Zane Halloway: Omnibus Edition

by P. T. Hylton

  “No,” Jacob said. “You barter in human death.” He waved a hand in the air. “Fine. Forget I asked. Was there anything else?”

  Zane took a deep breath. “Yes.” This next part was hard. Revealing information to Von Ridden. Treating him like an actual partner. But it was necessary. Zane had to keep reminding himself of that fact. “Something happened yesterday. I didn’t tell you sooner because I wanted you to be the one to decide if the king learns this information.”

  Jacob tilted his head. “What is it?”

  “Yesterday, when I met with Charles Danum, he asked me to kill you.”

  There was just enough moonlight for Zane to see the color drain from Jacob’s face.

  The Shadow’s voice was weak when he spoke. “How much does he know?”

  “He knows a ferox was captured. He knows the king is considering retaliation. And he believes whatever the king chooses to do, it will very likely be done by you.” Zane let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “It seems you’ve made quite the reputation for yourself. They fear you even in the Ferox Great Hall.”

  There was a long moment of silence. Finally, Jacob said, “What does he think it will accomplish? If you were to succeed in killing me, it’s not like there wouldn’t be a replacement. I’d like to flatter myself by thinking I’m the most dangerous abditus alive, but, armed with the thorns and tangles at my disposal, there are a dozen of my peers who could do as well.”

  “It’s about making a statement,” Zane said. “It would send a message to the king that he’d better think about possible repercussions before he gives the Ferox Society up for political reasons. And you’re the perfect target to send that message. Just close enough to the king to let him know he himself is vulnerable, but, as you said, ultimately replaceable.”

  “Yes,” Jacob muttered as he rubbed his chin. “I can see the wisdom in that.” He looked up at Zane, a slow smile on his face. “At least now you know the head of your society finds you as disposable a tool as the king does.”

  “That thought had crossed my mind.” It was getting late, Zane realized, and he still had one more errand to attend to this night. He needed to wrap this up. “This doesn’t change our plan, but perhaps it could give the king an excuse the Ferox Society would accept, potentially eliminating the need for a scapegoat to take the fall.”

  Jacob smiled. “You could be right on that count. You could be right.”

  After reassuring Jacob on the infallibility of their plan, and literally tucking him into bed with soothing proclamations of their inevitable success tomorrow, Zane took his leave and made his way to an exterior hallway. He slipped out a window and climbed to the ground.

  Von Ridden didn’t know about this next task. In fact, it was essential to Zane’s success that he didn’t.

  Zane moved through the darkened city streets like a ghost, keeping to the shadows and slipping unseen past the few people in the streets. In truth, it wasn’t the most impressive bit of stealth he’d ever done. It was very likely the other people out at this wee hour didn’t want any more attention than Zane did. There were few noble deeds done at two in the morning.

  When he finally arrived at the house on the north side of the city, Zane paused and looked up at it for a long while. It had taken him an hour to get here from the castle. He probably could have made it in half the time if he’d hustled, but the drag on his heart slowed his progress. He was very much not looking forward to the conversation that was about to happen. As much as he disliked talking to Jacob Von Ridden, he would relive that uncomfortable conversation ten times over if it meant he could avoid this one.

  He scanned the house and considered his plan of attack. There were three vulnerable second-story windows sufficiently tucked away from the street, and the wall looked climbable. And, with no one around, there was very little risk of being spotted as he climbed. If this had been any other house, he would have taken that approach.

  But this house was sure to be protected with a wide variety of tangles.

  Generally, Zane scoffed at magical devices. They made people feel safer than they really were. A house with tangles was often easier to access than a house without them as the owners usually ignored common sense precautions once they had purchased their magical protective devices. And most of them were oh-so-easy to get around.

  But not tonight. Not this house. These tangles Zane respected.

  There was only one possible entrance that wouldn’t be set to destroy anyone who accessed it. The front door. If there were tangles protecting it, they would have to be the kind that could be disabled to allow people to pass through when needed.

  Sure enough, there was a tangle, but it was of a type Zane had disabled a hundred times before. They were easy enough to defeat if you knew how to find them. He destroyed the tangle with a quick blow from the hilt of his sword. He then got out his lock pick and went to work. Five minutes later he was in the bedroom of the owner of the house. He stood silently for a long time before he worked up the nerve to speak. The woman in that bed was very dangerous, and there was no telling how violent her reaction would be upon waking to find Zane in her bedroom. He had killed her father, after all.

  He lit a small lamp and move to the side of her bed.

  Finally, he said in a soft, confident voice, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you.”

  Beth Farns sat up with a start and gasped. Her eyes widened as she recognized him. “You!”

  Her hand shot toward the nightstand, but Zane caught her wrist before she could grab whatever thorn she kept there.

  “Please,” he said. “I’m sorry to invade your privacy like this. But I need you to listen to me for a moment.” He paused, taking the measure of her breathing. She wasn’t trying to scratch his eyes out with her free hand, so that was a good sign. “I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

  The noise that came out of her throat was half laugh and half moan. “Why the hell would I ever do anything for you?”

  “Because it’s in your best interest,” Zane said. “You’re a businesswoman. And I would like to make you an offer I think you’ll find very interesting.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  One of the king’s guards knocked on Lily’s door two hours before she was set to leave for the Ferox Society Great Hall.

  The guard didn’t say anything; he just motioned for her to follow him. That was all right. Zane had prepared her. She knew where he was taking her.

  When they reached the steps to the main section of the castle the guard handed her a maroon shawl. This she hadn’t expected, but she gamely put it on. It was made of a soft, supple fabric Lily couldn’t place, and the color certainly couldn’t have been cheap. He must have been attempting to make her look richer than she was so she’d fit in while visiting the castle proper.

  The guard looked at her for a long moment, then adjusted the shawl, pulling it forward a bit over her eyes and arranging it so the ends fell over her shoulder.

  She followed him up the steps and, for the first time, set foot in the true home of the King of Opel.

  The first thing Lily noticed was the cleanliness. Her basement quarters hadn’t been dirty, not dirtier than any other place she’d ever slept, including Zane’s home, but this was something else. Something otherworldly. The floor was clean of all dirt. The high ceiling was free of soot and cobwebs.

  How was such a thing even possible? Did they have servants assigned to each staircase and hallway whose sole job in life was to maintain this unrealistic level of cleanliness? Or was there some sort of magic involved? Maybe an arsenal of specially designed thorns that attacked dirt and dust? Seemed far-fetched, but so did this entire place.

  And the space! So much space. Every hallway was three times wider than it needed to be. Every ceiling towered high above. As a person who’d grown up in a tiny farmhouse where space was at a premium and the only defense against overcrowding was careful and creative planning of every square inch, a small part of Lily was offended at the was
teful layout of the castle. Although, she had to admit it was impressive. If the architect had been going for majestic, he’d certainly hit the mark.

  A woman carrying a tray rounded the corner, and Lily was startled to see she was wearing a shawl that perfectly matched Lily’s, including the way it was pulled over her forehead and the ends hung over her shoulders. Lily suddenly felt every inch the country bumpkin. She’d thought the guard had been trying to make her look like a noblewoman when, in fact, he’d been disguising her as a servant.

  The guard opened a thick wooden door—they all seemed to be thick wooden doors here—and motioned her inside. She stepped through and heard the crisp click of the latch as the door closed behind her.

  Jacob Von Ridden sat behind a tall stack of papers. He was scribbling on the top paper. As she entered, he didn’t look up. He just held up a single finger and kept scribbling.

  She waited in silence. She felt like a girl waiting for the schoolmaster.

  Finally, he looked up and a wide smile bloomed across his face. “Ah, good. Lily. Welcome.” He motioned toward a chair in front of the table and Lily sat down.

  He moved the papers to the side and folded his hands on the table. “How do you feel about your chances today?”

  She waited a moment before answering. She considered lying in order to come off as humble but decided against it. “I’m feeling very good. I’ll pass.”

  His thick black eyebrows raised up a half inch. “Really?”

  She nodded. “I’m good with tests.”

  Von Ridden nodded slowly. “Of course you are. You wouldn’t have gotten Zane Halloway as your mentor if you weren’t. You wouldn’t have gotten into the Ferox Apprenticeship program at all if you hadn’t exceeded expectations on your Tens. But Lily…” He leaned closer and looked her hard in the eyes. “This test was made to defeat people who are good with tests.”

  She met his gaze, though she badly wanted to look away. “I’ll pass.”

  He waved a dismissive hand. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Our mission is unaffected by your success or failure on the exam. That’s not why I called you here. I expect Zane told you what this is about?”

  She paused, surprised at that. Zane had told her, but he’d also told her to act as if she didn’t know. She made an executive decision, again for honesty. “He told me you want me to be your apprentice.”

  Von Ridden nodded, his eyes a few degrees warmer now. “And what are your thoughts on the matter?”

  In truth, Lily had never considered being an abditus. Back at home, she’d never expected to be placed in one of the Academies after taking her Tens. She’d assumed she’d grow up to be a farmer. She’d toyed with the idea of being a blacksmith when she was younger. The concept of molding liquid steel had excited her. But after meeting—and smelling—a few real blacksmiths, that dream had died a quick death. Then the results of her Tens had come back and she had learned she’d won a place at the Ferox Academy. It was so wildly unexpected, it was as if a distant relative had suddenly died and left her a fortune. If that happened, she wouldn’t wish it had been a different distant relative and a different fortune.

  So, no, she had never considered being an abditus. It was boon enough she’d found herself a ferox’s apprentice.

  But the idea did have a certain appeal.

  “I don’t see how it’s possible,” she said. “After I take the test this afternoon, I’ll be a ferox.”

  “No,” Von Ridden corrected. “If you pass—and that’s a big if—you’ll be eligible to speak your vows. Only after you speak them will be you a ferox.”

  “I’ll pass,” she said for the third time.

  Von Ridden chuckled. “I like you more all the time.” He rubbed at his chin for a moment. “Have you considered what I’m offering? What an astounding opportunity this is? For someone like you to be mentored here—in this castle—by someone like me?”

  Lily suddenly felt the weight of that stupid shawl on her head. “You mean because of my skin color.”

  “No, I meant because you’re a farm girl with no means and no political connections. But now that you mention it, sure, brown-skinned people aren’t common within the castle. Not unless they’re servants.”

  Lily started to stand up. “I appreciate the offer. But being an abditus doesn’t interest me. I’d rather work with my hands, up close, no tricks or gimmicks.”

  Von Ridden shook his head. “That’s Zane talking. How much do you even know about magic? Do you even understand what thorns and tangles do?”

  “Of course,” she said, a little surprised at the question. “Thorns attack. Tangles defend.”

  “Yes,” Von Ridden said, “but how?”

  Lily opened her mouth to speak and was surprised to find she didn’t have an answer.

  “Exactly,” Von Ridden said. “Few can answer that question. Few even think to try. Might as well ask why the stars shine at night or why the waves crash on the shore. They just do.” He stood up and pointed at her. “But I can give you the answer. I can teach you what affects the power of a thorn, and why specific tangles work against some thorns and not others.” He looked at her for a moment, then said, “Follow me.”

  He led her out of the room and through a confusing series of halls. More than once, she was sure they were walking in circles. But eventually they came to a small gap in the wall—a wall Lily could have sworn they’d passed twice before and that gap had not been there. There was a steep and narrow staircase that seemed all the more narrow compared to the absurdly wide passages in the rest of the castle. Lily followed Von Ridden up the spiraling steps.

  When they reached the top, the passage widened enough that Lily was able to move to Von Ridden’s side in front of the large oak door with a strange, crooked bar across it. The King’s Shadow pulled a small silver disc out of his pocket. Lily thought it looked a bit like a large coin. He moved it across the surface of the door in a complicated pattern Lily’s eyes couldn’t quite follow, and the bar retracted into the wall. Then he took out a key and unlocked the door.

  He paused at the doorway and lit the lamp mounted on the wall. He then gestured toward the room. “Take a look. Though I suggest you don’t touch anything.”

  Lily took a step into the room and tried to understand what she was seeing.

  The walls were lined with shelves. And on the shelves there were…well, she wasn’t sure what it all was. There were knives. And plates. And candlestick holders. And coins. And…on one of the items, a glass orb, she saw a symbol she recognized. The symbol of Irving Farns. That orb was a Farns tangle.

  Suddenly she realized what it was.

  “This is the king’s magical armory,” she said, the breath catching in her throat.

  “Indeed it is. Many objects in this room are one-of-a-kind. I’m the only living person who knows how to use them. And I’ll teach you.”

  She ignored that last part for a moment. “Really? You’re the only living person who knows how to use these? What if something happens to you?”

  He smiled weakly. “There is documentation. But it would take my replacement years to get up to speed. Now you understand why I need an apprentice.”

  She stepped deeper into the room. All the objects, each of them priceless. And more than that, powerful. It may have been her imagination, but she would have sworn she could feel something in the air. Almost like a static charge. It was power, she realized. She could feel it.

  She looked at Von Ridden. “You said you’d tell me about thorns and tangles. About how they work.”

  He nodded. “Very well. I can give you the basics. Thorns and tangles are a good place to start because they stand in direct opposition.” He rubbed his chin for a moment as if considering how to begin. “There are powers in the natural world. We all accept that as fact. Invisible powers that affect us every day. The power that causes something to fall when dropped. The power that attracts magnets to metal. The power that makes your hair stand on end when you put on a wool shirt on a d
ry day. Understand?”

  She nodded.

  “All these powers have purpose,” he continued. “Sometimes we can harness them to our advantage. Think of a water wheel that uses the natural power of a flowing stream to turn a crank. But there’s another power. This one is floating all around us. And this power has no natural outlet, no clear purpose in the natural world. It’s nature’s beggar. And it’s a source of untapped potential. For lack of a better word, let’s call this power magic.”

  Von Ridden was beginning to talk faster now and gesture with his hands as he spoke. Lily had to admit, the man was a good teacher. He would likely be a good mentor.

  “Just like an iron skillet conducts heat,” he said, “there are certain combinations of substances that conduct magic. The first magical objects were wild experiments, uncontrollable and unpredictable. One day they might start a fire, the next they were used to read minds. It made them highly impractical. But also fascinating. So, the Abditus Society was formed to study these conductive materials and to create formulas to channel the magic in very specific ways. We put nature’s beggar to work.”

  Lily looked at the objects around her with new eyes. She’d always imagined magical devices as somehow containing power. Now Von Ridden was telling her they only channeled it. These things had no power of their own but used the very power in the air to do impossible things. She didn’t know if that was more or less impressive than what she’d assumed.

  A thought suddenly occurred to her. “What about elves? They say elves can use magic with their bare hands. They don’t need devices. Does that mean they can somehow channel the power themselves?”

  Von Ridden clicked his tongue. “Come now. If those stories were true, don’t you think they would have left the elvish ghetto long ago? Have you seen how they live? If they were able to channel magic with their bare hands, you’d think they could materialize a bath or a chamber pot now and then.”