The crowd parted for us, and Lucas swung down before the gates, lifting me down after him.
“Where are my parents?” he asked General Thaddeus who we found at the center. “And my sister?”
The Head of the Royal Guard looked shaken and older than I had ever seen him, his Stantorn confidence evaporated.
“Thank goodness you’re alive, Your Highness.”
“Never mind me,” said Lucas crisply. “What about my family?”
“They’re inside,” the general said, gesturing at the gates. “Their health is unknown.”
“What happened?” Lucas asked.
“The messenger was sent immediately as you commanded. He never returned. When a second one was sent, he found the Academy secured against him.”
I looked around at the number of mages in the crowd.
“Surely you can open a gate!”
“It’s not the gate,” the general said stiffly. “There is a second layer of workings built into the perimeter of the Academy, for use only in emergencies, and they’ve been activated. Only the Academy Head can do that.”
“But have they been raised to keep my parents safe or to keep help out?” Lucas asked.
“That is a question we cannot answer,” said the general. “And it’s the reason I have hesitated to batter the workings down with every power I can call to my command. Especially since it would no doubt take a great deal of that power—if it could even be done—leaving little protection for what might come after.” He frowned. “Do you have reason to think they might have been raised against your family? Do you doubt the loyalty of Lorcan?”
“Not Lorcan, no,” Lucas said.
Our eyes met. What composition keys might Walden have been able to access while acting as Academy Head?
“Elena!” Julian pushed through the crowd. “You’re alive! How did you get here?”
Thaddeus glared at him. “You, young man, are only here because I need every mage at my disposal. But you have proved you can’t be trusted with the care of His Highness.”
I winced.
“We’re going in, Julian,” Lucas said. “If we can, we’ll send word out.”
“But—” The general began to protest, but Lucas turned to me.
“These protections were designed for the trainees not the royal family. Lorcan described them to me once. It’s a sort of net of power, woven from a vast number of compositions to give it strength. It’s designed to keep anyone who is not a trainee or instructor from passing in or out. Officially we are still trainees.”
Thaddeus looked torn, and I could almost hear his mental dilemma. Did he let the only member of the royal family who he knew for sure was safe walk into danger if it might mean rescuing all the others?
“I’m not asking your permission, General.” Lucas pulled on my hand only to pause. “Oh, and I suggest you weed through these officers immediately. Place any who are Ellingtons into custody. And send men after Dukes Lennox and Magnus and their families. In fact, round up every Ellington you can find. We’ll sort them out later.”
“Your Highness?”
“They’re traitors, Thaddeus,” Lucas said. “I’ve just come from Kallorway, and my information is certain, although I don’t know how far the rot spreads.”
Julian swore under his breath but met our eyes with determination.
“We won’t fail you,” he said.
Lucas grabbed the gates, and for a moment I held my breath, wondering what would happen.
They swung open in the most normal way possible, and he walked through, with me almost tripping over his heels. The gate swung shut behind us, although we didn’t touch it, the only visible sign that anything unusual was going on. But I didn’t need my eyes to sound an alert when I could feel the suffocatingly strong press of power around us.
Lucas arced a path around the central fountain, heading for the front doors which were firmly closed. This time, however, although he tugged at them, they refused to open. He looked at me, eyebrows raised.
I shook my head. “There’s so much power on that door it would take an immense working to get it open. And apparently it’s not the kind of power that recognizes us as trainees. I could batter our way through, but we may not like what we find on the other side. We need to find another way in.”
“The library,” Lucas said. “It has the largest windows.”
As we ran around the side of the building, I could see a gleam in Lucas’s eyes. He hoped we would run into Walden, holed up in his sanctuary, but I felt sick at the thought of seeing my old mentor.
Power coated the building’s walls and windows, but not like the power on the door.
“Let me,” I said.
I used the binding words this time to allow me to craft a more complex working. I took my time to build up a composition that combined pure power with a physical element. When I said, “End binding,” a stone bird bath lifted itself from one of the garden beds and flew, faster by far than either of us could have thrown it, at one of the windows. Alone it might have bounced back off, but the power I had coated it in propelled it forward, smashing the glass which shattered back into the room. The final shreds of my power smashed out the shards that remained in the sill, leaving us a safe entry point.
“Very neat,” said Lucas with an approving smile. He seemed to have entered a place of utter focus, his fears and doubts stripped away and buried beneath the need to act.
We climbed inside. The library appeared completely deserted, as I would have expected it to be at this hour when all the trainees should be in composition class.
“Let’s see what’s going on in—” I said, at the same time as Lucas said, “Let’s find Lorcan.” But both of us cut off, swinging to a halt near the entrance of the library.
The huge room wasn’t empty after all.
A smear of blood trailed from the door back toward the huge front desk. At the end of it we could just see a pair of legs, sprawled at an awkward angle on the floor, the rest of the body hidden by the desk.
I gagged. He must have entered the Academy some time ago. How long had his body been lying discarded here?
A sound from deeper in the library made us both stiffen just as Walden stepped into view. He froze, his eyes racing between us and then down to the partially concealed body. He had washed his hands and face, but he had missed a streak of red almost on his hairline and a splatter across the front of his robes.
No part of his usual geniality remained on his face. His shock at seeing us transformed quickly into anger.
“Those Kallorwegians can’t get anything right.” He spat the words at us. “I suppose you were the ones to send the messenger.” He gestured at the man. “And now look what I’ve been forced to do. Desecrating the library, no less!”
“Desecrating…the…library?” I took a step toward him, rage burning away the sense of sorrow and loss and awful defilement that came from knowing I had shared my inner self with him.
But Lucas grabbed my arm, pulling me back.
“Don’t waste your time and energy on him. We need to find my parents and sister.”
Walden swelled, the image of the jovial, slightly rounded librarian jarring with his contorted features.
“Always those in power overlook the true value of us scholars. I am the one who discovered the true authority that belongs to the southern throne. And it is I who first saw that Stellan was no more fit to wield it than Osborne. After hundreds of years, only I had the true dedication to this library that was necessary to discover the hidden treasure my ancient predecessor carefully preserved.”
He took a step toward us, his eyes alight. “In the secret storage space my explorations uncovered, I found the explanation he left for those who would follow. As a true librarian, he could not stand by and watch the destruction of history, and so he secreted copies of the books and scrolls King Stellan’s ancestor destroyed. He did not explain why he allowed the knowledge of these hidden records to be lost, but I know I was meant to be th
e one to find them.”
His eyes narrowed. “And in that act of destruction, both the Kallorwegian and Ardannian royal lines showed they were never fit to rule in the first place. They allowed the truth to be lost even by the crown itself! They did not value the power of knowledge wielded by the proper hands, and they will realize their mistake too late. You’ll regret underestimating me, Your Highness. You may think the Ellingtons are the weakest of the great families, but we have strength none of you ever imagined. And we will finally take our place ruling over you all.”
He tore a parchment I hadn’t even seen him retrieve, and a shield of both power and smoke sprung up between us. I heard his feet hurrying away, deeper into the library, his shield protecting his escape.
I wanted to go after him, but Lucas’s arm tugged me back toward the door, and I followed him. We ran down the quiet corridor, bracing ourselves for what we might find in the entrance hall, but it stood empty. Lucas sprinted for the stairs, and I followed close behind.
We took the stairs only one level, and I realized Lucas was making for Lorcan’s office. It was the logical place to find important visitors. But our thundering steps must have drawn attention because the head of a first year poked out of a classroom door.
“Prince Lucas? Elena?” she asked. “You’re back? What’s going on?”
“Stay inside,” Lucas snapped. “And bar the door. Check it’s a trainee you recognize before you open it again.”
She stared at him in surprise.
“Go!”
Starting, she disappeared back in and slammed the door behind her.
“Stop. Wait,” I said. “We need to get them out. All of them. Who knows what could happen? And they might know what’s going on, too.”
Lucas pulled himself to a stop beside our composition classroom, punching the wall once before wrenching open the door and stepping inside. I closed it again behind us.
For a moment, nine pairs of eyes blinked at us. And then my friends shrieked my name, pouring out of their seats to crowd around us.
“Stop,” said Lucas, and they all froze. “Have you heard anything of what’s going on? Seen anything?”
“What exactly is the meaning of that?” asked Redmond coldly from the front of the room.
Lucas met his eyes, not backing down.
“The Academy’s defenses have been raised. My family is somewhere here, and we are all in danger. Even now there may be Kallorwegian assassins present inside the walls with us.”
Lavinia gave a quickly stifled shriek. I looked around the room.
“Where’s Dariela?”
“She chose not to attend today’s class it seems,” said Redmond, somehow managing to sound offended by her absence despite Lucas’s news.
“I’ll bet she did,” said Lucas grimly. “If you meet an Ellington on your way out, apprehend them if you can, run the other way if you can’t.”
Weston surged to his feet, his seat falling to the ground behind him.
“Are you saying the Ellingtons are in league with Kallorway?”
“I’m afraid so,” I said. “Lucas sent a messenger ahead to warn his parents, and we just found Walden standing over his body.”
“Walden?” This time Redmond’s calm failed him, and he reached a hand back to steady himself against the desk behind him.
Lucas looked from Weston to Calix. “Thaddeus is outside the gates, but the front doors are barred by we don’t know who. Secure another way out that can be used to evacuate the trainees and servants. Get them out to the safety of the Royal Guard, but give the library as wide a berth as possible.”
Both of them nodded, their faces grim, and exited the room.
Lucas scanned the remaining group.
“Natalya and Lavinia, go pass the word to the other classrooms. Tell the junior instructors to accompany the trainees out.” He looked over at Redmond. “Redmond will hold whatever path Calix and Weston find until all of them are out.”
I half expected Redmond to protest, but he made no demur, merely pulling a number of parchments from his robes. He ushered the two girls out of the room ahead of him.
Only our friends remained.
“Don’t even try to tell us to leave.” Finnian sounded far grimmer than I had ever heard him. “We’re going to help you.” His hand hovered protectively behind Coralie’s back, but he didn’t attempt to convince her to run for safety.
Lucas met Finnian’s gaze measuringly and then nodded once.
“I’ve been sick with worry for you.” Coralie threw her arms around me briefly before letting go and stepping back to Finnian’s side. “We won’t let you down,” she added.
I turned to Saffron and Araminta. “I don’t doubt your bravery and willingness to stay, but we need you to get the servants out.” I looked from one to the other. “I don’t trust that anyone else would care enough to put the effort in to be sure they’re all out.”
Saffron looked torn, but after only a moment she nodded.
“I understand.” She also gave me a quick embrace. “Just don’t die.”
“And same to you.” I managed a weak smile before she and Araminta slipped out of the room.
“How long do we give them all?” I asked. I could already hear feet in the corridor.
“No more waiting,” Lucas said. “My family needs me.”
Chapter 24
“Where are we heading?” Finnian asked as we joined the throng in the corridor, moving against the flow of trainees.
“Lorcan’s study,” I answered. “We received information that Kallorwegian assassins were planning an attack on Lucas’s family while they’re visiting the Academy today. Walden encountered our messenger, and he must have raised the Academy protections to prevent anyone else getting inside. That means the assassins must already be here. Walden may have still hoped to be able to leave them to carry out their plan—whatever it is—but he knows Lucas and I are here now. So I suspect they’re about to abandon subtlety and go for a direct approach.”
“What are they doing here today?” Finnian asked. “We’ve all been preparing for them to visit for the gala, but that’s not for—”
“Walden lured them here.” Coralie sounded sick. “I heard him three days ago in the library telling Jocasta how he had discovered an urgent issue that needed Their Majesties’ personal attention as soon as possible. I guess when you’re a monarch, as soon as possible means in three days. I thought it had something to do with the gala, but I was only walking past, so I didn’t hear everything.”
She squeezed Finnian’s hand. “Is it really true? That he’s a traitor? And…Dariela too?”
“That depends,” said a voice from the corridor ahead of us, “on where your first loyalties should lie.”
“With your crown and your kingdom,” snapped Lucas, stopping and facing off against Dariela.
“Or with your family?” she countered.
I stepped forward, pushing Lucas behind me. Looking Dariela in the eye was difficult, all my feelings of betrayal flooding back. But I forced myself to do it, and to keep my face as open as I could manage.
“I’ve learned a lot about family in the last few years,” I said. “I’ve learned that family will sacrifice for each other—they’ll put their own needs aside.”
Something subtle shifted in her face. It was a fleeting expression, gone in an instant, but it gave me hope. Some part of her was disappointed at my talk of sacrifice for family—she wanted to be convinced to do the right thing. I pressed on.
“But that goes both ways.” I took a step toward her, and she didn’t move. “Does your family sacrifice for you, Dariela? Are they willing to put aside their pride—and even their future—for you? Do they encourage you to do the right thing, no matter what?”
She flinched. Emboldened, I continued.
“Because if not, maybe your loyalty doesn’t belong with them at all. I’ve learned another thing about family. It isn’t static. It can grow and change. You can find new family.” I gest
ured at myself. “Who knows better than me that you aren’t bound by your blood?”
Lucas stepped up beside me, his manner softened.
“At the end of the day we’re all responsible for our own choices,” he said. “It’s not too late for you, Dariela. You can still make the right choice. If you help us turn back the tide of death and destruction, I give you my word the crown will protect you.”
Something cracked inside her. I could see it written clearly across her face, but her shoulders didn’t slump, her posture didn’t change.
“I have no wish to sit as queen on a throne drenched in blood,” she said. “I will help you.”
“Queen?” Finnian and Coralie stepped forward to join us.
She glanced back over her shoulder. “The treachery of my family goes further than you know. Kallorway think we aid them in exchange for positions of power within their empire. Osborne has sworn that an Ellington will govern Corrin when it’s a subject of Kallmon.”
Lucas shifted, anger radiating off his body, but he said nothing.
“But the Ellingtons have had enough of being secondary to those who believe themselves stronger. They play a deeper game than anyone knows.”
Lucas glanced at me, and he didn’t need to spell out the request in his eyes. I spoke quickly, but clearly, speaking a truth composition. When I had completed it, I asked Dariela only two questions.
“Is everything you’ve said to us true?”
“Yes,” she said firmly.
“And you will aid us?”
“Yes,” she said again, though her voice sounded weary this time.
I balled my fist, cutting off the composition, as my friends exchanged relieved looks. Lucas stepped slightly forward.
“My family,” he said. “What of my family?”
“Walden intercepted the messenger,” she said. “He realized something must have gone wrong and that more would follow, so he raised the external protections.” She looked at Lucas and me with a wry gaze. “The two of you were supposed to be in Kallorway. No one was supposed to be able to get in.”
“I should have sent the squads of guards with him,” Lucas muttered. “I signed his death sentence by sending him alone.”
Voice of Life (The Spoken Mage Book 4) Page 28
