David Wells - Linkershim

Isabel sat up, trying to steady herself, allowing the flutter in her stomach and the energy coursing through her veins to dissipate. With a smile, she tipped her head back and linked her mind with Slyder. He was a long way away, and he was lonely. She could feel his excitement as he took to wing, flying toward her. She knew exactly how he felt. It had been a long time since she’d been able to use her magic, a long time since she’d been able to link with her familiar.

The sound of boots on stone brought her mind back to the circle cell. When the door opened, she remained sitting in the middle of the floor, smiling slightly as Phane stopped at the threshold. Two very large guards stood behind him.

“Hello, Isabel,” Phane said, a boyish smile of unabashed joy spreading across his face. “I trust the accommodations are to your liking.”

She stood and gingerly pressed against the barrier created by the magic circle. “It’s a little too confining for my tastes,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I was hoping you’d bled out.”

“Charming as ever. The truth is, no one has ever stabbed me before. In fact, no one has ever come so close to killing me before, not even remotely. Quite impressive, really, especially when you consider the magical protections surrounding me. I’m so very eager to learn how you managed to penetrate those defenses.”

“I’ll bet,” Isabel said.

Phane chuckled, not with derision or malice, but with genuine joy. “That’s one of the many reasons I like you, Isabel. You are so very defiant … even in the face of utter defeat, you stand your ground. Such tenacity is to be admired, though not overly so. As you can see, you’re all out of moves. I’ve won. Things will go much better for you once you accept that.”

“So, is this where you threaten to torture me?”

Phane actually looked shocked, and even a bit hurt. “Dear Isabel, I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. I don’t want to hurt you. I want to make you my queen, my Lady Reishi. I can show you how to tap the darkness within you, command it, wield it. I can show you how to bend the netherworld to your will. Kings will kneel before you and tremble.”

Isabel started laughing. At first it was slightly forced, but within a few moments, it transformed into a genuine belly laugh that she couldn’t stop. Phane’s expression morphed from the pure joy of imagining his fantasy to sudden rage, his features contorted and ugly.

With a gesture, he dismissed the magic circle and surged forward, taking Isabel by the throat and lifting her off the ground at arm’s length. Still, she laughed past her choking. She watched the struggle play out in his eyes; he wanted to kill her and yet he didn’t. Then the rage passed, replaced by cold calculation, and he set her down gently.

“You shouldn’t laugh at me, Isabel. It’s disrespectful.”

She started laughing again.

He clenched his jaw, fury building in his golden eyes, but he retained his composure, glaring at her until her mirth subsided.

“Are you quite finished?”

“For now,” Isabel said, focusing her thoughts on the coming moment. He’d already demonstrated that he was unwilling to kill her, a powerful advantage in any fight, especially since her goal in life at this moment was to end his.

“I believe I have a way to persuade you, though I don’t expect it to arrive for several days, so we’ll resume this conversation then. In the meantime, I’ll see about more suitable quarters. You are Lady Reishi, after all, and that must be respected.”

“I’m Lady Reishi because I’m married to Alexander, and yet you insist that he’s a pretender. How does that make any sense?”

“Simple, Alexander is Lord Reishi. He’s bound to the Sovereign Stone, and by long tradition of the Reishi family, that fact makes him Lord Reishi, but admitting that to others wouldn’t help me, so I’ve labeled him the pretender.” Phane shrugged. “Once he’s dead, it won’t matter.”

“So it’s just one more lie then.”

“Deception is often more powerful than magic,” Phane said, flashing his boyish smile.

When he turned, Isabel started casting her spell. Just before he reached the threshold, her light-lance fired, but it was refracted into a brilliant burst of light before it reached the back of Phane’s head, diffusing its power in a thousand directions.

He didn’t even turn around, chuckling. “I told you I was well protected.” The door closed on his last word.

***

Several hours later, the door opened again. Isabel was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room staring at the door. She stood when she saw it wasn’t Phane, but several other people instead.

The first was an elderly man dressed in simple brown robes. He had sharp features, flat grey eyes, and long silvery white hair but his face was clean-shaven. With a word, he dismissed the magic circle and smiled insincerely at Isabel before bowing formally. “Lady Reishi, welcome to the Reishi Army Regency headquarters fortress. I am Wizard Enu. Prince Phane has assigned me to complete your education in the arcane arts.”

A rather severe-looking woman stepped up beside him. She was middle-aged and slender, her hair was pulled back into a tight braid and she wore the drab clothing of a maidservant. “Lady Reishi, I am Headmistress Dierdra. Prince Phane has assigned me to manage your house staff.”

“I have a house staff?”

“Yes, Prince Phane has expressed his desire that you should be afforded every comfort. You currently have twelve servants assigned to provide for your needs.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Isabel said, looking from face to face, searching for some hint of what was really going on.

“I assure you that I am not,” Dierdra said, completely unfazed.

Isabel looked past her to the three men standing in the hall. Two were big battle-scarred soldiers wearing armor and carrying spears. The third was slight of build and wore no armor, yet he carried himself with disdain for those around him as though none were his equal. When Isabel saw the ornate black dagger on his belt, she understood-he was wraithkin.

Wizard Enu gestured toward the two soldiers. “A company of the finest Regency soldiers has been assigned to provide you with security. They’ve already taken up their posts around your chambers. Additionally, Prince Phane has assigned Wraithkin Issa to be your personal bodyguard.”

Isabel smiled without any humor and nodded to herself before walking confidently past the wizard and headmistress, stopping in front of the two soldiers and meeting the eyes of the ranking man.

“Take me to my quarters.”

“Yes, My Lady,” he said with crisp, detached professionalism, before bowing slightly and turning on his heel. Isabel followed without a word, her new and very much unwelcome retinue following behind.

Her quarters were quite some distance from the cell where she’d awoken. The soldier led her out of the building into the afternoon sun. It wasn’t a warm day but the air was still and the sky was clear. She breathed deeply, relieved to be out of the confined space of her cell.

The Regency headquarters fortress was really a small city surrounded by an immense stone wall measuring a hundred feet high by a hundred feet thick. Within, the city was laid out on a grid of roads with most blocks occupied by a single building, those on the outskirts constructed in very utilitarian fashion, while those nearer the center were taller and more ornate.

In the very center rose a black tower, two hundred feet on a side and well over two thousand feet tall. It was completely unadorned, the only break in the smooth stone walls being the few windows scattered in seemingly random fashion.

The soldiers led her toward the black tower, but then turned when they reached the base of it, instead taking her to a pyramid occupying the next block over. It rose two hundred feet into the air in five-foot steps toward a large flat top filled with a manicured garden surrounding a beautiful house. Steep staircases ran from the street level to the top on each of the four sides. Soldiers stood guard along the base of the pyramid as well as around the wall surrounding the estate at the top.