The Archmage Unbound (23 page)

A few minutes later she was seated at a
table in the great hall of Lancaster Castle, drinking water from a metal
goblet. The crisp taste helped her clear her mind but her thoughts wouldn’t
stop racing.
What do I do?
she thought.
I have so little time.
In the background she could hear Dorian explaining to James what had happened
and why they were there so unexpectedly.

A particularly vivid memory came to mind
and tears started fresh from her eyes. Using her sleeve she dabbed at them
quickly, hoping no one noticed.
If they start to suspect I know what’s
about to happen it will be even worse,
she thought. She turned to Miriam,
“Do you think you could get someone to find Ariadne for me?”

“She’s here already Penny,” said Miriam,
nodding in a direction past Penny’s left shoulder.

“Oh, of course, thank you Miriam,” she
said and rising she walked quickly to Ariadne.

“Are you alright Penelope? I heard
that…” Ariadne started.

Penny gave her a look that would brook
no interference. “Ariadne, do you trust me?” she said quietly.

“Yes of course,” the other woman
answered.

“Do you have writing materials in your
room?” Penny asked.

“Not much, but I have pen and paper,”
Ariadne replied.

“No I don’t mind at all! Let’s go take
a look,” Penny said loudly, taking Ariadne’s arm in her own. “I’ll be back in
just a minute,” she said addressing the room. Genevieve had arrived by then
and though she looked concerned she nodded her agreement. Miriam seemed
positively mystified.

Once Penny reached Ariadne’s room she
wasted no time before preparing to write a letter. “Who will that be for?”
asked the younger woman.

“It’s for Mordecai, but I need you to
keep it a secret,” she told Ariadne.

“You seem awful serious Penny, are you
sure there isn’t something else I can do?”

“No, you’ve done enough, but I need you
to promise me a few things,” said Penny.

Ariadne gave Penny a long look. “You
have the same sort of intensity about you right now that you did the night you
tried to murder Devon Tremont on the dance floor.”

Penny was surprised by Ariadne’s acute
perception but she couldn’t afford to lose her support now. She decided to try
honesty. “There is a bit of similarity between the two occasions Ariadne, but
I need you to trust me.”

“Why?” asked the younger woman.

Penny took a deep breath. “I trust
everyone here, but I’ve
seen
something and if they realize that, it will
change the outcome of things. Does that make sense?” she replied anxiously.

Ariadne nodded, “You’ve had a vision?”

“Yes, that’s why I collapsed in the yard.
It came on me right after Mordecai left, which makes everything more difficult,”
Penny said.

“Because you need to tell him
something?”

“Yes,” said Penny emphatically. “I need
to send a message to him. A message to him in the future, when he returns, and
I have to do it without arousing anyone’s suspicion in the present.”

“Shouldn’t that include me then?”
Ariadne asked.

“I only need you to keep my secret for a
few hours,” Penny told the younger woman. “After that it won’t matter very
much, the worst will have happened already.”

“Why do I want to let the worst happen?”

Penny shrugged, “It isn’t the worst for
everyone, just for a few, but if it doesn’t happen everyone will die.”

Ariadne squinted suspiciously at her.
“Define everyone?”

“Everyone.”

“Everyone in Lothion?” asked Ariadne.

“Everyone,” said Penny.

“Everyone in Gododdin?”

“All humanity,” replied Penny. “I’m
talking about the possible extinction of our race.”

Ariadne Lancaster drew herself up
carefully before answering. “That sounds fairly dramatic, but knowing you I
will suspend my normal disbelief. Tell me something else… assuming I help you,
who are the people that something terrible will happen to in the short term?”

Penny shook her head negatively, not
trusting herself to speak.

“Is it that bad?” Ariadne asked.

Penny’s courage could only carry her so
far, and it finally gave out under her, leaving her to dissolve into tears.
Ariadne wound up consoling her for long minutes before her composure returned.
When she had regained control she asked, “Will you help?”

“I don’t see that I have much choice,
assuming I believe you, and I do. What do you want me to do?” answered Ariadne
with some resignation.

“Let me finish this note. Then I will
seal it and hand it over to you. Tomorrow or the next day I need you to find
someone to take it to Joe McDaniels, in Washbrook. Tell no one about our
talk,” Penny said.

“That doesn’t sound too hard,” Ariadne
observed.

Penny gave a bitter laugh. “It will
be. Things will happen between now and then. Please don’t be tempted to tell
anyone what I’ve said,” she told her.

Ariadne hugged her. “I don’t know what
sort of burden you are carrying Penny, but I won’t let you down. Trust me.”

Her pronouncement almost brought Penny
to tears again, but she fought down the urge. With a nod she returned to
writing her note. She struggled, trying to decide exactly what to say, too
much and Mort would figure out what was going to happen, too little and he
would balk at doing what was necessary. In the end she settled on keeping the
note short and simple, trusting that Mordecai would heed her advice.
I
won’t know the outcome either way,
she thought ruefully.

A short time later they returned to the
main hall and Penny had to make a few graceful excuses for her absence. It
seemed everyone was worried about her now. Eventually she side stepped the
issue of her possible illness by claiming fatigue. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d
like to rest,” she told Genevieve.

“Why naturally you do!” said the duchess
sympathetically. She wasted no time calling one of the servants over to lead
her to one of the guest bedrooms.

“I’ll go with her,” announced Miriam.
“I wouldn’t dream of leaving my daughter without a watchful eye,” she said with
a protective tone.

Although Penny appreciated the gesture,
she wished she could convince her otherwise, but there was little hope of
that. Dorian and the guards formed up to escort them through the halls. “That
won’t be necessary,” Penny protested. “Dorian you’re enough by yourself, why
don’t you let the men take their leisure?”

Dorian hesitated before answering, “I’m
sorry Penny. I’ll have to insist, I promised Mort that we wouldn’t leave you
unguarded.” He removed his helmet as he spoke, since its presence seemed rude
within the castle.

She sighed regretfully. She had known
it wouldn’t work but she had felt compelled to try. Taking Miriam’s arm she allowed
herself to be led down the corridor.

“You’re shaking something dreadful
Penny! Are you sure you’re alright?” asked Miriam worriedly.

“Don’t worry Miriam, I think I just need
to eat something after what happened in the courtyard. My stomach feels
dreadfully empty,” she lied. Her stomach was full of butterflies. As they
walked Penny thought of something and glancing over she realized Dorian still
had his helmet off. “Dorian would you mind putting your helmet back on?” she
asked.

The large man looked askance at her.
“We’re inside the castle Penny,” he said, stating the obvious.

She put on her best stubborn look, “If
you’re going to insist on following me around playing bodyguard all day then
I’ll have to insist you wear the armor my husband made for you.”

He stared at her for a long moment
before settling the helmet back down on his head. “There, is that better?” he
asked with a slight tone of condescension.

“Yes,” she replied, “but I want you to
put the visor down as well.”

“You can’t be serious,” he said
disbelievingly.

She stopped walking, forcing Miriam to
stop with her. “I am absolutely serious Dorian. If you don’t put the visor
down I won’t take one step further.” Everyone was staring at her now,
including Mort’s mother. Unable to think of a rationale for her behavior Penny
resorted to letting a bit more of her frustration show in the form of a wild
expression and some tears.

Miriam waved her hands at Dorian, “Just
put your damn visor down Dorian, we need to get her to a room.” Miriam’s face
gave him an expression showing she understood his confusion.

Dorian complied with the request, though
his body language showed how silly he thought it was. Penny didn’t care
though, she was just glad to see his armor fully in place. A few minutes later
they reached the guest room.

Once inside Penny was taken to the
bedroom while three of the guardsmen were arranged in the antechamber. The
fourth was set to stand guard outside in the hallway. Miriam was still paying
her considerable attention, “Why don’t you lie down for a bit?” the older woman
asked.

Penny found herself feeling bad for
worrying the other woman. She embraced Miriam while speaking softly, “I’m
sorry for causing such a fuss, but I’m not actually sick.”

Mort’s mother looked at her
suspiciously, “What does that mean?”

Penny crossed the room to close the
door. Before she did she looked out and saw Dorian lifting his visor again.
“I said keep your damn visor shut!” she barked. Dorian glared at her for a second
before his hand drew his helm’s faceguard back down. Penny shut the door and
turned back to Miriam. “I’m sure Mort has told you about the visions I’ve
had,” she began.

Miriam’s eyes grew wide. “In the
courtyard?” she said suddenly.

Penny nodded.

“How bad is it?” asked the other woman.

“Bad, and I can’t tell you how or why,
but I need you to trust me,” she said.

“What does that mean?” asked Miriam.

“It means I want you to follow my lead.
Something bad is about to happen and I may say some things that don’t make
sense but I want you to ignore that and go along with me,” Penny replied.

“Like Dorian’s visor?”

“Yes.”

“Something violent is about to happen
isn’t it?” said Miriam.

A knock at the outer door interrupted
their conversation and both women held their breath to hear what was happening
in the outer room. One of the guards exchanged words with whoever was in the
hall but they couldn’t make out what was said. A moment later Dorian knocked
on the bedroom door. “Excuse me ladies,” he said politely.

Penny opened the door quickly. She was
full of more nervous energy now than she could stand. “Yes?” she asked.

Dorian still had his visor down this
time, which made his voice sound odd. “James has sent one of his men to
request I attend him in his rooms,” he said plainly.

Penny swallowed before answering, her
mouth had gone dry. “Then you should go,” she told him.

Dorian raised his hand to his helm,
“What about this?”

Penny started to laugh but she stopped
herself quickly as she felt hysteria creeping into her voice. “Keep it down
until you reach James. Obviously I don’t expect you to wear it while you’re
speaking with him,” she replied.

Dorian sighed again. Though she seemed
normal Penny was obviously suffering from some sort of stress induced eccentricity.
“The guard who brought the message will remain here in my place till I return,”
he told her.

“That will be fine,” she answered.

Dorian turned and strode from the room,
feeling ridiculous walking out with his visor down. As he went he stared for a
moment at the guard James had sent to summon him. Something about the man’s
face bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. In any case, he
didn’t recognize the fellow anyway.

After he had gone Penny returned to the
outer room. She had too much energy to stay pent up in the bedroom. Her
presence served to stifle the idle banter her guards had been engaging in and
an awkward silence fell across the room. They didn’t have long to wait
however, less than two minutes after Dorian left another knock sounded at the
door.

The guard outside opened the door
without waiting for a response, revealing a highly unusual woman framed by the
opening. She was garbed in soft leathers, like a huntsman, though she bore
more steel than would be necessary for such an occupation. Her hair was black
and curled into delicate ringlets, it might have draped past her shoulders but
she had it tied back into a businesslike pony tail. She strode forward into
the room as though she owned it.

Penny locked eyes with the strange woman
and a chill ran down her spine.
This woman is death,
she thought and
her knowledge of what would soon happen did nothing to change her opinion.
“Wait,” she said suddenly, before the woman could speak. “I’d like you men to
leave so we can talk in private.”