Page 41 of A Tower of Half-Truths
The phrase “deadly serious” danced on the tip of her tongue, but she thought better of it.
“Sorry.” She flattened her smile. “What is it?”
“Have you ever wondered how wizards manage to be so long-lived? How even those without elven ancestry can live as long as the Nilandorens?”
“I’d always assumed it had something to do with magical blood.”
“You’re halfway there. If it were merely a matter of arcana,allmages would live a century and a half or more. Archmage Seringoth is among the oldest wizards in the world—a hundred and forty-three, if memory serves—but he should have dieddecadesago, dozens of times over. Remember when I once told you wizards are given certain privileges?”
She nodded.
“Well, chief among those is that we can be resurrected.”
“What!?”
Her jaw dropped. She had heard rumors of resurrections, but had always assumed they, like most things pertaining to wizards, were nothing more than that.
“Spellcraft, alchemy, what-have-you…these all come with risks. And when those risks prove lethal, assistants are duty-bound to follow their wizard’s resurrection protocol.”
“Why the hells didn’t you tell me this upfront?”
“Because this knowledge is not meant to be shared with the general populace. But now, I will be testing some potentially volatile spells. The chances of a fatal accident are notincrediblylikely, but they are more than zero. If that happens, I will need you to resurrect me.”
Her eyes widened. “And how am I supposed to do that? I know a little healing magic, but—”
“Don’t worry, you won’t need to cast any spells. There is a loose floorboard beneath my bed. Beneaththat, you will find a box containing everything you need. It is imperative, though, that you follow the protocol as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less likely I will be able to return. And, of course, there are other stipulations, but…” He shook his head. “We need not get into those now. My protocol will explain everything, if and when the time comes.”
“ ‘Ifand when’?”
He winced. “Er…one should always prepare for the worst.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the bedroom door. Whatever this “protocol” entailed, it had to be valuable, if it was capable of bringing someone back from the dead. She should have trusted her instincts and checked for loose floorboards when she’d had free rein of the apartment.
“Why not show me now, give it a trial run?” she asked.
“I’d rather not, but I can assure you it’s all very straightforward. If you’re capable of learning Soudremancy on your own, this will be child’s play. Just follow my instructions and you will be fine.Iwill be fine.” He absently scratched his chest. “Don’t forget: I was once an assistant in your exact position. I myself have been through the protocol several times. I wouldn’t task you with this if I didn’t think you could handle it.”
She should have been thrilled that he trusted her with this secret protocol, that her plan was working. Yet, she was left with a sense of foreboding. Was the procedure so horrifying, he thought she would back out once she knew what it required?
“All right,” she said. “But tell me you’re not going to test any dangerous spellsrightnow.You don’t look like you’re in any state to do that.”
He ran his fingers through his thoroughly mussed hair. “I won’t, and I know. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Mavery narrowed her eyes.
“None at all.” Alain shrugged. “Can’t let something as mundane assleepget in the way of a research breakthrough.”
“What breakthrough?”
“I can’t tell you yet.” When she opened her mouth, readying a rebuttal, he added quickly, “This isn’t related to the Sensing spell. Notdirectly, at least. But you can assist me with something else in the meantime.”
He pulled his notebook from his pocket, tore out a page, and handed it to her. At first, she struggled to decipher his scribblings, but she soon recognized them as a list of alchemical herbs, minerals, and solvents. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, until she came to the final item on the list: powdered kutauss claws.
Kutausses were often bred in captivity, declawed, and sold as exotic pets. Mavery suspected the one presiding over the lobby downstairs was a victim of that very practice. Their claws were ground into a powder that was popular among poisoners, while the kutausses themselves were popular pets among the wealthy. Neither could be sourced from an ordinary shopkeeper; the demonspawn trade was exclusive to the black market.
What business did Alain have with such an ingredient? A single teaspoon was enough to sap the arcana from a dozen mages, and he wantedtwo ouncesof it. Was his alchemy hobby more nefarious than he let on?
“Some of these ingredients are a tad…exotic,” Mavery said.
