The Dragons of Dorcastle (21 page)

Mari stepped back, recognizing that in this at least the Mage was like any other young man. She had stung his pride by pushing him into revealing just how weak he was. “As you will, Mage Alain.”

She walked in the lead, keeping her place slow enough to accommodate his exhaustion even though Mari’s nerves were screaming for her to run, run, run, until they got out of here. For a brief time after leaving her cell she had been in an almost dreamlike state, half convinced this was all unreal, but now she had fully accepted it and was increasingly worried about some pack of guards showing up to overwhelm them. She could use her pistol if necessary, but as when they were watching the bandits, she knew that the sound of a single shot would bring an avalanche of enemies upon her.

Together they moved down the passageway, dimly lit by oil lamps set at wide intervals. After passing several more cells, all empty, the passage took a turn and ran past a few additional cells. At the end of the hall, a door blocked further progress. Mari approached the door, her weapon poised, then halted in mid step as Mage Alain hissed a warning. “Stop. No farther.”

Mari held herself absolutely still, looking around. “What is it?”

“An alarm spell, set on the area near the door. If someone not wearing the right charm passes through it, it will alert its master or masters.”

Mari gave the Mage a level look. A big part of her wanted to just keep walking, because that sounded ridiculous. Another part of her pointed out that she wouldn’t be standing here unless something even weirder had already happened. She stood still. “Mages? Like you?”

“Not like me,” Alain denied. “This feels like the work of Dark Mages.”

“Dark Mages? What are Dark Mages?”

Alain gave her a look in which surprise could actually be seen. “You have not heard of Dark Mages?”

Mari shook her head. “I’m beginning to understand that there’s a whole lot of things I haven’t heard of.”

“Dark Mages use the same methods as the Mages of the Guild,” he explained, “but they apply their skills in different ways and undertake tasks which the Mage Guild will not. They are unsanctioned by the Guild, their works often the sort of thing no one wishes to openly admit. They do not wear robes or other distinctive garb, instead hiding among the common folk.”

“Are you saying that there are things Mages won’t do?” That was certainly contrary to the stories that Mari had heard.

Alain nodded almost absentmindedly, his attention focused mainly on the area just in front of her. “There are things which diminish wisdom, which harm a Mage’s ability to gain power and learn new spells.” He paused, giving her a sidelong look which seemed…worried?

“All right.” Mari nodded back to him, wondering why any Mage’s worries would be aimed at her. She must have misinterpreted that.

But as she stood still, her mind raced. If there were Dark Mages hidden among the commons, could there also be Dark Mechanics? Unsanctioned Mechanics didn’t exist, her Guild claimed. But then who was responsible for what she had found here? Commons, who were supposed to lack the necessary special talent to do Mechanic work? That thought was a lot scarier than the idea of Dark Mechanics. She had to ask some pointed questions. She wasn’t an apprentice now. If she demanded answers, even Guild Hall Supervisor Stimon would have to provide something in return.

But that could only happen after they got out of here. “Can we do anything about this alarm?”

Mage Alain stood silent for so long without answering that Mari started to worry. Then he shook his head. “Not yet. I need to rest, then perhaps I can get us through it without alerting its master.”

“Any idea how long you’ll need to rest?”

Mage Alain twitched his shoulders in the most minimal of shrugs. “A while.”

“Five minutes a while, half an hour a while, an hour a while?” Mari pressed.

He finally looked at her again. “Minutes? Hour?”

“Got it. A while,” Mari agreed, thinking guiltily that if she hadn’t insisted that the Mage create the hole to let her get her tool kit, he might already be able to handle this. Unfortunately, along with not learning math, Mages didn’t seem to worry about measuring time in anything more precise than morning and afternoon. She pointed to the nearest cell. “That door’s ajar. Let’s wait in there where we’ll be hidden if anyone comes along.”

“That is acceptable.” Once inside, the young Mage sat down against one wall, breathing slowly and deeply.

Mari checked for any sign of a far-listener in this cell, didn’t find any, then sat near the door, her hand holding the pistol ready, pointed at the ceiling. The throbbing in her head had faded to a continuous dull ache.

Mage Alain sat silently until she had settled. He was looking not at her, but between them, his expression revealing nothing.

What was he looking at? Oh. “Is it still there?” Mari asked.

Alain’s gaze rose to meet hers. “No.”

“That’s a relief.”

“It was never there. It does not exist. But it does remain.” His eyes stayed on hers. “Your…tools. You said you can disconnect.”

“You mean the thread? The metaphorical thread that isn’t there but is?” Mari asked. “Unfortunately, all of my tools only work on stuff that’s really there.”

“Nothing is really there,” Alain insisted.

“Blazes! I…my tools only work on the strong illusions. I can’t unscrew an allegory or disconnect a metaphor, Mage Alain!”

“You cannot?” He definitely appeared disappointed.

Absurdly, she felt bad that she couldn’t do it. “I’m sorry. Honest. But neither my tools or my training can do that. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I could.”

His eyes were on hers again. “You gave me the impression that you could do many things and do them well.”

Flattery? From a Mage? “I wish you were a Senior Mechanic. None of them feel that way.” Mari shook her head, feeling overwhelmed as the reality of their circumstances still trapped in the dungeon overcame the last traces of euphoria after the escape from her cell. “I’m not experienced enough even though I’m well-trained. This is my first job outside a Guild Hall, the first time I’ve really been outside a Guild Hall without a lot of other Mechanics around.” Life in a Guild Hall, life at the academy in Palandur, safe and simple and predictable, seemed like one of the Mage’s illusions now. “I don’t know what the blazes I’m doing.”

“You are certainly good at creating the illusion of competence, then.”

Mari stared at the Mage, who showed no signs that his comment was meant anything but seriously. He seemed to think that he had paid her a great compliment. She started giggling, fighting to stay quiet. “I’m going to have to make sure that’s in my next performance evaluation. ‘Master Mechanic Mari is good at creating the illusion of competence.’” Her sides shaking with suppressed laughter only a few steps removed from hysteria born of injury and stress, Mari slumped against the wall.

The Mage watched her intently. “Are you well?”

She managed to get her laughter under control with the help of some renewed throbs in her head and sat straighter, wiping her eyes. “Oh, just great. I’ve got a lump on my head, I’m in a dungeon with a Mage, and if I’m honest with my Guild about what’s happened down here I’ll be locked away forever. Couldn’t be better.” Mari paused to look at the Mage’s face, no sign of emotion on it. “Do you ever laugh?”

“No. It is not permitted.”

There was that sense of pity filling her again. Mari looked away.
He’s not a lost puppy. He’s a young man. He chose this life. He’s not my responsibility.
“Why did you come after me?”

“There is a thread—”

“The one that’s not there but is. Yeah. But I asked why.
Why
did you follow that thread, assuming there is a thread?”

The Mage looked at her, and for a moment she could see the concern in his eyes. “I felt that I needed to…help you.”

Mari smiled at him. “Well, thanks.”

“Because,” Mage Alain continued, “I thought that might be the only way to break the spell you have placed upon me.”

Her smile vanished. “Spell?”

“The thread may have something to do with it. It holds us together. That is why I wanted you to disconnect it, to remove what you have done to me.”

“I—” Mari paused to try to reason out what the Mage was saying. “You think I’m doing something to you? Using that metaphorical thread? You think that I made that thread that isn’t there?”

He nodded. “It must be so. I keep thinking of you. You make me remember things that I should not. I do things when you are involved that I would not ever considering doing otherwise.” The Mage’s otherwise blank expression contained just the tiniest hint of accusation. “I do not know how you have done this to me. I thought that if I returned the help you had given me that I would be free of the inexplicable influence you have over me. But it does not seem to be working, and you say you cannot break the thread.”

Mari realized that her mouth had fallen open as she stared at Mage Alain. “Are you serious?”

“What would I be if I was not serious?”

“You’re saying that I put a spell on you that controls your thoughts and actions?”

“Why else am I here?” the Mage asked.

“Because it was the right thing to do!”

“The…what? I am still uncertain about what right thing means— ” The trace of puzzlement had returned to him.

“Listen…
Mage Alain
! I don’t…
put spells
on boys! Or men! Or anybody! I have no idea why you think that you are thinking about me, but I assure you that it has nothing to do with me thinking about you or making you think that you want to think about me!”

Mage Alain looked back at her for a while before speaking. “I could not follow all of that.”

She gazed at him, feeling helpless. “All right. In short, whatever you are thinking or doing is all from you. I have nothing to do with it.”

“Then why does the thread link us? Why is it you I think about? Why is it you I want to help? This does not happen with others. Only with you.”

Oh, no. A Mage was crushing on her. What had she ever done to deserve ending up in a dungeon with a Mage who was crushing on her? Why couldn’t Alli be here to help her explain things? Alli understood boys and men. Better than Mari did, anyway. What would Alli say to Mage Alain? “It’s not anything that I did. All right, maybe what I did were things you liked. But I didn’t do them to make you think about me or to make you do things.”

“Liked?” Alain asked. “I am also still unsure as to what that means.”

Stars above. Better makes this as simple as possible. “It’s because…you’re a boy.” Mari chose her words carefully. “And sometimes boys get…interested in a particular girl, and maybe, for some totally inexplicable reason that completely escapes me, you…got interested in me.”

The Mage actually frowned as he thought about what she had said. Then his expression cleared. “Love.”

She stared at him, amazed and appalled. “
What?
”

“We were warned about love by the elders,” Alain explained without any feeling in his voice. “It is a very serious error.”

“Yes,” Mari quickly agreed. “They were right. You don’t even want to think about…about
that
.”

“But what is it?” Mage Alain asked. “Is thinking about someone love?”

“No! Whatever you’re thinking, it isn’t that.”

“Why are you concerned? You are much more alarmed. Do you sense that enemies are near?”

“Yes,” Mari said. “That must be it. But I don’t hear anything now, so I can relax. Let’s both relax. Hey, I know. Let’s talk about something else.”

Alain sat, his eyes hooded in thought. “You are difficult.”

“Yes. We already established that.”

“Do you experience love with other Mechanics?” Alain asked the question in the same way someone else would have asked whether it was going to rain today.

Mari took a deep breath. “No. Not that it’s any of your business. But, no.”

“Because you are difficult,” he deduced.

“That probably has something to do with it, yes. Is there a point to this?”

“You are a challenge,” Alain concluded triumphantly. “Something I must overcome.”

“Uh…that’s not exactly the greatest compliment that I’ve ever received, but if it helps you figure out that you’re not in…love…then great.” How could she get him off this entire line of thought? While also hopefully making it clear that she wasn’t interested in that kind of thing with a Mage, even if that Mage was Alain? That they had no possible future together? “Um, I don’t know what your marching orders are, but I was told not to have any more contact with you.”

Alain nodded dispassionately. “I was told not to have any more contact with you, as well.”

“That’s a…a real shame. I mean, that we won’t see each other again after we get out of here,” Mari said, trying to sound regretful rather than grateful. To her own surprise, she didn’t have to try very hard. In fact, she sort of did feel regretful and not at all grateful. What was that about?

“I have already acted against my instructions,” Mage Alain said. “By being here.”

“I can’t say that I’m sorry you came here,” Mari admitted. She felt bad now. Bad about maybe somehow leading on Alain, bad about rebuffing him after he had just gotten her out of a cell, and bad thinking about what his upbringing in a Mage Guild Hall must have been like for so many things to be unfamiliar to him. “And I doubt that I’ll admit to my Guild Hall Supervisor that I was in contact with you again. I guess neither one of us is very good at following orders.”

He nodded in solemn agreement. “No, Master Mechanic Mari, we are not good at following orders.”

Mari couldn’t help grinning at him. If only Alain wasn’t a Mage. The more she learned about him, the more she liked him. But she really still knew very little. “You haven’t lied to me, have you?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Why not? Everybody knows how Mages are. You’ve been honest with me about…well, about what you’re thinking.” That was what had made his statements to her so disconcerting, she realized. This wasn’t some smooth-talking Mechanic looking to score another notch in his belt and willing to say anything that would further that. No. Alain just said things, speaking his mind rather than hiding behind politeness or social games.
He doesn’t seem to understand, or has never been taught, all of the ways people use to avoid saying what they really think. Not that I want to pursue whatever he’s thinking or feeling… Feeling. He never talks about feeling anything. That’s what he hides. He doesn’t hide thoughts. He hides feelings the way the rest of us hide our thoughts
. “Um…anyway, I haven’t caught you in a lie yet. You do things I can’t explain with the science I know. I have an irrational inclination to believe you. Why?”