Page 67 of A Tower of Half-Truths
“Well, now I’m evenmoreintrigued.”
He gazed around the room. “This is not the proper place for it, though. To get the full effect, we’ll need to go outside. Ideally, somewhere that’s bustling with activity.”
“You’re not going to elaborate, are you?”
“And spoil the surprise?” He gave her a tired but nonetheless enthused grin. “No, you know me too well.”
Twenty-One
It didn’t take Alain long to find a suitable spot. The street immediately outside Steelforge Towers wasn’t exactly “bustling” in the middle of the afternoon, but there was a steady flow of pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages. After a wave of traffic lulled, Alain walked into the middle of the street and stopped.
“What are you doing?” Mavery called from the curb.
He waved for her to follow him. She glanced up and down the street to ensure the way was still clear, then came to his side.
“You must be out of your godsdamned—”
He grasped her by the shoulders, spun her until her back was flush against his chest.
“Don’t move,” he said.
“What are you—”
“Keep looking forward. Focus on that lamppost.”
She hadn’t known what to expect from this spell demonstration, but playing in the street like a pair of schoolchildren hadn’t been her first guess. Feeling ridiculous, she laughed but decided to humor him.
“Are you ready?”
“Sure,” she said with a nod.
“All right. Stay perfectly still.”
A chill cut through the air as Alain spoke Etherean. Like theincantation she’d heard him practicing upstairs, this one was a long string of syllables spoken in a steady meter. Etherean had always sounded a bit like poetry to her untrained ear, but never had that comparison been more appropriate.
She relaxed against him, letting the vibration of his voice resonate through her. Though she wanted to close her eyes and lose herself in those strange yet beautiful words, she continued focusing on the lamppost.
When he finished the incantation, the final syllables were barely above a whisper. Calling upon the Ether for so long had left him breathless, as if he’d been running for miles. Mavery knew he hadn’t moved, but she somehow could no longer feel the pressure of his hands on her shoulders, his chest against her back. Even her own body seemed lighter.
She tore her gaze from the lamppost long enough to see that they were no longer alone. Traffic passed by them, but no one paid any mind to the two people standing in the middle of the street. She looked back to the post. A carriage, led by a pair of horses, had just rounded the corner.
It was heading straight toward them.
“Er, Alain, we need to move.” Her voice was delayed, distant, like an echo in a deep cave.
“Just wait.” His voice contained that same echo-like quality. He was too calm for someone who was about to be run over.
The carriage moved closer. How were the horses not startled? How could the driver not notice them?
“Trust me,” Alain said when the horses were only three feet away. Then two, then…
Mavery winced, but then the horses completely passed through her, followed by the carriage, as though they’d only been in her imagination. She’d felt nothing, not even the cobblestones beneath her feet. She’d heard nothing—no hooves, no wheels, no wind. Though she could see the world moving around her, it had grown completely silent.
She looked down and gasped. Her body had become translucent, and it glowed with the same pure light of the orb she’d conjured earlier. She began to turn around.
“Don’t move,” Alain said softly. “Too much movement will break the spell.”
“Are we invisible?”
