“Why didn’t you tell us about this before?” Meres said.
Barren blanched before a sob escaped him. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t sound good.
Finally Vana hissed, “Answer him!”
“Because he was controlling me,” he finally spluttered.
Meres sighed. “Ciardis, Terris. Go back to camp.”
To her surprise, it was Terris who stepped forward to argue with him.
“We’re staying.” The look he gave them over his shoulder made Ciardis wonder if challenging him was wise.
“This is no place for girls.”
“We’re not girls.” The words were practically snarled by Terris.
“Young women, then,” replied Meres with a hint of irritation.
“Whatever is going on we should see,” said Terris with a stubborn look on her face.
“It’s not a pleasant experience!”
“No one said it would be!” shouted Terris.
In the meantime, Vana was watching the exchange with something akin to amusement, and Barren just looked baffled.
“Fine, you want to stay,” said Meres gruffly. “Does that go for you, too, Ciardis?”
She nodded. Not trusting herself to speak. She wasn’t experienced in lot of things, but sometimes it felt like she knew more about the ills and cruelties than Terris, who’d come from a sheltered background in the Western Isles and was bonded at the hip—usually, anyway—to her sponsor. She had a sick feeling that they were both about to get an abrupt training in the tactics used on the battlefield to coerce information out of captives. Meres and Vana were going to get answers out of the boy in any way they could.
Pushing his hair back on his forehead, Meres turned back to Vana and Barren.
“We can’t torture you,” he said softly. “The treaty between the empire and the people of the forest prevents that. But we need information and we cannot let you just walk around if you know something pertinent, or worse —could be controlled by the shadow man at any moment.”
For the first time Barren exhibited some courage. He looked Meres in the eye as he said, “I understand.”
“Do you?” Meres asked gently.
Looking down at the knife in his hands, Meres continued, “When I was your age, I thought I understood, but I didn’t. I was proud and foolish and thought I could withstand anything.”
“Sir,” said Barren with strength in his voice, “I understand that I must protect my people. I can’t do that like this. I don’t know if the Shadow Man is still lurking in my mind waiting to take over, watching my movements. I can’t live like that. If you can help, then...then that’s what I want.”
“Well spoken,” said Meres. “The woman holding you at knifepoint has special skills. Skills I won’t get into here. But if anyone can break the spell he has on you and decipher the hold, it’s she.”
Not even bothering to try to move an inch, Barren addressed Vana, “Please, Milady, whatever you can do would help.”
“Very well,” said Vana. She turned to Terris and Ciardis, who stood silently in the background watching the scene unfold. Her eyes were unreadable, but Terris thought she saw regret in them.
Dropping her knife to the ground with a sudden movement, Vana gripped both sides of Barren’s head with steady hands. She swept his legs out from under him with a thrust out foot in the same movement. As he fell, she controlled the fall and they descended to the ground together so she was seated on the ground cross-legged with his head in her lap. Without pausing further, she delved deep into her mage core and proceeded to unlock his mind.
It wasn’t pretty to watch on a physical or a magical level.
With a weird mix of fear and anticipation spreading over her body, Ciardis watched as Barren’s body began to spasm. His head began to jerk back and forth between Vana’s palms soon after that, the shakes extending from his head down his body. Meres rushed over to hold down Barren’s torso, but that didn’t stop his legs and feet from kicking out. Meres cursed; he was going to hurt himself. The older mage called out to Terris and Ciardis, “Grab a leg and press down.”
They hurried over and tried to ride out the spasms. Pain crossed onto Barren’s unconscious face sporadically, and Ciardis could see that although Vana was still sitting upright with her legs crossed, she was just as unconscious. Her mind had gone elsewhere—deep into Barren’s. Ciardis didn’t want to let go of Barren’s leg, but she had the instinctive urge to jump into the mind-meld. She didn’t know why.
“Don’t even think about it,” said Meres from where he was pressing down on Barren’s chest with all of his strength.
“Your magic and your powers are too untested,” he said grimly. “You can—you
But Ciardis didn’t have a choice. Barren lurched up with one of the most powerful spasms yet and his hand gripped Ciardis’s.
And then she was gone, drowning in the sea of twined magic that was Vana and Barren’s mage cores. Ciardis, unlike Vana, who had trained enough to lock her body down despite an unconscious mind, fell forward in a slump. Her head fell next to Terris’s lap and her body weighing down Barren’s legs.
Looking at her friend thoughtfully, Terris said, “Well, that’s one way to hold him down.”
Meres had some choice curses for that.
Chapter 30
Falling into someone else’s magic was a curious experience. It wasn’t a controlled descent but a fast free- fall along a tunnel of light. She never knew when she would slow down or even if she would. It was exhilarating in that sense. Frightening in many others. This magic was filled with gold—pale and fiery—like the magic a child would want. Ciardis called out for Vana as she looked for the mage in the magic. The answer she got in her mind was very different from the voice she expected.
“Well, little mage,” said the Land Wight with satisfaction, “it has been a while since we met.”
Ciardis gasped and turned around in surprise. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it.
“Is it really you, Land Wight?” she said. “Your presence is the same but your voice is stronger.”
“I have grown,” it said.
“Where are you? I can’t see you.” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” it said with gentle amusement. “You’re in my presence—in my mind, Ciardis Weathervane.”
She stared in awe. “I am? But I was heading for a mage, not for you. And besides, I thought only Sebastian had that ability.”
“You were and he does,” said the Land Wight. “But you were heading down the wrong path. To the Shadow Mage.”
“It was filled with light and—”
“Appearances can always deceive, little mage,” the Land Wight said firmly. “You should know this by now,” it chided.
“So you’re aware of the shadowman?” she said. “The mage?”
“He has taken the Ameles Forest into the darkness where I cannot follow,” the Land Wight said.
“How? Why?” she said.
“I cannot answer your second query. But the absence of the Princess Heir has caused pockets to form. Sebastian will fill them in time. I have grown stronger, but I do not yet have the strength to take back all of the land in the Prince Heir’s place.”
