Page 46 of The Uncrowned Prince

“You mean that you have your magic,” she returned flatly. “You can either tell me everything—the full truth—or I will decline to accompany you at all.”

Niell sighed and ran a hand through his hair, appearing resigned to something deeply unpleasant. “I suppose I should have known you wouldn’t let me get away with it. Yes, as you put it, I do have my magic, but I don’t really like to talk about it. Enchanters are… notoriously secretive, and it would probably sound like so much gibberish even if I tried to explain.”

“Try anyway.” Her tone was icy, daring him to lie. She hoped that he wouldn’t, but people had always disappointed her before.

He set down his teacup. “How much do you know about enchanters?”

“You engrave your will on physical objects, enabling them to hold or channel your magic. Enchanters cannot act without a… a focus, so to speak, but are capable of great achievements, nonetheless.”

Niell nodded, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “A fair representation, if a bit simplistic. Often, enchantments and their mechanisms are highly individual, and nearly impossible to replicate because of the unique methods involved. But one of my odd talents lies in deciphering the work of other enchanters and learning to use it for myself.”

With his right hand, he reached inside the black coat he always wore and fumbled around in one of its seemingly innumerable pockets.

Karreya was beginning to wonder whether the coat was magical in its own right—it certainly seemed capable of producing whatever was needed in the moment.

On this occasion, Niell withdrew a narrow band of flattened steel. It appeared to be a slender collar, light and flexible, and he held it between his fingers as if it were a poisonous snake.

“I did not make this,” he said, every word dripping with distaste. “It came to me in a way I would choose to forget, but I have managed to determine its purpose. I should be able to use it to enter the palace undetected, though it is not without its dangers.” He took a deep breath and let it out again slowly before continuing. “If anything goes awry… I may require your assistance to get back out again.”

Karreya moved closer, then sucked in a quick, harsh breath as she stared at the thing he held.

“Where did you get that?”

His eyes lifted to fasten on hers with wary intensity. “Do you recognize it?”

She did. Oh, perhaps not its exact purpose, but the dark truth of it pulsed angrily through that part of her that perceived without eyes.

“It is a mage collar,” she told him. “Likely part of an armor set. Meant to create a weapon out of another’s magic, and then bend them to your will.”

“Yes,” he agreed soberly, and that single word held the weight of a thousand memories. A thousand regrets. Whatever this piece meant to him, it had left scars that even time could not touch. “Only in this case, the collar was not the part that enslaved the will. This… has a different purpose.” His voice throbbed with pain, and a darkness so deep it was almost frightening. “I stole it from the one who originally owned it, and I have kept it for many years, wanting nothing more than to ensure it was never used. The lives it could destroy, if it fell into the wrong hands… But now, perhaps it can be turned to a purpose that will mend rather than destroy.”

At odd times, Karreya’s magic suggested more than the simple difference between truth and lies, and this was one of those moments. Perhaps it was more intuition than magic, but that darkness… She knew it for self-loathing. Something about that deceptively plain circlet of metal had sent Niell to a place of reliving his worst sins.

“What does it do?” she asked, wiping all trace of judgment from the question.

“I will show you.” A quick twist of Niell’s fingers released a hidden catch in the collar. With his jaw set and his eyes slightly narrowed, he wrapped it around his throat and fastened it shut.

An instant later, he disappeared.

Karreya did not gasp, but her senses narrowed to focus on the space where he sat. Instinctively assessing whether he had become a threat. Attuned to every whisper of movement, every breath.

“You see now,” Niell’s voice said from the middle of empty air, “why I have been desperate to ensure that it remains hidden.”

“I have heard that such things exist,” she replied calmly, hoping to hide the true depths of her unease. Even the Enclave did not use mage-crafted battle armor. Their training required subterfuge, and the ability to think and behave flexibly. Such objects as Niell now wore were used to create blunt weapons—unimaginative, but incredibly difficult to kill—and their use was confined to the Empress’s personal guard.

Where could Niell have come across such a thing?

“I have also heard that enchantments such as this one are impractical. They require so much magic that they drain the life from their wearers, and can only be used for a short time.”

“That is my belief as well,” Niell said, an instant before he reappeared. He refastened the catch on the collar and shoved it back into its hidden pocket, a look of distaste on his features. “I do not know how long I will have, but my intent is to use it only when necessary to sneak into the palace, gain entrance to the council room, and then make my exit. Clearly, you are skilled enough to go unseen when you wish, but I do not have your talents, and when I considered it, this seemed like our best chance of finding the information we need and then escaping the palace safely.”

Karreya hesitated for a moment. She did not care for the idea of the collar draining his energy. It seemed like too great a risk, particularly when he was unfamiliar with its use, but he was right about one thing. If it worked, it gave him a much greater chance of success. Which led to an entirely new question.

“Why involve me at all?” she asked bluntly. “With this, my talents become unnecessary. Unless there is something you have not told me about your intentions.”

But Niell shook his head. “No hidden agenda. Yes, with this I can disappear, but I am not quite fool enough to believe it will solve all of my problems, or that it will make me any more accomplished at subterfuge. For most of my life, I studied only to make myself more obvious. To be overwhelmingly visible and attract as many eyes as possible. I need someone to keep me from making rash mistakes out of sheer ignorance.”

It was a wise precaution, and she respected him the more for it. “Then I will go with you,” she said. “Should something happen to you while you are wearing that thing, your body might never be found.”

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