by Jenni Ward
Alone in the book building, Mary enjoyed the moment of solitude. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Prater would return, having left when a rider had thundered into Tiani. The books she’d found so far hadn’t resembled anything she’d expect to find dragon spells in; it frustrated her knowing she’d over seen one book like the one that had led to the mess she was in.
“Mary,” Quinn whispered, and she flinched, moving away from his voice as she turned. “Mary, stop with that.”
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I’ve been here a while, just keeping myself invisible from view. Come on, Prater is busy outside speaking to a messenger. Stop that and come with me.”
“And where would we go?”
“I’ve got a plan, really I have, but now’s not the time to talk about it.”
Mary looked at Quinn crouched beside her; his blue-green eyes looked back. His hand reached out and gently pushed the book in her hands to the floor, but she didn’t let go of it. Quinn’s right hand passed in front of his body in a sweeping motion and the books simultaneously rose from the ground. Mary leaned back and watched as the book in her hand wriggled free from her hold and moved into its place on the shelf; all the other books that remained on the floor followed – including all the brown ones Prater had diligently kept separate from the rest.
“Mary, now.”
Mary’s eyes alternated between the books, the floor, and Quinn. She had hoped he would return but never thought he would. With Quinn so near she felt more alive and safer, her eyes moved away from him and to the window.
Standing up she could see Prater through the window, giving something to the messenger on the horse. She had to make a decision. The book building had been her home, but she had been prepared to leave it all behind for Michael had he been a dragon. If she chose to return one day, she knew that the books would still be there waiting.
“You called me to come back; I won’t abandon you again. I promise you that.” Mary moved her gaze back to him, wondering what he meant; she hadn’t talked to him since she had ordered him to leave. She nodded, half-smiled, and reached out her hand. “You’re coming with me?”
Quinn returned the smile and took her hand in his. She felt the warmth of his hand holding hers and her heart fluttered at the feeling spreading throughout her body. With his free hand, Quinn waved and they disappeared from the room in a sparkling cascade of blue-green light.
QUINN LAY MARY DOWN on the bed in one of the spare bedrooms in his house. He paused looking at her for a moment before standing and leaving the room, being careful to shut the door without making any noise. She was asleep and he wondered if the sudden movement through the sky to home had made her drowsy.
Walking down the narrow wooden staircase, Quinn saw the fire already burning brightly. Cashel sat in the old wicker chair nearby with his eyes closed. Quinn tried not to look at Cashel in case guilt betrayed him.
Quietly, Quinn sat down in the free chair not far from Cashel. Quinn allowed himself to relax and finally feel comfortable with the path he had chosen to take; he closed his own eyes and tried to put the past few weeks behind him.
“You seem to be in a better mood than you have been,” Cashel’s words floated to Quinn, and he opened his left eye to see Cashel awake and waiting for a response.
“Yeah, well I made a decision today and I feel good about it.”
“About your sister? With her plan in tatters, you will have some breathing space; perhaps you might be able to convince her to forget her foolish plan altogether.”
“No, not about Cecilia; she’ll choose her own path without listening to anything I have to say.”
“Are you going to tell me then?”
Quinn refocused his attention on the fire for a moment. He’d never lied to him before, never concealed anything either. Still, he knew it would be inevitable that Cashel would find out about her.
“I brought the girl here. Mary.”
“Why did you bring the girl here? It makes you a target to Cecilia.”
“I couldn’t just leave her there; she was in danger.” Quinn turned in his seat to better face Cashel; the older man had been his mentor for many years, and he felt closer to him than he had his own father. Watching Cashel, he wondered if his mentor could understand his reasoning behind the decision.
“Danger? That wasn’t why you couldn’t leave her behind. That wasn’t why you have been out of spirit since you returned, and it certainly wasn’t why you suddenly up and left.” Cashel shakily rose from his chair with the aid of his walking stick and stood closer to the fire. “You know the rules Quinn – we live our lives by those rules.”
“So, I should just ignore my own feelings? Put aside what I want because of what I am?” Angrily, Quinn stood and moved away from the fire in pure frustration.
“Quinn, you were preventing your sister from crossing the same line – it doesn’t matter if you have feelings for the mortal or not – you’re a sorcerer, she’s a mortal! It doesn’t matter if she is mixed blood or pure blood. Nothing matters when it comes to that law. You must abide by the treaty that is in place.”
“That’s also beside the point, Cashel. How could I just leave her behind? She saved my life!” Quinn stood up and joined him in front of the fire. His hand reached out to hold the mantel as he leaned in closer to the flames. “Cashel...”
“You owe her nothing! She is nothing but an inferior mortal, and now she is one who your sister has placed a spell on.”
Cashel turned away from the fire and shuffled back to the chair. Quinn felt frustrated at his mentor knowing so much yet having told him nothing.
“If I had left her there any longer...well, I hate to think what would have happened to her. That village leader might even have killed her. What then, Cashel? If Mary died, then Cecilia would be back on track with her plan in an instant. At least while she is here, she is safe and alive, so Cecilia will be unable to be bound to Michael.”
Cashel mumbled something to himself before exhaling slowly, “You are meant to be great, Quinn – you have so much untapped power, maybe even enough to reach the heights of the Council one day – you can’t throw it all away by breaking the rules. Another war can’t break out because of your feelings.”
Quinn turned to look directly as Cashel, “But if Cecilia is bound to Michael the war will happen anyway.”
Cashel raised his right hand and pointed an aged finger at his apprentice. “Then you need to keep your emotions in check, keep her safe, but don’t fall for her and don’t, I mean don’t, break the spell that your sister has over her.” Quinn turned his back. “Quinn, you must remove your emotions from this matter! You know what I am saying is what you need to do."
Quinn closed his eyes, unwilling to admit aloud that he knew how true those words were. Things that had once seemed so clear to Quinn before he’d left home in search of Michael to warn him about Cecilia. At that point, he’d felt honoured to be given the task, something he had no idea would take up so much of his own life. Somehow that simple task had become complicated and messy.
Pushing against the cane, Cashel got to his feet and shuffled towards Quinn, placing a hand on his shoulder. Cashel softened his tone, “Quinn, you are like a son to me. Promise me that you will not break the Golden Law.”
Quinn placed his head in his hands, his fingers tangling in his hands, “I promise, Cashel: I won’t break the Golden Law.”
Cashel let out a silent breath of relief and returned to his chair in front of the fire.
“I’m tired, Cashel; I think I will sleep now.”
Cashel nodded. “The gold will affect you for some time yet; you will need your rest.”
Quinn turned to leave and then paused at the base of the wooden steps, “How did you know about...I told you nothing but...”
Cashel smiled the way old men do sometimes and chuckled to himself, turning a moment later to say to Quinn, “You will know one day, if you live as life as long as I.”
Feeling defeated, Quinn made his way back up the wooden stairs to the passage. Walking down the passage, he paused; through Mary’s ajar door he could see her sound asleep, her hair obscuring her face. His head leaned against the doorframe as he smiled at her. Thoughts turned in his mind and the conflict he felt about the situation continued to rage between his heart and mind. Stepping back, Quinn closed the door before heading to his own bedchamber next to hers.
MARY OPENED HER EYES. She looked around the unfamiliar room. Light filtered through the little window. Reaching up, Mary ran her hand over her hair to smooth it down. She searched her mind for the last memory she had; he’d come to the book building, she’d agreed to go, but after that her mind could think of nothing.
A tap at the door and she glanced in its direction. Her heart beat faster; for a moment she envisioned Prater standing on the other side of the door until the image dissipated when she heard a softer voice query, “Mary?”
“Yes?” She didn’t know what else to say.
“May I come in?”
“Yes.” As the door opened, Mary pulled the blanket that covered her around herself tighter.
“Some new clothes,” Quinn spoke as he entered with his arms full of dresses for Mary; he placed them on the chair beside the bed.
“Thank you,” Mary replied and glanced at them. They were not like the simple plain brown and black dresses she always wore; she could see a blue one, a pink one, and towards the bottom of the pile, a dark green one. A smile spread over her face at the thought of wearing such dresses.
“I will break the spell, Mary, I promise you that,” he uttered the words in a low tone.
“Maybe; there are ways to have it broken aren’t there?”
Quinn nodded. “I’ll leave you be.”
His hand touched the door frame when Mary spoke again, “Quinn.” He looked back over his shoulder at her. “You said I called for you, but I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did...with the stone. I didn’t want to leave you without an escape. You must have held the stone at some point and...” he smiled at Mary.
“Is that why you came back?”
Quinn’s smile faltered and he looked at his feet. “I felt responsible for what happened; you thought you were saving a dragon after all.”
Mary smiled. “And instead I got a sorcerer for my trouble.”
“About the binding...” Quinn waited to see if Mary wanted to speak of it. She hadn’t been keen on the topic since she had rescued him. When she didn’t object, Quinn ventured to continue, “...Why Michael?”
Mary sighed and the smiled faded from her face. “Bit ironic really, I did the calculations wrong, I thought it was fifteen, not sixteen.”
“How did...”
“His life was at stake; it wasn’t hard to bargain.” Mary sighed before continuing, “Quinn, I never felt anything for Michael, not in that way. I wanted to leave Tiani. I wanted to see more of this kingdom, to live. I love books, reading, but I felt suffocated in Tiani; it’s such a small place with so few people. I think I felt that if I held onto the dragon then maybe dreams would come true.”
“And now?”
“Now? I have no idea. I feel a bit lost.”
Quinn nodded in understanding and then left the room.
With Quinn gone, Mary pushed the blankets back to see that she still wore the dress from the day before. Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out the stone. It was cool to the touch, and she wondered if Quinn had told the truth about it. She had admired it, looked at it, and even thought of Quinn, but called him? Mary shook her head and placed the stone onto the little wooden table next to the bed.
Chapter 17
Taking the steps two at a time, Quinn’s moment of bliss disappeared upon seeing the stern stare from Cashel who was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Normally he would have proceeded with caution, but his mind had been made up, and he had no desire to discuss it with Cashel.
“Where are you going?”
“To do something!”
“Quinn, we settled this last night!” The last word was accentuated by a forceful tap of his walking stick on the wooden floor.
“I promised I would not break the Golden Law – that was all,” Quinn replied as he pushed past Cashel.
“So, what are you going to do then? Huh?”
Quinn paused at the front door, contemplating on whether to tell his mentor what had occurred to him during his sleepless night. He knew Cashel would figure it out on his own in time, just like he knew everything else, but by the time he worked it out, the deed would be done.
“I’m going to make a deal.”
“Quinn...!” the rest of the sentence faded away as the magic moved Quinn away from his house and towards the mountains that were rumoured to be the resting place of the Dragon Council.
QUINN HAD WALKED AROUND the plateau several times. He’d cast the summoning spell he remembered from his final year at the Academy to call them forth, and still he stood there alone. Each passing second gave him more time to think over the decision, and more time for the five years of schooling to try and poke holes in his plan.
“Why did you come here?” the voice boomed, and the earth shook as a large dragon landed on the plateau. Quinn stood firm. “You know we’ve been watching you, waiting for you to go back where you came from. We have no plans to make nice with a sorcerer.”
“I have come to make an agreement, a deal of sorts,” Quinn replied.
A rush of air encircled Quinn as the large red dragon flapped its wings before tucking them at its side. Quinn felt a little intimidated as the crouched dragon cast a shadow over him. He tried to exhale slowly to maintain his stance by calming his nerves; still his feet betrayed him by shuffling and his fingers gripped the leg of his pants. The dragon’s yellow eyes were firmly trained on him.
“A deal? You, a sorcerer, want to make a deal?” a smile passed over the dragon’s face. “I’m intrigued so I will not eat you...at the moment anyway. I am Jharobi, representative of the Dragon Council. Speak.”
“I wish to ask for a binding spell to be broken.”
The dragon’s head cocked to one side. “And the reason you ask for this?”
“There is no love in the binding and both parties wish for it to be broken,” Quinn replied, pleased that the reason spoke the truth for both Mary and Michael.
“Any other reasons?”
Quinn shifted uncomfortably on the spot, his feet causing a cloud of dust to cover his boots. His eyes wandered away from the dragon’s for a moment, but he found himself staring at the large claws more intimidating than Jharobi’s face.
“You seem as though you are close to breaking the Golden Law, sorcerer.”
Quinn rolled his eyes at the suggestion. He wished everyone would stop reminding him about the Golden Law. He knew all too well about the Golden Law and everything it stood for, but still, at the moment, he resented it even existed. If it hadn’t been for the Golden Law, the Academy would never have charged him with stopping his sister, and perhaps he just might have had a life instead of spending ten years following Cecilia’s every move.
“Why do you all keep saying that? How would you have any idea how close I am to breaking something like that?”
“When you get as old as I am, sorcerer, you tend to know more things. You’ll never be as old as I am, seeing as how we dragons live much longer lives, but perhaps you will live long enough to understand.”
“You sound like my mentor,” Quinn growled and ran his hands through his hair.
Jharobi laughed. “He must an old sorcerer to understand then; you would do well to listen to him. Did you know, Quinn, that we dragons can see into the heart? We can read what lies within, although normally sorcerers’ are a little harder to read, a bit foggier. Not a skill that sorcerers have, though the accuracy of your technology does surpass ours at the moment.”
“So then you know my other reason for the request.”
“It is a request I didn’t think
you would ask for.”
“I don’t ask for myself, but for her.”
“It is no secret that dragons and sorcerers don’t like each other. When the Great War ended, specific rules that both sides had to abide by were agreed upon, none of them more important than the Golden Law.” Jharobi paused. “What price will you pay for the freedom of Mary from the binding?”
“Anything,” Quinn replied, his gaze locked onto Jharobi’s.
“I believe that you mean that, sorcerer. I will grant your request, but it will have a price.”
Quinn waited for the dragon to continue.
“I can’t take away your power as you know, another of the rules, but I will assume you have dared to approach the Dragon Council instead of the Sorcery Council because there is more to this than maybe even we are aware. If you choose, Quinn, with your consent, I can facilitate the process where you can give up your power.”
“You want me to hand over my power, my family’s magic?” A higher price than even Quinn had expected.
“Exactly. You care for this girl, but I want to know how far you are willing to go to prove that you care more deeply. Caring for someone, sorcerer, and loving them are two different things.”
Jharobi curled his tail around his body but the end continued to flick back and forth as he stared at Quinn, waiting for the answer.
Quinn debated the two sides of the deal, especially the consequences. “Without my magic how will I stop my sister? How can I break the spell...?”
Jharobi blew a puff of smoke from his nostrils and replied, “That, sorcerer, is not my problem. Are you willing to prove your love? You would be mortal, after all, and free to pursue your feelings without fear of retribution from the Golden Law.”
Quinn felt his heart beat quicken. His hand reached up and pressed against his chest to attempt to steady the pace with the aid of magic but to no avail. He could break the binding, but then he would not be able to break the spell on Mary and would have no way stopping Cecilia from herself breaking the Golden Law – a no-win situation loomed before him.
