Everything was happening too quickly. Elowyn had meant to ask Aurelie for some combat training, but there hadn’t been time. Luckily, many of her clothes were black. She’d had some made especially for dancing practice. Avilius disapproved – the clothes didn’t have enough shiny buckles and furbelows to suit the latest fashion, but they gave her complete freedom of movement. She tied a black scarf over her hair to hide it and layered a hood on top.
The glyphs were a cinch to dispel. Aurelie had underestimated Elowyn there. She may have come across as an ingénue with her head in the clouds, but one thing the Circle had taught her was how to sneak around. Fade-stepping height levels was a little tricky. Elowyn planned to go out the window instead of trying to talk her way past the guards at the door. There was a ledge on the house opposite. The problem was to avoid being seen at the window. Ice and snow weren’t her main areas of expertise. However, a combination of heat and cold could produce something very useful: fog. She called an element up in each hand and combined them, then blew the magic softly out into the courtyard. A dense mist settled, obscuring the ground, and the guards, below. Time to fade-step.
She peered through the Veil at all the different layers beyond. She often wondered how this was for other mages, who had varying difficulty crossing over. Or through, rather. She’d never met another mage who could pass into the Fade without lyrium. She’d tried escaping the Circle once by going into the Fade, but the problem was always time, which acted strangely. One could go through and come back and find that not a moment had passed in the real world. It was also risky doing it surrounded by other mages. She’d made a complete mess of things last night, for instance.
She chose a moment when a gondola was passing in a different version of Minrathous and stepped to it, then quickly zipped across to the ledge in the real world. The problem with magic was that it was too much fun to use, and she was in danger of becoming giddy with power and making a misstep. She edged her way around the corner of the building. She had no fear of heights at all – it was enclosed spaces that made her sweat.
She wondered if she should have asked Caradoc for help. He might have forbidden her from trying to rescue Monkai. How long would it take for them to discover her disappearance? She’d piled clothes under her blanket to make it look as if she were in bed, but wished she’d thought of a cleverer ruse.
Below her now was a street full of people going to the theater. It was unfortunately well-lit, so she cast a fire glyph a block away from where she wanted to cross, then threw a magic missile at it to set it off. It proved a suitable distraction. Everyone down below rushed toward the sudden light and noise while she ran across a raised pipe – another reason to love the plumbing system!
She was approaching the Vaellanius Manor. She’d never been there. However, Minrathous was full of refugees and street urchins who needed coin and wouldn’t ask awkward questions. She approached a little girl selling flowers on the corner.
“I’ll give you a copper to deliver a message for me to that manor,” she said to the girl, who looked apprehensively at the dark gates. “Two coppers, then.” The girl nodded, and Elowyn handed her a note folded into the shape of a dragonfly. “Tell them it’s for Zera, and you won’t give it to anyone else. Don’t come back this way. I’ll meet you behind that statue and give you the coins.”
Elowyn hid behind an archway and stood watch, ready to throw a fireball if the guards tried to apprehend the girl. The guards questioned the girl and looked around, but Elowyn was hidden by the night. She saw a woman’s shape come to the gate and hoped it was Zera. The girl ran off. Elowyn fade-stepped to the statue. She thanked the girl and paid her, then went to surveil the rendezvous point.
Would Zera show up, or would she tell her father? Elowyn prepared to slip away if Caius’ guards arrived, but it was Vel Barrius who sauntered to the meeting place in the alley behind a gelateria. He leaned back against the brick wall, crossed his arms and whistled the same tune he’d played for her on his lute. Was it a trap?
Elowyn pinged him with a pebble. He started, and his daggers instantly appeared in his hands. She couldn’t help it – she started laughing at his expression.
“Your sense of humor will get you killed,” he said. Elowyn appeared out of the shadows.
“Don’t stab me,” she told him. He spun one of the daggers around and flicked his hand. Elowyn felt it slice through the hood right next to her ear and heard it lodge in the wall behind her.
“Now you’re down to one dagger,” she said.
“One is enough,” he replied. She eyed him warily, ready to defend herself.
“Does Monkai live?” she asked.
Vel shrugged. “Zera wouldn’t let her father kill him.”
“I can’t imagine he’d spare Monkai just for his daughter’s sake.”
“Then you don’t know him.”
“Can you get me in to see Monkai?” Vel cocked his head to the side, considering. She recalled Aminia’s words, ‘Trust No One.’
“Only if you pay my price,” he said, smiling wickedly.
“Oh? And what is your price?”
“A kiss.”
“Such a little thing.”
“That’s the bargain.”
“Let’s go then. You can’t collect if I’m dead, remember that.”
He reached across her and pulled his dagger from the wall. She didn’t flinch.
“Follow me,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind getting wet.”
He meant it literally – they entered the manor through a storm drain. Elowyn kindled veilfire to light their way. Its dim greenish glow was less noticeable than a torch. She thought it was remarkably easy to penetrate the manor, though if anyone could do it, surely Vel knew how to get in and out without being seen.
They’d reached a grating at the end of a tunnel. “This is where I let you go on ahead. Monkai is in the last cell on the left.”
Vel unlocked the grating and swung it open. She jumped down. Strange that there weren’t guards here. Maybe Magister Caius relied on magic to protect his dungeon. She reached out with her mana and found wards around Monkai’s cell. She carefully peered in at the huddled shape slumped on the floor.
“Monkai,” she whispered, “Monkai, it’s me, Elowyn.” A faint groan escaped from his lips. Elowyn risked lighting a little veilfire so she could gauge the extent of his injuries. He was badly beaten. She couldn’t dispel the wards keeping her from reaching him. She was about to fadestep, when she heard someone coming down the passageway. She stood up to face the threat.
“So the butterfly has visited my web,” said a deep voice as a hooded figure stepped into the pitiful light of Elowyn’s veilfire. The Magister waved his hand, and torches lit up all down the hallway. “Exquisite!” he exclaimed, “and now you are mine.” He cast an electric cage, but Elowyn was too fast. She zipped behind the Magister, leaving a trail of flame behind her. He just laughed as the flames washed harmlessly over his barrier. He was carrying an unusual staff surmounted by twining snakes. “Let’s see what you can do,” he said and raised the staff. A tremendous amount of energy burst forth, tearing the Veil. A gigantic horned demon barreled through, straight toward Elowyn.
Elowyn stepped back, putting her weight on the ball of her foot. She stared straight into the beast’s eyes as it galloped toward her. She knew the Magister was waiting for her to fadestep. She felt the monster’s scorching breath on her face and leaped, up and up over its back. As she rolled over its shoulder, she twisted, grabbed its horns, and pulled it with her into the Fade.
She rolled off its back and ripped open the Veil again, emerging inside the wards surrounding Monkai. She bent toward him, “Monkai, Monkai! We have to go!” she cried, shaking his shoulder. Two demons came charging through the tear. She flung out her arm, and a coil of energy unfurled from her hand and whipped out, slicing the heads off the demons. Their bodies collapsed, setting off the wards, which exploded. Elowyn cast a barrier over Monkai to protect him, but she was flung into the wall, smashing her shoulder.
She saw Caius step toward her. Just then, a shadow slipped past him, and with it came the staff, torn from his fingers. “Elowyn, catch!” Vel tossed it to her.
She grabbed it and raised it up. She could feel stupendous power coursing through it. She was about to cast when Caius slammed Vel with a spell. His eyes rolled back in his head, his body twitched spasmodically, and his veins throbbed with black blood.
“No!” she shouted.
“Drop the staff,” said Caius calmly. She met his cold, black eyes, and a slow, cruel smile curved his mouth. She dropped the staff. Caius gestured with his other hand, and she felt her blood begin to boil. She gasped, resisting. But he was too powerful.
Just then, Monkai sat up. He glared at Caius, and the ground began to tremble.
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