Chapter 12

Getting Around It

Cam would rather have had a thousand swords coming at him. Swords were easy. He knew what moves they were capable of making, all the ways they could potentially hurt people, and everything that needed to be done to stop them.

Watching everyone do what was supposed to be a simple magical analysis, however, was making him crazy. He didn’t know how to stop magic from attacking people, but that didn’t stop his muscles from jerking in reaction every time the lights flared or the tendrils reached for someone. Bishop, on the other hand, had gone so still Cam wouldn’t have been surprised to find out the elf had stopped breathing.

It was Cam’s turn to nearly stop breathing when Braeth suggested turning the curse back on the aunt. Protective instincts that had previously been reserved for his family rose up inside him, completely approving of what seemed like the first solid plan to get Elena free of the curse. She clearly didn’t feel the same way, but surely she could be outvoted.

When Elena half-fell into a sitting position in the middle of the circle, however, Cam forgot about everything else. He knew that look on her face, a mix of practicality and dread that made it obvious she knew the next blackout was coming and he saw her move closer to the ground. He watched the purple light, the strands digging their way toward the center of the curse, and remembered that it was a hit to the core that had made her dizzy the first time. Having something go all the way through would hit both her and the queen a lot harder.

Braeth, seeing this, was already planning ahead. “Illiana, prepare the back trace before the core is breached and the illness hits. I will maintain the energy levels and ease the worst of the symptoms, but my magic cannot still be active while the spell is cast. There’s a chance it may infect the trace, and it is to our tactical advantage to keep Ariadne unaware of my presence.”

The queen nodded, hands forming the necessary gestures. “It’s a simple spell,” Bishop murmured, voice so low it was almost impossible to make out the individual words. It took a second for Cam to realize that the other man was talking to himself. “She’s talented and shielded enough that Ariadne won’t be able to hurt her. She won’t even notice her.”

Taking pity on the elf, Cam nudged him. “We should be closer.”

Bishop hesitated, then agreed. They moved to a few feet outside the circle, the elf staying near the queen while Cam gravitated to the open space near his brother. It was the most immediate route to Elena, and he could ask Robbie questions without interrupting the main action.

The strings were about halfway to the core now, the rest of the knot looser but still fighting back. Watching this with a grim expression on her face, Elena made a gesture and touched her hands to her chest. Murmuring something, she filled her hands with blue light and sent it flowing to her mother. “Use this,” Elena said quietly. She looked even more tired than she had a second ago. “I won’t be able to.”

She’d moved to a point in the exact center of the circle, arms tucked tight against her so she wouldn’t smudge the circle no matter where she fell. She’d accounted for that little technical detail, but not the fact that she still had a few feet to go before she hit the ground. With the way the blackouts dropped her, there wasn’t even a chance she’d catch herself.

Lie down, he mouthed at her, willing her to look at him. It was insane that she wouldn’t cut herself even that much of a break. You’ll hit your head if you don’t.

Elena didn’t even glance in his direction. “If all of my blackouts began only when she hit the core, the curse should have taken a lot more damage by now,” she said, folding her hands in her lap.

“The outer shields are almost destroyed,” Dr. Flyte said. “When they were at greater strength, I suspect they would have had a similar response when attacked.”

“The trace is locked in,” the queen said, eyes on the strands still digging into the curse. As far as Cam could tell, they were almost to the core. “Now all we can do is wait.”

In a story, there would be a convenient coat or drop cloth lying around, no matter how little sense it made for either thing to be in a well-organized workroom in the middle of the summer. Seeing neither, Cam swore softly and headed toward his brother. “Would it mess anything up if I went into the circle?” he asked, voice low.

Ripping his eyes away from the curse, Robbie said, “Not if you didn’t smudge any of the lines or sigils. But you can’t take her out of there, Cam. We need to see what’s happening with the curse.”

“I figured that part out, genius,” Cam muttered, deciding that he was the only one who was going to care if he looked like an idiot. Everyone else had more important things to worry about.

When he stepped into the circle, Elena looked up at him like he’d lost his mind. “Cam, you can’t—” The words trailed off as he sat down next to her, taking care not to smudge the circle at all. “What are you doing?”

“You’re going to bounce your head against the floor.” He kept his voice gruff, reminding himself that this was still better than being able to do nothing. “Lie down before you give yourself another headache.”

Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. “Cam,” she said quietly. “You don’t—”

“Elena.” He let the helplessness he was feeling out into his eyes. “Lie down.”

It took some shuffling, but if he moved over there was enough room for her to curl up on her side and lay her head down on his leg. He laid his hand on her shoulder as they both looked up, all their attention on the projection of the curse.

A few seconds later, the strands slammed hard into the core. Elena went boneless as the blackout took her, cheek pressing against his leg. At the same time, the queen swayed and pressed a hand against her stomach. Still, the teal light of the tracking spell stayed solid, her eyes fixed on the projection. She didn’t look away even when Bishop moved to her side, but she leaned into him a little as her arm curled around his.

The strands being controlled by Elena’s aunt kept digging into the core, violently enough now that the entire knot started shaking a little. The only other effect was a faint shimmer from inside the knot, and Cam heard Dr. Flyte murmur something about it possibly being a reaction to the shielding around the core.

Finally, the purple light disappeared, vanishing as if it had been sucked out of the knot. The tendrils floated out of the tangle again, stretching out into the distance, while the rest of the knot shifted and writhed like it had before. The queen had straightened completely, eyes distant and hands stretched out as if pressed flat against an invisible wall. Under his hand, Elena inhaled and opened her eyes. “How long was it this time?” she asked, sitting up and brushing her hair back from her face.

“Not long,” he murmured, smoothing an errant bit that she’d missed. “As far as I can tell, she tried a big push rather than an extended assault this time.”

Elena rested her hand on his leg as she moved closer to him. “Whatever my aunt’s trying to do, she’ll never be effective if she can’t see it.”

Above them, the queen blinked as her eyes refocused. “Ariadne is in Yonder, along the border of Lake Sorrows.” She lowered her hands, shoulders sagging a little as the strain ended. “She must have moved there only within the last few years. Thomas and I routinely sent investigators through that whole area.”

“If you sent soldiers now, they could probably get to Yonder in a few days,” Robbie said. “My older brother Mason sent me a postcard from there once. He said the kingdom is small enough that the king still has time to keep his winery business running.”

Cam remembered it now, mostly from Laurel’s sarcastic commentary about how much of that wine their captain was drinking. “I know a mercenary unit who could pick her up,” he offered. “We’d probably need royal backing and an official charge just to make sure the paperwork was all in order, but I know their unit’s close to wrapping up their current contract.”

“Call them,” Elena said, any sign of unsteadiness from the blackout carefully eradicated. “I’ll pay for the contract out of my private accounts so we don’t have to wait for mother to push it through committees. I spend so little of my yearly stipend that there should be plenty of money.”

“There are any number of formal charges we could use, most of which would have the direct backing of the Council,” Dr. Flyte said. “I could have them drawn up and sent to your mirror within the hour, Cameron.”

“I’ll have a map to you around the same time, along with a royal order to help speed things along.” The queen cast the simple spell that shut down the curse projection, then let out a long breath. “And if the captain needs to contact me, feel free to send him or her to my private mirror.”

“He won’t need to,” Robbie answered, watching his older brother with an odd expression on his face. “Laurel and Cam will take care of it.”Realizing he was still sitting on the floor, Cam hurriedly stood up before holding out a hand to help Elena do the same. He felt surprisingly relieved that he’d been able to do something to help, even if it had just been to make a suggestion.

“So we’re done?” Elena asked, looking around at everyone else. When she got a few nods, she scuffed a line completely through the circle before stepping across it. “I’ll come back later to clean up,” she told her mother. “Right now, though, I feel like I need to just sit down for a few minutes.”

“Rest, child,” Braeth said, drawing the shadows back toward him. The room slowly lightened as sunlight filtered back into the room. “The energy you offered your mother was well-timed, but your body is already paying the price for it. I insist that you take a suitable amount of time to recover.”

She lifted her chin a little. “I’m perfectly capable of doing that without sleeping.”

The queen’s eyes narrowed. “Elena.”

“Don’t make me.” She met her mother’s eyes. “Please.”

“At least tell me you’ve been sleeping at night,” the queen said, her voice soft.

Cam watched Elena, suddenly wondering the same thing. She’d have to be getting at least some sleep, or she’d have been stumbling around like a zombie after the first week. But there were all kinds of ways a person could cheat their way through a night’s rest, especially when they had magic to back them up. “How long?” he asked, annoyed at himself for missing it before now.

Elena looked at him, surprised. He held her gaze, until she answered him. “I didn’t sleep very well last night. That’s all.”

The first night since the long blackout, the one that had caught her while she was sleeping. As if losing consciousness at completely random moments hadn’t screwed her up enough.

“Cameron.” The queen’s voice was quiet but firm, hitting some mother frequency that made his inner six-year-old stand at attention. “Make sure she gets some sleep. Please.”

Elena whipped around to stare at her mother, looking horrified and a little bit betrayed. Before she could say anything, Cam hooked his arm through hers and pulled her towards the door. “You heard her, Princess. I’m not about to argue with a royal order.”

~

“This is ridiculous.” Elena glared at him from his bed, every inch of her body making it clear that she was sitting there against her will. Weirdly enough, Cam found the stubbornness comforting—even after everything she’d been through, it showed she still had plenty of fight left in her. “Switching beds won’t keep me from blacking out.”

“No, but it’ll be easier to let yourself relax.” He stood in the doorway to his room, mirror in hand. He’d call Laurel once he was sure Elena would at least try to get some rest. “You haven’t been sleeping in your own bed because that’s where you had the blackout, and a part of you panics every time you close your eyes. In a different bed, that won’t be a problem.”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know you were practicing to be a therapist. You should get advice from Dr. Flyte.”

He winced at the thought of the mirror unleashing more therapy on him. “If you even think about making that suggestion to him, my vengeance will be more terrible than you can imagine.” When she just kept glaring at him, he sighed. “The border guard isn’t exactly like going to war. But stuff happens. You figure out how to get around it.”

The glare disappeared, and he braced himself on the off chance some sympathy was about to erupt. Instead, she shook her head. “You’re turning into your mother, aren’t you? You just haven’t wanted to tell anyone.”

Dramatically, he pressed his free hand to against his chest. “You’ve discovered my secret.” He pointed a warning finger at her in his best impression of his mother. “Now get some rest.”

She rolled her eyes again, but obligingly let her head hit the pillow. Deciding that pushing for much more than that really would turn him into his mother, he shut the door. He stood there, listening for the sound of movement, but she was too smart to jump back up immediately.

He found a comfortable chair, saying his sister’s name to activate the sequence for her mirror. After a few minutes, the swirling clouds disappeared to reveal a slender woman with dark blond hair cropped nearly as short as his. She smiled as soon as she saw him. “So, Dad driving you nuts yet?”

“I’m surviving.” Even though an hour hadn’t passed, Cam checked to see if he’d gotten either the map or list of charges. He probably should have waited to call Laurel until he’d received both of them, but he’d wanted to get things moving. “It helps that Mom’s essentially confined him to the house.”

“He’ll get more restless as the cast gets closer to coming off,” Laurel warned him, having broken more than a few bones herself over the years. “Still, Mom should be able to hold him back for a few more weeks while his leg gets back to full strength, and then you’re free as a bird.”

Cam froze for a second, stunned that he’d completely forgotten that little deadline. This was his Dad’s job, not his, and he’d stretched things with the border guard just getting enough leave time to come back here in the first place. If he tried to stay any longer, odds were he wouldn’t have a job to go back to.

Some of this must have come through on his face, because Laurel’s brow lowered as she watched him. “Dad’s not trying to suck you in to the bodyguard routine full time, is he? I know he thinks the other guardsmen are idiots, but I’m sure you’re already getting bored.”

“Nigel’s hired muscle was a decent distraction.” His mouth was working on auto-pilot, trying to give his brain time to recover. He could be okay with this. If they got Elena’s aunt back here fast enough, they could probably have all this done in a few weeks. He could go back to the border knowing she was fine. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know how to use a mirror. His parents considered her family—no one would think it was weird if they still talked.

“Cam.” Laurel’s voice was firmer now, meant to get his attention. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

It was the perfect opening. “I need a favor, actually,” Cam said, pushing everything else aside. He’d deal with it later. “Have you guys finished cleaning up after that evil queen yet?”

“We’ve got a couple units doing final sweeps, but most of us are heading back to main camp tomorrow morning. You need me and Mason to do something?”

“More than that.” Not that his siblings weren’t the best at what they did, but they had no idea if the aunt would come willingly. He wanted them to have as much backup as possible. “As many people as you can convince your captain to let take a separate contract.”

“You’re hiring us?” Now her eyes widened. “Cam, what in all the gods’ names have you gotten yourself in to?”

He refused to even think the answer to that particular question. “I’m not hiring you, the princess is. We—” No, that wasn’t going to help. “She and the queen need you to bring in a sorceress who may or may not come quietly. There’s a full list of charges and a royal order, and I’ll send them both to you and Mason as soon as I get them.”

Laurel just stared at him. “If the princess is hiring us, remind me again why you’re calling instead of one of her official minions?”

“Because w—she needs this sorceress as quickly as possible, you guys are the best, and you’ll be able to talk the captain around a lot faster than the queen could.” He tried his best “you know you love me” grin. “And if I’d given out the code to your private mirror, even to royalty, you’d have killed me.”

Now her eyes were narrowed like she was trying to see inside his head. “Get out of there,” she said, sounding deadly serious. It was the voice she used when telling someone what they needed to do to stay alive, and it was the only reason Cam knew she wasn’t joking. “I’ll get Mason to push through the paperwork while I talk to the captain and round up the rest of the men we’ll need. We’ll be on the road tomorrow to get your sorceress for you, but only if you promise me you’ll get out of there as soon as you can. I knew you were softhearted, but I had no idea this job would mess with you as much as it clearly has.”

“Laurel.”

“I mean it, Cam. Promise me.”

“I’m fine.” He fought hard to not get angry. “Like you said, body guard duty is easy enough to make people drop dead of boredom. Dad’ll be back in a few weeks, and then there won’t be any reason for me not to go right back to the border guard. My supposedly soft heart has nothing to do with anything.”

She swore, far more fluently than Cam could have managed. “You still think talking a lot about something else will make it so people don’t notice what you’re avoiding. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t already care too much about this girl.”

He held her glare for a moment, willing himself to lie. When he couldn’t make anything come, there was a rattling noise from the other end that suggested she’d hit the table. Oh, I am going to kill him.”

“Laurel.” He gave up on resisting the glare, deciding it was better to focus his attention on not shouting. “It’s not a problem. I can handle this.”

In the grand tradition of big sisters, Laurel chose to completely ignore him. “If I’d known this was going to happen, I would have made sure it was me. I like the kid fine, but—” She stopped herself from finishing the sentence, then shook her head. “You know how terrible an idea this is, right?”

What was he supposed to say to this? “I am fine, Laurel. How many times do I have to say this?”

She glared at him. “If she breaks your heart, I’m going to have to kill her. No matter what Mom or Dad think.”

“Laurel.” He only barely remembered to keep his voice down. The last thing he wanted was for Elena to overhear the fact that his sister had completely lost her mind. “We’re not a couple, so there’s no chance of her breaking my heart. Now please go intimidate some big strong men and stop worrying about me. I’m not going anywhere, but I can promise you is that I will be totally, completely and one-hundred-percent fine.”

Laurel kept glaring at him. “I’ll have Mason call you before we set out tomorrow. But I meant what I said—I have no trouble with beating up on princesses, curse or no curse.” She then cut the mirror connection.

Cam closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead against the headache he’d magically developed in the last few minutes. Hopefully, Elena was having better luck relaxing than he was.