“Did she come to you?” he asked, leaning over Dray.
Dray shook his head, but he wasn’t sure. He wished he had his armour on. There was something he couldn’t read in the king’s face. Was it jealousy that she would come to him rather than the king? Or worry? He pushed out another slow breath. He couldn’t explain what it was, and it may have simply been a dream. One where he had wanted to hold on to her forever.
“It wasn’t her,” he stammered, thinking of the feel of her in his arms. She had always been slender, but the smooth, tight-fitting dress was different, and he could feel heat pushing up his neck at the thought of her. What was Ana to him?
“Who was it?” the king demanded.
Dray shook his head and pushed him out of the way as he stood and collected his armour. “I don’t know what it was. I thought it was Ana, but it wasn’t. I don’t know if she was calling to me or if it was a trick—or simply a dream because we want to find her so desperately.”
The king was staring at him when he turned back, his armour over his head, pulling the tie tight.
“We do want to find her,” Dray prompted.
The king nodded.
“And yet we remain here.”
“I…”
Dray sighed. He didn’t mean to push the king. He had decisions of his own to make. Support to find. They couldn’t barrel into the capital and demand the return of a girl the mage had taken.
Chapter 14
The inn smelt musty, as though the walls were damp, and although the maid screwed up her nose, the darkness wrapped around her felt at home. The scent of animals hung thick in the air, almost hiding the smell of the people it clung to. She hungered for it.
Closing her eyes, she allowed the dark to take control. She was the passenger now, and although she felt the pull of her task, they were now one. The room was loud with conversation, but none of it was important. The scent of the boy only travelled through the space. She looked up at the ceiling and then blinked, reappearing in a small room with a narrow bed and a small round table.
He had lingered here. A dark, clawed hand rested on the back of the chair. They could feel his wet cloak as though it lay there still. But it was long ago. Weeks ago. They looked out of the window, the mountains visible in the distance. Could he be there still?
The door squeaked open, but they maintained the place by the window. The long dark cloak would hide them until they were ready to be found. They were taller than she had been, broader than she had been. A lock clicked into place, and then there was the sharp intake of breath as the person realised they were not alone.
In a blink, they appeared between the short, round woman and the door, preventing an escape. She glared at them with angry eyes. As they tasted the air with a long black tongue, the glare turned to fear. They drank it in, and the maid’s heartbeat quickened with excitement. Before the scream formed on the woman’s lips, dark claws dragged across her throat, silencing the scream and pulling her closer.
֍
Lost in his own thoughts, the regent only just registered the noise around him. But it was a general murmur; he couldn’t focus on or hear any one voice above another. He glanced across the room, his gaze resting on the sword master, who was focused on his food and barely appeared to be listening to the man beside him. He seemed eager for some news or other, and in the end the regent stood and moved towards the table. He noticed the drop in voices as he passed.
He stopped by the sword master’s table and stood beside him. The man continued to shovel meat into his mouth, his eyes unfocused.
“Is everything well?” Thom asked the sword master, who jumped, dropped his knife and looked up at him as though he had just appeared from nowhere.
“Your Highness,” he said hastily, pushing his chair back and leaping to his feet.
“There is no need for such…” The regent waved his hand, unsure what he could call the movement, and indicated the man sit back down as Thom sat opposite him in a newly vacated space, an abandoned meal before him.
The man who had been eagerly talking before now sat back, an uncertain look on his face.
“Are you worried for the king?” the regent asked.
“Aren’t we all?” Master Forest said, sitting slowly. “My daughter has been unwell,” he murmured. “I’m afraid it has distracted me somewhat.”
“Girls need a mother,” the regent said.
The man nodded, the vacant look appearing again as he gazed at his plate.
“I am surprised you have not remarried.”
The man looked clearly confused for a moment, then nodded. “I am too busy with my students to find a wife.”
“The tribute will arrive soon enough. Perhaps you will not need to trouble yourself.”
The sword master opened his mouth and then closed it.
“You do not long for a woman?”
“Too busy,” he murmured. “The tributes are young girls. Close to my daughter in age. If I were to take the time to marry again, I would want a woman closer to my years.”
“I see,” the regent said slowly.
“Has there been any news on the king?” the man beside the sword master asked.
“News?”
The man opened and closed his mouth before getting brave. “The witch said he had run because you would not let him be King.”
“You would believe a witch over the King’s Regent?”
“She seemed to know.”
“She did appear determined,” Thom admitted. “But what did the witch want from such a show?”
“We could ask her?” the sword master suggested.
“Ask her?” Now he was confused.
“You had her arrested and locked away?” the sword master said. “Surely you would interrogate such a woman. She might have been behind the king’s disappearance all along and was trying to divert attention.”
“Perhaps,” the regent said, wondering just what the man opposite him was thinking.
“I could assist,” he offered.
“I’m sure I have the right men on the task.”
“Is she talking?”
“I’m afraid not,” the regent said carefully. The girl had been seen talking with him. The mage had suggested he might be involved in her escape, although he doubted the man capable of such a thing.
“If you need my service, I am at your disposal.” The sword master bowed his head.
“And your daughter?”
He shook his head. “I do worry, but the cleric is keeping a close eye on her.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” the regent murmured, pushing the chair back. Without a glance at either man, he headed back to his own table.
The sound of the room remained hushed, and he wondered if others feared or expected a visit from him. Perhaps he should make the effort to talk to more men of the kingdom, find out what they thought. Although he wasn’t really interested, unless they were hiding the girl from him. If he should find her before the tributes arrived, he might be able to slip her amongst their number and claim her where she had no choice.
He absently rubbed at his arm. She might make it clear what her choices were. He would have to find another way to break her. Once he found her.
The mage wasn’t in his rooms when Thom searched him out later in the evening. The room was dark; only one candle burned, and he couldn’t tell where it was placed. There was no sign of the maid either. He swung around and headed back out into the courtyard. The torches had been lit, and there were few walking the grounds.
He glanced towards the cellar. When he was sure no one was looking, he headed that way, moving easily through the main store. He released the door and descended into the too-bright light of the cells.
The mage stood before a cage and ran his hands over the bars.
“How did she escape?” the regent asked. The mage barely flinched at his voice, his focus still on the bars. “Was she as strong as you feared?”
The mage continued his assessment, then rubbed his hands together and
tucked them into his tunic. “She is not as strong as she thinks she is.”
“Then how?”
“Someone helped her.”
“Someone in the castle?”
The old man scowled at him and then, as though remembering himself, rearranged his face and sighed. “Someone came into the cells and released her.”
“How did they know she was here?”
“That I don’t know, but it was someone very strong.”
“More magic,” the regent whispered, “and not on our side.”
“It appears not. But I do have some I can use to benefit us.”
“The soldiers, have they reported in?”
“They continue to search.”
“Then they should—”
The mage held up a hand and Thom bit his tongue, wondering if this was the place he should risk angering the man. He shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around him. Perhaps they would be better discussing this elsewhere.
“I have sent someone I trust to complete the task required.”
“I trust the soldiers I sent.”
“There is no other I would trust more,” the mage said, looking again at the bars.
“Except your little maid, perhaps,” the regent quipped, and the mage turned an angry glare his way. He thought something flashed within the man’s grey eyes, but it might have been the light. “It is cold,” Thom murmured, heading for the stairs. “I trust the one you sent will report.”
“You will know when the task is complete.”
The regent nodded and moved quickly up the steps. In his haste, he slipped a little and nearly tumbled forward.
“Be careful,” the mage whispered too close behind him. “If you die there will be no question as to who should wear the crown.”
When Thom swung around, the man was gone. He sucked in a deep breath and looked up into the darkness above him. He had always managed to make his way into the cells when he wished, but there was always the small niggling fear at the back of his mind that one day he would find himself trapped down here. He glanced around once more, then moved as quickly as he could up the slick steps and out into the cellar. The door clicked shut behind him, and then he heard something else. But as he strained in the darkness to determine if anyone else was there, he heard nothing further. He headed back to his tower and the safety of his balcony.
Chapter 15
Ana sighed against the glass. Her breath fogged the small pane and obscured her view of the lights below. “I need to get out,” she murmured.
“You are not yet well enough,” the cleric said from his usual chair by the fire.
“Surely you have other things to be doing,” she said, not turning from the window despite losing her view.
“Nothing as important as this.”
“I feel much better,” she said, finally turning and trying to smile for him.
“Your long hours of restless sleep tell a different story.”
“The fever is gone.”
“But you aren’t yourself,” he said, looking at her through squinty eyes.
She sighed and sat in the chair. “I have always had strange dreams.”
“But they have become more so.”
“How do you know that?” she asked too loudly. “I don’t tell you everything,” she added more quietly, glancing at the door.
“I see enough that they concern you, confuse you even, as though you don’t expect to see or experience what you do. Salima saw much of that battle and the Walk, and it scared her.”
“She is a girl,” Ana said gently. A girl who hadn’t returned to her since. “Is she sick?” she asked, worried that she may have taken too much from the little dragon.
“Her father is worried.”
Ana nodded and looked down at her hands. She had dreamt of Dray again, as though she had found him, but it wasn’t as it should have been. And yet, she felt more at peace.
“Do you want to talk about what you saw?”
She flushed at the idea. He had been without his armour again. She had felt the man he was through his shirt, the strength of his muscles, and her fingers had moved beneath the soft material to brush across his warm skin. She was still so cold, yet he hadn’t flinched away from the touch as she had feared he might. Instead he held her closer, tighter, as though he didn’t want her to leave him again.
“Are you confused by what you saw?” the cleric asked.
Ana nodded, but talking about it would not help. “I need to get out of this room,” she tried again.
“Not until I know you have regained yourself.”
“That is an odd thing to say,” she said.
He looked to the flames. “You said that you felt the magic wake inside you. I think the cold has kept it from awakening again. Until we know that you can be what you were, I think we should wait.”
“And if I am never again what I was? What if I was never meant to be? I only truly felt that power once I reached out to Ed, and I only had it a short time. Days. Maybe it wasn’t mine at all.”
“Do you truly believe that?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I am.” Ana put a hand to her chest as she felt a strange stirring sensation. The cleric sat forward and looked at her closely. She shook her head, then looked up as the door opened and Master Forest slipped quickly into the room. He took a moment to close the door and then turned to take them in.
“The regent has suggested I marry one of the tributes.”
The cleric sat back, a smile splitting his face. “Is he trying to win your favour?”
The man shook his head.
“Did you accept his offer?”
“I told him that if I had the time or inclination to marry again, it would be to a woman of my own age and choosing.”
The cleric nodded his approval.
“What happened to your wife?” Ana asked, then chewed on her lip as he turned a hard glare her way. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly.
“I was not married,” he said with a sigh. “It was a story the king and I concocted to allow me to escape with the child.”
“Salima,” Ana said, thankful she wasn’t present; although it was the first time, for she missed the heat. “I understand you want to protect her.”
“You are to stay away from her.”
“And will you keep her from me?”
“I just said…” He turned as she indicated behind him with a tip of her head. Salima crept silently into the room and closed the door without a sound. She turned to find the three of them looking at her, then straightened and smiled.
Ana settled back into bed reluctantly, with the three of them watching over her. She was still cold. She longed for the girl to warm her, but her father was having none of it. He guided Salima from the room as the old cleric ran his hand across her forehead and ensured she was tucked in.
It was a surprise then when she woke, unsure what had woken her, to find herself alone in the room. The fire crackled in the hearth, a single candle burning beside the bed. Two empty chairs and no one snuggled in beside her. Did they trust her more, or was there more pressing business for them to attend? Perhaps the regent had become suspicious, if he was suggesting wives or the like for Master Forest.
Ana put her hand to her chest. She wasn’t sure what it was that she had felt before, but it wasn’t there anymore. The emptiness that had replaced whatever had been inside her appeared to remain in strength.
Why had they thought she had some gift? What had the mage done to bring the idea of it to the surface, only to take it away? She lay back, pulled the covers up around her neck and closed her eyes.
Her mother came to mind, sitting at the table with the baby in her arms. Her father determined that she shouldn’t go.
“What did she think I was?” Ana wondered aloud as her mother’s fears replayed for her, as they had that day in the castle on the mountain. “Don’t let them discover what she is?” Was that what she had said? What am I?
What do you
want to be? a voice asked inside her head. Not quite her own, and yet it was hers.
Ana squeezed her eyes closed tighter, trying hard to picture the question.
A set of shining eyes looked back at her. Bright-green, round eyes that blinked slowly. Well? the voice asked impatiently. What do you want to be?
“I don’t know,” Ana whispered.
I can help you. Do you want to be the strongest mage in the land? Do you want to be Queen?
Ana saw herself as Ende had so long ago, standing before a throne, a crown in her hand. And then she was in the smoke in the mage’s rooms, as a woman she didn’t quite recognise, with the crown on her head.
“How did you find me?” she asked, her voice a hushed whisper in fear someone would return.
I never lost you. I have been with you always. We are linked across the veil.
“The veil?”
Do you not sense the world beyond? You are one of the few who can feel it, sense it and connect to it. You only had to call me forth. The ice tried to separate us, but we are together now. I am you and you are me. Together we can be anything.
“I’m not sure I want to be anything in particular. I just want to protect my friends, help Ed be King.”
You will be his queen.
Ana shook her head. “That is not what I want. I don’t want the crown. I want to help him be what he already is.”
A strange cackle filled her senses, making her shiver. If he is already King, he does not need your help.
If only it were that easy, Ana thought. What did she want for herself? Dray flashed into her mind again, dressed as he had been without his armour the last few times she had seen him. The voice inside her didn’t speak, and she wondered what it could see of her thoughts.
Everything.
Ana sighed and looked up at the ceiling, too scared to close her eyes again.
We worked together before, with the little maid, the regent.
“I didn’t know you were there.”
Child, the voice chided, you knew something was there inside you, giving you the power.
“So, it is your power, not mine.”
The Lost Endeavour Page 9
