The AGI grimaced. “I’m working on it, but I don’t know how long it will take, or even if I can do it.” A second later he muttered, “I hope the rest of your family is nicer.”
Matthew didn’t reply. Instead he exerted his will and activated the circle.
***
They appeared in the middle of the large main circle within the transfer house at Castle Cameron. He had debated his choice internally several times over the past few days, since he really didn’t want to face the inevitable fuss that would arise when he got home. He could have gone to Lancaster, or the private circle in his workshop that no one knew about, but either way, eventually he would have to face his mother.
It was best to do it all at once.
The guard inside the transfer house spotted him at once and stiffened to attention. “Master Matthew!”
He waved his hand dismissively. “That’s enough of that, Doug. How are things here? Specifically, how is my mother?”
Doug smirked. “Your lady mother will be pleased to see you. So pleased she might never let you leave again, if you take my meaning, milord. You should expect an enthusiastic homecoming. The entire castle has been worried in your absence.”
“That bad, eh? Damn.”
“Your father is back,” added Doug. “Lady Moira found him in Dunbar.”
That was good news, though it gave him a faint twinge of jealousy that his sister would get the credit for rescuing Dad. He pushed the feeling aside quickly, since it was obviously an unworthy thought. More importantly… “How is he? Was he hurt?”
The guard nodded. “He’s fine, better to ask about the residents of the city. Your sister laid siege to it to get him out.”
Matthew’s brows went up in surprise. “Siege? She didn’t have an army when we split up.”
“She started a civil war of some sort,” said Doug. “Killed their King and half the citizens by the time she was done.”
“Moira did?!” Matthew gaped at him. “I’ve only been gone a month!” Searching his memory about Dunbar’s political structure, he added, “Darogen is dead?”
“Yeah, he was possessed by some sort of evil spirit. Sir Gram was too, but she repossessed Sir Gram, or something like that. Then she did something to some of the people and helped ’em to cast the demons out of the others, but it all got rather bloody. Your mother’s been sending men and supplies back and forth to Dunbar to help them recover.
“You missed the trial two days ago,” added Doug. “They called a high justice from Lothion to oversee it. They caught that girl, Alyssa, the one that helped kidnap your sister Irene.”
“They did?”
“Yeah, everybody thought she’d be put to death for sure, but Sir Gram is in love with her, and—you’ll never guess what else!” Doug was positively bubbling with excitement over his news.
“What?”
“She’s Sir Cyhan’s daughter! Nobody knew! He went before the court and begged ’em to let her live. He broke down and wept in front of the crowd, the judge, an’ everyone. I couldn’t believe it.”
Matthew had trouble believing it himself. He had never known the big man to show any emotions. It was rare enough to see him smile. Alyssa was his daughter?! “Well! What happened?”
“She got six months in jail and five years of servitude to your family.”
That seemed awfully light for the crimes she had committed. “That’s it?”
“Lady Hightower defended her before the judge, said there were extenuatin’ circumstances,” Doug informed him. “I didn’t really understand all of what they said, but the gist of it was that she was forced to it by her uncle.”
Matthew?
It was Moira’s mind reaching out to him. Yeah, I’m back, he answered.
Dad’s back, she told him, but Mom’s going to kill you when she sees you. You’d better brace yourself.
Her mind felt different somehow, though he couldn’t put his finger on what the difference was. It was still Moira, but she had changed. It made him wonder just how much she had been through. I expected that, he told her. The guard here has started telling me about some of what’s been happening.
A lot has changed, she replied. There was a dark undercurrent to her thought.
Are you all right? he asked. I heard you had a war of some sort.
Her response was delayed. You’ll hear about it soon enough. She broke contact after that.
“Matthew?”
He blinked. Doug was still talking to him. “Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts.”
“I was telling you that the other guard’s gone to tell them about your return. You should probably head in to the keep. Unless you want to have your reunion in the yard.”
“Sure,” he answered. “You’re right. Thanks, Doug.” He stepped out into the sunshine and started walking toward the main door to the keep, but his thoughts were on Moira. He didn’t know what had happened to her, but she had seemed withdrawn. It wasn’t like her to end a conversation so abruptly, either.
Gram met him at the door, a faint smile on his face. “Long time no see.”
“I hear you had an adventure,” said Matthew.
His friend nodded. “If you want to call it that. I intercepted the guard, by the way. He would have had half the staff out here in less than a minute, but you’d better go in and see your family as quick as you can. It’ll be easier than if you wait for them to hear the news. I don’t think Jerod can hold his tongue for more than a few minutes, no matter how much I threaten him.”
“Thanks,” said Matt gratefully.
Gram nodded, the sunlight flashing through his blond hair. “No problem, and thank you, the armor you made saved my ass more than once.”
He puffed out his chest with mock self-importance. “Of course. I am the best enchanter in Lothion, after all.”
The young warrior chucked him on the shoulder. “You won’t hear any argument from me on that.” Gram glanced backward. “You’d better hurry. We can catch up later, after your mother finishes chewing on you.”
With a sigh, Matthew stepped through the main door and into the keep. He walked briskly and greeted the various staff in the corridors with a quick smile but avoided any more conversations. If he delayed, the news would get to his parents before he did.
When he reached the door to his family’s suite, he was rewarded by the surprised looks on the guards’ faces there. He passed between them and into the anteroom. The door that led from there was actually a portal. When opened by a stranger, it led into the rooms his family maintained inside the castle keep, but when opened by certain people, such as himself, it activated a magical gate that led to his family’s true residence, a home secreted away in the Elentir mountains.
The moment he went through, he let his magesight roam widely, showing him the lay of the house. His younger brother and sister weren’t there, though they might be outside or visiting someone. Moira had been in the castle, which was why she had sensed his arrival, so she wasn’t there either.
It was only his parents in the house. His father was in his study, his head lifting from his work as his magesight showed him Matthew’s entry. His mother was doing something in the bedroom, still none the wiser.
He felt a faint brush of aythar as his father examined him more closely, assuring himself that his son was still whole. I’m fine, Dad, he said, sending the thought out as he examined his father in return.
Go see your mother first, replied Mordecai. She’ll feel better if you do. She’s been sick with worry.
Matthew nodded, knowing his father would see the gesture despite the walls between them, and headed for his parents’ bedroom. Drawing in a deep breath, he opened the door and walked in.
Penny, the Countess di’ Cameron, was sitting in the middle of the bed, her legs crossed, wearing a dressing gown. She was surrounded by piles of letters and reports. She had never liked desks. At the noise, her eyes lifted from the paper in her hands and met his.
A riot of emotions ran across her
features in the space of a second as she stared at him in surprise. Then she leapt from the bed, her sudden movement sending paper flying in every direction as she sailed across the room.
He braced himself before she struck, like a storm at sea, her arms wrapping him in an iron embrace, threatening to drown him. If he hadn’t had a shield close against his skin, he feared she might have broken him in half.
“Let that damned shield down!” she ordered. “Let me feel my son.”
He did, tensing his body in anticipation of the crush, but her grip softened. In truth, her dragon-bond made her strong enough to break ribs if she wasn’t careful.
“Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been? How worried I’ve been?!”
“I have some inkling,” he observed quietly.
She pushed him back, holding his head between her hands so she could see his face, “I would murder you if it weren’t for the fact that that’s exactly what I’ve been afraid of all month!”
“I know, Mom.”
“You idiot,” she growled, pulling him back in again. “Why didn’t you send word? Where have you been?”
“Well…,” he began.
“Wait, your father will want to hear this too,” she said, stopping him.
“He’s almost here,” Matt informed her. “He noticed me come in.”
A few seconds later his father was standing in the doorway, hands on his hips and a wry smile on his face. “Well, well, if it isn’t our long-lost son!” He dropped the façade a moment later and pulled Matthew into a bear hug.
Matt really didn’t care for hugs that much, but given the circumstances he bore it with equanimity.
Releasing him, Mort stood back. “Start talking; your life depends on it,” he commanded.
Penny glared at her husband. “Don’t start making a joke of this.” Turning her gaze on her son she gave him a hard look, “We want to know what you’ve been doing and why you were too busy to send even a single message to let me know you were still alive.”
Matthew nodded. “Maybe we should sit down?”
“The sitting room,” ordered Penny. “I’ll fetch some tea. Not one word until I sit down!”
Chapter 29
He tried to keep his story as brief as possible, but his parents kept stopping him, insisting on additional details. In particular he wanted to downplay the danger, as it only heightened his mother’s anxiety, but the necessary revelations made it nearly impossible to do that.
Mordecai showed even more interest when the name ‘ANSIS’ came up. “You say there’s no evidence that they came to this world?” he questioned.
“Not exactly,” said Matthew. “The dimensions are more complex than a simple yes or no. I chose a parallel world that was close to the point of origin of the one that crossed over to our world, but it may not have been the exact one that did. I was working by feel, by intuition. There are so many planes, packed in next to one another, some almost identical. They vary by time and events, so the one I went to seems to not be the one that actually sent people here, at least according to what Gary told me.”
“The machine?” asked Penny.
“Yes.”
Mordecai leaned back. “I don’t know that you can trust it. The enemy we faced in Dunbar were machines—ANSIS, they were called. It’s also the name of the She’Har’s ancient enemy, if you haven’t noticed.”
He actually hadn’t made that connection yet, but as soon as his father said it he understood why the name had seemed familiar to him. Either way, he trusted Gary, though. “Gary isn’t ANSIS. He was made by Karen’s father, the same man that helped build ANSIS, but he’s working against the military. I don’t know that I would have made it back successfully without him.”
Mordecai’s eyes narrowed as he lifted his teacup to his lips. “Well, finish your story. We can decide that after we’ve heard the rest.”
Matt went on, but as things progressed, his mother had more and more questions regarding Karen. He tried to minimize their interactions, but the look on her face spoke of growing suspicion.
“How long were you alone in the wilderness?” she asked again.
“Just a few days.”
“It sounded like almost a week a minute ago,” she prodded. “And you didn’t have bedrolls or anything to sleep on?”
“Well…
“It wasn’t so bad,” he finished placatingly.
Mordecai broke in then. “You told us it was bitterly cold a minute ago.”
“Yeah, but thankfully, being a wizard cold isn’t such a big problem.”
His father wasn’t having it. “But you said you had to conserve your power, since there was almost no ambient aythar.”
Thanks, Dad, he thought to himself, trying not to visibly grind his teeth. “I did, but staying warm was a priority.”
The mischievous look on his father’s face spoke volumes. “Oh, I agree! It’s how you…”
“Mort,” said Penny quietly, warning him with her eyes. “Let it go.”
Mordecai saw the look, and then remembered his wife’s past trials. She had once been stuck in the cold for weeks, captured by the shiggreth, with only one companion to help her stay warm. It had been one of the most terrifying and dehumanizing periods in her life, and he had once told her he would never press her for the details, unless she felt like talking about it.
She never had, though he knew the horror and shame of those days still haunted her occasionally. The conversation now was probably stirring up unwelcome memories for her.
“So, what happened next?” asked Mordecai, letting the moment pass.
Matthew continued, though when he got to the part about Karen’s aunt, he told them they had stayed in separate rooms. His parents shared a quick glance but didn’t press him on that detail if they had any doubts.
The hardest part, though, was explaining the attack on Roberta’s home, and her violent demise. Penny blanched at his description, and his father looked sympathetic, but it was the last part that brought shock and disbelief.
“They killed him?” exclaimed his father, leaning forward.
“I lost consciousness,” said Matthew. “Karen told me he died, and since I had lost any of the benefits of the dragon-bond, I’m sure she wasn’t wrong. Also, Gary told me later that he discovered that their military had recovered a large egg.”
“Where is she now?” asked his mother. “Still in her world?”
Matthew nodded. “Yeah, but she was badly hurt.”
Mordecai was puzzled. “How does this machine know so much about what’s going on with the enemy?”
He struggled through their questions and eventually managed to tell them the rest of it—how Karen had nearly died and how he had left her, secure in a stasis field. When he finished they sat in silence for a minute, until at last his father whistled and leaned back in his chair.
“I don’t like it,” Penny opined.
Matthew protested, “We have to help her! I won’t leave her like that!”
His mother smiled in sympathy. “I didn’t mean you should. I just said I don’t like it. I hate the thought of either of you going into such a dangerous place.”
“If we do it right, it won’t be dangerous at all,” insisted Matthew.
“You really care about her, don’t you?” said Penny.
“Mom! Please! It isn’t anything like that. She’s a friend. I can’t abandon her.”
“Of course not,” she answered, looking at her husband.
Mordecai nodded. “It’s just a question of figuring out the safest way to extract her. You said she had lost a lot of blood?”
They spent another quarter of an hour going over Karen’s condition, but decided to put off the planning for later so Matthew could take a much needed bath. He didn’t argue the point.
***
Later, in his room, Gary spoke up. “I noticed you didn’t say very much about me.”
“Dad didn’t seem like he was going to trust you,” said Matthew.
&nb
sp; “You made it sound like I’m a toy you turn off and stick in your bag most of the time. You didn’t even tell them I was there. I could have contributed to the conversation,” said the AGI.
“Would you like to go in my bag?” offered the young wizard. “It can be arranged.”
The machine started to reply, but Matthew shushed him. “My sister’s coming. Stay quiet.”
The knock on his door was just a courtesy, she opened it immediately after. “Hi.”
He didn’t feel like talking, but something in her eyes stopped him from telling her to go away. She looked haunted, and her face seemed almost gaunt. Gone was her native enthusiasm and vitality, replaced by a tired young woman who seemed world-weary beyond her years.
Matthew tried to be sympathetic, “You look like shit.”
Her eyes lit with a flash of anger, but it disappeared almost instantly, replaced by relief. “I guess some things never change, do they?”
“What happened to you? I haven’t heard the whole story yet,” he asked, mildly surprised by his own interest.
“A little of this and a little of that,” she answered. “Do we have to talk about it?”
No, he sent mentally, but he was surprised when he found a shield around her mind so dense that he doubted she could even hear his thought.
“Don’t,” she said quietly. “It isn’t good for me to talk that way, not in close proximity, at least.”
He arched one brow. “Not good? Is there something you should tell me about?”
“Again, not something I want to talk about,” she said. “Just—make sure you keep your mental shields tightly closed when I’m around. All right?”
Now he was really curious, but after a moment he nodded. “Fine.”
They sat in silence for almost a full minute before she spoke again, “I heard about Desacus. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” he answered dully.
“And that you met a girl,” she added, her tone rising slightly.
Of course, he thought silently, that’s what brought her in here. “It isn’t like that.”
“She isn’t a girl?”
Matthew sighed, “You know what I mean.”