Armageddon's Ward

by T J Kelly

  But by the end of the week, Chas got busier and busier, until one day, I didn’t see him at all. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I lost my appetite to the dread filling my stomach. Surely he couldn’t be tired of me so soon. I decided to confront him. I couldn’t cast a locator spell, but I had Peter on my side. He told me that Chas spent a lot of time in the greenhouse.

  Sure enough, Chas was sitting alone on a bench near the lemon verbena and thyme. The area around them smelled a lot like the Eostre present I had given him. “Lovely evening, isn’t it?” I asked.

  Chas studied me silently. I waited patiently. Then he said, “Yes, it’s a beautiful night. What are you doing here? I thought you were spending your evenings cramming more of those old books into your head.”

  I tried to act normally, but I felt strange. Worried.

  “I have plenty of time to study during the day. Tonight, I needed a break. I decided to find you. I missed you today.”

  “Lia, I think we need to talk.”

  “What, already?” My heart started pounding. My stomach felt even worse, and I didn’t think that was possible.

  “Come on, sit down. You don’t need to stand there like that.”

  I didn’t move. Chas stood and walked to my side. He didn’t touch me.

  “I don’t want to sit down,” I blurted out. “I want to know why you’re acting so strange. What did I do?”

  “Nothing! Lia, this isn’t about you.” Chas sighed. “Really. This is about me, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t you dare call me sweetheart when you sound like you’re about to boot me to the curb. What did I do wrong?”

  My heart pounded in my chest as if it were trying to escape. Darkness ringed my vision, and I was having a hard time seeing. My mouth was so dry that I couldn’t swallow the lump in my throat. I think I looked so pathetic that Chas couldn’t help himself. He closed the gap between us and pulled me against him.

  I was reluctant to respond. I kept my arms at my sides, although I was off balance and couldn’t help leaning against him a little. It must have felt like trying to hug a statue, but he kept his arms around me anyway.

  “Lia, the investigation isn’t going well. Some of the agents won’t believe me when I say I had nothing to do with the attack. I think your uncle’s one of them. I don’t blame them, either.”

  “Well, I do,” I said bitterly. “Only a fool would think you were involved. You’d never hurt me.”

  “Two of the attackers were my brothers. The third was my cousin and best friend when I was a kid. That’s serious stuff, Lia. My dad never risks family unless he thinks he will succeed. The Irregulars know this about him.”

  “But they also know you were disowned,” I argued, looking up at him. “Your dad tried to kill you.”

  “The fact they completely ignored me while they were here, that they didn’t even bother to try to subdue me, makes it look even worse.”

  I slid my arms around his waist. “I don’t care how it looks. I know you had nothing to do with it.”

  He tightened his arms around me, and I leaned into him more naturally. “You’re in a precarious position right now, Lia. You’re going to need as much support as you can get during the trials, and I don’t want anyone questioning your judgment because you chose to be with somebody like me. Sweetheart, that kind of doubt causes people to pull back, and you’ll need all the help you can get. You’ll lose their respect. That can be dangerous for you.”

  I clutched his shirt, gripping the fabric tightly in my fists. “I don’t care what they think. If they’re that stupid, I don’t need them on my side. You were protecting me, not betraying me.”

  Chas sighed. I could hear his heart beating strongly beneath my cheek as I released his shirt to lean against his chest. I wasn’t sure if it was the last time he would let me get that close to him and I was desperate to feel him against me.

  “No, Lia. You know you need them. Especially right now. I can’t protect you alone. Your uncle can’t do it alone, either, no matter how strong he is. You have too many enemies, and more arrive every day. It’ll get worse when you ascend.”

  “How? Once I tap into my magic, I won’t be vulnerable anymore. I’ll be safer.”

  “They’ll never stop coming after you. Especially when you’re still a new magician. And you’ll be at your most vulnerable once you sign on to the trials. Think about it. Your enemies, my family included, know you’ll eventually have to leave the castle grounds. They’ll have spies waiting at the Council chambers for you. You will need every supporter you can get to make it through the Council building, much less safely arrive at the trials. The more people who back you, the more potential informants we have and the safer you will be.”

  Chas wasn’t wrong. Even typical candidates in the trials were subjected to tons of pressure. The competition, the rivals, the media, the Council - each had an interest in the outcome. The more support a competitor had, the more likely they were to succeed. But allies weren’t mandatory.

  I sighed as I pulled away. I looked Chas in the face and told him, “You’re insane if you think I’m going to give up the one thing that’s gotten me through the past few months. Chas, just being near you fills me with energy and hope. You give me the will to push myself. If I lose supporters over that, so be it. I won’t make it without you. I can’t succeed if I can’t keep up the pace, and I can’t keep up the pace if you act like an idiot and push me away.”

  “Even Ged doesn’t believe me, Lia. We need to stay apart. For your sake.”

  I studied him carefully. Chas didn’t look like he wanted to get rid of me, he looked like he was in pain. He looked desperate. And that gave me hope. “So that’s it then? We’re done? Finished? You don’t care about me anymore? All the feelings are gone? You can walk away from me, a free man, and leave me behind to deal with all of this alone?”

  “No, of course not! My feelings haven’t changed.”

  “Then I’m not letting you go. Be sacrificial with somebody else. I need you, and if you still have feelings for me, then you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you go.”

  Chas let out a startled laugh. “Lia, has anyone told you that you can be a brat sometimes?”

  I had him. The tension in my shoulders eased. “All the time. It’s one of my best qualities. Now please come here and kiss me because I’ve had a long day without you.”

  And he did.

  ◆◆◆

  A tiny knot of worry lived inside the pit of my stomach from that point on. I was afraid that Chas would do something stupid for my own good. I could make my own decisions, and I didn’t want him ruining something so beautiful because of a ridiculous sense of duty.

  That’s how I saw it anyway.

  My uncle was around a lot because the Council thought I was more important than his other assignments. For the time being, anyway. I used every moment of his time to my advantage, learning about the trials and what was expected of me.

  We regularly discussed strategy and law in his workshop. Armageddon usually sat in a squashy chair that was threadbare and worn. He hid it from my aunt in a dark corner or else it would have been hauled off as trash ages ago.

  “I’ve been looking for precedent,” he said. “There’s one other person who didn’t inherit as an official blood heir who came back for the trials just like you will. That means nobody can file suit to stop you. The Council has the final say, but they cannot deny you entry.”

  “Did that person get their inheritance back?”

  Armageddon cleared his throat. “Ah. No. But you mustn’t let that discourage you. He was ill-equipped to run his family’s business, so it worked out for the best. If he had inherited to begin with, it would have been a disaster.”

  “Wow. Inspiring story.”

  “You asked!” Armageddon said, and we both laughed. “Some Council members are a challenge. They’re overly enamored with their position and won’t hesitate to throw their weight around just because they feel like it. With
precedent, we’re covered on that front. That’s all that matters.”

  “True.” I fiddled with one of the crystal blanks sitting on the table near me. “I wish I could practice for the trials. I’m familiar with our business, but I was never able to perform the spells. I’d look pretty dumb if I couldn’t generate a light crystal.”

  Light crystals were created with the most basic of spells. They were easy to make and cheap. People used them instead of light bulbs and flashlights. They were made out of quartz and came in various sizes depending on their intended use. The spell to make them generate light was one any five-year-old could do if five-year-olds had access to their magic.

  Embarrassingly enough for me, some five-year-olds actually did.

  My family discovered the method for making a light crystal last longer than five minutes. Nobody else ever figured it out, and we patented the spell. Besides, it was easier for everyone to just use ours. They were cheap and accessible, but they still brought in a ton of money.

  Of course, we later altered the spell so the crystals would generate power. Rector Enterprises was currently trying to distribute them worldwide as a part of our benevolence initiative. It infuriated businessmen and dictators alike, who wanted to provide energy at steep prices to the poorest of nations. They were now my enemies as well.

  No good deed goes unpunished. I should embroider that in silk and hang it on my wall.

  Not like they were going to stop me from helping as many people as I could. In fact, the more they wanted to stop me, the more determined I was to keep going.

  “I’ll tell you what,” my uncle said. “How about we set up a task station like the one used during the trials. You can get used to handling the materials. Even without magic, there is a knack for juggling those things without dropping them.”

  “Oh, thanks for reminding me. Goodness knows I don’t want to drop anything in front of millions of people.” The trials were always televised. The Council insisted it was so nobody could claim there was any cheating going on. But we all knew that they just wanted to capitalize on the advertising dollars. Anything to make a buck, apparently.

  Armageddon waved his hand towards the Personal Vision area of his workshop, and a large wooden table appeared near the wall. Items from all over the room flew through the air and settled themselves into sections down the length of the table, a different spot for each task I would have to perform.

  “Show off,” I grumbled.

  My uncle winked at me. “We’re over halfway through the ninety-day waiting period before the trials. I had hoped that we would have connected you to your magic by now, but the week you spent in the infirmary knocked us off schedule a bit. If you don’t mind, I will set up a series of challenges to see if any will trigger the connection. We can begin next week.”

  My heart sped up. My stomach filled with that familiar miserable feeling. Like I hadn’t eaten in days but was too nauseous to do anything about it.

  I tried to shake it off. I was more likely to tap into my magic if I relaxed and let things happen naturally. Unfortunately, like always, my brain did the opposite of what I wanted. The recurring nightmare that had been haunting me nightly came to mind. Me, standing in front of Mort, Peony, and Peter, trying to tap into my magic and failing. And Chas, laughing at me in the background.

  None of that would ever happen, but my nightmares weren’t logical. They were just painful.

  “Okay. I guess that’s fine,” I said.

  “So enthusiastic! Don’t worry about it, Lia, I have a lot of experience helping people in this area. The challenges are part of typical, everyday situations, but they are also designed to call the magic inside of you. Much like drawing a metal sliver out with a magnet. It won’t be difficult. And no audience.”

  I wondered for a moment if my uncle could read my mind. Then again, it didn’t take a magician to realize I was engaging in a little internal panic attack.

  “All right, that sounds good.” I sighed as I wiggled myself deeper into the comfortable love seat Armageddon had positioned near his chair.

  My uncle must have realized that the darkness was nibbling at the edges of my mind again because he moved on. “The Council sent me a list of the families that have signed on for the trials. There are some strong contenders. I don’t think you have to worry about any surprises, though. It’s unlikely there will be any last-minute additions, besides yourself. The Taines signed up immediately, as you know.”

  I nodded, heaving a deep sigh. I really hated that family. It was odd that I fell for their misfit son. Actually, once I thought about it, falling for a misfit wasn’t really a stretch for me.

  “Can they even do any of the necessary tasks to run Rector Enterprises?” I asked snidely. The Taine’s family business had more to do with “errands of discreet purpose” than building anything. The worst-kept secret in the world was that their “discreet” errands were almost solely self-serving. It made me sick to know that they were legally sanctioned to run their company because they were the assassins for the Council.

  Normally the Taines wouldn’t be considered a legitimate competitor because they weren’t capable of maintaining a business rivalry. There had to be a legitimate connection before the Council allowed anyone to compete. Except the Taines had been hired so often to wreck our projects by our actual rivals that we were always in contact with them.

  As it turned out, that was enough for the Council to let them in.

  “I looked into that,” my uncle said. “Oberon has enough magicians in the family with enough variety in their talent to be a contender. But he’s going to have to include his brothers and his sons.”

  Now that was interesting. Oberon hated to share anything, and the trial rules stated that if a competitor brought a team, every person who helped would be considered an equal partner if they won. Oberon would have to split his profits up to ten ways depending on who he brought with him.

  “I’m sure he hates that,” I said. “With my luck, his anger will spur him on, and he’ll beat me in the first round.”

  “Hey now, sweetheart, stop the negative self-talk. Focus on the positive and have more faith in yourself.”

  My uncle sounded annoyed, but instead of being hurt by his tone, I felt better knowing that he had confidence in me. Even if I didn’t. “Okay, Uncle Ged. Sorry. So, who else is trying to steal a piece of the Rector Enterprises pie for themselves?”

  “The McAllisters, Huerts, and Mathisons. I’m surprised they’re even bothering since they don’t have the talent pool to sustain them. They’ll likely lose in the first round.”

  “They’re all contracted to Rector Enterprises. You’re right. Even if they all joined together, they still couldn’t get through the basic tasks.” I was familiar with the families who worked with us. Studying both allies and rivals had been a part of my education. “I’m sure they want to try anyway, just to keep my company out of the wrong hands. They’re good people.”

  “Then they will support your claim when the time comes. It’s always helpful when your competitors in the trials are willing to back you. There are two other families in the trials, though. The Unguis and Perdo clans.”

  Drat them. Both were heavily into dark magic, and they would be a danger to me in the second round.

  If they made it to the second round.

  If I made it to the second round.

  “Well isn’t that fantastic?” I said sarcastically. “I’m doubly glad Mort has been training me then.”

  Armageddon huffed his agreement. “He’s done a good job. You should be able to get away from them. Now that’s it for the list. Nobody else has signed on yet.”

  I thought about it for a minute. “You should add the Spiniger family to the list. They have the skills and have been trying to take over segments of our market for years. My mother and father used to rant about them more than anyone else, besides the Taines.”

  I watched as Armageddon wrote a note down on the pad of paper that he had propped on his
knee. “Good idea. Is there anyone else you can think of that might wait until the last minute to surprise us?”

  “No, I think that’s it. If anyone else tries it, they’ll probably fail in the first round, too.”

  “Excellent. Now, enough of this,” Armageddon said. He tossed the notebook onto a small table and hopped up from his chair. “It’s almost lunchtime, and I have it on good authority that you will be able to make as many crazy sandwich combinations as you’d like. Cook has seen your creativity as a challenge. She is beside herself with joy that she has somebody so appreciative of her efforts.”

  “That sounds like a direct quote to me,” I said, laughing.

  “Basically. She can’t stop singing your praises. Let’s head down. I want to make sure I get there first so I can swipe the cookies. There is a certain someone who is quite mean to me and never lets me have them anymore.”

  I snorted. “Sounds like a personal problem. And a challenge. Let’s go.”

  Armageddon and I exited his workshop at a quick pace. He cut me off in the hallway before we got to the stairs and took the steps two at a time. He had the advantage since I didn’t trust my feet to keep me upright if I did the same.

  Once I got to the bottom of the stairs, I took off running at full speed. I could tell that my uncle didn’t expect that because I caught up to him once I rounded the corner leading to the dining chamber. He would have moved faster if he knew I was running.

  We were both giggling like lunatics when we got there, and Peter looked up warily from where he was already sitting at the table. It took a moment for us to realize it, but he had taken all the shortbread.

  Armageddon and I burst out laughing. I picked up a plate and loaded it with strawberries before my uncle could get to them, but then he grabbed the entire bowl of garlic-feta green olives. I scowled, and he offered to make a trade.

  Meal times were getting a little out of hand, but I enjoyed every minute. Especially when Peter, after everyone else sat, gave me his plate of cookies.