius can run them around in circles for a while longer,” Master Laurren opined gently, his purple-blue eyes and soft tone giving him an otherworldly aura. “It’s well-known that he dislikes Hayden, so he’s been casually fanning their suspicions that Hayden wouldn’t leave Mizzenwald without Tess and Zane at his side.”
Magdalene opened her mouth to answer but Hayden managed to beat her to it by interjecting, “Why do we want those three Council members tearing apart Mizzenwald in search of me?”
Laris, the Council member sitting beside Oliver, said, “The three people that Calahan sent after you were not chosen at random; they’re his greatest allies in the Council. The longer we can keep them from returning back to him, the better, especially as we have a meeting first thing in the morning, and it will be much easier to manipulate Calahan without his saner allies present.”
For a moment Hayden almost felt sorry for the Chief Mage. True, he had never liked the man much, but even his closest circle of advisors were trying to drive him to ruin.
Small wonder the man has become paranoid; he can’t trust anyone.
“And how does driving Cal nuts make things better, aside from furthering your own political agendas?” Hayden asked boldly, ignoring the slight wince from Master Willow, who was always more diplomatic in his accusations.
Laris pursed his lips in annoyance but Magdalene answered readily.
“Calahan will never side with you. Even without us goading him to folly, he sees you as too much of a threat to his rule. He knows he has made an enemy of you, and he has been regretting that ever since the day you met, but knows it is too late to win your support at this juncture. Now he has no choice but to destroy you before you can destroy him—or so he believes. The sooner we can get him to commit a large enough mistake and remove him from his position, the better for you.”
She looked like she was getting ready to change topics and continue the meeting as scheduled, but Hayden interrupted once more, knowing that he was pushing his luck but not caring.
“And where are Tess and Zane?”
Asher raised an eyebrow at him and said, “At Mizzenwald, preparing for the second day of final exams. Why?”
“Laurren said the Council members don’t think I’d leave school without Zane and Tess. You don’t expect me to believe they’re just going to leave them wandering around free, do you? They’re going to be stalking them to see if my friends will lead them to me.”
Kilgore chuckled at Laris’s raised eyebrows and said, “Told you the boy’s not dumb.” He turned to Hayden. “As soon as term ends they’re going to be tailed relentlessly. Reede has already instructed them to return home and act naturally until one of us comes to get them; we need to make sure they’re free of magical traces before we can risk bringing them to you.”
Hayden knew that his friends would probably be going crazy having to go home for the winter without knowing what was happening with him, but as long as they didn’t run amok of the Council of Mages they should be safe, which was better than the alternative.
“Do they know where I am, or do they think I just disappeared in the middle of lunch and fell off the edge of the world?”
“They haven’t been told where you are, in case Calahan can trump up an excuse to have them magically interrogated, but they’ve been subtly informed that you’re alright.”
Hayden nodded. It seemed like the best he could hope for right now.
Not giving him the opportunity to interrupt again, Magdalene said, “Laris and I are doing all we can to exert pressure against Calahan without our hand being seen in it, and if we can get him to strip Hayden of his Medal of Heroism that will go a long way toward turning the public against him.”
“We’ll have to time it carefully,” Mandra interjected. “We can’t begin floating the information that Hayden is being wrongfully defamed and is working to form a coalition against the Dark Prism too early, or Calahan will be able to back down in time to save himself. Conversely, if we wait too long, Hayden’s reputation will be too tarnished for us to recover it.”
“There is a critical point at which we must put Hayden forth as a maligned hero, but we have not yet reached it,” Magdalene agreed curtly. “He needs to be stripped of his honors, and we need Calahan to publicly turn against him. Then we will be ready to act.”
It felt really bizarre to have all of these people talking about when to deploy him, like he was a chess piece waiting to be moved around the board. Frowning, Hayden said, “You all are very flippant when it comes to deciding how much disgrace you’ll allow me to bear before doing anything about it. I wonder if you’d be so casual with your own lives and reputations.”
Master Kiresa rolled his eyes and said, “The poor boy is feeling misused.” Then, as an aside to Oliver, he whispered, “I told them he wouldn’t have the grit for this,” loudly enough for the entire table to hear.
Slamming his hands onto the table and standing up, Hayden barked, “The only thing I’ve seen you excel at is bullying people half your age. Can you even use your prisms, or do they just decorate your belt?”
Kiresa drew a prism so quickly it was like he was waiting for Hayden to provoke him all this time. Face purpling with anger, he held it in front of his eye without bothering with the circlet and cast at Hayden, who didn’t even have time to identify the spell being used against him.
Bracing for impact, he was shocked when Kiresa was thrown backwards, knocking over his chair and crashing to the floor in a tangled heap of limbs, while nothing of consequence happened to Hayden. The reason for his good fortune became apparent when he turned his head and saw Ma
ster Asher—who always had a prism equipped in his circlet—with the eyepiece pulled down in front of his left eye.
Despite the unpleasantness of the situation, Hayden couldn’t help but ask, “Reflect?” of his mentor.
“I thought he should get a taste of his own magic,” Asher answered back languidly, glaring at his counterpart, who was getting to his feet and looking furious. “You should learn to control your temper, Kiresa—or are you so unsure of yourself that you’ll allow a few harsh words from a teenager to unhinge you?”
It was hard to say who hated the other more. The look Kiresa gave Master Asher was venomous enough to cause nightmares, but the latter didn’t look remotely bothered by it.
A few of the others had stood up as well during the chaos, and Willow was now trying to get control of the situation by saying, “Let’s all sit back down. We don’t have time for petty squabbling amongst ourselves or else Aleric has already won.”
Something about the Master of Wands was inherently soothing, and everyone followed his directions, even Kiresa. Hayden wished he knew how Master Willow managed that kind of power, but maybe it was just a gift.
“He can’t hide behind your robes for much longer,” Kiresa said coldly to Asher. “If he isn’t prepared to risk his precious reputation for this, then we are wasting our time here.”
Nettled, Hayden said, “I’m not afraid to risk myself for this, but stop acting like I’m your damn mascot.”
“That’s exactly what you are,” Laurren interjected softly, resting his chin on his folded hands and leveling his gaze at Hayden. “You are the mascot for the fight against Aleric—something we didn’t have last time but sorely needed. People need something to rally behind, something to believe in, and you are ideally suited to the task.”
Hayden frowned at that but said nothing, feeling the momentary surge of anger drain out of him. He felt tired and hollow in its wake.
“Any news on Aleric’s whereabouts?” Master Willow turned back to Magdalene Trout as though there had been no interruption whatsoever.
