by HDA Roberts
She chuckled, "God, I love it when I tweak that brat's nose!”
"You should have seen him, Mistress, he was furious! The look on his face was just priceless."
They had a good, long laugh, which only served to make me angrier. I found an empty room full of shadows and opened a Gate, stepping back into the Newtonian World. I took the time to cast an Illusion around myself, creating the image of an empty space. It wasn't quite invisibility (which involved the actual bending of light), but it had much the same result, and didn't take as much power or effort.
I opened the door quietly, using a small Muffling Spell to prevent the squeaks being heard, then I used a similar Spell on the floor under my feet so that the ancient woodwork wouldn't give me away.
"If he calls for an appointment, see how long we can put him off before he calls in one of the others. I think we can probably stretch this out for weeks!" she said, laughing all the while.
Oh... we would see about that.
The assistant had left the door to the office open, so I slipped in behind him, taking a seat in front of the desk, completely unnoticed. If I hadn’t been in such a bad mood, I may well have enjoyed what happened next.
"So, what else do we have today?" she asked.
"Lunch meeting with the Laurel Faction's leadership, three appointments with your constituents and that dinner party at Camelot."
Camelot? Myrddin had been busy. I wondered what he'd have to say about his dinner guest if I told him what she'd been up to...
"All fine. Have my maid brought up in an hour to prepare me for lunch."
"Yes, Ma'am," he said with a nod. He made a note on his pad before bowing and leaving.
Bradley leaned back in her seat with a very self-satisfied look on her face, letting her eyes close in relaxation.
"Good morning, Mrs Bradley," I said, dropping my Illusion at the same time.
The result was simply hysterical.
She emitted a sound that was some horrific combination of squeal, scream and squeak before kicking out reflexively, causing her already leaning chair to topple and spill her all over the tasteful carpet. I might have laughed at any other time, but I was simply too worried and far too angry to do anything other than glower as she gathered herself off the floor and started swearing at me.
"Stop," I said.
It didn't work. The swearing degenerated into threats and general shouting, at which point the assistant came back in and made the mistake of calling his Magic. Without even bothering to turn around, I sent a Shadow and he went flying back out the door to hit the wall opposite. He slid down to the floor, quite insensible.
That shut her up; she went pale, in fact.
"That's better," I said softly. From experience, I was aware that a steady, even tone when one is obviously furious was far more intimidating than shouting and raving would have been.
She swallowed.
"How dare you enter my house without permission!" she barked, trying to regain the initiative.
"Mrs Bradley, I have tried to be polite, I have tried to be reasonable, but you are wasting precious time, and if you don't sit down and listen to what I have to say, then I am going to begin getting very cross!" I'd gotten louder towards the end of that; my temper really was fraying badly.
"Is that a threat?" she snarled back.
"Are you just this stupid?" I asked. "Are you so slow-witted that you can see an angry Archon sitting across from you and think that this is the time to be screwing around? Sit down!"
She sat.
"My brother was taken from the Farm yesterday. I am told that this was done by someone with all the correct paperwork. I want that person found within the next half-hour. If it was you, then I am willing to overlook it if you tell me where he is now, and that nothing has happened to him while you were giving me the run-around."
"Even if I knew, I am under no obligation to share anything with you!"
I sat there for a moment, just staring at her.
"I'm talking about my family, Mrs Bradley. And I am an Archon, you are under an obligation."
"Really? Show me the law, go on. Show me where it is written that I have to kowtow to a little snot with a fancy ring!"
"Would you speak that way to Lady Hopkins? Lady Palmyra?"
I leaned forward. "Would you speak like that to Lord Killian?"
She blanched at that. No, she wouldn't. They'd all have reacted... poorly to this sort of treatment.
"So, why would you think it wise to treat me like this?"
She laughed, she actually laughed at me. If I hadn’t needed her cooperation...
"You've already destroyed what... two governments? What do you suppose happens to your public standing if you so much as lay a finger on me? And why do I treat you the way I do? You are nothing but an irritant, jumped up and cowardly, bullying and barging your way through life, relying on your power and your Circle to get you out of trouble. You sicken me. I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire!"
"All very good points, and you are, of course, entitled to your opinion-"
"Ha! You think it's just my opinion? Aiden Foltre had a lot of friends, you son of a bitch. He's catatonic now! The doctors don't know if he'll ever be the same again after he was dragged from the building he gave three hundred years of his life to. You'd better believe that if it's ever in my power to screw you over, I'll take it with bells on!"
"Twenty-nine minutes.”
"What?"
"You had thirty minutes; you now have twenty... eight left to find out who authorised my brother's being moved," I said, deliberately checking my watch.
"Are you deaf, or something?"
"You've had your turn to talk, now listen to me," I began, she opened her mouth to speak, but an application of my Will caused it to shut with an audible ‘clack’.
"I said listen."
I stood and took a step so I could lean against her desk, looking her right in the eyes.
"I don't care about you. I don't care about your politics, your friends or your grievances. I care about my brother; my twin brother. He's missing; he could be lying in a ditch somewhere or hanging upside down in a slaughterhouse, drained by Vampires. You will help me find out what happened to him, you will do it quickly, and you will start immediately.”
I gestured and the glass table flew into the wall, taking the computer screen and countless papers with it to shatter into a thousand pieces.
"And if he has died because you wasted my time, then I shall visit upon you every horrific fate you can possibly imagine and then some, public opinion be damned. And believe me, Mrs Bradley, I know things even your worst nightmares couldn't conjure. Do you understand what I’m saying? I will take a nod."
She nodded. Briskly.
"Maybe I am a thug, maybe I am a bully. But that is what people like you have made me with your prejudice and your constant, never-ending battling against me. I came to you for help, not as an Archon, but as a fellow human being. I came here as a man; you have forced me to leave as a Shadowborn."
I backed away and released my mental grip on her jaw.
"Twenty-six minutes."
I vanished under an Illusion and found a Shadow I could slip into before making my way back home, ashamed of myself and thoroughly angry at... well, just about everything.
I reappeared in my Library and told Cassandra what had happened. She had not been happy with my going off on my own into what she considered to be hostile territory, but she’d understood. I paced for a bit, but that didn’t help, so I sat down and watched the clock tick, which didn’t help either. Cassandra sat next to me and held my hand. That helped a little.
Tethys and Kandi were manning the phones, calling every contact we had; Demise was keeping watch over the Primus' house... everything that could be done, had been done. The only thing left was to call in the other Archons, but anything they did would take time and likely cause more harm than good, at least at this stage. I did text them, though, just to keep them updated. The
y promised me anything I needed.
God, the terrible thoughts that went through my head...
Who could have done this? Was it the Vampires? Had they turned a Conclave Minister? Was it another enemy? Most of them were at the farm, but they had minions...
“Breathe,” Cassandra said gently. “We don’t know anything yet.”
Empaths...
I nodded and tried to calm down.
After a while, I looked over at Cassandra. I opened my mouth, thought better of it and turned away again.
“What?” she asked gently, squeezing my hand.
"Was she right, Cassie? Am I just a bully, smashing my way through other people's lives?"
Cassandra laughed at me. "You've come up with some really, really stupid things over the years, but that one takes the bloody prize!”
I frowned.
"You protect people, Mathew. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you can be a little heavy-handed, but you are a protector, not a bully. You use the minimum force required to get what you need... most of the time, anyway. A bully seeks victims, he enjoys the infliction of pain for his own gratification. You use your powers to help. That's who you are. That's how I see you."
"Thanks," I said, clearing my throat, which was suddenly a little tight.
"Big girl."
"And you ruined it."
"It's what I live for."
One minute from the deadline, Mrs Bradley sent me a text:
>Nobody willing to admit to moving your brother. I am continuing enquiries.
And that was it.
Well, now things had gotten much harder.
"Matty..." Cassandra said.
"I'll just take the ministers one by one. Crack open their minds-"
"Matty, no!" Cassandra said, her grip suddenly iron-hard.
"Cassie-"
"Listen! What do you suppose a government does when you start attacking its ministers?"
I wanted to argue with her, but I thought about it instead. I’d never gone wrong listening to that woman’s advice.
"Ah," I said, getting the point after a moment.
"Exactly. Six hundred thousand Magicians live in the United Kingdom, Matty, and there are nearly seventy million worldwide... you become a pariah to all of them."
I hissed out a breath. “That does rather hammer home my limitations."
"Doesn't it, though?"
She leant her head against mine, "It's going to be alright. We'll find him, I promise."
I didn’t really have a good reply, and what little I had was lost when the door burst open and Tethys nearly fell in.
"Matty, your brother, he's here!"
My mouth fell open. Cassandra snorted and looked me in the eye. "See, told you."
Chapter 14
I had never moved so fast in my life. Sure, I was glad that Des had been found, but he was still a colossal danger to me and mine. If he'd managed to scrounge up any Black Magic, like he had the last time he’d gotten loose, then there was a very real chance that he could hurt someone before Mira could subdue him.
I came to the top of the stairs leading into my front hall with about twenty Spells ready to go... but then I just stopped.
The last time I’d seen my brother, I’d barely recognised him. He was hunched and sick. His skin had been pale and pasty, his hair greasy and encrusted with dirt and grime. His eyes, once bright with laughter and simple joy were sunken, ringed with dark bags and filled with madness; with hatred. Aside from his memories, there had been no trace of the boy I’d grown up with, and I’d been told, categorically, that he wasn’t coming back.
But there, standing at the bottom of my stairs, was the brother I’d thought I’d lost.
Not the monster, not the insane mound of meat wrapped in my brother’s skin.
Him.
He was tall and straight backed, his blond hair was bright and lustrous, grown down to his shoulders. His eyes, one blue, one brown, were full of life and contentment; there was none of that poison that so defined him the last time I’d seen him. Before, his emotions had been a runaway train, hatred and rage were all he was, so loud that I couldn’t help but recoil from him. Now, I could barely sense anything at all, such was his control and focus.
But it was the eyes that were the biggest giveaway. They showed Des’ curiosity and interest in the house around him, but most of his attention was for Demise, who’d just come back from her surveillance of Bradley’s house. He had that little smile on his face, that familiar, slightly sleazy smirk that so defined his formative years, the one that had preceded more than one slap in the face.
There was no mistaking the soul behind that smile...
For her part, Demise was glaring at Des like he was a steak in need of tenderising; her arms were crossed with her right half-inside her jacket, likely near the handle of a weapon.
I took another step, and Des looked up at the movement.
He smiled.
He didn’t sneer, he didn’t smirk or leer.
He smiled.
"Hey Little Brother, nice place you have here,” he said.
Cassandra was there and caught me before I could fall over; my legs were suddenly shaky.
"Des?" I croaked. "Is that really you?"
I couldn’t quite bring myself to believe it, not yet. All the evidence of my eyes and heart told me that this was Desmond, the real Desmond, but that was still impossible.
"Who else has this handsome mug?" he asked, sticking his nose in the air. "Well, expect you. But who else wears it this well?"
I laughed and went forward to meet him. It was only then that I noticed Myrddin standing behind my brother, and it all clicked into place.
"You?" I said, awe in my voice.
Myrddin nodded. "A small measure of repayment for the debt I owe you," he said with a bow.
"And he's..."
"Completely," Myrddin said with a grin. "Why don't we have a sit-down somewhere and I can tell you about it?"
I nodded, then turned to Cassandra. "You can stand everyone down."
"Matty, are you sure?" Cassandra asked.
I nodded. Even if this was some elaborate trick, Mira was on alert now. She’d be able to intervene if things went wrong.
Cassandra frowned, but gestured, and the various Wardens (who I hadn’t even noticed until that moment) backed away, returning to their posts.
"This way," I said, guiding them to the drawing room.
Des stared openly at everything as we walked, but when I turned, he stopped.
"Who did that to you?!" he barked, darting up to me. He turned my chin to look at the scars on my cheek, his eyes going wide with concern. The suddenness of his movement startled me a little, I must admit. It had been a long time since I’d trusted my brother to be within arms’ reach of me. This would take some getting used to; Cassandra looked like she was going to intervene for a second there, before her brain could catch up to her instincts and she relaxed again. A little.
"Bad guys. Not important," I replied.
"Not important? You tell me who did this to you so I can snap them in two!"
Even with all my doubts, anxieties and worries about him, I nearly burst into tears on the spot. Des hadn't been like that in a very long time.
"It's okay, I got them," I said, smiling.
"What, really?"
"Eviscerated at least one of them, technically."
"Oh. Alright then."
I patted his shoulder and we carried on.
"How?" I asked once everyone was sitting down.
"First, I am really sorry about the scare. I didn’t think you’d find out so quickly, and I wanted all this to be a surprise. Please don’t blame the Conclave; the minister in question was only doing me a favour.”
“It’s fine,” I said, leaning forward, desperate to hear more, to know how he’d done it.
“As for the repair, it was just Telepathy, but lots of it," Myrddin explained while Des tried not to look bored. "I extracted all the memories that w
ere causing a conflict and rebuilt Desmond's mental architecture into a more normal configuration. All the pieces were there, it was just a matter of... gluing them back together."
"Brain like a jigsaw," Des muttered before yawning widely.
"How do you feel about that, Des?" I asked.
"Fine, I guess," he said, "A little out of place, though. One second I was at school and then the next I wake up in your friend's castle being told a rather unpleasant story."
"What's the last thing you remember?" I asked.
"Asking you to talk to Belle for me. It feels like it was yesterday. How did that go by the way?"
"Um... not so well."
"Oh. Is she... is she okay? I know it's been nearly two years. Ambrose told me. Is she alright?"
"She's fine," I reassured him. "She's in Edinburgh doing a degree in Water Magic out of the Combined University up there."
"Wow," he said, smiling a little, though it was tinged with sadness. "Everyone grew up."
"We will sort this out, Des, I promise."
“How? I’ve missed so much, and I was in an insane asylum! How do you sort that out?”
"What’s important is that you're out now. Everything will be just fine, trust me."
"Yes... and speaking of trust, you're a Magician? I can't believe you didn't tell me, you little bastard! You'd better believe we'll be chatting about that!"
"Sorry,” I said with a wince, but inside I was practically singing. Just the way he’d said that, it wasn’t bitter, it wasn’t jealous; it was fraternal, familial. Cross, no doubt, but not with the nasty undertones that I’d come to expect.
"And another thing-"
"Well, I have a meeting," Myrddin said, his trademark grin back on his face as he darted towards the door.
"I'll be right back," I said to Des, who was looking a little miffed at the interruption.
I followed Myrddin to the front doors.
"Thank you," I said. "Just... thank you so much."
He smiled wider.
"It was an honour, my friend. He has a long way to go. He's lost the last two years of his life, and the life he remembers is based on a lie that you told him."
I sighed and nodded.
"I'll make it right."
