James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

The other thing had been the brands. Keritanima had always been very careful never to let others see them, but they had finally been seen that morning. Tarrin hadn't been the only one to leave early. She had visited the baths, and had the bad luck of crossing paths with a patrol of guards wearing nothing but a towel. The brands were in plain sight, for her fur wouldn't grow back over them, and she had little doubt that Jervis would have a report on his desk concerning them by morning. They had already talked it out, and she wasn't that worried about it. "We're starting to run out of time," she told them calmly after debating the issue. "They're moving quickly, and so are we. If I have to reveal myself, then so be it, because I have no intention of going back."

And that was that.

"And what are you so happy about?" Keritanima finally exploded at Miranda when they finished at sunset.

"Oh, nothing," she replied with a mild smile. "I've been working out a little deal with Jervis. It should be going off any minute now."

"You did what ?" she gasped.

"Oh, come now, Highness, it's not like I haven't gone behind your back before," she said with a cheeky grin. "Jervis and I had an idea, and we decided to go with it. We should have the upper hand in the Tower and the city by morning."

"And what marvelous plan is this?"

"Oh, one of Jervis' men sacked Duncan's office," she said, biting the thread in two. "That made Ahiriya angry, and she overreacted, as usual. We're already in place to make her pay for it."

Keritanima blinked, and then she laughed. "Miranda! That's so blunt !"

"Yes, it was," she smiled. "Sometimes brute force does have advantages."

She laughed again. "I think I can live with Ahiriya's displeasure," she grinned.

"What difference does that make to us?" Allia asked.

"When Ahiriya goes to get Jervis' men for the break-in, Miranda's men will be there to get the drop on them," Keritanima explained. "They'll never expect Miranda to put a hand in, because what goes on between Jervis and Ahiriya isn't supposed to concern her. There will probably be open fighting in the halls of the Tower."

"Possibly," Miranda admitted. "Even if the Keeper throws most of our people out, there won't be many of Ahiriya's people left to interfere. In a scenario of smaller numbers, we have the advantage. Ahiriya has more territory to defend and fewer people to do it with. That gives us the advantage."

"I sometimes think that war is less complicated than this game you play, sister," Allia said. "It is fighting without fighting."

"The real fighting is probably going on right now, sister," Keritanima told her. "By morning, we'll see who came out on top."

"It will be us," Miranda said confidently. "I estimate we'll have twice the people that Ahiriya will have left, and the attack will put her out of sorts. Between Jervis and myself, she won't be able to keep us away from the information that we want for very long."

"That is very clever, Miranda," Keritanima said approvingly. "I think I'll have to kiss Jervis soundly on the lips after this. He actually came in handy."

"Jervis is a worthy adversary, Highness," Miranda said mildly.

"I know," she replied, then she gave Miranda a strange look. "Exactly when did I lose control of things here?"

"When you started learning Sorcery," Miranda replied with a cheeky smile. "You've been neglecting your operations, because you're so wrapped up in your training. It's a good thing I noticed it, and stepped in to pick things back up."

"I did, didn't I?" she said ruefully, scrubbing the back of her head with her clawed fingers. "That was very unprofessional of me."

"We're all entitled to the occasional mistake, Highness," Miranda told her with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Well, there is one thing for certain," Allia said. "It will make things nervous."

"That's true," Keritanima agreed. "If Miranda's right, it won't take us long to find out what they want from us. I can get that information from Erick, because I know he has it. And with as much as I've learned, we may be able to make it if we run."

"Only if we have reason to run," Allia said.

"True, but I have the feeling that we will," Keritanima agreed. "We'd better get back to our rooms. With the impending chaos coming, we'd best be barred in and safe."

"Yes," Allia agreed. "If there is going to be fighting, as you suspect, then we should keep ourselves clear of it." She stood up. "Let us sneak back in one by one. If there is alot of tension out there, let us not enhance it with our sneaking about."

"Good idea," Keritanima agreed. "Go on, Miranda. I know you want to go see Jervis and see how things are going."

"Yes, the thought did cross my mind," she smiled, placing her needlepoint in a shoulder satchel, then sauntering out calmly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kerri," Tarrin said, standing up, hunching over, and then flowing into his cat form. "I'll sneak out the back," he added in the unspoken manner of the Cat.

"See you tonight, my brother," Allia said, and he turned and wormed through a small hole in one of the hedges, following a path his cat's paws had tread a hundred times before.

Tarrin had done it many times before, and had never had any trouble. Because they ignored the many cats on the grounds, he was able to pick his way over to the North Tower with very little problem. But this time, he was met by the slim, pretty Sorceress, Jula. She was standing in his room, arms crossed, and she was staring at the door when it opened. "Jula," he said in some surprise. "What are you doing in here?"

"And what were you doing off the grounds?" she demanded. "I saw you in the streets of Suld this morning! They didn't give you permission to leave!"

"I had to see my parents," he replied calmly, stepping in and closing the door. "It was important."

"Tarrin, that Ward is there for your protection more than it's there to stop you from leaving," she said in exasperation. "It stops whoever is sending things after you from getting them onto the grounds."

"Like it stopped that Doomwalker?" he asked, stepping past her, towards the closet. She turned to keep her eyes on him, but he didn't pay her very much attention.

"How Jegojah got onto the grounds is something they're still trying to figure out," she said to him bluntly. "Doomwalkers are very powerful, Tarrin. There's a good chance it was able to breach the Ward with its own magical power."

Tarrin stopped. "How did you know its name?" he demanded.

He turned around, but it was too late. Little Jula, kind Jula who had braided his hair, had healed his father, had been there for his family, had been his friend, one of the few Sorcerers that Tarrin would trust enough to put his back towards, snapped a black metal collar around his neck. The very same collar that had been used on Jesmind. The instant that metal touched him, he felt its alien magic assault his mind, sweeping through it in a black wave of numbness. Tarrin's mind instantly boiled with nameless fury, and his eyes ignited from within with the unholy radiance that betrayed his anger. That rage attacked that mind-numbing magic, pushing at it, grabbing it and trying to tear it asunder, but the raw power of the attack was overwhelming, and the magic had specifically been created to subdue one of his kind. In sudden desperation, the Cat reached out, touching the Weave, but for the first time, the magic was not there to respond to his call. With a strangled cry, his claws snapped out and he lurched at that pretty face, a face etched in stone as it calmly watched the Were-cat struggle against the magic trying to wrest control of his mind.

But if he made it or not, he had no idea. His consciousness lost its footing, and he felt himself spiralling into a vast prison of black emptiness, and he knew no more.