“You’re in the cell of a rival power, outside of the Greenweald. I don’t know who they are. Some race I know nothing of. I found their trail and followed you here. Now, I’m working on securing your release. It might take a little time, though.”
“Who? Why would someone do this? And why me?”
Darius shook his head. “I don’t know. The people here look a lot like us. Like the Folk. But they’re not us. They’re cruel, Samuel. They’re demanding a lot for your return. I told Lady Shireen what they wanted and she said no, they couldn’t do it.”
“What was it?” The sheer desperation in Samuel’s voice made it hard for Darius not to smile.
“They want part of the Greenweald. As their own, no Folk living in it.”
“That’s preposterous.”
“I agree. But without it, they say…”
“What? What do they say?”
“They’ll hurt you, Samuel. And then they’ll start sending evidence to Lady Shireen.”
“Evidence? I don’t understand. What do you mean, evidence?”
Darius cleared his throat. “I don’t…I’ve really already said too much…”
“Please!”
“Pieces.” Darius sighed. “They said they’ll start sending pieces of you.”
Samuel sobbed and drew in on himself. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”
“I’m trying, my friend. I’ll keep at it. In the meantime, stay strong if you can. I’ll be back.”
Darius turned and walked from the cell.
“Wait!” Samuel rose to his feet and cautiously approached the bars. “How did you do that? Walk through them like that?”
“Oh.” For a moment Darius was stuck. Then, he reached under his shirt and pulled out a medallion that he wore around his neck. It was nothing. A bauble that his mother gave him long ago, when she was still alive. Some family crest or something equally ridiculous. “They gave me this. It allows me free passage of your cell and around the area. They are powerful wizards, Samuel. I only hope I can sway them.”
He gave the other man a slight bow and turned away again before breaking into a grin.
“Well,” he thought to himself. “That went better than I hoped. I didn’t even have to get into his mind. Yet.”
Chapter 34
“I still can’t believe you did it.” Thaddeus sat up, a sheen of sweat covering his body.
Melanie moved up beside him, laying her head on his chest.
“Me neither. It felt so good, though. And it was easy.”
“Still, we need to be careful.”
“We?”
“Yes, we. We’re in this together, aren’t we?”
Melanie laughed. “Who are you trying to fool? If things go wrong, you’ll throw me to the wolves without a second thought.”
“Mmm. At one time, maybe. Not anymore.”
“Really? What changed?” From the tone of her voice, it was obvious that she didn’t believe a word he was saying. In fairness, he’d given her good reason to be that way.
He shifted so that he was lying next to her, and could look directly into her eyes.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Ever since you said…. well, what you said. Before Malachi called for us. And, well, I do, too.”
She searched his eyes for a moment, then kissed him lightly and rose from the bed. “I still don’t believe you.”
“What can I do to prove it?”
“Stop being a jerk, for one. Respect me as an equal. That would be nice.”
Equal was tough. Thaddeus really did love her, as far as he felt he was able to anyway. Still, she wasn’t from a Great House like he was. There were certain facts of life that just were.
She was staring at him, a bemused, sarcastic twist to her mouth.
“Yeah.” He sat up. “I admit, I have a problem with the whole difference in House status thing.” He held up his hand to forestall her objection. “But here’s the thing that I’m coming around to. I’m not House Whispering Pines anymore. And you’re not House Flourishing Maple. We’re both Subtle Hemlock. I know I’ve still got work to do, and I’m willing to do it, if you’re willing to give me the chance.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Go ahead, get inside my head and see. I won’t try to stop you.”
“Pfft. Like you could.” She considered him. “All right.”
“All right? All right, what?”
“All right, I believe you.”
Thaddeus jumped from the bed and grabbed her around the waist, kissing her deeply.
“You won’t regret it,” he said, hoping that was true for them both.
♦ ♦ ♦
“We should go back,” he said later on.
They were walking the dimly lit halls of the underground parts of the House. Thaddeus had more training today and Melanie was still to oversee it, a fact that both of them found strange.
“Back where?”
“To Malachi. We should find out what he plans for the Greenweald and see what we think of it.”
“To what end?”
“Let’s see if it’s something that we could use to benefit ourselves, maybe even take the opportunity to better our situation now. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of skulking through these tunnels. If I can’t have a tree around me, I’d at least rather be up where there’s air.”
“And how do we do that?”
“You. You’ve already gotten into his head once, for which I thanked you quite vigorously.” He smiled as she pushed him with her shoulder. “Let’s see what else we can do.”
Melanie didn’t answer and walked along for several steps in silence, her face pinched in thought.
“Here’s the plan. We’ll do your training, which you really do need, no matter how strong you think you’re getting. Then, we’ll say that we discovered something, some weird new ability of yours, and that we need to tell Malachi. That should get us in.”
“And after that?”
“After that, it won’t be a problem.”
