He contemplatively walked through the city and reached the palace, then circled it once. The walk let him clear his mind, as he considered all the things he had decided to do to carry out the fight with Donal. He’d thought about the black magician, he’d thought about the palace, he’d thought about the different ways he might be able to win, and he’d concluded there was no way to win alone.
He had potential allies in mind, people who could make a difference in the battle, if they would agree to take the risk of joining the battle. He was going to ask them to put their own lives at risk, in the hopes that they could help him make every remaining life better.
Theus stepped into an alleyway and turned invisible. He would have to be careful; Donal had demonstrated already that he had extraordinary abilities to sense where Theus was. Theus would try to give the black magician as little notice of his presence as possible.
Theus walked into the grounds of the palace, passing invisibly through the gateway. Once inside and safely past the guards, he ended his invisibility, and walked casually along the drive on the palace grounds. He walked back to the stables, and went around the front stable barn to the back of the building. Inside the barn, he climbed up a ladder and then scuttled across the hayloft to reach the front of the building, where he settled into place, suffering the scratchy discomfort of wisps of hay as he lay down and watched out the front of the barn, spying through a large crack between the siding boards.
He had a direct view of the kitchen, which he patiently watched as he waited to see his desired target, his first intended helper, come into view. When she did, he smiled with happiness, then took his next step.
He had spotted Letta, the head slave of the kitchen. She had been in charge of him while he’d been a slave in the palace kitchen as well. Letta had treated him with kindness and generosity. He’d not regretted leaving the palace behind when he’d fled from the influence of Donal and Southsand, but he had thought of Letta from time to time, and missed not saying farewell to her. Now, she was in his sight.
“Letta, this is Theus, your former healer. Do you remember me?” he used his white magical power to throw his voice, so that the woman in charge of the palace kitchen was able to hear him speak.
He watched as her head snapped to alertness, and her eyes widened. She looked quickly left, then right.
“You can’t see me at the moment, but I can see you,” he told her. “Thank you for taking such good care of me while I was a slave here,” he told her.
“I want to talk to you. Do you have time for a conversation?” he asked.
He saw her lips move.
“I can’t hear you; I’m too far away. Just nod your head yes or no,” he advised.
She nodded yes as she continued to look for him, her head moving left, then right, then left again.
“I’m in the stables,” he explained. “Up in the hayloft, straight ahead of you. Come to the stables and we’ll talk.”
She stared directly at the barn he was in.
He saw her mouth the word “How?”, but then she nodded her head. She held up a finger in front of her to delay the meeting, then went back inside the kitchen, out of sight, for a long minute. She dealt with something, then came back into the open and walked towards the stables.
Theus scrambled down from the hayloft, and ignored the sole stablehand who was cleaning out stalls. Theus waited just inside the door, in the shadows where he was hidden from casual view.
She stepped into the barn as she saw him, while he stepped further back from the door way. She followed him in with two more steps, but then stopped, keeping a wary distance from him.
“You look like Theus, with a little more age on you. How did you make your voice touch my ears like that?” she asked cautiously.
“I’ve learned,” he paused, knowing the reputation that magic had in the palace where Donal lived. “I’ve learned white magic.”
He saw the horror in her eyes, though her expression remained calm, and she held her ground.
“It’s not the same as black magic; it’s the complete opposite, in some ways,” he hastily explained. He started to step towards her, but she instinctively stepped back.
“Listen to me, please,” he pleaded.
“I’ve been given the secret to white magic, and I’ve been told to use it to fight against Donal,” Theus began.
“Who did this for you?” Letta asked skeptically.
“The gods,” Theus answered bluntly. “Limber and Currense in particular, but I’ve even met Maurienne,” he mentioned the name of the god who was named so often in Southsand. “They all fear the evil that Donal’s god can bring. They want me to defeat Donal to stop him.”
Letta looked at him searchingly.
“You’re mad,” she decided out loud.
“I don’t think so,” he answered with a note of uncertainty in his voice. “But I know I’m here to do the right thing for everyone here, and everyone in my own home city.
“I beat him once, you know,” Theus blurted out the comment, in a quick cadence. “I beat Donal when I faced him in battle.” Theus held up his hand. “I burned his hand off. I made him retreat.”
Letta remained silent.
“I’m not here to hurt you, or anyone except Donal,” he repeated his claim.
“I know that Donal lost a hand. Everyone knows, but no one dares talk about it,” she murmured.
“Torella told me that you were here a few months ago,” Letta said softly, “and that you told her you were going to sneak into Donal’s tower.
“She never saw you again, but Donal was furious, the whole palace – the whole city! – knew,” Letta told him.
“Did you save the girl?” she asked.
“I did,” Theus admitted. “It was frightening, but I did it. That was when my white magic was new. I’ve learned more since then.
“But I still need your help,” he told her. “And Torella’s too.”
“What help do you need? If I can do it, I will,” Letta relented at last. She stepped towards Theus, freeing him to step towards her, and they hugged emotionally, grasping one another tightly for a long, silent minute.
“I need for you to let me make you a white magician,” Theus told her while they were still in each other’s arms.
He felt her try to pull away, but he tightened his hold, and wouldn’t let her go.
“It’s different. You don’t take energy from other people. You don’t hurt others. You aren’t evil, or a villain. You might use your magic powers to do bad things, but you aren’t bad just for having them. And I’m not asking you to hurt anyone except Donal,” he whispered urgently in her ear. She struggled as he began, but then ceased, and held still, and listened.
“A white magician doesn’t make other people grow old and die?” she asked carefully.
“No, not at all. It’s not where our power comes from,” he answered.
“Why don’t you just go get other white magicians and bring them here to help you? Why do you want to do this to me?” she asked.
Theus took a deep breath. “There are no other white magicians. I’m the only one. The god Limber knew I needed to be able to fight back against Donal, so he gave me the power when he sent me to rescue Amelia.
“But he also gave me the stone that can make you a white magician,” Theus added. “Well, my fiancée gave it to me in a way, but so did Limber,” he muddled his request to the head kitchen slave.
She stepped back from him, and scrutinized him.
“It would take three days,” he told her. “At least, it took me three days. The stone delivers all the spells to your mind, and then you sleep for three days – that’s what happened to me,” he explained.
“You want me to just sleep for three days? What do you think will happen to me? To the kitchen? To you? If I’m gone for three days, there will be problems unimaginable,” Letta objected. “No, this is all preposterous.
“My advice is that you turn around and run to safety, and let us get
on with our lives here. We know how to survive; we keep our heads down, we do our jobs, and we don’t attract attention or get into battles,” she informed him.
“That’s not what life is for,” Theus said softly. “It shouldn’t be about just getting by, staying alive, being slaves and accepting it.” He thought about the brief time he’d spent as a slave; he’d planned and plotted to escape everyday he’d been in the palace. The idea of accepting the slavery seemed incomprehensible to him.
“There can be so much more!” he told her passionately. “You could live freely. You could be bold! You could plan your own life.”
“Are you going to do this anyway, or are you going to return to your life outside, where you can be free?” Letta asked in an intense whisper.
“I’m going to do it anyway,” Theus told her, a note of resignation in his voice. His plan would still work with just one accomplice instead of two, he hoped, but Letta was his preferred partner if he was to have just one.
“The gods have told me to do this,” he explained. It was ironic, he thought, that before he’d left the Jewel Hills he’d not given a thought about the gods or their desires. And now, he was probably heading towards his death – willingly – because the gods said to.
“I have to obey. And even if they weren’t involved, this is the right thing to do. If I want to save the rest of the world from becoming like Southsand, I have to fight this battle,” he spoke passionately.
“So you’re going to try to do this alone?” Letta asked.
Theus bit his lip, considering whether to admit his next option.
“I’m going to talk to Torella, to ask her to help,” he admitted.
“Are you mad?” Letta spoke with heat in her voice. “She isn’t strong enough for the type of test you’re going to face. She’s a good girl, but there’s not enough mettle in her to face your contest.
“Just go home Theus. We all know how to live here, and you know how to live out there,” Letta again urged him to leave.
“And that’s what I’m telling you – there will be no ‘out there’ out there if I don’t fight Donal. He and Ind’Petro will bring their horror to every other living person throughout civilization. We’ll all suffer,” Theus raised his voice with emotion as he spoke.
“Go on back to your kitchen. I thought you would help,” his voice revealed his bitterness at first, but succumbed to resignation.
“Don’t you touch Torella, Theus, I beg you. You’ll destroy the girl,” Letta spoke with sincerity. “She can’t do what you want.”
“I’ll think about it,” he replied. His heart told him to think, to consider that there was truth in Letta’s warning. “Go back to your kitchen,” he felt depressed. He needed to be alone, to consider what he’d do next.
“That’s it? You’re going to let me go?” Letta asked doubtfully.
“If you don’t want to help me, there’s no point in keeping you here. Go do what you do so well – go run the kitchen and feed the palace, and keep your head down,” he told her.
“Theus, you be careful. You’re talking about doing impossible things, crazy things,” she told him passionately, stepping in closer. “Just,” she paused for a second, at a loss for words, “be careful,” she repeated. She stepped close, hugged him and kissed his cheek in a swipe, then fled from the barn, leaving him alone.
“What am I going to do now?” he muttered to himself. He climbed back up into the loft and sat against the wall of the barn as he considered his next step. Having two assistant magicians would have been ideal, while having one was necessary. And Letta was right, he acknowledged to himself – he did not have confidence that Torella would carry out the duties he wanted her to.
He needed a distraction to empty the guards out of Donal’s tower, so that he could enter it more easily and stealthily. He needed his accomplice to help carry out the distraction.
He decided he would go walk through the palace alone to confirm that its layout was as he recollected. Perhaps he could find a way to develop his audacious distraction himself, and still launch his attack upon Donal, if he walked the palace thoroughly.
He climbed down the ladder one more time, ready to go on his scouting trip. He felt his backpack move, as if something had settled unexpectedly within it.
Letta was standing in the door of the stable, waiting for him.
“May all the gods bless us and protect us, I’ll do it,” she said through gritted teeth.
“What?” Theus asked in disbelief.
Maybe everything you said was right and true: I don’t know,” Letta told him. “But I thought about it, and I don’t want to live life like this any longer. I’ve got nothing to live for. If I help you, I think I’m going to die, and that will be the end to my problems.”
“But we can succeed, and you’ll find that life has much more waiting for you than you ever expected!” Theus’s eyes sparkled as he listened to her change of heart.
“First of all, tell me what your plan is, then tell me where I can stay for three days passed out while your magic stone does its trick and changes me to a magician?” she demanded.
Theus surprised her by reaching out and hugging her.
“I don’t know where to hide you. We could do it up there,” he pointed to the hayloft, “or we could go find a flat in the city, away from the palace, or perhaps we could go out to the countryside,” he quickly offered. “Before all that, let’s go look around the palace, to see how best to pull this all together. I’ll explain in a little bit,” he said.
“And there’s one more thing, one thing you have to promise,” Letta insisted. She refused to move as Theus started to tug on her arm.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Under no circumstances, will you touch Torella or involve her in this in any way. I don’t want her to even know you’re back in the palace,” Letta said insistently. Her hand reached up and grabbed his chin, her thumb and fingers clamped on either side of his mouth. She squeezed his face to get his attention; she squeezed firmly.
“She and Ruune are married, and she’s pregnant with child, Theus. Don’t you go near her,” Letta’s eyes drilled into him, then she released him.
“I won’t bother her, or even let her know I’m here, I promise,” Theus solemnly agreed.
“Okay, as long as that’s understood,” Letta was satisfied with his answer. “Now, take me on this tour, and tell me what we’re going to do.”
They walked out of the barn, into the sunlit yard between the stable and the palace’s housekeeping wing. Theus took her hand in his, then engaged his abilities, and turned them invisible, though he didn’t inform Letta of their altered state.
They started walking around the exterior of the palace, towards the far end, where the official and ceremonial rooms and halls were located. As they walked, Torella came suddenly bursting out of a doorway, carrying a small wooden crate that seemed destined for delivery. She walked directly towards Theus and Letta.
“Theus, what are you doing? You promised me!” Letta hissed as Theus walked forward without concern or any change in their direction.
“She can’t see us,” Theus said confidently.
“She’s not blind!” Letta hissed.
“I made us invisible. I’m using my white magician powers right now,” Theus told his companion.
“That’s impossible! I don’t feel any different,” Letta refused to believe him.
“Sshh, she’ll hear you,” Theus stopped walking, holding Letta’s hand, and within seconds, Torella passed placidly by them, unaware of their presence.
“That’s unbelievable!” Letta said after Torella was ten seconds past them.
The girl paused, and turned. She looked quizzically over her shoulder, then turned back, shrugged, and moved on.
“Let’s move on,” he urged softly, setting them in motion again.
They walked in silence for a full minute as they passed along the exterior of the palace.
“Will I be able to do
this?” Letta asked.
Theus nodded his head.
“And other things? Like making my voice travel far away?” she asked. “Like you did to me?”
Theus nodded again.
“And other things?” she pressed.
“Other things too,” Theus acknowledged. “Now, let’s go in here,” he motioned towards a door.
“And I’m going to let us become visible again, if you think that’s not a problem?” he indirectly asked.
“I come here from time to time, they’re used to seeing me. I don’t know if anyone will recognize you. Why are we visible again?” she asked in response.
“It saves energy,” Theus saw the opportunity to deliver a lesson, as they entered the hall under the watchful eye of a guard. The man recognized Letta and waved them in.
“Black magicians steal energy from other people,” Theus explained quietly. “That’s what kills their victims. White magicians don’t; we have to use our own energy, from inside ourselves, or we have to learn to use sunlight. Outside I could use the sunlight to do many things. Inside, without sunlight, I want to preserve my power unless I really need it.”
Letta listened thoughtfully, and seemed on the brink of asking a question, when Theus asked first.
“Show me where the king goes every morning,” he said.
She looked at him with a confused expression.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I want to know where he goes,” Theus explained. It was time to tell her part of his plan, to see if she would really work with him.
“I plan to kidnap him, to create a distraction. When we take the king, the guards and the palace will be chaotic. That should give me a chance to go up to Donal’s tower and fight him when and where he least expects it, and hopefully win,” Theus told her.
“That’s your plan?” Letta’s voice rose dramatically, and she stopped walking.
“Lower your voice,” Theus interrupted her urgently.
“That’s your plan?” she repeated in a lower voice. “Kidnap the king? You know there are guards around him all the time?” she asked snidely.
“They’ve never dealt with a magician kidnapping though, have they?” Theus asked. “An invisible kidnapper? They let the king out of their sight for just a moment, and he disappears? The bodyguards aren’t going to be prepared for that,” Theus countered. “The palace will be in an uproar. I can leave him with you, while I go fight Donal.”
Tangled Engagements (The Memory Stones Series Book 4) Page 25
