The answer came to me, clear as water.
“Cal! Cal, where are you?” Footsteps clonking along a high walkway. “The book! We have to look at the book!” My voice rose with excitement.
He waved his hands in both directions. “Any particular book?”
“The blank book in the entrance.”
For a moment he just stared at me, then he got it. He disappeared, and all I heard was feet slithering and clattering down the metal stairs. His face with brilliant with elation. Without a word he tore off towards the entrance, with me trotting along behind.
As soon as he reached the book, he squealed and punched the air in delight.
“Can you read it?”
“Yes! Oh yes! Although some words are hard to translate. Here’s the list of chapters.” He flipped through the pages, reading slowly. “ ‘The Catastrophe.’ ‘The only solution.’ ‘The arrangements for survival.’ Hmm, depressing stuff. It’s all about what they did to protect people. ‘Alternative forms of the gift.’ Oh. That’s about spellpages. They invented spellpages so that the gift – that’s magic, I suppose – could continue. Then it’s about how the city operates. ‘The... procurement of fresh food.’ ‘The management of the... mines.’ Mines! I didn’t know there were mines. Hmm, what’s that word? ‘Power... power sources.’ See, it’s a guidebook for the city. ‘The provision of slaves.’ ”
“Slaves!”
“Oh. Look at this...” His voice rose. “This is what we want. ‘The retrieval of Non-Blessed. It may on... occasion occur that some Non-Blessed will, by accident or wilful misbehaviour, stray into the... Citadel, and thereby be drawn into slavery, being required to attend the needs of the Blessed in... perpetual service, which state is an honour and should be received with deep gratitude. However, it may be that such may still have value to their former owners or kin. Therefore, in their great... mercy, the Blessed have decreed that such persons may be recalled from slavery and may choose to return to their former less radiant life if they insist.” Well, they have a good opinion of themselves, these Blessed.”
“That’s us, I suppose. The Blessed are those with magic who live in the city – Citadel. But do they tell us how to do it? Because that’s what we need, isn’t it, to get Drei back?”
“It’s all here,” he whispered. “We can do it. We’d better find Krayfon.”
~~~~~
It took some time to round up the mages and explain to them what needed to be done. The stone statue on the plinth was the key to it, so that evening eight of us met there to attempt to summon Drei from the depths of the city.
“I don’t like Kyra being here,” Krayfon said for about the twentieth time.
“Neither do I,” Cal said impatiently, “but it has to be someone who has a claim on Drei. ‘An interest under the law’ is how the book puts it. Kyra’s his drusse and also has magical power, so she’s the best choice.”
“I wish it didn’t have to be at night.”
Cal sighed. “This room has windows, so the sun might give him some power straight away. This will only work if he has no magic. Kyra will summon him, then he has to choose and only then can we use the sleep spell. Is everyone clear? Don’t try anything until he’s chosen. We must wait until he touches the ball of the statue and chooses. Then he will either vanish again – somehow, we don’t quite know how – or he will stay in the room.”
“How will we know that he’s chosen to stay? Is there a sign?”
“It’s not clear.” Cal frowned. “The book just says, ‘Should the slave choose to reunite with the summoner, he or she will be released from all further obligation towards the Blessed and may leave the Citadel.’ So we’ll just have to pick our moment to sleep spell him. Once he’s asleep, we can bundle him up and get him to the warded room. But no one must use magic in here until the choosing is over, that’s very clear. ‘Dire consequences’ are mentioned. Are you ready, Kyra?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice. I was weak from terror. Within a short time, Drei would be here and he’d always been unpredictable. The whole undertaking was fraught with danger, and surely we would be lucky to pull this off. Yet we had to try. At least this way we had some measure of control.
I stepped onto the platform and rested my hand on the rounded top of the statue. There was a slight fizz of magic, but nothing more. Cal had told me exactly what to say and what it meant, and it was very simple.
“I summon Axandrei, en Dush-Bai-Drashonor fen Bennamore, I who have that right.”
The rounded top of the statue lit up with a blue glow under my hand, and there was a noticeable crackle of magic. Then we waited.
“Don’t move your hand,” Cal said. “Otherwise we have to start again.”
“I know, I know.”
For an age we stood, immobile, me on the platform, the mages in a loose circle around the room. They were armed with heavy sticks borrowed from the guards, just in case, and Cal had his knife in his hand. Two of them carried long lengths of chain for tying Drei up once he was asleep. He was a strong, well-muscled man, and we didn’t want to risk him getting free again.
What if he didn’t come? If he had already escaped, there would be no way to summon him. But then presumably the blue glow would disappear if he couldn’t be found.
The stone under my hand flared brighter momentarily, there was a shimmer on the platform beyond the statue and there he was. He looked exactly as I’d expected, with the same brown and gold uniform as all the others, the same blank face, but somehow it was still a shock. His hair was much shorter, but otherwise he was the same Drei.
No one moved or spoke. We waited as he looked around, the faintest of frowns on his forehead, and then slowly raised his arm and reached for the top of the statue. The instant he touched it, there was another flare, then it settled again to a steady glow.
Immediate awareness flooded Drei’s features. The book had told us that at this point he would remember his life before his enslavement as well as his life afterwards, so that he could make an informed choice. How many people would choose slavery? Some who came from nothing at all, I suppose, who would be glad to have regular food and shelter and none too arduous work. Drei would choose freedom, undoubtedly.
He gazed around, a slight smile on his face, then his eye returned to me and he grinned. “Well, isn’t this nice? Greetings, my faithful drusse. How kind of you to release me. And so many mages to welcome me back. They don’t look very friendly, though. I don’t think they plan to feast me in celebration of my return, do you?”
“You’re lucky to be here,” I said. “There were those who wanted you dead, and it was only Cal’s arguments that persuaded them to put you on trial instead. You’ll have the chance to defend your actions, if you can.”
“Oh yes, Cal.” His eyes flicked across and back. “So generous, he is, screwing you as soon as my back is turned. I’m sure I’m very grateful to him.”
Cal shifted restlessly and gripped his knife so hard his knuckles were white, but said nothing.
“So you should be,” I snapped. “He’s the one who got the giant stone working, and was able to read the book and tell us how to get you out. For all I care, you could have rotted down there.”
A flicker of interest in Drei’s eyes, and again he glanced at Cal and back to me. Then his eyes drifted down to my swollen belly and up again. A tiny smile. “So. I truly owe him – something.”
It was Krayfon who stepped forward. “Stop talking! Just choose, and let us get on with this.”
Before the words were out of his mouth, the stone flared a vivid blue and died away. Drei lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. I screamed, but I couldn’t stop my magic from pouring into him.
“Sleep!” someone yelled, but it was too late. Drei was smarter than we were.
The mages leapt into panicky action, sticks waving in a blur of arms and bodies. Drei let go of me so roughly that I stumbled off the platform, bumped into someone, crashed into a flailing arm. Someone shrieked, voices shout
ed, one of the mages slumped to the ground. Someone pulled my arm, then let go with a cry. Then something heavy cracked into my head and I fell into blackness.
43: Knife
The world was filled with pain. Blinding, unremitting pain drilled into my skull. I lay on my side on an unyielding surface, one arm tucked awkwardly under me, the other resting on cold marble. Beyond the torment I heard noises: a clinking, then a slow scraping sound like something heavy being dragged, then more clinking.
I tried to move my arm to a more comfortable position, but fierce bolts of pain shot through my head. I moaned.
Footsteps echoing. “Well, well! Are you awake, little drusse?”
Drei. I tried to open my eyes but it hurt too much. I moaned again. Somewhere through the pain I was aware of a terrible wrongness, something out of alignment, but I couldn’t focus on what it was. Too much pain. Gods, it was excruciating! I gave up trying to move, and lay waiting for my magic to heal me.
I waited but nothing happened. I couldn’t bear it a heartbeat longer, yet somehow I endured. Was I going to die? It would be a blessing.
Gradually, a worse fear grew in me. Something missing. That stirred me more than my own fears.
I opened my eyes and he was kneeling beside me. I couldn’t see his face, only his trousers, still clad in servants’ brown. “What have you done?” I croaked, my throat dust-dry. “You’ve killed my baby!”
He laughed. Laughed. I couldn’t believe it. “Silly girl. Of course I haven’t. I’ve just taken your magic away so you can’t feel her any more. She’s still there, though, my daughter. If she is my daughter.”
Ah. So we were at that point, were we? I tried to speak, but only a gurgle came out, and I closed my eyes again. The footsteps receded across the floor, and there was more clinking and dragging. I felt sick, so I lay unmoving, waiting to feel better, or to die, I didn’t care which.
How odd it was to have no magic inside me. This is what it’s like for normal people, I thought. I kept reaching for it, for something not there, like the gap after a milk tooth falls out that constantly draws the tongue.
Not trying to move helped, or perhaps I just got used to the relentless pain, because after a while I was able to open my eyes again, and it didn’t hurt so much. I was on the floor of the library, and judging by the distance from the book stacks, I must be close to the great stone sphere. My spirits rose just a fraction. There was magic everywhere here, in the walls, in the sphere, under the floor, in the air itself. All I had to do was breathe. One breath in, one breath out. Deeper, try to get more magic in. Deep breath in, deep breath out. It didn’t hurt to breathe, which was a good sign. Just a broken skull, then.
More dragging noises, this time something very heavy, scraping in stages across the floor. Scrape, pause, scrape, pause. I turned my head slightly – another spear of pain, but now I could see Drei, heaving a solid wooden table.
Was it my imagination, or was the pain a tiny bit easier now? I shifted the free arm a little. My shoulder bag was still there, and inside was my stone vessel, in fact all the vessels we’d used to drain Drei’s magic. If only I could get to them. If only I could sit up. Deep breath in, deep breath out. The pain was definitely easier now. There was so much magic around me that I couldn’t help but absorb it. I still couldn’t feel my baby, since all the magic was being used to heal me, but it was a start.
Drei stopped dragging the table, now he was back to dragging the other thing. Another shift of the head – another blast of agonising pain. But I could see what he was pulling – a body. A stab of fear; it was Cal, surely, I knew those clothes, that untidy hair, a patch matted with blood now. My heart twisted. But no, he couldn’t be dead, because why would Drei pull a dead body around? He dropped Cal beside the table, then disappeared again and returned, clinking, with a length of chain. Turning a little further, I saw a stick lying abandoned beyond the table, smeared with blood. What had happened to the mages? Had he killed them all? Near the stick, Cal’s knife, and something else, something on a fine chain. Cal’s vessel. Did Drei find the jade belt, too?
I watched, helpless, as Drei wrapped Cal in chains and began to tie him to the table leg. He tried to prop Cal up so that he could wrap the chain round his chest, but he was out cold and kept flopping over. In the end, cursing, Drei left him lying and chained him as best he could.
Drei disappeared from my view again, but before long he was back, thumping something down behind me.
“Now, my dear, let’s see if we can get you up.”
Hands under my armpits hoisted me up, triggering another burst of pain so bad that I cried out. Then I was on my feet, Drei supporting me from behind.
“Just a couple of steps back. That’s the way. There. Now sit. Oops.”
My legs, too weak to hold me, gave way, and I slipped off the chair he was trying to manoeuvre me into, and toppled to the floor. He half caught me, saving my head from another crack, and dragged me onto the chair.
“What... you doing?” I croaked, grabbing his hands as he moved away from me. Magic flooded into me at his touch, bringing me merciful ease. He seemed not to notice, for he made no comment and didn’t pull away from me.
“Repaying my debt to you and your lover, Kyra.” His voice was icy. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Did you think I wouldn’t care? You were mistaken.”
“Don’t understand.”
“No one makes me look foolish. No one. I’m somebody now, I’ve made myself somebody, one of the most important people in the whole realm. Everyone has to respect me now. Everyone does respect me. Except you and your mage.” His eyes narrowed. “That child inside you... is it mine?”
If only I could lie to him! I licked my dry lips, but prevarication would only anger him.
“Don’t know.”
He snatched his hands away from mine, his face twisted, and I realised that he hadn’t known for sure that Cal and I were lovers, not until that moment.
“Going to... kill me?” I whispered.
“Oh yes. Both of you. Quite slowly, probably. When your mage lover wakes up, I’m going to cut that bastard child out of your belly, and he’s going to watch. Then I’ll kill him, while you watch. That should repay you both appropriately, don’t you think?” He gave a bark of laughter. “But he sleeps soundly. While we wait, you can tell me what he did to work the ball there.”
I couldn’t think of a reason not to tell him. It gave him access to the books, but where was the harm in that? And it gave me a little more time to think of some way out of this mess. So I explained as best I could, my speech still halting and uncertain. His eyes gleamed with pleasure.
In that moment I couldn’t help regretting what he’d become. He was so handsome, so charming when he chose to be, even without the magical enhancements. He could have been an asset to the Drashon, and built the contented family life with Yannassia that he’d never had himself. But resentment had eaten away at him and turned him into a monster.
He moved away eagerly to the stone ball. I had both hands free now that I was upright and it was the work of a moment to unfasten my shoulder bag and reach inside for one of the vessels. Such relief to recover my magic! It gushed into me, soothing away my pain and mending my hurt head in a surprisingly short time. My body was very efficient at healing itself. And there was my daughter, perfectly well and unharmed.
It seemed a long time before Drei came back, but I knew how shaken Cal had been by the stone ball. By then, I had taken all the power from the first vessel and started on a second, but the flow of magic was slower. I was almost back to full power. Now would come the hard part, pretending that I was still injured and free of magic.
Drei was grinning when he returned. “That book is most interesting,” he chortled. “It will be very useful when I establish my empire here.” Empire! Was there no end to his ambition? But I drooped my head and said nothing.
“Right, it’s time lover boy woke up.” He lifted Cal’s head up by the hair, but although he groaned a li
ttle, he didn’t wake up. He was battered about the face, bruised and cut, but the injury to his head seemed small from where I sat. Drei strode off and came back a little while later with a jug in each hand, tossing the contents in Cal’s face. One was wine, the other water, leaving him with a strangely streaked appearance, and the wine mingled with blood in his blond hair. This time he spluttered and opened his eyes, wine dripping.
“Wha’s happenin’,” he muttered. Drei slapped him, and Cal screeched, but it had the intended effect, for he lifted his head up. When he saw me, he growled low in his throat and tried to get up, but the chains held him firmly.
Drei laughed. “You stupid boy. Do you recognise this?” He held up Cal’s knife, but Cal watched him in silence. “Don’t you ignore me!” Drei yelled. “Do you recognise it?”
The Fire Mages Page 47
