“But he wasn’t planning on being gentle,” Timo said.
“No.” She shuddered. “I didn’t know any of this before I became his Journeyman, but he’s been experimenting for years with lesser magic wielders. He mostly uses those born outside of Mage Guild but who have some power—enough to bring them to the island. Everyone thinks they are put to work at some of the more mundane tasks like supplying fresh water and lighting the city, but Faron . . .” Barra’s lips tightened. “Faron, he would take some of them and . . . try to find the source of their magic.” The look she sent Timo was haunted. “He . . . took them apart.” Her voice quieted. “I found his notes. He’d cut off their limbs one by one to see if their magic changed.” She drew in a ragged breath. “He did it while they were alive and awake.”
“Worse than I thought,” Timo said. Right now he was very glad that Mole had left to attend his unfinished business. He looked over at Wuls. “You will be quiet.” The Seyoyan nodded solemnly, his braids glowing in the dim light.
The next hour passed in silence. With Wuls and Yash watching the door, Timo stretched out on the floor to try to sleep. They would either be found or they wouldn’t, watching the door was not going to change that. But if he was rested he might be able to fight off an attacker.
TIMO JERKED OUT
of a deep sleep, clutching at the hand that covered his mouth.
“Quiet,” a voice said close to his ear. “I didn’t want to wake the others.”
Timo blinked up at Mole before he relaxed and nodded. The hand dropped from his mouth, and Timo scrambled up to a sitting position. He looked around the dimly lit room. Barra was curled up in a corner, and Yash was sprawled beside the shelf, and Wuls—Timo grinned and shook his head—Wuls lay stretched across the entrance, fast asleep. Mole must have stepped right over him.
“We need to talk,” Mole said. He sat down beside Timo and tossed a loaf of bread at him. It was warm, and Timo couldn’t help closing his eyes and breathing in the doughy scent. How many days since he’d done something as simple as enjoy fresh bread?
“We can’t stay here much longer,” Mole said. “Once the Mages are discovered they’ll send spells to find us.”
Timo nodded. “Faron?”
“Dead.”
“Good,” Timo said. He met Mole’s surprised look. “He deserved to die. The others?”
“Alive,” Mole replied. “And still tied up.” He paused. “I am sorry about your mother.”
“Is that really how she died?” Timo asked. “Inigo tried to kill Kara and then he hid behind my mother?”
“Yes.”
Timo shook his head. “He must have read about my father’s death. He knew she could deflect his own spell back on him.”
“Don’t blame Kara,” Mole said.
“I don’t,” Timo said. “It wasn’t her spell. Was my mother really working with Inigo?”
“They’d agreed that he would be Secundus to her Primus. They invited us to Founders Day—they wanted Santos to approve their appointments. We came because your mother promised Santos that he could see you.”
“She lied about that,” Timo said. “She knew I was gone. She told me to find Kara.”
“Sure, sure,” Mole said. “That must have been before she struck her bargain with Inigo. Although he admitted that your mother wouldn’t have been Primus for long.”
“No, I don’t suppose she would have,” Timo replied sadly. His mother must have known how dangerous any deal with Inigo would be—why couldn’t she have left Mage Guild Island? From everything he knew about his sister, she would have welcomed their mother on Old Rillidi. Instead, she’d chosen to stay and play a deadly game with a treacherous Mage.
“Now what?” Timo asked.
“How many days has it been since Founders Day?”
“What? I’m not sure . . .” Timo started counting the days in his head. “I think four. Today is the fourth day after Founders Day.”
Mole nodded. “That’s what I count. If they don’t hear from me by tomorrow, Kara, Reo, and Santos will make their way here. I don’t want that.”
“But they can help.”
“Maybe,” Mole said. “But it’s too dangerous. Too many people want them dead.”
“People want us dead too,” Timo said.
“Yes,” Mole agreed. “But not the whole Guild. We need to get off this island today, before they come.”
“Do you know how?” Timo asked. “We were planning on stealing a boat, but now . . .”
“We’ll still need a boat,” Mole said. “But we have to be further from the centre of the island than we are now.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “We may need to use force in order to leave.”
“Force . . .” Timo repeated. “You mean magic?”
“Yes.” Mole nodded. “Most of the strongest Mages are without magic, thanks to Kara. A few, like Faron, will have stolen magic, but the others? We don’t know if—or when—they will regain magic. We need to leave now.”
KARA DROPPED HER
pack on the table in front of Reo.
“Can you check and see if I’m missing anything?” she asked. “I want us to leave by noon.”
Reo put down the knife he’d been sharpening and looked up at her. Lisha and Nando were at the main house, being schooled by Pilo, so they were alone in their small cabin.
“It’s only been four days,” Reo said. But he pulled the pack over to him and looked through it anyway.
“I know,” Kara said. “But I need to go now.” She paced in front of the window, staring out past the trees to the blue water of the bay. The barrier was as secure as they could make it and had been for days. Besides, she’d drained the power from most of the Mages—she doubted any of the council had magic.
“You’ve packed everything I can think of,” Reo said. He rose and handed her the pack. “I’ll grab a few things of my own, and then we’ll get Santos.”
“Thank you,” she said. But he had already disappeared into their bedroom. She sighed again and rolled her shoulders, grateful that Reo hadn’t insisted they wait another day—that they follow the plan they’d laid out before Founders Day. But the events of Founders Day had changed things. Her mother was dead and for some reason Timo had returned to Mage Guild Island. She slipped her pack over her shoulder and went to fill her water skin. And there had been no word from Mole.
They should be on Mage Guild Island by dusk. She only hoped they hadn’t waited too long.
“BUT WE’LL BE
safer if we’re invisible,” Yash said.
“Not if Barra and I lose you,” Mole replied. They were sitting in a circle on the floor. Mole had declared it almost dusk, though Timo had no idea how he could possibly know that.
“We should split up anyway,” Wuls said. “Timo can spell Yash and me. We’ll get ourselves off this island.”
“That might be better,” Timo said. “That could split up the searchers.”
“That won’t matter,” Mole said. “There are more than enough lesser Mages to conduct a thorough search. The Seyoyans can do what they want—they are not my responsibility.” He glanced over at Wuls. “But we need to make sure they cannot tell anyone our plans.”
“We won’t be caught,” Wuls said.
“Sure, sure,” Mole said and turned back to Timo. “We’ll change our plan once we separate. They
will
be caught, and they
will
talk. I’m not willing to take the chance that there isn’t at least one Mage left with the skill to pull the truth out of them.” He smiled grimly. “It won’t be pleasant.”
“What if everyone but me was invisible?” Timo said. “If anyone notices me, I’m already dressed as a Server. Yash, Wuls, and I can see everyone. You and Barra can see me.” He really didn’t want them to separate, didn’t want to think about the Seyoyans being tortured because of him. And Mole was right—they would be caught. He didn’t understand why Wuls, who’d been captured twice already, thought he could evade Mages—especially now that the entire population of the island was probably looking for them.
“That should work.” Mole was nodding. “If we run across anything unexpected Timo can make himself invisible too and everyone else can stay in place until all is safe again. I will be able to scout ahead and take care of anyone in our way.”
“Take care of?” Barra said. “What do you mean
take care of
?”
“He means he’ll kill them,” Wuls said with a sneer. “Right, Assassin?”
“If I have to,” Mole agreed softly. “If leaving them alive puts us in jeopardy.”
“But you didn’t kill Faron or Inigo,” Barra said. “Doesn’t that put us in jeopardy?”
“No,” Mole said. “The search was already in place, and I thought that killing them might make things worse. They could decide we’re too dangerous to try to capture and simply send killing spells after us.” Mole met Timo’s eyes across the lamp. “But I went back.”
“Did you kill them?” Wuls asked.
“Just Faron,” Mole said. He turned towards Barra. “He deserved to die. Timo agreed.”
Barra closed her eyes briefly, and when she reopened them Timo saw relief in them. She sent him a grateful look, and Timo decided that she didn’t need to know he’d agreed with Mole
after
the other man had already killed Faron.
“Now they’ll want us dead?” Wuls said.
“Possibly,” Mole said.
“I think they want us dead anyway,” Timo said. “I don’t think this changes anything at all. We have to assume that any traps, magic or otherwise, are lethal.”
“That’s
always
my assumption,” Mole said. “All right. Timo will spell everyone except himself invisible, and I will lead. We’ll keep to the corridors and sometime before dawn we’ll go below and find a boat. If all goes well, we’ll be on Old Rillidi by dawn.”
“You make it sound easy,” Timo said.
“Let’s hope Gyda takes pity on us and keeps it easy,” Mole said with a laugh. “It won’t be as interesting but we won’t have to miss any more meals.”
EVEN THOUGH HE
could see the others, Timo, as the only one visible, felt exposed and alone. Mole sidled along the wall to an intersecting corridor. He looked each way before he waved them forward. Timo, hunched over to keep as low as possible, shuffled towards Mole, Barra right behind him and Yash and Wuls a few steps behind her.
“We go south.” Mole indicated one of the intersecting corridors, and again Timo wondered how he knew these things—the time of day, the direction—without any visible clues.
“I’ll signal when it’s clear,” Mole continued, and Timo nodded.
Mole had said the exact same thing every few minutes for the past few hours—they all knew what was expected. He glanced back at Wuls and Yash. The Seyoyans were getting increasingly impatient at the slow progress. Perhaps Mole’s comments were less for him and Barra and more for them.
Mole slipped around the corner and trotted down the hall. Timo waved Yash to his side. Since they were invisible, the Seyoyans had been taking turns watching for Mole’s signal.
“How much longer?” Wuls whispered. He had leaned past Barra in order to speak to Timo, and startled, she shrank away from Wuls. Timo gave her a reassuring nod, and she relaxed.
“It’s only been a few hours,” Timo said. “Dawn is still three, maybe four hours away.” When they’d first left Barra’s hiding place, they’d had to defuse a few magical traps, but it had now been hours since they’d seen one.
“I think we should find a boat now,” Wuls said. “We’ll be safer on the water.”
“Neither you nor I have spent much time underneath the island,” Timo said. “Mole knows his way around down there the best. We need to trust him.”
“Why should I?” Wuls said. “He’s the one who decided we should bring her, and I
do not
trust her.” Barra flinched at Wuls’ statement but she didn’t say anything.
“I trust her,” Timo said. “She didn’t do anything she wasn’t forced to do. And Mole has been safely coming to see me for months. You can leave anytime you want, but I’m going with him.”
Wuls frowned and glared at him, but in the end, he settled in to wait. Timo glanced at Yash, who still had his head poking out into the intersecting corridor, watching for Mole’s signal.
“Has Mole really been coming to see you?” Barra asked.
“Yes.” Timo nodded. “He was keeping an eye on me until Founders Day, when I felt I could leave.” He laughed, but there was no humour in it. “Gyda knows I should have gone sooner.” He looked over at her. Barra’s head was on her knees, and she looked weary beyond her years. “You knew my mother was dead the first time I spoke to you.” He tried not to make it an accusation but she bowed her head just the same.
“Yes,” she replied. “I’m sorry. I had already decided that I had to tell Faron I saw you. Talking about your mother would have made it harder for me to do that.” She looked over at him. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
“No,” Timo agreed. “But neither did I, nor you. I don’t blame you.”
“You should,” Barra said. “I could have made different choices.”
“Yes,” Timo said sharply, and she looked up at him. “You could have made
worse
choices. You could have become like Hestor. He tried to kill me, more than once, simply to gain favour with Inigo.”