Trial of the Thaumaturge (Scions of Nexus Book 3)

by Gregory Mattix

  He could only sit there silent and helpless as the strange woman abducted him.

  Chapter 30

  Ferret knocked at the door but received no answer. “You passed out drunk in there already?” she called.

  After still getting no answer, she quietly opened the door and peeked inside. Taren wasn’t there, although his bedcover was rumpled. A candle flickered beside the bed.

  “Huh. Wonder where he’s gone off to?”

  Ferret was feeling restless and a bit lonely. Iris and Rafe had retired earlier, and Creel, Kulnor, and Harbek were well into their cups, engaged in some dicing. She didn’t mind dicing, but as the only one yet sober, she felt out of place. Thus, she’d gone to find Taren, who’d left earlier with Mira.

  She had noted that the hussy at the feast who’d clearly had an eye for Taren had suspiciously disappeared shortly after he had, a fact joked about by Creel and the two dwarves. They’d probably only noticed because of the conspicuous delay in getting their tankards of ale refilled following the woman’s departure.

  The serving wench had roused Ferret’s suspicions not only with her intent focus on Taren throughout the feast but because of her striking looks as well. She was far too attractive, certainly beautiful enough to be some nobleman’s mistress, plied with jewelry and fancy gowns, rather than serving in the castle kitchens. Mira didn’t seem to notice the woman’s interest, which didn’t surprise Ferret, as the monk was socially awkward. Creel laughed it off when she remarked on it, saying, “Good for the lad. A pretty lass’s attentions would do well for him.”

  I’ll bet that wench got her claws into him somehow.

  The thought didn’t sit well at all with Ferret, although she couldn’t say exactly why—only that she had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. She wasn’t interested in Taren romantically but felt someone needed to watch his back to guard against swindlers and knaves of every ilk. Mira could handle most threats she could recognize, but Ferret’s naturally suspicious eye was more suited to detecting the skulking vermin of society who looked to take advantage of others.

  I need him to take me to that bloody Shirak Research Station to find my cure—that’s all. She tried to convince herself that was the reason she was concerned, pushing away annoying thoughts about him being a good friend, almost like the brother she’d never had.

  She went to Mira’s room, intending to ask the monk. Perhaps Taren had simply passed out in her room, as he’d slept there once in Nexus after dousing his own room with water, a mental image she still found amusing.

  She rapped at the door. “Mira?”

  “Ferret?” came the reply a moment later.

  “Sorry to disturb you, but is Taren in there?”

  “No, he’s not.” A moment later Mira opened the door, dressed in her nightgown but looking wide awake. “Is he not in his room?”

  “Nay, I just checked. I didn’t like the way that wench was eyeing him earlier so thought I’d check on him.”

  Mira looked confused. “The way who was eyeing him?”

  “That serving wench that was rubbing up against him all night and about to fall out of her dress.”

  “Do you think he’s in danger?” Mira stepped into the hallway but paused. “Isn’t it normal for young men to… dally with such women?”

  Ferret shrugged. “Aye, I reckon so, but he seemed awfully drunk. Didn’t you take him to his room?”

  “I did.” Mira ran over to Taren’s room and threw the door open. A moment later, she looked up and down the hall, concern plain on her face. “What should we do?”

  Ferret thought a moment before she had a flash of inspiration. “Try to call to him—you know, that magic telepathy or whatever it is. I’ve tried that before but usually can’t reach him unless he talks to me first.”

  “Good idea.” Mira closed her eyes for a moment, one that felt like a very long time while Ferret waited anxiously.

  ***

  “Good night to you, sir.”

  A muffled reply came in response from one whom Taren assumed was a guard, then Irralith was moving once more, cold air flowing into the pocket as she walked.

  Taren couldn’t help but think of the last time he’d been abducted, by an invisible monster summoned by the inquisitors while he was a guest in Zylka Daerodil’s home. But that time, he’d been able to summon his magic and eventually destroy the creature. Whatever Irralith had poisoned him with not only immobilized him but thoroughly blocked all sense of magic.

  He fought to move his limbs, to try to remove the ring, climb out of the woman’s pocket, or anything, but all without success.

  Irralith patted the pocket, jostling him roughly. “Won’t be long now, mageling,” she said in an undertone. “Soon, we’ll be out of the city, and not long after, I’ll have my freedom and gold enough to last me for many years.”

  He could hear the echo of her footsteps on the cobblestone street. Voices were singing from a distance, and the sound of a flute played somewhere, a tavern most likely. We must be off the castle grounds by now. If I can’t find some way to escape, she’ll deliver me to Nesnys! He knew instinctively that was where he was headed.

  “Taren? Can you hear me?”

  He could have wept in relief at hearing Mira’s thought in his mind. After having established their initial psionic bond in Nexus, he and Mira had remained attuned to each other.

  “Mira! Please help me! I’m paralyzed and can’t use my magic—I think it’s some type of poison. I’ve been abducted by a woman or a creature that looks like a woman. She’s wearing a glamour of a chambermaid.” He went on to describe her features and how he was hidden in her pocket. “We’re outside the castle already. In the town, I think.”

  “Hold on. I’m on my way.” Mira’s thoughts were filled with worry and determination in equal measure.

  ***

  Mira raced down the stairwell, along another hallway, then through a door and outside to the castle bailey. She believed her route was the shortest path, the same one the woman must have taken to abduct Taren. She paid little heed to the cold flagstones beneath her bare feet, nor to the night’s chill against her exposed skin. The hem of her thin nightgown flapped at her thighs as she sprinted across the bailey.

  Ferret had gone to fetch Creel and raise the alarm, but Mira didn’t want to delay, for fear those few precious minutes would be all Taren’s captor would need to escape. How can the enemy have slipped into the castle itself? I should have watched over him better… How could I not notice that woman’s undue interest in him at the feast? Ferret had been alert, fortunately, and now she had the chance to redeem herself after her lax attention—that was what mattered. She could berate herself over her incompetence later.

  A pair of guards at the gates watched her approach, wide-eyed. “Miss, are you all right?” a young man asked.

  “A woman—has a serving woman passed here in the last several minutes?” She slowed to a stop before the men.

  “Um, well sure,” he replied. “A bunch of the servants went home for the night.”

  “A stout, plain-faced woman of middle years. Dark hair and eyes.” She related the description Taren had given her.

  The guards exchanged glances. “Could be Millie, I reckon,” the older guard said, scratching at his gray beard. “She’s worked here for years.”

  “Where did she go?”

  “Apologies, miss, but I don’t know where she lives.”

  “She headed that way, if it helps.” The younger guard pointed outside the gate and to the left.

  Mira thanked them and raced out into the street. Behind her, she heard sounds of the alarm being raised. She passed the remnants of the feasting held in the park for the soldiers who hadn’t fit inside the castle. A bonfire was burning low, and many people were passed out drunk, both soldiers and their female companions, while many others were still drinking and dicing.

  “Mira, I’m down by the lake,” Taren’s thought reached her. “I can smell the fish and algae. Also, I
hear the sounds of waves lapping against the pier.”

  “Hold on, Taren.”

  She redoubled her speed, following the street, which wound past the park and perimeter of the castle wall before turning toward the harbor. The street began angling downward but then curved to the right, away from the lakeside, and intersected with another lane. Instinctively, she turned left and followed the steeper street downward. Ahead a couple hundred paces, moonlight shone on the dark expanse of the lake’s still surface. The ships docked at the piers formed a forest of masts. Within moments, she reached the edge of the wide boardwalk along the bay. She halted, looking left and right, searching for any sign of Taren or the woman.

  Nobody was about.

  “I don’t see anything. Can you give me something more?”

  “We’ve stopped moving. I think… she might be aware and watching you. She’s adept at weaving illusions, so be careful.”

  Mira felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck prickle at the thought of his abductor watching her from plain view yet disguised so that Mira couldn’t see her in return. After a couple of long breaths to calm herself, she took another long look about. The boardwalk extended several hundred paces in either direction, lined with small shacks and shanties. A number of piers jutted outward into the water, most moored with small fishing craft, although a handful of larger vessels were farther out on the lake. Torchlight illuminated watchmen’s posts atop stone watchtowers at the far ends of the port. A few sparks of lantern light gleamed from out on the water where night fishers were trying their luck. Laughter and voices carried faintly across the water from one of the distant boats.

  Something moved to the left. She spotted a furtive figure moving far down the pier, a few hundred paces away and moving quickly.

  Mira started after it, running as fast as she could, a cold breeze tugging at her nightgown and freezing her exposed skin. She ignored her discomfort, sending a trickle of her ki to ward off the cold. She lost sight of the person for a moment, but then it reappeared, staying in the shadows of shacks along the boardwalk.

  Is she planning to sneak him away aboard a boat?

  “We’re moving again, Mira.”

  “I see you. Almost there.” She could sense his relief through their connection and focused all her attention on closing the gap.

  ***

  “Friend of yours?” Irralith asked softly. “My, what a swift runner—she’s like a wolf racing in pursuit of her prey. But alas, she’ll run out of pier soon, and our boat awaits us.” She began moving again with a long stride but remained unhurried even by the prospect of pursuit.

  Shouts and the jingle of mail were growing louder in the distance, and Taren said a quick prayer to Sabyl asking for his friends to find him in time. His spiking adrenaline seemed to have burned off the alcohol haze of earlier to a significant degree, but the venom was another matter, unfortunately. He still couldn’t even lift a finger or sense the earth magic.

  After another minute or two, Irralith reached in and grabbed Taren, hanging him awkwardly from the lip of her pocket by his arms. He had a view of the lake and harbor, moonlight shining on the water.

  Irralith turned slightly, and Taren caught a glimpse of torchlight approaching from the street a hundred paces or so away.

  “Ah, this will be just perfect. Watch and learn, mageling.” Irralith raised her hands, muttering something under her breath.

  Ferret came into view, barreling down the street a short distance ahead of Creel and a dozen or so guardsmen puffing for breath. A couple of the guards were carrying torches.

  “Ghas’a tluxxt ulas ang r’aaktha!” Irralith commanded.

  A massive wave erupted outward from the still lake, as if a huge boulder had been heaved into the water. It sloshed across the boardwalk and roughly ten paces up the sloping street. The instant the water hit the ground, it turned to ice, coating cobblestones and boards alike in a thin glaze.

  Ferret went down first, slipping on the rime and falling onto her back. Her speed sent her shooting down the incline, across the boardwalk, and down a pier several paces before colliding with an iron mooring bollard with a loud clang. She caromed off the bollard and sailed into the water with a large splash, where she immediately sank like a stone.

  Creel lost his footing as well, spilling onto his hip with a curse. He slid onto the boardwalk but managed to jab a dagger into the planks and halt his momentum. Guards slipped and tumbled around him, bellowing startled curses. At least three men followed Ferret into the water, with others left clinging to mooring ropes, the sides of fishing boats, and dock posts. Half the group was able to stop short of the ice and warily search for a safer way down.

  Irralith laughed heartily at the mishaps of Taren’s friends and the guards. She turned and strode farther away down the pier. But before she turned away, Taren glimpsed a distant figure wearing only a nightgown and running along the pier in the opposite direction, now several hundred yards away.

  ***

  Mira had paused at the tremendous clamor of armored men spilling into the lake back at the center of the boardwalk where the street ended. But she halted only a moment before resuming her pursuit. The surprisingly spry maid was nearing a boat at the end of the last pier, and Mira was finally on the verge of catching up to her.

  “Mira! I’m down at the opposite end of the wharf—don’t trust what you’re seeing.”

  She paused again, glancing back toward the eastern edge of the harbor but not seeing anyone there. The figure she had been trailing was in the boat, looking for all the world as if she were preparing to set sail. A length of mooring rope hit the deck with an audible slap as the woman unlashed it. She pushed off from the dock with an oar.

  But Mira trusted Taren over her own senses. She turned back around then took off running once more, feeling foolish as well as incompetent.

  By the Balance, this is aggravating! Some other choice words she’d heard Creel mutter came to mind, which would’ve made her blush a couple of months earlier. She gritted her teeth and ran like the wind gusting down the cliffs of the Giantspears at the White Monastery.

  ***

  Cautiously, Creel regained his feet on the icy planks of the boardwalk. His dexterity wasn’t helped much by the prodigious amount of ale he’d consumed earlier, but his head was swiftly clearing, especially with the cold night air and pumping adrenaline.

  With small, cautious steps, he made his way off the ice then took stock of the situation. Ferret had gone into the water, as had several of the guardsmen, dragged underwater by the weight of their mail shirts. Others had been fortunate to grab onto whatever was available to halt their momentum and were cautiously retreating from the icy patch. Creel looked around but saw no sign of Taren or anyone who could’ve abducted him, though the gate guards had been quick to point out the direction Mira had gone.

  He cursed at the thought of the guardsmen drowning. And he had no way of knowing if the water would somehow damage Ferret.

  Those thoughts barely crossed his mind when a guard came flailing up from out of the lake, like a seal surging out of the ocean’s surf, and collapsed heavily onto the pier. He vomited out lake water and lay there groaning. Two more men followed a few seconds later, joining their comrade on the dock and coughing up water.

  Ferret. Good on you, lass.

  Movement caught his eye at the far left end of the harbor. “Mira?” The monk was running back down the boardwalk toward him, wearing only a nightgown in the cold night air.

  “Where the Abyss did Taren get off to?” He took another long look around but could see nobody else in the vicinity.

  “Master Creel?” The remaining guardsmen had circumvented the icy patch and were cautiously approaching, wary of further traps.

  “No sign of the lad,” he said. “Let’s spread out and search the harbor.”

  “Some help here,” a familiar voice called.

  Clinging to the edge of the dock was Ferret. Creel walked over and grasped her wrists. He he
aved and pulled her out of the lake. Some bit of slimy plant was caught in Ferret’s shoulder joint, and water streamed from her innards as she stood there motionlessly. She didn’t seem any worse for wear, but he wondered if she would start rusting up.

  “You all right, lass?” He pried the plant free and tossed it aside.

  “Aye. Where’d this damn ice come from?” She kicked at the edge of it, and a section of the rime broke off in a sheet.

  “It would seem our foe is a mage of some ability. Yet I see no sign of Taren.”

  “Mira!” Ferret waved.

  The monk was still about fifty paces away, pointing frantically toward the far opposite end of the harbor. “Taren says he’s down at the southern end!”

  “Taren says?” Creel frowned but decided not to question her knowledge. “Sweep the southern portion of the wharf,” he told the guards.

  “Look!” a guard shouted.

  A brilliant green light flashed rapidly a few times from the farthest pier and then was gone. A moment later, answering flashes of light came from out on the lake.

  “Let’s go—they’re trying to leave by boat!” Creel took off running, along with the others.

  The distance was far, and they had to circle along the boardwalk to reach the end pier. Mira had a different idea, though. She ran down the nearest pier then leaped off the dock onto the deck of a trawler, hopped across that, then took a long leap across several paces of water and landed atop a smaller fishing boat. A moment later, she was on the adjoining pier. Creel could see she was taking a direct route and would potentially reach where the ship was about to land before the rest of them, assuming she wasn’t thwarted by too wide a stretch of waterway between boats.

  Regardless of who reached them first, Creel knew whoever was responsible would pay for kidnapping Taren.