Frost Prisms (The Broken Prism Book 5) (14 page)

As soon as the feeling came it was gone, and a flash of light burst behind his eyes so intensely that it was like staring directly into the sun itself. Hayden cried out in pain as he went blind and his Foci burned, the correctors growing hot on both wrists as he fell to the ground.

He wasn’t sure how long he lay there, rolling around on the grass in pain, clutching his eyes, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two before the pain began to ease and the dancing spots of light disappeared from the inside of his closed lids. It was then that he realized Master Kilgore and Zane were leaning over him, shaking him by the arm and asking if he was alright. The Master of Elixirs looked whey-faced and worried, drawing a healing elixir from his belt and forcing it into Hayden’s mouth.

He tried to ask, “Where’s Tess?” while drinking, which made him cough and sputter. He felt tired and wrung out, like an overused sponge.

“Don’t die, Hayden, you’re going to be alright,” Zane’s anxious face was hovering above him now, blocking out most of the sunlight, for which he was grateful. Those two thoughts seemed sort of contradictory to one another—if Hayden was fine, then why was Zane telling him not to die?—but he didn’t feel well enough to question it just yet.

“Get off me,” Hayden insisted, forcing himself into a sitting position and ignoring his own slurred words. “We’re not done fighting until I knock you on your butt so you can tell me where Tess is.”

“Hayden, you knocked him over as soon as the fight started,” Zane grabbed his arm to prevent him from reaching for a fresh prism—both of his had been consumed in that final spell. “Don’t you remember?”

Stunned, Hayden finally let his brain wind down enough to process the fight itself. Now that he thought about it, he
had
tackled Kilgore right at the outset and knocked him onto the ground.

“You mean we could have stopped
there
and you would have told me?” he asked in disbelief.

“I would have said as much, but you knocked the wind out of me and then you never slowed down long enough to give me the chance,” the Master explained in his usual gruff tone. “Well, I know I asked you to give me all the willpower you’ve got, but I didn’t expect you to give yourself light-sickness.”

“Light-sickness?” Hayden was momentarily diverted, reflecting on the feeling of all those colors and arrays shoving their way into his mind and how it felt like a sun bomb exploded behind his eyes afterwards. He looked down at his arms to check for obvious signs of damage, but his Focus-correctors were still intact, though his Foci tingled slightly.

“I thought you were trying to kill Master Kilgore,” Zane said seriously, face still pale with worry. “You were throwing out spells like crazy and wrecking everything in sight, and then you did that crazy thing where you started glowing and turned into some kind of super-warrior…”

Hayden blinked a few times to clear his head.

“I don’t know what that was. The alignments just hit me all at once—I don’t even remember what bands of colors I saw, or how many. I felt weird though, like I was made out of something indestructible.”

Kilgore scowled and said, “You’re lucky you didn’t cripple yourself—or worse. Messing with untested alignments that are powerful enough to cause light-sickness is no joke.”

“I wasn’t doing it on purpose,” Hayden argued.

“Nevertheless,” Kilgore cut him off, helping him to his feet. “You’re not to do any more magic today, not until you’ve recovered. I’ll tell Mandra that he’ll have to reschedule your training for another day.”

“You wanted to see willpower—well, you got it,” Hayden told him, getting to his feet and steadying his balance before attempting to walk. He still felt a little queasy from the burst of light-sickness, and was relieved that he was excused from doing any more magic for the day. The last thing he needed was to warp his Foci even worse than they already were. At some point they would become damaged enough that he couldn’t cast magic through them at all, and then he would be doomed.

Unless my father is feeling charitable and fixes them for me, like he did for Isla Strauss.
His father’s behavior on that day still bothered him.

“I was pleased with your level of willpower, but underwhelmed by your ability to control it and give it direction,” Kilgore explained in response to his assertion. “If you really want to impress me, learn to come to every fight with that level of energy without letting it run away with you.”

There’s no pleasing some people.

“I did what you wanted—mostly,” Hayden sighed. “Now tell me what you know about Tess.”

The Master of Elixirs made a huffing noise and said, “She’s under a sort of house arrest, guarded by one of the Council’s lackeys at all times. Her father is less-than-pleased with the arrangement, but there’s not a lot he can do about it without running amok of the law himself. She’s been placed in Binders to prevent her from using magic—or from having it used on her—to escape.”

Hayden’s stomach lurched unpleasantly.

“They’ve got her in
Binders?
” he asked in horror, remembering how unpleasant it was being forced to wear them for two solid years, and that was even before he had known he had magic. It had somehow been even worse during his third year, when Fia Eldridge briefly forced him into the Binders and locked him in an empty classroom, to feel his magic shut away inside of himself, unable to access it even to save his life. The thought of Tess suffering the same thing on his behalf was horrible.

“It was the best arrangement we could manage for her, given that Calahan has been bleating about treachery and saying that he should have locked up all of your friends from the beginning so that they couldn’t join you in your plot to join up with your father and overthrow the Council.” Kilgore rolled his eyes at the notion.

“What about Conner, and Tamon, and my other friends?” Hayden asked belatedly, wondering how many people were going to be punished on his behalf.

“They’re still being watched, but Tess has the worst of it so far. Binders aren’t pleasant, but it’s far better than being imprisoned or—otherwise harmed,” Kilgore said cautiously.

Hayden nodded.

“I know, I just wish there was a way to get her out of there and bring her here where it’s safe.”

“We’re working on it, but we have to be more careful than ever. If we could have gotten to her before the Council showed up, we would have, but we still have to be very careful about our own movements, as Calahan is looking everywhere for signs of traitors. Don’t worry, Frost, we’ll think of something. Now get inside and take it easy, or Asher will have my head on a platter.”

Zane chuckled at the image that invoked, but Hayden still didn’t feel well enough to be properly amused.

As soon as Master Kilgore left them, they settled into the library and Zane said, “Well, now that you’ve managed to score a day off…tell me what’s been going on.”

8

The Crumbling Alliance

Having Zane around made things more enjoyable for Hayden in the following days, once his friend learned that living in the headquarters for a secret resistance group wasn’t nearly as exciting as it sounded like it should be. Since Hayden was under house arrest—lest the Council or his father get their hands on him—he now had another refugee to spend his time with while everyone else was away on their various assignments.

Due to its members frequently being unable to come together at the same time and place, Zane didn’t get to attend his first actual meeting with most of the group for over a week after his arrival. He and Hayden had been researching a spell that would make an opponent’s eyes cross in the library, but Hayden could tell that his friend hadn’t been paying attention for the last quarter hour, constantly checking his chrono to see if it was time for their meeting.

When Hayden set his book aside and said, “Why don’t we just give it up for today and go get good seats at the table?” Zane agreed enthusiastically.

“Lorn’s probably furious that he’s been kicked out of his own house for months so that you can live here instead,” he pointed out cheerily as they made their way towards the formal dining room. Despite being forced to work together when the occasion called for it, there was no love lost between the two of them and Lorn Trout.

“I imagine so,” Hayden agreed lightly, “and I feel a little bad for it, but he’s probably safer staying far away from me anyway—everyone is.”

Zane frowned at that, possibly realizing that he himself was in as much peril as Hayden at this point.

“I hope everyone has good news to report. It’s going to be a huge letdown if we just go in there and everyone says, ‘Nothing’s happened.’ ”

Hayden nodded agreement.

“The last time we had a big meeting was when Mrs. Trout’s friend came barging in to tell us my dad is actually a swell guy. Talk about a weird night, since we’d already spent weeks plotting out ways to kill him by that point.”

Zane looked at him sideways and asked, “Are you okay with that?”

Hayden was surprised by the concern in his voice as much as by the question itself.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I mean…the man
is
your father. Are you actually going to be okay with fighting him to the death when it comes down to that?”

“You know,” Hayden raised his eyebrows with interest, “you might be the first person who has actually stopped to ask me that question.” He smiled faintly. “Honestly, I’m not that upset about it—though the thought of fighting someone to the death doesn’t appeal to me in general. He didn’t raise me, he doesn’t know me, he certainly doesn’t care about me; in all the ways that matter, he isn’t really my father at all.”

Zane looked surprised by this pragmatic view on the matter, but said nothing as they entered the formal dining room. Predictably, they were the first to arrive, as they were still quite early for the meeting. Hayden took a seat near the head of the table without hesitation, while Zane covertly eyed a spot much further away.

“What are you doing?” the former asked curiously.

“Well, it’s not like I’m important enough to take one of the
good
seats…” Zane answered uncertainly.

“If you’re important enough to stand next to me when we’re attacking the Dark Prism, you’re important enough to sit wherever you want at the stupid table.” Hayden pointed to the seat beside him and, reluctantly, Zane took it. “If anyone has a problem with it, they can show up early next time and claim whatever chair they want.”

“You always did have a problem with authority figures,” his friend chuckled, looking marginally more relaxed as he settled in.

“I’m told it’s something the Frosts are known for,” he joked.

It took another quarter hour for the others to begin filtering into the room, and twenty minutes after that before everyone was in full attendance. A few people eyed Hayden and Zane’s prime spots at the table covetously before taking seats further down, but Hayden pretended not to notice or care.

“Alright, let’s keep this as brief as possible,” Magdalene began, sitting to Hayden’s right at the head of the table. Up close, he could see how tired she looked, though her eyes were as alert and keen as ever.

“Where’s Asher?” Hayden asked, scanning the table even though he knew his mentor wasn’t there; he would have seen him come in.

“He wasn’t able to make it tonight,” Master Reede answered without looking at him.

“You don’t need him to hold your hand during every meeting we have, do you?” Kiresa asked mockingly, leaning back in his chair and smirking.

“Enough,” Magdalene raised a hand to call for silence before they could devolve into another brawl. “Elias, what news?”

Master Kilgore frowned, rubbed his red-grey beard thoughtfully, and said, “It’s all very strange. I was inclined to believe that your friend Isla had taken leave of her senses when she made her report to us last week, but there have been five more confirmed cases of the same from around the Nine Lands.”

Hayden leaned forward and said, “My father has actually been traveling the continent to heal people?”

The disbelief in his voice was mirrored on the faces of the other mages at the table.

“As strange as it sounds, it seems that he is.” Master Kilgore shrugged. “All five of the people he has supposedly helped had long-standing damage to their Foci that had rendered them completely unusable. All five can now cast magic normally, and reported that Aleric seemed quite normal during their interactions.”

“Did any of them ask
why
Aleric was suddenly taking such a humanitarian view on things?” Master Mandra interjected.

“Not that I’ve heard. It’s not surprising that none of his victims—if we can call them that—would be keen on questioning him too deeply. One wrong word could set the man off and be the end of their life, assuming that he is still prone to fits of instability.”

Laris looked at Hayden and said, “Are you
certain
that you were telling the truth when you relayed your encounter with him outside of the schism?” the doubt was evident in his tone, which was a complete one-eighty from his feelings during their last meeting. “You’re sure you didn’t simply become frightened when you learned who the man was and embellish your encounter with him a bit?”

The collective group turned to stare at Hayden in eerie unison.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he snarled, supremely annoyed. “You honestly think that after going through all sorts of hell inside the other realm, that I was so terrified of an unarmed man who barely regained his wits that I made the whole thing up?” He made no effort to keep the disgust from his tone. “Asher told you the same story I did, and he certainly has no reason to be afraid of anyone.”

“He has more reason than anyone to fear the Dark Prism’s return,” Master Kiresa countered flatly. Hayden wondered if he’d dare question Asher’s bravery if he was in the room with them. “Aleric is the reason that he lost his vaunted popularity and most of his prospects. He’s spent the last six years recovering from the taint of that association, and he certainly doesn’t want to be dragged back into the dirt again.”

Hayden rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, Asher’s always been
super
concerned with what other people think of him,” he put in sardonically.

Surprisingly, his sarcasm seemed to convince some of his audience of the veracity of his story. Asher’s eccentricity and complete lack of interest in the opinions of others was well-known.

“The fact still remains that Aleric is not behaving like an unstable, corrupted man, the way you two painted him to be at the end of last year,” Laris continued doggedly.

Hayden shrugged. “I have no idea why he’s doing what he’s doing now; all I can tell you is what he was like when I last saw him. But as has already been pointed out tonight, Asher was the man’s best friend, and he’s convinced that my father hasn’t had a sudden change of heart. Since he knows him better than anyone, I’d listen to whatever he says.”

“If Hayden’s dad is so innocent all of a sudden, why hasn’t he turned himself in to the Council of Mages to prove he’s all better?” Zane surprised them all by speaking up. “You can’t tell me he’s missed all the Wanted posters spread across the entire continent, or the fact that every powerful mage is grouping up to hunt him down.”

“A valid point,” Master Reede acknowledged with a tilt of his head.

Magdalene Trout appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, eyes staring off at something that only she could see. She snapped out of it and said, “Speculating is fruitless; we need more data. Let us move on for the time being.”

“How are things going on your end?” Master Kiresa addressed her directly. “I can’t help but notice that Calahan is still the Chief Mage of the Council, despite your assurances that he wouldn’t hold out for much longer some weeks ago.”

Magdalene frowned and said, “He’s not quite as stupid as I’d hoped. For some reason he refuses to publicly declare Hayden an enemy, despite stripping him of his honors. In fact, he seems to be backpedaling slightly.”

“Are you sure someone isn’t feeding him information about these meetings? If he had a spy amongst our number, it would certainly explain why he hasn’t made that final, critical error yet.”

Master Willow, who had been silent so far, said, “If he had an informant, he would already have Hayden in his custody and Magdalene and Laris sidelined. There’s nothing to be gained by unfounded paranoia amongst us.” At the last, he reprimanded the Prism Master of Isenfall with a glare.

Kiresa shrugged but didn’t argue further.

“Every day that he is in power, we are losing ground against Aleric—if indeed Aleric is still a threat,” Master Mandra put in. “Calahan’s obsession with Hayden nearly rivals his desire to stop the Dark Prism. We’ve been slowed down enormously by having to keep Frost safely concealed here to prevent anyone from ascertaining his whereabouts.”

Hayden could only silently agree. As lofty as the Trout estate was, it would be nice if he was allowed to leave sometime before he turned forty. He was also quite eager for Tess to be freed so that they could meet up and he could apologize for her being enslaved and interrogated on his behalf.

“I know that we need Calahan out of power, and believe me, Laris and I are doing everything we can to push him out the door without showing our hand,” Magdalene snapped impatiently. “It isn’t as easy as it looks.”

“Well, keep trying. Until we get him out of the way, we’re going to be running in place,” Kiresa needled.

“Thank goodness we have you here to remind us of the obvious,” Laris scowled.

Magdalene held up her hand again, calling for silence. Hayden was impressed that both her colleague and the Prism Master of Isenfall obeyed her.

“Have there been any reports of destruction, missing people, murders, or anything else that might suggest Aleric is up to his old tricks?” Master Mandra changed the subject.

“If so, word hasn’t reached the Council yet,” Magdalene conceded, deliberately avoiding Hayden’s eyes.

“We haven’t heard anything either,” Master Willow reported, though he didn’t look happy about the lack of information. “The High Mayor hasn’t reported anything that matches Aleric’s style—so if he
is
up to his old games, he is being remarkably subtle about it.”

“More proof that his time in the other realm stabilized him and that his sanity may be restored,” Laris put in unhelpfully. He seemed to have forgotten that he was the biggest opponent to this argument just last week.

“Even if that is the case, he still has to answer for crimes against humanity,” Kilgore cut off Hayden’s rant before he could start it. “I would be astounded if he avoided a death sentence for that alone; he’s guilty of a list of crimes so long it would take hours just to read them all off at his trial.”

“Come now,” Laris made a sweeping gesture with one hand. “If he has truly been restored to sanity, it would be foolishness to murder the man for past crimes. Think of all that he could tell us about magic—all the potential he could open up for us.”

Master Reede’s voice was eerily neutral when he asked, “You would have us all dabble in corrupted magics?”

Laris looked like he’d just been punched in the gut.

“No, of course not! But you can’t sit there and pretend that Aleric’s knowledge only extends to banned magic. He must have discovered a few things using legitimate alignments during the course of his studies as well.”

“It worries me that a prominent member of the Council of Mages—potentially it’s future Chief—is so ready to ally himself with a mass murderer just to learn a few new magic tricks,” Master Willow frowned across the table, as though suddenly seeing his colleague in a new light.

“Bear in mind that Laris does not speak for the entire Council,” Magdalene put in softly, her tone dangerously low.

“It’s more than ‘a few magic tricks!’ ” Laris protested hotly. “Our progress on discovering new spells has waned significantly over the last decade or two. This could be the thing we need to revitalize that effort and give us some fresh perspective. You can’t deny that the monster population is out of control right now!”