“You have forgotten your name?” Tacita asked with concern.
Hollace snorted. “Don’t encourage her, wife. She is faking to get out of punishment.” He signaled to Caradoc.
Tacita turned to her husband in shock. “Is that necessary? The child obviously has gone through an ordeal.”
“And she will go through much more if I find out she is lying to me.”
Caradoc pulled an orb out of the air and held it up to the girl. It turned dark grey, which caused him to push an agitated hand through his dark brown, close-cropped hair. He rubbed his bare chin, missing his beard in that moment. He had to shave it off when it started revealing his age by going grey, but he missed how stroking it helped him concentrate.
This was a mess.
He turned to Hollace and shook his head. “She isn’t lying, Your Majesty. She has no memory the orb can discern. Someone used magicks to wipe it clean—for what purpose, we can only guess.”
“See, my lord husband, the child is not lying to you,” Tacita said. She stepped forward and took the girl’s hand. “Can you remember anything about yourself—anything at all? Perhaps the spell did not fully do its job.”
The girl closed her eyes. “Ad…Ad…” She stopped with a grimace of pain.
“Adele. Does that sound familiar?” Tacita asked hopefully.
The girl shook her head.
“Well, Adele shall be your name until you can tell us what it really is. Alright…Adele?”
“Adele,” she whispered back.
Tacita stood and turned to Hollace. “My lord husband, please meet Adele,” she introduced.
Caradoc chose that moment to interject. “I don’t know if it is wise to be so jovial, Your Majesty. The girl… Adele has an abundance of latent magickal power. It is true her memory loss is magickal in nature and the process can be reversed, but she could have easily inflicted this amnesia on herself to avoid persecution.”
“Doesn’t the Guild usually use memory erasure spells as punishment?” Hollace asked in a bored manner.
Caradoc tried not to show his surprise at Hollace’s question. He didn’t know Hollace knew anything about the sole Mage Guild he allowed on Kakra’s soil. “Yes, yes. But, Your Majesty, the Guild would usually put a tracking spell on the individual. There is no such spell on…Adele. The spell could easily be someone’s idea of revenge. Though that doesn’t explain how she ended up in your throne room.”
Hollace glared at Adele. “No, it doesn’t.” He turned his attention to Caradoc. “She is under your charge, Caradoc. She will stay with you. You will find a way to reverse the spell, and then you will give me my answers.”
Tacita placed herself in front of Adele. “A spell this powerful cannot be ignored. The person casting it is strong and they cast it on Mistress Adele, which means she is important to them. If they find that we have treated her badly, it could be equally bad for us.”
Hollace responded with a snort. “I wouldn’t call sending her to live with Caradoc ‘treating her badly’, wife.”
“If she is the daughter of a powerful mage, do you think her father would see living with Caradoc as ideal?” she asked with her eyes lowered. “Remember, my lord husband, not all kingdoms are like Kakra and Ulan. Other kingdoms allow their daughters to inherit positions of power. If she—” she motioned to Adele, “—is from one such kingdom, casting her out would make her guardians our enemies.”
Hollace’s gaze rested on Adele. His fist clenched at his side. “Your council is sound, wife. She can stay. Messengers will be sent to make inquiries as to her true identity. Satisfied?”
“Thank you. Until such time as that happens, Adele is no threat to anyone,” she said quietly.
“Now that you have gained her entry to my palace, wife, what shall she do? I will not have a listless mage wandering about my palace unchecked.”
She clapped her hands together in delight. “Chandra,” she answered.
“What of our daughter, wife?”
“Chandra has need of a companion. Adele could fill that role while Caradoc figures out the mystery.” Tacita smiled at Adele. “You will like Chandra, Mistress Adele. She has recently had a child and is in dire need of company close to her own age, since her husband is away. I shall retrieve her now.”
Adele stared after Queen Tacita as she ran from the room. Her gaze turned to Hollace, who glared at her. She held his gaze until he looked away.
Tacita returned quickly with Chandra in tow. Chandra did not take after her mother. She didn’t seem to take after either parent. She was shorter, with blonde hair and green eyes. Where Tacita was tall, toned and willowy, Chandra was of average height and curvaceous. Her ample breasts were probably the envy of her mother, as Chandra filled out the halter top more than her mother ever could.
Chandra took one look at Adele and turned to her mother. She spoke in an angered voice, but the language differed from what everyone had used a moment ago.
Hollace raised an eyebrow at his daughter’s words. He opened his mouth to reply but Adele said, “Amnesia is not catching, Lady Chandra.”
Everyone in the room looked at her in surprise. Hollace spoke first. “How do you know Kontarian?”
“I…I don’t know. I simply understood the words and responded in like fashion.”
Hollace asked in Inikon, “And how many languages do you know?”
Without hesitation, Adele answered in kind. “I’m not sure, Your Majesty.”
Hollace tried Nashan next. “Your accent seems flawless no matter what language you speak. That is a useful talent. One could never tell where you are from.”
“I accept the compliment, Your Majesty, but I don’t know why I remember these languages and yet cannot remember my own name.”
Hollace switched back to Kakran and asked Caradoc, “Is this part of the spell?”
“I cannot be sure, Your Majesty. There are different types of erasure spells. This one might have only erased her identity and memories of herself while it left everything else intact,” Caradoc explained. “Until I start trying to crack the spell—”
Hollace cut him off with a gesture. “Fine,” he barked. He turned to Chandra and said, “She is your new companion. You have complained incessantly of wanting one. And, though your status as princess has diminished to a mere lady, I have listened. She is your only option, Lady Chandra.”
Chandra showed her distaste at being called lady. She whispered, “Thank you, Your Majesty. I accept Mistress Adele as my new companion.” She bowed and departed the room. Tacita followed after her.
Hollace glanced briefly at Adele before he left, as well.
Adele looked at Caradoc and he stared back at her. He sighed and shook his head. She mimicked his sentiment.
* * *
Mushira waited for Malik’s return in the throne room. The Elite personal guards, already on one knee with their heads bowed, waited with her. They had waited like statues, not moving a muscle, for the last five hours.
Nimat opted not to be present. She was too scared. Hani stood by Mushira with her head bowed, ready to face her punishment for failing as Adrienne’s guard.
Malik was scheduled to return any minute. Mushira dreaded what she had nominated herself to do. Her hands were sore from wringing them together all through the night and most of the day. While contacting Malik and informing him of Adrienne’s kidnapping would have been easier, she didn’t have the courage. She had hesitated so the Elite guards could search for Adrienne and bring her back before Malik found out. All their searching was in vain, as there were no leads.
She looked at the throne dais. Feyr sprawled in his usual spot between the thrones with Mischief beside him. The cub pushed at his father and whined, but Feyr wouldn’t move. Seeing this, Mischief cuddled close to him.
Feyr didn’t wish to sadden his son, but he couldn’t summon up the strength to move. He focused all his energy on breathing, the mage metal lodged in his body causing him tremendous pain. The chancellors had tried to re
move it but with no luck, since it negated all the spells they tried. One and all decided that Malik would have better luck. If not, the metal would have to be cut from his body, which might kill him.
Mushira thought back on the recounting of the incident. The barrier that kept the Elite guards from Adrienne collapsed without warning and they arrived at the portal in time to see it close. No amount of tracing spells could determine the destination of the portal, or the originator.
None of this would be news Malik wanted to hear. News Mushira had to impart…now.
A portal opened behind Malik’s throne. Mushira had planned to face her king on her feet. She found her legs wouldn’t support her, and she dropped to her knees, folding in on herself.
Malik passed through the portal. He only had to look at the people before him to know something was wrong.
He asked in a quiet voice, “Where is Adrienne, Mushira? Why are you here and not her?”
Mushira couldn’t answer. Fear held her silent. Tears tracked down her cheeks and she shook her head in answer to Malik’s words. It was all she could do.
“Mushira?”
She glanced up and gave Malik full view of her tear-stained features. Before she could say anything, Malik shouted, “No. Where is she? Where is Adrienne?”
“Gone, Majesty,” Hani answered. She remained on her feet. “She was stolen out of the gardens yesterday.”
Malik rushed down the dais to stand in front of Mushira and Hani. “What do you mean she was stolen from the garden? How?”
Mushira took a shaky breath. On her third attempt, she answered, “A confusion spell, My King. A confusion spell hit her before a portal opened beneath her.”
“Where were you?” Malik spat.
Indivar answered, “We were unable—”
“Not you,” Malik roared. He turned his full attention to Hani. He stepped into her and grabbed her by the throat. “Where were you?”
Hani answered in a raspy whisper, “Preparing Queen Adrienne’s clothing for lunch, Majesty.”
Malik released her, then backhanded her across the face. The force of his blow sent her flying. She uttered not a sound. “I did not hire you to be her lady’s maid, you little bitch. I hired you to be her third. It does not matter if the entire Ulanian army followed her every step, you should be there, as well.” He advanced on Hani.
Mushira rushed out, “Feyr tried to hold her… He tried to hold Queen Adrienne, but the attacker used mage metal on him.”
This stopped Malik, and he looked up at Feyr, noticing the tired expression on his cat’s face. He lifted his hand and made a sweeping motion. The mage metal ripped from Feyr’s body and caused the great cat to scream in pain. Mischief ran from his father’s side and hid under Adrienne’s throne.
The mage metal floated to Malik’s hand. He stared down at it. Someone attacked Adrienne in the palace. Who?
His gaze turned to the Elite guards. “And where were you?”
Again, Indivar answered. “Because Feyr walked with Queen Adrienne, we allowed her distance as she strolled in the garden. As soon as the confusion spell hit her, a barrier appeared around her. We couldn’t break it to reach her.”
Flavian added, “We looked for the origin of the attack and found no one, Majesty.”
Qamar concluded, “We are prepared to die for our failure to protect our queen, King Malik.”
Hani knelt beside the Elite guards. The Primaries hadn’t known her true role. Indivar had looked surprised when Malik attacked her first.
Malik raised his hand to deliver the spell. The guards had failed in their duties. So far as he was concerned, that meant a sentence of death.
Mushira grabbed his hand. He turned burning eyes on her and yelled, “You dare.”
Mushira didn’t meet his eyes. She shook her head and continued to cry. She muttered, “Queen Adrienne has grown fond of the Primaries…of all the Elite guards, and Hani. She would be distressed if she found them dead upon her return.”
Her return?
Malik lowered his hand. Adrienne wasn’t dead, but kidnapped. There was a difference. He had to remember that.
He snatched his hand out of Mushira’s grip. While she was right about sparing the guards, Malik needed satisfaction. He summoned an orb, held it in front of him and squeezed it. Before him, the guards hit the ground in agony. Their screams of pain filled the throne room. His grip on the orb tightened and their pain grew.
“That will not make you feel better, Malik. You should stop before you damage them,” Feyr said.
Malik ceased his torment of the guards. When they recovered enough to kneel once more, he said quietly, “Get out. You will find out who attacked my queen or no amount of Adrienne’s grief will keep me from killing you all.”
They nodded as one and quit the room.
Malik turned to Mushira. She cringed back from him in fear. He whispered, “Leave me, Mushira.”
She complied, happily.
When she closed the door behind her, Malik turned to Feyr. “Tell me,” he demanded.
Feyr shook himself out, now fully recovered from the effects of the mage metal. “The attack was sudden. The confusion spell had no effect on me, as you well know. I tried to help Adrienne when the portal opened beneath her but the mage metal hit me then. Before I blacked out, I felt a great surge of power. It wasn’t from the attacker.” Feyr watched as Malik came back to his throne. After Malik sat, he continued, “Adrienne is safe. I would bet my cubs on it. Something happened before the portal could finish its task, and I think that ‘something’ was Adrienne.”
“How come I do not feel her, then? I should be able to track her anywhere through the power of the silver cord that binds us in marriage. I do not feel even a hint of her.”
“If she were dead, you would feel it. You feel nothing. That, in and of itself, is hope.”
Mischief came out from underneath Adrienne’s throne. He walked over and stared up at Malik. He said, “Me and Rena were bad. We ran too far away. Adri told us not to and then she went away. We’re sorry.”
Malik reached over the arm of his throne and stroked Mischief’s head. While not in the mood to comfort the cub, he said in a soothing tone, “You are not at fault, Mischief.”
A knock sounded at the throne room doors. Malik bid the person enter. Travers stepped into the room as he had done so many weeks before. He bowed to Malik, then said, “We have a traitor in the palace, Majesty.”
“I had surmised as much, Travers,” Malik said flippantly. He was seconds from using the pain orb on Travers if the man didn’t get to the point.
“I knew of the traitor before Queen Adrienne disappeared.”
Malik surged out of his throne and bellowed, “You what?”
“The blood spell should have found Queen Adrienne at the moment of her birth, regardless of the different dimension. A powerful interference spell, amplified by its proximity to you, caused the delay. I broke it once I became aware of it.”
“Someone tried to keep me from finding her. Hollace?”
Feyr shook his head. “Hollace abhors magicks, you know that,” he reminded Malik.
Travers repeated Feyr’s words, not knowing the cat had spoken them. He admitted, “I would have come forward with this news before now, but I wished to have a list of possible suspects to the treachery.”
“Where is this list?” Malik held out his hand.
At this, Travers bowed his head in defeat. He replied, “My search has turned up nothing, Majesty. The only reason I have come forward with this news now is because of the queen’s kidnapping.”
Malik smiled slowly. His smile grew when Travers stepped back. Outside, dark clouds gathered, lightning split the sky and thunder shook the earth. “No, this is a perfect time to find out exactly who is loyal to me.” He sat back on his throne, his lips moving as he invoked a silent spell.
An invisible shield materialized around the palace. Eighteen people appeared in the throne room before him. They all looked confused
and scared—as they should be.
Malik explained, “You all were in the palace at the time of my wife’s disappearance. The barrier spell I created around the palace brought you back. You are to be my guests until I find out who the traitor to my throne is and kill him.”
The people called out denials and pleas for mercy. Malik turned a deaf ear to their complaints. He would find the person or people responsible and they would know a new definition of pain.
Chapter Twenty-One
The cloaked man huddled in the shadows, a new desperation in his conduct as he waited to be acknowledged. His fingers curled and uncurled around the orb he held.
“You have failed me—again,” the shadowed woman said in an annoyed tone. Her fingers drummed on the desk in front of her. Little sparks of blue fire scattered from the places where her nails hit the desk.
The man shook his head in fear. He pleaded, “I had her, Excellency. She was to be delivered to your prison mere moments after she fell into the portal. A power disrupted the portal. Not even Malik can track her.”
“Return to me here and we will find a way to track her. I will not have your incompetence ruining my plans.”
This time, the cloaked man’s head shook in denial. “I cannot, my lady. Malik sealed the palace. If anyone tries to leave, they are immediately returned to the palace’s throne room and under extreme suspicion.” The man didn’t add that he was in no hurry to find out what punishment the woman on the other end of the orb had waiting for him.
“You try my patience—”
“My lady, the confusion spell remains active. Even now the orb vibrates against my body. I cannot pinpoint Adrienne’s location with it, but I do know—wherever she is—she is in pain.”
The woman was silent for a time. She stared at something beyond the orb’s view. “As you cannot come here, send the orb. Surely Malik hasn’t guarded the palace against objects leaving. My soldiers will track her down.”
The cloaked man bowed in relief. He held out the orb that contained the confusion spell and it disappeared, then reappeared in the woman’s hand. The communication orb faded and the cloaked man made his way back to his chambers. He had to get out of the palace before Malik questioned him.
Adrienne Page 24
