Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

“No, I mean before that. How did it come to you originally?” I clarified though I already knew she was avoiding the question.

“My grandmother gave it to me,” she replied smoothly, “as a present when I turned sixteen.”

The look on her face gave away more than she intended. “And where did she get it?” I asked.

“My grandfather gave it to her as an anniversary present one year, or so she told me. She’s dead now so I can’t ask her how long ago it was,” she answered. “Is that what you wanted to know?”

I felt terrible for destroying her grandmother’s ring. “Rose why?! I could have used something else!”

Before I could continue she put her hand over my mouth. “Don’t Mordecai. If there’s one thing you need to learn it’s that other people have a right to make sacrifices too. My grandmother would have been proud to see her ring used so, and I am more than ready to give it, if it will bring Dorian and Penny back.”

I stood carefully and studied the woman in front of me. I had always known Rose was beautiful, but the past few days had shown me the depths of her spirit more clearly than ever before. She was more than simply lovely, she was a creature of compassion and possessed of a nobility of spirit that was seldom seen, in anyone, man or woman. “I can’t be certain any of this will work Rose, and if it fails there won’t be any second chances.”

She never faltered, “I am not a child Mordecai. I know there are no certainties. I know what will happen should things go badly tomorrow.” She stared upward at me and for a moment our faces were so close I could feel her breath on my face. A long moment passed before she looked away and I let out a sigh of relief… and to my eternal shame, some regret. “What will you use the paper for?” she asked suddenly, breaking the tension in the air.

“Let me show you,” I said and folding the sheet into a small square I opened one box and put it inside. The ruby set in the lid of the other box began to glow with a soft red light.

“What does that mean?”

I pushed the box with the glowing gem toward her. “Open it.”

Lifting the lid she looked inside and gasped softly when she saw what was inside. Reaching in, she pulled out the small folded piece of paper. “That’s very clever!” she announced. “Does it work both ways?”

I nodded and she placed the paper back in the box she was holding. As soon as she closed the lid the light on its gem went out and the gem on the first box lit up. She opened it and removed the same piece of paper. “So using this you can send messages between the boxes,” she observed.

“Yes… and whoever has one of the boxes can tell by the ruby on top whether a new note has been placed inside,” I added.

Rose’s face grew thoughtful. “What happens if both boxes are opened at the same time? Can you see between them?”

I shook my head negatively. “Only one can be opened at a time. If I had done things differently I could have made something like what you described, which is essentially a portal between places, but it’s more difficult. Instead I used a simpler teleportation enchantment. If both boxes were to be opened at the same time it would break this enchantment entirely, so I added another that will lock one lid in place when the other is open.” In fact I was rather proud of myself for finding a novel use for the ‘self-locking door’ schemata I had read about.

“You plan to use them for passing messages I suppose,” Rose surmised sharply and before I could reply I heard a sharp intake of breath. Looking up I saw her mouth had formed a round ‘o’ and her features were lit with a realization. “That’s why you said three in the morning. You can’t be in both places at once, so you intend to send them after Dorian and Penny tonight.”

I struggled to keep my features calm, which wasn’t easy considering the accuracy of Rose’s guesses. “You’re right,” I told her. “I’ll send them after Penny and Dorian tonight, so they should reach them before any alarm can be raised. Even if the priests or the King realize what we’re about they should be hours ahead of any pursuit or counter-measure.”

“You keep saying, ‘they’,” Rose observed. “Obviously you don’t intend to go with them. Do you mean to go to this meeting with the King? Why? Penny and Dorian would be better served if you are there to make sure they are rescued.”

“My role is secondary,” I answered. “Once I receive the message that they are safe I will visit the King, whether it is time for our meeting or not. Afterward he will no longer be king.”

“And if they don’t find them? When the King learns of the attack on the Doronite compound he will assume it was you. Do you know what he will do?” she said with an alarmed look on her face.

I winced, “I can’t be sure.”

Rose glared at me. “He will punish you, through them. Have you considered all the various ways they could be mutilated?” she said in a harsh tone.

“Yes,” I replied, “as a matter of fact I have given it a lot of thought. That is the second reason I will be remaining here to meet with the King. If I receive word that Penny and Dorian haven’t been found I will make sure he can give no orders of retribution. They may die by some precontrived plan, but they won’t be tortured.”

Her face was stern but it softened after a moment, “Are you sure?”

“If it were you Rose, what would you want me to do? Wait in fear and submit to the King’s demands, or risk everything on the chance of freedom?” I asked seriously.

She paused, thinking and I held my breath until she answered. “I would not wish to be used against my friends and allies,” she said finally. “I would rather you took the chance.”

“Even if the chance carried a great risk of your death if I failed?”

“Yes.”

“Then I have chosen correctly. Until this moment I wasn’t entirely sure,” I admitted.

Rose stood and held out her hand abruptly. “When did you last eat?” she asked.

That was a good question. “Sometime around noon perhaps?” I said tentatively.

“It’s after eight o’clock now, let me feed you while we wait,” she suggested. I could only hope she didn’t plan on cooking though, her last attempt had almost put me off sausages entirely.

I needn’t have worried about the food after all. Rose’s maid Angela took care of the preparations, which were primarily cold cuts and leftover bread. Even so the food was good.

The others returned while I was still eating but I sensed them long before they reached the door. I stood and rushed to answer it myself, since I doubted Angela would understand opening the door for a group of invisible people. They had arrived cloaked under Walter’s spell, and there was an extra person with them… carefully bound.

I poked my head out the door after letting them in, to give the watchers a visible reason for the door having been opened, then I ducked back in. “You found him!” I declared hopefully.

Marc answered first, “Indeed we did. Surely you didn’t doubt us?”

I hugged him, partly because I was glad to see him and partly because I regretted my harsh words earlier. “The thought never crossed my mind.” Their prisoner had the poor taste to start groaning and trying to shout past his gag at that point. I turned to Walter, “Why didn’t you put him to sleep?”

He held up his hands helplessly, “I never learned to do that.”

I took him aside and whispered the word quietly in his ear. “Just be careful how you use it,” I told him. “My friends wear necklaces to protect them from mental spells but if you don’t consciously direct that spell it will affect anyone nearby.”