Braided Locks

“I protest,” Enchanter Paul said, “most vehemently. We do not need to go underground. I am not budging.”

Beorn growled, “Didn’t you hear what Jean said? This amber box we’re in is great for blocking eavesdroppers, but it couldn’t hold up to a serious display of fire magic. Celeste wouldn’t appreciate us burning her furniture.”

“Furniture? Who cares about the furniture? What about the prospects of burning us?”

My stomach knotted. I should never have implied the fire magic might get out of hand. Sorceress Lorraine sat silent and unmoving, her eyes closed, her hands strangling the chair arms.

Jean’s eyes flashed. “The risk is not great, but one cannot use powerful magic without risk. You should know that.”

Mother Celeste said, “I know you don’t like being shut up in small places, but from the description of the practice room, it sounds more to your liking than this room. And it is extraordinarily generous of the Fire Guild to take outsiders into such a protected place.”

“It’s much bigger,” I said, “with a higher ceiling, and skylights.”

“But it’s underground,” Paul said. “I barely tolerate being shut up in this box, even though it is above ground, with nothing but a ceiling and roof over us. I could break out if I had to. Furthermore, Warlock Quicksilver indicated the only way to get there is through the Earth Guild’s tunnels. That is what I object to the most.”

Mother Celeste’s expression soured. “There’s nothing dangerous about our tunnels, and we’re all going together, so you couldn’t possibly get lost.”

“Madam, I have not been in one of your d—, er, dark tunnels since I developed my powers as an enchanter, and I do not intend to start now.”

Sorceress Lorraine turned an imperious stare on the Enchanter. “Paul, stop this nonsense at once. You are as terrified of being buried alive, and rightly so, as a warlock is of drowning, or a sorceress is of being burnt. But none of those will happen today. The Locksmith is adept, and the tunnels are safe. If the Locksmith loses control, I am more likely than you, Paul, to be burnt, but I am going. No, we are going.” She grabbed Paul’s right elbow, and nodded at Celeste, who grabbed his left. The two women marched Paul, still protesting, towards the tunnels.

The three of us from the Fire Guild followed. With the Fire Office demanding his attention, Beorn marched as if he were an automaton. He had shrugged off my apologies, but this exercise was an imposition.

I had already spent a week preparing, working with each Officeholder in their strongholds to ensure I could draw on their power for the braided lock. Beorn gave me no trouble; one tug, and I had a cable of fire. But even with the best of intentions and Jean’s coaching, the others did not find it easy to lower the innate barriers guarding their magical reserves and let someone else—from another guild, no less—draw on them. Sorceress Lorraine had the hardest time—we made dozens of tries before I pulled from her a line of blue as fine as spider’s silk—but she would not give up.

Working with her had been exhausting, but I admired her perseverance. Enchanter Paul could have used some of the Water Guild’s patience. He would have given up if Jean and Sorceress Lorraine together had not bullied him into line.

Paul circled the practice room, examining each narrow shaft under the skylights and chewing on his lip, while I lined the others up and explained the exercise.

“We are practicing locking and unlocking braided locks, like the one on the Water Office, so everyone will be ready when the time comes. We’ll start with hiding a teacup. I’ll deal with the lock, you don’t have to. All you have to do is let me draw on your power.

“It will be easier the closer together we are. Sorceress Lorraine and I will sit, with my hand on her Token of Office. The rest of you can sit or stand with your hands on my head or shoulders. Understand?” Nods all around. “Then let’s do it.”

Even with the hours of preparation separately, the four Officeholders had difficulty letting down their guards in the others’ presence. Enchanter Paul, who had as bad a case of fidgets as René ever exhibited, roused in me a desire to wallop him. I came close to screaming from frustration, but finally I succeeded in drawing strands of energy—red, green, blue, and white—of about the same weight from all four Officeholders. The teacup disappeared with a satisfying little pop, and reappeared a moment later.

Expressions of relief and pleasure followed. With that success behind us, other small locks came more easily. A caged bird, followed by a candle flame, disappeared and reappeared in due order.

“Now we will try something a little harder,” I said, and a fire sprang to life in the fireplace.

Enchanter Paul breathed a low, “Uh-oh.”

Sorceress Lorraine forced a smile. “I did not realise you had such a dry sense of humour.”

“The lock for this is small compared to the Water Office.”

She winced. “I understand. Proceed when you are ready.”

“Fine.” I wrapped a mental fist around the four stands of power and yanked. The fire disappeared, hidden from our mind’s eyes as well as our physical ones.

“Oof!” Enchanter Paul grunted. Mother Celeste twitched. Sorceress Lorraine’s eyebrows rose.

“Are you all right?”

“Surprised, that’s all,” Mother Celeste said. “No harm done.”

“Unlocking will take more power. Shall I go ahead?”

“How much more?” Enchanter Paul asked. “Twice? Ten times? A hundred times?”

“Er, maybe four or five times as much, but still less than a level three is capable of.”

They exchanged glances and shrugged. Mother Celeste said, “Any level five could give you a hundred times as much. We aren’t used to someone else demanding it, that’s all.”

“Get on with it,” Paul said.

Keeping a careful grip on the four threads of power, I twisted them together, and ordered them to become cords. My mental candle flame raced backwards along the words in my mind’s eye, reached the end with a loud crack, and blazed like a torch.

Mother Celeste cursed and snatched her hand off my shoulder. Enchanter Paul staggered backwards, gasping. Sorceress Lorraine became a fountain.

I goggled. Lorraine had gone white and rigid, eyes squeezed shut. Water poured from her, splashed on my skirts, and pooled on the floor. I yanked my feet out of the way, but my shoes were already soaked.

Beorn tugged at his beard. He and Jean exchanged a long look, frowning at each other.

“What happened?” I said. “That was no more power than I’ve drawn from the level three wizards on our staff.”

Enchanter Paul said, “Even a level three fire wizard has shields against fire magic that we don’t have.”

“You felt the blast from the release? I thought I was the only one affected.” I looked at Jean. The worry lines around his eyes did not soothe me.

He said, “I am not altogether surprised.”

“What?” I said. “You never said anything to me.”

He said, “We practiced braided locks only with fire wizards. We could not be sure of the effects on members of the other guilds.”

Enchanter Paul snapped, “You should have figured that out before asking us for anything.”

Jean’s nostrils flared. “And what foreign wizards should we have trusted to practice with?”

“Your problem, not mine. We’re through for today.” Paul was halfway to the nearest door. I started up to run after him, but Beorn pushed me back in my chair.

“Don’t listen to him. You did fine.”

“Paul, you fool, wait.” Mother Celeste hurried after him. “That’s the wrong door. You’ll get lost.”

Sorceress Lorraine pushed wet hair from her face. “I beg your pardon. Summoning water was a reflex action to protect myself from burns.” The water drained out of her dress and hair, a line dividing dry fabric from wet sliding down her torso. In seconds we were both dry; the pool shrank and disappeared. Beorn sighed. Wet, her filmy silk dress could have been painted on.

I said, “I can’t protect myself from the lightning yet; how can I protect anyone else?”

Beorn gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You don’t have to. Leave that to Jean and me.” He looked a question at Jean, who nodded.

“We must experiment further,” Jean said, “but we do not need you.”

“Good. I have other problems to see to.” Beorn disappeared into the fireplace.

Sorceress Lorraine said, “Do not let Paul upset you, Lucinda. We are so unfamiliar with locks no one knew what to expect.” A weak smile came and went. “I cannot claim eagerness for more, especially in the Warlock’s Fortress, of all places, but I will devote as much of my time and energy as is needed to make this unlocking come to fruition. What do you suggest, Jean?”

Jean said, “Lucinda, my dear, if you draw on the four Officeholders through me, perhaps I can shield the others from the heat.”

I considered the idea. “It might work. Worth a try, anyway.”

Lorraine said, “Can we convince Paul to return?”

Jean shrugged. “We will experiment without him.”

Mother Celeste returned, and we arranged ourselves with Jean seated beside me, and her hand on his shoulder. René, standing in for Beorn, had a hand on my shoulder. Sorceress Lorraine faced us across the table with her hand outstretched. Jean put his hand over hers, and I laid mine across his, touching the great sapphire in her Token of Office, without touching her.

“Ready?” I said.

“One moment,” she said. The healthy pink in her cheeks faded into alabaster translucence; even with Jean’s hand between us, I felt her skin cool. I suppressed a shudder. I had experienced the defensive power of ice; her armour demanded my respect even as it repelled me.

“Now,” she said.

The strands of power appeared in my mind’s eye as three cords, two of them on the far side of Jean’s lighthouse beacon. I reached through the beacon and pulled, twisting the three strands together into one cord. The lock snapped closed; the fire disappeared. Another few seconds, and the lock popped open. Once again, the heat from a furnace rolled over me.

Something—pain? fear?—flitted across Jean’s face, too quickly for me to identify. Lorraine smiled. Mother Celeste kissed us both on the cheek. “Well done, both of you,” she said. “I felt a tug, and that was all. No heat this time.”

After they left, and I was alone with Jean, I said, “Jean, what happened? Were you hurt?”

His eyebrows rose. “Do you believe such a trifle could harm me?”

“No, but I thought… I guess I imagined it.”

He laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Think no more of it, my dear. When the time comes, you must concentrate only on releasing the lock. As Beorn said, let protecting the other Officeholders be our problem, not yours.”