The Vengekeep Prophecies (24 page)

Before I could stop her, Callie lashed out, swiping her hand across her cousin's face. Talian yowled, his hand covering the bloody streaks Callie's nails had left behind.

“You traitor!” she screamed. “You coward! I looked up to you. I was proud when you were selected to be the town mage's apprentice. Everyone in Vengekeep was praying you'd come back and sort this mess out and instead you abandoned us!”

Callie turned and ran to the opposite corner of the cell, sobbing quietly to herself. I put a gentle hand on her shoulder as Talian, stunned by the violent attack, wiped his face clean.

“You're a mage,” I said quietly. “What do you know about fateskein?”

Talian looked at me curiously. “What?”

“Are you powerful enough to counteract the effects of fateskein?” I asked harshly as Callie continued to sob.

“You shouldn't be messing with—”

“Just answer his question!” Callie said, her back still to her cousin.

Talian shook his head. “It would take several mages working for days to counteract anything that fateskein set into motion. Why are you—?” He stopped. Realization spread across his face. “Of course! Fateskein. That explains everything about Vengekeep. I can't believe no one at the Palatinate came up with that! But how did it happen?”

For the second time that day, I reluctantly relayed the story of the tapestry, my plan to create the solvent, and everything that Callie and I had been through since escaping from Vengekeep. Talian nodded as I spoke, stroking the stubble on his cleft chin.

“Brilliant plan, Jaxter,” he muttered, admiration coloring his voice. “I don't think anyone in the Palatinate could have come up with something like that. A nonmagical remedy. Bangers!”

By now, Callie had stopped crying. She turned back and glared at her cousin. “You can't breathe a word of this to anyone. If anyone finds out, Jaxter's parents will be—”

“I know the punishment for using fateskein,” he said gently. “I won't tell anyone. I promise. And if you succeed with what you're planning, you won't have to tell anyone either. The tapestry can be destroyed, Vengekeep will be saved, and no one will be any wiser.”

“There's just one problem,” I noted, pointing to the bars. “We might be headed home sooner than we thought.”

Talian shook his head glumly. “I wouldn't worry about that. The people of Cindervale are terribly superstitious. If they think you're cursed, they won't go through the trouble of shipping you back to Vengekeep. They'll want to make sure you don't spread the curse. The constable's probably having a magistrate sign the execution order right now.”

Callie looked horrified. A small part of me got excited, thinking I would add another execution order to our family collection.

“Even if we could get out of here,” Callie said, “we still need the last ingredient for the solvent.”

Talian closed his eyes and laughed. “Spiderbat milk. Again, Jaxter, you are a genius.”

Callie seethed. “If you want to be useful, maybe you could suggest how we might get out of this.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I don't suppose they let you keep your spellbook when they locked you up in here.”

At this, Talian raised his eyebrows rakishly. He gave a quick glance around to make sure no guards were about. Then he said quietly, “If you get out of here, you're going to find the spiderbat milk and save Vengekeep, right?”

Callie and I nodded. Talian yanked at the hem of his tunic until it tore and an iron ball the size of marble fell out, clicking as it hit the stone floor. He picked it up and held it in the palm of his hand.

“It's a spellsphere,” he said. He uttered something in a language I didn't understand. A small fire lit up within the steel, causing the entire ball to burn with a hot, white-blue light. Callie leaned forward, her pupils shrinking as she stared into the heart of the light. But I noticed that when Talian stared into it, his pupils grew larger, obscuring the green of his eyes.

“I don't see anything,” Callie muttered.

“
You
don't see anything,” Talian said, “but
I
see all the spells I've learned since my first day as an apprentice, whirling around in there. Only old-fashioned mages keep spellbooks anymore. Today, most mages use a spellsphere to hold the sum of their magical knowledge. I sewed it up in my tunic when I first came to town. I knew if I used it, the Palatinate Sentinels would be able to track me down. Well, they're about to find out where I am, so using it can't hurt anymore.”

The Sentinels were elite mages, trained to find rogue mages and illegal magic use. Everything I'd heard suggested these were mages we didn't want to find us. Talian stared deeply into the glowing ball, his lips moving. I didn't want to interrupt his concentration, but I had to ask.

“Talian,” I said, “it's great that you're going to help us get out, but what are
you
going to do?”

His eyes remained fixed on the scorching light, and for a moment I wasn't sure he'd heard me. Then he said, “I'll face the Palatinate. Don't have much choice.”

I took a deep breath. “No. Come with us.”

Callie's jaw dropped and even Talian looked away from the sphere.

“Jaxter—” Callie cautioned.

“Listen,” I said, “he can go with Edilman. They can both sail off on the boat and leave the Five Provinces. I agree. He's a coward.” Talian blanched at this. “But if he can get us out of here, the least we can do is send him off with Edilman. He may have left Vengekeep to rot, but I've heard stories about ‘Palatinate justice.' It's horrible. We can't leave him to face that.”

Callie bit her lip, then gave a single nod. I asked Talian, “Will you come?”

Talian flushed but agreed. “It could be dangerous for you,” he warned. “The Sentinels have been waiting for me to cast a spell since I went rogue. As soon as I do, it won't take them long to trace the magic here. If they catch you helping me …”

“We'll stay hidden,” I promised.

Talian stared into the sphere, looking for the right spell. When he found it, he cried out.

He pointed to the wall at our backs. “Behind this wall is an alley. I'm going to remove part of the wall, we'll go through, and we'll find your friend.”

I remembered how I'd managed to get through the wall at the Dowager's estate. “It won't be, you know, loud, right? Something to attract the guards?”

He shook his head. “Completely silent. We'll slip away unnoticed. Ready?”

Callie and I prepared to run as soon as the hole appeared. Talian held the sphere out at arm's length and hissed in that unfamiliar language. The sphere pulsed, sending a cone of bluish light into the wall. The bricks shimmered, and when the light from the sphere vanished, a perfectly round hole had punctured the wall.

But Talian had been wrong. Behind that wall wasn't an alley. It was the chief constable's office. And we stood there, looking blankly at the constable and his officers as they stared in amazement at us, no one moving.

“Always had a lousy sense of direction,” Talian muttered.

“The unknown thief revels in her cash. The known thief basks in her cunning. Only one will buy food.”

—
Lyama Grimjinx, Master Thief of Jarron Province

T
alian gathered his wits first. As he hissed another command, the cone of light shot from the sphere again, replacing the missing section of wall. Whirling around, Talian barked another magical command. This time, a torrent of green lightning shot from the sphere, melting the bars and tearing down the wall beyond. The hole led to a street full of confused citizens, who quickly gathered around.

Callie grabbed my arm as we ran out with Talian leading the way. “We do like our spectacular exits, don't we?” she said. Ducking into the assembled crowd, we could hear the constabulary mobilizing behind us. We kept our heads low as we dove down a side street.

“We need to go to the Wily Leathersmith,” I told Talian, who guided us on a zigzag path through the village streets. The mage nodded and took a sharp right. Callie and I kept an eye behind us, searching for signs of pursuit.

The chaos was behind us, but Cindervale was small. It wouldn't take long for the constable and his deputies to track us down. Talian led us up a side street that intersected with the inn. We slipped around to the back and darted through the rear entrance. The par-Goblin innkeeper was spit-cleaning his countertop as we came in.

“Excuse me,” I said breathlessly, “did our friend show up for the third room yet?”

The innkeeper paused to think. “Skinny guy? Yonick accent?”

I nodded. “That's him.”

The innkeeper pointed upstairs. “Came a while ago.”

I thanked him and the three of us darted upstairs. Callie and I each went into our rooms to grab our things as Talian stood near a window, watching for signs of the approaching law. I threw my pack over my shoulder, feeling naked without my belt and pouches, now forever in possession of the Cindervale constable. I was just about ready when I heard Callie cry out. Talian and I met her in the hall outside her room.

“My pack!” she said, pointing to the room. “It's gone!”

I peered inside her room. The entire place had been ransacked; bed overturned, sheets askew.

“I hid it in the closet and now …,” she said.

“Zoc!” I cursed and pounded on Edilman's door. “Edilman? We've got trouble. The ingredients are gone.” When he didn't respond, I opened the door. The room was immaculate, with no sign of his gear anywhere.

“Callie,” Talian yelled, pointing out the window. “Village guards!”

The innkeeper had said Edilman was here. So where …? A dark thought formed in my mind. I understood what had happened. Sadly, we didn't have time to do anything about it. “Come on,” I ordered them. We bounded down the stairs to find the innkeeper also eyeing the approaching guards out his window.

I took a chance.
“Klaeva surrin ta noda?”

The par-Goblin frowned and I worried that my accent was really bad. But, as I suspected, he understood my plea for assistance in escaping unseen—which meant he was a fellow thief.

The innkeeper scurried across the room and bolted the door shut. He nodded toward a rack displaying ancient halberds on the wall. “There,” he grunted. “Down the stairs, through the tunnel. Go.”

I pushed against the rack and found a secret door beyond. As the village guards began pounding on the inn's door, I ushered Callie and Talian into the dark compartment beyond, sliding the rack closed behind us. Talian spoke and his spellsphere started to glow, lighting our path. We took the creaky stairs down to a musty, hand-dug tunnel, reminding me instantly of our initial escape from Vengekeep. At top speed, we ran down the tunnel, unsure if the guards would find us.

The tunnel was a straight shot under the village, and, as the innkeeper had promised, ended in another hidden door near the city docks on the River Honnu. Once outside, Talian led the way.

“Come with me,” he said, and we followed closely, trying our best not to look conspicuous. Talian led us up the gangplank of a small sailing ship. Once on board, he looked around and then took us belowdecks, where we hid among burlap bags that smelled of burr oats.

“In about an hour,” Talian whispered, “this ship will sail north into Yonick Province and dock near Merriton.”

“How do you know?” Callie asked.

“I've worked on these docks for weeks. I know that this ship goes there every day.” He looked to me. “Didn't you say you needed to get to the aircaves?”

I nodded, but Callie continued to fume.

“We can't go too far,” Callie cautioned. “We have to find Edilman—”

“We're not going to find Edilman,” I said quietly. “He's the one who turned us in.”

Callie stared at me, slack-jawed. I thought back to the innkeeper, telling us he'd seen Edilman and I remembered how Edilman's room had been untouched. He'd never gone in there. He'd gone into Callie's room instead.