“Stand aside, Lady Holly.” Jade leaped onto the bed. He touched his nose to Almaric’s, then sniffed around his eyes and cheeks.
“Jade, please don’t.” It seemed disrespectful, and too much like something an ordinary cat would do. But Jade only spared her a disdainful look and placed a paw firmly over the magician’s nose.
“What’re you—” Holly started to say, but the old man suddenly flailed about, coughing and spluttering, and his eyes flew open.
“What in blazes!” he exclaimed, leaping to a half-sitting position.
Holly gaped at him. “Almaric? Are you . . . all right?”
“Lady Holly!” The magician sprang off the bed like a young man and put a hand to his hair, smoothing it down. “How wonderful to see you! Jade, did you—”
Whatever he’d been about to say was muffled in Holly’s impromptu hug. She knew she would embarrass him—in fact, he blushed and scrambled about for his walking stick, which he located next to the bed. “Yes, well . . . good work, Jade, finding Her Ladyship. Awfully fine of you.”
“Ranulf’s predictions were quite accurate,” Jade said coolly. He leaped onto the nearby dressing table and preened his whiskers.
“But wait,” Holly said, still confused. “Were you . . . You weren’t, were you?”
“Dead, you mean? I do apologize,” Almaric said cheerily. “A small ruse. It’s a magician’s talent. I simply couldn’t abide that woman any longer. The, ah . . . well, her personal . . .”
“Smell?” Holly provided.
“To put it bluntly.” He beamed at her, his blue eyes nearly disappearing into his cheeks. “But never mind! Now that you have returned to us, things can be put to rights.”
“The two lads have arrived with Her Ladyship, Almaric,” said Jade. “One is her kinsman; the other”—he paused to swipe a paw across his face—“is the traitor.”
“Oh no,” Holly said, shaking her head. “Everett was a prisoner, like Ben.”
“He worked with stolen magicks,” Jade said.
“Now, Jade,” Almaric broke in. “That is all in the past.”
“He did steal that key—the wand—from Mr. Gallaway. But he doesn’t even have it anymore. Prince Avery took it.” Holly paused. However Everett had acted before, they were all a year older, weren’t they? And everyone makes mistakes sometimes. “I think he’s all right now.”
Jade sniffed and twitched his tail.
“They’re waiting outside. We really ought to get them out of the cold.”
“My very thought,” Almaric said. “And if I may say so, with all due respect, Your Ladyship . . .” He hesitated.
“You could all do with a wash,” Jade finished.
What Holly really wanted to know was what had happened to Ranulf, and how long had she been away, and who was the sea hag, and a hundred other things. But Almaric would hear none of it until the three of them had taken turns in the bath, which was heated with a spell he was quite proud of. Their clothes were clean by the time they were finished. Even then Almaric refused to say another word until the kettle was on and a large potful of stew was simmering over the fire. The sun was going down as they settled into the soft chintz chairs opposite Almaric’s low table and sipped the wild-scented tea he gave them.
“Now,” Holly said at once. “What’s happened to Ranulf?”
“Raethius of the Source appeared to the Mounted not three months gone,” Almaric said. “He demanded their knowledge of the stars to predict your return. When they resisted, he captured Ranulf. He has been held in the king’s dungeons ever since.”
“And this Raethius guy controls the king, right?” Ben asked.
“He controls all of Anglielle,” said Jade, “but he takes little interest in the mortal kingdom and is rarely at the castle. The subjugation of magic is his passion. When last you were in Anglielle, Raethius was on one of his journeys. He did not learn of your visit until long after you had gone. But when he did hear of it, his rage was so great that it destroyed one of the castle towers. So say the falcons.”
“I don’t understand,” said Holly. “What does Raethius care about me?”
Jade held her gaze with his own steady green eyes. “You are the last Adept. He knows that much. You are a threat to the king’s power, and a threat to the king is a threat to his puppeteer.”
The group fell silent. Even with Áedán on her shoulder, Holly felt a cold finger of dread dance down her spine.
“I . . . I can’t worry about him,” she said. “We have to focus on Ranulf. How can we get him out of there?”
“It’s suicide to storm the castle by force,” Almaric said. “But if we could bewitch the guards somehow, we may have a chance.”
“Maybe there’s a spell I can learn,” Holly said. “Some kind of sleeping spell, or—”
“I know the very one!” crowed the sea hag. Everyone startled; Holly had almost forgotten she was there, for she had been sulking in a corner ever since the word bath had been mentioned. “It takes but one word, and the knights’ll drown on dry land. Their lungs fill with seawater, they gurgle and gasp, then drop right in front o’ yer eyes!”
“That sounds pretty good,” Ben said.
“No, it doesn’t,” said Holly. “It sounds pretty awful. This isn’t one of your video games, Ben. Those knights are real people—and remember, Loverian saved our lives. Do you really want me to drown them?”
“Most of them would kill us as soon as look at us,” Everett put in.
“So we’re supposed to be as bad as they are?”
“ ’Tis a war, dearie, not a tea party,” said Nerys.
“There’s got to be another way. Almaric?”
Holly knew he had limited knowledge of Adept magic, but some was better than nothing. With the Adepts themselves gone, Holly had to learn on her own.
Almaric eyed Jade, fidgeting. “Yes, Lady Holly. I may know of an alternative.”
Chapter 12
* * *
The Few Options
“Absolutely not, Almaric,” said Jade, baring his teeth. “We agreed. We dare not invoke such a creature.”
“We didn’t quite agree, Jade. She could solve both our problems, killing two birds with one powerful stone. She could help us rescue Ranulf first of all, and then—”
“Hang on, who could help us?” Everett asked.
“We be callin’ up the sea witch!” Nerys said, clapping her pudgy hands. “This very night, the night of Samhain, when the veil ’twixt the worlds is thinnest, we’ll call her and she’ll have ter come, innit?”
“What’s the night of sow-en?” asked Ben.
“Samhain. It’s like the Celtic Halloween,” said Everett.
Almaric had risen from his chair and started serving the stew. Jade followed him. “You know this is folly,” he said.
“Ranulf and I discussed it months ago,” said the magician.
“Why?” Holly asked. “What did Ranulf want with this . . . sea witch?”
“Before he was taken,” Almaric said, “Ranulf and I had talked of a plan to begin the overthrow of the king.”
“Really? What kind of plan?”
“The Exiles’ numbers are fairly strong, but without the power of the Adepts, they remain scattered and frightened. It’s difficult to rally the troops, if you will. Of course, Lady Holly, your own powers are formidable. But if we could find the rest of the Adepts and bring them home—”
“You could finish the king for good,” said Everett.
“And more to the point, we would have a chance at defeating Raethius.” Almaric pulled a stool up to the table and began eating. “Bring down the Sorcerer, and the king is as good as deposed.”
Nerys snorted. “I don’t see the Adepts makin’ a speedy return.”
“They are imprisoned on an unknown island,” Almaric said, as if he’d explained this several times before. “The details aren’t clear, but we know they vanished off the Iardan coast by boat when Reynard’s knights attacked their settlement. No
doubt their exile is Raethius’s doing.”
“And there’s, like, a cloaking spell hiding them?” Ben suggested.
“Ranulf and I believe,” Almaric said, “that if we could sail close enough to the Adepts’ island, we could detect it, even if Raethius has hidden it. With the lady Holly’s help, we could break through the barrier. But we have no craft nor sailing knowledge—”
“That’s why we’re callin’ the sea witch!” Nerys crowed. “No shame in it, dearie! It’s what I do.”
“Just wait,” Holly said loudly, and everyone quieted. “Jade, tell me what you think.”
The cat’s tail bristled. “We have no sea chart pointing us to the Adepts’ location. But conjuring the sea witch is not to be taken lightly. She is dangerous and unreliable. How do we know she would help rescue Ranulf in the first place? Once freed, this is a genie that will be impossible to put back in its bottle.”
“She’s a genie?” Ben asked eagerly.
Jade sniffed at him. “I was making a point.”
“And I say our options are very few,” said Almaric.
“What about the others who could help us?” Holly asked. “Like Fleetwing, or maybe Bittenbender?”
“As I say, I’m afraid the Exiles are somewhat scattered,” said Almaric. “Not all of them believed you would return, Lady Holly. We have not seen Fleetwing since Midsummer. The changeling has vanished. Even the Mounted have kept themselves hidden. But Hornbeak the falcon has gone to find them, as well as Bittenbender. Some of his own people, the Dvergar, are also held in the castle dungeons. He may be willing to help us, now that . . .”
Holly squeezed her hand into a fist, touching her fingertips to the long scar down her palm. “Now that I’m back.”
“But we need more magic than brute strength to overcome the castle guards, and that the sea witch can give us.” Almaric looked hard at Jade. “Regardless, this is our only chance to conjure her. Once Samhain has passed, she will be unreachable.”
“Enough talk.” The sea hag rocked back on her stool until the momentum set her upright on her squat legs. “The moon is near risen. If the sea witch’s to be called, the time is now. You lot, begone, so’s I can prepare.” She shooed Almaric away, but then pulled Everett by his sleeve and gave him a watery grin. “Not the lads. Ye can help me.”
Almaric stood up and lit a small glass lantern, then motioned to Holly. She grinned at Everett, who scowled back, and followed Almaric into the glade, with Jade at her heels.
They settled on the tree stumps that served as Almaric’s patio furniture. “You’re not taking cold, Lady Holly?” asked Jade.
The air was chilly, but the little Salamander on her shoulder warmed her enough. “It’s fine.”
“But something troubles you.”
How could she explain it? She had hoped this would be easier. But what had she expected? Strolls through the forest with Ranulf? A quick, painless battle to dethrone the king? More than that, she hadn’t even thought about . . .
“Raethius,” she said in a voice just above a whisper. “Jade, how bad are things? Tell me the truth.”
The cat looked at Almaric, who shifted in his seat, looking away. “The Sorcerer has grown in power, but he shows signs of desperation. He has had the magicfolk subdued for years, but then he heard of your visit and the stirrings of an uprising. We hear rumors that dark creatures have appeared from the Gloamlands at his bidding. He poisoned a school of freshwater merfolk in one of the northern lochs. An enclave of the Dvergar was found on the moors, their bodies gutted—”
A wave of nausea washed over Holly. “I just don’t understand it,” she said. “Why would he do this? Raethius is a sorcerer. Why does he kill the magicfolk?”
“We’re not certain,” said Almaric. “So little is known of him. Some say he came from the Gloamlands himself—the lands in the wilds of the north. Some think he may have Elemental blood. But it is clearly his mission to subdue the magicfolk, to divide us and leave us cowering in the woods.”
“I believe his aim since the beginning has been to amass the kingdom’s most powerful magicks for some other, darker purpose,” said Jade. “Why else would he travel so often? The mortalfolk are not his concern, and he uses Reynard’s knights as fodder. He searches for something.” Jade raised a whiskered eyebrow at Holly. “Something he fears you will prevent his obtaining, perhaps.”
Áedán huddled close to Holly’s neck with a shiver.
The cottage door opened and the sea hag popped her head out. “We’re as ready as ever we’ll be, Yer Ladyship. Or will ye stay in the gloamin’ till dawn?”
Chapter 13
* * *
Calling the Sea Witch
Everett was less than happy about being drafted for sea hag duty. He had the feeling, as the others left him and Ben alone with Nerys, that Holly thought she was entitled to plan everything. Everett thought it should be more of a democracy. Yet here they were, getting ready to conjure some kind of witch who everyone seemed a bit wary of.
It seemed to Everett like a very bad idea.
At Nerys’s direction, he started stacking Almaric’s wicker furniture in one corner. Maybe Ben was used to Holly taking charge, but Everett wasn’t. Hadn’t he managed to keep himself and Ben alive the last time they were here? No one—not even Ben—knew how close Everett had come to making a horrible bargain with the Elemental. The fiery little person who called herself Sol had agreed to give Everett the magic he needed to earn his and Ben’s freedom, but in exchange she wanted Holly—for what purpose, Everett was never quite sure. But when he didn’t deliver her, which of course he couldn’t do, Sol snatched the magic away from him. Although he knew he had done the right thing, he had felt the loss ever since. That wand had made him special, made him someone. He liked that feeling just as much as Holly did.
He wasn’t sure what this old magician knew about him, though Jade clearly didn’t like him. Everett was hoping that this time around he might prove himself and get to do a bit of the magic that Holly was always going on about. He set down the chair he was carrying and pulled the chain from inside his shirt. The gold locket gleamed at his touch. This, at least, was all his. No stolen wands or agreements with dodgy magical creatures. Idly, he tried to spring the catch to open the locket, but it held fast.
A finger of smoke oozed from inside it and circled him, as if something inside the locket were burning. But the gold didn’t feel hot. Everett squeezed his eyes shut. His head felt thick and dizzy.
“This table ain’t movin’ itself,” Nerys called to him.
Everett glared at her, but he dropped the locket inside his shirt. He took a deep breath; his head cleared.
Ben helped him move Almaric’s low table to the center of the room. Nerys covered it with a black cloth and opened her rucksack. Out of it she took a small skull—it might have been a monkey’s, Everett told himself, but he could see it was probably a child’s—and a very sharp silver-handled knife. She laid the knife crosswise to the skull, which she placed in the center of the table. She cut a long, thick rope to a length of about three feet, and laid it parallel to the knife. Finally she arranged five black beeswax candles around the other items.
Everett watched all this in silence until Ben nudged him aside. “Do you think this is okay? She’s kinda—I don’t know—black magicky.”
“We don’t have much choice, do we?” Everett whispered back. “Anyway, they’re Holly’s friends, right?”
“She’s nobody’s friend, far as I can tell,” said Ben, eyeing Nerys. She was busy sprinkling something shiny on the surface of the altar. “And what’s this about a sea witch? Isn’t a sea hag bad enough?”
“All ready, methinks,” Nerys said. She gave them a hard look as if she’d heard everything they’d been saying, then walked out and called the others in from the clearing.
“It’s now or never,” she said as everyone gathered around the table. “Time grows short.”
“Of course, Nerys,” Almaric said, smiling nerv
ously. Everett noticed that Nerys had spread several gold coins, like doubloons, among the other objects.
“The sea witch only comes with a price,” Nerys said, following his eyes. “Now then. All take hands round the altar.”
Holly and Jade exchanged a look, but they did as she asked.
“I don’t like this,” Ben muttered.
“Not to worry, Ben,” Almaric said, smiling. But his wrinkled hand, clasping Everett’s, was sweaty, and the old man’s eyes roved back and forth from the door back to the altar. “All will be well.”
Nerys stood up on her waddly feet to light the candles, then rejoined them at the altar, completing the circle. Clearly, Ben wasn’t crazy about holding her pudgy, algae-smelling hand, but she snatched his up and held it so tight that he winced.
“Eyes closed,” she commanded, and then began to chant:
“Beyond the land, we call to thee
Come over swell and over sea
Pull the anchor from the sand
Bide a time upon the land
Sea witch of legend, ship of yore
Whose voyage wide, from shore to shore
Will steer us true, to isles of gloom
By witch’s compass, witch’s broom
Come hither, to the magic elm
Where dwelleth those of earthly realm
And bring ye aid, what we desire
Through the storm, through muck and mire.”
Though the chanting was soft and lulling, at the end Nerys threw up both her flabby arms and cried in a louder, deeper voice than Everett would have believed possible:
“Now come!”
At once, a strong, wet breeze blew through the window and extinguished the candles. Ben whimpered and a chill snaked down Everett’s back. He heard a soft gasp from Holly. Almaric said nothing, but grasped his hand tight; and the moon went dark.
The Wand & the Sea Page 5
