Halfway (Wizards and Faeries) Read online

  They placed the body on a cushioned sofa, lit candles nearby, and left.

  It was all too eerie.

  I crept into the room towards the body, my breath sounding harshly loud to my ears. In the light of the few candles, I could see a young man lying still, eyes shut. His black hair was plastered by the rain to his face, which was pale.

  I was about to turn away when his eyelids fluttered, revealing steel-gray eyes red-rimmed from exhaustion.

  His eyes darted wildly, taking in the surroundings, registering alarm at seeing me. His arm shot out, grabbing my wrist in a strong but almost skeletal grip.

  I gasped as I felt a mental assault. His mind bored into mine. His consciousness, though keen and skilled, was fogged and panicky. But I could feel its strength. He had done this before.

  Who are you? he demanded.

  Cemanga. I was taken aback. You—you are in my head. I probed a bit into his mind. You’re injured.

  That’s not your concern, he shot back, evidently understanding my thoughts. I see I am at my father’s house, but I have never seen you before. You will tell me who you are.

  He invited me to stay here. Annoyance laced my tone. I’m searching for my brother in the Wizardly Order. Von Chi invited me to stay here.

  I felt him turn to my mind, trying to press through the mental barriers holding my thoughts. I tried to pull my hand from his grasp, but he held tightly for one so weak.

  Get out of my head! And release my arm!

  He ignored me, delving roughly into my mind, searching. As I struggled, he looked through my past, skimming through memories of Temet’s face that I held so dear.

  Stop! Those are private!

  He kept going.

  Anger boiled inside me. I lashed back, plunging into his mind in return. He hesitated in surprise at my assault.

  Let’s see. Your name is Ormas, son of the duke. Three of your ribs are broken, something you’ve been trying to ignore for days, but it finally overcame you. Your mother is dead. You have suspicions about the nature of your mother’s relationship with—

  Don’t you dare! he hissed back at me.

  Should have asked permission before you went into my mind. Don’t like it so much, do you? You can’t handle me! I taunted.

  I can handle you, puny child!

  I gritted my teeth. Don’t call me that! I withdrew my mind’s touch, probing only on the surface, feeling his rough breathing and broken ribs. He was in pain. I concentrated, mending his ribs, my Magic welding the broken bones and torn muscles together again.

  His eyes widened. You healed me!

  A door opened somewhere in the silence and I heard footsteps. Yanking my hand from Ormas’ startled grasp, I turned and ran back to my room.

  Ormas was pleasing on the eyes, even dripping with rain and injured. Especially with that inky-black hair. I wondered what it would look like dry. And that impressive jaw line… I chuckled to myself as I lay in the dark.

  I shook my head. He was the duke’s son, probably engaged to some foreign noblewoman. I was not fit for him, and I had a mission, anyway. I had to find Temet.

  I had to find Temet.

  I had to find Temet.

  My, but Ormas had very nice shoulders!

  I really had to find Temet.

  Chapter 14

  Cemagna

  Cold.

  On my face, so cold.

  I was trying to sleep! I tried to turn over.

  And felt something trickling down my face. Sleepily, I reached for it and felt wetness.

  I opened my eyes to find that it was still dark outside. Did the sun ever rise here? I looked down at my hand and found it was dark with blood.

  I blinked. Blinking hurt. What was wrong with me?

  Throwing off the bedclothes, I sat up, reaching to light a candle. When it was lit, I carried it over to the mirror and stared at my face.

  My forehead was bleeding from a pinprick, a tiny rivulet of blood running down towards my cheek. I noticed a darkness in my hair. There was an identical pinprick on the right side of my head. I turned to the other side. There was a pinprick at the left side, too. I ran a hand through my hair and pressed on the pinpricks, trying to stop the bleeding. What was happening to me?

  My knees shaking, I reached for a handkerchief and dabbed at the blood on my head.

  But I couldn’t go back to sleep again. I needed air, but it was still raining outside, and I was already shivering. Was it from cold or fear?

  I grabbed my shawl, wrapped it around myself, and opened my bedroom door. It was dark in the corridor beyond. Gulping big breaths to calm down, I walked down the corridor, passing door after identical door. Was it darker in here than last time?

  “Didn’t your mother tell you it’s rude to poke about in people’s houses?” The voice, male, shot out from the dimness like the crack of a whip.

  “Who’s there?” I spun around, but could see no one. It was too dark. “And no, she didn’t,” I added.

  “She didn’t? What kind of mother is that?”

  “We didn’t go to other people’s houses. There were no other people, just her and me.” I kept looking around, trying to find the owner of the voice.

  “No other people? How sad. Well, not quite as sad as what happened to my mother. Hah. And he thinks I don’t know.” I heard a soft thump-thump, as if two bare feet landed on the floor after jumping down from a high perch.

  The lightning flashed again. Out of the corner of my vision I saw a pair of eyes, the outline of a head, and a pair of clasped hands. Ormas. I spun to face him, but the room had gone dark again.

  I took a deep breath. “Ormas, why are you hiding? Afraid you’ve met your match at mind-probing? To be honest, I’d never even done that before. I didn’t know it could be done.”

  I heard the sharp sound as he lit a match. A moment later, his face came into view, holding a candle.

  “Now I’m not hidden.” His black hair was tied back and eyes looked like dark holes in this light. His face was strong and angular. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

  “I should ask you that. A few hours ago you had broken ribs.”

  “I know; I couldn’t sleep. I was gone for a long time, and I forgot how to have a good night’s sleep. When you’re afraid for your life, you learn to sleep lightly. So I can’t sleep at all in the rain.”

  “Where did you go?”

  He ignored the question. “You really should return to bed, you know. Strange things walk the halls at night, even stranger than me. This house was said to be haunted for generations. Come, I’ll guide you back to your bed.”

  “Something’s wrong with me. My head’s bleeding.”

  He held the light closer, peering at my hand. I heard a whispered curse. He spoke. “The bleeding’s stopped now. You must have hurt yourself in your sleep. Perhaps you should cut your fingernails.”

  I frowned. “I hurt myself? In three separate places on my head? While I was asleep? That’s your explanation?” I held out my hands. “My fingernails are short and well-groomed. No sharp edges. Ormas, something was in my room!”

  He sighed. “All right,” he said, fishing something out of a pocket. “Here.” He held it up. It was a skeleton key. “This is a master key. Use it to lock your door. Like I said, this place was haunted once.”

  Gratefully, I took the key and made my way back to my room. Talking to Ormas had calmed me. His confidence, his intense eyes, his scent like exotic spices, his nice shoulders…

  I shook my head, locking my door behind me. A small voice inside me told me this place was dangerous, but I squelched it. Here lay my only source of help in finding my long-lost brother. And Ormas was here.

  I awoke in the morning to a soft tapping at my door. Unlocking it with the key, I opened the door to find Ormas there.

  He was far better looking in the daylight. His black hair had dried and now bore a nice, inky sheen. He was tall, with olive skin and gray eyes framed with bold, thick eyebrows.

  “Come
with me,” he said before I could open my mouth. Taking my hand, he led me through hallways and up staircases. Curious, I did not protest.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, still only partially awake.

  “Look,” he pointed out a window.

  In the distance, I could see the city, glinting under early morning sunlight. Beyond was a forest, entirely dark, and beyond that, just barely visible, was something else above the trees. I squinted, staring. Something else glinted the same way the city had… above the trees.

  “Is that—?”

  “It’s the Order,” he said. “It’s beyond the forest, but you can’t really see it unless you look from a high window. Many of the people in the city don’t even know it’s there. It’s… in the sky.”

  “In the sky?”

  “It floats partially in the sky. They have their own fleet of ships, too.”

  “Why? How?”

  “My father believes it has to do with their Magic. The atmosphere dampens their Magic, so they go where there is less atmosphere.”

  I stared out at the Order. Temet. My brother, after all these years. Emotion overcame me, and I turned away.

  “Cemagna, are you all right?”

  “I think I’ll go back to my room now,” I whispered, heading for the staircase.

  I broke into a run halfway down the stairs, racing to the bedroom. In the bedroom, I went to the desk that sat in the corner and searched through its drawers until I found a pen and several sheets of paper. Carefully, I began a drawing. It was Nessy and Temet, as I remembered them. Nessy was looking down at Temet, her face kind and her eyes happy. Temet smiled up at her. It was heart-wrenching to draw.

  I lay down my pen and wept into my hands.

  Feeling a touch on my arm, I looked up to see Ormas.

  “Cemagna,” he said softly.

  “I grew up alone,” I murmured through tears. “Alone. They took him from me, and then Nessy died soon after. I was just a child, and I was alone. Who does that to a child?”

  “Cemagna, the Wizardly Order is not a nice organization. It exists to control wizards as surely as a leash would. It’s the law—anyone with wizard abilities must join the Order. And they’re never the same again. You might not even know Temet.”

  “I’d at least like to be able to make the choice whether I want to know him or not.” I put my face in my hands and sobbed again, quietly.

  “Cemagna, my father will help you find Temet. You must be patient. He is busy, but he will come to you soon. He knows about the Order and how to find someone inside there.”

  Though Duke Von Chi did not come that day, Ormas stayed with me for the rest of the day. He had just arrived home from a long, dangerous trip and wanted to relax. I felt my loneliness lessen as we told each other stories, played a game involving cards with pictures on them, and shared meals Garolda brought us. Ormas had a ready laugh, a mischievous eye, and a confidence I envied.

  When night fell, which was far too soon for my taste, he bade me farewell and returned to his own room in another part of the house.

  I lay in bed, feeling strangely happy, my eyes closed. Was I falling for Ormas? Was that what this strange giddiness meant? I had read about it in books and had a theoretical knowledge of it but had never dreamed I would experience it. But now… I had to admit it to myself. I most certainly was falling for him.

  Maybe, perhaps after I had completed my search for Temet, there could be something between Ormas and me. It would be nice to…

  I suddenly felt cold all over. Had I dozed off? There was a stir in the air, as if another person was my room. I kept my eyes shut.

  I heard a soft whisper, barely spoken.

  “not a machine. So much better.”

  I felt something cold and liquid inching its slow way across my forehead. I was too afraid to move or open my eyes.

  Something was near me. Something was touching me. Wasn’t the master key supposed to keep me safe? I felt a stab of pain in three places at once. I had felt it before. I wasn’t surprised at all at the next thing I felt: blood slowly tricking down my forehead.

  I moved—the faint stir of a sleeper to whoever was in the room with me. A sharp hiss reached my ears and I heard footsteps withdrawing, leaving the room.

  Sleepily, I raised my head to look around. I was alone.

  My heart thudding in my chest, I reached to light a candle. My hand was shaking. Someone had been here, within breathing distance of me, and had made me bleed.

  Lighting the candle, I went to the mirror and held the light near my face. The same points of blood had formed… the one on my forehead had already partially trickled down my face. I examined it closer. Perfectly round, as if someone had placed some sort of instrument on my head.

  I was shaking so hard the light from the candle bounced all over my face. Someone in this house was doing something to me at night! How long had this been happening? I couldn’t remember how many days I had been here. I had to leave the palace! This had all been a lie!

  Quickly, I changed from the nightgown into my own clothes, wiping away the blood that kept trickling down my face. My head was beginning to throb and I felt weak. How much blood had I lost?

  Tearing a strip from the sheet, I bound my head to stop the bleeding. Tying my boots, I panted as I stood up. Weak. Blood loss. How much?

  Quietly, I opened the door and stole out into the hall, shivering at the chill I felt.

  I had to leave… to escape.

  I crept down the stairs, towards the courtyard where I knew I could get away into the city. I could hide in the city until… I didn’t know. Somehow, I had to get to those towers in the sky, even if I had to climb to them myself.

  “Not that way!” a voice hissed. “It’s being watched.” It was Ormas.

  “Ormas,” I demanded, stopping and turning. He sat in a stone alcove in the wall, next to a life-sized marble statue of a man stabbing himself through the heart with a dagger.

  “They… they’re doing something to me at night. Someone is. It could be you, even; I don’t know. Why do I wake up with my head bleeding?” I demanded. “How long have I been here, anyway? It’s been a few days, right? The duke still hasn’t paid me his promised visit about finding my brother!”

  “You’ve been here for three weeks,” he said, his eyes sad.

  “What? No, I haven’t!”

  “Keep your voice low,” he whispered. “You have. My father’s been drugging you to forget.”

  “What? Why?” I hissed.

  “He wants to study you. You could say it’s a hobby of his… studying unusual, magical people.”

  “What? I’m not magical! That’s what got me into this. They took Temet because he could use Magic and I couldn’t.”

  Ormas reached out and grabbed my hand. He pulled me close. “Follow me.”

  “What are you doing?” I demanded, trying to jerk my hand away. I noticed he had changed clothing, now wearing light gray tones, and had a bag slung over his shoulder.

  “I’m getting you out of here.” He emerged from the alcove and led me to a narrow door. He opened the door into blackness, then stepped through. “Old servant staircase, never used,” he whispered. “Come on.”

  I stepped into the blackness to discover a step solidly under my feet.

  I followed Ormas down the staircase in silence, wondering if I should trust him. I was a stranger to this place… did I have any chance at all of surviving here on my own? Had I ever had a chance?

  Ormas… I decided that if I was going to trust my fate to anyone, it should be him. And he had such nice eyes, too...

  I shook my head in the dark. Now was not the time to be thinking of Ormas’ eyes! Now was the time to escape this freakish palace!

  We reached the bottom of the staircase, or so I guessed, for the ground under our feet was now flat. I could hear Ormas feeling around in the dark for something. I heard a click and moonlight from the outside world streamed in through the door as he opened it.

&nbs
p; Ormas went through, and I followed, gulping breaths of free air.

  Snow! I’d been so busy in my activities with Ormas that I had not realized it had snowed.

  The moon was bright. I could see snow-covered manicured gardens far to my right, the tall stone wall encircling everything, trapping us in. Ormas motioned towards a patch of trees to our left. “Quickly,” he whispered, then turned to run towards them. I followed.

  Once safely under the trees, he made his way towards the wall. “What are you doing?” I asked. “The gate is the other way, by the gardens.”

  He shook his head. “The gate may be watched.” He swallowed. “When I was a boy, I used to sneak out and go into the city. There’s a tree that overhangs the wall somewhere over here.”

  A tree. Excellent. Climbing on the roof of my house by the cliff was easy for me; this should be easy as well.

  Ormas pointed to the tree, a tall one with branches that did indeed overhang the wall. I climbed it with ease, and Ormas followed me.

  I climbed out onto the overhanging branch, over the wall and dropped to the ground below. Ormas joined me on the ground. Around us were the thickly-packed buildings of the city.

  Within the span of a moment, Ormas grabbed my hand and pulled me towards an alley beside the nearest building.

  I jerked my hand from his grasp. “Ormas!” I demanded. “Tell me! Why does Von Chi want me? What would he do with me? I’m not a wizard!”

  “He wanted to study you because you are part faerie, and those are very, very rare.”

  “What? How does he know what I am?”

  “It’s obvious to any trained eye that you are part faerie. Halfway, actually, to use the technical term. The offspring of a faerie and a human. Very rare. He wanted to study you the second he laid eyes on you—that’s why he took you in.” He cocked his head. “My father’s not a kind man. He doesn’t take in strays unless he benefits from it.”

  I was stunned. Betrayed. Was no one in this city even capable of kindness?

  “Then I met you,” he continued. “I don’t want him to hurt you.”

  “What would he do?” my voice was a whisper.

  “He would study you in your sleep with his instruments at first. You’d never know, except he was sloppy about it so you found out. But once he had learned all he could that way… he has something. In the underground levels. He—he built a machine to look at people’s minds and read their Talents.”