Deceived by Magic (The Baine Chronicles Book 6) Page 21

  “A cat,” the little girl crowed as the light faded away. The other children gasped and shouted, some in fear, others in delight. “A really big cat!”

  “A panther,” the oldest sister corrected. “Be careful!” she said as the younger ones rushed up to me, gliding their hands along my sleek, black fur and playing with my ears. I allowed it for a few minutes, rolling onto my back so they could stroke my belly even though, as a general rule, we cats didn’t enjoy that. Eventually, even the older ones joined in, and I found myself purring as Busou, the oldest boy, scratched a really good spot beneath my chin with his strong fingers.

  “All right,” Asu said, her voice both stern and affectionate. “That’s enough, children. Let Miss Baine up. She has to leave.”

  The children whined and pouted a little, but they obediently returned to their mother’s side. I got to my feet and quickly licked Shirai’s face—the twin who had asked me to play. She shrieked in delight, then ran back to her mother and clutched at her skirts.

  I had half a mind to climb into the carriage as a panther, but there wasn’t enough room for me to stretch out, and I doubted Garrett or Chen would appreciate it if I lay on their laps. So I changed back to human form, then joined the others in the carriage.

  It took about two hours via a steep, winding road for us to reach Bao-Sung’s stone house overlooking the small port he unofficially commanded. We met him in the same room as before. This time, his principal concubine was there as well, her dark, manicured hands resting on Liu’s shoulders. My heart lightened to see the little girl so at ease despite being surrounded by pirates—she was wearing a sunny yellow dress with white flowers, and looked like she’d put on a little weight in the past few days.

  “Thank you for caring for Liu while we were gone,” Iannis said. “We can see that she has been very well taken care of.”

  “Tulai has a way with children,” Bao-Sung said easily, smiling at the woman. “I believe she would keep your little slave if she could.”

  “Liu is very clever,” Tulai said in a voice like raw honey. She patted Liu on the shoulder, then gently pushed her forward. “But a pirate cove is no place for a young girl. She will be better off with you.”

  Liu gave Tulai a grateful smile, and, though she seemed reluctant, returned to us. She came to stand between Director Chen and me, and I squeezed her hand briefly to reassure her.

  The pilot Bao-Sung was sending with us was a short, stocky Garaian with several missing teeth, a shaved head, and a gold hoop in his left ear. But despite his rough looks, he was courteous and professional. He spoke only Garaian, so Director Chen dealt with him, sitting up front with him in the gondola of the airship while the rest of us occupied the passenger seats. The airship was a little rickety, and nowhere near as luxurious as any of the ones Iannis owned, or even my own second-hand dirigible, but it did the job. Soon, Leniang Port was but a speck on the ground as we headed north for Bilai.

  Since we were running behind schedule, Iannis and Garrett used magic to strengthen the favorable winds and push us toward the capital, forcing the craft to make the journey in one day rather than the three we had taken to get to Leniang Port. While they powered the spell, I helped Liu practice her Northian. Tulai had already begun teaching her words and phrases, and I was astounded at how much she had picked up in the last couple of days.

  “Are you sure you want to be a chef when you grow up?” I asked her. “I could see you being a doctor or a scientist very easily.”

  Liu bit her bottom lip. “I no know much about doctor or science,” she said. “I know food.”

  “Everyone likes good food,” I said with an encouraging smile. “I’m sure you’ll be a fantastic chef, and people will come from all over to eat at your restaurant.”

  Liu smiled back, but the happy expression quickly faded as she turned to look out the window. The sun had completely set by now, but the Imperial Palace was easy to spot, the lights blazing like a beacon in the center of the capital city.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked when she began to tremble. “Are you nervous?”

  “They… kill me,” she whispered softly. “I no be… allow… to enter.”

  “You’ll be fine,” I assured her. “You’ll simply be counted as one of our five servants, now that we’ve sent another one of them home. Lord Iannis and I will not let anything bad happen to you. You have my word.”

  Liu nodded, but she still looked worried, and I had a feeling she didn’t believe us. After all, we were foreigners, so what could we do if the new Mage-Emperor did take offense to her presence?

  “Should we not have brought her back with us?” I asked Iannis worriedly, using mindspeak so that Liu would not overhear and grow even more agitated.

  “It will be all right,” Iannis said. “She’ll be inside the pavilion for the remainder of our stay. We’ll bribe the staff to look the other way. Besides, no one else notices servants. Since Northia is racially diverse, it wouldn’t be strange for us to have another Garaian with us, even if she is a bit young for the role.”

  The winds began to pick up in strength as we approached the Imperial Palace walls, so Iannis and I broke off our discussion so he could focus on controlling the weather. Visibility worsened as the dirigible dove lower, as thick clouds were moving in from the west, hanging close to the ground.

  “These clouds have one advantage,” Chen said as I scowled out the window. “We could land close to the guest pavilions, right inside the walls.”

  “Not with this craft,” Garrett pointed out. “There is no landing space big enough. And how would we see it anyway, through this fog?” He pressed his lips together as he studied the view of the ground below. “How close can the pilot get us?” he asked Chen.

  “Lord Iannis,” Director Chen said after a brief, but tense conversation with the pilot. “The pilot is not going to be able to land here. And the moment the guards see this big airship, the jig would be up. It would mean a death sentence for the pilot to be caught in there without authorization. We will have to levitate down the rest of the way.”

  “Very well,” Iannis said, his eyes still focused outside as he wrangled the winds. “But tell the pilot not to hover too high up.”

  After a quick discussion with Chen, the pilot agreed to get us as close above the guest pavilions as possible. Since Iannis was the main one controlling the winds, he would leave the airship last, so he could send the pilot on his way with a nice gust at his back.

  “We can’t hover for long,” he shouted over the roaring wind as Garrett opened the door. I grabbed Liu, fearing that the strong currents would whip her away, and held her trembling body close to mine. “Someone from the Imperial Palace might notice this aircraft, and send guards out to investigate!”

  “Guess we better hurry then.” I scooped Liu up in my arms, then walked over to the open door. But instead of jumping, I leaned up on tiptoe and kissed Iannis, quick and hard. His mouth opened in surprise, and I nipped on his lower lip, satisfying myself with a small taste. After all, there was always a chance I could fuck this up and die.

  “See you down below,” I said, and then jumped out into the roiling fog.

  I landed on top of the nearest pavilion, my shoes smacking against the rain-slicked tiles harder than I would have liked. Liu whimpered as I tottered a little, and I quickly regained my balance, then pressed myself against the roof. The incline was steep, but the edges were curved upward, so that we could not easily slide off.

  “Are you all right?” Iannis whispered as he landed next to me. Chen and Garrett were still floating down, doing their best to control their descent despite the buffeting winds.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” We watched as Chen landed gracefully. Garrett had less luck, banging his shin against the glazed tiles as he alighted.

  “Shh!” I admonished as he let out a sharp curse.

  “Who is that?” a male voice, laced with sleep and suspicion, demanded from below, and we all froze.

  I glared at Garrett, who
quickly scurried to the edge of the roof and looked down. “Very sorry to wake you, sir!” he called down as quietly as he could. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to come up to the roof to enjoy the night sky.”

  “In this weather?” the man asked incredulously. “You can’t see a thing with these clouds!”

  “I like the rain,” Garrett said simply as the rest of us listened, rooted to the spot. If that guy came up here to investigate…. “I didn’t think sitting on the roof was a crime.”

  “It is if you wake others up in the middle of the night,” the man grumped. “Be more considerate of others.”

  His footsteps crunched against some stray pebbles on the path as he walked away, and my shoulders slumped in relief. We stayed up there for a good five minutes more, and then I crept to the edge of the roof and scoped out our surroundings with my night vision to make sure that no one else was around.

  “All clear,” I told the others, and we levitated down to the front porch silently. It was somewhere around four in the morning, still an hour before dawn, so I doubted anyone could see our descent. Even so, it made me nervous that we were so exposed.

  Once we reached the Northian pavilion, Iannis did not knock on the front door, but used the unlocking spell to let us in. Solar came rushing out of one of the rooms as we shut the door behind us, a lantern held aloft and a scowl on his face.

  “Oh, Lord Iannis!” Solar lowered the lantern, looking relieved. “You’ve made it back!” His expression turned wary as he looked us all over. “Where is Henning? And who is that girl?” he added, staring at Liu, who was peeking out from behind Chen’s robes. Her eyes were wide as she glanced about the common room, taking in the splendor of the guest pavilion.

  “Why don’t you wake the Minister?” Iannis suggested. “We have much to report.”

  26

  The Minister was relieved that we’d managed to return on time. The presumptive new Mage-Emperor, Kazu, was scheduled to undergo his ritual testing bright and early this morning, and it would look very bad if half our delegation were missing. He was even happier to learn that we’d not only destroyed the lab and some of the firearms, but also recovered the missing agents, and praised us for a job well done. We introduced him to Liu, explaining where we’d gotten her from and that we planned to take her back home with us. For a moment, I worried the Minister would refuse to let her join the delegation since she was only a human. But to my surprise, he accepted her without protest, and immediately assigned one of our actual servants to look after her.

  After a few hours of very much deserved sleep, we all rose early and dressed in our finest to attend the testing ritual. It was being held in a huge open-air amphitheater normally used for sporting events. Unlike the funeral, it was open to the public. Half of the capital’s population must have been crowding the venue, filling the air with palpable excitement as they chattered amongst themselves.

  It’s a good thing Garaians aren’t overweight, I thought to myself, eyeing the wooden benches. Those seats might have broken down under the masses otherwise. As it was, I heard some ominous creaks beneath the buzz of conversation as red-clad ushers led our group to the reserved section of prime seats. These seats for official guests were covered in red velvet, unlike the bare wooden benches for the common people.

  The sky was still overcast and cloudy, and many spectators had brought umbrellas. I wondered if the velvet covers and our elegant robes would be soaked during the event. It was a good thing we were mages and could conjure a rain barrier above our heads if we had to.

  “There seems to be a lot of betting going on,” I muttered to Iannis as we settled into our pre-assigned seats. We were in the top row of the cordoned-off area, which was awesome, because it gave us a good view of the arena while keeping us far away from harm. On our way up, I had watched money exchange quite a few hands, though discreetly.

  “Naturally,” Iannis said with a hint of a smile. His expression was stern, but there was a glint in his violet eyes that told me he was looking forward to the event, and that he might have even placed a bet himself. “Such events always encourage gambling, even if there is no official bookie.”

  I’d heard that Garaians were very fond of gambling, and imagined that on a historic occasion like this, fortunes were changing hands. It was a bit surprising the government allowed it, but then again, there was no Emperor at this moment; the ceremony we were about to witness would decide if the heir would be crowned, or if one of his brothers would be allowed to take the test. It made sense to allow gambling, so that people would be encouraged to attend and witness his success.

  The center of the amphitheater was bare except for a loosely built wall some thirty-feet high and twenty-feet wide, made of heavy stones stacked together without cement. Only three feet beside it, a white spot was marked in the carefully raked sand surface.

  “So how exactly does this testing stuff work?” I asked. “Is it like the kind of testing you do at the end of your apprenticeship?”

  “Oh no,” Iannis said. “Kazu has already done that long ago. These trials are more of a local tradition, but a very important one. Today is the day that he must prove to his people that he has the strength to lead them.”

  “And how does he do that?”

  “There are three trials,” Director Chen explained. “Prince Kazu must overcome two maddened bulls, stop that stone wall from crushing him, and defend himself against ten well-armed enemies without carrying any arms himself. Only if he proves he can withstand such challenges will he be allowed to wear the mantle of Mage-Emperor and appoint the officials he trusts as his government.”

  “Really?” I wrinkled my nose at that. “I’d think any competent mage could do those things.”

  “As I said, these tests are more about tradition,” Iannis said, and from the tone of his voice, it sounded like he agreed with me. “I think it would be good to have a test for wisdom and justice as well, though such a test might be more difficult to devise.”

  We debated that for a little while, but as Chen and Iannis began to delve into more complicated ideas, I grew bored. Tuning them out, I scanned the crowds as I waited for the testing to begin. My heart skipped a beat as I caught sight of Haman coming up the aisle, with Isana and his son Malik in tow. Haman’s eyes met mine, and I raised my hand in greeting, figuring it would be insulting to pretend as if I hadn’t noticed. He smiled back, and Isana gave me a half-hearted wave as they headed to their seats a few rows down from us. Malik, on the other hand, only raised his chin and stared straight ahead. I frowned at the snub. Had I done something to offend him? Or was he just prejudiced against me because I was a half-shifter?

  I don’t know why you’re acting surprised, a snide voice said in my head. He’s acting just the way you expected your family to.

  A loud gong echoed throughout the arena, jarring me from my thoughts, and the crowd instantly went silent. I looked up just in time to see Prince Kazu, the eldest son of the former Mage-Emperor, stride onto the sanded arena. He hadn’t attended any receptions before we’d left for Leniang, so this was my first sight of him. He looked about forty, tall, strong, and warrior-like. He had dressed in leathers and half-armor, likely to remind the people of his long career as a successful general. If he was at all worried about the high stakes he was facing, it could not be seen from his tranquil expression. A murmur of admiration and speculation blew through the crowd as he strode to the spot marked in white.

  I glanced sideways at the dais of the widowed Empress, accompanied by her adult children, who looked effeminate compared to their half-brother. My hackles rose at the gloating half-smile on the face of the Empress. She looked not a day older than thirty, younger than the Emperor-designate.

  “She’s planning something,” I said to Iannis in mindspeak. “Some kind of sabotage?”

  “Without doubt. I imagine her stepson will be on his guard.”

  An opening in the amphitheater’s walls was raised, and two huge black bulls burst into the arena. I
blinked at their behavior, surprised they would rush to attack so quickly. They would usually have done some stomping and sniffing before deciding to attack the lone mage by the wall. But then I noticed their bloody red eyes and the white foam coating their nostrils. I was too far to sniff at them, but it was obvious they’d been drugged, and my stomach turned at the sight of such disgusting treatment.

  To his credit, Prince Kazu stood calmly on the white spot that had been marked for him to make his stand, unfazed by the mad rush. He held up a hand and shouted a spell, and the stampede stopped in an instant as the bulls were immobilized. The beasts stood there in their strange poses for a moment, until the heavier one slowly toppled onto its side. Attendants rushed from the sides and pulled their heavy bodies across the sand with ropes.

  “Even I could have done that,” I remarked in a low voice.

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” Director Chen murmured to my surprise. “You may be an apprentice, but you are more powerful than most, or will be when fully trained. Not every mage can handle two bulls at once.”

  I frowned, unconvinced. Then again, maybe being trained by one of the most powerful mages in the northern hemisphere had left me with unrealistic expectations of other mages’ abilities. I would have to think about that more later, after the test was over.

  The next test involved the wall. Another mage struck it with a spell, and the stones all came clattering down atop Kazu’s head at once. I expected him to react with a spell, so my heart leapt in my throat when he was instead buried beneath the avalanche of rocks.

  “He could have put up a barrier,” the Minister said critically, and I privately agreed. Why the hell had he just stood there?