Page 25 of Charmless
Horatio sighed. “I had hoped to keep all this quiet until I completed my investigation. Thanks to Mercato locking up the Hall, the entire kingdom will be buzzing with gossip and speculation. I will tell you, Ella, but you must keep this information to yourself. Can I trust you to be discrete?”
“Of course,” I murmured, although I squirmed a little. I was not sure how far I could be trusted, not if it became a question of protecting Mal. But my answer must have satisfied Horatio for he continued.
“The annual royal ball has always been an occasion of great celebration, especially this year since for the first time Midtown citizens were permitted to attend.”
“Yes, if they purchased tickets at a ridiculously exorbitant cost,” I grumbled.
Horatio ignored my interruption and went on, “Because I attended the ball, discipline at the garrison was relaxed. A barrel of rum was delivered to the barracks, purportedly from me. My officers should have known better, but they all imbibed a bit too freely and were not as alert as they should have been. During the changing of the guard, someone gained access to the AuraChamber and smashed the Mirror of Collection. They also stole a huge sack full of the icicles.”
“Icicles?”
“Those odd, shaped prisms in which the rays of your aura get stored.”
My blank expression must have alerted Horatio I had no idea what he was talking about.
“You must remember how the collection process works,” he said.
“I was very young at the time,” I started to lie and then stopped. I was constantly concealing things from Horatio, and I hated it. How could our relationship ever deepen and grow if I was always deceiving him?
I took a deep breath and confessed. “The truth is I have never been in the Aura Chamber. I was six years old when Mercato invented it and we were all told that it was designed for our protection, to help the king search for us if we ever got lost. For some reason, I never understood, my father avoided registering me. Perhaps he was suspicious of the king’s motives or he simply thought it was all nonsense. All Papa told me was that I was far too clever of a girl to ever get lost. I have never complied with the law.”
I braced myself for Horatio’s stern reaction. I was surprised when he only smiled.
“You don’t need to look so guilty. I was never registered either.”
“You weren’t?”
“When I was adopted from the Foundling Asylum, I lived with my parents in the outermost reaches of the kingdom. Since they had already registered their son that died and then gave me his name, they never bothered traveling all the way to Midtown to have my aura collected.
“After arriving here to take up my duties as the new garrison commander, I have been far too busy to bother with the Aura Chamber. I only recently complied with the registration law myself. Promise me you will do the same as soon as Mercato is able to repair the Mirror of Collection.”
I hesitated, although I was not sure why. Everyone I knew had been to the Aura Chamber and had their aura registered, even my lawless friend, Mal. Why was I so reluctant? Perhaps because my father had never wanted me to do it and going against his wishes felt like an insult to his memory. Such a qualm on my part was rather absurd. I had certainly defied Papa often enough during my teen years when I was stealing away for my forbidden trysts with Harper.
But Horatio was still waiting for an answer. I looked up at him and forced a smile.
“I promise. But all of this is very strange, Horatio. Why would anyone destroy the mirror and steal those prisms?”
“I don’t know.” He frowned. “I fear this may be the work of a group of dissidents I have been trying to unmask for some time. They call themselves The League of the Lost Heir. There have long been rumors that when the Helavalerians took over the kingdom, a grandson of the old queen, Althea, was hidden away.”
“Those old tales? What nonsense.” I scoffed. “I have read the history of Queen Althea the Magnificently Wise many times. She was my childhood hero, but there is no mention in that book of any lost heir. It is nothing more than a legend.”
“Unfortunately, this league believes in this legend. They are determined to find this heir and mount a rebellion to put him on the throne.”
“Merciful fairies! And you think Mal might be part of this League?”
“Worse than that. I suspect he might be its leader.”
“Malcolm Hawkridge! A rebel leader?” I gave an incredulous laugh. “Mal is no warrior. He is far too pragmatic to get swept up in such a risky cause. Mal’s only ambition is to become a great magician like his grandfather. Hiram Hawkridge was once the king’s chief wizard. But he offended his majesty and lost his post. After that, all Hawkridges were denied licenses to practice magic or ever come within a mile of the royal palace.”
“That strikes me as a mighty good reason for Malcolm Hawkridge to harbor a grudge against the king and want him gone.”
“Perhaps Mal does resent King August,” I admitted. “But not enough to get involved in any mad plot to depose him. Mal hopes to amass a fortune so that he can bribe - er - I mean persuade the king to sell him a wizard’s license. That is all Mal desires.”
Well, that and one other thing. Me. After being friends for so many years, Mal had taken this notion into his head that he was in love with me, but I kept that information to myself. It certainly wouldn’t make Horatio any better disposed toward Mal.
He was already looking unconvinced by my defense of Mal. I said even more vehemently, “I swear to you, Horatio. Mal is no rebel. We have been friends forever. Iknowhim.”
“Perhaps you do not know Malcolm Hawkridge as well as you think. I can understand why you wish to believe him innocent, but?— ”
