The Scofflaw Magician (The Artifactor Book 3) (9 page)

“Right now,
yes. Unfortunately. There is, however, something very strange about this
portrait.” Putting a finger to her lips, she cautioned, “And this stays between
me, you, and Master right now.”

Morgan’s brows
rose. “Sounds serious. Alright, what?”

“The portrait
was done with Fae ink.”

His eyes went
so large they almost fell out of his head. “W-what?!” he croaked.

“You heard me.”
She sympathized with his reaction. “But I can’t say that yet, not to anyone
here. They already blamed the Fae with the princess’s disappearance once,
they’ll be happy to jump to that conclusion again. I don’t want to be in the
middle of that war again.”

Wincing, he
agreed, “Sound idea. Don’t tell them. But how did an evil magician get ahold of
Fae ink?”

“That is a
question I’m dying to have an answer to. I have a feeling that if we knew that,
half of this riddle would be solved.” Well, perhaps not half. “Kip, I need to
go into Fae territory and talk to them about this. The conversation will not go
well.”

“I think that’s
a very dangerous understatement, Sev.”

“You’re telling
me,” she grumbled. “But I
have
to talk to them about this. Not only
because something was stolen out of their territory, but because I have to know
how the ink was made before I can even begin to unravel this. They’re the only
ones that know.”

He stepped away
from the portrait entirely and rubbed at his face in a tired gesture. “You do
have a better working relationship with them than anyone else I’ve heard of.
Maybe you really can go in and talk to them about this. But is that why you’re
rushing me into finding portraits?”

“The more I can
bring to them, the better.”

“Understood.” Morgan
took one long, last look at the portrait before nodding to himself. “I think I
can recognize the style now. I’ll get to work. Anything you need here?”

“Besides the
rest of the portraits? Answers.”

“Those are on
you,” Morgan snorted. Halfway through the door, he stopped and turned back. “How
many am I looking for, anyway?”

“I can only
give you a guess, but I would say about a dozen.”

“A dozen. Oh
boy.” Puffing out his cheeks, he blew out a breath, squared his shoulders, and
headed back out.

This time, she
tracked him by ear, following the sound of his footsteps until she heard him
enter another hallway. Only then did she turn her attention to the portrait.

Why, oh why,
did Fae magic have to work so differently than human magic? Nothing in her
tools would even register it as a compilation of different elements, that’s how
naturally the ink was blended together. No matter how she tried to analyze it,
it always came back as the same result: Fae ink.

It drove her
mad. Well, madder.

That variable
she would have to leave alone for the time being. Sevana didn’t have any choice
on that. For now, she had to focus on the rest of it, as much as she could. How
exactly did the magician craft the spell? Was this portrait a transmuting
spell, or a transportation spell? Was this poor boy literally a painting now,
or was the painting simply the means for sending one to some other plane?

She hadn’t been
kidding earlier with Morgan. She had far too many questions, and not enough
answers.

Taking in a
deep breath, she set her mind to working on the problem at hand. There would be
many questions that she couldn’t answer today, but Sevana was determined to at
least answer one of them before the day was out.

Morgan could
work miracles when he put his mind to it. Within the course of a day, he found
another painting and brought it promptly to her. Sevana was delighted by the
find for the simple fact that another painting meant more data. She needed data
desperately as she could only figure out so much from a single painting.

This new
addition was of an older woman in her middle years, sitting down with a basket
of snap peas in her lap. She was intent on her work, nothing about her position
suggesting that she was even aware of the world around her. The magician had
caught this woman because she had been too busy and occupied to look up.

The
similarities between this one and the portrait of the boy were startling. The
name was backward, the style was the same, and the spell elements were identical.
There were, however, differences.

Sevana used her
box lens, then her diagnostic wand, and made comparisons. Oh yes, there were
differences, although they were mostly slight—so slight that they didn’t make
an overall difference in the scheme of things. But she found the differences
interesting, and more importantly, they told her information she hadn’t known
before.

Firuz knocked
timidly on her door before sticking his head cautiously inside. “Sevana?”

“Come in,” she
encouraged with nothing more than a quick glance up. “I’m not doing anything
sensitive or dangerous right now.”

Relieved, he
pushed the door aside and stepped all the way in. “Have you found anything?”

“Quite a bit,
which I hadn’t expected.” Flipping a page, she put her journal from the boy’s
portrait side by side with the new journal she had just used for the woman’s.
“To start, the paper is different.”

Firuz stared at
both portraits dubiously. “That’s important?”

“More than you
might think. It means the paper is unimportant. I won’t have to take its makeup
into consideration at all when I go to undo the spell.” Seeing that he only
half understood her, she gave a sigh. “I suppose I need to explain that
better.”

He gave her a
twisted smile. “If you would.”

“The more
convoluted a spell is, the harder it is to counter and undo.” In an effort to
put it into terms he would understand and skip a tedious explanation, she
offered a metaphor. “When you’re sitting down at a council, wanting to get
something done, which is easier? A room of twenty men or a small council of
three?”

“Three, of
course.” His eyes narrowed, the tip of his tongue darting out to wet his lips.
“Because that way I only have to balance the history, agendas, and
personalities of those three. Is it the same with spell elements?”

“Exactly the
same. You have to consider what blends well, what reacts badly, and what has
the power to be effective. It’s easier to do if you have few elements in the
original spell.” Relieved he was on the same page as her, she went on. “Right
now, I have three elements to contend with, and I’m thankful that’s the case.
It makes life much easier.” Turning back to the portraits, she pointed to the
woman. “Now, this one is rougher. The style has more problems with it, the way
that the spell is attached to the paper is slightly more coarse. I’m thinking
this is older, perhaps the fourth or fifth attempt on the magician’s part.”

“You see that
much of a skill difference between the two?”

“I do. He
learns quickly, this man, and his style is adaptive. It means he’s very
talented, not just intelligent.” As an afterthought, she added, “Curse him. I
hate people like him.”

“Because they
use their talents to thwart you?” Firuz hazarded.

“I do love how
quickly you pick up on matters. Yes, exactly. Still and all, just one more
portrait has told me quite a bit. I can’t wait for Kip to find more.”

“Your man
Morgan has proven to be quite effective. I’m grateful you brought him in.”

So was she. “I
still don’t have an answer on what this portrait
does
. Is it a
transmutation spell or a transportation one of some sort? Until I know that, I
can’t take the risk of taking these portraits through my clocks. I might warp
them.”

Firuz blanched.
“Please don’t,” he choked.

Her mouth
tipped up. “No worries, I’m not about to try it. Although when it comes time to
take them all back to my workshop, I’ll have to figure out how—”

“
Sevana
.”
The Caller on the table abruptly went live, assuming Master’s features and
standing. Unusually, he was dressed in a fine three piece suit, hair combed back,
and looking over all presentable.

His tone, the
way that he was standing so taut and alert, screamed at her. She gripped the
edge of the table with both hands and leaned in, demanding, “What is it?”

“
The Belen
King is missing.
”

Firuz let out a
curse hot enough to strip the paint off the walls. Sevana felt her head spin
for a second, pieces flying about and settling into a strange premonition.
“How?”

“
I have an
ink portrait of him, does that answer the question
?”

Suddenly, it
all made sense. “Of course,” she breathed, mostly to herself. “Of course. All
of these other portraits were trial runs, proof of theory, nothing more. He was
slowly scaling up, seeing how far his spell could push past any magical
defenses.”

“
Princess
Amas was a test to him, nothing more,
” Master concurred, tone dark and
grim. “
She was there to prove that he could get past the magical protections
of a royal. His true aim was the Belen King.
”

“We don’t know
that,” she corrected automatically, although a part of her suspected he was
right. “He might be after more than one king.”

Master growled.
“
I hadn’t thought of that, but you make a good point, sweetling. I’ll
contact the others, put them on their guards as well. But I now need everything
you know.
”

“I don’t have
much more to tell you, more than we have already discussed,” she phrased
carefully, hyper aware of the king at her back. “I have found out a few things.
The paper changes from portrait to portrait, so that’s not important. His style
was definitely evolving, so he’s not artistic by nature, he developed the
talent just for this job. Also, the name is spelled backwards for each
portrait. Somehow, that’s important.”

“
Do you know
which type of spell we’re dealing with?
”

She shook her
head, frustrated. “No. Master, don’t risk taking this portrait through one of
my clocks. I have a bad feeling about it.”

“
I don’t
dare. I’ll take it by carriage. Sweetling, all things considered, I think it’s
best to work on this problem from your workshop. I’ll head for Big immediately.
”

“I’ve got Kip down
here looking for other portraits, but I can meet you in Big in about four
days.”

“
It might
take me that long to get there. Things are very chaotic here.
”

Yes, so she
could imagine. “Do you want to call Pierpoint and warn him along with everyone
else?”

“
I have
nothing else to do but make calls during the trip
,” he pointed out. “
Your
time is best used analyzing and giving me information as you can.
”

She felt the
same way but wanted to make sure that he understood just who he had to talk to.
Sevana was slightly fond of the people in that particular family, and she
didn’t want Pierpoint sleeping on the job. “Then go pack.”

“
How fragile
is the portrait
?”

Valid question.
“I’m pretty sure you could use it as a corner stone under a palace and it would
be just fine. The spell keeps it intact. But I wouldn’t take chances with it.”

“
I wasn’t
planning to, sweetling,
” Master drawled. He sounded ever so slightly
relieved, which made her suspect that something stupid had happened to the
portrait, but she wasn’t curious enough to ask. “
I’ll slide it into a tube,
then. Easier to transport. You have nothing else to tell me about this? Nothing
else I need to know
?”

“Sadly, no. I
need to talk to certain experts before I have a full understanding of what I’m
dealing with. But I want at least two more portraits before I speak with them.
The more information we can give them, the better.”

“
Wait for
one more,
”
Master instructed. “
After all, I’m bringing one with
me. But if you don’t get it by tomorrow, leave for Big. We need to know how to
reverse this quickly. I can’t imagine what kind of evil is being worked while a
king is dethroned.
”

That was a
thought that Sevana had been carefully skirting around because it scared her as
well. “It’s Kip looking, he’ll find me another one before tomorrow.” She had
complete faith in that. “Do me a favor, though. When you arrive, make sure that
all of the saplings planted along the edge of Noppers Woods were done right. I
want the Fae to be happy with me when I get back home.”

“
Of course,
sweetling,
” he assured her. “
Now, go. We both have things to do.
”

“You’re the one
still standing around chatting.”

Master mustered
a chuckle before sticking his tongue at her. The Caller abruptly went still as
he cut the connection.

Sevana turned
to Firuz, who still looked as if someone was shaking the world at random angles
on him. “Gather your court magicians. I don’t know how this spell worked, not
entirely, but I want to sit down and re-examine your wards so that we can come
up with a way of blocking the next attempt on your family.”

“I’ll send them
to you.” The words weren’t even out of his mouth before he rushed for the door.

Glancing at the
portraits, she growled, “Well, just this gets better and better, doesn’t it?”

~ ~ ~

Sevana spent
the rest of the day with the two court magicians and none of them enjoyed it.

Few people
responded well when another person, even an expert, pointed out all of the
flaws in their work. Sevana understood that. But these two literally wanted to
turn a deaf ear to her. She had to resort to browbeating and threats to get
through to them. Finally, she turned it into a competition—build a defense she couldn’t
break through.

They lost.
Miserably.

Every time they
did, they’d growl, and huff, and stalk off to a corner to rework the
protections. Sevana would spend her time working on another attack, sometimes
an eerie replica of other curses that had succeeded in penetrating a royal’s
protection. Then the court magicians would come back, confident, only to be
destroyed once again.

It was a tedious,
painful process. Painful for them, tedious for her. But by the time midnight
tolled out, Sevana was more secure with the shields they had devised. It would
take true skill, sneakiness, and violating about a dozen magical rules to be
able to get through
these
shields.

The court
magicians were worn out but elated that they had finally come up with something
that would stop her. Sevana sent them off to bed with smiles on their faces.
She should have done the same, but found that her mind was too keyed up to go
to bed as well. And her sleep cycle was completely messed up now after pulling
all-nighters and sleeping at odd times of the day.

Sevana wandered
down to the palace kitchens, more for a lack of anything more constructive to
do than actual hunger. Even at this dark hour of the night, there were still
two women in there working, which made sense after she thought about it. The
men on night watch would still break for meals after all. Someone had to be
around to cook for them.

They greeted
her with wary respect, and the expressions on their faces made it clear that
even in the presence of only women, she had to keep her hat on. Disgruntled by
that, she cocked it at an angle, letting some of her head breathe at least. She
requested a plate of something simple, and they gave her that fruity bread she’d
had earlier and a different version of the mango-lemon water Xald had
introduced her to. The snack was light and filling, exactly what she needed.
Finding an empty spot at one of the work tables, Sevana relished every bite as
she sat there and thought.

In the quietness
of the night, with chopping and stirring sounds in the background, she found it
easier to think than she’d had during the light of day. Not having any demands
on her attention might have something to do with that as well.

How far did
this magician’s plans go? Was he content with taking out a king, or would he do
it with other people as well? If his game plan was to take out all of the
ruling kings, surely he would have done something with the Sa Kaon king as
well. No one had known at first that the princess was missing. An ink portrait
like that would only take an hour or two for a skilled artist. He wasn’t a
professional, but his quality of work wasn’t on a level that would take more
time than that either. Say, three hours on the outside. So, three hours to sit
and paint the king. Surely he could have finagled that, somehow.