Page 91 of Somewhere down the Ley Line
Garren stepped forward. “I’ll come with you.”
“Me, too,” Mia said. She sniffed and waved a hand dismissively at everyone’s surprised faces. “What are those two going to do if some form of diplomacy is required?”
“If they turn out to be hostile…” Isolde began.
“We’ll retreat and regroup here,” Garren said simply. “But these people should, by all accounts, be on our side.”
Luella nodded. “Very well. Let’s go.”
***
It was an hour or two at most before they returned, but it may as well have been days. Leif kept nervously patrolling the outer edge of the camp, and Felix and Isolde sat together in tense silence.
It started as a faint buzzing in the back of her head. She stood up abruptly, startling Felix and Leif.
“They’re here,” she said, and sure enough, Garren and Luella crested the ridge at her words. Several wary-looking mercenaries followed behind. Felix wasbetween her and the group in the blink of an eye, hands at his sides but ready. Always ready, always watching.
Behind the mercenaries came Mia, walking side by side with a mage. He was young, younger than she expected, around her own age. He was tall, dressed in rich, if dusty, crimson robes. His colouring was distinctly Medraj, and shefeltthe magic in him, like she could feel it in Mia if she concentrated. But he had so much of it, swirling right there under the surface, and there was an odd wrongness about it. The current in her wanted to take it, to drain it out of him, because it did not belong there.
“Huh,” Leif remarked under his breath, flicking a glance from Felix to the mage and back again. “He’s like your fancier brother.”
Felix scowled. “Thanks, Leif.”
The mage halted some distance away and addressed Isolde directly, making eye contact that nearly sent her reeling. She stood still and composed, but on the inside she struggled to keep her magic under control. Not since they first left Azuill had it been this difficult. She could not let him get closer; she’d hurt him. Her feet stumbled backwards of their own accord.
“Lady Isolde,” the mage began, “it is good to meet you. I am Caelian Aquilinus of the Lledia mage circle. My esteemed colleague, the mage Kaeloth, bid me escort you onward to the Nexus, where he awaits. The preparations for the, ah, ritual near completion.” His voice had a melodic, southern accent. He spoke calmly, but his speech sounded rehearsed. There was palpable nervousness in the way he gripped his staff, his knuckles white with the strain, and the way his eyes shifted between her and his guards. He was scared.
Isolde did not answer him for a heartbeat or two, looking him over. Then she took a steadying breath and clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. She was in control. She wouldstayin control, because she had come too far to lose it now. “You have many armed guards with you for someone who is simply here to escort me,” she said, her voice sounding much more composed than she felt.
The mage – Caelian – startled, making an almost comical flapping motion with his hands. “I, ah, that is – the Surgelands are a dangerous place. One can never be too careful.”
She nodded. Mia caught her eye and winked.
“Very well,” Isolde said. “I will be glad to travel to the Nexus with you, tomorrow morning. However, because of your nature as a mage, it would be best if you camped a little ways away from us. For your own safety.” She allowed herself a toothy smile that did not reach her eyes.
The mage swallowed thickly, then glanced sideways at Mia, who nodded. “Ah, yes. That is probably wise,” he agreed. “We will make camp just, ah – there.”
Isolde breathed a sigh of relief once Caelian disappeared behind the ridge. The presence of his magic receded to a quiet hum in the back of her mind.
“I understand why mages are so afraid of leytouched, now…” she said quietly as she stared in the distance.
Mia joined her and Felix by the fire. “Ugh, I hate mages,” she began, a sour expression on her face. “He is technically Kaeloth’s apprentice, although he is a fully fledged mage. He is from Arenoria, in the Medraj, originally. And he is absolutely terrified of Isolde.” She grinned widely.
Felix glowered. “He should be.”
“From what I gathered,” Mia continued in a low voice, “Kaeloth sent him to see if she can control her power or not, but Caelian didn’t exactly volunteer for this potential suicide mission. His regard for Kaeloth is chilly at best. I suspect that at least half the mercenaries he has with him have orders to rush back and report to the Nexus right away if you were to snuff the little mage’s lights out by accident.”
“That is what I thought,” Isolde said, chewing her bottom lip. “It is what someone like Kaeloth would do, isn’t it? Put others in harm’s way on his behalf. I wonder how much Caelian truly knows.”
Mia smirked. “The idiot got pulled into this on false pretences, and he has no idea what is really going on. That’s my guess, anyway.”
Isolde glanced sideways at the bard. “Perhaps… His magical ability seems strong, though. Do you think you could get more information out of him…? Tomorrow, on the way?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
***
Isolde couldn’t sleep. Felix had dragged their bedding away from the rest of the group, muttering about privacy and wanting more distance from “that mage”. She didn’t mind being further from the fire; his body heat was plenty to keep her warm, and the night sky was spectacular in the dark.
