Thaddeus stared at it. “What’s under that mask?”
He said it out loud, but really, he was talking to himself. He reached toward it, but Melanie stopped him.
“I wouldn’t. I froze it, but I don’t have its mind. I’m not even sure it really has one. When I tried, it was like trying to grab a handful of water. It slipped away.”
“Then how are you doing this?”
“I’m not a one-trick pony, either,” she said. “Mind magic may be my strong suit but that doesn’t mean it’s all I can do. But I am stretched pretty thin here, between holding this thing motionless and controlling this sack of garbage.”
She indicated the man in the robe standing silently nearby.
“Who is he?” Thaddeus asked.
“I don’t know his name. Some flunky of Malachi’s that thought what was happening was exciting and wanted in on it. Malachi let him… do stuff.”
“I’m sorry,” Thaddeus said.
“You say that a lot,” she replied. “You’re responsible for a lot of stuff, but not that. That’s all on him.”
She turned and stared hard at the still figure. Slowly, his hands came up and pushed his hood back, revealing a pinched face, with a salt-and-pepper beard. The eyes were dark, and there was awareness in them. He had no choice but to stare back at Melanie, and in those eyes was fear.
“He’s afraid,” Thaddeus said.
“He’s got reason to be,” Melanie answered.
She continued to stare at the man, who began to shake. His jaw worked soundlessly and then blood began to run from his nose, then his ears, then finally his eyes. His body shook violently and then he dropped like he had been held up by a rope that was suddenly cut.
Melanie took her eyes off him and turned to Thaddeus. On the floor behind her, the man gasped, moaned, and then shuddered once more before lying still.
“Did you…?” Thaddeus asked.
“Yes, and we need to get going. Malachi is only unconscious, and he’s got wards against me taking control of him again. On the other hand, I’ve got the same against him now, but he still owns the House.”
“Why didn’t you kill him?”
“We don’t know his plan yet. If we do kill him, we’ll have no way of finding out what it is until it happens. And if it doesn’t, we’ll always be on guard against it anyway. No, we’ll leave him alive until we can figure out a way to stop him. Then, we’ll kill him.”
When did she get left in charge? Thaddeus wondered, then answered himself almost as quickly. When she learned she was as strong as the Head of our House.
Still, he needed to do something to show her that he wasn’t a liability, someone that was simply there to be rescued.
He turned to the motionless figure in yellow. He reached out and touched the things gloved hand, feeling stiff fingers inside of it. He held on to it and chanted under his breath.
From under his hand, flame sprang out and crawled up the things arm. Thaddeus moved back, chanting louder and soon the whole figure was engulfed in fire. He yelled one final word and with a whoosh, the flames grew stronger, causing Melanie to step back.
“There. No one will be able to put that out until the cursed thing is gone for good.”
“Very impressive.” Melanie’s voice was dry. “Can we go now? Before Malachi wakes up and rouses the whole House?”
“After you, my love,” Thaddeus said, and began limping toward the door. His maimed foot was killing him now, to say nothing of his other injuries. And despite her urgency, Melanie wasn’t in much better shape.
Supporting each other, they left the cell and made for the upper levels.
“Where to?” Melanie asked.
“I don’t know…” Thaddeus started to say, but then stopped. “Yeah, actually I do. As much as I don’t want to, I don’t think we have a choice.”
“All right, spit it out.”
“We have to go home. My home, I mean. Back to Whispering Pines.”
Chapter 53
With every step of her horse’s hooves closer to House Glittering Birch, Shireen’s mood grew darker. Even the sunlight coming through the leaves of the giant trees didn’t do anything to lighten it.
She wasn’t sure if whatever was wrong with her was the cause, or if it was simply the fact that she was going back. The thought of being anywhere around Jamshir sickened her and that turned into the very real desire to do him harm.
And why not? What had the madman done to deserve anything else? He had brought those evil, horrible creatures here to this sacred land, defiling it. He had been the cause of the death of her Head of House and so many others, and all the while, he had stayed back, safe from the battle, with a smirk on his face.
Her hand found her sword hilt as she fantasized about pulling it and carving that smile wider with it.
With an effort of will, she pulled her hand away from her sword and back to the reins. It wouldn’t do to lose control of herself. However tempting it was to kill the man, that wouldn’t help find out what was going on and how to stop it. How to return everyone, herself included, back to normal.
But it was hard…
The first Glittering Birch soldier who tried to stop her got a boot to his face. Shireen didn’t even slow down at the man’s challenge or look back to see what affect her blow had on him. The soldier with that one laughed and stepped back, waving her on as if he had any say at all in the matter.
She dismounted in front of the steps to the main tree and
