Page 104 of Polestar
“Spell?Is it something we—you can teach to Ana to break it?”
“She isn’t a Barentian priest.”
Antony wanted to scream, but maintained his calm.“But the magician that cast this spell isn’t either.”
The tattooed old man tilted his head up, looking down his nose imperiously at Antony.“They stole our spells.I will only share our sacred knowledge with another Barentian.”
“Even if it means saving your King?If we can get Ana in here and it works, you can help him.”
“Or she would have the power to kill him and enslave the rest, starting with Magnus.”
Antony stared at the highly paranoid old man at a loss.
Magnus got to his feet, rubbing the grief clear of his face, and straightened himself to his full height as he looked around the room, whispering to himself or to his father.Antony couldn’t tell which.
First, Magnus moved toward the nearly extinguished fireplace, knelt and carefully lifted the substantial hearth stone, revealing a deep gap beneath.
Antony couldn’t believe how easily he moved the stone without any noise or effort.
“Christ, I’d have dropped the damned thing on my foot and alerted the whole castle.”
The old shaman grunted in response.
Setting the stone aside, Magnus reached in and extracted a black rock with a leather thong dangling from it.It resembled a shiny piece of coal.He looped it over his head, dropping the rock behind his shirt, then replaced the stone.
“What is that?”Antony looked to the old man for an answer, but received only silence.
Next, Magnus rounded the enormous bed, reaching behind the solid oak headboard, and extracted what looked like a wall stone.
“Now what?”Antony gaped.
Magnus removed a wrapped object, then replaced that stone, too.
At the foot of the King’s bed, Magnus lay his hand over the sick man’s covered foot.“If I cannot save you, I will ensure Elias receives these.”
The king still did not stir.
“We should never have banished Magnus.Our greatest mistake.Greatest,” the old shaman said, voice heavy with sorrow.“He would have made a fine King of Barentia.”
Magnus triggered the secret door.
Antony spared the Shaman a last look before following Magnus into the passage.As soon as the panel slid back into place, Magnus revealed another hidden cavity where he slipped the wrapped object and concealed it.
That done, his stride more purposeful, he made his way along the secret passages with Antony at his back until they passed through an area where voices echoed along the castle’s arteries.
Magnus found a small panel, slid it aside, and peered into the room below.Antony pushed his head through the wall.
They’d found Ana.
Despite her bruised face and throat, she looked angry.Very angry.
Magnus growled, low and loud.The sound traveled throughout all the corridors, secret and public alike, reaching every wing in the mountain-based castle.
Antony’s incorporeal form vibrated with it.
The king’s banished son was back, and he was pissed.
“All right.Let’s go get our Ana,” Antony said, fisting his hands.
