“And where is that?” Her heart hammered. Anger surged through her; anger at being captured, anger at being taunted as she was, anger at the way the other magi thought to touch her—a way that she should only be touched by a man who cared about her. The rage boiling through her was almost enough to let her tear through her ropes. She kicked again, not caring about the way the ropes pulled on her flesh, ripping through her arms.
A soft whimper came from nearby but nothing else. How badly had they hurt Jacen?
The magi grunted. He stepped closer. She could see his feet. He wore black leather boots and dark pants. There was no sign of the scarlet cloak, as if they sought to hide their presence. She smelled something bitter and fetid, a heavy perfume hung above it all.
“You will go where we cannot.”
“Just me?”
“Either of you. It matters not, at least not to me.”
“I’m sure Adrick has a plan,” she said.
He chuckled. “It’s not Adrick you should fear.”
Eris tensed. Who else other than Adrick? “Why us?”
The magi laughed and didn’t answer. She heard him walk away, the sound of his boots stepping through the underbrush softly moving away from her.
Eris didn’t know how long they waited in the trees. Even if it weren’t a cloudy grey day, moving out of the grasses and into the heavy tree cover made it difficult to determine how much daylight remained. Minutes or hours could have passed; Eris lost track, able to focus only on the pain working through her and fear for Jacen.
After a while she heard something new, a rustling mixed with heavy hoofbeats across the ground that carried dully into the trees.
“You have them?”
Eris didn’t recognize the voice.
“We have them.” This from the magi who had not touched her. His voice was harsh but hushed.
“Good.”
Footsteps crunched across the ground toward her.
She felt him first. It was like a raw energy rubbing against exposed skin. After the pain of the needlegrass tearing her, this seemed a thousand times worse. Then he leaned close. Unlike the others, he wore his scarlet robe. As he leaned down, she smelled the hot sulfuric scent again. A bald head drifted toward her.
Was it Adrick?
He grabbed her face in a tight grip and turned it to look at him. Surprise bloomed in her when she saw the face. Not Adrick, but one she’d seen before at the wedding.
The High Seat of the Conclave.
Dark eyes narrowed and anger lit across his face. “Which one is this?”
One of the other magi shuffled over. “Does it matter? They all take lessons from her.”
The High Seat stood. Energy seemed to crackle from him. “It matters.”
He leaned and grabbed her face again. His fingers burned where they touched. “Which one are you?” His voice sounded like a hiss of steam.
Eris coughed and shook her head, but he didn’t let go. “Eris. I’m Eris.”
The High Seat squeezed her face for a moment and then released. “As I feared. This one is useless to us.”
Eris tried to spit at him but had no moisture in her mouth.
One of the magi laughed. “I can find plenty of use for her if you don’t want her.”
Thunder cracked overhead. “You think too small. Always too small. We need the flower mage’s students.”
“And Eris Taeresin is widely known to be the least useful of the sisters.”
This came from a voice she recognized. It took a moment to remember why. The magi advisor for the King of Saffra, the one she’d overheard speaking to Adrick in the garden, the one who’d come when Lira had fallen during the storm. But if he were here…
“At least we have the other.”
“We might need more than one. We do not know how her protections work.”
“Why not send them both? Does it matter which one we grabbed?”
Thunder cracked again. “Perhaps I will send you with them when they enter the forest. Trust me when I tell you I have seen firsthand the effect of the enchantments worked on the forest. Though she is only one flower mage, she is skilled. Many have died because of her protections.”
Eris twisted in her bindings until she saw a hem of the crimson cloak the High Seat wore. “My father will find out what you have done.”
The air sizzled with energy as the High Seat closed in on her. Heat flared across her skin, leaving her feeling ragged and raw.
“I would not count on your father managing anything at this moment,” he whispered.
Eris shivered. What did that mean? Had Adrick done something to him? “Why? Why are you doing this?”
“The answer is more than you can understand.”
“Lira will stop you. I’ve seen what she can do, seen how her magic keeps the city clear from your storms. I saw Adrick when he returned from the Svanth Forest. He failed to destroy her garden there,” Eris said. Everything made more sense now. The way the magi had acted around Lira. The way Adrick seemed weakened after returning from the north with Jacen. Yet…this was the High Seat of the magi. Could he overpower Lira? Especially if she didn’t know what they planned?
The High Seat moved closer as she spoke. The corners of his mouth tugged and his forehead twitched.
She didn’t know why she pushed him. “Lira was too strong. And the attack on the palace garden failed. Whatever you plan now will fail! She will—”
Davin knelt in front of her, and his harsh laugh finally cut her off. “I am counting on what the flower mage will do. Either she remains to protect her garden or she comes for you both.” His smile deepened. “Yes—I know how you have been left to wander the garden, not allowed to enter the class with your sisters. You should thank me. Soon the flower mage will be weakened beyond what even she can manage to easily repair.” He laughed. “I see from your face you know it is true. Too bad you will not be there to see her fall. I wonder if it might not bring you a certain satisfaction, especially given how she has kept you out of lessons with your sisters?”
He watched her, his eyes narrowed and hard. “It must hurt being held out like that, set apart. As if you don’t belong. Eris, always so different.” He grabbed her face in a rough grip so much like the High Seat and squeezed. “She even looks different than her sisters. None of the lovely grace of the queen. No trace of the fair skin or golden hair. Even her eyes look different. The king claims you take after his side of the family, but I hear even he has doubts. Had I more time, I think it might have been fun to play with those doubts, help him wonder about where you might have acquired your looks. Perhaps your mother wasn’t always faithful?” he suggested. “Your father is often away, and there are just so many men in the palace who could satisfy her needs…”
“Enough!” Eris yelled. Anger surged through her, and she kicked again against the ropes holding her arms and legs. Blood dripped down her arm, and she cried out.
Davin released her face. “Interesting,” he said. He leaned forward and met her eyes. She stared back at him defiantly. She knew it was hopeless, but somehow she would escape and alert Lira. “Too bad it has come to this. I sense a deep anger in you. You have been wasted with that flower mage. With all the darkness, nothing can grow as the flower mage would intend. But I know how such rage can be useful. I think the Conclave could help you find a different outlet. Then you might see being different is not all that bad. Perhaps we still can take you with us to Saffra. You would like that, no?”
She pulled her face away from him. “And end up looking like you?”
Davin smiled and patted her cheek. “Such is the price of power. Do not worry. Soon you will see.”
He stood and walked away from her, leaving her sagging back against the horse, pain shooting through her body, her skin burning and raw, and her mind reeling as if she had been violated.
“When do we begin?” someone asked.
“Nightfall. We begin our preparations at dusk. They will enter the Svanth at nightfall. That
is when her power will be weakest, and we have the greatest chance at finally destroying her garden.”
Chapter 19
“You’re late,” the High Seat said. His voice filled with fire and anger.
“There were…complications.”
Eris recognized the voice. Adrick.
She had been holding out hope that Adrick didn’t know about what the High Seat and Davin attempted, but his arrival told her he did. What did it mean that he came? What had happened with her family?
“This must happen tonight. She is weakened, but will not remain that way for long.”
“What of the others in the north? Can she bind with them?”
“It does not work the same. And they are…distracted.” This from Davin.
“How?”
Someone laughed, a harsh and violent sound. “Have you not heard?” Adrick asked. “Varden readies for war. I had thought to encourage it sooner, but the king could not be so easily swayed. His son, though…well, we have seen what happened there. Between the Kelths attacking from the east and what we will soon encourage…these lands will burn.”
Eris realized what Adrick was saying. The north had not attacked, but what had happened with Jacen? What did he mean about her brother?
“Tie them to the tree while we prepare,” the High Seat said.
The other two dragged her toward a tree and bound her quickly to it before cutting loose her arms and legs. Eris stretched. Finally released from the ropes binding her for so long, their absence came as an agonizing relief. She rubbed a hand against her wrist, carefully shifting the remaining ropes so they didn’t rub against cracked and bleeding skin. Any thought of escape was dashed by the fact Davin stood watching her.
Night had fallen fully. Darkness stretched around her. Eris shivered against the cold. Her body felt numb, as if all the pain she’d accumulated during her capture finally reached the point where she no longer felt anything.
Eris huddled against the base of a towering oak. Though she had never traveled much beyond the palace, she knew with certainty the tree marked the edge of the Svanth Forest. That she had been brought here, especially considering how she had tried to convince Terran to travel with her to the forest, seemed a cruel twist of fate. Now she didn’t care if she found anything about the teary star. All she wanted was to escape, return to Eliara, and warn Lira.
The magi stood circling around a fire. All wore scarlet cloaks as they hovered in front of the slowly building flames. Hoods were pulled over their faces as they performed their magic. Smoke swirled around them, twisting into their cloaks and disappearing. Energy built around them, crackling the air and pressing in on Eris’ senses.
She marveled that she could feel it. How much power must they be working for her to be aware of it?
She glanced over and saw a dark outline against a nearby tree. Jacen. At first, she feared he was seriously injured, but saw his chest rise and fall steadily.
His head sagged forward, golden hair hanging lank and over his eyes. He didn’t turn to look at her. They must have treated him worse than they’d treated her, or else he’d fought more. Bruises worked along the skin of his thigh and shallow slashes crisscrossed his arms. Eris had similar injuries from the ride through the needlegrass.
“Jacen!” she hissed.
He didn’t move. His breathing seemed to quicken.
“Jacen! I know you can hear me. I need you to wake up.”
He seemed to breathe a little faster. Finally, his head twisted slightly. Hair hung lankily, blocking his eyes.
What had they done to him?
Behind them, the magi chanted softly. Energy in the air slowly built around them. It pressed on her uncomfortably and made it hard for her to breathe.
“Jacen!” Eris said, louder.
She knew the words would carry but didn’t care. Something had happened to him that kept him from being able to speak or even move. She strained against the ropes. If only they would give, if even a little…
Eris closed her eyes, imaging the way the ropes flexed around the tree. If only the tree were not so wide. Lira could probably make the tree lengthen, as if taking a deep breath, just enough to relax the pressure on the ropes so she could free herself.
She sighed, pushing against the ropes in frustration.
Surprisingly, they gave.
Eris stifled the gasp poised on her lips and pushed on the ropes again. There was just enough slack that she could untangle her hands. The rope crusted where it had dug into her skin and stained with blood. She was glad to be rid of it. Even her legs were loosened and she unwound the rope from her legs.
Once freed, Eris stood there against the tree. Had they seen her get free?
Eris dared a glance back. The magi focused on their ritual, tendrils of smoke snaking around their bodies and up arms that pointed at the sky. Lightning crackled overhead, sending streaks of light shooting. With hoods of scarlet cloaks over their head, none of the magi seemed to pay her any mind.
For a moment, she could not look away.
Eris had never seen the magi working their spells—she had only heard of the strange magic they worked. Her father was known to watch. Some even said he participated, learning the magic of the magi. Now she knew it was little more than a ruse for the Conclave to gain power.
The voices of the magi chanting around the fire mixed together into something different and twisted. The sound was rough and coarse, almost as if they screamed at the lightning they called.
Above it all, Eris felt power.
It was a constant pressure on her senses, a twisted and raw sensation, like an exposed wound. The pressure felt so powerful it made it difficult for her to take a deep breath.
She had felt this before, though had thought at that time it was little more than the heat and moisture in the air. She recognized it from when the Conclave attacked the garden, when Lira had collapsed, how her breathing had suddenly eased when the skies began to clear.
No longer daring to waste her freedom, Eris slid around the tree until she was out of sight of the magi. Across from her, Jacen hung against his bindings, head bowed. She looked around the ground, hoping to find anything that might work to cut him free; she did not think she would have time enough to untie the ropes before the magi realized what was happening. Her hands felt too numb, her arms and wrists too sore, to make that happen.
A dried strand of needlegrass was the only thing she saw. With as sharp as the blade was, she hoped it would be enough.
Picking it carefully, she hurried toward Jacen. Eris rested her hand on him, lightly brushing the hair off his head. And then gasped.
Not Jacen. Jasi.
Eris froze. How would Jasi be here? Her hair had been cut, left shorter and ragged. Standing this close, now Eris saw only a thin shift covering her. Old bruises marred her face.
What had they done to her? And what had happened to Jacen?
As the chanting and energy built behind her, she knew those were questions for later. There was a definite sense of something building—the power in the air, the energy, the pressure on her—all seemed to crescendo. Whatever they were working, she suspected she had little time before it was complete. And then they would return.
Eris prayed that the needlegrass was stiff enough to cut through the ropes.
She worked quickly. Finally, the rope released. Jasi fell forward.
Eris struggled to catch her, barely holding her up. Were Jasi to fall, she wouldn’t be strong enough to lift her or drag her from the clearing.
“Jasi! You will have to walk.” Her breath came ragged and heavy.
Jasi barely registered that she had spoken, but she seemed to bear her own weight. Eris took it as a sign and pulled her by the hand, dragging her around the tree and out of sight of the magi.
The energy on her was nearly unbearable. What would happen when it was released? The magi would recognize they were gone. Then they would come looking for them.
She refused to think what would ha
ppen if they found her.
Looking past the line of trees, she considered heading back onto the plains. She could reach the Kingsroad and follow the road back to the palace. But the magi had horses and would ride faster. The chances of recapture were great if she chose that way.
The alternative meant entering the Svanth.
As much as she had thought she wanted to travel to the forest to find her flower, the idea that she now needed to enter the forest sent anxiety coursing through her. Even Terran, who had grown up around the forest, warned against entering its boundaries unnecessarily. But if she didn’t, neither of them would survive.
Eris turned toward the trees.
Tall oaks and elms loomed overhead. Darkness surged beneath their branches.
“This is the only way, Jasi,” she whispered as she pulled her toward the trees.
Eris ducked from tree to tree, hiding as best she could as she moved. Soon, even the light of the fire diminished and faded, leaving her in near darkness. Lightning flickered overhead from the spell the magi called, giving just enough light for her to not lose her footing. Jasi was a different matter, stumbling alongside her, but she managed to remain upright and standing.
Eris could barely breathe. Her body felt like it was compressed, as if a band squeezed on her chest, keeping her from taking a full breath.
And then, in an explosion of light and thunder, the sense lifted.
Lightning rained down on the forest, streaking in blue-white toward the trees around them, and deeper, toward the heart.
Eris cringed, thinking she’d chosen the wrong direction. The plains might be more open, but whatever the magi hoped to destroy was here, in the forest.
The lightning ended high above the trees, fizzling out before even reaching the tender leaves on the highest branches.
Lira’s magic.
Blinding lightning slashed down in continuous streaks. Each time, it crept ever closer to the treetops. How long before the forest could no longer hold the lightning at bay? How long before the magi managed to penetrate the forest? Then, like the palace garden, it would burn.
The Lost Garden: The Complete Series Page 15
