Page 69 of Somewhere down the Ley Line
Mia chewed her lip for a moment. She glanced at Felix, then focused on Isolde. “I heard a wild story about Felix leaving town in a hurry on midsummer night. Some mysterious job nobody knew anything about.”
Isolde pressed her lips together and nodded. Of course, the events of the midsummer night ball and her hurried flight from Azuill had not gone unnoticed.
“Then the rumours about the appearance, and immediate disappearance, of a leytouched started going around,” Mia continued, “supposedlyalsoon midsummer night. Two noble houses and the mage circle tried their best to quash these rumours, but anyone with half a brain could tell you that the worst thing you can do if you want a story to die is to try to stop people from spreading it. Then it was said this leytouched was a noblewoman who had been smuggled out of town to be taken north to the Surgelands. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“Which two noble houses?” Garren asked.
Mia looked at him. “The Trevalyans. And the Laghains.”
Isolde’s heart sank at the names, even though it was hardly a surprise. Luella threw her a concerned look. “Tell me about the mage circles,” Isolde said, keeping her voice carefully controlled.
“They seem to be divided into two camps; the majority believe you should be… eliminated, but there is a small but vocal group who argue you must reach the Nexus for some kind of ritual. Nobody seems to know what it entails, including most mages. The Archmage, however, is firmly in the former camp. In addition, there are many rumours of the increasing instability of magic, and some say this ritual is the solution. The mage who arranged with your father to send you on your way –”
“Kaeloth,” Felix said. “I spoke with him that night. He talked to his colleague about a binding and an opportunity.”
Something told Isolde this was important, but there was too much information to digest. She’d come back to it later.
“Right,” Mia continued, “Kaeloth. He is the one who is travelling to the Nexus. Against the Archmage’s orders, if the gossip is to be believed. He has a small contingent of mages with him, as well as a large mercenary force. Black Bears. I believe he is ahead of you by a few weeks, considering he travelled by road.”
“Well, but this is good news,” Garren said. “This mage is the one who told Lord Trevalyan that Lady Isolde might be cured at the Nexus. He wants to perform this ritual.”
Felix narrowed his eyes at Garren. “Whatever Kaeloth is planning,” he said, “I don’t trust him. I don’t think any of us should.”
“Lord Trevalyan trusted him,” Garren said dismissively. “That should be more than good enough for you.”
Felix looked ready to argue the point, but ground his teeth and crossed his arms instead. “You claimed to know who is ahead and who is following,” Felix said. “If that mage is ahead, who is behind?”
Mia glanced sideways at Isolde and grimaced before replying. “Your father.”
Isolde startled. Her father was travelling north? Why would he do that? Did he regret sending her off? Discomfort coiled in her stomach. She wished she could tell herself that he was coming to ensure her safety, but that was not the kind of man – the kind of father – he was. If he was leaving all his affairs behind, it was notout of his great love for her. There was something else. Questions upon questions, uncertainty in every direction. It made her feel cold, and alone.
She lowered her chin and closed her eyes. “And the bounty?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“The Laghains. Sorry, sweetheart.”
Isolde flinched as if Mia had slapped her. Bastiel? Bastiel was paying people to have hermurdered?
When her father told her his family broke off the engagement, what may as well have been a lifetime ago, she felt nothing. No anger or sadness, not even humiliation. She understood she was no longer a suitable match for him, marked as she was. But why would he want her dead? She had kissed him, envisioned a life with him… slept with him. The memory now made her feel sick. She’d thought of him as her future husband! He had always treated her well, even if there was no fire or very much affection between them, unlike… She glanced at Felix. He was staring murderously into the distance, his hand clenched around the axe at his side.
“Thank you, Mia, for everything you’ve told us,” she said, averting her gaze and struggling to keep her voice calm. “But I think I need a moment.” She turned and walked away into the gathering darkness without another word.
24
A spark and a storm
The rest of them stood around awkwardly after Isolde left.
“Who are the Laghains?” Leif asked curiously, breaking the silence.
Felix was seething. “Her fuckingfiancéput a bounty on her head. That motherfucker.”
Gutting was too good for the little shit. He deserved a slow, drawn out death.
Garren looked sideways at him. “How did you know that?”
He rolled his eyes. “She told me, Garren.” After he saw a memory of the slimy bastard in her mind, that was. But that was none of Garren’s business.
Mia nodded. “Someone in that family did, yes. A substantial bounty, too.” She addressed Garren and Luella when she continued. “They tried to keep it covered up, of course, but I got my information directly from the Duskrend knight-captain.”
