Mom laughed as Laurel looked at Dad like he was nuts. Cam decided that silence was the only safe response, not wanting to say anything that might get Laurel started about him and Elena again. It was a decision he was doubly thankful for when all of the guards averted their eyes from him at exactly the same time. For a brief, panicked second, he wondered if they’d all been listening enough to realize what was going on.
Then he told himself not to be an idiot and turned to look behind him. Elena had followed his and Laurel’s route into the courtyard, and as she walked toward him he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from sneaking upward. He just liked it better when she was there. “If you’re looking for some peace and quiet, this probably isn’t the place to get it.” He started moving towards her. “Mom and Dad are torturing people for their own good.”
“I know. It’s probably wrong that I find it soothing.” She scanned the still-running guards, none of whom were willing to meet her eyes. Clearly, his parents were including some well-deserved guilt as part of their training. “But one of the maids told me you were out here.”
“Did you need something?” He’d stopped lurking at the doorway of Braeth’s room because he hadn’t wanted to be a nuisance, but if she’d needed him and he hadn’t been there—
“Yes.” Elena didn’t elaborate, instead moving close enough that her shoulder pressed against his upper arm. They stayed like that for a moment, not moving, before she spoke again. “I know I’ve said this already, but thank you.”
She’d been doing that a lot since her aunt had arrived. It might have been enough to worry him, but it was worlds better than the cold he’d felt radiating off her during her initial confrontation with Ariadne. “I’m not going anywhere.” He placed a hand on her back, herding her over to his parents. They’d be good about not fussing more than she could handle, but if they didn’t get the chance to at least see her they’d never forgive him. “Now spare me some future grief and come say hi to Mom and Dad.”
Elena hugged both of them, then exchanged a polite nod with Laurel. “Alan says we’ve been invited to the spell circle,” Mom said, giving the princess the same scan she often gave her children.
“Yes.” Elena moved back to stand next to Cam, once again making sure their arms were touching. “It’s just a precaution, of course.”
“Of course.” Dad said. “You look tired.”
She shrugged. “I have a great deal on my mind.” When he looked worried, she smiled a little. “Don’t worry. Your son’s been making sure I get at least a little sleep.”
Both his parents looked at Cam approvingly, while Laurel surveyed all of them as if plotting a sneak attack in the immediate future. Cam sent her a covert look that promised a whole host of creative deaths if she said anything inappropriate.
Mom smoothed a hand over Elena’s hair one more time, then glanced over at the still-running guardsmen. “They’re starting to collapse,” she murmured, absolutely no concern in her voice. “Much more and they’ll be completely useless.”
“We might as well move onto the next phase,” Dad said, his voice heavy. He waved to the three of them before moving towards the guards. “Attention, everyone! Corridor hunt-and-find starts in one minute exactly!”
Mom smiled at the three of them. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure not to leave any bodies lying around.” With a quick hand-squeeze for both Cam and Laurel, she followed her husband.
Laurel, on the other hand, didn’t look like she was about to go anywhere. “So,” she started, the deliberate pause making it obvious that no one was going to like where she was headed. Her hand rested on the hilt of the sword hanging at her side, such an obvious intimidation tactic that he kind of wanted to smack her for it. “It’s been awhile since you and I talked, Princess.”
Cam wrapped an arm around Elena to keep her from encouraging his sister’s idiocy at all. Elena looked up at him, her expression making it clear that she would have understood without quite such an obvious prompt. Then she smiled her cool, dangerous smile at Laurel. “That’s true, but not terribly surprising. We’ve never had a great deal in common.”
Laurel smiled back, equally dangerous. “Now we do.”
“Laurel, stop.” He’d been holding onto exasperation as long as possible, but now it was sliding fast into anger. “I thought we’d settled this.”
Elena glanced up at Cam, then gave Laurel a long, measuring look. “You have,” she said firmly. When Laurel met her gaze, ready to argue, Elena shook her head. “My guess is that you’re angry at me rather than your brother, and he’s simply made himself a target in an attempt to protect me. Stop tormenting him now, and I promise you we’ll have the conversation you’re so clearly looking for once I’ve dealt with my aunt.”
Cam was oddly touched, but he couldn’t let her do this. “Elena.”
She looked up at him again. “No, you don’t get to keep taking harassment for me. I make your life hard enough as it is.”
After a brief burst of surprise, Laurel watched them both with a thoughtful look. “Fine. But I’ll be watching.” She turned, hand still on her sword, and disappeared back into the castle.
Once she was gone, Elena let out a breath. “If I have to turn her into a frog, I promise it will be purely in self-defense.”
Cam grinned at the image. “There’s no need to limit yourself like that.”
Chapter 17
Solid Purchase
Elena hated swimming.
She’d tried it once, in an ice-cold pocket of a lake that was the kingdom’s only significant body of water. Her mother had done her best to teach her the basics, but all Elena could remember about the experience was the feeling of constant floundering. She had clung to her mother, her toes constantly seeking for some solid purchase. True, that went against the entire point of swimming, but to Elena’s mind it would have been far less terrifying to simply learn to breathe underwater.
Now, with her aunt in the castle, she would have given anything to have only mere water to deal with. She was so tempted to just give up, stop struggling and peacefully sink to the bottom, but this time her mother was floundering, too. They couldn’t help each other from the bottom, so they were both trying hard to stay above the surface.
Little more than a day later, Elena was already exhausted. Her patience was proving to be the first victim.
“You’re being deliberately vague here,” she snapped, jabbing her finger at the offending section of notes. She glared at her aunt across the worktable. “The connection between the shields and strands is one of the most important parts of curse construction. I refuse to believe that you remember so little.”
Ariadne narrowed her own eyes, apparently emboldened by the lack of guards in the room. “I could give you detailed notes about the condition of the structural ties when I created the curse, but those would be useless to us now. I spent weeks battering the thing apart—there’s no way to tell what they look like until I’ve seen them for myself.”
“Which means we might have to partially re-construct the curse in order to take it apart safely.” Her mother leaned forward, the words outwardly more calm than Elena’s. But it was still possible to hear the old anger in the queen’s voice, far more dangerous than impatience. “If that happens, knowing everything we can about how the structure ties together will be vital.”
Ariadne’s jaw tightened, and she took a deep, steadying breath through her nose. “Fine. But we’re wasting time.”
“And who was the one who made my daughter’s eighteenth birthday the deadline?” The queen met her sister’s gaze, enough chill in her voice to make even Elena shiver. “Write out the notes.”
There was complete silence as the two women stared at each other. There was no question in Elena’s mind who would back down first, and a few seconds later her aunt proved her right. “Fine,” Ariadne said, eyes escaping back down to the notes. “I�
�ll give you everything I have.”
“Even if we won’t remember all the information, Dr. Flyte will,” Elena forced her own voice to be even as she re-gathered what was left of her patience. Not that there was much of it—she needed to find some excuse to duck outside for a few minutes. Just a joke or two from Cam would do wonders. “He’ll be monitoring both me and the curse while everyone’s working to take it apart. I have a personal stake in making sure he’s as prepared as possible.”
Ariadne’s eyes widened a fraction, as if she’d just realized something. “Dr. Flyte? Was he the mirror you used to—” She stopped herself, eyes flicking over to her sister before dropping back down to her notes.
There was just enough vulnerability in the words to make Elena suspect that her aunt regretted opening her mouth at all. She glanced over at her mother, who was staring at Ariadne with raw eyes, and Elena squeezed her mother’s hand. “You’ll meet everyone when it’s necessary.”
Ariadne’s nod was relaxed, and focused entirely on Elena. There was something in her eyes that looked almost like gratitude, and Elena was appalled to realize it was directed at her. It was exhausting battling her temper, but she also had no interest in offering the woman anything, either. If something that neutral could be seen as a kindness, she would have to watch her words even more carefully.
She pulled herself back from her thoughts in time to hear her mother’s next question. “Are you sure there’s not a less violent method for destroying the curse’s shields?” This time, the queen’s voice held more concern than anger. Unfortunately, the change wasn’t particularly comforting. “I’m aware that overloading them is less violent than using brute force to smash through them, but the energy release could cause its own damage.”
Something almost like fondness flashed across Ariadne’s face. When the queen looked away, no longer willing to meet her sister’s gaze, Ariadne closed her eyes. “Any method we have of destroying the shields will require a certain amount of violence. The energy overload has the advantage of not putting any undue stress on the structures beneath.”
The words were carefully vague enough that Elena was immediately suspicious. “What structures?” She looked back and forth between the two women, both of whom were carefully not saying anything at all, and she had a terrible feeling she already knew. “Me.” She took a deep breath, ignoring the way her stomach twisted. “Getting rid of the curse could destroy the strands of my magic tangled up in the middle.”
Ariadne’s jaw tightened. “Even if that’s true, it might be no more harmful than dismantling a spell.”
The queen’s eyes narrowed. “You may be willing to take risks with my daughter’s life, but I am not.”
“I agree,” intoned a far deeper voice. Elena turned as Braeth appeared in her mother’s workroom, hovering behind her the shadows swirling around him like malevolent clouds. He’d picked up the habit of flowing into a room through some nearly invisible crack, rather than do anything so mundane as actually open a doorway. Elena hadn’t even known that particular trick was in his repertoire, and suspected this was his version of grandstanding. “Her life will not be damaged, Ariadne Coppin, even if I have to drain yours to assure that she remains sufficiently strong.”
Ariadne’s eyes widened briefly at his surprise appearance, though she pretended they hadn’t. “There’s no need to threaten me.” She met the wraith’s gaze, voice firm and more confident than it had been in hours. “Despite what you may think of me, I assure you that we have the same priority.”
“If that is truly the case, then do not think of this as a threat,” Braeth said calmly. “I am simply telling you what will happen if your priorities change.” He then turned to the queen. “When shall we perform the binding spell? I would do it immediately, but the good doctor feels that the magic-draining restraints your sister is currently wearing will blunt its impact.”
“A binding?” Ariadne asked, her voice sharpening. “I need to be at my full strength when I work on the curse, not under the influence of outside magic. Restrictions of any kind may hamper my ability to attack the spell, or deal with an unexpected problem as it arises.”
“If it hampers you from hurting my daughter, I’m quite happy to take that risk.” The queen’s voice brooked no argument, an attitude Elena shared completely. Ariadne made a small sound, caught somewhere between hurt and frustration. “Why would I come here if my goal was to hurt her?” Her shoulders were tense, like she was prepared to either throw a punch or defend against one. “There’s no reason for me to expose myself like this if I didn’t truly want to help!”
“How am I ever supposed to trust you again?” The queen’s voice was an equal mixture of fury and grief. “You attacked my daughter in order to punish me for falling in love! How can I ever believe another word you say?”
“I—” Ariadne looked stricken, her voice failing her. To Elena’s ears, her mother had simply repeated the basic facts of the situation, but her aunt looked like the imagined punch had hit her square in the face. It made no sense that the woman’s feelings would still be this raw. Surely she’d made some kind of peace with a decision she’d made so deliberately.
Elena filed the discrepancy away as she regained control of the conversation. “We’ll take all the necessary precautions as soon as circumstances call for it.” Her voice was firm enough to cut off any unnecessary conversation. “Until then, we have more important things to worry about.”
“Indeed.” Braeth almost amused as he turned to Elena. “I must temporarily requisition your guard, princess. The doctor wishes to be returned to his room, and Cameron’s only task at the moment seems to be studying the stonework on the opposite side of the corridor.”
The queen’s eyebrows lifted a fraction. “I thought Cam was with his family.”
“Cam is completely capable of making his own decisions.” Elena knew her voice sounded just a little too casual to be believable, but the heavens help anyone who dared call her on it. “You need to ask him, not me.”
“I did. He seemed to feel that you would have something to say on the matter.”
She felt her cheeks heat. Cam had indeed been with his family, at least until she’d hunted him down. After assuring Cam more than once that he hadn’t been in the way, he’d gotten the hint and followed her back here.
And she would be strung up by her ankles rather than admit any of that out loud.
“How long do you think it will take?” she asked Braeth, making sure she didn’t meet anyone’s gaze.
“That depends on who we can find to assist him. Cameron’s younger brother is in classes right now, and he seems quite determined not to ask either of his older siblings.”
“I’ll help.” It wasn’t the most dignified exit, but seeing Cam suddenly seemed far more important. “If nothing else, I can keep Dr. Flyte from psychoanalyzing the poor man.”
“But we still—”
The queen shook her head, cutting Ariadne off. “The meeting is done. Get us the rest of the notes by tomorrow morning. I want to have the spell completed by nightfall.” Her voice gentled as she turned to her daughter. “Go. I’ll let you know if there’s any new information.”
Elena touched her mother’s arm in silent thank you. She left just as Braeth and his shadows slipped out of the room.
~
“Are you sure mirrors can’t gain weight, Doc?” Cam muttered, adjusting his grip on the mirror to accommodate Elena’s shorter height. There wasn’t a great deal of distance between her mother’s workroom and the room that had been set aside for Dr. Flyte, but there were enough turns to make the walk a slow one. “Maybe you’ve been snacking on magic cupcakes while we weren’t looking.”
“Cameron, I feel it’s time for a humor intervention,” Dr. Flyte said, voice as serious as it was in sessions. If you didn’t know him, it would be impossible to tell that he was joking. “I hate to be the one to break
it to you, but you’re simply not as amusing as you think you are.”
Cam chuckled. “Poor guy. You ended up with Mason’s sense of humor.” He looked at Elena. “You seriously haven’t tried to help him with that before now?”
“Who says I haven’t?” She put on her best innocent face. “A few years ago, his sense of humor was hopeless enough that he might have actually found you funny.”
Cam made tsking sound as he shook his head. “She’s in denial, Doc. You’ve got to help her.”
Dr. Flyte sighed dramatically. “You poor, delusional boy. Mind the stairs, please.”
Elena helped Cam maneuver the mirror up the stairwell, enjoying listening to the banter between him and the mirror. She’d been ready to deflect any unwanted therapy Dr. Flyte might try to unleash on Cam—sometimes the mirror couldn’t help himself—but Cam had been ready with the jokes from the very beginning. Since then, he’d kept a guiding hand on the entire conversation, keeping the doctor busy while tossing enough openings to Elena to make sure she didn’t drift off someplace unpleasant.
If she called him on it, Elena suspected Cam would deny he was doing anything but making stupid jokes. The fact that she knew better felt like a secret shared only between the two of them, a piece of Cam that no one else had.
It was an embarrassing thought, but she cherished it.
“I know I’m probably the hundredth person to ask this, but aren’t there transport spells that would make this easier?” Cam asked, walking backwards around a turn. “I mean, normal people buy them in individual batches to move furniture short distances.”
“Transport spells interact poorly with my inherent magic,” Dr. Flyte explained. “The one time I attempted it, my entire frame left without me. Needless to say, it was unpleasant.”
Cam winced. “I can imagine.”
“Braeth’s offered to make him specialized transport charms, but nothing like that’s ever been done before,” Elena said. “Dr. Flyte would have to be an experimental test subject.”
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