A Ragged Magic (12 page)

Chapter Twelve

T
he light dims as I round the corner from the chapel to this back corridor. Dark stone reaches high and damp above me, and only one lamp persuades away the darkness. Gantry’s rooms are here, the door to the apse only a few strides away. His essence permeates the air like a hissed invective — poisonous and painful, for all he hasn’t lived in the castle long.

I can’t feel Orrin in the air at all. My stomach lurches at the thought of my intentions, but I steel myself to the task.

If I have any hope of finding out where Gantry took Orrin, I need to do this. Linnet suggested searching his rooms. Connor, of course, has already done so, and he said he found nothing. At least, nothing relating to Orrin’s whereabouts. I hope my Sight can provide more information. Julianna and Connor did not say yes, but they did not say no, either.

I take a determined, if shaky, breath.

Putting my hands on the door, I let the essence of the rooms wash over me. Turmoil, anger, pain: nothing definite. Opening my eyes, I press the latch. It doesn’t budge.

“It’s locked,” I hear from behind me.

I gasp and whirl around.

Linnet stands tucked behind a pillar further down the hall. “I checked already. I almost had it open when you interrupted me.” Her tone is annoyed, but her eyes betray her nervousness.

I let out a shaky breath. Strangely, I feel less sick with her here.

“Well, let’s open it now, then,” I whisper.

Linnet raises her eyebrows for a second, then rolls her eyes and stalks to the door. She mutters to herself as she holds the latch, which glows slightly. Sweat breaks out on her forehead and her arms shake.

After a bit, I put my hand on her shoulder, thinking to tell her to ease up. From my arm, I feel a sharp pull and a dizziness, and the lock flares bright green and clacks. Both of us jump a little.

Linnet shrugs off my hand, and we look nervously down the hall. She reaches for the door and I reach to stop her.

“Wait,” I breathe.

“Until someone else comes?” she asks, her tone derisive. She pushes open the door, breezing into Gantry’s chamber, and I freeze, certain some horrible trap will spring. An eternity standing there with my breath held, until she whispers, “Don’t just stand there like a ninny!”

I wobble with nerves. Little jogging steps rush me into the chamber, and I push the door closed behind me.

Linnet stands in front of a long table, looking at jars with painted runes in brown and red and black.

“We have to be careful,” I say as I look for something to focus on, for a vision. So far I only feel nervous and unhappy. Not as helpful as I’d like.

“I know that. I looked for trap spells, the way Hugh told us, before I even opened the door. I’m not stupid.”

“I didn’t say you were stupid.” I roll my eyes at her.

“Started Seeing things yet?” Linnet asks dryly. She pushes past me further into the rooms.

I move in front of deep shelves stuffed with papers and tomes thicker than a man’s thigh, dried animal skulls and mysterious, dusty things.

Daylight filters through the heavy brown drapes on the west-facing window, highlighting clean-swept slate floors, an immaculate writing desk, and a door to the bedchamber. I am nervous about touching anything, but I start looking through papers and scrolls in the bookcase. One of the scrolls looks ancient, and when I peer at the writing it’s full of swirly script in a language I don’t recognize.

For a moment I See the guildhall, figures walking, hear voices. One of them is Gantry’s, he is asking about provisions, pointing at maps. Before I can make anything out, I fall out of the vision. I try to pull it back, but the magic is jagged in my veins, agitated. I open my eyes and look around.

The door to Gantry’s sleeping chamber is slightly ajar. I leave the scrolls to peer into darkness, heavy curtains covering the windows of the smaller room. But I can make out a large bed next to one wall, the curtains drawn around it as well, and a pallet on the floor at the foot.

Slightly glowing runes surround the pallet. In the darkness they glower a faint amethyst, sickly and sinister. I feel a pull on my soul, as though I had no choice but to lie down there.

I shiver and start to back away.

“This room feels funny. Surely you’re getting something from this place.” Linnet pushes me a little, moves me into the bedchamber. She turns and looks at me, her eyebrows raised. “Try it. Come on.”

I sigh and close my eyes. Pulling my magic into my center, I lower my shields just a little. My unease expands into a deep horror and a desire to run. I See the room with Gantry in it, chanting, painting runes in what looks like blood around the walls. Demons curl through the room as a vaporous menace, chittering in a language I half-understand. I feel myself backing away, shutting down. I yank my shields back in place and open my eyes.

Linnet stands near the wall where I saw Gantry drawing the runes. Idly she levitates a piece of marble in her hand, lets it drop. She looks up in question at my gasping. “Well, what did you See?”

“Come away from there,” I snap in panic. I can feel a gathering power in the room, shadowing the now-invisible runes on the walls.

“Why?” she looks around, starts to straighten.

“Linnet, there’s a trap!” I say, and it springs. The air goes still and muffled, like underwater.

I can see the spell moving inward from the walls, and Linnet is engulfed by the first wave. I reach out to her as I back away — I can’t stop myself from backing away — but she is stuck, immobilized.

I send to Hugh as I watch her wide, frightened eyes —
Help me! Help now, Gantry’s rooms.

The wave moves toward me as I shuffle backward, amethyst and blood red streaked and weaving darkness. I pull power from the well beneath me with rough abandon. It burns as I push against the weave, the runes. I don’t know what they mean, I don’t know what the chittering means, but I can almost tell how they’re woven together, how they’re holding Linnet in a web of stillness.

I throw my will against the spell, snatch at the rough places, the trailing ends. Hands out, just outside the spell, I can feel the spell warp like ripping fabric. I catch at the fraying edges of the runes, attach my magic to the raveling threads, and yank carefully. I’m not certain what will happen when it collapses, but it has to be better than letting it alone. I hope.

“Just a moment, little bird, just hold on a moment,” I whisper, concentrating. Linnet’s face tells me I’d better hurry.

I hear the door crash open, and people, but I can’t look away from what I’m doing.

“Rhia, what’s going on?” Hugh appears beside me. “No, no, not like that. Like this,” and I feel him slip his magic into the work like adding wool to a spindle, start to direct it, although the power is still mine. It feels a little like our lessons, except the amount of power — and the amount of terror I feel — are so much greater.

The spell collapses with a sound like breaking glass and a smell of burned hair, and Linnet is free. I wobble where I stand, panting, until I’m whirled around to face Connor.

“You little fool! What were you thinking? I told you I’d searched these rooms! What did you think you could find?”

I hear Linnet snuffling, glance over to see Hugh checking her for injury, holding her face in his hands. “I thought it would help me with a vision. If I See something, I can help you find Orrin.”

“And I did find something,” Linnet grates out. “Here.” She hold out a piece of vellum — an invitation, it looks like. Connor snaps it from her fingers.

“An invitation to a party — several months away, I might add. I saw this already,” he says, his face severe. “This tells us nothing.” He stalks to the desk, where Linnet must have found it.

“We should get out of here,” Hugh says. “Take the girls to Julianna. I’ll … try to deal with this. I might be able to repair the spell …”

“Don’t bother. Just make sure he can’t trace any of it to us. We might have to ban him from the castle. Let me know what we need to do.” Connor glares at both of us.

My head spins, and my knees tremble with reaction. My lungs hurt and the scars on my body hum like pins and needles. I look at Linnet. “You’re all right?”

She shrugs, nods, and starts to walk away.

Hugh looks at me. “How did you even begin —” he stops, narrows his eyes. “The amount of magic you used to pull this spell apart, Rhia. Where did it come from?”

I don’t understand this question. I used the power he showed me how to use. “The power well under the castle. You said to use it, since I could.”

“Yes, but — but this much! Rhia, that is too much magic to handle safely! You have to be more careful.”

Linnet turns, sneering. “I thought you knew she was a witch, your Grace,” she says. “Isn’t that why you’re keeping us?”

“Linnet,” I warn, but she isn’t listening.

“Aren’t we just doing what you wanted? We’re here for your amusement, and aren’t we amusing?”

“You’re here by the generosity of Her Highness,” Connor snarls. “So watch your tongue when speaking to her, or to His Grace. And you,” he says, turning to me. “I no longer wonder how it is you managed to land in so much trouble in the first place. I now wonder how you stayed out of it for so long!”

I draw in a sharp breath, angry tears pushing at my eyes. But before I can retort, Linnet does.

“That’s not fair!” she shouts, and we all stop and look at her. She flushes a deep red. “Well, it’s not.” She folds her arms.

Connor folds his as well, purses his lips. “Perhaps not.” He takes a deep breath. “My apologies, Lady Rhia. Let me escort you to your rooms.” He gestures and offers me his arm.

I am too shaky to manage a stiff curtsey, so I stiffly nod my head. Both of us clench-jawed with anger, I place my hand on his arm and allow him to take my weight. Partly because I am too tired suddenly to walk so far without help.

Hugh and Linnet follow, muttering to each other.

When we get to Julianna’s rooms, we find her at her writing desk in the solar. She looks up at us, her expression quizzical. I’m sure my expression is sour: I don’t bother to look at anyone else’s.

“Is something amiss?” she asks us.

Connor deposits me in the nearest chair and bows slightly. “It seems these two took it upon themselves to check my work, my lady,” he says. Which isn’t fair — I was trying to help.

Linnet sulks in the corner. Hugh stands next to his sister and shrugs.

“What do you mean by that? I felt a surge of power a little while ago. But I thought you were working on lessons again. I was going to speak to you about shielding, Hugh. If I can feel these things in a shielded room — and I know at least a few staff have small magics …”

Hugh shakes his head. “Not lessons, Juli. Rhia and Linnet broke into the bishop’s rooms, and fell into a trap spell.”

“They what? What happened?”

“Rhia managed to pull enough power to slow it down until I got there. I didn’t call on you since no one was hurt.”

Julianna’s eyes seem to take up most of her face, but the rest of her expression is stern. “What were you girls even doing in there?”

“You wanted me to use my Sight to find out more. I was trying to do that,” I say quietly.

Everyone stares at me.

Shrugging one shoulder, I look away, pick at the embroidery of a pillow. “Someone has to find Orrin.”

“And did you?” asks Julianna.

“Not yet. But I Saw a map.”

“What map? What was on it?” Hugh asks.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t clear enough.” I stare at my hands, refusing to look at anyone. Anger and humiliation burn in my gut. And fear — for me, for Linnet, for Orrin. For all of us. I wish I knew what I was doing. And this spell on my body, I wish I knew what it was, and why I can’t tell anyone anything important. It’s becoming very hazardous to my health, and everyone else’s opinion of me.

“Why would the two of you go in there on your own? Why wouldn’t you just come to me?” Julianna reaches out a hand to me, but it’s Linnet who answers.

“You would have just said no. And anyway, no one got hurt.”

“You might have been seriously hurt, or compromised everyone’s safety!” Julianna snaps. “I don’t know what you were thinking. And what do you expect from us? We’ve taken you in, hidden you from harm, provided for you —”

“As long as we’re useful,” Linnet snarls.

I bite my lips hard as Julianna looks taken aback. I stand and walk over to Linnet, take her hand. She pulls away, but I stay next to her.

“Orrin is in trouble,” I say, emphasizing each word. “I wanted to try for a better vision, for information. Linnet was helping me. You weren’t.”

Connor steps toward us, his shoulders stiff. “I’ve been searching everywhere for information that will help him.”

I flush and look away.

“I will not compromise everyone’s safety to do it. And I can’t find him if I don’t know where to look! If you want a vision of him so badly, then you come to me. I can take you into Gantry’s rooms safely. Do not — under any circumstances — take such an action again without checking with me first!”

Hugh clears his throat. “Or me, or Juli, of course. One of us.”

Connor shakes his head. “No. Check with me. You two are almost as bad. The lot of you are going to get us all killed, and endanger the crown.”

Julianna and Hugh both look shocked. Her eyes narrow first. Linnet and I both step back.

“I had no idea you felt so ill used by me, Connor. I thought you agreed to help me when we arranged to come here, which by extension helps the crown; the crown of our king, Peter. Or is it Alexander you’re so concerned for? You remember the prince, my husband?” Her voice is quiet and cutting.

Connor’s back is already straight, but his lips go gray. “My duty is first and foremost to the crown and country of Talaria. As always, your Highness.” He bows deeply and leaves the room, and not a one of us breathes until he is gone.

Hugh stirs. “That was unkind, Julianna.” He sighs and walks to the door. “You should be more careful. I’ll talk to him. But you will have to, as well.” He leaves.

Linnet turns and leaves the room as well, just walks back into the hall and is gone. Still feeling weak and wobbly, I contemplate heading for my room and taking a nap. But Julianna pins me with a look, and I don’t think I’m going to get out that easily.