Marked For Magic (23 page)

Cassandra turned back to Alicia who stood before the forbidden hearth with narrowed eyes. Somehow, the girl had swayed Tab and Cecile to disobey the explicit instruction to keep her from the fire, offering an open link to the demon.

The flames snuffed out with Cassandra’s quick glance. “Now, we are alone, you
will
explain, in all detail, how you called up this monster from the depths. And more importantly, tell me why.”

Alicia’s expression became doll-like. The girl stared with now vacant eyes as though her life spark were already imprisoned. Tendrils of evil visibly wrapped around her, like ivy on an ancient wall, a potent message for any who had the skill to see.

“Do not think you can deceive me, ignore me, or best me. To make the attempt could break your mind. If you do not answer satisfactorily, you will spend a month alone in the tower to help loosen your tongue.”

The girl’s fragile defense, built on silence, fell away and yet the nameless and powerful force still held her in its coils.

Cassandra focused her concentration on Alicia. “Speak, and do it now.”

Alicia grimaced, seeming to fight to make a sound. Slow, she whispered. “When Nin left, the mark came.” A gasp interrupted her words. “So, I covered my hand with the bandage. I couldn’t go with her—”

A choke gurgled in the girl’s throat. She coughed before she began again, her voice lower still. “Nin wanted him all to herself. She told me so at the market. He didn’t want me either, but another did.” A fleeting smile twisted the pale lips, and Alicia’s voice quivered with a brief note of power before it faded again to a low murmur. “The day after Nin left, while I raked the hearth, the voice called to me from the ashes. He told me what I should do to increase my strength. So I did it. I wanted to be powerful and show them what I could be.

“The spells he told were simple, at first, but when I was frightened and wanted it to stop—” Alicia’s lips turned blue as she struggled for air to continue the tale. “The creature, he wouldn’t let me…” The whisper diminished, and only gasps echoed in the room.

Cassandra lent her support, quelling the barbs of control in the girls mind, and enabling her to speak.

“He said if I didn’t carry on, I would die. My family would die. I was afraid!” This last spewed out in a rush.

Powerful waves of fear, strong and heated, almost shoved Cassandra from her feet. This was not the girl’s fear of her. Oh, no, this was much stronger. The evil had wormed its way into the girl’s very spirit.

Compassion filled her. The wretched girl bore the full weight of her actions and carried a darkness in her soul. Perhaps she would not survive long with the knowledge of what she had done.

All the events of the past months played out in Cassandra’s mind like moving pictures. The craving and call for power beckoned even in memory. Sorrowful deep breaths were the only thing to break the silence as she delved deeper into the girl’s mind.

Alicia crumpled to her knees. She sobbed with great wracking gulps by the time all was revealed, and Cassandra sank into a seat opposite, sickened. The demon had brought forth this evil plague to strengthen itself, and neither she nor the Mage discovered its existence until too late.

“The worst element of your crime is concealment of all you did,” she said. She was unsure how all could have remained hidden. Perhaps a mechanism of the creature’s, or perhaps her own complacency allowed this to occur. The protection she gave to the land would be far more vigilant in future.

She pressed her fingers to her forehead, but did not lose her focus on the abject young woman, who huddled on her knees, rocking back and forth. “So, folly turns to evil this simply. If only the cure were as easy to achieve. Unfortunately, it won’t be, and the girl you envied, with courage so much greater than yours, she will suffer for you.”

Some might disagree with her, but she felt it important this girl knew of the next set of consequences for her actions.

The slender prone body twisted as though from a physical injury. “I didn’t mean to do it. Please.”

“I wish I could help you live with your guilt, but I cannot. You will bear the mark of evil your whole life, for any who can see. You will remain here in isolation until we can find a skilled practitioner with the right level of knowledge, one who is prepared to accept you as their charge and watch over you. I cannot free you.”

Still the girl did not raise her glance.

“Once the evil is undone,” Cassandra continued, “you will be safe perhaps from further contact with the demonic force you have unleashed. In time, with help, your pain may ease. Do you understand?”

The girl lifted her head. Strands of hair hid her tear-streaked face as she nodded.

Cassandra’s saddest expectations fulfilled, she crossed the room. She opened the door into the corridor and called to the guards. “Take her to the room at the top of the southern tower. She is to remain there under guard.”

The girl shuffled out, shoulders hunched so her long hair hung to her knees.

Bitterness lodged in Cassandra’s stomach. This girl, who might have had all kinds of talents and a future within the magical community, lost, and now the worst consequence of all—she had to find Nin and explain Thabit’s decision.

Sorrow filled her, for she could only guess what the result might mean to their developing love. She hurried down the silent corridors and prayed Nin would understand, be willing, and have the courage to take the steps needed.

The three girls were dressed in their nightshifts, preparing for bed, and their voices hushed as she entered the room.

Cecile brushed through Nin’s curls, while Tab folded clothes.

“Girls, I need Nin to come with me for a little while. Where is her cloak? We need to talk alone for a short time,” Cassandra said.

Cecile put down the brush. Nin smiled, and Tab passed the cloak.

“It’s all right, my lady. I believe I know what you will tell me.”

Most likely, she did. Nin’s powers had grown so much over the last days, it was possible she knew much of Thabit’s mind. Perhaps even her own thoughts drifted open to Nin’s skill.

Cecile and Tab waved a swift good-bye as she and Nin left the bedchamber.

They walked down to the workroom where she still felt the anguish from the wretched girl who had knelt weeping. “Come sit with me. I must be reassured you truly understand what this ritual Thabit plans will mean.”

Nin bowed her head as they sat together.

“Do you understand you will give yourself to him as part of the magic? The ritual will increase and share the power you have gained, will give you unity with him. The act will take you beyond being a student and into a much higher level.”

The dark eyes did not turn to her but stared into the hearth. The fire she had doused earlier, sparked under Nin’s glance to heat the chilled room. She took the girl’s cold hand. “You know this means he will take your body, yes?”

Nin gave a small nod of agreement, and despite the girl’s pallor, Cassandra pressed the message home. “This will not be simple love making, but a journey into power. He will not be able to treat you as I know he would wish, but as the ritual demands.”

“I know.” Nin still did not turn to her.

She must finish the explanation or her own courage would fail at the delicate pale face with the wide dark eyes.

“There may be pain with no pleasure for you, and the culmination of the ritual will take you once more to the burning plane, to face this threat to us all.”

“Yes, my lady.”

She squeezed the girl’s hand. Their choices few, she squashed any regrets.

To send for a willing priestess to participate in the ritual would take precious time they did not have. She could not take the role; she relinquished such a path long ago. The price to focus the power of her skills required she worked as a solitary light to offer wisdom to the young. Cecile and Tab were still students, both now far less skilled than Nin, and none of them held this strange dazzling power Nin had acquired.

The love between Nin and Thabit would join them fast, and bind the combination of their power in a way perhaps even a skilled priestess could not.

“What should I do, my lady? I cannot fail to act. No matter what, I love him. I am meant to do this. I must become who I should be, and things cannot always be as I wish.”

The words sighed bleak as the winter wind in the darkened courtyard. Nin looked up, and she gave the girl all the reassurance she could. “I know, my dear, your love will make the ritual more powerful still. It is not a lack of your power I fear. My fears are for the love between you and the Mage. I would hate for the love you bear him to be twisted by what may happen. Will you love him still if he causes you pain in such a way? You may need to bear much to gain the power you both will need to defeat this thing. Do you truly feel ready to take such strides into power?”

Nin laced her fingers together as she got up from her seat and took a couple of paces. “Nothing will stop me loving him, and I will do this. I would do it even if I didn’t love him, so the evil would end. It is within me to help, I think.”

The young woman’s resolve strengthened Cassandra’s conviction that the gods themselves had readied Nin for the ritual Thabit planned. “You have great courage, and that will help you in this task and the one to follow. I will send you with all the protection I can muster. Thabit knows it. He will protect you, too.”

“I know.”

Part of her longed to accompany them to the plane of fire and fear, but she must work at a different level. The greatest aid she could give both of them was to see that Nin knew all she needed for the ceremony. “I will teach you the incantations you will use during the ritual, and through it, you will achieve great strength. You will be united with Thabit, in this world and others. You already know the laws of how such power should be used, and Thabit will guide and help you.”

She stood and embraced Nin. “I envy you your love, I am ashamed to say. He cares for you so—it is writ large in all he does—and I see your love for him as clearly. Tomorrow, you and I will work together. I would ask you not to see Thabit until it is time for you to meet in ritual.”

Nin’s little gulp tore at her.

“May I still speak to him?”

“This night, Nin, yes, but once we begin the preparations, no. You will need to focus all your attention on them.”

The small nod burned her heart. She smothered her frustration at the one who had caused all this.

“Please, my lady, don’t be angry with Alicia. I’m not.”

“You shame me.” She bowed her head. “You are right. Alicia simply became what evil, and her own lack of courage dictated, a mere pawn in the hands of an entity far more powerful than herself. Perhaps if we look deep enough, we might find a kernel of good in her being.”

Nin took on a faraway look, and a shimmer of power stirred the air. “Perhaps, given time.”

“Yes, we can only hope that is the truth, and it will help all those who have been hurt by this terror. Go to your bed now. I will speak with Thabit before I sleep so he understands you know and will take part in this ritual.”

Nin gave her a small smile. “If you would, my lady, I would be grateful.” Scarlet flushed Nin’s face. An apprehensive girl suddenly replaced the young priestess with wisdom. “I don’t think I could tell him myself. I hope he’s not angry. I’d hate it if he were.”

Cassandra shook her head and stroked the heat of Nin’s soft cheek. “No, he is not angry with you. I’ll speak with him. Leave it a little before you say anything to him tonight so I can talk with him first.”

“I’ll do as you say. Rest well, my lady.” Nin clasped the gray cloak about her and lifted the hood before she left.

For several minutes, Cassandra sat in thought before she went up to the tower where the Mage waited.

Thabit sat before the hearth and half rose from his seat as she entered the room. She stilled his courtesy with a small wave of her hand, and he sank back into the chair. His glance moved again to the hearth. The habit of fire staring was one he and Nin shared. Cassandra sat opposite him, and when he turned to look at her, his gaze blazed hot.

“I have spoken with Nin. How she knew, I cannot tell, but she knew. She understands and is willing to accompany you. She will share her gift to help fulfill this task.”

He closed his eyes and his lips narrowed. “I suspected as much,” he whispered. The knuckles gleamed white in his knotted fingers. “All of this is for the right reasons, my lady, yes?”

“Yes, I believe your plan is the only one feasible. There can be little doubt. You know it, my friend.”

He stretched his hands toward the fire and gave a small nod without glancing at her.

“I explained as fully as I could to Nin. She knows this is more than a simple exercise in passion and will not enter it unprepared. I will see to it.”

His soft sigh made her heart ache for them.

“You two will have a lifetime together of love once this has ended.” Her words were not enough, and she fell silent, for she could think of nothing to soothe his anxiety.

He laced and unlaced his fingers while he stared at the fire. Even his body language spoke in the same way as Nin’s. Their communication echoed their union, and she prayed the strength of their love would overcome everything they must face.

“You will not see her until the night of the ritual. We are lucky in the timing of events. The moon is full three days from now, and it will lend extra power to the ceremony. I have told her that after tonight she cannot speak with you. I will work with her in preparation, so whatever reassurance you wish to give her, do so tonight.” She looked away pained by his self-doubt.

“I’ll do so now, my lady, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Thabit. I have other tasks to fulfill.” She got up, curtsied to him in all formality for he deserved the honor, and left, closing the door quietly behind her. His sadness had crept into her bones.

She gathered her wits and put the thoughts of their love from her. A glance out a small stair window showed the snow in deepening drifts. Perhaps the cold would help stave off the spread of the fever. She could only hope so. Though it would make life hard for the refugees who huddled in makeshift shelters, the cold might be enough to slow the fever’s grip. The outcome of Thabit and Nin’s journey would right the rest, if they were successful.