Home > Snow Dragon (Dragon Knights #13)(5)

Snow Dragon (Dragon Knights #13)(5)
Author: Bianca D'Arc

“So, what is your message, Lilly Deverelsdoter?” the Lady asked.

“It is grave. As you may know, the Blind King was not born that way. As a child, he received a gift—later found to be from the Alchemists to our south. When he opened the gift, it caused Alric to go suddenly and permanently blind. When King Hiram discovered who was responsible for maiming his son, he went on the warpath to bring the Alchemist’s apprentice who sent the device to justice. That was Jool, apprentice to the Master Alchemist Osmian. Jool was executed for his crimes, and Osmian forgiven for harboring the criminal, though he was demoted in rank among his fellow Alchemists for a time.” Lilly noted the various reactions from the fair folk. “Osmian was recently raised to Grand High Alchemist.”

“We are aware of his elevation,” the one named Tolmir said.

Lilly nodded in his direction. “What you probably do not know—and what has brought me here on this desperate mission—is that King Alric has foreseen a direct attack on both his domain and your enclave.” She paused to let the sounds of both alarm and disbelief die down a bit. “He also has evidence that the Grand High Alchemist is behind it. Osmian cares little for the riches of the border villages. What he wants is something at the very heart of your Veil.” She waited for silence before continuing. When all eyes were on her, she spoke. “Osmian seeks the hidden entrance to the Citadel, long rumored to be buried in the heart of your domain. King Alric sent me to warn you.”

“Impossible!” A tall woman on the left side stood and slapped her hand on the table, eliciting magical sparks that danced on the surface before dissipating in a rainbow of colors. “Our own seers would have known well before Alric the Blind, if your story were true.”

“King Alric sent this and directed me to deliver it to your most powerful mage.” Lilly reached into her pack for the small token her King had entrusted her with.

“Give it to Elira,” the Lady directed Lilly to the tall woman who’d spoken so forcefully from the left side of the table.

Lilly held the totem by its small chain and walked toward the woman. “My liege said this would aid you and that all would be understood once it was used.”

“What is it?” Tolmir asked in a hushed voice from across the wide arc of the tables.

Lilly gave the totem to the sorceress and stepped back. The woman’s fingers played over the small nugget of stone and wood, eliciting sparks Lilly had never encountered while relaying the object. It grew under Elira’s fingers until a small circle stood upended on a stand like a goblet on the table. It was about the size of a goblet too, though it shone with sparkling energy that made it hard to look at.

“It is a thing of power, imbued with a spell of cleansing that took great time and skill to weave. The Blind King has learned much in his years of study.” Elira admired the object that had grown into something Lilly never would have suspected.

“Is it safe?” the Lady wanted to know.

Elira nodded, never taking her eyes or fingers from around the magical object that glowed softly, almost welcomingly, on the table in front of her. “There are magical signatures and signs each of us use that cannot be forged. This is a piece of pure magic meant for good. I believe it would be harmless to unleash fully, if that is your wish, Lady.”

The Lady looked around at the rest of the Council she led with a question clear in her eyes. “That is one vote in favor. What say you all?”

“I put my trust in Elira’s assessment. I vote with her.” Tolmir was the first to answer as he sat back in his carved wooden chair.

The younger woman seated farthest down the table on the Lady’s left nodded. “Elira is our most skilled in magic, though I can also see from here that this bit of human magic is benign. It can do us no harm. I say we see what the Blind King has taken so much trouble to send us.”

The older warrior seated next to Luc spoke for the first time. “I trust in the mage’s and healer’s judgment. Our safeguards have always been sufficient against human magic.”

The Lady raised an eyebrow at this comment but didn’t say anything, looking instead to Luc for his opinion.

“I vote with my brother,” he said shortly, sitting back in his seat. Lilly looked between the two warriors and noted the similarities. It shouldn’t have been surprising that they were brothers, but the revelation did catch her off guard.

“And you, Dela?” The Lady looked to the last woman seated on her left, a motherly-looking female who was rounder than the angular mage and seemed older than the young healer seated on either side of her.

“I suggest caution, but I also believe we should see what King Alric has sent.”

“Then, it is unanimous.” The Lady finalized the actions of the Council. “Proceed cautiously, Elira, at your discretion.”

The sorceress touched something on the object, and it began to spin. Colors swirled around the room, along with a low-pitched hum that built into something louder as the spell picked up speed and grew larger. It was an ethereal thing of light and energy. Lilly felt it tingle as the cords of translucent color whipped outward, through her body, to the very edges of the room and beyond. It moved into the Veil, seeking out points of energy, meeting, colliding and harmonizing as the tone of the spell resonated with the more organic tones of the Veil itself.

A few moments after it had been unleashed, the object on the table stopped its spinning dance and came to rest, now devoid of the energy it had once held. Lilly let go the breath she’d held while the finely wrought spell ran its course. She wondered what it had done and how she’d carried such an artifact for so long without having any idea what kind of power it contained.

“Well?” The Lady voiced the question running through Lilly’s mind, as well.

All eyes turned to the women who sat to the left of the grand lady. Elira looked stunned, but it was the motherly woman whose eyes rolled back in her head as she went rigid in her chair.

“Danger,” she whispered in a voice so cold, it nearly froze the blood in Lilly’s veins. “War, betrayal, attack and subterfuge. It comes.”

Lilly was in no doubt now as to the motherly woman’s role on the Council. She was a seer. Lilly had been witness to more than one of her liege lord’s strange fits of waking vision. While he was less apt to speak aloud during his visions, Lilly recognized the tense stance of the woman’s spine, the rigidity of her muscles and the sudden release as she slumped back into her chair, loosed from the grips of the powerful sight.

Elira, the mage, looked scandalized. “Lady!” She was breathing harshly as her eyes widened in shock. “King Alric knew what we were too blind to see. We owe him a great debt.”

“In what way, sister?”

“Something was blocking us and is now removed. I did not see it until it was removed. Someone interfered with our magic.”

“Is that even possible?” Tolmir asked. “What sort of being has magic greater than ours?”

“There are some, my friend,” the Lady said with narrowed eyes. A frown line appeared in the center of her otherwise perfect brow. “Dela, are you well?”

The matronly woman sat up straighter as her breathing returned more or less to normal. “Well, enough, Lady. What Elira says is true. Something blocked my vision until now. How I did not see this before, I do not know, but the Blind King’s spell seems to have cleared the air. I’ll check with my students and colleagues the moment I leave here to see what we can learn, but there is danger. Great danger.”

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