Meraude
The bodies of the Sightfuls in training had been easy enough to find. The poor things hadn’t stood a chance, having been surrounded by iron, the one metal that could block their abilities. As best as General Tindra could figure, the guilty parties had poisoned the girls inside the barracks. Their bodies had been found buried in a mass grave not far into Inohaim Wood. Unfortunately, the Sightfuls responsible had then fled into the night, leaving no trail behind them.
But Meraude still had four Sightfuls left, plus Ing and Egreet. The latter two were young and inexperienced. Meraude needed answers, and she needed to know they were reliable. Torture had proven ineffective. She had questioned them each individually with Tindra at her side, and while their answers had matched for the most part, there were subtle discrepancies that alerted Meraude to their lies.
Tindra had suggested that Meraude drink from the Seeing Goblet. But that would be risking madness. Thankfully, there was one more method available, and it was nearly safe from all chance of failure.
Five days after the party, once it had become clear the torture and questioning weren’t working, Meraude gathered six Endurers, the four traitor Sightfuls, and her two top pupils, Ing and Egreet. The traitors were chained together and forced to walk behind the cart that bore Meraude, Tindra, and the pupils for several miles.
It had not rained for many weeks, so the roads were dry and passable. The horses pulling the cart walked at a steady clip, whinnying happily from time to time. When the cart passed out of town, the roads became somewhat uneven, and the passengers were jostled. Finally, when it seemed the silent journey would never end, the driver called the horses to a halt and the cart stopped.
Tindra was the first out, helping Meraude to the ground and leaving the pupils to jump down by themselves. The prisoners were still being unchained from the cart, but it was just as well; that would give Meraude and her companions time to finish their journey on foot and catch their breaths before the others arrived.
In the distance, thunder rumbled, and the smell of rain filled the air. The women looked up at the sky hopefully, but Meraude called them away.
“You know the weather has already passed north and will not reach us. Come.” And with that said, she led them into the woods. The cart driver remained behind with the horses, bowing to Meraude as she passed.
The small procession picked their way through thigh-high grasses and low-hanging branches without difficulty. Meraude did not venture here often, and when she did, it had always been with a Sightful to assist her in her communications. With the use of the Seeing Pool, operated by a skilled Sightful, Meraude had been able to visit the Summoner in his dreams. That had worked well…up until a few months ago when the connection that had been forged seemed to break for some unknown reason. Larkin’s information, if it was to be believed, meant that Aidan Ingledark had indeed betrayed Meraude and was even now moving against her.
“You’ve the Goblet?” Meraude whispered to Tindra for the third time.
Her general nodded and patted at the bag strung over her shoulder. “Yes, milady. It is safe.”
“Good. Tell none of the other Endurers what we are doing. The fewer that know, the better.”
“Very good, milady,” said Tindra, her lips barely moving.
Meraude breathed an inward sigh of relief. She knew she could count on Tindra, at least. The woman had as much reason to hate humans as Meraude did. The general would not betray her nor let her down in any way.
Fifteen minutes later, they emerged in a clearing, where sat the tall white Tower of Inohaim.
“I saw this in the distance once,” said Egreet, craning her neck back as she shielded her eyes. “I didn’t think it was this big.”
“Come,” Meraude said as the two girls continued to gawk. “We have a ways to climb.” She led the way with Tindra close by her side, approaching the tower with care. This part of the wood was not guarded as well as others, and anything or anyone might be lying in wait for them there. Muscles tensing, she reached out with her mind, feeling for any unwanted presence and then, finding nothing, relaxed a little and hastened her step.
They walked up to the base of the tower and Tindra held up her hand to stop the girls from running into them. “Only one may pass through at a time.”
Meraude noted the girls exchanging a confused look and fought a smile herself. The two were in for a surprise.
“Milady?” asked Tindra.
“You shall enter first,” Meraude replied.
With a nod, the general eyed the smooth white stone, stepped forward, and vanished. “The way is clear,” said the general’s disembodied voice as Egreet and Ing squealed in surprise.
“After you two,” said Meraude, gesturing toward the wall.
The two paled. “We just walk through the wall?” asked Ing.
“How?” Egreet asked at the same moment.
Meraude now did grin. “For magic-kind, there is no wall, here or at the top. But I must warn you, your abilities will be useless beyond the invisible barrier.”
That did not seem to sit too well with the two young Blest, but they nodded tightly and, to their credit, did not complain but stepped one after the other through the stone. There were more squeals of surprise as they passed through, and the sound of them running into each other.
After first bracing herself for the familiar feel of her magic being temporarily ripped from her, Meraude stepped through the wall. For her, she knew, it would be more difficult than it had been for the merely twice-Blest girls. She had four different abilities to shed. With a great tremor, she felt them ripped from her and tried to keep her nerves together. Her powers would return once she took the throne.
The climb to the top of Inohaim Tower took a perilous twenty minutes of walking in a giant, ascending circle with only the wall to their left to lean into. The right opened to the abyss below. One wrong step, and there would be no Blest gift to save them.
At last, the journey to the top ended. Panting and clutching pangs in their sides, the two young Blest collapsed in the open throne room in front of the Seeing Pool. “That was dreadful,” said Ing below her breath.
“Never again do I wish to do that,” panted Egreet.
Tindra, who had physical prowess beyond being a Blest, seemed to be faring better than the two young women.
Meraude was quite winded herself from the climb and the loss of her abilities, but she tried to maintain her dignity and did not collapse. Instead she approached Tindra, hands outstretched.
“It’s heavy,” Tindra murmured in reminder as she held the sack out to the mage queen.
Meraude did not acknowledge the statement but took the vessel in its bag from the general and limped with it toward the great glass throne on the other side of the Seeing Pool. Her body ached and she was eager to be seated, though she knew she must delay relief. In silence she waited for the guards and the prisoners to arrive.
It took the better part of an hour, but soon Meraude could hear the telltale signs of ascension, and the remaining women fell through the wall on the other side of the room with great cries. Apparently these Blest had never been to the top of the tower before and thus hadn’t known what to expect.
The three prisoners who were not too badly injured huddled together there on the floor, while the fourth one lay sprawled out, her bandaged chest rising and falling rapidly. She moaned in apparent pain.
Unmoved, Meraude made certain the Seeing Goblet was out of view and said, “Since you have refused to answer my questions truthfully, my hand is forced. This is your last chance. Tell me where the Summoner is and what he is planning.”
No one answered, though one of the Sightfuls spat in her direction. That was all Meraude needed to know.
She braced herself then took the throne. A jolt of pain shot through her bones, but Meraude did not cry out nor did she flinch. “Rise,” she told the Sightfuls, whose expressions went slack.
The four plus the two doubly Blest girls rose.
Meraude gripped the armrests of the throne with her slippery hands. “Foresee and tell me, where is the Summoner and what is he planning?”
As one, the six Sightfuls closed their eyes. After a moment, they spoke together. “The wizard will escape a great foe, a wizard with an iron fist.”
“The wizard?” Meraude interrupted. “I told you to look for the Summoner.” Sweat poured down her neck and she fought for control. “Ing, tell me what you mean by this.”
The girl stepped forward, her eyes glassy. “The Summoner has changed. He is a powerful foe and very well could defeat you, he and his mate.” Her voice was monotone and her expression emotionless.
Meraude asked Egreet, “Who is the mate?”
“The only she-wizard to walk the earth this age,” said the girl. “She carries the wizard’s child and will be a considerable challenge to defeat.”
Meraude leaned forward on the throne, her hands aching from gripping the armrests so hard. “But she can be defeated?”
“Yes,” chorused the six women.
“Egreet, tell me how.”
As bidden, the girl said, “In the Tower of Inohaim, she and her mate will have no power that you cannot control. When they come hence, you may destroy them both.”
“And they will come to me?”
The women said, “Yes. Soon they will escape and seek the Tower of Inohaim. You must be waiting. Then, you shall make your move.”
Satisfied yet exhausted, Meraude held on to the power the throne and the Seeing Goblet provided together. “Ing and Egreet, go to the far wall and start your descent. Do not listen to me again until we are back on the ground, and then you shall forget everything that has happened here.”
The two girls nodded, turned, and disappeared through the wall, the Endurers stepping aside to let them pass.
“Milady,” said General Tindra, who was not under the mage queen’s control, for she was not a Sightful but an Endurer and there was no Enduring Goblet present.
“Silence,” Meraude commanded and was obeyed of free will. “Sightfuls, it is your duty to serve your queen. Over there is a ladder. Climb it, and then throw yourself off of the Tower.”
The Endurers’ expressions were grim as the four Sightfuls hurried to their deaths. And it wasn’t until the last one screamed no more that Tindra seemed to find the courage to speak again. The faithful Endurer ran to Meraude and helped her from the throne. “Are you all right?”
Meraude nodded weakly. “Yes.”
“Your hair, milady.”
“I know.” What once had been jet-black and lush, now was brittle and full of streaks of white.
“What shall we tell the people?”
Meraude straightened. “We shall tell them that the missing Sightfuls returned and attacked me, but I prevailed. This,” she said, holding one silver strand, “is the price I paid to win.”