Rebel's Cage (Book 4) (14 page)

Andrew took all this in, in a single horrified glance. Then he strode over to Neil, grabbed the book and snapped it shut. He didn’t need to be a sorcerer to know what these three were doing. ‘Are you crazy?’ he hissed, mindful to keep his voice down lest somebody hear
him.
‘How many times do you need to be told before you get the idea that this is
dangerous
!’

‘Oh, bother, Andrew,’ Zea was the first out of her shock. She sprang to her feet and crossed to the table, leaning forward and whispering urgently, ‘How can it be dangerous? Duke Robert has done it a thousand times. And didn’t Kenrick do it when he snuck into the camp to poison Princess Galiena? How do you think they learned to do it? It’s just a problem of practising. Liam is strong enough and skilled enough to make a really good mask. Why can’t he go further and try to make himself invisible?’

Andrew was thrown for a moment, then he rounded on Liam, ignoring Neil deliberately. ‘You should know better. I thought you weren’t going to let her push you into anything any more.’

‘She didn’t push me,’ Liam replied stubbornly. ‘I was very close last time, before Finnlay stopped me. I’ve got close tonight. Now unless you want to stand there and prolong this experiment, I suggest you be quiet and let me get to work.’

‘This has nothing to do with you,’ Neil added, holding out his hand for the book. ‘Shouldn’t you be in bed asleep? Won’t your mother miss you? You don’t want to get into trouble, do you?’

‘You just don’t listen, do you?’ Andrew said, in frustration. ‘There’s a reason
why
dimensional shifts and all those other things are forbidden. Do you think that sorcerers over the
centuries
have just arbitrarily decided there are some things we’re allowed to do and some we’re not?’

‘We?’ Neil asked in disbelief. ‘You are
not
a sorcerer! You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He turned his back to Andrew, shutting him out, dismissing him with a coldness that
set Andrew’s anger burning, making him throw his fear to the wind.

‘I don’t know?’ Andrew tapped the book hard with his knuckles. ‘Have you read this whole text? The last three chapters detail more than twenty experiments just like this that went terribly wrong.’

‘Ah, there speaks the expert,’ Zea muttered, not quite under her breath. ‘Excuse me, son of our revered Jaibir, but
you
don’t have any powers, no matter how many books you’ve read. If you don’t want to be witness, then go back to bed. We don’t want to keep you from your sleep. After all, your mother might come back and find you’ve been bad and then you’d get into trouble. We wouldn’t want that, would we?’

Andrew could only stare at her. She – and the others – were impervious to any words he might utter, and threatening to go and find Finnlay or somebody wouldn’t make any difference. For a start, they’d never speak to him again – and they’d just try it another time, again and again, until one of them got killed. And even if he did go for help, Liam would probably do more damage trying to do it quickly while he was gone.

The answer was obvious, though he wasn’t sure he could bluster his way through it without any trouble. ‘I’ll stay. Neil, go and sit down over there, in the corner by the door. Pull a table onto its side and sit behind it. Zea, you go with him.’

‘Are you giving orders now?’ Zea almost shouted with indignation. ‘We had this under control before you—’

‘Have you read this book? From cover to cover?’ When she didn’t answer, he looked at both Liam and Neil. Neither offered a reply. Some part of him trembled at his own audacity. Hell, they were all older than him, more trained, and infinitely more experienced – and yet his words came out without hesitation. ‘Fine, then yes, I am giving orders now. Go and get behind a table. If there’s any backlash, get out and shut the door behind you.’

‘If you do anything to ruin this,’ Neil grunted, his face dark with anger, ‘I swear I’ll …’

The threat was never finished, but Andrew felt it all the same. Still he waited, the book in his hands, his expression
carefully expectant. Inside, he could only pray this would work. For a moment, none of them moved. Neil and Zea looked to Liam, who in turn studied Andrew with a detachment that left a cold feeling in his stomach. Then, abruptly, he nodded. A minute later, they were all ready. Andrew positioned Liam in the centre of the room, and then stood before him. ‘I don’t understand why you’re so determined to do this.’

‘Well, you wouldn’t, would you?’

‘And why not?’

‘You’re a Duke. You’ve got lands and estates to your name and a place at court with your cousin the King. All
we
have is the powers we can master. We’re not even allowed to use them properly. How much more do you need to understand?’

Of course they would see it that way, wouldn’t they? ‘Very well. How much of that book
did
you read?’

‘Enough.’

‘Obviously not, otherwise you’d have conquered this by now. Listen, just breathe deeply, twice, letting the air out nice and slowly. Close your eyes and focus on some point inside you. If you can hear your heartbeat, then use that. Count it if you like.’

He waited until Liam nodded before he went on. ‘Now, imagine you’ve got somebody standing beside you, his arm close enough to touch yours.’

Another nod.

‘Gather the power inside you and let it run through your whole body, right down to your toes, right to the ends of your hair. Feel it flow through the
ayarn
in your hand and into the person standing beside you.’

There was a long pause and this time Andrew could almost feel the power radiating off the older boy. Liam had been studying for five years, but he really didn’t have the control necessary to make this work.

‘Just take it slowly, don’t force it. Don’t let it overpower you.’

Another long pause and the ragged edges trimmed a little, leaving Liam with a film of sweat on his face. Eyes still shut tight, he gave another nod.

‘Very well. Now, don’t do anything until I say. When I give the word, I want you to think about stepping sideways and into the body of that imaginary person you’ve got by your elbow. When you do it, you will stop being where you are at the moment. Can you picture that in your head?’

Liam frowned a little, but nodded again.

Andrew looked at the others to make sure they were protected, then turned back, taking a deep breath of his own. The truth was, if Liam didn’t control this, he would most likely kill both himself and Andrew at the same time.

‘Are you ready?’ he asked, keeping watch on the boy’s face. When he got a final nod, he added, ‘Very well. Do it. Take the step.’

He held his breath. For a moment, it looked like nothing was happening – and then, suddenly, Liam faded, right before his eyes. Faded, flashed back solid, then faded again. More transparent this time, but still determined to succeed.

Andrew had to stop himself reaching out. The distraction alone would kill them both. Even so, his own heart was hammering in his chest, as though desperate to get out and escape before it was too late.

‘Look! He’s doing it!’ Zea hissed from behind him, but he waved a hand for her to be silent.

Liam let out a small gasp, but he was still there, only now a pale, washed-out shape against the backdrop of the classroom.

Andrew couldn’t let this go on any longer. If it hadn’t happened by now, it wasn’t going to. He opened his mouth to call a halt – and Liam disappeared.

Instantly Andrew held up a hand, desperate now to stop Zea from yelling with triumph. Any distraction now would be too much.

‘That’s good, Liam,’ he murmured, his eyes searching the room for any sign of the missing boy. ‘Now, as soon as you feel the shift is stable, you need to take a step forward, towards me. You need to concentrate and hold the shift as you move.’

He had no idea how successful his instructions were, until Liam reappeared, a good two steps closer than he’d been before, but faint, growing more solid, and then faint again.

Time to stop this now. ‘Liam, I want you to ease it back now. Just a little at a time. Ease it down until it’s quieter inside you. That’s it. A little more.’

For a moment nothing really changed, and then there was more form, more colour to Liam’s shape. Then Liam’s face twisted in pain and Andrew felt the power let loose with a surge that sent him moving so fast he could see nothing of his own actions. There was only Liam, the
ayarn
in his hand, pulsing with power, and Andrew, his hand clasping over it, frantic to contain the backlash he knew was coming.

The light blinded him. The force threw him to the ground, Liam with him. His ears roared, and then it was over and he was blinking and seeing things in the room again.

The first thing he noticed was Neil and Zea peering at him over the edge of the table. With a groan he rolled onto his back and sat up. Liam lay beside him, eyes wide open and a very stupid grin on his face.

‘I did it.’

Andrew realised he had his own stupid grin in place. ‘I guess you did. Congratulations. Can you get up?’

Liam turned enough to look at him. ‘How did you do that?’

‘Do what?’

‘Contain the backlash.’

‘I didn’t – or hadn’t you noticed that we’re both on the floor when we were standing a moment ago?’

‘Yes, I had noticed that.’ With a grunt, Liam got to his feet, holding out a hand to help Andrew. Zea and Neil came forward then, huge smiles on their faces, matched by the one on Liam’s.

‘Are you happy now?’ Andrew needed to know the answer to this, or he’d have to hide that book somewhere.

‘I think so,’ Liam nodded, putting his
ayarn
away.

‘Then do me a favour?’

‘Of course.’

‘Go to bed. And next time you want to try this? Don’t.’

Liam let out a short laugh and nodded. ‘Who would have thought you’d be an expert on the forbidden talents, eh? Come
on, it’s late and if we’re caught in here, we’ll all get into trouble.’

Andrew followed the others out, turning out the lamp before he closed the door behind him. He watched as they headed for their rooms, then took his long circuitous route back around the Cavern. By the time he got to his mother’s door, he’d already yawned three times, but he still didn’t turn in. Instead he kept going until he rounded the corner and stopped before Henry’s door.

The room inside was filled with the quiet hum of conversation. Finnlay sat by the wall. Jenn and Arlie stood talking by the bedroom door and turned as he entered.

‘Andrew!’ Jenn gave him a small, worried smile. ‘What are you doing up so late? I thought you were asleep.’

‘I … wanted to know how Master Henry was.’

Jenn’s expression softened and she came forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, love. He died a few minutes ago.’

‘Oh.’ Disappointment flooded through him as she pulled him in for a brief hug. ‘How’s Celia?’

‘She’s still with him, but she seems to be fine for the moment.’

Andrew looked up at her. ‘I don’t suppose we can afford to stay long enough for the pyre?’

‘With all the snow we’ve had today, I don’t dare risk you lingering longer. I’m sorry.’

‘I understand.’ Andrew gave her a small smile. ‘I suppose I’d better go back to bed.’

‘I’ll be up in the morning to see you both off.’

Andrew’s gaze drifted to the closed bedroom door before returning to Jenn. She looked very tired, her eyes a little red, her face very pale. On impulse, he leaned forward and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek. ‘Goodnight, Mother. I’ll see you in the morning.’

Quite deliberately, Godfrey chose to walk around the cloister to stay in the sunlight rather than hurry through the shadows on the opposite side. Even so, he could still feel the cold stone beneath his sandals and the end of his nose had already lost feeling. Winter had barely begun and already Marsay was cold enough to freeze over.

He must be getting old. Surely it hadn’t been so long ago when a morning like this would have had him waking refreshed and ready for a full day. Now, despite his increasing duties, there was an unfamiliar desire to remain tucked up beneath his blankets and wait for the day to grow warmer before emerging from his cocoon.

But of course, to do so and miss morning prayers would hardly be pious, would it?

Godfrey smiled to himself as he hurried along. Despite the mess Lusara had become, it did his heart good to know he hadn’t lost his sense of humour. He turned into the Chapter House to find his fellow Archdeacons, Francis and Ohler, in their usual seats. Francis was a man of little patience but, oddly enough, great wisdom. His bald head was kept warm in winter by his habit’s cowl left permanently in place. Ohler was a pedant, from start to finish, and often mistaken for lacking in humour, which Godfrey knew to be untrue. Though several years older than both Godfrey and Francis, Ohler seemed to have stopped aging about ten years before, leaving only a little steel grey in his hair. Both men looked up as he entered, pausing in their whispered conversation until he could join them. He took up his seat against the wall next to them, his face turned towards the rest of his brethren, waiting for the day’s Chapter meeting to commence.

‘I suppose you’ve already heard?’ Ohler murmured, his face giving nothing away.

‘Godfrey is always two steps ahead of everyone else,’ Francis replied, the humour injected into his voice taking offence from his words.

‘That’s because,’ Godfrey whispered, glancing at them both before rising to his feet, ‘I’m actually a mind-reader, Brothers. But whatever it is, can we discuss it after Chapter?’

When they said nothing else, Godfrey opened the meeting and gave his concentration over to the daily business, and then regained his seat as a chapter from the Order was read out to all of them. Then, as the cold from the stone seat began to sink into his bones, he closed the meeting and waited until all but two of his brethren had shuffled out. Only then did he get to his feet, stretch out the kinks of the morning and turn to the older men.

‘What exactly am I supposed to have heard about?’

‘You’re the mind-reader,’ Francis replied dryly.