Shadow Magic (21 page)

He may have been drunk—as usual—but Pan had a point. Bringing someone back from the dead was the greatest necromancy there was.

Then how come I was able to do it?

Okay, it was the ghost of Custard, and it had only lasted for a few seconds, but she’d done it.

A zombie was on another whole level, though. That wasn’t just summoning a spirit—it was bringing back life itself. A feeble half-life, sure, but life nevertheless.

“No, there is a simpler explanation. One that doesn’t require any magic.” Pan leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his fat belly. “These villagers fell ill. They weren’t dead, but in comas. They were buried accidently, then woke up and dug themselves out. It happens on occasion.”

Lily looked over at Thorn. “Is it possible that’s what you really saw?”

“No, it ain’t.” The reply was firm and definite.

“What do you think, Tyburn?”

“Captain Wayland is a reliable man,” said Tyburn. “And young Thorn here has proven himself to be equally so. I’ve had letters from other villages and towns within Gehenna, all referring to disturbed graves. I assumed they were robberies, the sort we get from time to time. But given what young Thorn has told us, I must conclude that we have a necromancer in our midst, and a very powerful one.”

Pan muttered under his breath.

Tyburn addressed Thorn. “Do you remember
anything
more about the scarred man? Think, boy. How tall was he?”

“Kinda average, I suppose.” He glanced at Pan. “About your height, m’lord. And he was well-dressed, like a noble.”

“Are you sure?” asked Tyburn.

“About them things, yeah, I am,” said Thorn. “He just stood there, watching me die. It was like he wanted to see if the zombie could kill me.”

“I want this kept to ourselves until we know more,” said Pan. “The last thing we need is fairy tales spreading about necromancers and people crawling out of graves.”

“Think this might scare people?” asked Thorn.

“This is Gehenna,” said Lily. “It’ll probably get them all excited. The next thing they’ll be expecting is this unknown necromancer to raise an undead army and head off to conquer Lumina.”

Thorn’s laugh came out like a croak. “Yeah, I forgot. Other people’s nightmares are your bedtime stories.”

Lily smiled at him, happy that Thorn was sounding like his usual self again. “How’s Hades doing?”

Uncle Pan grimaced. “That monster ate one of the horses.”

“He’d flown a long way. He was hungry,” said Thorn defensively. “He saved my life.”

Uncle Pan glowered. “That beast is a menace. We should get rid of him before he does some real harm.”

“No,” said Lily. “We’ll arrange regular meals so he doesn’t gobble up a stable boy by accident.”

“The bat is valuable,” said Tyburn. “I have plans for him.”

As he spoke his gaze fell on Thorn, and Lily wondered what plans her executioner had for him.

Pan wandered to the side table and emptied the carafe into his goblet. “The Lumineans know something is going on. The duke has left Lord Argent in charge, and I’m dining with him tonight. What shall I tell him?”

“Nothing,” Tyburn replied.

“They are our allies, Tyburn. Soon to be family. This is a noble of Lumina we’re talking about, not some village peasant.”

Lily interrupted. “Tell him one of your adventures, Uncle. About your first expedition into the Shardlands. The one with the wyvern. Thirty feet long, wasn’t it?”

Pan puffed up his chest. “Fifty, at least. With enough poison in its spike to kill a herd of elephants.” He jagged his finger forward. “Killed it with a single lunge straight into its black heart.”

Good. That tale would keep Pan, and Lord Argent, busy for hours.

“Anything else?” Lily asked. She wanted to get this meeting over as quickly as possible. Tyburn wasn’t the only one who had plans….

Tyburn grimaced. “With the Halloween Ball only a week away and the fair on Devil’s Knoll, we have thousands of people camped around Castle Gloom. We are receiving dozens of deliveries every day, and there aren’t enough guards to man all the gates. And there have been fights….”

“Fights? Between who?” Lily asked.

“The Solars and our people. There is plenty of distrust between the Gehennish and Lumineans. That’s to be expected after so many centuries of war. The duke has many of his paladins here, so Baron Sable summoned his three sons and they brought their troops with them. The situation is volatile.” Tyburn looked at her. “It might help for you to speak with Baron Sable.”

“Me?” she blurted involuntarily. It wasn’t that long ago that Lily used to ride on Sable’s back and have pillow jousts with his youngest son, Caliban.

He’ll listen because I’m Lady Shadow.

She recovered quickly. “Yes, I will. And what about this poisoner? Any closer to catching him?”

Tyburn’s gaze narrowed. “Yes. The border guards are on alert; no suspect has left Gehenna. His head will be mounted upon Lamentation Hill soon enough, m’lady.”

Chill fingers caressed Lily’s heart. Tyburn had never failed House Shadow. “Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.”

Tyburn nodded. “Meanwhile, you must remain here, in Castle Gloom, m’lady.”

Lily’s chill turned to fury. “But I was planning to go to the Halloween fair! It’s just opened, and I always go!” She’d heard the maids talking about it, and she’d been cooped up in Gloom long enough.

“We have not yet discovered who tried to poison you,” Pan continued. “The fair would be a perfect opportunity for a second, more direct attack. There are plenty of strangers, noise, and tents, too many places an assassin may lurk. Tyburn’s right, Lily. You must stay in your quarters.”

“But it’s at Devil’s Knoll! That’s not even a mile from the gates!”

“I wouldn’t care if it was only an inch from the gates. You are not stepping outside Castle Gloom. Do I make myself clear?”

“But—”

“
No
, Lily. Just this once, will you do as you are told!”

She glowered.

Pan softened. “There is no reason you cannot have company, of course. I will send for Rose.”

“And K’leef,” Lily added.

Pan didn’t look happy. “Very well, I will—”

“And Thorn stays. He’s amusing.”

Pan scowled. But what could he do? Thorn was a hero right now. He’d beaten Gabriel, tamed Hades, and fought a zombie. Lily knew that her uncle couldn’t refuse without sounding utterly ungrateful. His reply crawled out through his gritted teeth. “Very well. The stable boy also.”

Pan stormed off. Tyburn lingered, nodded to Thorn, then he too departed.

T
horn threw himself onto the sofa. “Phew! I thought they’d never leave.”

Lily stared at the door. She wanted to march straight through it, out Skeleton Gate, and off to Devil’s Knoll. She should do it.

How far would she get before she was stopped?

Not far at all. She’d be lucky to make it to the end of the corridor.

What was the point of being Lady Shadow, ruler of Gehenna, if she wasn’t even able to go to the fair? She bet no one would dare prevent Duke Solar from going.

Lily perched on a chair near the sofa and said to Thorn, “I think Tyburn likes you.”

“Does he? It’s difficult to tell with him.” He yawned as he stretched out over the cushions. He rubbed his neck. “All this talk’s starting to hurt. It’s like I’ve swallowed rocks.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.” She was, and she hoped he knew that. “When I heard what had happened, I was…worried.”

He looked at her, his green eyes sparkling with mischief. “Really? How worried?”

“Not that worried.”

“Did you tear up, Princess? A little? Come on, you can tell me.”

“You are impossible.” She flicked his ear. “You really saw a zombie? We used to have hundreds around the castle, once upon a time. The last one was Ron, but he finally fell apart when I was seven. Father was very upset. Ron had practically raised him.”

There were plenty of portraits of Ron around the castle. He’d served the family for four generations. In the early ones, he almost passed for a living person, but as time progressed, he got more decayed and bits fell off. In the last portrait, painted in her grandfather’s time, his skull was visible through his patched skin, one eye socket was empty, and the other oozing yellow pus. His right ear was missing, and his jaw was held in place by wire. Her father was in that last painting, a young black-haired boy sitting on the zombie’s bony knee.

K’leef and Rose entered. When K’leef spotted Thorn lying on the sofa, he asked, “What’s going on?”

Thorn sank deeper into the cushions with a groan. “Lady Shadow’s been looking after me. I’ve been very heroic, in case you hadn’t heard.” He coughed feebly. “Could you get me a glass of water?”

“Get it yourself,” snapped Lily.

K’leef’s gaze went from Thorn to her and back. He scowled, and Thorn grinned.

I don’t believe it. He’s jealous of Thorn.

K’leef flexed his fingers. “It’s a little too dark in here.” He snapped them, and the candles along the table flared to life. “There, that’s better.” He grinned, and Thorn scowled.

Lily tried not to laugh. Boys…

Rose hurried over. “So it’s true? There are zombies in Graven?”

Lily scowled. “How do you know?”

“Oh, the steward was listening at the keyhole.”

“Does that happen a lot? Servants listening at keyholes?”

Rose looked surprised at her question. “Er…all the time? How else are we to know what’s going on? No one actually
tells
us anything.”

Thorn struggled to sit up, moaning all the while. “No, don’t help me. I can manage, honestly. So”—he looked around at them—“who wants to hear about how I faced a creature from the very pits of the underworld?”

“Me,” said Rose, dragging a chair over. “Tell me everything.”

Thorn arched an eyebrow. “K’leef?”

K’leef tried, but failed, to control his smile. He took a cushion and sat cross-legged on the floor. “I suppose.”

Thorn repeated the story, though it wasn’t quite the same as the one he’d told Tyburn and Pan. This new version had a lot more zombies in it and Thorn fighting them on a cliff top with the sea lashing the rocks below and the ground crumbling away under his heels. Which was odd, since Graven was a hundred miles from the sea.

Rose stared at him. “That is really—”

“Unbelievable,” said K’leef.

Thorn drew an X over his chest. “Every word of it is true. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“And be raised as some sort of undead monster, given what’s going on,” said Lily. “I think you’d make a great ghoul.”

Thorn frowned at her. “You really are a very,
very
strange girl.”

“So, how many of them did you destroy?” asked K’leef.

“Six, at least.”

Lily smirked. “Are you sure it wasn’t more like ten?”

“Yes, it probably was. I was so busy hacking off limbs and heads and such that I couldn’t tell which body part belonged to which zombie. Easily twelve, and it would have been a lot more if I’d had my bow and arrow. An arrow in each eye socket, and it would have been job done.”

Now
that
Lily could believe. “How
did
you learn to shoot so well?”

Thorn shrugged. “Dad taught me.”

“They teach the squires, too, but none of them can put an arrow down a gargoyle’s gullet,” said Rose.

“It ain’t the same. The squires practice in the courtyard, where everything is neat and tidy. When it’s dry and not too windy. That ain’t real practice.” Thorn rubbed his thumb. “Dad had me shoot out in the woods day and night, wet or dry, whether the air was still or the trees were shaking. Try shooting when you’re so hungry your belly’s eating itself and missing means starving some more. That’s how you learn to make each shot count.”

“I thought you said your father was a woodcutter.” Lily met his gaze, and Thorn looked sheepish. “I could be wrong, but one doesn’t usually hunt trees, correct?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

K’leef joined in. “Hmm, what might one be doing in the forest with a bow and arrows?”

“Shut up, K’leef,” said Thorn. “I mean it.”

“You’re poachers,” said Lily. “You and your father.”

Lily pretended to shoot Rose, who proceeded to die an extravagant death, collapsing back onto her chair with lots of choking, gagging, and gurgling.

Thorn glared at Lily.

She stopped. Why was he so upset? “We’re just having fun, Thorn.”

“It was all my fault,” he muttered.

“What happened?” Lily asked, suddenly serious.

“My dad
is
a woodcutter, that part is true,” said Thorn. He touched the acorn amulet around his neck. “But selling logs is hard work and don’t always put enough food on the table. Dad taught me how to hunt, how to track and catch game. Mainly small animals, like rabbits and hares. They’re just forest vermin, nobody misses ’em.” He shook his head. “But times were hard, so I hunted something bigger. A deer.”

“But deer are the property of the local lord,” said Lily. “It’s illegal to—”

“I know that, but what else could I do? I snuck out one morning before anyone else was up. There was a watering hole, and the deer come down to it before dawn. One shot was all it took. The deer didn’t feel a thing.”