Chapter Twenty-Two

“So,” Daria said. “No luck?”

Elaine shook her head. She and Johan had meditated for hours, ignoring the muted protests from the upper floors, but they’d managed to do nothing more than make themselves sleepy, no matter how hard they tried. Elaine had resisted the temptation to go for a nap; Johan, who had barely slept since they’d fled the Imperial Palace, was currently lying on the sofa in the next room, snoring loudly.

“It doesn’t work,” she said. “He has a sense of my presence, but I don’t have anything from him unless someone else is boosting the link.”

“He has a sense of my presence,” Daria said, evilly. “Poor guy doesn’t know where to put his eyes.”

“It’s a fairly common problem,” Elaine pointed out. “It’s your fault for running up and down in front of everyone wearing nothing.”

Daria smirked. “Is it my fault that human society is so dreadfully repressed?”

“Johan is a virgin, I believe,” Elaine said. “And I don’t think he actually managed to get that far with Jayne before his father managed to ruin it. You’re probably the first near-naked lady he’s seen.”

“Poor guy,” Daria said. “It’s so much easier being a werewolf.”

“Because you don’t think of sex and a relationship as being the same thing,” Elaine said, dryly. “Johan probably doesn’t have the slightest idea how to handle his feelings.”

“I noticed,” Daria said. She sniffed, loudly. “Do you think I should let him take matters into his own hands or give him some assistance.”

Elaine coloured. “I don’t think you should do anything,” she began. “I ...”

“I’m sure he’ll get matters in hand eventually,” Daria said. “It’s practically genetic ...”

“Enough,” Elaine said, feeling her blush deepen. “I think he probably feels all hopelessly confused and embarrassed already.”

“That’s why werewolves have the advantage,” Daria said. “We don’t lie to ourselves, not like you humans. Nor do we bother to hide our feelings.”

“You can’t hide your feelings,” Elaine said. She took a breath. “How many boyfriends have you had since we first knew one another?”

Daria made a show of counting, first on her fingers and then on her bare toes. “Um,” she said, finally. “A lot?”

“A lot,” Elaine agreed. “And how many of them were boys from the Golden City? You know, the ones who weren’t interested in anything more than a quick fuck?”

“You’ve been listening to me,” Daria said, amused. “Most of them weren’t interested in seeing me the following morning, let alone the rest of the week.”

Elaine felt her cheeks grow hot. She’d known – it had been impossible to miss – just how many times Daria had brought someone back to the apartment they’d shared. Thankfully, Elaine had rarely actually seen the men – Daria didn’t like keeping them overnight – but the sounds they’d made had echoed through the thin walls. She’d wanted to complain ... and, at the same time, she’d envied her friend the freedom to hunt for pleasure in her own way.

She pushed the thought out of her mind and leant forward. “Are you interested in Johan?”

“He’s nice-looking,” Daria said. “And interested in me. And not stupid enough to think he knows everything. And young enough not to make a fuss when I dump him.”

“I think he’s been very isolated for most of his life,” Elaine said. “You cannot expect him to have the normal reaction of a magic-born child. Sex was not a normal part of his life, not like the boys we knew from the Peerless School. He might well become far too attached to you ... or he might lash out when you leave him. I don’t think it would be healthy for either of you.”

“He wants me,” Daria said.

“Sometimes what we want isn’t something good for us,” Elaine countered. “Johan is in a mess, no matter how hard he fights to repress it. That’s going to explode one day and I don’t think I want you anywhere near it.”

“You make it sound like he’s going to turn into a monster,” Daria said. “I thought I was the one who turned into a monster.”

Elaine sighed. “Johan has spent the past sixteen years of his life being told that he’s useless,” she snapped. “He has been made to feel a cripple in his family, the butt of every single joke, the victim of charms and hexes you and I could just shrug off. I don’t think he ever threw a tantrum like Millicent did, back in Year Two; I think he repressed everything as far as he could, burying it deep within his mind. And even crushing his father and brother didn’t do anything to help his repression. His anger issues could easily become terrifying.”

“Like Jared,” Daria said.

“Exactly like Jared,” Elaine agreed. Their classmate had been incredibly unpopular; he’d thrown tantrums when he didn’t get his way, hit out at his schoolmates and generally shown no concern for anyone, even himself. And then he’d collapsed, six months after they’d entered the Peerless School. Whatever his parents had done to him, the class had found out later, had permanently damaged his magic. “Only with a great deal more power.”

“I see,” Daria said. “And what do you intend to do about it?”

“I was planning to live somewhere well away from the rest of society and use the bond to help him work through his issues,” Elaine said. “But the bond isn’t forming properly, so I don’t even know if it will work.”

“Good luck,” Daria said. “And you should probably be careful not to fall in love yourself.”

Elaine glowered at her. “I haven’t found anyone during your absence,” she said. “And I could hardly go clubbing ...”

“Use a glamour,” Daria suggested. “You don’t have to look too different to avoid being recognised.”

Elaine snorted. One of the cases that had come up before the Privy Council had been of a sorcerer who had glamoured himself to look like someone famous, wealthy and powerful, then lured a succession of young witches into bed. It might have lasted indefinitely if he hadn’t managed to get two of the girls pregnant, who had then applied to the real person for marital rights. A glamour might have worked for Elaine, if she had been interested in a single-night stand, but it still smacked of deceptiveness. Besides, she wanted more than just a partner for the night.

“I think that would be dishonest,” she said. “And why am I talking to you about this anyway?”

“Because you want something and you’re asking your friend for advice,” Daria said. “I do read your emotions too, you know.”

“I read yours,” Elaine said. “Lust, hunger, lust, hunger, lust ...”

Daria made a rude gesture. “What else do I need?”

She shrugged. “None of the lads I meet on the town are interested in a long-term relationship with a werewolf,” she said. “One day, I will go to the Pack Meet and see if I find anyone who smells right. Until then ... I will just enjoy myself. And you should do the same.”

Elaine opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when she heard Cass coming down the stairs and into the room. “The kids are asleep,” she said. “I had to tell them a whole series of very boring stories until they finally closed their eyes.”

“Probably best to keep them away from Johan,” Daria said, curtly. “He had a remarkably wide range of emotions when he saw the little brats.”

Elaine eyed her. “You picked up on the subtle points there and not earlier?”

“There’s nothing subtle about a man in lust,” Daria said. “Or a woman, for that matter.”

Cass cleared her throat. “I should imagine that it doesn’t really matter,” she said. “They’re scared of him too.”

“Good,” Elaine said. She knew enough about Johan’s home life to know the orphanage had been preferable. The Orphan Mother might have been a pain, but she hadn’t been abusive. “I wonder what Charity told them about him.”

“Just that he had powers now ... and that he was mad at them,” Cass said. “They heard far too many rumours at the school and they now think he’s a minor god.”

She closed the door, then sat down on one of the hard chairs. “So,” she said. “What do we do now?”

“Good question,” Elaine said. “Does the Emperor know you’re with us?”

“I don’t know, but the Inquisitors will certainly suspect something,” Cass said. “It isn’t exactly common for an Inquisitor to be released from her oaths. They will probably decide your planned departure and mine were linked. Even if the Emperor hadn’t shown himself, they would still be irked with me.”

“You deserted them,” Daria said, quietly.

“That’s what they would think,” Cass agreed. “We’re not trained to rely on anyone outside the Inquisitors.”

She sucked in a long breath. “We need information,” she said. “One of us needs to go out of the house and ... well, I’m the best choice.”

“The kids might be better,” Daria pointed out. “One of them could get the information we want without being detected ...”

“The oldest is fourteen,” Cass sneered. “She wasn’t raised in the packs, either. I doubt she could ask anything without tipping off the information brokers.”

She shrugged. “And it might be dangerous to put her on the streets, anyway,” she added. “I think those soldiers are from Deferens’s homeland. An unescorted women on the streets would be considered fair game.”

Elaine shuddered. “How can they live like that?”

“It’s astonishing what someone can get used to if they don’t realise they have a choice,” Cass said, coldly. “Sometimes, very rarely, we get fugitives coming out of his homeland. The remainder are trapped.”

“Should turn them all into werewolves,” Daria snarled. “No werewolf husband would dare treat his wife with anything other than respect.”

“It might be a workable idea,” Cass agreed. She waved a hand over her face, casting a glamour. “How does this look?”

“Very attractive,” Daria said.

Elaine rolled her eyes. Cass now looked like a weather-beaten man, around thirty years old if she was any judge. His brown hair was already thinning, indicating weak magic, but his body looked muscular and solid. Not the type of man to pose a threat, she decided, yet also not the type of man to seem an automatic victim. And older than the boys Daria normally brought home to the apartment.

“Thank you,” Cass said. Even her voice had changed. “It will be my pleasure to escort you, my fair lady.”

Daria snickered. “And what would you do when you got me home?”

“I’d think of something,” Cass said. She returned to her normal appearance, then brushed her blonde hair back out of her face. “While I’m gone, I want you to think about options. There has to be a way out of the city we haven’t considered.”

“Maybe Johan could burn us a private tunnel through the mountains,” Daria suggested. “Or ... if he’s as powerful as you say, maybe we should just point him at the Emperor and watch the chaos from a safe distance.”

“He’s not invincible,” Elaine said, quietly. “His powers don’t seem to follow the normal rules, I will concede, but he does have limits. Deferens is smart enough to take precautions against Johan, if he knows Johan is still alive.”

“He might,” Cass said. “Johan turned those men into statues.”

“And Dread may suspect something,” Elaine added. “I lied to his face.”

Cass whistled softly. “Either you’re a better liar than I thought,” she said, “or he chose not to challenge you. There’s very little that gets past him.”

Elaine sighed. “I still feel bad about it,” she confessed. “Is that wrong?”

“Well, lying to an Inquisitor can earn you a public flogging,” Cass said. “So yes, I would say it was wrong. But ... if the Grand Sorceress ordered you to lie, it will probably be blamed on her. And as she’s the one who issues orders to the government, you’re probably in the clear.”

“I know,” Elaine said. “But I still feel bad.”

She sighed, remembering her first meeting with Dread ... and those that had followed. He’d seemed the embodiment of power at the time, but he’d given her a considerable amount of latitude when he’d caught her in Ida. And then, they’d become friends, of a sort. It was easy to think that he wouldn’t want to see her again, at least personally, after she’d lied to him.

I will tell him when this is over, she told herself. And then he will say whatever he says.

“Then we can’t use Johan as a secret weapon,” Daria said. She sounded disappointed. “What can we find outside these walls?”

“Food and information,” Cass said, primly. “There are people I can visit, who will happily trade information for money. I have enough, if necessary, to pay my way. Once we know what’s going on, we can start making some proper plans.”

“Just don’t get caught,” Elaine said. She hesitated, then started to root through her pockets for a knife. But she’d had it taken from her while she’d been a prisoner. “Do you have a knife? We can set up a blood-bond, if you wish. We’d know if something happened to you.”

Cass’s eyebrows rose. “And where did you ... never mind, silly question,” she said. She dug into her pockets until she found and produced a ritual blade. “Can you craft one safely?”

“Yes,” Elaine said. “It’s not actually a dangerous art, I think.”

“And yet it’s forbidden,” Cass mused. She didn’t sound convinced. “Why is it forbidden if it isn’t dangerous?”

“Because it can allow two magicians to share thoughts and impressions without being detected,” Elaine said. “There’s no need for crystal balls if two magicians can talk mind-to-mind. But the link is also harder to separate, once formed.”

“It strikes me you should be trying this with Johan,” Cass said. “Why doesn’t your bond with him work?”

“I wish I knew,” Elaine said, allowing a hint of frustration to enter her voice. “It should work, everything I know says it should work, but it doesn’t. I honestly don’t know why it worked to the point you were able to boost it ...”

“Maybe you’re not merging your magics properly,” Cass said. “Your magic is conventional, right? His is not.”

Elaine thought about it while she drew a rune on a piece of parchment, then carefully cut her palm and allowed a droplet of blood to drip down. Cass held out her hand, then slapped it down on the parchment, muttering the first stage of the charm as her hand hit the blood. It flared with magic, just briefly, but long enough for Elaine to mutter the second stage of the charm. The link flared to light, then dimmed sharply. Moments later, it was gone.

Cass stared. “What in the name of all the gods happened?”

“I don’t know,” Elaine said. The blood-bond was simple magic. Even a complete novice could have forged one, if he’d had the inclination to try. And she was a trained magician with years of experience ... and a unique understanding of how magic actually worked. “It should have worked perfectly.”

She stared down at the parchment. The blood was already turning black, then decaying into dust. There was no way she’d made a mistake, not with something so simple. And Cass’s protections wouldn’t have stopped the bond if she’d wanted it to form. It should have formed quickly and easily, not ... died.

“You have a bond with Johan,” Cass said, quietly. “Could that have impeded your efforts to forge a bond with me?”

Elaine frowned. It shouldn’t have ... but then, the bond she shared with Johan wasn’t normal in the first place. In fact, there were so many issues with it ... she stopped as a thought occurred to her. If Johan’s magic wasn’t supporting the bond, which seemed likely, it was her magic that was doing all the work. She might be expending so much effort on holding the bond in place that she couldn’t form a separate link with Cass. And that meant ...

“I think we were going about it the wrong way,” she said, slowly. “I’ll have to give it some thought.”

“Do so,” Cass ordered. She rose and replaced her glamour. “If Charity comes home, I suggest you stun her before she realises you’re here. These wards will probably tell her she has intruders once she enters the house.”

“Understood,” Elaine said.

She watched Cass slip out of the door, then looked down at her hands. The bond hadn’t formed properly, which meant they would have to snap and redo it. But what would that do to their relationship? Maybe there were ways to push magic in and out of the bond without actually breaking the link. And yet ...

I’ve been thinking of Johan as a magician, she thought. There were ways to forge a similar bond with a mundane, but she hadn’t used them. Maybe I should have thought of him as someone without magic, only power.

“I know that look,” Daria said. “You’re thinking, aren’t you?”

“I suppose you wouldn’t recognise the process,” Elaine jibed, deadpan. She rose, then headed for the door. Johan’s father had set up a workshop next to his study, crammed with magical tools. It was quite possible he hadn’t used any of them for himself – magical research won respect, even if it was just amateurish fiddling – but they would be serviceable. “I’m going to try something. When Johan wakes, send him to see me.”

“As you wish,” Daria said. She sniffed the air. “But you should know he’s having nightmares.”

“I’ve had them too,” Elaine said. It was true. Every two or three days, she woke up screaming. “But there’s nothing to be done about them.”