Sorceress (Book 2) (19 page)

“I lost you once,” she said. “That will not happen again.”

Strangely enough, it was a way in which they could bond and feel almost like they were truly a team again.

It was a lie, of course, but one that he was able to partake in his own form of delusions. Every time Danella climbed into the saddle, he could feel the madness bubbling below the surface. She wanted to spill blood and kill again, but she was saving herself for the Yar and the unicorn pitied anyone who stood in her way.

As for Kuresh the desert warrior, Majherri gave his rider encouragement, figuring that she needed the distraction. The man was a competent officer, but made no attempt to interact with Majherri. Instead, the nomad trickster focused on his rider. Danella was clearly using Kuresh, but the nomad obviously had his own plans for the fallen fire maiden.

Games humans play,
he thought as the blacksmith began his work.
Unfortunately, I have no choice but to play as well.

“Danella is alive?” Meghan Lynch said, not a second after Kayleigh sat down at the table.

“Yes,” Kayleigh answered, trying to maintain her composure. “She severed the bond I had with Majherri and almost killed me. I injured her badly, but she recovered and if the vision Cyemma gave me is true, they’ve become corrupted to the point where her hair and Majherri’s coat have turned black.”

Kayleigh resisted the urge to add that she wouldn’t hold back the next time they fought.
Captain Lynch didn’t like me when she thought I was replacing her sister. I doubt she’d enjoy the idea that I am willing to kill her.

“Your report said you were able to combine techniques of water maiden and fire maiden as well as performing magic without your unicorn,” General Hawthorne said. “Can you please demonstrate?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kayleigh replied and removed the Yar knife from the sheath she’d been given by Smythe in Shiftla. Tossing it to the stone floor, she concentrated and set it aflame. Imagining it dissolving into a puddle of molten liquid caused it to do just that. The fiery mixture slithered across the blocks of stone, leaping up to her outstretched hand and reformed into the solid bone blade.

“She was strangling me with her bullwhip, but I was able to throw my knife around her shield.”

“The unblockable strike and the flaming weapon, together,” General Jyslin said while steepling her fingers. “A potent combination indeed and you’ve been able to learn some of the basics of the other elements as well.”

Kayleigh felt like a trickster invited to a dinner party as she summoned water out of the air to fill her cup, shaped a small block of clay into a ball just by holding it motionless in her hand, and floated a scrap of parchment using very poorly controlled swirls of air.

“I haven’t had much experience with earth or air techniques. The water came mostly out of desperation and having watched Amanda Edwards and memories of Captain Lynch’s archery demonstrations.”

Why did I say that? I just gave her credit for saving my life.

“I recall your mother saying you’d been tested as a child,” Meghan commented. “She said you had no magical ability, yet now you seem to be some kind of mixture of a Battle Maiden and a sorceress.”

“I don’t know how I do it,” Kayleigh said. “When I learned how to do the earth and air magic, I would touch Tamera or Laurel and their unicorn and I can follow the flow of the magic. I can’t even be sure I’m a real sorceress.”

The Blind Seeress, Alanna Tomas, added her insight. “You are one of my kind. That much I am certain of. With no formal training, you have become the magical equivalent of a chameleon. Late development of a talent is rare, but it happens. It may make some things easier, but others more difficult. To encounter power such as yours on this scale is unusual to say the least.”

“What do you mean, Alanna?” General Jyslin asked.

“Most who come into their gift after childhood never fully develop, ending up as tricksters and the like. This young woman wields formidable power, albeit in a clumsy and unrefined manner. No offense intended, dear. By all accounts, the first magic she encountered was a bond with a unicorn. She instinctively recreated that magic and remade herself into a Battle Maiden.”

Kayleigh struggled not to be overwhelmed by Lady Tomas’s assessment of her.

“The testing didn’t uncover it because there is little or no active magic in unicorn hair or other animal clippings,” Lynch said, giving the answer to the earlier question.

Nodding in Meghan’s direction the blind noblewoman continued. “That is entirely likely. It is possible that a traumatic event also could have bound her magic until she found something strong enough to remove that barrier.”

“Will I get formal training?” Kayleigh asked. “Will you teach me?”

The pale haired woman shook her head and said, “I do not think you were meant for my gifts, but I know I am meant to be here at this moment in time.”

General Jyslin looked suddenly concerned. “Why is that, my old friend?”

“I wasn’t certain before until just now, but I believe she is a pivot.”

The young woman in question had no idea what that meant.

Althea Hawthorne didn’t either and asked what the Seeress was implying.

“A pivot is a person with the potential to change the world.”

“Are you serious?” Meghan asked as Kayleigh’s jaw dropped.

There was a hint of anger on Lady Tomas’s face and the monkey peeled its lips back and hissed at the water maiden. “I wouldn’t have come all this way, to the edge of a war that threatens our entire world, if I didn’t think so. Everyone dreams of being able to change the world, and we do our best to contribute and leave our mark upon the land, but the decisions made by pivots can change the courses of kingdoms. They can bring strife or prosperity and be exalted as legends or cursed as monsters.”

Unable to say anything, Kayleigh felt her heart thudding in her chest. She took a drink of water and found it difficult to swallow.

“I apologize, Kayleigh,” she continued. “I did not wish to upset you, but we must press onward. Tell me about the man on the manticore – this man who claims to be Ian Darius. Aside from Naomi here, he has been the only other pivot I have met in my life. Come here, take my hands, and describe your encounter with him.”

Kayleigh stood, nervous and wanting nothing more than to run out into the night. General Hawthorne’s large room seemed much smaller with every step she took. The general gave up her chair so Kayleigh could sit next to the woman. Her hands were larger and calloused in comparison to the petite noblewoman’s.

As she spoke, Kayleigh felt dizzy, swooning and possessed. Words formed on her lips and it was like listening to another person using her voice. She babbled, talking about fighting through the streets of Shiftla along the crumbling wall and her encounter with Penelope Garrett. Her body began shaking when telling of the manticore’s arrival. It felt like she was there, reliving it.

It’s not real! It’s not real!
She shouted in her mind while detailing her fight. Her voice changed from a detached monotone and rose until she was screaming. The whole tower seemed to be vibrating and shaking. Her muscles tensed and she ached, feeling like a rope pulled too tight.

Barely conscious of what she was saying, Kayleigh convulsed when the connection was suddenly broken, falling out of the chair and onto the floor. Her heart raced and her mouth moved, but whatever was coming out, she had no control over.

“I’ve got her!”

Arms encircled Kayleigh and lifted her into the chair where she slumped, gasping for breath. A cup of water was brought to her lips and she gagged on the liquid, sputtering, and choking. She pushed the cup away with a feeble flap of her hand.

“Reese, look at me. Focus on my voice! Good. Just breathe – take steady breaths to calm yourself down. Nice and easy. It’s over and you’re safe.”

The blurry face in front of her came into focus. At first she thought it was Danella and a wave of panic passed through her body, but the fog lifted and she stared into the eyes of Meghan Lynch. The water maiden used a cloth to wipe the tears streaming down Kayleigh’s cheeks.

“Do you want to try the water now?”

Nodding was all she could do as she swallowed tiny sips of water to wash away the taste of bile in the back of her throat.

Slowly, Kayleigh reached up and took the cup from Captain Lynch, wrapping both hands around it and looked at her surroundings. Alanna Tomas looked as bad as Kayleigh felt. Her son and General Hawthorne attended to her. A glance at General Jyslin showed concern etched into the kind woman’s face.

After a few more sips, Kayleigh was able to ask, “What just happened?”

“You and the Seeress both experienced a violent seizure,” Lynch said.

“I think,” Lady Tomas said very slowly, before coughing. “I think your magic doesn’t particularly care for me.”

“I’m sorry,” Kayleigh said, not trusting herself to anything more than simple sentences. “Please don’t do that again.”

The Seeress let out a trio of skeptical half-laughs and said, “If I ever try to read you again, it will be only after I’ve consumed enough alcohol to have earned the throbbing headache I’m suffering from right now.”

“What did you learn, Alanna?” General Jyslin asked. “Is it an imposter or really him?”

Still breathing unevenly and sounding hoarse, Lady Tomas replied, “It’s him. I felt his presence through her memories.”

“But I saw his dead body, held it in my own hands! You saw my memories of that battle,” Jyslin said.

“True, but magic has a way of calling things we know to be true into question. Whatever way he cheated death must have been costly, otherwise he would have surfaced before now. Yes, the one in your memories felt like him as well. I can’t be sure how he did it, but I have a theory. It’s not as important as what I saw during their fight. Miss Reese should, by all accounts, be dead twice over and Ian Darius should have died or been gravely injured in the burst of fire that wounded the manticore. Their magic failed to affect each other. His lightning was easily capable of snuffing out her life, but it did nothing more than send a jolt through her body.”

“That’s not possible!” Meghan Lynch said.

The woman countered the captain’s outburst, saying, “You’re a twin, dear. You know it is.”

“What are you talking about?” Kayleigh demanded.

“Go on,” the Seeress said to Captain Lynch. “Explain it to her.”

As the water maiden looked at her, Kayleigh saw a pained expression on the woman’s face. Lynch took a deep breath and said, “Reese, magic and blood are two very powerful things. Danella could bring a pillar of flame down on me and it would barely bother me at all. I could shoot her with an arrow and try to make it unblockable, but it wouldn’t work. Magic against those with direct blood ties doesn’t work, be it sister to sister or parent to daughter.”

Kayleigh tried to protest, but no words came out. She’d screamed enough tonight, but her vocal chords had turned to ice and refused to make anything more than a strangled cry. It was all too much…too much.

Kayleigh woke and thought about the nightmare she’d had. They told her Count Darius was alive and had accused her of being his daughter. When her eyes opened, she found herself in the largest, most comfortable bed she’d ever been in. She wasn’t sure where she was, but light was pouring through the stained glass window. Rolling over, she was momentarily blinded as her eyes adjusted to the daylight.

There was a chair pulled up next to the bed. A young man sat in the chair, bathed in a cornea of light. He had thick wavy brown hair and extremely blue eyes. She recognized him – Brian Tomas.

“Hello, Kayleigh,” he said, closing the book in his lap.

“It really happened,” she replied. “That wasn’t a bad dream was it?”

He nodded and offered her some water. “Are you okay?”

She frowned at the absurdity of his question and couldn’t come up with an answer that didn’t sound stupid or insane. Kayleigh settled for shaking her head no.

“You fainted. Between everything you’ve been through out there,” he said, pointing at the window. “And what my mom put you through, your mind and body decided enough was enough.”

Anger and embarrassment pulsed through her body. “I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t. My mom has a way of doing that to people. Growing up it was a problem trying to hide my misdeeds from her. It’s a wonder we get invited to any formal gatherings at all!”

His feeble joke managed to make Kayleigh smile slightly. Brian was always charming and she both adored and hated the way he could get under her skin. She recalled how he had once sent her heart racing only a short time ago, during a training exercise. He said how pretty her eyes were, only to idly wonder how pretty the ones belonging to the next girl he was going to see were.

“Anyway, General Hawthorne ordered me to take you up to her room and keep an eye on you.”

“You sat with me? All night?”

“I stayed for a little while, had to go check on some things, and have been back since sunrise. You snore,” he said with a wink. “But as far as assignments go, we both know I’ve had worse.”

He was referring to standing deathwatch over unicorns suffering from the wasting.

“Why did you come?”

“Three reasons. First off, my mother insisted,” he replied. “One of her things. Secondly, I consider you a friend. When Talcosa’s Portal acted up and your group disappeared, I thought I’d never get a chance to see you again. I’d have asked to come even if Mom didn’t want to go. Lastly, I’ve got a riderless unicorn we brought through the portal, a female dying from the wasting. When trainee Temple arrived and General Hawthorne debriefed her, no one knew what to make of you saving the male unicorn you brought back to Salif. She immediately sent a messenger bird. When word reached us, we came in hopes of a cure. One of the things I was doing while you were sleeping was checking Rheysurrah from head to hooves.”

“Is he okay?”

“Other than what might be expected of a unicorn who has been ridden hard through several fights, he’s in good shape. Has a bit of an attitude though.”