Book Two: The Art of the Magician
Chapter 24
Piotry rubbed at his itchy eyes and sank lower into the armchair. He had lost count in the long, dragging hours of the predawn, of how long he'd kept vigil at the prince's bedside, but he estimated this would be the fifth night since their return to Adeban.
He looked at the still form among the mounds of pillows and covers. The prince's face was pale and still in a way that very much reminded him of the way a sorcerer looked when in hibernation. The way Will looked, lying only two doors away in the same wing of the mansion.
Piotry frowned, his hand clenching against the armrest. He'd asked Will, in that moment before the young sorcerer had gone off in desperation to find the prince, if he'd marked him. Will had been confused, scared, and Piotry's suspicions had been confirmed. Even if it had been unintentional, as Will had said, it was a powerful sort of magic and not to be trifled with.
Piotry sighed again, rubbing at his temples. It was unfair of him to think Will had treated the Prince so carelessly, Piotry knew he hadn't. And he was fairly certain Will had been honest when he said he didn't know how it had happened. Piotry remembered the first few years after his own apprenticeship had ended, how strong he had felt and how large the world had seemed. He also remembered, a bit chagrined, how easily he had played with his magic until he learned to respect it.
But marking the Prince? Bonding with him? Piotry had seen the signs of a completed bonding between them: the dried smear of blood on Kell's lips, the serene expression on his face, and the possessive way Will had held him as the soldier had attempted to take his body from him. If Piotry were to use his sorcerer's sight he was sure he'd be able to see the string of magic tying them together. Will must have even uttered the oath, for the prince moaned in his sleep when the two were separated.
He sighed again, weary from his own thoughts. What this would mean for the Kingdom he couldn't fathom. Before, there had been a slim chance that their bond would fade on its own, being incomplete and unintentional, but now… The King had potentially lost an heir.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be; it was wrong in so many ways, not least to the Prince. In old times sorcerers took bonded lovers more freely, even taking them with them in hibernation, keeping them alive through the bond, and it had had its uses. But these days even the sorcerers who would want to take a bonded lover thought hard and long before doing it, and even then rarely went through with it. Even the sorcerers thought a bond to be a crime, a sin to the mortal man or woman, a robbery of their rights to live as they please.
A bonded lover sometimes lacked the full will and autonomy of a free person, having no true spirit to refuse what the sorcerer asked, and times changed, people and kingdoms and rulers learned better ways of living.
And yet, Piotry need only to touch the prince now with a strand of his magic to sense the spells that rebuffed him. He'd had to adapt his healing, accommodating what Will had done, to be able to heal the prince of his hurts. The physical ones anyway. It was too soon to tell if Kell would wake on his own, and too soon to tell if he'd be capable without Will. Piotry had never heard of a situation like this before; he was in unknown territory, and him the master healer, he thought sardonically.
And what if Kell woke up before Will? Should Piotry tell him what had happened? He didn't look forward to that conversation. Yet it was not his place to tell the prince. He didn't know the full circumstances and would be unable to answer many of the questions the prince would undoubtedly have. Will might even resent him for interfering. No, he decided to wait and let Will handle the matter, it was a private and personal one after all.
If only Will would wake up.
* * * * * * * *
There was the sound of metal, a rhythmic, clear ringing of hammer and anvil that he couldn't remember hearing since he was last in the palace in Semban. But there was no accompanying heat of the furnace, or the belch and gasp of the bellows. The clear notes slowly mingled with the soft tones of a woman singing, her voice finding the perfect pitch to the anvil's metallic chime.
A lullaby, one he'd known since his first days, renewed in his memory when his sister and brother had been born.
Mother. She'd soothed all her children with it, from scrapes and sadness and dreams. He cast about for her but the shadows were too thick.
The hammer struck and sparks flew, for a moment illuminating a shape. He turned, tried to move closer, but his feet were tangled in something heavy. Another spark and the light lingered this time.
She sat facing away from him, her voice carrying clearly across a room he distantly recognized as his own in the palace. He thought it odd though, that she would be in here singing for him, when she hadn't entered his rooms without his invitation or the company of her ladies, since before he'd turned sixteen.
Mother, he tried to say, but not a sound came past his lips. He swallowed, and winced when it hurt his throat.
His mother sang on, lifting a hand now, and in the wavering light he saw she had a ring on her finger that he didn't knew she had, golden and swirling like of an inner light.
Mother, he tried again, and even though he couldn't tell if he spoke out loud or not, she turned slowly to him.
Kell recoiled in shock, for there were no features on her face, no nose or mouth or eyes, just the voice coming from her as if piercing through her throat.
He thrashed awake from the dream, struggling with heavy bedding and heavier limbs that wouldn't move more than inches. Even his eyelids felt as if they were weighted down and were slow to open, his lashes fluttering ineffectively.
"Ssh, my Prince, it was only a dream," someone said, a voice he recognized but couldn't name, and he managed not to flinch when a hand touched his arm. "Send for the sorcerer," the voice said, to someone else, Kell determined because he hadn't the strength to do much but lie there, let alone send for anyone.
"Will..." he croaked, and winced like in the dream when it hurt.
"Rest, my Prince. The sorcerer will be here shortly."
He finally managed to blink his heavy eyelids open and the room slowly swam into focus. It was Janu sitting beside the bed, a cup held ready in his hand and a small frown of worry on his face. With the man's help Kell sipped the drink, water mixed with herbs and honey, tea gone cold, and it soothed his throat.
The door opened as he lay back against the pillows and Piotry came to his bedside. "You're awake finally," he said, and it was clear he had been waiting for some time.
"How long?" Kell needed to know. The city? His people? What had happened?
"Days, my Prince," but Kell noticed he didn't say how many. Piotry traded places with Janu and sent the man to fetch some hot food for the prince. Waiting until he heard the door close, he said, "You've been sleeping very deeply, my Prince. I must ask you, what is the last thing you remember?"
Kell frowned, wondering. "Remember? I..." The images in his head were confused, jumbled, flat as if lacking in color and shadows. He tried to focus, to grasp even one. "I don't know," he muttered, lifting a heavy hand to rub at his temple. "There's... nothing..."
A touch to his arm made him start and he realized he'd closed his eyes. "It's all right," Piotry murmured. "It'll come back to you. Let me know when it does."
Kell frowned up at the sorcerer, worried now for what could have Piotry sound so grave.
Janu returned with the food, a tray with warm stew, a cup of fresh tea, and a bowl of berries. Kell looked at it and wondered who'd thought to add the berries. They seemed the only thing he was capable of swallowing without much coercion from Piotry, before he fell asleep again.
* * * * * * * *
Next time Kell woke Piotry was already there, sitting at the small table and reading a scroll by lamplight. Kell wondered how long he'd slept this time to have night fall again. Piotry rose when he noticed Kell was awake and filled a cup with warm tea this time. It was laced with even more honey than before.
"What is it that you have me drink so much of it?" Kell asked, bemused.
Piotry smiled faintly. "Oh, just something to help get your strength back. Think of it as a medicinal remedy after a long sickness, my Prince."
"I've been sick?" It would explain the fatigue that still kept him in bed.
"No. Well, not as such." Piotry seemed suddenly uncomfortable.
It made Kell uncomfortably aware of his situation; the lack of coherent memories, the lingering lethargy, lengthy sleep – all as if he really had been ill. He struggled to sit and Piotry lent a helping hand. "Please, Piotry. You must tell me what has happened. And where is Will?"
It was so swift, Piotry's flinch, that Kell would have missed it if he hadn't been watching. Worry made his limbs feel drained of blood.
"I cannot say in exact detail what happened," Piotry began carefully, "but we went into an ambush on the road..."
He didn't hear Piotry's next words for the sudden screech and caw in his ears, the flash of images of men and feathers and a dizzying dash through the trees.
Piotry's face was hovering above him, concern lining every part of it, and Kell realized he must have passed out; he was lying down again.
Piotry sat back when he saw Kell was awake and held the cup to his lips in a gentle but insistent way. If this continued for long Kell suspected he would learn to hate the taste and smell of tea.
"You remembered something?" Piotry asked quietly.
Kell nodded. "It was still jumbled, but I remember the ambush now. What happened to those men?"
"That is one of the things I cannot tell you because I simply do not know." He stared down into the cup for a moment. "We were ambushed and you were taken, my Prince. Will went after you; he would not wait for a troop to be assembled."
Kell wondered at the deep frown on the sorcerer's face but didn't say anything.
"Where you were taken I don't know, but we tried to follow your and Will's trails. It was difficult and the rangers lost it at nightfall." He looked up. "You were missing for four days, my prince. We despaired of ever finding you alive, or at all."
Kell stared. "But – Will." He had a vague memory of Will, his voice and hands.
"Yes. He was able to follow you," Piotry murmured and cleared his throat. "He brought you back. A small troop of your men came upon you two miles northeast of the main camp."
He felt sweat begin to tickle at his armpits. "And you brought me back to Adeban."
"Yes. Rión and I were in agreement that it would be both safer and more comfortable for you here."
"And Will?" he asked again. He was not yet ready to wonder at the time lost in-between. Four days missing before Will brought him back, how far had they taken him?
"Will is here too. He's hibernating in his room here in the manor. You needn't worry, my Prince, I'm keeping an eye on him as well." He rose and put the cup down on the side table.
"How long since my men found me, Piotry? How long since you brought me to Adeban?"
Piotry gazed at him for a long moment. "We arrived here five days ago. From ambush to this day, it's been nearly two weeks."
Kell stared, unable to comprehend where time had slipped from him. Piotry's dry hand on his forehead made him flinch and the sorcerer stood back with a carefully blank face.
"You should rest, my Prince. It's still a few hours until dawn."
Kell shook his head. "I've slept for so long already, I hardly think I need more." To be honest, he dreaded losing more time.
Piotry urged him to lie down, his hand careful but implacable on Kell's shoulder. "Let your body decide if you need rest or not. There's time later for contemplation."
Kell didn't think he would sleep, but as Piotry blew out the bedside lamp, he did.
* * * * * * * *
Kell woke in a cold sweat, chest aching with the thundering of his heart and the screams he wouldn't let out. His wrists and ankles ached too, the skin sore like it had been rubbed raw. Gingerly he touched his fingers to the other wrist, noting with dismay how he was trembling.
He got awkwardly out of bed, careful as he put his feet down and grateful that the room was empty besides himself. He was still unsteady, even after so many days and nights in bed, as he made his way to the washbasin and pitcher. Water splashed everywhere as he poured and the porcelain rattled when he put the pitcher down again. He gasped at the shill of the water on his face, but it revived him, steadied him. It was a good feeling, real, not half-remembered or imagined. He stood there for a moment, just breathing and leaning on the table, and carefully avoided looking in the mirror on his way back to the bed.
Kell wouldn't sleep any more and morning was only a couple of hours away. He wrapped a robe around himself and sat down by the table to wait for sunrise.
He kept touching his wrists through the day, as if wanting to soothe something he hadn't even known was hurt. Piotry noticed, of course, giving Kell a worried frown, body held still for a moment as if he was about to ask something, but then didn't.
Kell didn't either, he couldn't. Not when his body tensed and his throat ached at the words that didn't come out and things that were only half-real in his head. Kell didn't ask.
* * * * * * * *
"We've had a messenger bird from Semban, my Prince," Piotry reported, slowly sinking down into the chair across the table.
"Oh? From my father?" Kell was unaware they had sent one from here, but of course they would considering all that had happened. Rión would have the right, as would Piotry.
"The King is naturally worried about you," Piotry said, looking at him. "He wants you back home as soon as you are able to travel. He's sent a swift boat up the river along with the Royal Guard."
"What?" Kell understood his father's worry but he couldn't leave yet. "What about Will? You still haven't let me see him." Two days out of bed and Piotry still hadn't let him see Will.
"I must ask you to wait, my Prince. I'm concerned for him, he still hasn't woken from his hibernation."
"Then all the more reason for me to see him!" This was frustrating beyond what Kell was capable to handle at the moment. Piotry frowned at his outburst and Kell sat back in his chair. "Please, Piotry. Don't make me beg you."
Piotry sighed wearily. "I'm not doing this out of spite, my Prince, you must understand." He looked Kell in the eye for a moment. "Tomorrow. I will take you to him."
Kell nodded, holding back a sigh of relief. Will was a sorcerer, and a very powerful one, but that Piotry wouldn't let him see him had him worried beyond words. He wondered what could have happened to him, and to Will, to make Piotry behave so cautiously. If only Kell dared ask.
* * * * * * * *
Kell walked slowly down the hall when he really wanted to run. Even if his body hadn't been so weak, Piotry still wouldn't have let him. He was surprised and shocked both to have realized his legs still wavered under him as he stood and his head still spun if he turned too quickly.
Will was hibernating in a room not far away, so close Kell could have walked there at any time had his body not betrayed him. Piotry held the door open for him as he entered and he saw the young servant girl Mirja sitting by Will's bedside, hands demurely in her lap.
She rose as they came closer and curtsied gracefully. "My Prince, Master Sorcerer."
"Mirja," Piotry said, "any change?"
"None, Master Sorcerer. He hasn't even stirred." She looked troubled, a crease between her eyebrows, as she glanced at Will.
Piotry nodded and dismissed her with his thanks.
Kell hardly noticed when she left. He sank into the chair by the bed and hesitantly reached out to touch Will's hand. He looked as though he was sleeping, his chest rising and falling gently. His hand was warm and dry where Kell touched it, but didn't even twitch. Kell swallowed down the sting of disappointment. "Why won't he wake?"
Piotry came closer. "I cannot say. He might have used more of his powers than he should."
"How can I leave him, Piotry? He's so vulnerable like this."
Piotry put a hand on his shoulder. "I will stay here to look after him. A troop of the Royal Guard is coming to escort you to the capital along with your own men. You will both be safe, my Prince."
Kell wondered at this need to reassure him. "Can't I bring him with me? A good wagon and a birth on the boat. He would be just as comfortable in Semban."
"Moving him now would disturb his hibernation, my Prince. As much as he depleted his powers he needs it very badly."
Kell wanted to argue but he had no authority here and only nodded, saddened at having to leave his lover and friend behind.
"There is this story," Piotry continued, "about a sorcerer who didn't go into hibernation after he had overused his powers. He went mad. They said he didn't even remember his own name, let alone those of his family and friends. They had to lock him up in a warded room to keep him safe."
"What happened to him?" Kell asked after a moment when Piotry fell silent.
The sorcerer shrugged. "He didn't live long. In the end his guardian took pity on him and ended his life; one morning he just didn't wake up."
Kell had an uneasy churning in his stomach. He didn't wish that fate on Will, but the need to have him near was a physical pull in his body that he could hardly deny.
"I will leave you with him, my Prince." Piotry touched his shoulder and gave him a look as if he knew what it was like to leave your lover behind.
Kell waited until he heard the doors close before taking Will's limp hand between his own. "Will you wake up?" he asked in a whisper. "Is there anything... I would do anything to have you wake up now, Will." He couldn't say why he felt so lost without Will but he did, and that too upset him. He had never been reliant on another since he reached his fifteenth year, and certainly not since he had learned that even your closest confidant could betray you. But Will had changed all that, finding the one part of him that was still capable of trust, and now when Kell truly needed him, was lost without him, Will was unable to help.
"My father has sent the Royal Guard to escort me back to Semban as soon as possible. He won't let me wait for you and I cannot defy him in this." He leaned his elbows on the bed, clasping Will's hand to his chest and wishing so hard it almost hurt for Will to open his eyes. "How can I leave you here without knowing you will be all right?"
~He will be fine, my Prince. You should not worry yourself so.~
With a stifled gasp he turned to look for the woman that had entered Will's bedroom without him noticing, but saw no one. "Who..?" A shudder wracked his body, flashes of memory coming unbidden. He hadn't been able to see… He clenched he eye tight for a brief moment, but the dark behind them scared him into opening them again.
~It is I, his spirit guardian.~ She sounded almost apologetic to have caused his unease.
Kell frowned, shifting where he sat. "I didn't think you could speak to me. With Will in hibernation, how can you even be...?" He trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to offend the guardian.
~I am his, but I am also a being separate from him, if I so wish.~
Kell glanced at Will, maybe hoping to see a sign on his face that this conversation was rousing him out of sleep.
~He will not wake, my Prince.~
"You can hear my thoughts?" That was a bit disturbing. She didn't answer and that in itself told him what he didn't want to know. He leaned closer to Will again, touching his face and hair. "Can you promise me he will be safe? I cannot leave him without knowing for sure."
~There are things outside my power, but you can rest assured he will not be harmed in any way as long as I watch over him.~ She paused, then said, ~Will you be all right?~
Kell gave a soft snort. "You have heard my thoughts, can you not tell how I feel?"
~I can. But feeling and knowing are different things.~
Kell fought down a sudden lump in his throat. "I would be better if he could go with me," he said, his voice nearly a whisper and resenting himself for it.
~Are you that afraid?~
Kell stiffened, biting his teeth together when she touched such a sore spot with such forthrightness. "I am not afraid. I can't afford to show weakness."
~Fear is not a weakness, my Prince. Fear is just a way for you to realize your courage.~
Kell felt a bitter smile touch his lips. "What if all my courage is because of him?"
~Have you come to doubt yourself this much? Do you not know the strength you have? Will knows it, now you need to remember it again.~
"How?" Kell whispered, the lump growing in his throat. "When they took so much from me, how do I remember?" Tears wet his hand and dripped down onto Will's, and still the sorcerer didn't stir.
The spirit guardian didn't reply, and for all her wisdom Kell wasn't sure she even knew the answer.
He couldn't say for how long he sat there, staring at Will's peaceful face and hoping. Piotry eventually returned and urged him to come back to his own rooms to rest. Kell felt the need to argue with him that he was fine, but realized it would be pointless. It was only because Will's guardian had said she would be there that he could leave at all.
"You have time still to see him, my Prince. The Royal Guard will arrive in two days time. He may yet wake."
Kell knew Piotry was trying to comfort him but it sounded hollow to his ears. "You doubt it though." It wasn't a question.
Piotry only glanced at him as he led him back to his rooms.
Kell sank down into his chair by the table where he and Will had had their first breakfast together. How long ago was it now? It felt like years and yet it was only weeks. He remembered Will's smiles and kisses, the neat way he ate, and had to bite his tongue not to shout out in frustration.
If Piotry noticed his turmoil he didn't comment, but Kell didn't put it past the sorcerer to take careful notes of all his reactions, as if he was a patient in need of care. Maybe he was.
"Supper will be in an hour, my Prince. Shall I have the maid Mirja bring it?"
Kell looked up in surprise. "Mirja? Why?" Janu usually fetched such things for him.
Piotry gave him an unreadable look but covered it with a small smile. "I thought you might like the company, besides my own."
"What are you up to?" Kell asked, feeling slightly offended at the sorcerer's presumption.
Now Piotry looked serious. "I thought you would like to talk to the girl. I will have her help me look after Will since she's shown some aptitude for it."
Kell shrugged. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet her. He remembered the way she looked at Will before, he could understand what she wanted. Would he be able to handle knowing she would be caring for Will in every way, when Kell wished to do nothing else and couldn't? "Do as you wish," he said, waving a hand at Piotry.
Piotry snorted. "This is not like you, my Prince." He came around the table to look Kell in the eye. "I don't know what happened to you both, but I do know Will would be appalled to see you so apathetic when you truly are anything but." His frown made Kell look away. "Will would want you to take back what's yours, your power, so do it. Don't give in when you don't have to."
Kell didn't say anything, he had no words right then, but as Piotry left it occurred to him he had been told twice in the last few hours that he was stronger than this. He just wished he felt it.
As it turned out Kell didn't have to have supper with the maid Mirja. Janu brought the tray as usual, and Piotry joined him. Without invitation, Kell thought, but couldn't very well argue with the sorcerer; he had saved Kell's life, and Will's too. Kell might be lost and afraid right now, but he was not ungrateful. Piotry would be welcome at his table whenever he wished it. Neither did he ask about Mirja, he knew he would not be able to make it sound anything but impolite, and would only serve to rile Piotry a second time.
Kell thanked Janu for his help and poured Piotry a glass of wine himself. He glanced at the sorcerer, judging his mood, then asked, "What will you be doing for Will, when I'm gone?"
Piotry looked at him, leaning back in his chair. "I will do very little. He's in hibernation, and his magic and guardian will take care of him."
Kell frowned. "Then why have the maid here at all?"
Piotry sighed slowly. "I will be honest. Since I can't judge how much of his powers he used, or in what way, I cannot say how long he'll be in hibernation. If it takes too long for him to wake up, I will not be able to stay. I have duties of my own now that the war seems to be over. Mirja will take care of him for me and will be able to help, according to my instructions, when he wakes."
Kell held back all the words he wanted to say, and asked instead, "Since I've known Will he's been in hibernation several times, how come he has to go into hibernation so often? I can't recall seeing you or the others do it."
Piotry seemed to consider this for a moment. "We sorcerers use our spells differently, so the reasons for hibernation are different for each of us. Will is stronger by far than me so I would guess he uses his spells differently, takes more of the magic in to be able to cast them. Maybe he draws his spells in another way than I, too. There are so many ways to use magic, I can't begin to describe them all to you." He gave a wry laugh. "The first time I had to heal a seriously injured man I went into hibernation for a whole day."
Kell looked up at him. "But you don't any more."
"No. I guess I grew out of it, or learned a better way to heal. Maybe Will is just too young yet to properly handle his spells. He was very recently freed from his apprenticeship, as I recall."
Kell fiddled with the stem of his glass. "Will Sharican still be in the capital when I arrive there?"
Piotry looked at him, head slightly tilted to the side. "Why do you ask?"
"He's Will's Master," he said, not really sure what he wanted to say.
"Ah." Piotry nodded and sipped his wine. "I can't say for sure, of course, but it's not unreasonable that he will be. I remember him saying once that he liked the capital."
Kell looked up. "You know him?"
The smile on Piotry's face slowly widened. "I do. We first met what must be a lifetime ago." He leaned a bit forward. "If you need to talk to him, do so, my Prince. Sharican will help you sort it out."
He said it as if he knew what Kell was thinking about. Kell supposed he did.
* * * * * * * *
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