Mage and Consort Pt. 04

"But - she said she was deficient in Force magic."

"Yes, go ahead and rub that in, Consort. Deficient only compared to the most powerful Mages in the world, those who labor beside her. They have told me nothing, Leo, but the Third seems to be in charge of many tasks now. That means the Second is dead, or badly hurt. No wonder they're desperate."

"Dead," he said. "So she told me. And the First is near death as well, along with at least five High Consorts. I don't know about any other High Mages. I was only on the roof briefly."

"The roof," she said, staring at him. "She took you to the roof?"

He nodded. "She -- showed me how desperate they are. Maybe she's cold, Lady, but she's not wrong. I would have done anything to help the First, fighting as she is. The Third says she's holding back the Sky all but alone now."

The Lady nodded slowly. "And you offered your Seed, didn't you. And then she tested you herself."

Leo's face burned. "You wouldn't understand. It was beautiful, all the Consorts and Ladies, all working together for the kingdom. It's what I'm supposed to do, Lady. I'm not just gaming for power, like you."

Lady Karlov nodded, looking resigned. "Tell me, Leo, did you talk to any other Ladies when you were up there?"

Leo shook his head. "No, of course they were too engaged in their talents."

"True enough," the Lady said. She idly began scratching her leg above the manacle. There were ugly-looking scabs there.

Finally he couldn't stand it. "What, Lady? What am I missing, that you're dying to explain to me so that you can prove again what a naive idiot I am?"

For just a moment, he thought the Lady looked discomfited. An instant. Maybe he'd finally scored a point. But she simply sighed.

"Few of those Mages could have responded to you. Some of them would have been up there a full day, no food or water, soiling themselves, until they were dismissed to totter off and recover."

He stared at her, then nodded slowly. "Like the First. They're draining themselves, to keep us safe, as unpleasant as that is."

"Not like the First at all. Maybe some of them would have volunteered to do that in this emergency, a few of the most noble-hearted. But it has been this way for years, long before this crisis. It's the power of the First that holds them there, Leo. Her, and the other High Mages. The Third may be exceeded by lesser Mages in Force, but Wind is an excellent complement for the protective shield. And the Third has extraordinary control of every aspect of her talents. With the Second gone, she is likely the one who must shape the web that they all bind in the Sky, a web which in turn binds all but the most elite."

"But the Third --" Leo stopped. She'd seemed so sincere. She'd talked about duty in a language he understood.

And she'd also encouraged or allowed Lady Karlov to be tortured. "She must think it's necessary," he said weakly.

Lady Karlov gazed up at the mossy ceiling. "Of that I have no doubt, Leo. Do you think that belief makes her less dangerous?"

Leo looked at the Lady, and it was like a key had turned in his mind.

"Like you," he said slowly. "You know exactly what she's thinking, because you're like her. You're not seeking power simply to be powerful."

Lady Karlov didn't react. "Believe what you like. What difference does it make? The Third does what she does. I did what I did. There are always reasons. But I killed two men and gained nothing as a result. Not even power for its own sake."

"Lady Karlov. What is it you want, that drives you so? And you did accomplish something, because I believe Anya is still free. Why did you tell me to keep her safe, and to meet your friends? Why were you willing to sacrifice yourself? I don't understand you at all."

"Yes, you do," she said. "Your object is much smaller, and you lack my viciousness, but the drive is the same. And you just called her Anya."

Leo started. He hadn't done that, surely?

"My Lady Tur," he said. "But she isn't the point. And if you're suggesting anything improper in my relationship, as a Consort --"

"For Skies' sake, Leo, that is between you and Anya, and I'm amazed she hasn't throttled you. Tell me, are you still clinging to the shit that Lady Carwen stuffed in your ears, about duty and loyalty and all that? Even after you got yanked around by High Mages and who knows what else, even after the Third used your stubborn faith to ensnare you? Tell me you didn't feel conflicted, that you didn't wish you could just be with Anya and never see those Mages again."

Leo shook his head. He did feel that, now. He should have felt it sooner. That was his own weakness. But Lady Karlov was confusing him again.

"Lady Carwen wasn't wrong. It's all these other Mages and Ladies, the ones who think I should simply discard my Lady for power or expediency or even the greater good. Just as you think."

Lady Karlov turned. "I haven't thought that since the night she held back the Sky, Leo."

Leo's mouth dropped open. But then she'd said as much before, and Leo had only assumed she was playing another game.

"It's her power you need," he said slowly. "I'm useful, but she's the one you truly needed."

"And now you have it," Lady Karlov said. "It became expedient that you not discard her. Not that there was any chance of that to begin with. But if I had shown too much interest in her, you would've grown suspicious in a more dangerous direction, and might have refused to accompany me. So I gave you a grudging story, a half-truth, all while I made rather obvious efforts to separate you from her."

"So what is it, then? Why do you need her power, Lady, and why weren't you honest about it? What more use is it to hide the truth from me?"

Lady Karlov sighed. "None, I suppose. Not at this point, but I have always been parsimonious to a fault. Leo, do you imagine this kingdom is the only one to suffer stonestorms?"

"But the rest of the continent -- oh."

"Yes," she agreed. "Oh. The rest of *your* continent does not suffer as badly. We sit now at its far southwest edge. A northern mirror to my home, far south across the deadly sea. The Origin lies above the great western ocean, Leo, presenting an equal danger to my land. And even accounting for the extreme danger of the crossing that brought me here, it is shocking how little your people know, or even care, about events across the sea that separates us."

"Your Mages," he said. It was starting to make sense. "Your Mages have not the strength, and in the great storms you must have suffered --"

"What Mages? We have no Mages, Leo. We have had a long dark age of little sympathy to women of talent. And I don't know what I will find when I return. If I ever do, which seems less likely by the hour."

"But Lady Tur --"

Lady Karlov suddenly gripped his soft manhood. "Are you ready to try again?"

He froze, staring at her. But he understood a moment later: it was no longer safe to talk.

"Yes, in a bit, my Lady. Please, be patient, as I am exhausted as well."

She relaxed her grip, gradually beginning to stroke him.

"Please, Lady, it is not proper that you should do such a task."

"Aren't we beyond that, Consort? You keep complaining that I'm brutally practical, as if that's a bad thing. At least I know who I am. And if I can just show these idiots that I can be useful, that I had nothing to do with the fools who sponsored me --"

"Be careful, Lady," he said. "Perhaps you should learn more polite language."

"Fuck that, Consort," she said, sighing. "I remember when I had nothing, and I'm not going back to that. But if you knew anything of politics, you'd know how useful that sort of directness is. To be able to intimidate others, that's all I had as a child. I've learned more tools, but I'm not forgetting that one."

"As you say, Lady," he said, shifting as his erection grew. "As you say. How may I serve you, then?"

#

Anya still couldn't believe it had worked.

After grudgingly letting her ride a cart for two days, Lady Gennia had dropped Anya a good three miles from the fort. She was free again.

The destruction to the fort was horrifying, but she was too exhausted to think about it. She staggered through the main doors, earning a confused stare from the afternoon's attendant. And then she marched herself straight to the fort's healers. She'd only been there once since the first week, when they'd explained the herbs that would prevent pregnancy, and she'd first begun to understand how far she was out of her depth.

Anya didn't know the man leafing through a carefully bound anatomy series, but he seemed to recognize her.

"Lady Tur," he said quickly. "Sit, sit. I heard you were hurt badly during the storm, and I'm delighted to see you walking on your own."

"I have had a trying time," she said heavily. "Master --"

"Just Lennard," he said nervously. "Tell me of your injuries, and I will examine you. Or, if you prefer, I can send for my wife --"

"You'll do fine," she said, hoping she sounded as confident. She began to describe the injuries, and he carefully undid her dirty sling, touching her shoulders and causing her to wince. He looked at her bound arm for a long moment.

"This was very carefully done," he said. "It must have been extraordinarily painful. Were you still unconscious?"

She nodded. "I assumed Melina had done it. She showed some unexpected skills. But maybe she forced someone else do it."

Lennard nodded, watching her carefully. "How long were you unconscious?"

Anya had made a mistake, she realized. "I don't know. Some hours, I think. Melina said it was the shock of pain, but that my head might have bruised enough to compound things."

He nodded again, seeming more at ease. "She does know a great deal, then. Well, that danger has passed in any case. I assume you've forgotten exactly how the injuries occurred?"

He said it so casually, but the new Anya couldn't entirely trust any of that.

"No, sadly I still remember," she said. "I've woken in the night, sure that damned timber was coming down on me again. There was nothing pleasant about that evening."

Lennard nodded once more, and began carefully unwrapping the stinking cloth that bound her arm. None of them had felt confident to tamper with the work that Leo's healer had performed.

"And Lady Karlov," he said. "Is she part of your nightmares as well?"

Anya tensed. "I prefer not to talk about her. No doubt the whole sordid tale is out now anyway. I'll just keep going forward, because what else am I supposed to do? I don't even know if I can continue my work. I just walked right in here from the road."

Lennard nodded, looking sympathetic. "Hold very still while I replace the wrapping. This may hurt badly, but it will ease, and I will give you herbs for the rest of the pain. And Lady, I did not mean to pry. Only know that there are other maladies of the mind, that may strike unexpectedly. You did the proper thing, attending to your injuries as soon as you returned. I'm pleased to say that whoever set the bone did an excellent job, and you will heal quickly as befits your youth. But you must be extremely cautious with this limb. Do not overexert yourself, particularly in matters of your talents. I understand you want to return to your studies, but you must expect diminished capabilities until your body's balance returns fully. That may be weeks or months."

Anya sighed. "Little chance of my talents hurting anything but my pride, even before the injury. But thank you, Lennard."

Not knowing what else to do, she headed back to her chambers once the healer was through with her. Twice she had to change routes to avoid a blockage. There were work crews everywhere, cleaning and sweeping, taking stock of the situation. A High Mage could have just flung all the debris out the front door. But of course they were much too valuable to do that kind of work. They had to do important things, like snatching Consorts from backwater talents like her.

There! That was the sort of outrage she needed to cultivate. Enough to force them at least to tell her where her Consort was, and why she couldn't have his services. Maybe they'd try to pay her off, or the Jeharias. She had to keep the question open, and not publicly accept that Leo was beyond her reach.

When she reached her room, she found the door ajar. The frame was cracked, and she narrowed her eyes when she saw the burn marks. That wasn't good. Melina had broken in to abduct her and Leo, and she'd been too sloppy about it. If Melina was supposed to have been inside already, holding off the storm, why the burn marks?

Inside was a disaster. Her bed was half splintered by the immense timber that had once helped support the ceiling. Thankfully nothing else had collapsed, but a whole corner of the room was simply missing, up near the ceiling. There were patterns in the dust suggesting rain had entered.

There was little sign anyone had been in her room since. A couple of marks in the dust, probably from the night of the disaster. From what she understood, the Third would have been in a hurry, and maybe no one had looked carefully.

Anya stared at the bed again. Leo hadn't really described what it had been like, but she'd seen the bruises on his legs, and the half-ruined leather jersey. The timber had fallen on him in truth, and he'd protected her from all the rest. But she'd done the same for him, with the great stone.

She walked to the shattered window, squinting down in the courtyard. It was impossible to tell which was her stone, among the debris. She thought she'd be able to look at it, to understand somehow. But it had probably broken to pieces, and anyway she'd learned in her classes that there was little to distinguish a fallen stone from the ones naturally found in the ground of this entire half of the continent. Some scholars thought that meant the stones had fallen for eons, until they simply became part of the ground. As a girl she'd been taught that the Origin had appeared long ago, but not so long as that. That people had lived once without fear of the stonefalls. As perhaps they still did, in lands much farther east than her home. Her world had expanded so much since she'd come here, and yet there remained so many things far beyond her understanding.

But there was work to do. Anya slowly began clearing the floor, pushing things with her legs only, remembering the healer's warnings. When she reached the door, she stared up at the inside, thinking. Melina had burned her way out, of course. That's what would have happened.

Carefully she stretched her hand up towards the frame. There was already a tiny burned spot on the inside, and all she had to do was enlarge it. Plenty of fuel.

She listened, and heard only distant calls of the work crews. And then she reached inside herself, where the power curled tight, and she called Fire.

The wood smoldered, and she hastily adjusted her aim. Flames weren't really necessary. Just this smoldering, where the wood met the cracked stone frame. But Melina would have used a precise, white-hot, smokeless fire.

Anya stared, adjusted her hand, and focused. And a tiny lick of searing-hot flame shot out from the wood. She hastily dissipated her focus, and luckily the fire wasn't too eager. The end result was quite acceptable.

Anya wasn't the stupid country girl of little talent, not anymore. Maybe she was nothing like Melina, but she still had Leo's power. A good portion from Grigory as well, though that seemed harder for her to hold onto, and she'd instinctively used it first. Strange that she could still distinguish them inside her. Maybe it was just her imagination.

She moved to her bureau, finding it miraculously intact. Heedless of the half-open door, she undressed, suddenly desperate for her old, comfortable, clean clothes.

Her hand touched the fine nightwear, the frilly one that she'd worn for Leo. Of course he and Melina hadn't taken along anything so frivolous for her. She touched the fabric, and then brought her hand away.

That was for Leo. She would save that one for him.

#

The food was as fine as anything Leo had tasted back in the fort. Lady Karlov had little appetite, and watched him with a bemused expression.

"So it's safe again?"

She nodded. "A Mage always accompanies the servants when they bring food, as though I'll shoot fire through the slot or something. As though most Mages could do anything about it, if I did decide."

Leo shook his head. She was insufferable again, now that she had more power. It was still better than the defeated, exhausted Lady he'd seen lying on the floor.

"They can't keep you here forever."

"They could, but they won't. I have enough power to be useful. At some point soon, I expect to be hauled up on the roof. Maybe the Third will force me to help her Wind magic, or else they'll just take whatever they can of my Force. And then they'll bring me back down here."

"You'd rather stay down here," he said slowly. "You hate the idea of being put to work on the roof. That's what you really ran away from, isn't it?"

She shrugged. "There were any number of ways I could have been bound, any number of ways I might dance around them, as long as it took. I had my own plans, such as they were. And yes, I dread being used, losing chunks of time to mindlessness. Who wouldn't dread that? But Mages here have resigned themselves to it, for the perks of castle life, and because once you're a castle Mage, you can never be employed elsewhere. And for the power itself, which intoxicates. Leo, you need to understand something. The Third will break me eventually. She'll hit upon the right mix of exhaustion, mindlessness, whatever, and I'll go along with her. She'll relax my confinement, and I'll eagerly study what she wants me to study, train myself to better competency, all the while convincing myself I can still carry out what I'd intended in the first place."

"Learning everything you could, keeping your freedom, and then going home," he said. "Is that it?"

Lady Karlov grimaced. "It's pretty transparent, sadly. I spent years convincing them I was playing their game, and I threw it away on a gamble. They would've guessed my intentions as soon as I ran. Others run, for their own reasons, and in ordinary times most don't get very far. You've seen the terrible power of a determined High Mage. But these aren't ordinary times. We really did have a chance to escape."

"You would have taken us across the sea." Leo still couldn't imagine that. Hardly anyone made that journey, and he knew nothing of her home.

"Yes," she said. "I don't apologize for that. You'll realize pretty soon that it was a far better plan than what's likely to happen to all of us."

#

Lady Montak frowned across her desk. "What exactly are you asking, Lady Tur?"

Anya winced as her voice reverberated from the walls. No chance of this being a private conversation, not with Lady Montak.

"Mel -- Lady Melina Karlov abducted my Consort and me, from this very Fort. I understand they have been taken to the Castle. I merely ask what the process is to release the Journeyman Consort to my service once more. Surely this must be an ordinary request."

Lady Montak stared at her with her beady eyes. "There is nothing ordinary at all about this situation, Lady. Lady Karlov has committed a crime, and has been remanded to the Castle, along with her accomplice --"

"Accomplice? That's my Consort, Lady Montak. He was a victim as much as I. Lady Karlov has a fearsome power, as we have all seen."

"Yes," Lady Montak said, squinting. "And much would have been avoided, if you had properly held your Consort's reins from the start. This whole business has been disgusting, a stain on our institution --"

"I understand that, Lady," Anya interrupted. "I seek to remedy the situation and bring things closer to normal. Surely depriving me of my Consort is also an ongoing offense against tradition."