Isabel motioned to a chair on the balcony as she sat down in another.
“How is it that you lack the power to cast this spell?”
“I’m not an arch mage,” Enu said. “Prince Phane created this spell, though in truth, I don’t see the value of it myself. It requires the sacrifice of a child to the netherworld in order to open a conduit to the darkness. Once this conduit is open, the caster then touches a target creature and their life essence is drawn through the caster into the netherworld. The target is killed, and while the majority of the life energy is lost to the darkness, a portion is retained by the caster, healing wounds and boosting vitality, strength, and energy.
“Prince Phane believes that you will be able to cast this spell without the necessity of a sacrifice due to your unique capabilities.”
Isabel listened, willing her face to remain impassive, struggling to overcome her desire to throw Wizard Enu off the balcony. While the spell was indeed powerful, the cost was far too great to even entertain the possibility of actually casting it. She understood intuitively that this was just another attempt to gain control of her through the influence of the Wraith Queen.
“I’m not sure Phane really understands my capabilities,” Isabel said. “I’m very new to magic and I haven’t had nearly as much basic instruction as I would like. Maybe we should start with something less ambitious.”
“I’m afraid that your course of instruction has been determined by Prince Phane. He expects you to make progress in your study of this spell.”
“He expects a lot of things that he’s not going to get,” Isabel said, as she stood up and walked away from Wizard Enu. “I don’t feel like it today. Come back tomorrow … maybe I’ll feel like it then.”
“Lady Reishi, Prince Phane will be most displeased.”
“Good,” Isabel said, heading up the stairs to her bedroom with Issa silently following her. He tried to follow her into her room, but she stopped him. “I’d like some time alone.”
He leered at her but obeyed, taking up a position outside her door.
Alone in her room, she called Slyder to her and spent some time reacquainting herself with her best friend. Once his need for affection was fulfilled, she linked her mind with him and they took to wing. Having accepted that her attempt on Phane’s life had failed, she decided to formulate another plan, but before she could do that, she needed more information.
Slyder flew the length of each street, providing Isabel with a good view of the layout of the fortress city and giving her the opportunity to assess troop strength and defensive capabilities. What she saw wasn’t encouraging. While an attack with magic might breach the walls, it was virtually inconceivable that any form of conventional attack could succeed.
She spent the better part of the morning exploring the city through Slyder, watching the soldiers guarding the wall, looking at each building to determine its purpose and scrutinizing the outer wall for any type of weakness. She found very little to be encouraged about. The place was indeed a fortress in every sense of the word.
A timid knock on her door brought her back. She sat up and sighed.
“Yes?”
The door opened and a young woman entered, eyes down. “My Lady, your lunch is ready. Where would you like to eat?”
“On my balcony,” Isabel said, smiling when Slyder landed on the railing.
While she ate, she wondered about Alexander. He hadn’t come to her in some time and she was starting to worry. She told herself that he was busy, but she also knew in the back of her mind that something was wrong. He would have come to her if he could have, especially since he knew all too well what her plan had been. The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became.
After lunch, she forced herself to put him out of her mind, then dismissed her servants and propped a chair in front of the door to provide some semblance of privacy, though she knew that the wraithkin could bypass her door with a thought.
She spent the rest of the afternoon working on the shapeshift spell she’d found in Hazel’s basement. It was difficult to recall the specifics, but the more she thought about it, the more came back to her. By evening, she felt that she’d made some progress, though it was clear that this spell would take far longer to learn than any of her other spells had, especially without Magda’s tutelage. The principles were more complex, requiring a far more detailed visualization of the desired outcome in addition to a durational element.
She drew on memories of her time spent learning from Magda. While her light-lance and force-push spells were almost instantaneous, her shield spell had been far more difficult to learn because it involved an element of time. Shapeshift would require that same component. By dinner, her mind was exhausted and she was ready for a break. She wasn’t surprised to see Wizard Enu waiting for her in her dining room.
“Lady Reishi, I have spoken with Prince Phane and he is most insistent that we begin work on the drain-life spell.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Isabel said, seating herself and fending off her servants’ interference as she dished hot stew into a bowl.
“We will begin tomorrow,” Wizard Enu said. “Please be ready.”
She ignored him until he sighed softly and left her in peace. After dinner, she retired to her quarters and started thinking about her next move. Her first objective was to kill Phane, but realistically she had little chance of success, so she began to think in wider terms. Even if she couldn’t kill him, she could still hurt him, weaken him, obstruct his plans, or deliver usable information to her allies. The question was: Where was he the most vulnerable?
After Phane, the next most valuable target was Azugorath, but Alexander had already scouted her location and said it was so well guarded as to be virtually inaccessible.
So what then? She could pick at Phane, killing a few of his more important commanders or even Wizard Enu, but those individuals had little strategic value and would only serve to force Phane to tighten his control over her activities. Her opportunities to act would be limited, so she had to make them count.
As she turned the problem over in her mind, she kept coming back to the same idea. While she couldn’t kill Phane by herself, she did have an ally who could, provided she could give him the opportunity. Her decision made, she sat down and wrote a note briefly explaining her situation and the beginnings of her plan. With a rub under the chin, she tied the note to Slyder’s leg and sent him on his way.
***
“No, no, no,” Wizard Enu said, “you have it exactly backwards. I don’t know how many different ways to explain this.”
Isabel stood up, shoving the book across the table and walking away. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’m trying to understand, but these concepts are so advanced.” She started crying. It took some effort since she wanted to laugh in his face, but bringing her worry for Alexander to the front of her mind was enough to start the tears flowing. “I just don’t understand,” she said, punctuating her words with a sniffle.
Wizard Enu sighed in resignation. “Perhaps we should resume tomorrow. A night’s sleep may help clarify your understanding of these principles.”
Isabel nodded, still struggling with her tears as she headed for her bedroom. Issa followed her without a word, and as always, Isabel stopped him at the door. Once alone, she quickly composed herself and linked her mind with Slyder. She’d sent him north the day before and she wanted to check on his progress. As near as she could tell, he was getting close to the right place … the trick would be finding Ayela, Trajan, and Hector.
By evening, she was watching the world below through Slyder’s eyes while he circled over the area where Trajan and his men had been operating when she’d met them. After finding a patrol, she followed them, treetop to treetop, until they arrived at a base camp. She was disappointed to find that it was just a scout base, but it stood to reason. They would have moved their operation to ensure that she couldn’t betray them to Phane even if he tortured their location out of her.<
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A reasonable precaution, but unnecessary since Phane had shown no interest in the House of Karth since she’d arrived. She told Slyder to remain in the area in the hope that she could track the scout soldiers back to the House of Karth’s new command facility.
Phane arrived during breakfast the following morning, Wizard Enu trailing nervously behind him.
“Good Morning, Isabel. I trust you’re being well cared for.”
Dierdra stiffened almost imperceptibly at his question.
“I might be the most well-cared-for prisoner in the history of the Seven Isles,” Isabel said without bothering to get up.
Phane smiled brightly, taking a seat at the table and picking up a strip of bacon. “You shouldn’t think of yourself as a prisoner. You may go through any door that will open for you within this entire fortress. There is very little here that I will not share with you.”
“What do you want, Phane? Do you think you can buy my loyalty or even my love with this over-decorated house? Are you really that delusional?”
The staff and soldiers in the room became very still as if they were trying to avoid any possibility of drawing Phane’s attention.
He glared at her, slowly chewing his bacon and shaking his head ever so slightly. “Don’t be so ungrateful. I could have easily left you in that cell, and I must say, General Hargrove and his wife were none too pleased when I evicted them from this house.”
“So, he’s the one responsible for all this clutter,” Isabel said, gesturing to the walls.
“More likely his wife,” Phane said, then smiled unexpectedly. “You see, we’ve just discovered something that we agree on. I prefer simple and tasteful decorations in my home as well. Perhaps we have more in common than you think.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Phane sighed, looking almost dejected. “You wound me, Isabel. I’m trying very hard to accommodate you in every way and all I get back is mockery and derision. There is only so much a man can take before such rudeness is returned in kind.”
Isabel started laughing.
“Enough!” he shouted, surging to his feet. “I will not be disrespected by a guest in my home.”
Isabel kept laughing, holding Phane’s eyes defiantly.
He returned her glare and started to smile maliciously, gesturing to a guard at the door.
It opened and Isabel stopped laughing, horror and fear filling her in a way that chilled her to the core. She felt the blood drain from her face and her mouth go dry.
Wren stood at the threshold, looking afraid and confused. When she saw Isabel, she wrenched her arm free of the guard and raced to her, both of them breaking down in tears, both for different reasons.
“Isabel, I was so afraid,” Wren said. “They took me from Blackstone Keep in the middle of the night and they wouldn’t tell me where they were taking me.”
“It’s going to be all right,” Isabel said, hoping desperately that she wasn’t telling the girl a lie.
Phane was staring at her smugly when she met his gaze, fury flashing in her green eyes.
“Perhaps you will be more respectful and more forthcoming now that you understand the stakes,” Phane said, sitting down again. “Please, child, sit and eat. You must be hungry.”
Wren looked to Isabel, who nodded. Wren started timidly, but her appetite got the better of her after her first bite and she ate voraciously. Phane watched contentedly, stopping Isabel from speaking with a raised hand when she opened her mouth, waiting until Wren washed her breakfast down with a glass of juice and looked around.
“Thank you, I was so hungry.”
“Rest assured, child,” Phane said, “you shall not want as long as you are in my care. And, of course, you’re free to roam the city as you please. As I understand it, you’re quite a curious young woman, which just so happens to be a trait we share. I encourage you to explore. The soldiers know that you’re under my protection. You’re safer here within these walls than anywhere in all the Seven Isles.”
“Thank you, sir,” Wren said.
“What a delight you are,” Phane said, turning to Isabel with a bright, boyish smile. “Her manners and courtesy are proof of a good upbringing.”
Isabel glared at him but she held her tongue.
“I would say you’re a quick study, Isabel, except that Wizard Enu tells me you’re having a very difficult time mastering the principles he’s been trying to teach you, though I suspect you’ll make good progress in your studies over the coming days.”
He looked back to Wren with his most charming smile. “If you’ve had enough to eat, why don’t you go with Dierdra? She’ll show you to your room and draw a bath for you.”
Wren looked from Phane to Isabel and back to Phane. “I’d rather stay with Isabel, sir. If I may?”
Phane smiled disarmingly. “Oh, she’ll be here when you’re done with your bath, and I think Dierdra has a new dress for you.”
“Go ahead, Wren. I’m not going anywhere.”
Wren hugged Isabel before she left, looking back once with her big, innocent eyes.
“I must say, Isabel, I’ve noticed a marked change in your demeanor,” Phane said. “Perhaps you’d like to explain how you penetrated my defenses, now that we understand each other better.”
Isabel just glared at him, trying to think of a way out, but finding none.
“Shall I have Wraithkin Issa retrieve your friend so that she can participate in our conversation?”
Isabel closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, trying to work through the ramifications of telling him the truth and weighing them against the potential consequences of telling a lie.
“I’m waiting, and Isabel, my patience is beginning to wear thin.”
“I used a Goiri bone,” she said without opening her eyes.
“Really? I never believed the stories. I thought Siavrax was using the threat of such an unlikely creation as a ruse, as a way of forcing us to respond with a larger troop presence to draw men from other, more important positions.
“Tell me, Isabel, where is this Goiri bone now?”
“Gone,” she said, opening her eyes and meeting his. “I crushed it into powder and blew it out the window of my cell the moment I woke up.”
“Ah, what a pity,” Phane said, shaking his head. “I have a very important use for such an unusual item.”
“So did I,” Isabel said, holding his eyes.
Phane started chuckling to himself almost good-naturedly.
“I wouldn’t laugh too hard, Phane. I almost got you.”
“You did indeed, which is exactly why I’m laughing. You are every bit the treasure I was hoping you’d be. Do you have any idea how resourceful you are to have recovered such an item? If I’d been told of your plan before you arrived, I wouldn’t have believed it. Yet, you came closer to killing me than anyone before you, and I assure you that I’ve had my share of very powerful enemies.”
“I don’t doubt that,” she said. “Tell me, why didn’t the poison kill you? You managed to stop my blade before I got it into your heart, but there was enough blackwort on that dagger to kill a horse.”
Phane laughed again, shaking his head. “You see, this is why you have no hope against me. I’m always prepared. I started taking the antidote for blackwort, as well as a number of other poisons common to this wretched isle, the day I arrived.”
“Huh. Well, at least I can take solace in the thought that you know everybody around you wants to see you die.”
He smiled his boyish smile again. “Don’t you see? That is exactly what makes it so delicious.”
“You’re damaged, Phane.”
“Enough distractions. I would like to hear more about this Goiri bone that so effectively nullified my magical defenses. For instance, tell me about the size of the bone you used.”
Isabel hesitated, but Phane cocked his head, looking up at the staircase.
“It was a finger bone, maybe an inch long,” Isabel said after a moment’s more hesitation.<
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“If I recall correctly, my magic became available to me again once I reached a distance of eight or ten feet from you. Such things usually have power proportional to the size of the item, so it stands to reason that a larger bone might affect a larger area. Does that sound like a reasonable assumption, given your experiences?”
Isabel shrugged. “I suppose.”
“Excellent! I find my mind is afire with all of the possibilities this legend-come-true represents, which brings me to my next question. Where did you find the remains of the Goiri?”
Isabel shook her head slowly.
“Let’s not forget what’s at stake here,” Phane said.
“I understand perfectly well what’s at stake.”
Phane nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose you do, and I can see that I’ve reached a limit of sorts on your willingness to be persuaded by threats against your friend. Honestly, if I were dealing with almost anyone else, I would have Wren dragged down here and skinned alive on this very table while you watched. Unfortunately, I don’t believe doing such a thing would serve my purposes.” He regarded Isabel for several moments before nodding to himself. “Well, no matter. I can guess at the likely location of the Goiri’s remains. From there, it won’t take long to find them. After that, it’s just a matter of sending someone to retrieve them for me.”
This time it was Isabel’s turn to laugh. “Good luck with that. I wouldn’t send anyone you can’t afford to lose.”
Phane smiled his boyish smile. “My Dear Isabel, I am the only person that I can’t afford to lose.”
“And that is why you’ll never win this war.”
He shook his head, feigning sadness. “Don’t you see? I’ve already won. Everything is proceeding according to my designs. Thanks to your rather ambitious attempt on my life, the final keystone is within my grasp. Once I have it, we will travel to the Nether Gate and I will call forth a demonic horde sufficient to scour the Seven Isles of my enemies. This war is nearly over, Isabel, but before it is, everyone you care about will be devoured.”
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