The Scofflaw Magician (The Artifactor Book 3)
Page 26
Sevana puffed out a breath of relief. “Good to hear. Do we know his actual identity now?”
“Your master said he was able to learn about him through his workshop. Apparently there is a story about him among your fellow magicians?” Ailana paused and looked to Sevana’s face for confirmation. “About a young prodigy that tampered with his magical core and paid dearly for it. I did not see him living, of course, so I do not know what his core looked like. But his body was very, very strange. Deranged, is how I would describe it.”
So, Master had been right, that was who they had been fighting. How eerie. Well, if Sevana ever turned evil, at least they would know how she would turn out.
“There,” Ailana said in satisfaction. “It is a simple braid, but your head is likely heavy, so I did not do anything elaborate.”
Bless her for her common sense. Sevana stood carefully, like a young colt on wobbly knees, and made for the door. “I’ve not been hearing anyone else?”
“They’re all scattered, fixing the rest of the damage that man did, or spreading the news of what happened.” Ailana sidled in and gave her silent support as they made for the kitchen. Casually, she tacked on, “We were able to retrace that man’s steps and found his workroom.”
Sevana stumbled over her own feet. “What?!”
“Your master was quite excited. He headed over there yesterday. I informed him you were back, and he said he was coming directly here. I expect him this evening.”
She and Master would have a long talk about going into an evil magician’s workroom without proper backup. The Fae did not count. They didn’t understand human magic well enough to know when to dodge. “How did you contact him?”
“The Caller you made for Aranhil works splendidly,” she informed her with a smug smile. “I had Tashjian make me one as well before he left.”
Strangely enough, this surprised her as much as anything else. “Really? But that was just a prototype, I hadn’t finished testing it yet.”
“I would think it’s a working model as it works fine.” Ailana steered her into the kitchen and into a chair. “You may ask Aranhil questions later, if you are concerned, but your Master found nothing to change when he copied your design for me.”
That in and of itself was a compliment.
“What are you going to do once you have your full strength back?” Ailana asked her, retrieving a pitcher of ice cold water from the cold box and pouring her a cup.
Sevana drained it in one long pull, feeling the blessed coolness wash down her throat. Ah, bliss. She handed it back for a refill as she answered, “I have quite a few things I want to do. I want to set up formal trade agreements with the other Fae nations, to start. I’ll need Aran’s help with that. Also, I have an idea or three about where I can find a great many orphaned children for the Fae to adopt.”
Ailana’s face lit up. “Do you? That’s splendid. Here, let me get you some broth, and then tell me what your plan is.”
Sevana waited patiently as she hurried over to the stove, reaching for a small bowl as she did so. From Ailana’s apron pocket, there was a muted voice she recognized well, and the Fae nursemaid paused in front of the stove long enough to pull it free and say, “Yes, Tashjian?”
“Ah, Ailana. How is Sevana doing now that she’s up?”
“I’m doing fine, you old goat,” Sevana called.
Ailana bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing even as she handed the Caller over to Sevana. Accepting it, she put it on the table so that she could comfortably talk without having to hold it.
“You seem well enough,” Master drawled. “Already up and being snippy, same as usual.”
“Perhaps I’m snippy because you’re doing something stupid? Why are you waltzing into an evil magician’s lair by yourself?”
“Now who said I was alone? Sarsen and Pierpoint are with me.”
That made things marginally better.
“I have three Fae Masters with me as well. Anything that we deem too dangerous they’re destroying for us, as of course their magic can safely grind it into dust. I don’t even want to think about what we’d do without them. We’d spend the next decade curse-breaking this place.”
Sevana shuddered. That was indeed a scary thought, having to deal with that workload on top of everything else. “Good, then. Ailana said that you were finding answers in the workshop.”
“We are. To start with, his identity. His name was Tiergan Knollenberg. I remember the story of him now. He was a prodigy, like you, one particularly gifted with crafting anti-spells. By the time I started official training, he was infamous for doing dangerous experiments on his core. That was, hmm, fifty years ago? Thereabouts. The man had to be in his eighties.”
That spry at eighty. “I’m assuming he took a lot of anti-aging potions.”
“He must have been, to be as limber as he was. I found evidence that he was still experimenting on his body, making it far tougher and more durable than a human should be. It explains why you found it so hard to hurt him.”
Sevana immediately of a few spells that could be tweaked to have that sort of effect on a human body. She blanched, stomach churning. “He did that to his own body?”
“Repulsive, I know. But if the man’s willing to tamper with his very magical core…” Master trailed off suggestively.
“Point. I don’t suppose you found any answers about what his ultimate game plan was? He’s now attacked several royal families.”
“We found several drafts and outlines for plans. I only found one contract and its an older one, for Bel and Aren. That we know he was hired to do. I’m assuming it’s the same this time, that he was hired to take out a king. I think Princess Amas was just a test for him, a way of proving that his plans would work.”
“An evil prodigy for hire? Mercy, but that raises goosebumps.”
“Doesn’t it though.” Master gave an exaggerated shudder from shoulders down. “But at least we know he’s not alive to try this again.”
It was very reassuring, she had to admit. “You said you found outlines and plans. Any notes on how his spells were crafted? Oh, and what about the ink? Was there any ink left?”
“There was, but not much. It’s been promptly reclaimed by the Fae, don’t you worry. I rolled up the plans and packed them already, as I had a notion you’d want to go over them.”
Knowing how Master packed things, it would take a few days before she managed to find them and take a look. There was only one pressing curiosity she wanted to satisfy that moment. “Do you know why the name was spelled backwards?”
“It was part of the spell. In fact, the whole painting was a mirror image of what he was actually seeing. The spell was linked to mirror-magic, after all, so their names reflected that. We just couldn’t tell because we never saw the people he was painting in their original postures. I think it was nothing more than a comfortable thing for him to do.”
Ahhh. Now that made more sense. “Also why we could automatically talk to their reflections in a mirror and their name read correctly.”
“Exactly, sweetling. Well, what else are you curious about?”
In other words, he was in the mood to talk more than pack. It was just as well, she had more questions to ask. “Are you finding anything interesting that’s safe to salvage? Aside from his notes?”
“More than a few things. I’m packing them up now. There’s one thing I found that I’m giving to you.”
“Me?” Sevana blinked, not sure about how she felt having something from that man. “Why would you pick up something for me?”
“It doesn’t really look like his work. It looks like something he’s stolen, as the craftsmanship is entirely unique and the power it’s giving off is…well, I’ve never seen the like of this. I figured with your Fae status you have a better chance of unraveling this than I do.”
Well, he was likely right, but… “So what does it do?”
“I haven’t the foggiest notion,” he answered cheerfully. “You get to figure that out to
o. Should I throw it out, sweetling? Or will you take it on?”
A wolfish grin took over her face. “Challenge accepted.”
Sevana rushed through her bedroom, then her workroom, going through a mental checklist to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. Where she was going, there would not be a handy clock portal, so she couldn’t just pop back home if she forgot to pack something. She expected Aran at her door any minute, and she wanted to be ready when he came to get her.
It was something that she needed to talk to the Fae about, putting clock portals in their territory. Having to ride in every time was deuced inconvenient.
Now that she was completely healed and back up to full strength, it was time to get her plans in motion. Their first stop would be with Sa Kao, where she would pick up twenty orphans that Firuz had granted her permission to take. Then they would take all of those children deep into Sanat Forest, where the nearest Fae nation was. These were the people that had a direct source to Kraken ink, among other things, and Sevana was literally itching to get trade agreements with them established. It would be quite the trip, taking twenty children all the way from Zuria to Sanat. Sevana was not in the least looking forward to it.
There was a knock on the front door. “Sevana!”
Aran. Well, her time was up to remember anything important. Hopefully she had it all. Shouldering her pack, she grabbed the other bag off the table and strode out of her workroom. “Here. Tell me that you contacted the Fae in Sanat?”
“I did,” he assured her, taking one of the bags from her. “They are sending a party to meet us in Zuria to help us bring all of the children in.”
“Thank mercy for small favors.” Sevana blew out a breath. She had not been looking forward to babysitting twenty children for a three day trip across country. Hopeful, she looked up at him. “Also tell me that we’ll be able to take one of my devices this time.”
Aran shook his head, mouth kicked up on one side. “Sorry. We can take it down there, but we’ll have to be on chellomi the last leg of the journey to match pace with everyone else. Unless you have something that can carry thirty or so people?”
No, curse it, she didn’t. And that was a problem she was going to solve very soon. This riding around the countryside on horseback had gotten old the first time out.
As if reading her thoughts, his eyes sparkled in amusement. “Then you’re stuck with the traditional method. Don’t worry. You can ride with me the whole way.”
Sevana levelled a Look on him. “If I didn’t have twenty lives and delicious new elements riding on this, I would not be willing to go the ‘traditional method’ as you so quaintly put it. I would go through my clocks, or use one of my vehicles, and make you go by yourself.”
His smile became a smirk. “I know.”
Grumbling, she pushed past him. “I’m going to get all sorts of saddle sores from this. No helping it. Let’s go to Sa Kao.”
Honor Raconteur grew up all over the United States and to this day is confused about where she’s actually from. She wrote her first book at five years old and hasn’t looked back since. Her interests vary from rescuing dogs, to studying languages, to arguing with her characters. On good days, she wins the argument.
Since her debut in September 2011, Honor has released over a dozen books, mostly of the fantasy genre. She writes full time from the comfort of her home office, in her pajamas, while munching on chocolate. She has no intention of stopping anytime soon and will probably continue until something comes along to stop her.
Her website can be found here: http://www.honorraconteur.com, or if you wish to speak directly with the author, visit her on Facebook.
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Epilogue
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