Spindle (Two Monarchies Sequence Book 1) (7 page)

-light comes and goes. is big cold-
Poly heard faint, laborious counting
-four times. snow on snout four times-

-And how long have you had a snout?-
Poly asked.

-always-
said Onepiece, but she heard the uncertainty in his voice.

-snout and fur is
warm
-

Poly sighed and patted him gently on the head. Luck looked as though he had finished the conversation with himself some minutes ago, and was now gazing enquiringly in her direction.

Poly said hastily: “Oh, are you talking to me?”

“Pay attention, Poly,” said Luck reproachfully.

Poly raised her brows but politely refrained from pointing out the glaringly obvious hypocrisy of the command because Luck was looking vaguely injured.

“What?”

“Give me the animal.”

“Why?” asked Poly, deeply suspicious. She had the feeling that Luck was about to begin experimenting with magic again, and although she was glad that the magic wasn’t directed at her, she didn’t particularly like the thought of it being directed at Onepiece, either.

“Because I told you to,” said Luck, in a mildly puzzled tone of voice.

Poly gazed at him thoughtfully for a long moment. Luck, his face decidedly pale, paid no attention, and at last she observed: “People always do what you tell them to, don’t they?”

He didn’t seem to notice
that
question either. He really was very good at avoiding questions. If he didn’t change the subject, he ignored them completely.

By way of trying a new tack, she said: “Your magic’s gone all funny.”

That earned her a baffled look. Luck said: “Poly, you’re being deliberately difficult again.”

She sighed, giving in to the inevitable, and proffered the silently protesting Onepiece, who insisted in her head that he didn’t want to, didn’t want to, didn’t
want
to!

“It’s alright, darling, he won’t hurt you,” she said soothingly, and at Luck’s startled look, added: “I was talking to Onepiece. You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”

-heard that!-

“Probably not,” said Luck agreeably.

-poly! poly, help!-

-Shush, now-
she admonished Onepiece.

He ceased his mental cries of distress but commenced a long, miserable whine in place of it as Luck seized him cavalierly by the scruff, lifting him out of Poly’s hands.

She said: “
Ooof!
That’s strong!”

“Huh. Gratifying,” remarked Luck, dangling the miserable Onepiece before his eyes.

It was hard to see the puppy in the haze of magic that surrounded him, glittering and bright. Luck’s magic was golden and warm, but Onepiece’s was clear, colourless, and utterly impossible to look at for more than a few seconds.

“Moderate your intake, Poly,” said Luck, busily drawing tiny glowing sigils in the air. He swayed on his feet as he scrawled but didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh,” Poly said breathlessly, her hair wafting forward. Onepiece wriggled in Luck’s grasp, snapping playfully at the strands, and Poly heard his giggle again. “How?”

“Relax. Stop staring.”

Poly blinked rapidly, and found that Luck was right. Ever since the dirty town where she had had to search for the snarl of magic that was Onepiece, Poly had been concentrating too hard. She took off her glasses to turn the world into a blur and slowly let go of the tension, relaxing something beyond her eyes until the sparkle of Onepiece’s magic was a pretty glitter instead of an aching blaze.

When she put on her glasses once more, Onepiece was floating aloft in a ring of sigils, looking startled but not displeased. Poly felt rather than heard the constant stream of wonder and fascination running through his mind, and thought sourly that it was all right for Onepiece– he
had
magic. He had a good chance of avoiding anything Luck could throw at him.

She was still darkly considering the unfairness of life when there was a silent kind of
pop!
inside the sigil circle, and Onepiece was no longer a puppy. Instead, a thin child of about five years old hung helplessly in the air, huge brown eyes gazing around him in horror and shock.

He threw back his head and howled, pedalling clumsily with limbs that were unfamiliar and useless, and Poly reached for him without thinking, her antimagic hand snatching away the floating sigils and catching the dirty child before he could fall to the ground.

Luck watched her with a detached kind of interest and said: “Huh. I didn’t expect that.”

“Change him back,” said Poly quietly.

Onepiece’s hands tried and failed to cling to her, the fingers weak from disuse and lack of practise, and she cuddled him closer, one arm supporting the scrawny backside and the other around a back that showed far too many ribs. His howl didn’t cease, but softened into a constant, keening whine that was further smothered in her neck, where Onepiece had buried his head.

“He’s not a dog, Poly.”

“I don’t care,” she said, in a voice like flint. Heat was building from her shoulder to her fingertips, and Poly found herself flexing the fingers of her antimagic arm. The spiral blazed around her arm, a white-hot heat that somehow managed not to burn her.

She said to Luck again: “Change. Him.
Back
.”

Luck took one step backwards, for once very much awake, his eyes watchful and green. There wasn’t a hint of magic to him, and Poly thought with a fizz of surprise that she had really startled him. The fizz caused the antimagic spiral to lose something of its heat, but she wasn’t sorry to see it go. She curled the arm back around Onepiece.

Luck relaxed slightly, exuding magic cautiously, and Onepiece quivered in Poly’s arms, bare skin rippling into fur. When the change had finished, her armful was considerably lighter and Onepiece’s nose significantly wetter where it pressed against her neck.

She said to Luck: “I need an apron. One big front pocket, please.”

And when it was done, and Onepiece was sniffling quietly in the pocket, because Luck was still silent and now quite pale, she said: “Sorry.”

Chapter Five

The next morning, Poly woke heavily, slowly, and unconvincingly. She yawned, fighting off the cobwebs of a dream that had seemed menacing at the time but was becoming more ridiculous the more awake she became. Onepiece was still curled up in her pocket, but when she stirred he poked his nose into the morning air and imparted the pleasing intelligence that he wanted to pee on a tree.

Poly lifted him out of her pocket and sat up, passing a weary hand over her face. Luck was sitting at the other end of the shelter, his legs stretched out in front of him. His magic was still tangled in skeins of brown and gold, but although he was pale he also seemed quite cheerful.

His eyes were on her, as if he’d been waiting for her to wake up, and when she sat up, he immediately said: “I need to look at that curse of yours again.”

Poly resisted the urge to ask why, since she was certain he wouldn’t tell her anyway, and decided not to give Luck the chance to find her ‘difficult’ today. Accordingly, she heroically held her tongue on the subject of her growling stomach and didn’t make a fuss when Luck’s scrutiny of the curse consisted in cupping her face with his hands and peering intently into her eyes as he had done before. She did sigh faintly, but Luck didn’t seem to hear and after a while Poly got the impression that he was no longer quite there behind his eyes. It didn’t seem to be a very important point until it occurred to her to wonder: if Luck wasn’t
there,
where was he?

-trying to get in-
sent Onepiece helpfully, crouching nearby in order, if the furious scratching was any indicator, to share his fleas with her.

Gloomily unsurprised, Poly reached out the part of herself that had found Onepiece effortlessly, and discovered a second presence hovering nearby, humming furiously with power.

-Onepiece says you want to get in-
she thought at it, and the buzzing presence sharpened on her with an almost battering interest.

-Oh, there you are-
it said, and swooped right on past her into a warm, cosy nook that Poly recognised, in some surprise, to be her mind.

The presence that was Luck solidified into Luck’s person, and Poly did the same hastily, forming metaphysical limbs just in time to drag him away from an interesting little corner that was stacked high with thin folders in shiny poison-red.

-You have a lot of bad memories-
observed Luck, leaving the red folders in favour of a bright four-tiered mobile of planets that was spinning despite the fact that there was no breeze, metaphysical or otherwise.

Poly eyed the red folders dubiously. There was almost a whole wall of them.
-Those are bad memories?-

-Yes-

-Can I get rid of them?-
Poly flipped through the top few, and a flurry of thoughts and impressions flowed through her fingertips unpleasantly.

-No. I’ve tried that-

-Is this what my mind looks like?-

-Not really-
said Luck, cautiously poking at the mobile to throw the planets out of alignment. The planets seemed to think about this for a moment, then gently but firmly wafted back into their correct positions.
-It’s an abstract form to help enchanters store and find things more easily-

-Oh-
said Poly blankly.
-Then
you
made it look like this?-

-Of course not. You did. Poly, why did you have short-sword instruction with one of the tower guards?-

Poly looked around in dismay to find that he was sorting through the top drawer of a desk that had been set back into a bookshelf. She darted across the room and slapped the drawer shut, nearly catching Luck’s fingers as she did so.

-You said you wanted to look at the curse-
she reminded him.

-Oh yes-
said Luck.
-It’s over there-

When Poly looked
over there
, it was with the disagreeable feeling that she’d been uneasily ignoring that side of the room from the first moment she entered her mind. Now she knew why: an entire wall was thick with opaque nothingness, shifting and forming almost-shapes. It pulsed, and Poly had the horrible idea that it was actually
growing;
as if it was taking over her mind in a slow, inching crawl.

-What’s it doing?-

-It’s growing-
said Luck, confirming her suspicions. He didn’t sound very much surprised.

-Should it
be
growing?-

-Of course not. It shouldn’t even be there. It should have dissipated when I kissed you-

-If it’s still there, why did I wake up?-
Poly demanded. Even when Luck answered questions he somehow
didn’t.

-Because I kissed you. Be quiet, Poly; I need to concentrate-

She sat back in silence, dissatisfied and worried, to watch Luck at work; but there wasn’t much to watch. He merely sat cross-legged in front of the pulsing mass of curse and stared at it.

Business as usual, then, thought Poly sourly. His magic was still wrong and confused, so when she became tired of looking at the bruised strands, she sighed and began to straighten it out, combing the strands between her fingers as though they were hair.

Luck gave her one, swift look that startled her, but since he went back to ignoring her almost immediately, Poly kept straightening and soothing until the strands glowed and became gold again.

When she at last looked up from her work, Onepiece had arrived and Luck had more or less gone again.

The less was the fact that his meta-body was still present: the more was that his meta-eyes had gone as blank and empty as his real eyes.

-Where’s he gone this time?-
she asked Onepiece uneasily. She didn’t particularly like the idea of Luck roaming about in her mind where she couldn’t keep an eye on him.

-sleep-
said the puppy.

He was hiding behind her skirts again, but Poly thought that this had more to do with the nastily swirling curse than it did with Luck. It occurred to her with a sick, sinking feeling, that the curse was closer to Luck than it had previously been.

-What do you mean, sleep?-

-went too far in-
said Onepiece, shrugging. He didn’t sound particularly sorry, which distantly amused Poly.
-sneaky curse. maybe should kiss him?-

-I don’t think so-
Poly said decidedly.

She made her way to Luck’s side with one wary eye on the gently rolling curse, and knelt beside him, sparring for time by laying him on his back. First, she tried gently patting his cheeks. It was such a natural reaction, and Luck’s cheeks felt so normal and entirely
real
that it took Poly another few moments to realise that it was utterly useless. Neither her hands nor Luck’s cheeks were actually
real
in here.

-Oh, this is ridiculous!-
she said in exasperation.
-Onepiece, what can I do?
Except
-
she added sternly, catching the mulish glint in Onepiece’s brown eyes;
-
Except
kissing him-

-magic-
said Onepiece happily, after a momentary pause.

Poly sighed.
-I don’t have any magic-

-not yours. his-

-But– oh! Oh, I see! Onepiece, you’re a clever boy!-

Onepiece wagged his tail furiously and pranced a few steps forward on his hind legs.
-clever boy, oh yes! clever, clever Onepiece!-

Poly spared him a brief pat on the head, her lips curving in spite of herself. She turned her attention back to Luck just in time to see a thread of magic trail by, unravelling at a languid pace from the bulk of his magic.

Luck wasn’t asleep, then. He was lost somewhere in the curse, and he was using his own magic as a line to try and find his way back.

She gently touched the thread and pinched, bringing the unravelling to a slow and gentle stop. Then she tugged twice, sharply, on it. There was a moment of taut uncertainty before the thread pulled at her fingers once, twice. Poly swiftly wound it in, and a moment later Luck was blinking heavily, his eyes too green and his cheeks too white.

He stared at the manifestation of a ceiling broodingly for some time before he said:
-I seem to have misjudged the sneakiness of your curse-

A narrowed green glance was sent in Poly’s direction, and he added, eyes narrowing still further:
-Or there’s something you’re not telling me, Poly-

-There’s a lot I don’t tell you-
said Poly frankly.
-But nothing pertinent-

-Well,
something’s
making the curse hold on when it should die away-
Luck said.
-My casting was flawless. Besides, you woke up! Why did you do that?-

Poly found herself somewhat maliciously repeating what he’d said earlier:
-I suppose because you kissed me-

-Yes, and that was flawless, too-
added Luck.
-Poly, there’s something very odd about you-

-
Must
we sit here and discuss it in my mind?-

-Yes. I can’t get back out just yet.-

-Oh. Why?-

-Why is the dog here? It keeps panting and drooling-

-Dogs do that-
Poly told him reasonably. She snapped her fingers at Onepiece as if he really was just a dog and he bounded happily into her lap, unresentful.

-Well, make it stop. It puts me off-

-Him-
corrected Poly, more from habit than actual conviction that the reminder would do any good. She briefly checked Luck’s faint halo of magic for any traces of brown, but it was pale gold all the way through.

In that case, it was mostly likely exhaustion that was keeping him here. Poly remembered Persephone’s pallor after the princess produced her first item-based spell and thought ruefully that if Luck was anything like as exhausted, she was likely to have company for a while longer. At least an exhausted Luck was less likely to pry into things that wouldn’t bear scrutiny.

Poly found herself stiff and sore by the time Luck was rested enough to pull himself back to his own body. An exhausted Luck was much easier to deal with than a well-rested one: most of his activity consisted in gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling manifestation and blinking occasionally. Poly had crossed her ankles and amused Onepiece with her fingers, which eventually produced a few tiny drops of blood that the puppy contritely licked away; and when Luck vanished without warning she blinked herself back outside, stretching cautiously. She wriggled fingers that were entirely unscathed and was slightly abashed to find herself surprised.

“Right!” said Luck, startling Onepiece into a brief growl. “Journey spell.”

He strode out of the shelter while Poly was still trying to gather her legs together in a semblance of order sufficient to stand, and she was relieved to find that while she’d been stretching, he had been fetching breakfast. There was a fresh supply of bacon and eggs for her, piled even higher than yesterday’s ration, and for Onepiece there was a papery bowl of suspicious stew that tottered drunkenly on shaky paper supports.

When breakfast was satisfyingly gone, Poly set her plate down. It disappeared before her fingers quite left the edge of the porcelain, making Onepiece first jump and then gulp faster with an anxious look at his own bowl.

From outside the shelter, Poly heard Luck say: “Huh. Poly? Poly, come here.”

She found him some distance from the shelter, squinting up at the mountains where a clear line of sight ran through the ranges. It converged on a peak in the far distance which, to Poly’s straining eyes, was still haloed by a slight tinge of orange. The Journey spell was pointing straight at it, for which Poly was grateful: she had a brief, unpleasant memory from yesterday of walking through another mountain. She would be glad not to do that again.

Luck was pinching the end of the Journey spell closest to him. He looked faintly startled.

“I need a hand,” he said. “Specifically, the antimagic one. Reach in the other end, will you?”

“What am I looking for?” asked Poly, obligingly reaching her spiral-bound hand into the scroll. It passed through effortlessly until she was up to the elbow in scroll.

“Small glass vial. It’ll have a lead stopper in the top and a lead seal on the side. Pull it out.”

Poly did so, rummaging around the smooth sides of the scroll, and wasn’t surprised to find it bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. By the time she felt the vial under her fingertips she was on tiptoes and straining with her arm shoulder-deep in the scroll.

“Got it. But it’s tight.”

“Rip it out,” said Luck carelessly, and Poly looked at him sharply because his magic was anything
but
careless just then.

Oh well
, she thought, and tore the vial from its socket. Nothing happened, so she pulled her arm out all the way, sinking back onto her heels, and observed the tiny glass bottle. It was top-heavy with lead, and swirled with a vaguely yellow gaseous substance. Poly was unimpressed.