Ashes of Honor
Page 83
The Luidaeg’s charm flickered when I was halfway down the hall. Then it flared, turning not its customary red, but a dark, almost puzzled-seeming shade of purple. I paused. There was only one door nearby. It was plain oak, with no convenient little window to let me see what was on the other side. Hollywood castles always get the little windows.
“Stupid Hollywood castles,” I muttered, tucking the charm back into my pocket. I pulled a piece of bracken from my hair and knelt, getting to work on the lock. This one was easier, maybe because I was getting warmed up, and maybe because I’d had a little more time for the feeling to come back into my hands. The lock clicked open, and I cautiously opened the door.
This room was the mirror of the one where I’d been held: the same round stone walls, the same heap of fresh-cut broom and heather on the floor. Etienne was propped against the wall under the window, a blindfold tied across his eyes. I stepped into the room, tugging the door shut behind me.
His chin came up. “Who’s there?” he demanded. “If you can’t fight me fairly, at least stop creeping around like cowards in the dark.”
“Shh,” I said, crossing the distance between us before releasing my don’t-look-here. It wisped away into the smell of cut grass and copper. “Etienne, it’s me. Keep your voice down. I don’t know where Riordan’s Folletti are, and I’d rather not find out the painful way.”
“October?” he said, lowering his voice to something just above a whisper. “Is that you?”
“I just said it was, didn’t I?” I reached behind his head, untying his blindfold. He blinked at me as it fell away. I offered a small smile, adding wryly, “I don’t know whether to be relieved or insulted that they felt the need to blindfold you when they didn’t bother with me.”
“They didn’t want me to see where I was being taken.”
“I guess that’s more of an issue with a teleporter, huh?” I was trying to keep my voice light. It wasn’t the easiest thing I’d ever done. Etienne had clearly been beaten. One of his eyes was swollen, and there was a heavy bruise on the right side of his jaw. He’d arrived at Dreamer’s Glass on his own. Tybalt and Quentin…
I set the thought aside. I would find them. For the moment, I needed to get Etienne loose. Having a teleporter with me would be more use than any amount of brooding.
“I cannot travel if I cannot see,” he said.
“Well, at least we’ve fixed that,” I said. “Hang on. I’m going to get you untied.”
His wrists and ankles were tied the same way mine had been. Etienne had struggled against his bonds, but had stopped before he could really hurt himself. That made him smarter than me. It took several minutes before I could pick the knots holding his wrists loose. Etienne hissed with pain as the twine fell away. Livid red marks ringed his wrists where it had been.
“These are friendly people,” I said, bending to begin work on his ankles. “Remind me to hit them a lot if I get the chance.”
“I assure you, I am unlikely to forget.” Etienne rubbed his wrist with one hand, watching me work. Finally, awkwardly, he said, “October…”
“We all got caught, Etienne. Not just you.”
“I was the one foolish enough to go by myself. Perhaps if I had waited…”
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.” I worked a thumbnail into the knot holding the twine in place. “Let’s just find Tybalt and Quentin. Then we can find Chelsea, kick Riordan’s arrogant ass all the way back to the Summerlands, and get the hell out of here. How does that sound?”
“Excellent, if improbable.”
“Improbable is sort of my specialty.” I peeled the twine away, sitting back on my knees. “All done. You’re free to go. Do you think you can stand?”
“My daughter is in danger. I think I can do whatever is required of me.” Bold words aside, Etienne stumbled when he pulled himself up to his feet. I moved to catch him, and he waved me off, grimacing as he leaned against the wall. “I can walk unassisted.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, standing.
Etienne lowered his chin, dark eyes blazing. “Somewhere in this place that we should not be, my daughter is being held by a woman who is using her to no good ends. Yes, I am sure. I would be sure if doing it meant my death. This will not stand.”
“Okay. Just trying to make sure you’re all right.” I pulled the Luidaeg’s charm out of my pocket. It was still glowing purple. The color intensified when I moved it closer to Etienne. “You’re Chelsea’s father, so this thing is picking up on your presence. We need to fix that if we want to use it to find her.”
“How—”
“Hang on.” I’d attuned the first charm by touching it to a place where Chelsea’s magic had been used, and I attuned the second charm by touching it to the first. Feeling only slightly foolish, I leaned forward and tapped the charm against Etienne’s shoulder.
The purple flared, and turned back to the familiar neutral shade of frozen starlight.
“It knows who you are now,” I said. “That means we can keep using it to look for Chelsea and not worry about you throwing it off.”
Etienne eyed the charm. “Do you understand how it works?”
“Nope,” I said, with more cheer than necessary. “I usually don’t know how magic works. I use it anyway. Are you feeling up to casting a don’t-look-here over the both of us? I lost a lot of blood getting out of my room, and I’m not sure how many of those I can cast.”
That wasn’t strictly true: losing the blood slowed me down for a few minutes, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything to slow me down now. At the same time, if I was going to be the one picking every lock we came to, I couldn’t also be the one putting up and taking down the don’t-look-here spells. I would exhaust myself before we accomplished anything useful, and then I wouldn’t be able to do anything for anyone. Not Chelsea, not Quentin, and not Tybalt.
Assuming Tybalt was even alive. Samson could never be King. He could still kill the man who held the throne.
Etienne paused, apparently seeing the change in my expression. “October? Are you all right?”
No. “I’m just worried about the others. Can you cast the spell or not?”
“Stupid Hollywood castles,” I muttered, tucking the charm back into my pocket. I pulled a piece of bracken from my hair and knelt, getting to work on the lock. This one was easier, maybe because I was getting warmed up, and maybe because I’d had a little more time for the feeling to come back into my hands. The lock clicked open, and I cautiously opened the door.
This room was the mirror of the one where I’d been held: the same round stone walls, the same heap of fresh-cut broom and heather on the floor. Etienne was propped against the wall under the window, a blindfold tied across his eyes. I stepped into the room, tugging the door shut behind me.
His chin came up. “Who’s there?” he demanded. “If you can’t fight me fairly, at least stop creeping around like cowards in the dark.”
“Shh,” I said, crossing the distance between us before releasing my don’t-look-here. It wisped away into the smell of cut grass and copper. “Etienne, it’s me. Keep your voice down. I don’t know where Riordan’s Folletti are, and I’d rather not find out the painful way.”
“October?” he said, lowering his voice to something just above a whisper. “Is that you?”
“I just said it was, didn’t I?” I reached behind his head, untying his blindfold. He blinked at me as it fell away. I offered a small smile, adding wryly, “I don’t know whether to be relieved or insulted that they felt the need to blindfold you when they didn’t bother with me.”
“They didn’t want me to see where I was being taken.”
“I guess that’s more of an issue with a teleporter, huh?” I was trying to keep my voice light. It wasn’t the easiest thing I’d ever done. Etienne had clearly been beaten. One of his eyes was swollen, and there was a heavy bruise on the right side of his jaw. He’d arrived at Dreamer’s Glass on his own. Tybalt and Quentin…
I set the thought aside. I would find them. For the moment, I needed to get Etienne loose. Having a teleporter with me would be more use than any amount of brooding.
“I cannot travel if I cannot see,” he said.
“Well, at least we’ve fixed that,” I said. “Hang on. I’m going to get you untied.”
His wrists and ankles were tied the same way mine had been. Etienne had struggled against his bonds, but had stopped before he could really hurt himself. That made him smarter than me. It took several minutes before I could pick the knots holding his wrists loose. Etienne hissed with pain as the twine fell away. Livid red marks ringed his wrists where it had been.
“These are friendly people,” I said, bending to begin work on his ankles. “Remind me to hit them a lot if I get the chance.”
“I assure you, I am unlikely to forget.” Etienne rubbed his wrist with one hand, watching me work. Finally, awkwardly, he said, “October…”
“We all got caught, Etienne. Not just you.”
“I was the one foolish enough to go by myself. Perhaps if I had waited…”
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.” I worked a thumbnail into the knot holding the twine in place. “Let’s just find Tybalt and Quentin. Then we can find Chelsea, kick Riordan’s arrogant ass all the way back to the Summerlands, and get the hell out of here. How does that sound?”
“Excellent, if improbable.”
“Improbable is sort of my specialty.” I peeled the twine away, sitting back on my knees. “All done. You’re free to go. Do you think you can stand?”
“My daughter is in danger. I think I can do whatever is required of me.” Bold words aside, Etienne stumbled when he pulled himself up to his feet. I moved to catch him, and he waved me off, grimacing as he leaned against the wall. “I can walk unassisted.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, standing.
Etienne lowered his chin, dark eyes blazing. “Somewhere in this place that we should not be, my daughter is being held by a woman who is using her to no good ends. Yes, I am sure. I would be sure if doing it meant my death. This will not stand.”
“Okay. Just trying to make sure you’re all right.” I pulled the Luidaeg’s charm out of my pocket. It was still glowing purple. The color intensified when I moved it closer to Etienne. “You’re Chelsea’s father, so this thing is picking up on your presence. We need to fix that if we want to use it to find her.”
“How—”
“Hang on.” I’d attuned the first charm by touching it to a place where Chelsea’s magic had been used, and I attuned the second charm by touching it to the first. Feeling only slightly foolish, I leaned forward and tapped the charm against Etienne’s shoulder.
The purple flared, and turned back to the familiar neutral shade of frozen starlight.
“It knows who you are now,” I said. “That means we can keep using it to look for Chelsea and not worry about you throwing it off.”
Etienne eyed the charm. “Do you understand how it works?”
“Nope,” I said, with more cheer than necessary. “I usually don’t know how magic works. I use it anyway. Are you feeling up to casting a don’t-look-here over the both of us? I lost a lot of blood getting out of my room, and I’m not sure how many of those I can cast.”
That wasn’t strictly true: losing the blood slowed me down for a few minutes, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything to slow me down now. At the same time, if I was going to be the one picking every lock we came to, I couldn’t also be the one putting up and taking down the don’t-look-here spells. I would exhaust myself before we accomplished anything useful, and then I wouldn’t be able to do anything for anyone. Not Chelsea, not Quentin, and not Tybalt.
Assuming Tybalt was even alive. Samson could never be King. He could still kill the man who held the throne.
Etienne paused, apparently seeing the change in my expression. “October? Are you all right?”
No. “I’m just worried about the others. Can you cast the spell or not?”
