He sat up. Beneath his spell, his clothing was mottled with blood. Not as much as the spell had covered him with, but this was real—black and sticky and slightly coppery smelling. He looked over at the bodies of the Servers. Four dead, all because of him. He shook his head, his lips tight—
he
wasn’t the one who’d recklessly sent killing spells down a hallway full of people.
He
wasn’t the one who’d killed them. But he was sad that they had died, that the spells meant to kill him had instead killed them. But he didn’t regret that he was still alive.
Now he knew for certain that Mage Guild wanted him dead. That made other decisions easier. If he came across Jinaro—or Inigo or Hestor—he’d have to be ready to kill them. If he was the enemy of Mage Guild, then all Mages were his enemy. He took a deep breath and thought of Mole’s face when he’d returned from killing Faron. He’d have to be like that, cold and calculating. He could do it, he hoped.
Timo eased himself up and out of the cart. Once on the ground, he undid the spell that disguised him as a dead Server and cast the one to make him invisible.
He leaned out over the half door. The dark water below him looked cold, and he didn’t see a boat. Far off, a mage light illuminated a shabby dock, and even further away he thought he saw a difference in the colour of the water. Was he close to the edge of the island? Could he make it out from underneath it safely?
He ducked into the room. He might be able to get away but he had to find Mole and the others. He’d promised. He sidled around the wagon until he was in front of the wide doorway that led back into the hallways and corridors. He peered out. The rough hallway was dark, which hopefully meant it was empty. Through the gloom he saw a short hall that ended in a closed set of double doors. A sliver of light seeped out from under the doors.
He crept into the hall, keeping his back to the wall as he slowly made his way to the door. Mage mist from his spell illuminated each step, helping him avoid the loose stones and bits of wood that littered the floor. When he was halfway there, the light coming from under the door changed. It was no longer steady—now it bobbed and flickered—and it was getting brighter.
Timo flattened himself against the wall as footsteps scuffed the uneven floor. The wooden doors rattled before one side swung open and mage light spilled in. By the time Timo’s eyesight adjusted to the light, the man carrying it was beside him.
Small and wiry, the middle aged man shut the door behind him. The Server Guild crest was prominent on his chest but his clothing was a better cut and quality than that of the dead Servers in the cart. Timo stayed pressed against the wall as the man walked past him towards the wagon. He heard an inarticulate cry of grief before the man raised his voice.
“Gyda cursed Mages,” the man spat. “Throwing their spells around, killing good honest Guildsmen. We’ll make ’em pay, don’t you worry. Oh no!” Even more grief tinged the man’s voice. “Vina, not you!” His voice broke into a sob. “I’ll pull the Guild from this island, that’s what I’ll do.”
There were rattling sounds and then a gust of salty air swept past Timo.
“We’ll get you home first,” the Server said. “Then I’ll tell the Guild to pull us
all
off.”
Waves slapped against wood, and something bumped into the wall.
“Straighten that boat up,” the Server called out. “I’ll bring the whole cart across.”
“How many?”
“Four,” the Server said. He stepped in front of the cart and picked up the poles. He grunted as he started to drag the cart out of the room. In a few minutes the half door was closed. Gruff voices talking in low tones faded, and then there was silence. Timo waited a few more moments before making his way to the double doors. He tugged one side open and stepped out into the hallway.
If Server Guild really did remove all of their Guildsman from Mage Guild Island it would cause chaos. Let the men who ran the council live without both magic and Servers! He could only hope that both situations lasted a long time. He paused at the thought of power returning to the Mages, especially Inigo and the rest of the council. He had to find Mole and get them all off the island before that happened.
KARA FOLLOWED SANTOS
down to the dock. Santos’ green mage mist enveloped a small boat and cast a greenish glow over Reo, Santos, and Mole.
“The boat’s ready,” Santos said. “Time to make their path a little darker.” He flung a spell out across the water. Mage mist slowly wound its way past the docks and boats that were scattered throughout the darkness.
“I can only do this as far as I can see,” Kara said.
“That should be far enough,” Reo replied. He stared out in the general direction of Santos’ spell. “You can see for a long way down here—at least as far as the poorer section of the island. There probably won’t be many lights there anyway.”
Kara nodded. She
could
see a great distance. As the mage mist continued its slow journey along the surface of the bay, illuminating the path for her, she focussed on the mage lights that dotted the ceiling. One by one their brightness faded. Here and there she left one at almost full strength, and a few she let go completely dark. When she could no longer see the green mage mist, she stopped.
“That’s it,” she said. “I’ve tried to make the route as inconspicuous as possible.”
“Well done,” Reo said. “I can barely make out that it’s a path, and I know where to look. Mole, go get Barra and the Seyoyans. It’s time for you to go.”
“Barra knows how to signal?” Kara asked Santos.
“Yes,” he nodded. “I showed her how to cast the spell.” He smiled broadly. “She’s smart and has a decent talent. She’ll be a pleasure to teach.”
“As long as we all make it home to Old Rillidi,” Kara said. They couldn’t afford to look beyond their next task, not when they still had to find Timo, not when they might have to deal with the Mage Council.
“We will,” Reo assured her. “We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again.”
“With Timo,” Kara said.
“With Timo,” he agreed.
Yash quietly came down the steps, followed by Wuls, Barra, and finally Mole. All four stepped into the boat, Yash confidently taking a seat at the tiller. Mole sat in the middle, with Barra beside him and Wuls stretched out with his head hanging over the prow.
“See you back at home,” Kara said, and Mole nodded solemnly.
Santos waved a hand, and the boat slowly set off along the path Santos’ spell had created a few minutes ago.
Kara wrapped her arms around herself. Mole wasn’t happy—but he was safe. Now they had to make sure Timo was safe too.
“Come on,” Reo said and took her hand. “We need to get off the dock.”
SHE WAS TAKING
yet another aimless walk around the sitting room when the spell burst into the room and hovered above her. Her shoulders dropped, and she sighed in relief.
“Santos, Reo,” Kara called. “They’ve made it. Barra’s spell is here, and there’s no sense of urgency or danger. They’ve made it out from under Mage Guild Island.”
“Excellent,” Santos said. He held a cup in his hand, a trail of steam wafting above it.
Reo stood beside him, a satisfied look on his face.
“The finder spell for Timo is ready,” Santos said. “Let me know when we can leave.” He turned to look at Reo at the same time that Kara did.
“It’s late enough now,” Reo said.
They didn’t expect anyone to search Arabella’s rooms once they were gone but Reo had suggested they remove all visible traces of their stay anyway. It would be better if Mage Guild never knew they’d been here, if possible.
Kara stepped into her mother’s bedroom. She’d deliberately stayed out of it until now—it had seemed too intrusive. After all, she’d only seen her mother a handful of times in her life.
But the few times she had seen her, she’d always been impeccably dressed, her clothing rich and expertly tailored and her hair smooth and controlled. Had she had to make the same choices that poor Barra Eska had? The first time she’d met her mother was when Arabella had visited her at her home in Larona. She’d travelled there with Valerio Valendi. Kara had always assumed that her mother had bedded Valendi because she loved him, in her own way. Now she wondered if it was more for the protection and opportunities he had offered.
Kara had been young and extremely naïve about the realities of the world, but she’d recognized the lust and desire in Valendi’s eyes. Had her mother seen that? Had Arabella Fonti’s place in Mage Guild been so precarious that she’d sent her daughter to almost certain death in order to secure her own safety and security? In order to keep Valendi from choosing Kara?
When Reo had misguidedly taken her to see the woman who wanted her dead, Arabella, pregnant with Timo, had gloated about it being Valendi’s child. And when Kara had told her Valendi was draining her power, Arabella had dismissed it. But maybe she’d been too afraid to confront the Secundus? Maybe her safety—her life—was dependant on her
not
confronting him?
What would her mother have become if she hadn’t born Valerio Valendi’s child? If she hadn’t had the advantages that came with being the Mage Guild Secundus’ woman? She certainly wouldn’t have become Secundus herself—Arabella achieved that position through the support of Rorik, Valendi’s puppet, and political power she gained through association with Valendi.
Without Valerio Valendi her mother might have become a council member, but she would have needed to be allied with at least one other member. How many times had her mother had to make Barra Eska’s choice and bed a man for protection and position?
Kara focussed on the jewellery box that sat on top of the dresser. She opened it and scanned the various necklaces and earrings and bracelets. There, that would be an appropriate keepsake of the woman who’d given her life, but had wanted no part of it. Kara picked up the gold brooch, turning it over in her hands.
The purple stone winked in the dim light, and she smiled. Much the same colour as her mother’s mage mist, it reminded her of the brooch her mother had pressed into her hands as she urged Kara to flee all those years ago. That brooch was gone, traded long ago for supplies of one sort or another. Now she had another one to replace it, to remember Arabella Fonti by. Kara pinned the brooch to the underside of her shirt, next to her skin. With one last glance at the room, she left, closing the door gently behind her. She would not be coming back to this room, to her mother’s quarters. She hoped she never had to return to Mage Guild Island. Not once they found Timo and found a way off it.
CONFUSED, TIMO WATCHED
the spell. He’d created it almost half an hour ago and it had yet to move. He took a step closer to the ball of mage mist. He’d created the spell exactly the same way he’d created the other finder spells. Exactly. Hadn’t he? He poked a finger into it, not really sure what to expect, but the spell didn’t change. He waved his hand to drive the spell away and it languidly floated a foot in front of him before it stopped and hung in the air. With a grimace, he dispelled the magic and sat down with his back against the door.
What was wrong? Had something—maybe a spell that was sent while he was asleep—affected his magic? But he
always
enhanced his ability to repel magic while he slept in case Inigo and Hestor tried to kill him in the night. It was an automatic gesture, one he’d done without fail ever since he’d figured out how to do it. Unfocussed spells wouldn’t affect him, but ones directed at him could.
And he’d created that spell, hadn’t he? He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He couldn’t remember. It was something he did without conscious thought so he couldn’t be sure that he
had
. He stared down at the floor. Was his magic contaminated? Could he trust his invisibility spell?
He created a small mage light—his magic worked for that. A relocation spell also worked. He took a deep breath and ran through a few of the exercises he’d been forced to do daily as an Apprentice.
After a few minutes, he leaned against the wall. He could find nothing wrong with his magic so it must be that particular spell. Unless . . . Would his spell still find Mole if he was dead? Quickly he created a spell to search for Barra. It too stayed within the small room. He tried to create a spell to search for her body, but it did the same thing. It sat in the middle of the room, not moving. Nothing changed when he cast spells to find Yash and Wuls.
Timo waved his hand, and the spells dispersed. He couldn’t find them, not with this spell. He’d have to try something else.
He was so used to the spells not moving that he was surprised when the next one did. He jumped to his feet and pressed his ear to the door as the spell slid out into the hallway. Timo carefully opened the door and crept out. The spell was a few feet along the corridor, bobbing slowly as it moved. He caught up to it, keeping his back pressed to the corridor wall as he followed the spell. If he’d cast it correctly, it would lead him to the last place he’d seen Mole. From there he’d begin his search again.
Instead of taking him to the workroom where he’d become separated from Mole, the spell was leading him closer to the centre of the island where the most powerful Mages lived.