“Your friend Quinn? The young man you grew up with?”
Lothain folded another finger down as he watched her eyes. He went on to name other longtime friends, folding a finger down each time he spoke a name. When he ran out of fingers, he opened his hand and started over naming people she knew and folding over a finger with the mention of each one.
“We know where each one of them is, and we have men standing by, keeping an eye on them in case they are needed,” he said. “I have but to give them the word and every one of those people will be suffering just like Tilly here by the end of tomorrow. Each one of those people will know that it is because you have demonstrated through your selfishness, your unwillingness to help the people of the Midlands, that it is because you are a traitor and you have brought the same fate down on them, since they, too, must be part of your conspiracy.
“Like you, they will be charged and found guilty of treason against the Midlands. Under torture, they will all eventually confess. They will all go to their eventual deaths cursing your name.
“You will be able to hear them cursing your name because you will be chained up close enough to hear their every scream. And then, when every one of them passes beyond the veil into the world of the dead, we will start in on you, and I can assure you, for being the leader of such a vile conspiracy against the Midlands, we will save the best till last. And I promise you, when we are finished with you, you will confess. Publicly.”
Magda swallowed. She was trembling all over.
“Now, Lady Searus, we have seamstresses standing by, back in the apartment of the First Wizard, my apartment, waiting to make you the wedding dress of your choice. I’m a generous man. The choice is to be up to you. They will make any dress you wish to be wed in. You see? I wish you to be pleased. Now that I think of it, though, I guess I would prefer that it not be white, because, well, you have been married to a First Wizard before.
“We have food and drink being prepared for tomorrow afternoon’s grand event. We have people from far and wide coming to attend the momentous gathering, everyone hoping to see the Midlands brought back together under a new First Wizard, hoping to see Lady Searus leading the way by giving her hand in marriage to the new First Wizard, showing that she places her trust in me, and thus, so can they.
“So, you see, the choice is yours.”
Magda tried to think, but listening to Tilly’s muffled cries was making it impossible to think. She couldn’t figure out what she could do. She couldn’t come up with a way out of it.
And then she realized that there was nothing to think about. There was no choice.
Magda swallowed again. “All right.”
“All right, what?” He smiled a wicked smile. “If you accept my proposal of marriage, then say it.”
With Tilly’s life hanging in the balance, this was no time to tempt his temper. Magda had never felt so low, so humiliated.
“Yes, First Wizard Lothain, I accept your proposal of marriage. I’ll do it. I’ll do as you say.”
“And exactly as I say. With grace and dignity.”
“Yes. Just as you say. I promise. Now let her go.”
Lothain smiled at Tilly’s wide-eyed terror. He turned back to Magda. “In due time, my dear. In due time.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that after you keep your word, after everyone sees that you are recanting all the accusations you made against me in the depth of your mindless grief, and after you prove to everyone your sincerity in that retraction by becoming my wife to show your support of me and your belief that I am the man to be First Wizard, then we will release her. But not before.
“If you carry out your part with a smile and gracious good cheer at my appointment as well as our marriage, all your other friends will never know how close they came to suffering a terrible fate. Their lives will be in your hands. If you do as you have promised, then they will celebrate in your joy at being the new wife to the new First Wizard.”
Magda was nodding. “As long as you promise to keep your word.”
“My word? My dear, my word has nothing to do with it. You carry out your part, do as you are told, and I will see if you have been cooperative enough to warrant me granting mercy to Tilly here, and to all the rest of your friends. But I can tell you that if you do it all correctly, and make everyone believe in your sincerity, then I will be in such a good mood that I will be far more interested in the pleasure you will bring me on our wedding night than harming anyone. Do we understand each other?”
Magda swallowed back her rage. “Yes.”
“Good.” He smiled. “Good.” Lothain turned and patted Tilly on the cheek. “She is a good person, is she not?”
Tilly, tears of pain and terror streaming down her cheeks, nodded. Magda doubted that Tilly even knew why she was nodding.
“Don’t worry, Tilly,” Magda said. “I will do what I have to do to keep you safe.”
Tilly’s eyes squeezed closed as she wept. Magda could just make out her muffled words of gratitude.
Lothain lifted Magda’s chin. “You know, I was going to kill you for all the trouble you’ve caused, but then it came to me that it would be much better to subvert you instead and have you undo all the harm yourself. Much better solution all around, don’t you think? Better that you live to see it, than to be dead and unaware of my triumph.”
“You had better let her go after I do what you want.”
Lothain chuckled. “I don’t care about this scrub woman. She means nothing to me. I have no need to kill her. It’s all up to you what happens to her.”
“I told you that I would do as you say.”
“Indeed you did. And I believe you mean it.” He leaned back a little as he took her in with an appraising look. “You are so weak that you would do it to save a handful of lives. You foolishly value the life of an individual over the greater good.
“You don’t have the courage it takes to be a part of such an epic struggle.
“That is why you are a nobody.”
He gestured to the guards. “Take her back to her room so that she can have the women there make her wedding dress. Stand guard out in the hall tonight. No one goes in or leaves but the seamstresses.”
The men saluted before yanking Magda away.
She could hear Tilly weeping behind her.
The corridors she was dragged though were empty. The Home Guard had apparently been dismissed by the prosecutor’s private army. The men’s bootsteps echoed through the halls. The Keep was gradually being subverted by Lothain’s looming rule. His influence, his control, was tainting everything and everyone.
In the depths of her despair, as the men were dragging Magda down the hall, in a crystal-clear instant of inspiration, it came to her.
Magda knew what she had to do.
More clearly than anything she had ever known before, Magda knew what she had to do.
Chapter 81
“Are you sure, Mistress?” The seamstress stretched her arm out to indicate all the choices that had been laid out. “Wouldn’t you like something a little more resplendent? After all, this is a big occasion, a big moment in your life in front of so many people. Wouldn’t something with more dazzle be appropriate?”
Magda smiled her assurance to the concerned woman. “Thank you, but I believe that my choice is quite striking. Adding layers of lace, needlepoint, and beads isn’t necessarily an improvement. There is power in simplicity.”
The woman’s face was a tapestry of worry lines. “If you say so, Mistress.”
“I do.” Magda, driven by an overriding purpose, made an effort to sound pleasant. “Please, make it exactly as I have shown you I want it done.”
The seamstress nodded reluctantly. “Yes, Mistress.”
It was clear that the women were concerned that they would be blamed for less than a masterpiece of layered glamour.
“And I don’t want any of you to worry,” Magda said to all the women watching her. “I will let it be known
that the dress was my choice, and my choice alone.”
That seemed to ease the tension in the room somewhat.
Having forced herself to set aside her outrage and horror, Magda had managed to gather her senses as she had been dragged back to her apartment. She knew that she had to think everything through clearly and deliberately. If she gave in to panic, or worse, resignation, she would be unable to act effectively.
Magda held no illusions about Lothain’s potential for cruelty, so while was worried for Tilly, she knew that she had done everything she could for the moment to give Tilly the best chance. She couldn’t dwell on it.
With a firm plan in mind, she had felt a resolute calm come over her. She knew what she had to do.
“And which material, Lady Searus?” the seamstress asked.
Dozens of bolts of cloth were laid out on two of the couches. There were beautiful prints as well as a wide variety of colors and exotic tone-on-tone fabrics. In addition there were yards and yards of lacework of every sort.
But Magda had spotted the right one the very first moment.
As far as Magda was concerned, there was only one choice among the wide assortment. She wanted no other.
She pointed to a simple, silken material. “This one.”
The woman looked up. Worry returned to etch itself back into her expression. “Are you sure, Mistress? Master Lothain said he didn’t think it should be white.”
“I’m sure that he was referring to a bright white. This isn’t exactly a brilliant white. I’m sure he meant that he didn’t want it to be a glaring white, that’s all.
“Besides, my future husband is not the one who will be wearing the dress. I am. This will be my day. I want to look my best.” Magda smiled warmly and sought to make it clear that she would not be dissuaded. “I think this one, this slightly off-white material, is absolutely beautiful for the purpose, don’t you agree? I love the sheen of it. It’s the most elegant of all the material here. There is none its match. It’s beautiful. I love it. It’s perfect for the purpose.”
“The purpose?”
“My rebirth.”
The woman blinked. The others, getting out shears and preparing all the needles and thread, shared furtive looks but said nothing.
“Rebirth, Mistress?” the first woman asked.
“Yes,” Magda said, her fingers leaving the lustrous material as her gaze returned to the woman staring up at her. “This will be my rebirth into a new person. Marriage is changing from a single woman into a woman devoted to her husband’s wishes, is it not? So, since I am about to be reborn into a new person, this fits the purpose.”
The seamstress smiled, even though she still looked anxious. “I see your point, Mistress.”
“You have all my measurements, then? You’re finished with all that? You have everything you need?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Good. I’ve had a very trying day. I need to get a good night’s sleep to be ready for the big day tomorrow. For my rebirth, as it were.”
The woman, still unsure, held up a finger before Magda left. “Mistress, about the cut. Master Lothain was very clear that he wanted the dress to show a lot of cleavage. I don’t mean to contradict your wishes, but—”
“Then don’t. My future husband, in his eagerness, is simply getting ahead of himself. He can wait.” Some of the women tittered. “Please make the dress as I have drawn it out.”
The seamstress’s smile widened. “Yes, Mistress. Of course. We have everything we need. The dress will be exactly to your design, I swear. We will finish it and leave it out here for you, and then close the doors on our way out so that you may get your rest. We will not disturb your sleep.”
Magda made herself smile. She touched the woman’s shoulder in gratitude.
“Thank you, ladies. Good night then.”
On her way toward the back bedroom, Magda found the folded pieces of paper in her pocket, along with the collection of small clay figures. It was the gravity spell that Merritt had given to her.
She stood staring at the paper in her hand, the little figures floating in the air above her palm, thinking.
She finally stuffed it all back into her pocket and went through the open double doors to her bedroom.
“Good night, ladies,” she said again as she closed and bolted the white double doors into the bedroom.
Chapter 82
Lothain had told his men that they should remain in the hallway outside the apartment all night to make sure that no one went in and that she didn’t leave. The guards all knew, of course, that they were several stories above the surrounding portions of the Keep. The soldiers in green tunics who had brought her back to the apartment all knew that the only way she would be able to leave was back out through the doors into the corridor where they stood guard.
Since they knew she couldn’t sneak past them, it seemed to her highly unlikely they would have any reason to come into the apartment, much less her bedroom. Lothain was covetous of her. They weren’t going to want to give the man cause to be suspicious of what they might be doing with her. Magda was relatively confident that they would stand guard but not want to come into the apartment without direct orders.
In any event, she couldn’t worry about the off chance that they would come in and check on her. She would simply have to be quick about it. She had to do what was necessary, or she was going to find herself the wife of the new First Wizard Lothain.
Without delay, Magda went to the big maple wardrobe that had belonged to Baraccus. His clothes still hung where he had left them. Magda hadn’t known what to do with them, so she had simply left them there. Before he had killed himself, he had left his war-wizard outfit in the First Wizard’s enclave. The wardrobe held a variety of other clothes, everything from old pants and shirts he wore when working at his workbench to elaborate ceremonial robes. She pushed the ceremonial robes aside to reach in on the side as far as she could.
Magda pushed in the right spot, and the door over a hidden compartment slid open. Baraccus had made the hiding place himself. Reaching inside, her fingers found the knotted rope hanging from a peg. She pulled it out, relieved that it was still there.
There had been times when Baraccus had to meet people under cover of darkness, and for the safety of the men he was meeting, those meetings had to be kept secret. Had he left the apartment by the front door and gone out through the corridors, all kinds of people would have known about it. Whenever he went out in the Keep there were always eyes watching him. He’d said that he never knew the motives of the people who saw him.
If he had been seen leaving the Keep in the middle of the night, word would have eventually gotten around. People would have wondered what he was doing, where he was going, who he was seeing. As it was, as careful as Baraccus had been, it seemed that Lothain had found out about at least some of the late-night meetings.
In an attempt to keep such meetings secret, Baraccus had kept a knotted rope hidden in his wardrobe so that he would be able to leave from the bedroom balcony. It was a drop of several stories, so people would not be expecting him to leave that way.
The rope was exactly the right length to make it safely all the way down to a shallow slate roof. The roof led to a rampart where there were old, unused exterior stairs that were hidden from view. Magda knew how to make her way from there without being seen.
She grabbed a clean, black, hooded cloak and threw it around her shoulders. She went to a cabinet and pulled her shielded travel lantern out by its wire handle. With a long splinter that she lit in one of the reflector lamps on the wall, she set flame to the wick of her travel lantern. Once the wick was adjusted low, she shut the curved metal door and latched it so it wouldn’t give off any light until she wanted it to, then hooked it on her belt.
Magda went to the bedroom doors and carefully checked the bolt to reassure herself that the doors were locked. Across the bedroom, she went out the leaded-glass door onto the balcony. It was heavily overcast and black as
pitch. Fortunately, there were a few lights around the Keep that let her see what she was doing.
Magda knelt at the edge of the balcony and slipped her hand out through the balusters, feeling over the edge for the heavy hook that Baraccus had sunk into the stone with the aid of magic. Her fingers found the hook. She slipped the loop on the end of the rope over the hook, then fed the rest of the rope out between the balusters.
Once she was confident that it was secure, she climbed over the railing and was able to lower herself down and get ahold of the rope. She started down, catching the knots between her feet for support as she carefully descended hand over hand. She had never used the rope before, and it was frightening hanging in midair in the darkness, but she kept her mind on the task and before long she touched down on the slate roof.
She was glad that it was a dark night so that no one would see her leaving.
She followed the rooftop until she reached the rampart, then ran until she found the small opening for the stairs. With no time to waste, she took them down two at a time.
Chapter 83
Magda staggered to a stop. She put her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Her legs ached. In fact, her whole body ached. She knew that Merritt was right about her needing rest. That inexorable requirement after giving herself over to the completion of the sword was rapidly catching up with her. Her lungs burned, making her cough.
She knew that if she didn’t get rest, and soon, she ran the risk of collapsing. But she couldn’t stop, not yet.
She’d walked the Keep road down to the city countless times, but the low, threatening clouds hid the moon, making it hard to see. At least they reflected some of the isolated lights down in the city of Aydindril and it was enough for her to be able to make out roads when they came in from the sides. With those landmarks she knew where she was.
This part of the road coming down the mountain from the Keep to Aydindril wound its way through dense forests. She knew that the trees would soon thin out and then she might be able to see a little better. The thing that she had to be careful of was that to her left, around some of the turns in the road, there were steep drop-offs. Carelessly taking a step too far off the edge of the road in the darkness would likely be the last step she ever made.