Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (37 page)

“Out!” she shouted at the apprentice, who jumped in fright and scurried from the room.

Elpidia immediately regretted her outburst but pushed the thought away. It wouldn’t do her any good to clutter her mind thinking about things that didn’t really matter. She needed to focus on one thing, and that was healing herself.

Taking the vial of Caldan’s blood from her leather case, she shook her head at the little that remained. She’d only been taking a drop or two every day, but her supply was already running low, and she couldn’t tell if it was having any effect on her. Now she had mice to experiment on, it would diminish even faster. She needed more. More blood, more time.

Clenching her fists, she blew out a frustrated breath. Still, it was good they were finally rid of Bells and Amerdan. There was something not quite right about either of them, and as far as she was concerned, the Protectors could handle them and leave Caldan and Miranda, and her, alone.

She rinsed a cloth in a bowl of water and used it to wipe Miranda’s face and hands. She really needed a bath—they both did—but that would have to wait until she’d taken care of her experiments with the mice. The Protectors were bound to have a physiker in the building, or know of one close by; they might even have their own stores of herbs and chemicals she could use.

Miranda groaned and squirmed as Elpidia wiped her skin. Yes, whatever that man and Caldan had done to her, she was reacting positively. She hadn’t seen this much movement from Miranda since they escaped Anasoma.

The wooden floor creaked behind her, and she turned her head to see Caldan enter the room. He immediately looked to Miranda and stepped to her side.

“How is she?” he asked.

“Better,” replied Elpidia, returning to the bowl once more to rinse the cloth. “Whatever you did, it’s working. Will she be whole again soon?” Elpidia struggled to keep a flash of jealousy from showing in her words and immediately felt ashamed. She had no right to be envious just because she was no closer to a cure for herself. She busied herself with Miranda, wiping her face and hands a second time, not daring to meet Caldan’s eye.

“No. Joachim did his best, but she needs someone better than him at… sorcery to heal her. He’s given Miranda more time, stopped her mind degrading, but—”

“Let me guess; there’s a hook? It was convenient him turning up now.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caldan nod.

“It was now or later. If Anasoma hadn’t been invaded, then he’d have found me anyway. Perhaps it’s for the best it was earlier. It certainly was for Miranda.”

Elpidia sniffed. “Some of your troubles have been lifted, then, or at least lessened. Which brings me to my troubles.”

Caldan’s hand brushed Miranda’s hair.

He really does care for the girl,
Elpidia thought. Though it hadn’t looked like there was anything serious between them to her.

“What do you need?” asked Caldan. “The Protectors should be able to help, though they’re busy right now.”

“I’ll ask them for what I need; you don’t need to worry about that. But… I need more from you. More blood.”

“Do you know how ghoulish that sounds?”

“You’ve done it before, and it’s helped me, it really has. But now my supply has run low.” Immediately, she regretted her words. It might sound as if he were just a commodity to her.

“Prepare your needle and vial, then,” replied Caldan, to her surprise. “Let’s get this over with again. I hope your research isn’t a dead end. Have you thought of verifying your theory somehow, before relying on it?”

“I don’t know anyone I could approach to discuss this with. Perhaps there’s someone in the capital but… not anyone I’m familiar with. They must have master alchemists and physikers, though.”

Caldan approached her and rolled up his sleeve. “I don’t have a problem helping you, now that I’ve agreed to. But with Anasoma and the Indryallans, with Miranda and Bells, and now with this warlock Joachim appearing… things have become complicated.”

Elpidia prepared her instruments. “You look after Miranda and yourself. I don’t require any supervision.”

Caldan was right. Complications meant she might have less time for experiments than she thought.

•

They’d left Miranda asleep an hour ago, and the warlock had dragged Caldan after him while he ate and washed up. They now sat in a corner of the Protectors’ courtyard, watching the commotion as Masters Annelie and Mold organized groups to search for Bells. Caldan had been told his compass, though it should be working perfectly, couldn’t pinpoint her location, only her general whereabouts. Obviously, one of the
crafting
s she’d recovered could be used to mask where she was, something Caldan hadn’t thought possible, but Joachim had shrugged, saying he had a similar
crafting
as well. Now she’d had time to make other
crafting
s.

“What do you know about your
trinket
?” asked Joachim.

“Not much,” admitted Caldan. “Though now I suspect it was what enabled my sword to penetrate a sorcerer’s shield, which was what led to you finding me.”

Joachim rubbed his eyes and leaned back against a wall. He looked close to sleeping.

The coercive sorcery had drained him, realized Caldan. He didn’t use it for long, and yet… he looks like he’s missed a night’s sleep.

“Are you tired? Aren’t we going to join one of the groups looking for Bells?”

Joachim waved a hand in the negative. “They won’t find her. At best, they’ll keep her occupied with evading them, and out of mischief. They’re competent enough, so she won’t risk attacking them; there’s no gain in it for her. So, she’ll wait. After I’ve rested, we can lend a hand. I’d rather not face her while I’m weak, and I doubt you’ll get the better of her again.”

Blood rushed to Caldan’s face, but he knew the warlock spoke the truth. He looked away, thankful no one else could hear Joachim’s frank appraisal of his abilities.

“How long until you recover?”

“A few hours, perhaps longer. It took a lot out of me. That type of sorcery isn’t one I’ve used for a while, and unless you’re practicing often, you can get rusty.”

“And how do you practice?”

Joachim flashed him a furtive look. “Best you don’t know some things for the moment, though that might change. As I said, what happens next depends on your honesty and your behavior.”

Rubbing his spiky hair, Caldan nodded.
So you keep reminding me.

The warlock sat there, regarding him calmly, and Caldan realized he hadn’t answered the man’s earlier question about his
trinket
. What should he tell him? There wasn’t much he could reveal, since he knew hardly anything himself. His parents… well, they weren’t going to get in trouble, and Joachim would know he was an innocent in whatever they’d been mixed up in. Perhaps this was his chance to gather some information.

“I only found out about the
trinket
a few months ago,” he began. “My parents died when I was young, and I was raised by monks on Eremite. It was only when I was leaving they told me about my parents and gave me the ring.”

Joachim grunted, though his face gave no hints as to his thoughts. “So, you’ve no idea who they really were, or why they hid themselves away on an island?”

“No. They’re a mystery to me. As for the
trinket
, I took to wearing it after smith-
crafting
a shielding wristband. One of the masters in the Protectors—Simmon—took me along when they went to apprehend a rogue sorcerer. I attacked the sorcerer and my sword was somehow able to penetrate his shield. Though I’ve no idea how or why it activated then. I didn’t even know it was the
trinket
. Nothing seemed to change about it. It gave no indication.”

“No, the
trinkets
attuned to the Touched aren’t flashy.”

“
Trinkets
? So there’s more than one type of them?”

“That there is. But before I explain a little more, I have a few other questions. Have you been hungrier than usual sometimes? Has anything out of the ordinary happened to you?”

He knows
, realized Caldan.
He knows exactly what’s happening to me, and it has something to do with my
trinket
. But when he’d injured Marlon, he hadn’t known of the
trinket
. Which means whatever’s been happening is still related to me, and the
trinket
is something additional. If Joachim knows, there’s no point dissembling.

“Sometimes I get hot, like my blood is heating up, and I start sweating.” Caldan looked at Joachim, who nodded at him to continue. “Everything slows down, as if the world is moving through honey. But… it doesn’t affect me, and to others it looks as if I’m moving faster than normal. It happened when I was sparring with Simmon, and I beat him, though my sword work isn’t that good. It was because I was moving faster, wasn’t it? It comes and goes, though; I can’t control it.”

“That’s normal. Control comes with time, and with some
crafting
s and
trinket
s.”

“But what is it? What’s happening to me? And what does it have to do with my parents?”

Joachim stretched his arms above his head and yawned. “The eating is usually the first sign we look for. Your body starts using more energy and needs food, as well as building your bones and muscles to deal with the added strain. I’m sure you’ve noticed you’ve filled out more the last year or so?”

“Yes. But I thought that was the exercises the monks prescribed.”

“They would have helped, but part of what you are drives your body to change. You won’t become a hulking monster—” Joachim gave a brief smile. “—but you will grow more solid, denser. Then there’s the extra burst of speed, which usually only happens when you’re in danger. It’s almost uncontrollable, and you can’t rely on it.”

“I know that already. So far, it’s mostly been troublesome, or not happened when I needed it to.”

“You are what we call Touched. It’s been studied for centuries, but no one really knows what happens; but we do know it’s passed down through families, which means it’s a hereditary trait.”

“Like blue eyes?”

Joachim nodded. “Exactly. Sometimes it skips a generation, or disappears entirely. We keep track of those who are Touched. The emperor values them… you, highly. Your ancestor Karrin Wraythe was Touched, and in the emperor’s service. The
trinket
was a reward, though it remained the emperor’s property. It has certain functions that helped her in her… role.”

There were many tasks suited to someone who was Touched. Caldan though back with sick dread to the soldiers he’d killed so easily. Joachim’s reluctance to clarify what she did led him to the obvious conclusion.

“She was an assassin?” he ventured.

Joachim pursed his lips. “She made certain problems go away, yes.”

“I’m not like that,” Caldan said firmly.

“It’s not up to me to decide what’s to be done with you.”

Though all this time he’s led me to believe it is, Caldan thought. “There was a man who escaped Anasoma with us. Called himself Amerdan, a shopkeeper I knew by chance. He… moved like I can sometimes. Then he told me he could control it. Are you searching for him as well?”

Joachim shook his head, looking thoughtful. “I’ve never heard of him, and we keep a close watch on those that have potential. What does he look like?”

“Unremarkable. Average height and weight, short hair.” Caldan found himself trying to think of any features of the man that stood out, but nothing came to mind, though Elpidia thought he was attractive. “He moves with grace, and so far, with all we’ve been through, nothing has rattled him.”

“Well, that sounds familiar, but if he was like you, he would be heavier than you describe; it’s a necessity or your body can’t handle the stresses placed upon it. So, you say he has the same abilities as you? How do you know?”

“One of the Indryallans came after us. Bells called him a Bleeder. He killed the soldiers with us before Amerdan overcame him. I saw it myself. Amerdan moved fast. After, he told me that we were the same, and he could teach me.”

At his words, Joachim stiffened, frowning. “That’s… odd. It’s possible that we’ve missed some of you, but highly unlikely. Something doesn’t sound right about this Amerdan. Does he wear any
trinket
rings like yours?”

Not one,
thought Caldan. Joachim implied there were different types of
trinkets
the Touched used. And he only asked after rings, not earrings or amulets. He kept the revelation to himself. “No, none that I could see.”

“And he was unremarkable-looking, not heavy-set, you say?”

“Yes. I thought he was just a strange shopkeeper until a few days ago.”

“Where is he now? I’d like to talk to him.”

Caldan spread his hands. “I don’t know. He was with Bells and Elpidia when I left. No, that’s not right. He wasn’t in the camp; he was out hunting or something. He liked to disappear for lengths of time.”

“Would he have joined with Bells?”

“I think so… But I don’t know why.”

“Why indeed,” said Joachim softly. “We have to consider all possibilities. If he is Touched and doesn’t have any
trinket
s, then he can’t control what’s happening to him. And that’s not good. If you see him, or he contacts you, come straight to me.”

“So, that’s what the
trinket
ring does? Allows greater control?”

“You’ll find out in time, if you’re allowed to keep it. Let’s just say that, without it, you’ll likely do yourself a permanent injury, and without our help, you’ll likely die.”

Caldan was sceptical but held his tongue. Whatever Joachim’s motives, he was obviously trying to make sure Caldan thought he was tied to him, and that only Joachim could help him. “Then I’d better stay close,” he replied with a false smile. “What’s next?”

“I’m not sure what to do with you. I didn’t expect you to be a sorcerer. I don’t think that’s happened before—someone both Touched and with a well. It may be the emperor and his advisors will have to rethink their plans for you.”

“So they’ve plans for me?”

“Everyone is useful to the emperor, in some way or another. You’ll find out soon enough. You can keep the
trinket
for now. Remember, we can find you when it activates, and it’ll be doing that more often now.”