Page 20 of Ruled By Magic

Helen shrugged. “Suit yourself. How was the show last night?”

I blanked before the question struck home. “Oh! Fine, I suppose. I’m not especially into dance.” A thought occurred. “Are we booked for many outings?”

Helen nodded, eyes sympathetic. “Your calendar is quite full, yes. For the next few weeks, anyway. Not every night, but most.”

“Who organizes these things? What’s the point of them?”

“Sorry, I should have explained this yesterday. I’ve been in the palace so long now it’s all second nature. Upper-class mages like the Lord Commander have a social circuit. Families put on events all the time. It’s an excuse to show off; they try to outdo each other.” She rolled her eyes.

“Some of them are supposed to be for charity, but they cost more to host than they raise, so it’s pretty pointless if you ask me. The Lord Commander gets invited to all of them, of course, but he never bothered much until you came along.”

Until he decided they were the perfect venue to humiliate and punish me. His main goal. Any additional fun he had with me was just a bonus. I swallowed back a sudden rush of shame. How could I have taken pleasure from his touch?

“Do you think—” An ear-splitting shriek, a siren, cut me off. I jerked in my seat. “What the hell is that?”

Helen stood, pulled out a tiny black vid screen, checked something, and nodded. “It’s the emergency alert. There’s been a barrier breach, we need to go to the bunker.”

The elevators flashed out of commission. Helen set a fast pace to the stairs.

“A barrier breach?”Barrierrang a bell. The Lord Commander mentioned it. The line I was forbidden to cross. “Are we in danger?”

“No. Well, probably not.”

Helen pushed the door open, and we started down a steep, dusty staircase. The stark transition from opulence to dinginess jarred me, and it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the flickering fluorescents. Helen panted as we hit the bottom and emerged into a depressing corridor. A few other people, mages and workers together, hurried along it. Helen and I joined the flow.

We reached a set of double doors guarded by two blank-faced guards and filed in. The room already held a decent crowd, and my entrance generated interest. People nudged each other and pointed. I ignored them and took stock of the space. The walls appeared to be a thick, seamless metal, carved out of a single piece. Signs denoted a kitchen and a toilet at the far end. Rows of fold-out chairs provided seating, and I followed Helen to a spot in a middle row.

I leaned close to her and whispered, “What’s the barrier? The Lord Commander said I’m not allowed out of it.”

Not allowed. My jaw tightened at the demeaning words.

Helen swiveled toward me. “It protects the palace. Nothing can get through it. Only the Lord Commander can teleport in and out, it’s keyed to him. Mages work on rotating shifts, powering it at all times. It’s well paid.” She lowered her voice even further. “Not all mages are wealthy, you know. But they all try to keep up appearances.”

“So we’re trapped in?” Instant claustrophobia clawed me. A cage was a cage, no matter how large.

“No. It’s one way. You can leave through it, but not return. It’s a safety feature in case we’re attacked. And look, don’t worry—a barrier breach just means something hit it, not that anything got through. It’s usually nothing serious.”

Usually?

“Does it happen often?”

“No. Well,” Helen frowned. “More often, recently. We’re not sure why. Young mages taking pot shots at it, most likely. Kids from the Academies do it, it’s a rite of passage.” She smiled. “The Lord Commander told me he broke through when it was his turn. It shocked him as much as the palace guards. He got in a lot of trouble for that one.”

I tried to imagine the stern, smooth-talking Lord Commander as a teenager getting up to mischief and found my mind blank. I couldn’t picture it.

“Is this bunker designed for a long stay?”

“Not really, but if we had to spend a day or two down here, we’d survive. There’s stored water and food.”

I contemplated the crowded room. Nope. A few hours down here would be dreadful, never mind a few days. At least the thick walls muffled the siren. A flurry of movement ran through the throng, and everyone got to their feet. Helen grabbed my arm and dragged me up as well.

The Lord Commander stood at the front of the room. “Sit, please.” The crowd sank back into their seats and silence fell.

“Thank you for getting down here so fast. Nothing to worry about, I’m sure. We have sentries searching the woods, but the amount of power that hit the barrier was negligible. Sit tight. We’ll sound the all clear soon.” His eyes caught mine, and a smile formed on his lips.

“Livet.” Heads swiveled to look at me. I shrank under the weight of their stares. “I’m glad Helen got you here. I should have run through the safety protocols myself, but we’ve been a little distracted, haven’t we?”

Helen made a disgusted noise, and some of the crowd gasped. Maybe a missile would hit the palace. That would be a relief.

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