She erected a shield and saw Thorel on the ground at her feet. There was blood pouring from his head into the grass. She winced as a second arrow shattered on her shield in front of her face, and Thorel was covered in splinters. She saw the open window it had come from.
“Two of you, Go! Take him alive!” Ari screamed, pointing to the classroom building.
“Yes, Mistress!” Two of her Guards sprinted towards it.
One of the other guards, with effort pulled Thorel out of harm's way. Thorel dazedly pushed the man away. Blood wept readily from the wide gash that had left most of the flesh on his forehead dangling to one side. She could see that he was alive though, and not so injured he was in immediate danger.
Ari evoked wind to slam the window the assassin had fired from shut. She struck it with such force the glass shattered inward. She heard a cry of pain.
“Protect him!” She yelled as she ran to catch up with the other guards. The arrow tangled in her hair bounced against her neck. It was a long run for Ari. She wasn't used to such exertion without using talismans to compensate. She needed to conserve their energy for critical moments though.
Students began flooding out of the classroom she was heading towards. She heard steel ring on steel from inside.
Ari activated her bracelet of strength and pushed through the panicking students into the building. She heard two more rings of steel, and a gurgling cry.
She passed the stunned instructor when she entered and saw her guardsman pulling his short blade from under the assassin's ribcage.
NO! Ari thought and ran to the assassin. She knelt to his fallen form and touched him with her Magik. She saw his spirit fly free of his flesh as she did. His heart pumped its last onto Ari's knees. Her stockings and boots were covered in it.
There was nothing she could do to save this fountain of information. He had just spilled the last of his secrets onto the wooden floor.
She stood quickly, dumping the corpse from her lap. Ari was so angry; she could not even raise her voice. She could barely speak. “What happened?” She hissed quietly and was barely heard.
“Mistress, he was a skilled fighter, a tiered master for certain. If I had given him the chance, he could have killed me,” the guardsman said quickly.
“You swore your life to obey me, yet you disobeyed me to save your life?” She said quietly, her voice shaking with barely contained rage.
“Mistress! No! I didn't intend to disobey you! I'm sorry!” The guardsman said quickly, a near panic setting in with the realization of what he had done.
Ari dimly noted other people entering the building.
“What happened here?” Headmaster Stiral demanded.
Ari ignored him and stepped towards the guardsman, who stepped back in reply.
She wasted no more time on him. Ari activated her bracelets of speed and took two steps to him faster than he could counter. She took his sword wrist into hand and buried her dagger in his eye socket with her right. His cry was brief.
She looked into his other eye and watched as the surprise changed to the blankness of death. His spirit flew free. The corpse fell from her blade, his muscles convulsing.
The guardswoman stepped up and bore her steel towards the Academy guards that were closing with Ari.
“Stop this, immediately!” The Headmaster yelled. The Academy guards came to a halt.
“Milady Dothranan, please tell me what has happened,” he said with a horrified look at the twitching man.
She deactivated her talismans as her rage over her guardsman's costly disobedience began to fade. “One of my holders is injured. I will have someone come for the corpses,” she turned and walked towards the door she came in. Bloody tracks marked her path.
“Milady, I must know what has happened here,” Stiral followed at a respectful distance.
She opened the door and walked to where she'd left Thorel and the other guards. The tangled arrow bounced on her neck just to annoy her, she was certain.
“An assassin tried to kill me, and my guard broke his oath to me. That is all,” Ari said walking briskly to Thorel, who had a bloody bandage made from the sleeve of his shirt covering his forehead.
Master Stiral quickened his pace. “Did you see all of this?” He asked the guardswoman that walked with her.
She did not reply until her Mistress said, “Tell him everything.”
“Yes sir, I did. My back was to the Mistress when it started, but I saw the second arrow strike her shield and shatter. She commanded us to take the assassin alive, but my partner killed him. He broke his oath by disobeying, and the Mistress executed him for it,” the woman said succinctly, without hesitation.
Ari stopped in front of Thorel, who was sitting against a tree and asked, “Are you alright?”
Thorel said shakily, “No Mistress, but I don't think I'm dying.”
“Good,” she smiled slightly, and carefully undressed his wound.
“Thank you. That should be enough for now, Milady. I will inform your instructors you may not attend your final class today,” he looked sympathetically at Thorel and walked back to the building they had come from.
“Very well,” Ari said dryly. She hissed an intake of breath at the sight of Thorel's wound, even though it did look as if he was healing it. She touched the wound with her Magik and began observing it. Yes, he is healing it, and I cannot feel the Magik. She was certain of it this time.
She carefully placed the flesh flap from his forehead in the proper place. Thorel winced.
“Bear the pain, I will heal you,” she said seriously.
“Yes Mistress,” he grated painfully.
Ari healed his wound the rest of the way. His skull had been cracked by the impact, she noted. That was easy enough for her to mend, unlike the swelling beneath.
The relief from pain was obvious on Thorel's face. She noticed now the slight swelling of his brain was going down, without her assistance, probably because of his unique Magik. What she would give for a quiet day to study this in detail.
She tried to imagine how desperate a person had to be to attempt an assassination here, of all places? She would not likely have a chance to do anything when the High Lord learned of this. It was well known that the Academy grounds were completely off limits from house war activities of any kind; unless this assassin came from the High Lord or Lady, in which case, the only evidence she had was quite dead.
She looked at her nearest guard, “Get ten from my escort. Have nine secure the corpses, and the other take their place in my guard,” Ari commanded.
“Yes, Mistress!” The guardsman saluted and ran off.
She touched Siri's speaking stone with her mind, “Siri, someone tried to kill me. He's dead. Come and look at him and the scene now.”
“At the Academy, Mistress?” Siri's thin voice came back with surprise.
“Yes. Come as quickly as you can,” Ari thought to her stone.
“Of course, Mistress,” she replied.
Now I just need someone to untangle this damned arrow from my hair, she thought to herself.
* * *
Eliel and Nigel walked to Thorel's house after the assembly had been dismissed. Master Stiral had the students gather after the last class to address an “incident” as he called it.
It sounded more like a murder had occurred at the end of it. Stiral confirmed that two people had been killed. However, both had been killed lawfully. He assured the students that there had been no danger to themselves or the faculty.
“Who was killed?” Several students asked.
“The decedents were not students or faculty members, and I will not discuss them any further,” the Headmaster replied firmly.
He informed them that anyone who was in that room for the basic drafting class needed to gather by his office and give him their statements as to what they saw, before they left tonight.
Eliel didn't care about any of this. She wanted to know where Thorel was. He wasn't there, and she should have been abl
e to spot him easily with his height.
She had a horrible feeling something had happened to him, despite the old pervert's assurance.
They walked up to the house and saw there were a full dozen guards outside. There were ten horses tethered to the low iron fence on the side of the house.
Two of the unknown guards drew steel quickly and ordered them to stop. “What is your business here?” called the man in the lead.
“I'm here to see Thorel. Last I knew, he lived here, and you didn't,” Eliel replied irritably.
Nigel's eyes snapped to Eliel and widened in disbelief. “Eliel!” He hissed.
A guardswoman stepped up, “These are Mr. Tangarth's friends. I've seen them.” The guardsmen nodded and sheathed their steel.
“What do you need?” The previously threatening guardsman asked.
“I want to visit my friend you nit-wit. I would have already, but for you in my way,” Eliel said sarcastically.
Nigel cringed at Eliel's sharp tongue. He was known for being obnoxious and sarcastic, but he liked to keep it away from armed men and women.
“There is no need to speak that way to me, miss,” the man said firmly.
“I'll deal with this. See if he'll see them, please,” the guardswoman said.
“Of course,” The guardsman said.
“You'll deal with me? Just let me pass, bitch!” Eliel spat out.
The guardswoman's mailed backhand knocked Eliel flat onto the stones of the path.
Eliel spat out a clod of blood along with a chip from one of her teeth; Nigel came up quickly and pinned her arms to her sides firmly. He was a lot stronger than he looked, she noted with fury as she struggled against him.
“I'll not tolerate your disrespect, woman. If you give it to me again, I'll put you in your place,” the guardswoman said flatly, looking down on her menacingly.
“This isn't helping!” Nigel hissed in Eliel's ear.
“Let go of me, you little bastard!” She yelled.
“Not until you promise you're not going to get either one of us fucking stabbed, you idiot!” He replied firmly.
Her cheek ached where she'd been struck. What the hell am I doing? She couldn't take on an armed and armored woman. And she knows it. Eliel thought looking up at the tall, fit, armored woman.
She laughed nervously and said, “Sorry ma'am, just taking my troubles out on you. Forgive me, please,” Eliel bowed her head feeling like an idiot.
The woman looked down at her and nodded. “Very well. I'll let it go.”
Nigel experimentally released Eliel, ready to grab her again if she looked like she was going to try something stupid.
Eliel stood up slowly and said, “Quite a backhand you've got there!” rubbing her cheek.
The woman's mouth quirked slightly in amusement. “You don't last long in the Legion if you can't knock a man down.”
“Are you alright?” Nigel asked.
“Yeah, just great, little man. Thanks,” she said sarcastically, holding her aching cheek.
Nigel nodded, knowing this was not the time to point out fault. He wouldn't hold back if she said it wasn't hers though.
The previous guardsman came from the house and approached them. “Your friend is available. If you'll follow me, please?”
They followed him and went into the house. There were more guards than there was last night. Two stood at attention at the base of the stairs.
Eliel knew something bad had happened now, seeing all of this. The man led them up the stairs to the sitting room on the third floor.
She saw Thorel at the table in the sitting room. There was a glass of water and some food in front of him. He wore a white robe and looked to be freshly washed.
Eliel's apprehension vanished almost immediately, seeing that he was alright. She ran quickly to him and put her arms around his shoulders. “By the spirits, man! Are you alright?”
Thorel was startled by her. “Yes, I'm fine now. The Mistress healed me. Don't worry about it.”
She looked more closely at him and could see that he looked very tired. Understandable with how drunk he'd been last night, but he looked far more exhausted than he should. His skin tone seemed off to her.
“Never mind me, what happened to you?” Thorel asked with concern, looking at her reddened cheek that was rapidly turning purple. He put his hand out to touch it gingerly.
Eliel drew back slightly and covered her sore cheek with her hand. “Just started something with someone I couldn't finish. It's fine,” the throbbing said that was a lie though.
Thorel looked at her with his big brown eyes. She could tell he wasn't satisfied with that answer.
“Who did it?” Thorel asked, standing up quickly. He was instantly energized.
Nigel put his hands up and said, “Whoa big guy, it's like she said. She was rude to one of the guards and got knocked down for it. That's all.”
Thorel looked back and forth between his friends, true rage twisting his normally gentle features. Nigel was glad he wasn't the one Thorel was angry with. This seldom seen side was truly a frightening thing to behold.
Eliel came up quickly and put her arms around him. She put her bruised cheek on his chest gingerly. “You're not so pretty when you're angry... it was my fault, ok? Just let it go.”
She could feel his heart pounding in his barrel chest, and his muscles quivering with anger. No man had ever cared enough to be angry if she had been hurt; the feelings that brought moistened her eyes.
He looked at Nigel seriously with the blaze in his eyes. Nigel nodded just as seriously to him. Thorel relaxed visibly, to a point. He wrapped Eliel in a firm embrace.
“You're sure?” Thorel said quietly.
“I'm sure it was my fault. And I don't ever want to see you angry like that again,” Eliel purred over her sore cheek into his warm chest.
“Alright then,” he said closing his eyes and kissing the top of her head.
“So what happened to you, big guy?” Nigel asked.
“I... can't talk about it, I'm sorry,” Thorel said over Eliel's head.
“Why not?” He asked.
“It doesn't matter why. I just can't, ok?” Thorel said seriously.
That made the two of them even more curious, but they reluctantly respected his silence.
* * *
Ari sat in the bedroom of the Academy house and listened to Siri. She sipped on a glass of wine to soothe her frayed nerves. Nothing in her life had prepared her for that unexpected brush with death. She had faced her own mortality many times, but it had never just come out of nowhere like that before.
She had managed to maintain her composure until she had been alone, but when she was she'd begun shaking violently. She could have lost her life, and nearly lost Thorel too. The most confusing thing to her was she wasn't sure which one would have been worse.
That sounded like the stupidest thing in the world when she said it out loud. She laughed weakly at the idiocy of it. But when she thought about What if he had died? Her chest tightened, and her breath caught in her throat. This feeling was completely insane and irrational.
The very idea made her feel as if she had been stabbed in the heart. Which made absolutely no sense; the heart having anything to do with emotion was nothing more than uneducated superstition. She knew this was a fact.
Knowing this did not seem to change anything though.
“He was obviously intelligent and professional, holding at least a third tier Mastery by Silene's description of his skills. There were no identifying items, scars or tattoos. His weapons were well made, but of common design without a makers mark. With brown hair, eyes, average height, and build it is very unlikely we will be able to identify him, even with access to the corpse,” Siri said succinctly.
“Which Crown Lord Kendal has told us to wait until his investigation is done after ordering you from the scene,” Ari spat out angrily. The Crown Lord was responsible for the judgment of crimes in Central Vallad and took his duties quite serious
ly.
Crown Lord Kendal could not be taken lightly though. He had been the only other besides Lucia Vallad considered for the open seat on the Wizards Council when her stepmother had died. Such authority added to his current status would have put him on even footing with any Great Lord or Lady.
“You may wish to inquire about access as soon as possible, Mistress,” Siri said evenly.
“I... am having some difficulty composing myself,” Ari whispered quietly. Her hand shook enough a bit of wine spilled from her glass. She looked at it angrily and drained it in one gulp.
“If you wish to speak of it, I am at your disposal, Mistress,” Siri said seriously.
“It is completely foolish. It is not as if I haven't been closer to death before. I just... didn't see it coming. I feel like I can't even go outside now... I can't use my power constantly. Who knows when or where the next attempt might come?” She said shakily trying to pour another glass for herself.
“May I, Mistress?” Siri offered with a look at the bottle.
She nodded gratefully and let Siri pour for her.
“That is what the enemy wants, Mistress. They would hope that even if they didn't succeed, that they would strike fear into you. Do not let them have that victory, Mistress,” Siri said sincerely.
Ari laughed quietly, “Too late for that I think... but you're right. I can't let them see it.”
Siri nodded. “Yes, Mistress, the real question now is; was it High Lady Vallad, or Lord Quarrel who hired him?”
“That is the question. I can't imagine it being the High Lady, it would be a ridiculous move for her to make so quickly considering what she said. She is no fool. But maybe Quarrel hoped he could save his image with one arrow,” Ari shook her head ruefully, her shaking finally coming under control.
Siri nodded. “It would make more sense for it to be Quarrel. He has more to gain from your death.”
Ari shook her head. “As soon as I feel ready, we'll go to the Crown Lord's tower to inquire about the investigation.”
“Very well. I do have a bit of good news for you though. Just before you contacted me with this, I believe we apprehended the saboteur that planted the detonation stones. All that remains now is for you to confirm it so we can begin the interrogation,” Siri said with satisfaction.
Spirit of Magik (The Dothranan Chronicles Book 1) Page 17
