Seeing is Believing (6 page)

"Where are we?" Ty asked first, deciding that was the most important question. Though close on its heels, "Why did you free me?"

"In a forest and because I was paid to," the mage replied quickly, both singularly useless answers. "Come on, we have to meet up with the rest."

"The rest," Ty repeated, crossing his arms and not taking a step.

"Yes, the rest of your merry band of rescuers," the mage replied smartly, stepping towards him. He stepped into a patch of moonlight, giving Ty his first good look at him. His hair was slightly mussed, light in color and tied back behind his head. His features were regular except for the long scar that traced diagonally from his left eyebrow to the right side of his jaw.

The mage took advantage of his distraction, crossing the rest of the space between them and grabbing his arms. Ty resisted weakly, but it wasn't as if he could really get away from the mage. Even if he did, he was in no position to do anything more than starve or get recaptured. Perhaps one of the "merry band of rescuers" would be more forthcoming.

It took a good half hour and a dozen shouts in his ears before they found the small camp set up by the mage's compatriots. If Ty hadn't already been convinced of the group's less than legal standing, the camp would've made him even more suspicious. There were two more men, four horses, and no campfire.

There was actually nothing to indicate a camp at all, except that the horses were tethered to the nearby trees and the two men were sitting on the ground, staring at what looked to be a flat, circular serving dish. It was giving off a faint glow, bathing their faces in soft, silver light.

"I thought you said no more scrying," the mage said accusingly as he dragged Ty into the tiny clearing.

"He's reporting, not scrying," one of the men replied absently, climbing to his feet. "Any problems?"

"Nope," the mage replied cheerfully, finally releasing his grip on Ty's arm. He hadn't let go the entire trek here, but Ty was too busy catching his breath to really care. Glancing across the clearing, he saw the glow of the dish fade. "The guards won't notice a thing until the morning."

"Good, that will give us time to get further away," the third man declared as he approached. "Caj, get them something to eat. Can you ride?"

Ty nodded, swallowing a protest. He was exhausted from the trip through the woods, and they were going to make him ride—likely for the night, if they truly meant to get away from the city, which couldn't be very distant if they needed to get themselves away during the night before a ruckus was raised about his disappearance.

"The portal got us close enough," the mage was saying, and Ty decided that he wasn't in charge, and neither was the man handing him a heavy roll. "But I'm completely out of reserves."

"As we expected. It shouldn't matter—"

"Do I get an explanation now?" Ty interrupted, drawing the attention of all three men. "Who are you and why did you free me?"

"Well, isn't that grateful sounding," the mage said, looking amused and dangerous. His eyes glittered in the moonlight and the scar across his face stood out vividly. Ty glared at him, unimpressed and tempted to throw the roll at him.

"Reid," the one in charge said sharply, and the mage—Reid—shrugged and applied himself to the food handed to him.

"My name is Ari, that's Caj, and he's Reid," Ari introduced himself and then pointed to the two men with him. "We rescued you because of your magic."

"What about it?" Ty asked, confused because that wasn't at all what he'd expected, especially with Reid's comment about payment for rescuing him.

"We're members of the Vasijile," Ari said, almost gently, and
that
made sense. The Vasijile was a rebel group that protested the use of suppressants in all but the King's Mages. They frequently "rescued" mages in prison for breaking the edict against using magic unlicensed or for not taking their suppressants. Likely they thought Ty was such an offender.

Ari took his silence as acceptance and turned away to confer with Reid. Ty frowned thoughtfully, debating whether to enlighten them—but he'd been in that cell for longer than he could remember. By his reckoning, almost a year, though that could be wildly off. He wasn't going to throw away his rescue just because it wasn't for the right reason.

*~*~*

They didn't ride the entire night through. Ty was well aware they stopped because of him, but he refused to apologize for not having rested before the trip or not having the stamina to do a nightlong ride.

They stopped sometime in the small hours of the morning, closer to dawn than Ty thought he'd last when they had started out. He all but fell off his horse and into the bedroll Caj hastily set up for him. He fell asleep quickly, the bedding no more comfortable than the pallet in his jail cell.

When he woke up, it was bright again. He didn't immediately move, aching from more movement than he'd had in ages and the strong urge to just go back to sleep. He could hear movement around him, the horses stamping their feet behind him, the crackling of a small fire in front of him, and the quiet murmur of voices too far away to be anything but indistinct.

He couldn't get his mind to shut down, now that it was awake. Ty sighed, shifting a little. He should get up and demand more answers—like what they planned to do with him now, and maybe later, when they'd gotten far enough away from the city. Not that Ty really expected much of a search effort, not when it was obvious magic had spirited him away.

Perhaps they'd even blame the cooks for not properly seasoning Ty's food with the suppressant that kept his magic locked away, even if that wouldn't explain how Ty had managed to get away without ever having learned how to use his magic at all.

"You should get up." Reid's voice came from too close and Ty tensed, wondering how the mage had managed to sneak up on him. He could have been right next to Ty the entire time without Ty realizing.

"Why?" Ty muttered, but he was already shifting to get up. It wasn't as if he was going to get more sleep with Reid hovering right behind him, and Ari and Caj's soft conversation nearby.

"We need to get moving again," Reid informed him cheerfully. Ty stared at him, frowning as he slowly dragged himself out of the confines of the bedroll. The scar across Reid's face was even more livid in daylight, which meant it had to be recent. Reid raised an eyebrow pointedly—the eyebrow the scar ran through—and just smirked at Ty.

Ty dropped his gaze a little guiltily, but didn't say anything as he carefully rolled up the bedroll. At a loss what to do next, he glanced back at Reid to find himself the subject of Reid's stare. It was only fair, Ty supposed, since he'd stared earlier, but the smirk on Reid's lips was just infuriating.

"What?" Ty finally asked when Reid didn't look away or say anything.

"Unusual hair," Reid declared, reaching forward quickly and tugging on a dirty, tangled bit of Ty's hair. Ty flinched back, annoyed because his hair was well within his boundaries of personal space. Flushing, partly from his reaction and partly because that wasn't the first time he'd heard such a comment, Ty crossed his arms and glowered.

Reid just laughed, almost tauntingly, and ducked past Ty to scoop up his bedroll. He casually strolled over to the horses, and Ty wrestled with the urge to … kick him in the shin. He'd probably be laughed at for his trouble, though. Still scowling, he turned his back on Reid, only to almost run into Caj.

"Eat quickly," Caj instructed, handing him a steaming bowl of what looked to be porridge with a chunk of bread resting on top. Ty took the bowl with a nod of acknowledgement, watching as Ari put out the fire.

It was obvious they'd been waiting for him to wake, so Ty ate as quickly as he could without choking, not wanting to hold them up any further. He wasn't sure how far they were from the city, but he now that he'd had a bit of sleep he was rather sure the guard wouldn't find it sufficient to throw him back into his tiny cell—they'd probably just execute him instead of keeping him imprisoned for life.

Reid led a horse over to him, the gentlest, but Ty didn't protest. He wasn't sure he had the energy to handle a more spirited horse. Given how docile the mare was, Ty wouldn't be surprised if they always used this horse for liberated mages who didn't know how to ride.

Swinging into the saddle, Ty urged his horse into following Caj's, settling easily into the pace of the ride. Reid was behind him, with Ari riding ahead. The next time they stopped he'd ask where they were going and how long it would take to get there ... and what the plans were for him—surely they didn't break mages out of prison just to let them loose on the world again.

Ty didn't let himself think about it for too long, distracting himself with the scenery around them. They were following a thin dirt path through the woods, not a main throughway at all. There were signs of wagon wheels long past, their grooves dug into the path's edges.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been outside. There was something depressing about that, but Ty ignored it, focusing on the sunlight warm on his back and the soft breeze that ruffled his dirty hair. What he would give for a bath and a proper shave. Not that he had anything.

Reid's horse moseyed its way forward, walking next to Ty's. There was barely room for both beasts on the path side by side, but Reid didn't seem to notice or care. Ty looked askance at him, annoyed all over again when Reid gave him that damn infuriating, haughty stare that should have been ridiculous, especially with the scar distorting his features.

Only, defying reason, it wasn't. Ty scowled in return and nearly nudged his horse to go faster. That would mean running into Caj though, and Ty wasn't that desperate to get away from Reid. The man
had
rescued him. Ty probably should thank all of them, even if he was still feeling like there was some catch he didn't know about yet.

"Does it run in the family?" Reid asked, blatantly eyeing his hair again. Ty rolled his eyes, utterly conscious again that he was filthy.

"Surely you've seen another redhead in your lifetime," Ty said slowly, trying to keep his annoyance out of his voice. He rather thought he'd failed though, with the way Reid seemed smug and amused.

"Not one so…" Reid trailed off, studying Ty thoughtfully. "Dirty."

Ty glowered, wondering if Ari and Caj would return him to the prison if he knocked Reid off his horse.

"I apologize for my current hygiene, but I would like to see you spend months in prison and come out clean." Ty snapped each word, clear and succinct. He set his jaw, turning his gaze to focus on the back of Caj's shirt. If he looked at Reid, he might actually push him off his horse, and he didn't think that would do anyone much good, except perhaps Reid—and then only if he hit his head on the way down.

Reid laughed, loudly enough that Caj glanced back at them curiously. Ty ignored him too, not willing to explain why Reid was so amused.

"You're upper class," Reid declared when he got himself under control. "Oh, you must have loved prison."

Ty grit his teeth and ignored him, hoping that Reid would get the hint and fall back again.

"It explains why you can ride," Reid continued thoughtfully, giving no heed to Ty's obvious displeasure at his continued company. "Though normally they're nicer to the upper class who don't take their suppressants, or they take them for King's Mages."

He paused, obviously waiting for Ty to explain. Ty didn't bother—he hadn't done anything magical to be imprisoned, but he wasn't going to tell Reid that. The bastard would probably demand to know
what
he'd done, and Ty wasn't telling anyone that.

"Hey," Reid said, reaching out and tugging on the sleeve of Ty's prison-issue shirt. Ty startled, nearly unseating himself to Reid's laughter. "You shouldn't ignore me."

"Why not?" Ty asked angrily, carefully shifting his seat so he wasn't in danger of falling anymore. "You aren't exactly being a pleasant conversationalist."

Reid snickered and Ty scowled, looking away. He looked back, hearing the shift of clothing, in time to smack Reid's hand away from tugging on his sleeve again.

"If you are such a simpleton that you cannot entertain yourself, I advise you go talk to Caj," Ty snapped, earning a slow, smug smile.

"I am entertaining myself," Reid informed him, turning up his nose haughtily, and Ty tightened his grip on his horse's reins to keep him from reaching out and shoving Reid off his horse.

"Quiet," Caj called over his shoulder, and Reid's smile melted away, replaced with a more solemn expression than Ty would have credited him with. Caj stopped his horse and Reid and Ty followed suit.

It took him a minute to hear the sound of hooves, fast approaching. Caj twisted around to look at Reid, signaling in a way Ty didn't understand. Reid nodded, frowning in concentration. He stretched out his hand and a shower of sparks, less intense in the daylight, rained down from his fingers.

Nothing happened, and Ty shifted uneasily. Reid straightened, nodding again to Caj, who turned to Ty and held a single finger up to his lips. Reid raised an eyebrow mockingly, likely remembering Ty's unwillingness to stay quiet when Reid broke him out.

Ty glared, but didn't say anything, sitting as still as he could. The approaching horses grew louder as they neared, and Reid cursed under his breath, showering more sparks as he did something else. Ty's stomach flipped—wouldn't it be just his luck to be freed for a day, annoyed to death by an infuriating mage, and then dragged back to his cell to spend the rest of his life in a windowless cage where he almost welcomed being roughed up by the guards, simply because it meant that someone still remembered he existed.