Marked For Magic (17 page)

Nin beamed, and Cassandra gave a sigh, for this visit would not be a love tryst, no matter how Nin might long for such. “Yes, my dear, you will see him perhaps, but I’m afraid I need him for other purposes. I’m sorry.”

Nin nodded and bent back to the willow bark.

Poor girl.

Cassandra went to the hearth and assessed the brew simmering in the cauldron. This batch was ready to be cooled and stored. Tab hurried over to help her as she swung the large pot away from the hearth.

“Enough work—no more until you have taken the air, the three of you. Be back with the noon bell. We will eat and make a fresh brew this afternoon.”

They left, and she hurried up to the library.

Her brother sat and pored over scrolls and maps. Since the first outbreak of the fever, Ranulf used the scanty information they had to plot the march of the sickness as though it was an opposing troop. She shared his hopelessness at the advance of this skilful enemy and its savage attack. They needed answers, and the Mage might be able to supply them.

“Ranulf, have you received any news?”

“Nothing, and it disturbs me. The first group should be back soon, and I am surprised it has taken them so long.”

“I know. Is there anything that could have delayed them?”

Ranulf shook his head. “I have no idea. Maybe they have had to travel by roads other than the most direct routes. Until they return, we cannot know.”

“So, I will ask the Mage to grant us the favor of his skill. You know of what I speak?”

“Yes, I continue to believe such journeys are unnatural, but yes, he has told me of his travels.”

She smiled at his words. Ranulf was such a practical man, so entwined with his army, a good commander, but journeys into the spirit world, though useful for information, still disturbed him.

“We cannot afford to wait like this for every scrap of news. Thabit knows the dangers of such a journey, and despite them, I am certain he will still agree.”

“Well, we must both hope his journey will be worthwhile.”

Nin looked up when a small pageboy hurried into the workroom.

“The Mage is waiting for you in the great hall, mistress.” The lad bowed.

Lady Cassandra beckoned to her.

A thrill of anticipation shot through her, stronger than the others she’d ignored all morning. The longing to see him made the sand clock run so slow. She brushed the escaped strands of hair back from her face and smoothed down the folds of the blue gown she’d made at the tower, ready for her study here. The new dress didn’t cling as tight as her red one. The color reminded her of Thabit’s old tunic, which was too short now, but she still kept it, along with the multicolored gift he had given her. Tab and Cecile did not laugh at the scarf on her pillow.

“Nin, come to the hall with me. The Mage is here.” Lady Cassandra went to the door. The pageboy who had delivered his message held the door open, waiting for Nin.

She gave Tab and Cecile a wave and offered the beaming youth a smile as she followed Lady Cassandra.

The expanse of the hall was quiet. The castle had been since the second day after her arrival, as though each of the inhabitants were on the alert.

Thabit stood by the wide central hearth. She stilled the need to run the distance and throw her arms around him. The new black winter robe she had sewn fitted him so well.

She’d known it would.

Her heart raced when he turned at the sound of their steps. His eyes lit bright with his smile. She breathed him in and hurried up the length of the hall. He bowed to Lady Cassandra, but he did not look away from her, and the world became a better place.

“Mage, I am pleased you could join us. I’ll leave you with Nin for a little while, but we must talk,” Cassandra said.

Thabit nodded, but his gaze remained on Nin as he reached for her hand.

“Very well, I will return to you shortly.” Cassandra went down the hall.

“Are you well, my Sparrow?” he asked.

She nodded. Since only one servant swept in a corner of the hall, she was unable to resist and slid her arms around him. Time ceased when the heat of his lips met hers. Warmth rushed through her body. She sighed when he broke the kiss.

“You are happier today?”

“Of course, I’m happier today. You’re here. Do you know what is happening? Have you heard from Rollo?” She’d promised Cecile she would ask.

“No and no, I am sorry to tell you. The only thing I can say is we must expect worse before an improvement. But let us talk of you. What have you learned this long week?” He led her to one of the carved wooden benches in front of the hearth. He sat and she joined him, sidling up as close as she could until he put an arm around her waist.

“Potions, lots of them, and no one makes me swim here.” She curled her fingers through his while he laughed.

“I have a gift for you.” He released her fingers and reached into the fold of his robe. “Open your hand.”

She did, and he dropped a bracelet into her palm. The iridescent shells picked up the light from the candles and fire.

“I made it when sleep evaded me one night. Wear it for me?”

“Always.” She slipped it over her wrist. The shells slid on their leather band and made shushing sounds.

“I thought it would remind you of the stream…”

He got no further. She covered his mouth with hers. He slid his arms around to pull her close, and this time the love flowed unchecked between them.

His kiss demanded her response. Her heart leaped at the swift understanding that today he didn’t hide his feelings from her, and his need
was
as strong as hers. All summer she’d doubted, but now he offered her a mirror image of her love. He pulled away, his pupils dark and his breath fast. Her heart thumped, and she could scarce control her wish to ask for more.

“If I get so much for a shell bracelet, what will I get for a ring?” he asked, his voice a soft murmur in her hair.

“Whatever you want.”

“I want you,” he whispered over her skin.

“I love you.” She clutched the front of his robe to bring him closer.

When the flames burned up bright in the hearth, he glanced over to the blaze with a soft laugh against her neck. “Stop it, or we’ll have the castle alight.”

She laughed, but the heat of him warmed so much better than the flames, no matter how bright she made them. He laid her head against his shoulder, and she built a dam to hold back her need to find the warmth of his skin beneath the robe. “Tell me, why does the lady want you here today? It’s not only to visit me, is it?”

His smile faded. “No. I may need to be gone for a little while, Sparrow.” He squeezed her fingers tight.

“Where?”

“Mmm, a journey, but I will be back, and soon. Now, we’ll not talk of such things. We will speak of you instead. Have you been studying?”

She nodded. There had been little time to do so, but she had tried to spend what free time there was in study.

Where are you going? Don’t leave me.

She squashed the thoughts flat and clutched his hand tighter. “I’ll still be able to talk to you, won’t I?”

He shook his head. “No, Sparrow. Not until I return. I am sorry, but it must be so. I must have your promise not to try. I will speak with you as soon as I return.”

Cassandra approached. “I’m sorry to part you but, Mage, there is much we need to discuss. Nin, if you would return to the workroom?”

She nodded. “I promise,” she whispered close to his jaw, and after one quick brush of her lips against his cheek, she left, taking hurried steps down the hall.

Her fingers worried at the shells on her wrist, stroked the cool, smooth, shimmering surface as she rushed along the corridor, where one or two of the young pages gawped at her as she passed. All manner of fears raced in her mind. Though he’d not said, he couldn’t hide that he went into danger.
Gods, let him return
.
Please,
keep him safe.

The tears ran free by the time she got to the workroom. Wrapped in Cecile’s embrace, while Tab fed her sips of wine, she wept until her throat ached. That he would not tell her of the journey’s destination frightened her, to have him gone hurt so she could scarcely breathe, and no matter how kind her friends, their embrace was not his.

* * * *

His cheek warmed by her lips, he memorized every line of the blue swaying gown when Nin hastened away.

Cassandra waited, a sympathetic smile on her face but urgency in her eyes. Both her compassion and need reached out to him.

“Ah, yes, I will do it, my lady.”

“You knew I would ask?”

“I suspected.” He gave a small smile. “The thought has grown in me all week. But we will not talk of it here.”

“We’ll go to the tower room where we won’t be disturbed.”

“Yes.” He followed her out of the hall and across the colonnaded walkway.

Does Nin walk here in the cold mists? I must clear my mind of her.

Nin could not know or suspect this journey. She was in no way ready for the knowledge. It would frighten her, and her fear might be strong enough to call him back.

The small, circular tower room was reminiscent of home. The logs in the hearth glowed. He sat in the chair and stroked his fingers over the elaborate, carved scrolls on the rounded edge of the armrest.

“We must have news, Mage, and more quickly than we are receiving it.” Cassandra took the seat opposite.

“I know.”

“The girls and I will produce more potions as we find they are needed. I am sure your work has saved some of the poor creatures. I have thought, with your skill, if you could search and see for us, we would have a much better chance to deal with the sickness.” She glanced away, the action unlike her.

He swept his hand over his hair. She had seen it, too.

“Cassandra, you have seen the darkness grow?” To even name it, gave it more power.

She nodded, and in an expression as girlish as Nin’s, bit her lip. “Yes, in fleeting moments it comes, and there is flame.”

“So, you believe as I, this sickness is more than the mere spread of disease?”

She nodded again in response.

“I am gladdened you agree, my lady. The understanding has grown on me over the weeks. I have seen the darkness and flames, and…”

The fear in her eyes told him not to go on.

She took a deep breath and got up from her chair to pace to the small window. “If this thing, this evil has its way, all of us will be gone. Every one of us with any link to the alternate realms are in danger. You, me, the girls, and countless others in this land—we are all at risk.

“I have felt the hunger for power emanate in a way I’ve never known before. We need you to seek this out.” She turned back and faced him. Her normal, serene composure lost as she wrung her fingers together. “But not to face it alone, Thabit, the danger grows each day.”

“I will do all I can.”

She returned and sat again, her fingers still intertwining until she reached for his hand. “Remember, I said do
not
face it, simply find its source.”

He nodded, but her request was impossible, in honor and in Magean creed. If he found the source, he would do his best to break its stranglehold on the land. “One thing, Cassandra, my Sparrow is not to know of this. I do not want you to tell her, not until my return.”

Cassandra gave a tiny nod.

“I would not be called back by her. When I am gone, I need the freedom to move as I wish, you know it. To gain news will be easy enough, but the other, I will not have her fear for me more than she might if I traveled the coast road.”

“Where would you wish to rest?”

He looked about him. This seemed as good a place as any of the other apartments in the castle. A curtained bed stood in an alcove opposite the hearth. It would do. “Here. I will begin it now before my courage falters.” He gave her a half smile.

“For how long will you be gone?” Her long pale fingers plaited themselves together.

“I cannot tell. The first search for news, the rest of today will suffice. The other will be a longer journey. I could be a day, a week, perhaps a month. There is no knowing what I may find. If I lie here still after half a season…” He laughed. “Burn what is left of me. You will probably need to by then.”

“Don’t even say it! You will return whole. How could I face that sweet girl if you don’t?”

“I will come back, the gods willing, and if they are not, it is because it is meant to be so.” He strode over to the alcove and pulled back the curtain. “Leave me to it, Cassandra. Once this first journey is over, I will write of all I see.”

Her face grew pale. “There will be a page in attendance outside the room, so no matter when you return you can give him a scroll to bring to me.”

“Good. Please tell Nin I will see her soon.”

Cassandra held back the curtain, and he settled back on the bed. He closed his eyes and began the slow, increasingly deep breaths to take him from his body and out to freedom.

This was ever an adventure. Although the end remained in doubt, he was eager to begin. The last sound was the sweep of Cassandra’s skirt as she left.

Like a stone down a well, he dropped deeper and deeper into the trance. All sensation paled until his consciousness unwound, and he rolled from the confines of his flesh. The sense of freedom from time and all physical constraints swelled through him, and he reveled in it.

He soared from the tower, up and out into the gloom of a winter afternoon. The land spread like a tapestry below him. His consciousness rose further and his vision expanded to cover the whole of the realm. To seek the news they wanted, he swept down from the heights.

This is easy, and by the gods of the air, this part is fun.

Faster than a diving peregrine, he sped over toward the western boarders. Here, his joy in the journey was lost. All the signs of the sickness struck harsh. A haze of gray smoke hung over some villages, while others lay deserted. In one place, not even the pillars of smoke told of the dead. Small bundles of rags lay inert in the dust. Not enough of the living to build and light the funeral pyres.

A sea of destruction crept in a slow flood over the land, and as he soared higher, tiny lines of creatures wended their way south. He would have to prepare Cassandra for an influx of many at the castle. He saw no sign of the riders they had sent out. The mystery of it deepened.