Taken by Magic: a New Adult Fantasy novel (The Baine Chronicles Book 8)

by Jasmine Walt

  Trouble came closer, attempting to burrow beneath my hair, and I sensed that he was lonely. “You okay, little guy?” I asked, petting his head and wishing I could feel his feathers. I wondered, not for the first time, if there was a way to improve Trouble without accidentally destroying him. I’d already tried it once in the past and had nearly unraveled the magical weft of his existence. Fenris’s vast magical repertoire was no help, and Iannis had no idea what to do either. One thing was clear—I’d somehow bound up a bit of my essence into Trouble, which was why he was tied to me.

  “Well, there’s no point in worrying about what we can’t change, right?” I said to the bird, snuggling down in the mattress. I pushed my hair off to the side, and Trouble settled right into it, like it was a nest. Being ethereal, he would not mess it up. The sight made me smile, and I was finally able to drift off to sleep.

  Glowing blue mist swirled around me, clinging to my shoulders and ankles, almost as if the very air was trying to cover me in a blanket. I squinted, trying to see through it, but I only caught glimpses of huge tree trunks, as wide as ten men, looming around me. Above, the night sky was a deep purple, with a round, green-tinged moon. The stars were all manner of colors, ranging from pure white to brilliant orange to pale lilac.

  “Whoa!” I cried out as the ground shook and I was nearly thrown to the floor. I reached out to steady myself against one of the massive trees when a foot the size of a steamcar came crashing down next to me. Swallowing, I looked up to see a giant looming directly above me. He had long hair and gleaming sapphire eyes, but it was too dark to see his features.

  His cave-sized mouth opened, and he spoke to me in a strange language, so loudly that it made my brain hurt. A clawed hand bigger than my whole body reached down to grab me, and I screamed, then darted away as fast as I could. I nearly ran straight into the outstretched palm of another giant, and as I shrank back, my heart hammering, I saw that what I’d seen earlier hadn’t been tree trunks at all. I was in a forest of giants, and those gleaming stars were all eyes looking down at me hungrily, so hungrily…

  “Stay back!” I yelled, conjuring a fireball. I shot it toward one of the hands, but the giant batted it away as if it were a fly. Strong fingers closed around my torso like a vise, and I screamed, beating at my captor with my tiny fists…

  “Crazy! Crazy!” Trouble’s voice startled me out of my dream, and I shot straight up in bed, my heart beating a mile a minute. Breathing hard, I clutched my hand to my chest and looked over at Trouble, who was squawking at me indignantly from Iannis’s pillow.

  “Sorry, buddy,” I said, petting his head. “Didn’t mean to give you a scare like that. Thanks for waking me, though.” That had been one scary dream. I’d been totally helpless against those giants—not a feeling I relished, even if it hadn’t been real.

  The glowing bird squawked again, then hopped onto my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek. I smiled a little at his obvious effort to comfort me, but even as I leaned back against the headboard, I couldn’t help but wish it were Iannis instead. A glance at the clock by my bedside told me it was after four in the morning—over two hours since I’d gone to bed. At this rate, Iannis probably wouldn’t get a wink of sleep tonight.

  Settling back down with Trouble, I wistfully thought back to that snowy mountain lodge Iannis and I had escaped to for an uninterrupted week of privacy in the middle of winter. We’d planned the excursion to coincide with my Heat and had enjoyed an incredible week rolling around in the sheets, on the rug in front of the fireplace, and especially in the hot spring in the backyard. It had been one of the best vacations of my life. My next Heat was coming up just after the wedding, during our honeymoon.

  Maybe I’ll forgo the special precautions this time, I thought. I hadn’t thought much about having children, but the idea of a playful panther cub with Iannis’s violet eyes was very appealing. Of course, there was no guarantee our child would be able to shift at all if he or she took after the mage sides of the family more. After all, Iannis was a full mage and I was half, so there was only a quarter chance that shifter genes would come forth. Though who knew, since mage-shifter unions were so rare and Iannis was not exactly a purebred mage either.

  You should finish your apprenticeship before you have kids, a voice in my head suggested, and I sighed. That would be the responsible thing to do, wouldn’t it? Luckily, I’d be able to finish my training much sooner than anticipated, thanks to Fenris’s gift of knowledge…if I could get through all these damn events and obstacles that kept piling onto my plate.

  The very idea was exhausting, and finally, my eyelids began to droop again. I stroked Trouble’s head one more time, then slipped back into sleep, hoping I could get in a few more hours nightmare-free.

  4

  The next morning, I woke up refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Yes, the Minister had just given us a giant pain in the ass by scheduling the Convention like that, but at least this time we weren’t battling to save the Federation from a deadly disease, or foiling an assassination attempt. In some ways, that stuff was easier than dealing with politics, but not having to worry about loss of life was a nice change.

  I showered, then wrapped myself in a bathrobe just as a servant knocked on our door, bringing breakfast at the same time as usual. Whenever possible, Iannis and I shared our morning meal in the suite before starting our day. There was more food than what I usually ate on the platters the servant rolled inside, but I was confident I could polish it off on my own.

  Iannis arrived when I was only a few bites into my meal, and there was plenty left for him. “Thank the Lady for hot coffee,” he groaned, sitting down in the chair across from me. He took the pot that the server had brought up with the trays and poured himself a large cup.

  “You look like you’ve been having a fun time,” I observed over my forkful of sausage. Iannis usually looked fresh as a daisy regardless of sleep, but this morning there were faint lines of strain on his face, and his long red hair actually looked a bit frazzled. “You sure you don’t need to catch some sleep?"

  He shook his head, then took a long drink from his cup. “Just caffeine and good food,” he said, and began heaping his plate with hash browns, bacon, and eggs.

  We were halfway through breakfast when there was a loud pop, and suddenly an envelope appeared in the middle of the table. “What the hell is that?” I demanded, jolting back and turning over my chair at the unexpected intrusion.

  Iannis stared at the envelope, his face turning paler than usual. “There is only one person who has ever sent me letters in this manner,” he said, gingerly picking up the envelope.

  “And who is that?” I demanded.

  “My mother.”

  My mouth dropped open as Iannis ripped open the envelope. “Your mother?”

  “Ennartha ar’Sannin,” he said, unfolding the letter. “I haven’t heard from her in over half a century. Fifty-three years, to be precise.”

  “She sounds like a doting mother,” I said dryly, righting my chair and sitting down again. “Why is she contacting you now?”

  Iannis read the letter silently, his expression growing more and more ominous with each passing second. His brows contracted, and his lips pressed tightly together. “What is it?” I asked, seriously worried now. Not many people could affect Iannis’s cool like that.

  “My mother has heard about our upcoming wedding. She is scolding me for not consulting her about such an important decision,” Iannis said flatly. “She also says that while she does not personally object to our match, and my Aunt Deryna actually seems to be looking forward to it, my grandmother is furious that she did not receive an invitation.”

  I frowned. “An invitation? But I thought you sent one to your family?” And was that his evil Tua grandmother? If so, I certainly would not have invited her or dreamed that she would consider attending. From what Iannis had told me, his grandfather had been kidnapped and bespelled by a Tua against his will, then sent back with his infant daughter when hi
s kidnapper lost interest in them. Really, where did she get the nerve to consider herself part of the family, after that?

  “There are not many family members left in Manuc.” Iannis sighed. “My father died three centuries ago—I wish he were still alive, he’d have loved you. I did send an invitation, of course, but it was a single invitation sent to my aunt’s home, since Deryna is the only relative who maintains a permanent residence anymore. I asked her to pass it along to any others interested in attending—there are some cousins, but I don’t even know if they are still alive.”

  “That sounds reasonable to me.” The invitations had gone out a good six months ago—surely they could have responded by this point.

  “One would think so, but my grandmother appears to be offended that I did not send an invitation specifically addressed to her. As if I could possibly have one delivered to the Tua realm!” Iannis sounded exasperated. “She demands that we come to meet her in Manuc immediately and halt all preparations for the wedding until she has given her verdict. My mother strongly advises me to comply with this edict, but then, she never could stand up to my grandmother.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” I asked, incredulous. “I thought the Tua kicked you out when your mother brought you to visit that one time, as a young child. How does your grandmother expect you to consult her when she lives in a different dimension? Have you ever even seen her?”

  “I did meet my grandmother on several occasions,” Iannis admitted, picking up a scone. “None of which ended cordially or endeared us to each other. In fact, she is the reason I left Manuc in the first place. I attempted to make a political career there in my younger years, but my grandmother ruined that for me. She demanded that I free a convicted criminal whom she favored for some reason, and when I refused, she destroyed the entire prison and took the fellow away. That was four hundred years ago, and she’s yet to forgive me for not jumping to do her bidding.”

  “And she wonders why she didn’t receive a wedding invitation,” I said with a snort. “She sounds like a real piece of work.”

  “Yes, as vindictive and capricious as they come,” Iannis said. “But even if we wanted to obey this summons—which I certainly do not—it is impossible for us to drop everything and go to Manuc on such short notice, especially with the added responsibility of hosting the entire Convention. I’ll write back immediately and send my politest regrets, as well as a promise to visit at some point after the wedding.”

  “Are you sure that’s going to be enough?” I asked dubiously. “If your grandmother is a Tua, and she’s as capricious as you say, she might just decide to crash our wedding.”

  Iannis shook his head. “Hardly. My grandmother despises Recca and its inhabitants. She considers us uncouth and beneath her notice—Manuc is the only area she’s been able to tolerate even for short visits. She won’t care to set foot in the Northia Federation, no matter how angry she is at me. That would be too much of an inconvenience.”

  “Well that’s a relief.” I wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting this evil old bat.

  “We can always visit Manuc in a century or two,” Iannis suggested, “which is not that long in Tua eyes. By then her dudgeon may have subsided, or she’ll be off-world again, and we’ll have, most unfortunately, missed her.”

  “One can hope.” Even if we did have to meet her, by then we’d have a baby in tow. From what I’d always seen, cute little babies were remarkably good at defusing family grudges.

  A knock came at the door, and my cousin Rylan strolled in. “Sorry to disturb your morning,” he said, dropping into the chair next to me as I stared at him in surprise. “I ran away from home and have no one to turn to.” He gave me a lopsided grin.

  I scoffed. “Nice to see you too,” I said, ruffling his hair. “How’d you get up here?”

  “Are you kidding? I know all the guards on a first-name basis thanks to my stint as your bodyguard.” Rylan plucked a grape from the bowl on the table and popped it into his mouth. “You got any more food around here?”

  Iannis raised his eyebrows. “I’ll leave you two to catch up,” he said, rising from the table. “Come find me when you’re done, will you?” He leaned down to give me a peck on the cheek. “I’ll be in my office.”

  “Love you,” I said as he left. Once the door was closed, I handed Rylan the grape bowl. “You got tired of living with Aunt Mafiela?” I asked. “I’m not exactly surprised.”

  “I was this close to ripping every single hair out of her blonde head,” Rylan grumbled as he plucked another grape from the bowl. “I’d forgotten just how bossy Mother can be. It is impossible to please her and keep my self-respect at the same time. I’ve saved up enough money—it’s time for me to find my own place and make my own way in the world again. Where was that apartment complex that you used to rent from in Maintown? Your place was pretty nice.”

  I shrugged. “The building caught fire last time I was there, and after the quake, I’ve got no clue if it still exists. You can stay here for a few days, but you’ll have to find something else soon because we’re about to get a whole influx of guests.”

  “For the wedding, right?” Rylan shook his head. “I still can’t believe that’s coming up so fast.”

  “Not just the wedding,” I said. “Turns out the Minister decided to hold the entire Convention here, the week before.”

  “The Convention?” Rylan’s eyes widened. “Oh hell no. I’m sorry, Naya, but I am not going to be here for that, bowing and scraping to self-important Chief Mages and their staff. I’ve got some out-of-town business I’ve been meaning to do, so I’ll make myself scarce until the wedding.”

  I laughed. “I never thought I’d say this, but I envy you right now, Rylan. I wish I could just up and disappear. Instead I have to deal with whiny politicians, and now Iannis’s relatives too.”

  Rylan raised an eyebrow. “Iannis’s relatives? I didn’t know he had any that were living. Are they coming to the wedding?”

  I shook my head. “We invited them, but somehow we didn’t manage to get an invitation to Iannis’s grandmother, and she’s pissed about it.” I gave him an abridged version of the letter, leaving out the part about his grandmother being a Tua. That was a closely guarded secret, and few people knew about Iannis’s mixed heritage.

  “Sounds like a bunch of nut jobs,” Rylan said when I’d finished. “Complaining about not being consulted, after being out of touch that long? I wouldn’t worry about it. Obviously, they’re busybodies with nothing better to do.”

  “I know.” I scraped my hands through my hair. “It just seems like these issues keep piling up, one after the other. I might lose my mind if I get any more bad news.”

  “Hey.” Rylan punched me lightly in the arm. “All that stress isn’t good for you. When’s the last time you sparred?”

  I blinked. “Uhh…” I trailed off as I tried to remember, but I came up blank. Had it been a month? Three months?

  “Exactly.” Rylan grabbed my elbow and hauled me up. “Come on, cousin. Let’s go find that old training room of yours. Time to get rid of that stress the old-fashioned way. And besides,” he added with a quick jab to my face that I barely ducked, “you’re getting slow. At the rate you’re going, Melantha will be able to knock you on your ass.”

  “Shut up,” I growled, jabbing back at him. Melantha was Rylan’s older sister, and she was even prissier than Mafiela. Rylan easily sidestepped my punch, then darted out the door, laughing. I chased him all the way to the training room, my blood already pumping in anticipation. I tackled him the moment we were inside, and we went down in a tangle of limbs, fighting to get inside each other’s guard. Choking out Rylan might not solve my problems, but it would get some of this pent-up aggression out of my system, and I was a big believer in taking whatever I could get out of life.

  5

  My morning training session with Rylan was exactly what I needed. We spent a good hour trading between boxing and weapons, and by the time I rushed back to
shower and change for my meeting with Nelia, I was feeling a million times better than I had last night.

  Of course, some of that old pressure and resentment settled back on my chest when I sat down in my office with my social secretary, who was fresh as a daisy and ready with her clipboard. I had a feeling it would be a very long time before I grew out of that. But at least facing the day’s work was bearable now.

  Nelia started by reporting on the guest list—acceptances were still coming in—and all the new presents that had arrived since the previous morning.

  “The High Mage of Castalis sent a replica of a famous portrait in his family’s possession,” she recited, as she went down the list. “Of his ancestress, the daughter of the First Mage herself, with a jeweled frame. I wonder why he picked that?”

  “Not many portraits have survived the Conflict, so it’s of historical interest,” I said. Fenris would be fascinated to see it, if he ever came back. “I’ll write back to thank the High Mage personally. Bring the portrait here tomorrow and we’ll find a good place to display it.” This was my own ancestress too, and I was curious to know what she had been like. I wondered where the hell they were putting all the other gifts—was there a mountain of them stashed in a hidden room somewhere, just waiting to crash on top of someone like an avalanche if they opened the door?

  “We’re going to have quite a busy month ahead of us, aren’t we?” Nelia said once we’d gone through the rest of the list. “Not only with the wedding, but the Convention now coming to Solantha.”

  I held in a sigh at the sparkle in Nelia’s eyes—I wished I could share in her excitement, but it still all sounded like one big nightmare to me. “I imagine I probably won’t see Iannis at all until our wedding day,” I said mulishly, picking at one of my nails. “But at least I won’t have to get involved with the political stuff.” Or so I hoped.