“Santos is right,” Giona said. “It’s a basic finder spell. There’s not much that can go wrong.”
“But he can’t be there!” So much of Santos’ mage mist illuminated Mage Guild Island that Kara could make out the towers.
“Can’t be where?” Reo asked. He climbed up the last few stairs and joined her at the railing.
“Mage Guild Island,” Santos said. “Every single spell has shown it as Timo’s location.”
“But he was off the island—he was safe,” Kara said. “Why would he go back?”
“We won’t know until we find him,” Reo said. He pulled Kara to him, and she sighed. “But I believe Santos’ spell tracked him. Mole started his search on Mage Guild Island. He’ll find Timo and then they’ll both be fine. Remember, most of the really powerful Mages have little or no magic.”
“But we don’t know how long that will last,” Kara said. Why had Timo gone back? “Do you think he was caught? Did they catch him and take him back?” If Timo had been hurt she would make Mage Guild pay.
“That’s possible,” Reo replied. “And if that’s the case, Mole
will
find him.”
“At least we know he’s alive,” Giona said. “The spells wouldn’t have gone anywhere if he was dead.”
“You didn’t tell me that!” Kara said. She’d been so certain Timo was on another island that she’d never even considered that he might be dead.
“We didn’t need to,” Santos said. “But we needed to know.”
“So we wait to hear from Mole?” Kara said.
“It gives us some time to strengthen our defences,” Santos said. “Before Mage Guild attacks.”
“You think they will?” Kara asked.
“Yes,” Santos replied. “So do you.”
“Yes,” Kara agreed. “My own mother attacked us for years. The current council will not hesitate.”
“It’s only a matter of when,” Reo said. “Inigo and the council can either wait for their magic to return or harness the power of others.”
“I could stop them,” Santos said. “I could return as Primus. It would allow me a chance to find Timo.”
“No!” Kara said. “They’ll kill you.” As much as she wanted her brother by her side, she did not want to sacrifice Santos. “Besides, you said you never wanted to return to that life, a life where you had to wonder whose way were you in, who might be trying to kill you.” She turned her head to find Santos smiling. “It’s not funny.”
“No,” he agreed calmly. “But I wouldn’t have to wonder who was trying to kill me, would I? Not when all of them would be.” His smile faltered. “But it might keep you safe. All of you.”
“It wouldn’t,” Kara said. “Once they killed you we’d be worse off than now because we wouldn’t have you.”
“Giona is here,” Santos said. “And you. And Timo will be here as well.”
“He might not stay,” Kara said. “Why would he want to live here? I’ve killed both his parents—he might not want to be near me. Besides, Mage Guild will want us all dead.”
“Neither Arabella’s nor Valerio Valendi’s deaths were your fault,” Reo said. “But we’ll respect any choice Timo makes. We need to find him so he has the chance to make a choice. And we
will
find him.”
“I hope so,” Kara said. “Because I barely know what he looks like.”
“That is not your fault,” Santos said. “Your mother made sure you didn’t get to know him.”
“I feel like I failed him.”
“You shouldn’t,” Santos said. “His mother failed him by not letting him see you.”
“How she hated me,” Kara said. Despite believing that she’d made peace with this long ago, she heard the bitterness in her voice. “Even before I was born she hated me. Otherwise how could she have left me behind?”
“She was ambitious,” Santos said sadly. “And ruthless. Just as I was before Valerio cursed me. It was what the Guild required of me in order to become Primus.”
“But you changed,” Kara said, and Santos laughed bitterly.
“Only because change was forced upon me.” He paused, and they both stared out across the bay. The far shore was dark now, with only a few lights marking the shoreline. “And by my own Journeyman, a man who lived under my roof, ate at my table.”
Kara glanced over to see Santos frowning.
“Another Mage twisted by the Guild,” he finished quietly.
“Are they all?” Kara asked.
“The ambitious ones, it seems so.” Santos sighed heavily.
“I’m not sure Warrior Guild is much better,” Reo said. “All Guilds seem to take away your choices.”
“And it does not seem to matter whether you are highly placed in the guild or amongst the lowest,” Santos said. “The unguilded here are better off.”
“Yes,” Kara said, thinking about people like her brother Osten. Born into Mage Guild but with no magical power and no connections, he would have been relegated to a short, hard life of drudgery. Instead he was an unguilded merchant, successfully trading at the market in Old Rillidi, happy and free to do as he pleased.
FROM A FEW
paces away, Timo watched his spell meander through the lower passageways. This was the third spell he’d sent to find Barra. The first one had disappeared and reappeared moments later, apparently after finding Barra. The second spell had raced off far too quickly for him to follow. It had come back before he was even half way down the hall.
This third spell he’d deliberately slowed down and now he chafed with impatience as it nudged along the floor, pausing at each intersecting hall or door. He heard the sound of footsteps, and he stopped, his heart pounding, as a Server trudged past him.
Timo was invisible, of course, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be bumped into.
The spell he was following—a faint line of mauve that trailed along the rough stone floor—pooled in front of a closed door. Timo let out a long breath. He recognized the door—had in fact used it many times. It led to the library, which meant that Barra was not at the home of the Mage she was assigned to as Journeyman.
With a quick check over his shoulder, Timo opened the door and slipped through. His spell flowed up the stairs and onto a landing, before disappearing around a corner. He hurried to catch up, not concerned that his footsteps echoed on the wooden landing. In all the years that he’d been using this set of stairs he’d never encountered another person. Servers had no reason to go to the library and anyone else had better-lit and better-travelled ways to get there.
After another turn a short staircase led down a few steps before turning yet again. Mauve mage mist slipped under the final door, a plain wooden plank that hung on leather hinges. Timo pressed his ear to the door. There were no sounds from the other side. He gently pushed the door ajar and squeezed through. This side of the door was a bookshelf. He carefully pushed it back in place, stifling a cough when he disturbed the dust that covered the books on one of the shelves.
He was in a small, rarely used room of the library. The first time he’d come this way he’d investigated but had found nothing but ancient journals, their leather covers cracked and flaking. Some of the journals had been written hundreds of years ago and the language was so archaic that Timo had strained to decipher it. He assumed that the people who’d written these journals had been important at one time, but now they were forgotten, along with the words they’d committed to paper—any wisdom they’d been trying to pass on was now crumbling and mouldering in obscurity.
But it was a good out-of-the-way place to meet with Barra.
Timo exited the room and headed towards the main area of the library. Barra had been using the same table for years—he hoped becoming Journeyman hadn’t made her change her habit. He peered around a shelf. Yes, she was there, hunched over a table that was strewn with scrolls, his spell slowly winding around her feet. He made a quick hand gesture and his spell faded and disappeared.
He looked around and frowned. He had expected the library to be less busy. Apprentices and Journeymen were given a few days off during Founders Day celebrations and most of them spent that time anywhere but at the library, but not today. He could see at least a dozen people seated at the tables—many with their heads bent together, whispering. He eyed the unusual activity, wondering if they were talking about Rorik’s death—or his own disappearance. He shrugged. None of that concerned him. He was here to see Barra.
Timo spied on a younger Apprentice who sat at one end of a table, his head down, fast asleep. A quick relocator spell put a page from the youth’s workbook into Timo’s hand. Another spell retrieved a piece of charcoal from the edge of the fireplace. Still cloaked in invisibility, Timo wrote a quick note to Barra. He stared at her as he sent the note to the table in front of her. Startled, she nervously looked around the room before picking it up and reading it. She looked up sharply, scanning the library. It was foolish, she couldn’t see him, but he couldn’t help holding his breath as her gaze swept over him. Timo stepped behind the book case and returned to the small room.
“Who’s there?” Barra called softly when she entered the room. She held the paper out in front of her, obviously following the directions on the map he’d drawn. Timo removed his spell.
“It’s me,” he said. “Timo.”
Barra gasped and backed away a step. “How did you do that?” she asked. “Invisibility isn’t taught to Apprentices.”
“Rorik thought it might be useful,” Timo lied. He’d taught himself the spell based on notes he’d found in Rorik’s workroom. He took a deep breath. “I need your help.”
“My help?” Barra asked. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “Why do you need my help?”
“You must know that Rorik is dead,” Timo said. He paused and met Barra’s eyes. She nodded. “I’m being blamed.” Barra nodded again, this time more slowly, and Timo closed his eyes. “I didn’t do it but I don’t think that will matter.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I need food,” Timo said.
“All right,” she replied. Barra crossed her arms across her chest. “I can get you food. Where are you staying?”
“At Rorik’s.” Timo smiled wryly at her sharp look. “I figured it was the last place anyone would ever look.” He paused and looked down at the ground. “That’s the other thing. Can you find out if anyone besides my mother is looking for me?”
“I can ask around,” Barra said after a short pause.
“Discreetly,” Timo said.
“Discreetly,” she agreed. “Shall I come later tonight?”
“Yes, thank you,” Timo said.
Barra headed to the busy part of the library. Timo muttered the invisibility spell, turned to go—and stopped. What was that? A thin ribbon of pink mage mist led from Barra towards the far door. She paused to look behind her and frowned when she couldn’t see him. When she started forward again, he could no longer see a trail of mage mist. Had she sent a spell to notify someone? It hadn’t seemed focussed, like a spell. It was as though magic was seeping from her. Maybe her new Master had shown her some new techniques?
Still wondering about it, Timo pulled the shelf out and exited the room and library. A few minutes later he was back inside Rorik’s quarters.
“Did you bring anything to eat?” Wuls asked as soon as the door was closed.
“No.” Timo headed for the living area, Wuls trailing him. “Barra said she’d bring food later.”
“Did you tell her about us?” Yash looked up from a book he was reading. Dark grey mage mist curled around the binding.
“Of course not,” Timo said. “Where did you get that?” He already knew the answer to the question, though. The book was from the top shelf in Rorik’s workroom, a stack of books the Primus had never wanted him to look at—a stack of books covered in Valerio Valendi’s mage mist.
“From the old man’s workroom,” Yash said. “But it wasn’t his. The mage mist is a completely different colour.”
“Yes,” Timo agreed. “It belonged to my father.”
“Valerio Valendi was your father?” Yash jumped to his feet, letting the book drop to the floor. “Wuls, we need to get out of here.” Yash said more to his brother in Seyoyan, and Wuls stared at Timo before he backed away a step, a worried frown on his face.
“I never met him.” Timo dragged a hand through his hair. “He died before I was born.”
Wuls said something in Seyoyan that sounded harsh, and Yash nodded. “My brother is not sure we can trust you,” Yash said. “I agree.”
“What do you know about my father?” Timo asked. “No one ever talks about him but I do know that he was not a good man. He cursed his mentor, the man he’d lived with and learned from for years.” He looked up at them. “I didn’t like Rorik much, mostly because he did what my mother wanted, but I would never have deliberately caused him harm.”
“How did he die?” Yash asked. “This Rorik.”
Timo sighed and looked away. “He was cursed,” he said finally. “I could see the spell that wrapped around his neck.”
“And this curse killed him?” Wuls asked.
“Yes. No,” Timo said and then stopped. He sighed again. “I tried to remove it and that’s when it killed him.” He looked up at them. “He would have died soon anyway, but my meddling made it worse, much worse.”
“Huh,” Yash said and moved closer to him. He said a few words in Seyoyan to his brother, who looked at Timo with wide eyes. “Why would you think you could remove the curse?” He took another step closer and stared at him. “And why are you so sure that you affected it?”