The Archmage unbound

Chapter 31

The next morning found me still abed when Rose showed up at my door. Actually that statement isn’t quite true. The more accurate statement would be that Rose found me still abed when morning showed up at my door. At least morning had the decency to knock first, for she had not.

I stared blearily at the red-clad woman who stood at the foot of my bed, “Damnitt will you stop shaking the bed!”

“Fine I’ll be back in a moment,” she replied unconcernedly.

That woke me up further as my suspicious instincts kicked in, “Where are you going?”

She smiled wickedly, “To get some water.”

I sat up, “Fine, I’m up. Get out so I can put some damned clothes on!” She left promptly and I did indeed rise, though I wasn’t about to ‘shine’ so early in the day. I had stayed up late the night before trying to understand the ‘stasis field’ enchanting schemata. It was either that or go burn down the royal palace, but Penny’s note had been very explicit that I should save the king for later. That was alright, I knew where his majesty lived and it wasn’t as if he’d be moving soon.

The enchantment still frustrated me, which was a large part of the reason I hadn’t gone to bed early. I had trouble letting go of a problem once I had started on it. In this case I had figured out how to construct the rune structure without problem, it was intricate but the pattern was repetitive enough that I had no trouble memorizing it. I just didn’t understand what it actually ‘did’.

In the end I had constructed a working model using the stylus and small wooden box. The field was supposed to permeate the interior of the box when it was activated, that much was clear. Still, nothing seemed to happen to anything I put into the box… either before, after, or during the time it was activated. I had gone to bed puzzled and frustrated.

I found Lady Rose downstairs in the kitchen. She had brought a basket with her and was laying items out on the small breakfast table. “You look awfully domestic,” I mumbled.

She looked at me sharply, “You look thin. How many meals have you eaten since you found out?”

“None of your damned business,” I told her self-righteously as I sat down and began eating the scones she had brought. I couldn’t remember when I had eaten last.

“Those taste better if you put some of the jam on them,” she suggested.

I was in no mood, “I prefer them plain,” I said around a mouthful of scone. I doubt any of the words were intelligible. Then I picked up the tea and promptly burned my tongue.

“Take your time, the food won’t escape,” Rose said with a slight smile.

I swallowed and took another sip of the tea, this time without burning myself. “I didn’t expect you to bring breakfast.”

“Penny wouldn’t like it if you starved to death and… well you can think of it as a thank you,” she answered.

I snorted, “A thank you? For what?”

“Yesterday,” she said simply.

“That’s what family does.”

“Family?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

I raised my own eyebrow, just to show her she wasn’t the only one with witty brows. “I’ve never had a large family, so I’ve been adding my friends to it since I was very young. Congratulations, you’ve been adopted. Would you like to be my little sister, cousin, or aunt?”

“Aunt? I think sister would suit better,” she said crinkling her nose.

“Little sister it is then,” I said in a final tone.

“I am a bit older than you though,” she reminded me.

“Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.”

She laughed a little at that. It was clear neither of us would recover our brighter spirits anytime soon, but I was determined not to give in to despair. “Do you know what else family does?” I asked.

She had just filled her mouth with tea so she merely shook her head in negation.

I narrowed my eyes, “Family gets even.”

She raised that lone eyebrow again, “Why do you think I wore red today?”

Half an hour later we were walking through the city, heading toward the temple of Doron the Iron God, if Rose was to be believed.

“Can you explain to me exactly why he thought he should be staying with the Iron Brothers?” I asked her again.

“He thought they would be easier to fool,” she replied.

That didn’t go far toward explaining the entire scheme to me, “But you said he was planning to examine the archives of Karenth the Just. Why is he here?” By here I was referring to the large brooding structure looming over the street on the right hand side. While most of Albamarl was constructed of local rose granite that hadn’t been good enough for the Iron Brothers, they had felt the need to import a lot of drab grey granite to face the walls with. It probably hadn’t been cheap to achieve the depressing look they had wanted. I was also willing to bet that underneath the surface most of the bulk of the building was built with rose granite.

“He’s taken on the identity of a visiting priest of Doron, who is interested in viewing the Karenthian archives,” she explained.

“And he thought disguising himself as a priest of Karenth would be more difficult? Doesn’t actually staying here among the Doronites increase his chances of detection?” I had a lot more questions where those came from, but I was pacing myself.

Rose sighed, “Talk to him about it when you see him.”

I grunted and then replied, “Let me see if I can find him first.” Closing my eyes I focused on my other ‘sight’ and extended my mind to a much greater extent, so that I could search the temple in front of us. It was larger than it appeared; the building actually had been built on top of an extensive underground complex. Some of it even extended underneath our feet. There were cells and storerooms, and a variety of living quarters. There were also quite a few people. At a rough count I would have guessed at least three hundred people were within the building at the moment, and they weren’t holding services currently.

“There’s a lot more Doronic clergy in there than I expected,” I said at last.

“Doronic?”

“I know they prefer ‘Iron Brotherhood’, or ‘Doronite’, but I like ‘Doronic’. It sounds a lot more like moronic.”

Rose groaned, “Did you find him?”

“Not yet, it’s more difficult when there are more people. I have to examine each one,” I closed my eyes again. Several minutes later I had found him, though his situation confused me. He was in what appeared to be one of their cells for visiting clergy, but he wasn’t alone. I had initially passed over him because I had assumed he would be by himself if he was in the living quarters. That was my mistake. “I found him.”

“What is he doing?” asked Rose.

I was torn between my desire to keep my friend’s private business, well… private, and the desire to snicker. Trust Marc to find a priestess with an ‘itch’. I looked at Rose and scratched my head, “He’s discussing matters with one of the other clergy members.”

She watched my face carefully, “He’s only been in there a few days and he’s already bedding the women?”

I was embarrassed by proxy, “That’s a long time for him, and how did you know it was that?”

She held up a finger, “One, I can tell he likes women. Two, your eyes darted off to the side right before you spoke.”

I was curious, “How can you tell he likes women?” As far as I knew he hadn’t had any lady friends that she knew about.

“You watch the eyes,” she replied. “That and posture tell me all I need to know.”

“Posture?”

“People lean toward you when they’re interested.”

I filed that information away without looking at it too closely. I didn’t want to know what Rose might have read in my eyes over the past few years. “Well you guessed correctly,” I told her, and then added, “about Marc’s activities in there.”

“So do we wait for him to emerge?”

“I’d rather not. Let’s go in and find him,” I replied.

Lady Rose shook her head, “If you weren’t a wizard I’d think you were mad. How do you plan to accomplish that, without exposing him?”

“Do you trust me?”

She looked up into my eyes, “More than anyone else still living.” Then she looked away. Even with her self-control some things were just too painful to say, and neither of us could afford to start crying in the street.

“There’s an empty storeroom under the street over there,” I said pointing to an alley running alongside the temple. “We can enter there without anyone noticing us and it should be a short walk from there to the cells the priests sleep in.”

A minute later we were standing beside the building, in the alley I had indicated. “I don’t see an entry,” commented Rose.

“There isn’t one. It’s directly underneath us,” I informed her.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me, “How far beneath us?”

“Fifty feet or so, would you like to come with me or wait up here?”

“I’m coming with you. What do I have to do?” she asked.

I was surprised at her easy acceptance. “Shouldn’t you be warning me not to do anything stupid?”

Her face softened, “I’m not Penny dear. I expect you to make your own judgments regarding magic, but if you damage this dress I’ll take it out of you in blood.”

Her remark made me want to laugh and cry at the same time, so I ignored it and moved on. “I’ll need you to get close to me for this to work.”

“How close?” she said.

“I’m not sure, in physical contact at least,” I told her.

She stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my waist, “Is this sufficient?”

I had been thinking that holding hands would suffice, but I wasn’t going to tell her otherwise now. I put my own arms around her and tried to concentrate. It took longer than I had expected. Rose smelled very nice.

Pushing those thoughts aside I listened carefully to the stone beneath us. It was a complicated mixture of cobblestones laid over gravel and sand. Beneath that was layer of clay and then more stone, this time natural stone. I struggled to integrate it all into my ‘self’, while at the same time maintaining Rose as a separate physical entity. I didn’t want to think about what might occur if I accidentally blurred the boundaries between us.

After a moment I began to sink into myself, or rather into what I would previously have called the ground. Rose wasn’t moving however and I had to make a conscious effort to allow her to pass through me. If it sounds confusing that’s because it was. It was hard enough to visualize and language isn’t really made for describing the mixing of perspectives between animate and inanimate.

Eventually we both emerged from the ceiling of the store room deep below. The ceilings down there were low so we managed to reach the floor without much of a drop. I took a moment to disconnect myself from the stone and earth above us and return my consciousness to normal. Once I had regained my proper perspective again I realized I was still holding Rose.

Holding her close like that felt good, and for a second I didn’t want to release her. I hated myself for that thought immediately. I took my arms away, “It’s safe to let go now.”

“I wasn’t sure,” she said. “That was the strangest experience of my life. It felt as though the stone and earth itself were flowing around us.” She was staring upward at the ceiling in wonder. “I can’t imagine what the world must be like for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have the power to change the world around you, to suit your whims. If I had such power I’m not certain I would use it wisely.”

I’m not sure I will either, I thought to myself. “I never had a choice in the matter. I’m just doing the best I can to use it for the greater good.” That was a presumptuous line, but I didn’t know how else to phrase it.

“You will succeed Mordecai. You’re a good man,” she patted me on the cheek as she said it.

“Not as good a man as Dorian was,” I said thinking of my lost friend.

“True,” she agreed with a sad note in her voice. “He was the truest, most honest, and chivalrous man I ever met. Not just in his word and deed, but right down to his very bones. You are not as ‘good’ as he was.”

Her explanation was a bit excessive, but it was accurate in every particular.

“But still, I think you are the best one to bear the burden of that power,” she added. “The choices and responsibilities that your power will thrust upon you would undo someone as pure as he was. Your power and goals will require compassion, adaptability, and cunning.”

I didn’t really want to engage in excessive philosophic discourse in a moldy storeroom, though her words did strike a chord in me. “Let’s go find Marc before we talk the day away.”

“What if we’re seen? We don’t exactly blend in,” Rose pointed out, gesturing to her red dress. It was of a practical cut, but the color and the woman wearing it would draw attention no matter where you put them.

“There’s no one in the halls. Those that are moving around are up above. I think I can get us to his room without encountering anyone from where we are now,” I explained. It was very useful being able to explore the layout without venturing there, and even more useful knowing where all the inhabitants were.

I opened the door and led her into the corridor. It was a short walk and a few turns before I led her into the hallway that served the cells where Marc was currently ‘engaged’. We reached his doorway without being seen. The noises coming faintly through the door made it plain that we had reached the right room.

“Now what?” said Rose.

“Shibal,” I said sternly in the direction of the door. The sounds inside changed, as one of the partners abruptly stopped vocalizing. Marc of course was wearing the necklace I had given him. The door had no lock, but was barred from within; another word and I removed the bar. Rose and I stepped inside quickly and closed the door behind us.

“Son of a bitch!” Marc exclaimed coarsely. “You bastard, you scared me half to death.”

“I can see that,” I said smugly, glancing down at the woman who had collapsed beside him.

“Boys… behave,” Rose admonished us. She leaned over to pull the blanket up over the woman’s naked form. I was oddly disappointed, but no one else needed to know that. Rose looked at Marc, “And you… cover that thing up, no one wants to see that.”

I stuck my tongue out at him from behind her, while he responded with wounded dignity, “I’ll have you know that a number of ladies have expressed quite the opposite opinion.” He drew the other side of the blanket up to cover himself as well. “I’m assuming you have a good reason for barging into a young priest’s room without so much as knocking.”

As usual I found myself smiling at his banter, until I remembered the news I had to give him. “I do. I can’t spend too much time in the city and I didn’t know how long it would be before you returned to the house.”

“You must have important news then. Is it safe to talk here? How long will she be out?” he patted the woman next to him gently on the rump.

“An hour or more, but my news can wait. It will take longer than that to discuss,” I replied.

Marc answered quickly, “If you like I can come and meet you at the house, say around noon?”

It was closing in on somewhere past nine already at my best guess. “You can leave without ruining your disguise?”

“Certainly, I do so all the time. This cell is just a courtesy for a visiting brother,” he said gesturing with his hand to include the room, as if he were in grand surroundings.

“Why exactly did you need to stay here?” I said suspiciously.

He grinned, “It helps further the disguise. I’ve learned innumerable things while sharing meals and accommodations with the Iron Brothers.”

“And?”

He smirked, “and your house is rather unfriendly to strangers that you haven’t personally vouched for, like sweet Marissa here.”

Rose spoke up, “Can we save the chatter for later gentlemen?” I got the impression the setting made her uneasy.

“Noon then,” I said looking at Marc. He nodded in acknowledgment and drew Marissa closer as if to snuggle as we started through the door.

Rose stopped in shock, “Have you no shame? The girl’s still unconscious!”

Marc was unabashed, “That’s disgusting. You should wash your head out for having such dirty thoughts; I was planning to wake her up first.” Then he tilted his head as if thinking, “Though your idea does have some merit, sick as it is.”

I ushered Rose out the door before she could kill him, trying not to laugh as I did. “That man is unbelievable!” she said as we moved quickly down the corridor.

“Shhh,” I told her, “Let’s wait till we get somewhere else to talk about it.”

To her credit she did hold her tongue till we got back to the old storeroom. “Your friend is a cad,” she said simply.

“As you so recently told me, I’m not exactly a saint myself,” I replied.

She looked at me with a worried frown, “Do you think he really woke her up?”

That did start me to laughing. She really is worried he might ravish the poor girl in her sleep, I thought to myself. “Do you want me to check?” I answered. “Really?” I had been deliberately keeping my mind from observing Marc’s room up until that point.

Rose was torn, “No.” She chewed her lip for a moment before speaking again, “Yes, but don’t be a voyeur about it.”

“Alright, let me focus for a moment,” I said more dramatically than necessary. Stepping back I closed my eyes, though at such close range it really wasn’t necessary. After a few seconds I made an expression of interest. “Oh, now that’s original,” I said aloud.

“Stop looking!” Rose admonished me. “Did he wake her up or not?”

“I don’t think she’s fully awake yet, but she will be before long I’m quite certain,” I said with authority. “Now let’s head back…”

Rose glared at me suspiciously, “ How is he waking her up?”

I looked upward, not wanting to meet her eyes. “Well he’s kissing her… sort of.”

Rose blushed until her skin tone matched her name, “That’s enough, let’s go.”

I laughed so hard it was several minutes before I was able to concentrate. Somewhere in the middle of it Rose joined me.