The Princess of Trelian (33 page)

“Nope, haven’t seen him,” Anders said when she asked. “Probably off sulking somewhere. That’s what I would be doing!” He ushered her out, unconcerned.

Meg found herself out in the hall with the door closed firmly behind her. She didn’t know why she was worried, exactly. It’s not like she always knew where Calen was during the day. Except that he was usually either in the mages’ quarters or doing tasks for Serek or spending time with her. And she wanted to talk to him. Maybe he was wandering around as well, and they just kept missing each other. She was sure he’d come find her eventually.

She took the opportunity to go visit Tessel again in the infirmary. This time, when she peeked in, she saw that Tessel was sitting up in bed, looking at a book. Meg almost ducked back out before Tessel could see her but made herself walk in, instead. She owed Tessel a lot. Hiding from her was just cowardly.

“Good evening, Tessel,” Meg said quietly. “Are you . . . ? How are you feeling?”

Tessel looked up and Meg almost flinched, anticipating anger, or fear, or maybe even hatred in the older girl’s eyes. But she didn’t see any of that.

“Princess,” Tessel said. “They told me you’d been in to see me.”

“Yes.” Meg sat on the chair beside the bed. “I’m — I’m so sorry, Tessel. For what happened. You were right to try to talk me out of going, and I should never have let you come along.”

“It’s all right.”

“No!” Meg said. “It’s not all right! They tortured you! You could have been killed! And it’s my fault; I made you put yourself in danger —”

Tessel shook her head. “But they didn’t kill me. And I’ll — I’ll be fine. I’m not sleeping as much now, and my dispatcher said I might be able to return to my duties in a few more days, if the physicians clear me.”

Meg blinked. “Return . . . But after what happened . . .”

“A courier position comes with certain risks,” Tessel said. “Not, um, precisely the kind of risks I’d expected in this case, but I’m certainly not going to quit now. I still have my duty. I’m eager to get back to it.”

“I feel like you’re letting me off too easy,” Meg said. “You should hate me for what happened.”

“I . . . did, at first. But you thought you were doing the right thing, at least in the beginning. And everyone makes mistakes.” She twisted her mouth up a little. “If you weren’t sorry, if you hadn’t seemed to think better of what you’d done — well, that might have made it harder for me. But in my heart, I can’t blame you for doing what you thought was right.”

Meg felt tears pricking her eyes for what seemed the hundredth time in the last few days. “Thank you, Tessel. I am sorry. Truly. And if there is ever anything I can do for you . . .”

“I will let you know,” Tessel said. “I promise.”

Meg rose and turned to leave, letting Tessel get back to her rest. She walked past rows of mostly empty beds but paused on the way out, near a door that went to a private room. She knew three soldiers still lay in that room, still suffering from the poison of the slaarh that Sen Eva had set against them. There had been six at first. Three had died. Serek was still working with the physicians, trying to keep the remaining three from dying before he could devise a cure. The men lay in a permanent sleep, barely able to take in enough food and water to keep them alive. More death and suffering that Sen Eva would pay for one day.

Meg left the infirmary, wishing more than ever that she knew where Calen was. She knew he was probably just busy with something. Surely he would come and find her soon, and he’d be simultaneously apologetic and excited about whatever it was that had kept him away all day.

She went to have dinner with her parents and tried to ignore the gnawing fingers of concern in her belly that wouldn’t quite go away.

C
ALEN WAITED UNTIL SEREK AND THE
others were well on their way. Then he took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and called up the energy for his invisibility spell. Serek hated when Calen called it that, since true invisibility was supposed to be impossible, but it accomplished the same purpose. Besides, he didn’t care very much about what Serek thought right now.

He held the spell in place while walking up the Queen’s Road to the spot he’d selected. Luckily, the wards that had been placed around the castle would alert Anders only if mages tried to enter the castle grounds, not leave them. One less thing to worry about. His route was slightly roundabout compared to the one Serek’s group had taken, but Calen didn’t want there to be the slightest chance of running into them along the way.

When he was far enough away that he couldn’t be seen from the castle, he dropped the invisibility spell. He didn’t want to try holding that while working the other magic at the same time. Maybe someday, but right now he thought he’d done all the experimenting he cared to do. He was already nervous enough. Part of him still couldn’t quite believe he was doing this. But he told that part of him to be quiet. He knew he’d read the cards correctly, and they’d told him he needed to take action. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have a plan. He would get close enough to see where Sen Eva was holding Maurel, and then he would use his invisibility spell again, and just walk in and grab her. As long as he covered her mouth before she could scream and give him away, he thought he could get her inside his spell area without any trouble. And then they could just walk right out. He would come back along the route that Serek was taking — just walking, this time — so he could show him — them — that he’d already rescued Maurel himself, and they could all just turn around and go home.

But first — first he had to get there. He’d practiced plenty last night, but only very short distances across his room and back. This would be the same principle, though. And he’d only go as far as he could see.

Carefully, he called up the violet energy and wove it around himself. He fixed his eyes on a spot some fifty feet up the road.
Concentrate, stay focused. . . .
He took a breath, cleared his mind, and
willed
himself forward.

The world spun around him for a second, but when he found his feet again, he saw that he was exactly where he’d intended to be. He gave a little whoop of triumph — it was working! He focused again, on another spot up the road, a little farther this time, as far as he could clearly see. Then he jumped again.

He had to stop and rest. He’d gotten maybe halfway there, in just a few hours, but it was a lot more draining than he’d anticipated. He had plenty of time, though; Serek and the others wouldn’t get to Bellman’s Pass until tomorrow morning.

He sat against a shady tree and pulled out the little package of dried fruit and meat that he’d tucked away before he left. He felt good. Really good. He knew he should feel a little guilty, and okay, he supposed he did. But that didn’t matter very much. He knew he was doing the right thing. And it felt so, well, good to be using magic to accomplish something really significant. Not that the locator spell hadn’t been important, or the dream protection they’d done for Wilem and Meg . . . but he’d only been assisting on those spells, really. What he was doing now was entirely his own. He’d thought it up himself, and it was working, and he was going to save Maurel and do something that would really show Serek how much he had underestimated his apprentice. He couldn’t wait to see the surprise and grudging respect in his master’s eyes.

He rested until he felt ready to go again. Then he gathered his magic, fixed on his location, and jumped.

He almost came upon the pass before he realized it.

It was dusk. He completed a jump to a spot along the road and suddenly heard voices. In an instant he’d called up his invisibility spell. Then he looked carefully around.

He couldn’t see anything from where he was, but there was a bend in the road ahead, and the voices were coming from just beyond it. He crept forward. As soon as he rounded the bend, he saw the pointed rocks of Bellman’s Pass before him. He could hear the rushing of water somewhere a little farther off.

For a moment he couldn’t seem to catch his breath. He’d been so elated with the success of his spell that he hadn’t let himself think about the fact that he’d be facing Sen Eva.
But you’re not facing her, not really,
he reminded himself.
She won’t even know you’re there, until it’s too late.

He made himself continue stepping softly toward the rocks. He still had to be careful not to make any noise; the spell only masked sight, not sound. He wondered suddenly if he could come up with some variation that could hide any noise he made, too. Why hadn’t he ever thought of that before? That would . . . he shook his head.
Focus!
He could think about applications of magic later. If there was a later.
Stop that.
This was no time to let nerves overtake him. He had a job to do here, and he was going to do it.

With a few more steps, he was able to see what he needed to. His confidence slipped another few notches.

Sen Eva was there, as expected. She was standing, facing partly away from him, and still looked like that stranger they’d seen in Lourin, but there was no question in his mind now that it was her. He could see Maurel, too; she was sitting on the ground, her hands bound behind her. She wasn’t crying now, although she still looked miserable. Calen couldn’t blame her. She was surrounded by more men than he could count, rough-looking men who must be working for Sen Eva. They didn’t seem to be soldiers, exactly, but they were all dressed in black and had the look of people waiting around for someone to tell them what to do.

And beyond them, through the gaps in another row of those tall, pointed rocks, he could see black shapes moving. Enormous black shapes. He could see only glimpses of them, but he knew what they were. Slaarh. Those horrible oily-black monsters that Sen Eva had somehow called up from somewhere to do her bidding. Gods, but he hated those things.

Well, with any luck they would just stay there on the far side of the rocks, and he wouldn’t have to worry about them. He had enough to worry about as it was. He would somehow have to maneuver through those ranks of men in order to get close to Maurel — and then get back through them again, somehow, without accidently touching any of them, since that would instantly give him away. He wasn’t untouchable any more than he was unhearable, unfortunately.

Oh —
wait.
He didn’t have to maneuver anywhere. He could jump there. It wasn’t far. He could see it clearly. There was a space right beside Maurel that he could fix his eyes on.

Except if she moved, or if any of the nearby men chose that moment to take a step or two to the side, they’d be in his path. He could end up . . . he didn’t even want to think about it. He certainly didn’t want to risk
doing
it. He stood there, frozen with indecision.

“Welcome, Apprentice Calen,” Sen Eva’s voice called out suddenly. Her voice was still the same, not changed by whatever process had altered her appearance. “Why don’t you come over here and join us?”

Calen’s heart lurched. He was certain his spell was still in place. How could she —? Maybe she’d heard a noise and was just guessing. Maybe she was just trying to trick him into revealing himself. He would not let that happen. He took a step backward.

“Please,” she said, turning now to look at him. “I am afraid I must insist.”

There was a rustling in the trees, and then more of those black-clad men poured out and blocked the road behind him. They didn’t seem able to see him; their eyes searched the place where he was standing, passing over him with no recognition. But somehow Sen Eva knew exactly where he was. She was staring right at him.

Maurel had sat up straight, a terrible hopeful expression on her face as she looked wildly around for him. Calen said nothing; he still felt it must be a trick of some kind. How could Sen Eva see him when the men and Maurel clearly could not?

As though reading his mind, she said, “It would be humiliating indeed if I allowed you to fool me with the same spell twice. I can see you quite clearly, standing there on the road. And if I do this —” Calen felt a strange tug in the air around him, and suddenly the magic of his spell dissipated into nothingness —“my men will be able to see you quite clearly as well.”

Two of the men on the road now approached. They each grabbed one of his arms and began to propel him toward Sen Eva. Calen struggled, though he knew it was hopeless. Their grips were like iron.

They released him once he was standing before Sen Eva but stayed close, near enough to stop him if he tried to run or anything else. Not that he had any brilliant ideas for what to do, anyway. He was nearly paralyzed with fear. This was not the plan!

The woman looking back at him was a stranger, and yet she wasn’t. The expression on her face was all too familiar.

“How did you do it?” he asked finally. “Change your face that way?”

She laughed contemptuously. “There are realms of magic that you and your masters cannot even imagine. I have access to power you will never know, Apprentice.” She made the word sound like an insult.

“Calen?” Maurel’s small voice was pleading. Sen Eva laughed again.