Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

I spun about and stared agape at her. “That’s not what happened! You told me to check on him!”

She smiled, “I didn’t have to try very hard to convince you to do it, now did I? This really isn’t fair Mordecai. I’m sure your face must be priceless to look at right now. You may as well make yourselves visible so I can see you.”

“You don’t startle easily do you?” I asked as we sat in her study. I had already taken the opportunity to introduce her to Walter.

Rose laughed, “It is difficult to be startled when the culprits sneaking into your home are having a shouting match in the hall.”

“We weren’t shouting,” I responded while she shook her head in disagreement with me. “Walter, tell her we weren’t shouting,” I said looking to him for support.

The older wizard shrugged, “Well… we did get rather loud.”

“Fine… we got rather loud. That’s not why we’re here anyway,” I said grumpily.

“I’m assuming you noticed the men watching your house,” said Rose.

I nodded, “That’s why we used Walter’s invisibility to arrive here unseen.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t use a disguise, or just lose them once you were away from your house. Marcus and I have been managing that way for the past few days,” she commented.

“I’m afraid that isn’t good enough Rose. I can’t afford to let the King know that I’m back in the city.”

That piqued her interest. “I assume you have some new development to relate,” she replied.

“I have good and bad news,” I said, unsure how to begin.

She tapped her fingers on the desk. “I’ve already heard the worst so don’t think to spare me.”

“Dorian and Penny are alive and probably aren’t far from the capital,” I said abruptly.

She stood and put her back to us with a speed that surprised me. “Walter would you mind stepping outside,” she said carefully.

He rose and headed for the door, “Certainly. I’ll wait in the hall.”

After he had gone she looked toward me and her appearance shocked me, red eyes and tear stained cheeks where just moments before she had been composed and flawless. “Mordecai, are you sure? If this is some trick I won’t be able to handle it.”

I shook my head, “I don’t have any way to be sure yet Rose. I only found out this morning and the circumstances were unusual, to say the very least.” I crossed the room and put my arm around her shoulders.

“You haven’t said yet what the bad news is,” she said with her head against my chest. Before I could answer I felt her stiffen and she pushed me out to arm’s length, “Oh Gods! It’s the King isn’t it? Edward has them!”

Since I hadn’t told her any of the details yet I was rather astonished at her guess. “Yes. How did you figure that out?”

“We already had good evidence he was the one that sent the original abductors to Lancaster. Now you tell me they are alive and I just got news of something unusual that occurred the other night,” she answered. “Mordecai, do you have any idea what he wants?”

“Slow down,” I told her. “I still don’t know what you’ve learned.”

“Why don’t you tell me how you discovered that they are alive,” she suggested.

“In a moment, first I want to know what you found out about the other night,” I countered.

She shrugged, “Not much really, just that the King dismissed the guards at the palace’s postern gate for several hours. I had no clue what his reason was, but I knew he had to be meeting someone secretly, or moving something that needed to be kept hidden. Now that you tell me they’re alive… you can see how my thoughts lined up.”

If I had ever doubted how keenly sharp Rose’s mind was I had all the evidence I needed to prove otherwise now. Her mind was a weapon. If we did ever manage to rescue Dorian I almost felt sorry for him. He’d never be able to get anything past her. Good thing he was honest to a fault. “I’m still amazed at your quick wits Rose,” I told her.

She was trying to mend her appearance by dabbing at her cheeks with a small cloth she had produced from a drawer in her desk. “Let’s hear your story Mordecai,” she reminded me but before I could start she crossed over to the door and opened it. “You can come back in Walter, thank you.”

I explained our near disastrous exploration of the caves near Lancaster and described our encounter with the creature that now inhabited Timothy’s small body. She listened carefully and let me finish before she spoke again.

“Have you spoken with Marcus since you returned to the city?”

I coughed, “He was drunk so we didn’t talk much but he should be waking up soon. I put him to sleep to get him to stop drinking so he’d sober up.”

She frowned, “He’s been sober the last few times I talked to him. Did something happen?”

“Apparently the high priest of the iron god caught him rifling through his papers and after he escaped they figured out his real identity. They’ve given him a new name,” I told her and then went on to describe his encounter.

Rose had her hand in front of her mouth by the time I finished, “That’s terrible.”

“I rather thought it was funny, though I didn’t want to admit it in front of him while he was drunk. I was a bit peeved about that.”

“No, Mordecai. I swear sometimes I think you’re as dense as Dorian. I’m talking about Marissa,” she said the name as if it alone would explain everything.

I stared blankly at her, “What about Marissa?”

She sighed, “He was very taken with her. I think they might have developed some serious feelings.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Are you sure we’re talking about the same man? He bedded half the noblewomen near his age and none of them were able to capture his attention for more than a day or two.”

Now it was her turn to stare; except her stare was of a much more serious nature.

“Look Rose,” I began, “I love him like a brother, but he’s an absolute plague on women. I doubt he’s even given her a second thought since they chased him out.”

“We have too many more important things to talk about right now Mordecai,” she said at last. “Let’s just leave it at, ‘you’re an idiot’, and move on. And do promise me to treat the subject carefully when you see Marcus later. Can you do that at least?”

Walter started snickering quietly behind his hand at her comment. I gave him a hard look before answering her, “Fine, we’ll just leave it at that. Why don’t we retire to my house so we can continue this conversation with Marc when he wakes up?”

The return trip was equally uneventful though Rose didn’t enjoy it much. Since she didn’t have the benefit of mage-sight she was completely blind while we were invisible. For her the experience was essentially identical to being blindfolded and led across the city by hand.

When we reached my door we simply opened it and went inside. To appease the men watching the house I had Harold come back and look out, to give the impression that he had opened the door. After I talked to him though I quickly discovered it didn’t matter anymore.

“Is Marc awake?” I asked him as soon as we had gotten inside.

He nodded his head, “Yes, but he’s got a hell of a hangover. He’s in the kitchen trying to get some food inside him.”

I started walking in that direction, “Good, now we can finally get everyone together and see if we can figure something out.”

Harold put his hand on my shoulder, “Wait, you might want to read this letter. I think it’s urgent.”

I frowned at him, “What letter?”

He held up a sealed envelope. Even in the poor light of the entry hallway I could recognize the official seal of the king of Lothion. “How’d you get that?” I asked him with a sinking feeling in my stomach.