Sons (Book 2) (152 page)

Nil and Mr. White talked about that, while Mrs. White centered on the rocker for a few moments.  I traded places with Naught to get Sara to eat and she kept Mrs. White occupied and talking.  That left the rhymers, Ryan and Brian, to lean on the counter and watch.  Once I got Sara to start eating, it didn’t take long for her to finish, or rather, to get full.  She managed two-thirds of the eggs and half the toast.  Sara and I also talked quietly while she spooned small bites of eggs.  Nothing serious, just things like the view of the mountains and the garden at the back door.

Like all good visits to a sick person, this one wore her out in a good way.  Seeing her parents with a small amount of joy helped her, seeing me (I know, ego-inflating) helped her, and eating helped her, and now she was tired.  A glance at Naught sent her darting to the back of the house.  She came back a few seconds later with a pillow and a shawl and asked Mrs. White to stand for a moment.  Settling the pillow on the seat, Naught settled Mrs. White in the rocker then started moving her to one side, confusing her until she saw me lift Sara off the stool.  Naught draped the shawl over Sara’s shoulders as I turned and carefully adjusted it as I put Sara down sideways in the chair with her legs over her mother’s.  Mrs. White cradled Sara in her arms as silent tears slipped down her face and she started to rock the chair slowly. 

Sara smiled, sighed, and settled into her mother.  Other conversation had died away watching.  Nil’s small fire crackled, the only sound besides breathing in the room.  After a few minutes, I nodded at the door and everyone started to file outside.  Mr. White followed me, kissing his wife and daughter on the tops of their heads as he passed.

Brian took up his uncle’s previous position at the head of the path, blocking access to the remaining five people.  Grinning, I tapped Nil’s shoulder and pantomimed an action, then reached across to Gilán and grabbed a few folding chairs.  Ryan took a couple and we formed a small circle in the cut grass, only for conversational convenience.

As I sat down, I turned to watch Nil.  “Brian, Seth would like you to join us, please,” he said politely.  “Trust me, no one will approach the barrier.”

“Barrier?  What barrier?” asked Brian, looking again out past the open gateposts.  Nil took a step beyond the gate and reached out until he touched it.  Then he tapped it, causing rings of violet to ripple outward and fade.

Nil turned and cheerfully said, “That one.”

“Damn,” he muttered, turning and walking with Nil.  “I didn’t realize the Navy kept me that much out of this world.  I still can’t see that.”

“I can’t either,” Nil admitted, smiling over at him.  “Seth is good.”

“Master of understatement,” Ryan muttered wryly.  Nil didn’t look, but a crooked grin hitched his face briefly as Brian and he sat down opposite me.

“All right, let’s deal with things here out of order so that everything makes more sense as we go, okay?” I said, standing up again.  “I’m not sure what the government told you about what happened with Sara–,” Brian didn’t let me get past her name.

“Nothing!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet.  “They told us nothing!  Told me it was for ‘National Security,’ for God’s sake.”

“Really?  I would have thought they’d have told you to take good care of her, at the least,” I said casually.  “Especially considering all the trouble I went through to get you to her, Colonel.”  Using his rank centered him and made him think.

“You’re responsible for my leave?” he asked.

“For your arrival at the Pentagon onward,” I responded.  “I thought that would have been obvious since my Guard brought you.  Sara was involved in a complicated plot against my life and the lives of my brothers.  The fact that she was a pawn stolen off the street is the only reason she’s still alive.”

“Why?  Why her, though?” Mr. White murmured sadly.  “Why did it have to be my Sara?”

“Unfortunate timing and healthy living,” I said gently.  “She was used by a blood mage intent on stealing her life at the end, Mr. White.  The magic used was horrific and my brothers and I have searched to destroy those mages since we first encountered them.  It was her druid heritage that both caught her in that trap and saved her life.”

“You seem to know much about us,” Brian said suspiciously.  “How is it that you know so much when we’ve managed to stay hidden for centuries.  You aren’t clan.  A kid your age would only be a journeyman, at best.” 

“Actually, I am still apprenticed,” I said with raised brows.  “But not in druidry.  I happen to be present when the Hilliard brothers pulled a mean-spirited trick on a friend of mine.  They overstepped their bounds, and from there, secrets came spilling from the ground like a new spring.”

“You got secrets from the Hilliards?” Mr. White asked.  “Now that’s a mighty fine trick, indeed, Seth.  And just how did you manage that?  The Hilliards haven’t been seen in public in more than fifty years.”

“I am the arbiter of their Breach of the Accords and Hospitality,” I said.  “They called the Breach, so they really didn’t have much choice in facing me.”

“What?” Mr. White asked without really asking, startled and sitting upright suddenly.  Brian looked confused and surprised, looking back and forth between his uncle and me.

“I don’t think I need repeat that, do I, Mr. White?” I asked quietly.  He shook his head briskly no.  “In any event a random picture on a wall gave away the blood mages’ tightly wrought scheme because the person your daughter was portraying simply could not have been druid.  But once I knew what to look for, it was undeniable.  I… destroyed what was riding along on Sara’s soul, but not before he could hurt her considerably.  And we were lucky, Mr. White, to have found out when we did.  Another few days and Sara would not have survived.”

“You destroyed it?” Mr. White asked.

I nodded.  “Both the mage in her and his master are among the detritus of the universe.  We caught a number of their acolytes at another location later and we’ll soon discover where they came from.”

“Then you’ll tell us what they did to her, so we can help her?” Mr. White asked.

“No,” I shook my head slowly.  “It’s too dangerous and it wouldn’t help.  Sara is doing well, though, Mr. White.  I know it’s hard to believe by looking at her now, but she is.  Hopefully, she’ll start eating small meals again and have her therapists and doctors concentrate their efforts on memories of before her trip to see Brian and on slowly building new ones.  And please, Mr. White, don’t neglect to take her outside.  Short trips initially obviously, but she needs to see that the sun and the world exist.  And you’ll find that sunrise ceremonies may have a little more meaning to her because of me.”

“You know that’s the first time she’s eaten by herself since I brought her home, right?” Brian asked quietly.

“I suspected as much,” I answered nodding slightly.  “You’ve done well as a group keeping her nourished, though.  Is no one helping you?  You both look dogged tired already, and Mrs. White is nearly hysterical.”

“No!” scowled Brian, while Mr. White answered, “Some,” at the same time.  I was inclined to believe the colonel.

“And why would that be?” I asked, already knowing.

“They’re scared to death that something is threatening our secrecy,” Mr. White answered grimly, slapping his thighs and standing up.  “Let’s go tell them the cat is finally out of the bag.”

“Just a moment, Mr. White,” I said, stopping him.  “You need to know that while my interest in Sara is purely personal, she is at the crux of another Breach of the Accords.  I came only because I wanted to make certain she was getting better after the ordeal she was put through and it’s likely that I’ll visit again with your permission.  But, and this is a big ‘but,’ my visit today has already caused problems.  Your friends up the hill have reacted badly and they’ve put me in an awkward position.  If they aren’t careful, this
will
get violent and they
will
lose.”

“All right, I’ll tell them that, too,” he said after a moment’s consideration.

“We’ll give you a few minutes then,” I said and sat back.  Brian stayed, but leaned forward to watch his uncle walk through the barrier like it wasn’t there.  Once he was out of sight, Brian looked around nervously, alone with the four of us for a moment.

“So, Ryan, what about you?  I mean, his aura’s hidden and those two’s are really twisted somehow,” Brian said.  “But you, you just reek of druidry.  What happened?”

“I had a sudden change of affiliations,” Ryan answered bitterly.

“You abandoned your clan?  Who, the Hilliards or the Germans?  I wouldn’t think either would be too forgiving,” Brian said with a wry smile.

“The Hilliards, and it was they who abandoned me,” Ryan answered, then he brightened.  “However, I can’t say it was a bad decision on their part.  I’ve come out very nicely in those few days.”

“And what level did you attain with them?” Brian asked.

“I was their High Priest of the Inner Circle,” Ryan answered without rancor.  “As far as I can go with them without falling into the territory that got them sanctioned.  I’m currently studying under the Archdruid to learn other ways of achieving results.”

“Archdruid?” Brian asked wide-eyed.  “There’s no such thing as an Archdruid.”

“Tell that to the Archdruid,” Ryan said, smirking.  “The Hilliards made the proclamation after an exhibition of High Magic that lasted roughly forty-five minutes.  There, the Archdruid held a massively complicated spell in stasis while the Hilliards and he re-wrote it
in situ
, with the Archdruid chanting in two to three voices at a time and directing a fourth.”

“That’s not what did it, though,” I said calmly.  “But they were like little puppies by that time, eager to watch and learn things they haven’t seen.  What pushed them over the edge was killing the Modred.”

“Modred?  The Modred’s dead?” Brian asked in disbelief.  “How can that be?  The Modred is indestructible by all accounts.  Even Merlin could only banish him.”

“They’re old enough to recognize him,” I answered, shrugging.  “You hate something that long and that hard, you don’t forget what it looks like.”

“And the Morgana?”

“Gone.”

“So who is this Archdruid, then?  What do we have to do with him?” Brian asked.

“Let’s not borrow trouble, Brian,” I said.  “There’s enough to deal with here and now.  They’re about as ready as they’ll ever be.  Let’s go.”  Once everyone was standing, I wrapped us in portals and jumped to the snare, putting us between it and my barrier.

There were six druids spread in a curved line between my barrier and the larger group thirty yards down the path.  I laughed a little when I saw them standing guard there, but the barrier was thick and soundproof.  Brian stepped up beside me, staring at the druids.  When I looked, everybody else was examining the snare set in the ground and air at the site they intended me to arrive.  Ryan still used his conventional abilities but the snare wasn’t veiled as well as the Hilliards’ veils.  He saw right through these. 

Still, I could make it easier to see.  I sang  the complex concoction to sleep and squeezed it into something they could understand better, then lifted the whole thing up off the ground so everyone could see it.  It glowed as patterns of complex energy lines and flared against stone walls that weren’t there. 

“Nil, what’s the basis for this little trap?” I asked with my hands clasped behind my back, circling around the complicated field of energy. 

Nil grinned across the circular spell and said, “Assuming I don’t
know
it’s druid magic, I would say that it’s elemental in nature, bound in an older symbology that I don’t recognize.  It’s human and seems to be an organized, group effort.”

“Specialized?” I asked him.

“I couldn’t say, Seth,” he answered hesitantly, only slightly worried he was letting me down.

“Very good, Nil,” I said smiling.  “Naught, can you tell what it does?”  Nil’s smile beamed brightly with the praise.  I think his hair even got bluer.

“It looks like a container, of sorts, perhaps a jail,” Naught said.  “If it
is
a jail, they aren’t particularly nice captors since the sides of the container react poorly with several different kinds of energy.”

“Very good, Naught, very good,” I said, chuckling.  “You both got that quickly.  I’m proud.  So, Col. White, did you know this was here?”  When he looked at me stupidly, I placed a chest-high wall of Stone shield around the snare, keeping it thin and invisible like the Stone wanted.  He kicked it as he walked toward me.  “Don’t walk into it.”

“I’m sorry, Seth, but all I see is a portal marker,” Brian said earnestly.  Sinking a little into his mind, it was true, that’s all he saw.  He’d been away from home for a long time, though, and wasn’t a particularly religious man.  He didn’t see that well.

“Ryan, what do you think about it?” I asked, slowly walking around to him while Brian came up from behind us.

“You’re right,” he said, standing and dusting of his hands.  “It’s a snare.  They weren’t taking any chances on the magic either.  The trigger is presence and the cell is fairly violent, as Naught pointed out.”

“So simply walking out there would actually set it off?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he said, canting his head slightly in question.

“I haven’t looked that closely yet,” I admitted and leaned against the Stone’s wall.  “I prefer to look at these a little differently.”  Brian finally caught up to me, and Ryan and the
huri
were just a few yards away behind me.  “Which, Brian, is going to turn out to be their salvation.  I believe that you didn’t know that this was a trap intended for us.  Since the invitation came from you, that helps—
helps
, mind you—extinguish some of my anger at the Breach in Hospitality.”  I paused a moment to let him catch up.  I’d been dumping crap on him for awhile now.  “When you spoke to Cpt. Thorn, how did he tell you to treat us?  I’m sure he had
something
to say.”

“Well, yeah, he did,” he answered nervously.  “Unofficially, of course, officer to officer.  It would be unfair of me to say anything in that context.”

I smiled and mimicked Cpt. Thorn as Brian remembered him on the phone.  “He said things like, ‘He’s a diplomat from a foreign state, so treat him like one’ and ‘Remember how you got to Cleveland? 
That
was one of his grunts’; ‘Don’t piss him off.  If you figure out what pisses him off, let me know.’ And ‘Whatever you think he is, he’s not.  I really don’t know how to explain him.’  I like that one best, but don’t tell him that, please.”

“How do you know these things?” Brian asked, frustrated.

“Magic, Brian.  It’s part of who I am,” I said calmly.  “Now, let’s take a closer look, hm?”  Then I sent away the Stone’s shield.  “Ryan, would you mind dismissing the barrier, please?”  He wouldn’t have a problem doing it once he looked through the focus.  The same simple spell I showed him with my father would work well here and show him how.

“You’re joking, right?” Ryan asked, laughing, after he read the instructions off the wall.  I smiled sort of evilly at him.

“Yes and no,” I answered, walking out into the spell itself and breaking it apart.  “Yes, it is a joke, but it is the way to bring the walls down.”

Ryan grinned back and said, “It could have been worse.”  He stepped past Brian heading for the line of druids.  They still hadn’t noticed us through the walls yet.  He turned back and called with a thick accent, “Brian, would you care to come closer and see a wee bit of high priest magic?  It would amuse the Archdruid immensely.”  I snickered as Brian moved forward in a daze.

“Who is the Archdruid, again?  I’ve gotten so confused,” Brian said.

“You remember me talking about him holding complex spells in stasis and tearing them apart?” Ryan asked Brian, who nodded yes.  Ryan pointed at me.  “Man, I know the feeling.  ‘Overwhelming’ is not big enough and you don’t know everything yet, not that you ever will.  Now watch the High Priest of the British Isles work the humor of the Archdruid.”