The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The events of the day were just short of bizarre for Neral to begin with. A riot erupts with no reasonable explanation. Then a reasonable explanation appeared which sent a rush of fear through her for the potential conflict it represented, and an example of how such a conflict could spiral out of control. For the first time, she could envision being called upon to fight the war that drove the mages out and underground untold generations ago once again and, with the loves of her life mages themselves, she didn’t know if she would have the will to do her duty.

Then the unrest dissolves at the first hint of resistance, leaving different mayhem in the aftermath. Dead and wounded littered the streets alongside burnt buildings, with the acrid stench that assailed her eyes and nose made her home look and feel like it’d been sacked by war. Homes and business were gone now, and more were set to go up in flames as citizen and soldier alike struggled together to restore order to the world around them.

When the runner lived up to his title, coming at her full bore before seemingly defying the laws of nature by stopping in front of her as if instantly, to deliver his message, she was surprised that he didn’t seem winded because she felt so just watching him pass ground beneath his feet like a horse might. “A message for you, General, from your house mistress. I’m to tell you that it was delivered to Colonel Dion, and the colonel handed it directly to me with orders that no one see it but you.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking the paper from him with a renewed sense of dread. Tessa would not have contacted her in such a way unless the situation were dire. Perhaps whoever was responsible for this had tried to spread chaos elsewhere in the city and Tessa thought the wisest course would be to evacuate. Her eyes scanned the paper and as they did so her jaw tightened and her blood ran cold. Even as the dread and a wave of anger took hold, there was some small sense of relief because it also provided a hint of clarity.

Neral didn’t look up from folding the paper as she whistled a quick series of high and low tones to which Stenna, her mount, responded. She pocketed the paper and met her horse half way. “Major Vix,” she barked.

“Yes, sir.” His voice was some distance away with just as much power behind it as her own.

“Circumstances have called me away,” she began, mounting her horse in a single fluid motion. “You are in command here. Proceed as you think best.”

He looked around at the monumental task before him, knowing all he could do was act as a bandage for the worst of it, but, at least he could get the remaining damn fires out. He was already in the process of setting up chains of man, beast, and machine to get the last of the blazes out and was determined to see that through in any event, “Yes, sir.”

Hearing him acknowledge the order was all she was waiting for before she headed of the makeshift clinic to find Deres.

Life on the side street looked normal once again by the time the two arrived at the blacksmith’s shop. The hulk of a man quenched the metal he was working, giving them both a friendly nod as he turned toward them to avoid the rush of steam while they tethered their horses. “In the back.”

They moved quickly, Deres slightly ahead because, despite being told that all was well right now and knowing she could take care of herself, he would be the first to meet anything unexpected, even if only by half a step. He opened the door and Neral rushed in to the small kitchen built for one. Khylen sat with a paper as Cassea hunched over, hands over hers, showing her how to fold paper into a particular shape. As soon as the young one saw who entered all else was forgotten. “Mother! Father!”

Neral dropped to her knees and squeezed as hard as she dared, pressing cheek to cheek, her eyes closed, just enjoying the feeling of being back in her presence. She was mostly successful at fighting back tears, though her eyes did reflect the light with just a bit more intensity than before as she pulled away and touched those cheeks. “Are you all right? I hear you had quite the adventure today.”

“I’m fine,” she said, her usual good nature in full force in a testament to childhood resilience. “Some soldiers tried to say that I was supposed to go with them, but they didn’t know the right words, so Tessa and Cassea wouldn’t let them take me and we ran away. We wooshed through the streets so fast it was crazy, but Cassea found this place and a nice man helped, but we’re all right. Are you all right, Mother? They said people were burning things and fighting.”

She sighed. “I’m just fine.” She thought a moment about how she could explain it in a way that her young mind would grasp without a million other questions that she didn’t have the answers to, much less the ability to explain. “People weren’t feeling well and were upset that they weren’t feeling well. We’re getting them help now and they’re getting better. Don’t worry.”

The look of pride suggested that she expected nothing less from her mother. “See? I told Tessa that you’d fix it.”

Neral cleared her throat with zeal, pushing back another rush of emotion hearing in her voice that she was still at the age where her parents could do anything. It gave Neral something to aspire to. “I just do the best that I can.” The moment she’d let her loose the little one went to her father for more hugs while Neral stood. Tessa saw how her eyes had drifted to the blood droplets on her dress at the shoulder and quickly reassured her. “It’s not mine, Mistress.”

She drew closer to the redhead, examining her deep green eyes, “Also good to know. Very good to know.” Her fingertips grazed the pale skin of her round cheek before touching Tessa’s forehead with her own. “Thank you, Tessa.”

“Please don’t. There is nothing to thank me for, Mistress,” she said softly but firmly, “Truly. My responsibility to her isn’t just baking cookies or seeing to it that she has clean sheets. She is part of our home and of my home. Aside from that, I did nothing for her that I wouldn’t have done for any child in need on the street.”

Neral grinned, “I know that’s true. That’s part of why I am fond of you. And why you are the beating heart of our House,” Her smile broadened, “And do not contradict me.”

She blushed brightly, her cheeks instantly becoming several degrees warmer. She might have, but the true House Mistress had commanded, and so it would be. “As you wish, Mistress.”

Neral’s hands lingered for a moment more before she took a step to face Cassea. She saw the fierce determination and the iron will was always there behind those blue eyes as well as the softness that, for her to show it at all, was like a gift she bestowed. “You know what’s about to happen, yes?”

“Under the circumstances, it does seem unavoidable,” she said, resigning herself to her fate.

“I’ll be quick, I promise.” Neral wrapped her in a hug and rested her chin on the other’s shoulder. “Thank you for protecting her.”

Cassea’s tone suggested that she was speaking to the village idiot. “What else was to be done?” She found herself mirroring the embrace at the last moment just before Neral let her go. “Her House is my House. Keeping her safe saves wagon loads of tears and anxiety for everyone involved.”

Neral knew she was in a better place now than she had been all day in that she had it in her to bait the woman. “Yourself included?”

“Tears? Doubtful,” she began. “That said,” the softness creeping in, “if I am to share a home with children, I could do worse than to have to share a home with one like Khylen. She is a credit to her parents.”

Wanting to get away from the emotionalism after paying it the required respect under the circumstances, she changed the subject. “Your Private Hoben is upstairs. I don’t know how she is now, but when we met her earlier, she clearly was under the influence of...someone.”

She gave a slow nod. “You’re sure?”

“Takes one to know one and I’ll just leave it at that.”

That was enough for her to take up the creaking stairs and through the gap above her head. She gripped the small railing at the top of the stairs and turned herself around to see the afternoon light waning from the small window high on the wall below the rumpled bed upon which Hoben rested. Bryana Lia’s fingers hovered just above her body from her chest to her head and her blue eyes were open, though her gaze was very much elsewhere. Long, blond, natural curls came forward as she moved. She looked aristocratic even then and there with her pristine blue dress only slightly lighter a blue than her eyes, and she looked as though she were in command, which, Neral supposed, she was; in command of forces that she and Deres were masters of in ways Neral only understood as broad strokes of theory.

The general approached, the sound of her boots hitting the thin flooring hard in the enclosed space.

Bryana didn’t look up as her fingertips now hovered over her head, from left to right over her forehead, and from the back of her skull to the front. “Do you know her?”

Neral studied the peacefully sleeping form and her head tilted as she sorted through her memories. “I know her face in that I’ve seen it more than once at the barracks, so she is one of mine. Beyond that, no, I didn’t even know her name until Cassea told me just now.”

“Definitely mage marks on her,” Bryana stated, very much the clinician in that moment. “Very thorough, too. The only traces left are quite basic; nothing that points to one mage in particular, but the person who did this is adept in more physical manipulation as opposed to the exclusive use of magic.”

“What does that mean?”

“Toxins. Chemical manipulation. The use of magic to enhance this effect and dull that one and combine different chemicals in various ways in order to do many things. It’s not my specialty, of course, but it’s quite versatile. Poisons are coursing through this woman.”

“A guild then, perhaps?” Neral knew from previous experiences that different guilds taught their apprentices how to cast spells in slightly different ways and those differing marks could be something of a signature in itself and point to those responsible.

“Nothing definitive,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “It’s not uncommon for apprentices to go to several guilds before settling on one. There’s no consistency in the traces that suggests any one possibility over another.” She changed the subject, but not her tone. “You’ll want to step back.”

Neral did so even as she asked why and the answer came as Bryana rolled Hoben on her side just before her chest clenched and she vomited a dark brown, viscous slime that sprayed through the air, leaving trails on the pillow, the bed and the floor. The general looked down to find some on her boots as well and the stench of it reminded her of rotting plants in a swamp.

Hoben gasped and coughed several times before she settled back into a lighter sleep. She whimpered and moaned as though talking her way through a nightmare and back to wakefulness while Bryana eased her onto her back and wiped her face with a wet cloth that was draped over the small basin on the floor behind her. Moments later her eyelids lifted slowly, though it took her eyes a bit more time to find focus enough to show her that she was in no place familiar. She looked at the equally unfamiliar blond watching over her and decided to ask the only questions on her mind. “Who are you? Where…?”

As her eyes darted about the room, she caught sight of someone she did know. She jumped and gasped, trying to get up, only to be pinned by the other woman and a wave of nausea and vertigo. “General,” she began awkwardly, now wondering if perhaps she had been caught in a compromising position. Goddess, what if my family finds out? What do I say to them? What do I say now? “Sir, I...”

“At ease, Private Hoben,” she said calmly and with what she hoped was a reassuring smile “I understand that this a rather unusual way to meet, but may I have your first name?”

“Lenare, sir.”

“Lenare, how do you feel?”

She took stock of herself. “Dizzy. Tired. Like I want to throw up.” She grimaced, “And like something died in my mouth.”

“The need to vomit is a positive sign,” Bryana assured her. “Rest assured that we’ll be doing that quite a bit more before we get you home and get you to sleep.”

“Thank you, healer,” she said, making an obvious assumption. Real sleep sounded like bliss.

Neral’s voice was a bit more firm now to draw Hoben’s attention, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

It added to her uneasiness how little information there was in her mind with which for her to answer. Her voice gripped each fragment of memory in the hopes of willing more to come to her. “I came home from duty. I bathed. I wrote a letter to my sister.” Her brow knotted. “After that I...” She closed her eyes and demanded of herself that she remember, but nothing else came to her mind’s eye. Looking to Neral, she was contrite, “I apologize, sir. I don’t remember anything at all. Do you know what happened, sir, if I may ask?”

Neral and Bryana exchanged glances before looking upon Hoben with sympathy. She was just another of many victims today. “I have no definite answer at the moment, but it seems a fever has spread throughout the city. You left the barracks without telling anyone, were found wandering the streets in delirium and brought here, it being the closest place.”

That seemed to make as much sense as anything else, but she had to give voice to the one thing in the now that didn’t. She spoke, her voice thin, “Please don’t misunderstand, General. There aren’t any words for my gratitude at your personal concern over my welfare, but, why? I mean, I’m just me. Surely there are more important people that have been struck by this fever, and I don’t understand why you would make the effort to wish me well.”

Bryana glanced at her again, wondering what answer Neral might give, but the general did not lose her footing in the slightest, “Every one of those under my command matters to me, even if I do not know every single name and face. But, just as truthfully, private, I have a report to deliver to court later this evening about the day’s events and I was hopeful that you might be able to provide more information about symptoms of this malady.”

The corner of Bryana’s mouth turned up, but she didn’t comment.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

Neral shook her head to dismiss it. “You are in the same state as everyone else that was struck by this. None of it is your fault.” Those last words carried added weight, at least for her. “I hope that you feel better soon and that you return to duty as soon as possible.” She gripped Hoben’s hand to emphasize the point before exhaling sharply as she let go. “While I am not particularly squeamish, your healer has made it clear that you, to put it delicately, have to expel more of your infection and I have to brief queen and court, so I shall take my leave of you.”

“Absolutely, sir. Again, thank you for visiting.” Another wave of dizziness chose that moment to spin her around the room, forcing her to close her eyes as she looked forward to getting what was inside of her out and finding some semblance of normal.

“Bryana, I shall see you at home once my meeting concludes.”

“Indeed you will.” There was an undercurrent of angst in her voice that only those closest to her might have detected. Neral suspected that she knew the why of it, but that would all have to wait.

She turned and headed back downstairs to find Khylen lifted into her father’s arms, excitedly chattering away about the adventure of the day. Feeling Khylen’s sense of security, she allowed herself to shed much of her own anxiety. Between the four of them with eyes on her, there was no doubt that the young one would be fine and she could deal with the problems before her with some detachment. Detachment led to an honest appraisal of things, which usually led to more effective responses.

She stepped to her and kissed the little one on the cheek. “Off I go, little one. I don’t expect to be home before you’re asleep, but I will wake you up for a few minutes when I get home, as usual.

It had become their ritual and the young one was glad for it. What had started as a compromise for her for when duty kept her mother away, she found that she valued it greatly. It was time with her mother that was just theirs, where she had to share her with no one. “Okay.”

“Bryana and your father will see to it that you get there, without any... additional events on the way.”

There was a hint of his usual roguish swagger in his voice. The grin anchored her and the determination in his eyes reassured her, “If there are any additional events on the way home, they aren’t going to be Khylen’s problem.”

“I’m sure.” She pressed her lips to his, feeling her heart come alive as it always did, and parted from him before she could rekindle her anxiety over what those problems might be.

The night was cool, as they often were. The breeze was just enough to keep the insects away before winter finally descended to put them down, and the sky was so clear that, even through the light of the city, she could count the stars. But, as she approached the balcony off her bedroom she could still see the wound the city bore. The lights were far fewer in the distance near the water and when the breeze picked up she could catch a whiff of the aftermath, which led her mind to the totality of it.

Dozens dead, scores more injured, and two blocks and more destroyed by either fire, rage, or both. The stone walls that had largely come down over the years that were once used to separate the economic classes from one another and had since been covered decorated, and otherwise disappeared into the background, combined with more than a little luck to limit the spread of the blazes. Telling herself that it all could have been much, much worse did little to make her actually feel better.

“I did not get the opportunity to speak with Private Kaven. She was asleep after my meeting and it seemed rude to disturb her. How is she?”

Deres addressed that, having seen and tended to her in the barracks after he saw his daughter and the others in his family safely home. “Well enough now. A different magic was employed in her case, though she remembers nothing either. It was more general, which tells me it was a mage not the one that took Hoben.”

“The other healers suspect nothing?”

His brows went up, “See what they are deliberately not trained to see and what most of them wouldn’t want to see if they could? No. Tessa did a thorough job on her eye though.”

“Blind?”

“Some fluid still remained. It can be nurtured and the eye restored, though it will take several weeks.”

“What does she think happened?”

He shrugged. “Your explanation of a fever explained enough of the unexplained. She suffered the fever, attacked someone in her delirium, they fought back, but the other wasn’t hurt. She was remorseful, but pretty quiet after. There was no reason to push, so I didn’t.”

Then there was silence and the opportunity to just be with them. It was such a whirlwind of history that brought them to this point together, but they completed one another in such a way that she couldn’t conceive of life without either of them. She took the third chair which put her next to Bryana. The conversation had stopped and, for however many minutes they sat there just feeling the breeze, it was like a vacation and she relished it. She knew that tonight neither of them would break it and would be content to let the cool breeze roll over the three of them for as long as she liked, so she was the one to finally pierce the quiet. “She calms me.”

“Last week you didn’t seem all that calm,” Deres noted, “when she was trying to inform you that she was going to Annesta’s without having done her chores. One of the servants was going to take her, she wouldn’t be home for dinner, and that was that.”

“No,” she agreed with a happy sigh, “no, I was not, at least not on the inside. But that’s the way of things. None of my nieces or nephews grew up as pure disciples of the Goddess, but that’s life.”

“She’s asleep, I assume?”

“We talked, she showed me the bird Cassea showed her how to make, and I stayed with her until she drifted off.”

“There are wards in her room now, and on the grounds. Anyone touched by magic as the soldiers were or versed in it as we are, we’ll know, and they’ll be held,” Bryana told her.

“Strong enough to hold you?” Neral’s quip was a nod back to when such wards were used by Deres to capture Bryana the night they met.

Bryana didn’t bother to hide her irritation. “How can you be so calm? How can you make jokes after what happened today? How can you not be enraged?”

Neral’s mood turned slightly more somber as she answered, her dark eyes seeking out more of the small signs that life was going on in the southern quarter. “The terror at reading Tessa’s letter? I vented much of that on the way to the blacksmith. It didn’t matter that she underlined that everyone was safe.” Her voice carried the slightest waver, “I thought of all the things that could have happened, not just to Khylen, but to Tessa and Cassea for trying to protect her. The thoughts so owned me that I honestly don’t remember riding to the blacksmith. I read the letter and then I was there.”

“I didn’t even remember that Deres was at my side until I turned my head and there he was. When Khylen was in my arms, that all melted away like it had never been. As for the rage, my love, it’s there. It’s in a dark corner of my heart and I nurture it with thoughts of revenge. Whoever did something so cowardly will be made to pay.” She spoke the oath aloud that she already swore to herself. “I will find them and they will pay, no matter what resources they have at their command. Whatever power they think they have doesn’t matter. I will know who and why, and then they will be made to pay dearly.”

Those same thoughts lived in Bryana’s mind as well, though it had been many years since she was the dark soul that embraced them. She had found enough distance from them that to think back on them repulsed her. She had enough distance from them now that they almost seemed to belong to someone else.

But not tonight. Tonight they were a part of her as though they never left; that she never stopped being that person. The difference was that she knew she could put the darkness away. It didn’t define her and never would again, but she could embrace it to have the strength to do what she needed to do, wanted to do, and, for many reasons, had to be done.

Those responsible should use their night to run. They should use it to put as much distance between themselves and her in the few hours that they had left as they could because in the morning, the hunt would begin. Her guild and all its considerable resources would be put to the task of finding them. My eyes will see you, my hands will close around your throat, and your husks will be a message to all that what was done to one of mine today carries a price too heavy for all but fools and those who want to die will pay.

When she finally spoke aloud, she noted she couldn’t keep all of that darkness from her voice. “To that end, I have called a meeting of the conclave for tomorrow. Since the involvement of mages is obvious, I want to call upon every mage that I can to help in this.”

“And to look for suspects?” Deres added.

Bryana would have been lying if she said no, but she didn’t have to lie. “The guilds have been largely stable for longer than the Great Houses. Where once the Traybor’s could openly war with the Jaye’s for power and position, the mages could never dare be so bold, lest the world forget its own pettiness long enough to kill them all.”

“But to do something like, say, kidnap someone that matters to a Guild Mistress to get something out of it from her?”

She looked to Deres, hating that he could seem to read her thoughts without reading her thoughts, but she conceded the point. “Like the Houses, they all have people within them with their own agendas.”

“Be careful.”

“I am always careful, Deres.”

He huffed in good humor, “That’s debatable.” Becoming more serious now, “but we are dealing with mages and that sort of power, and if it is some kind of organized plot against you, the House, or Erette...”

The rest that remained unsaid hung heavily in the air and she responded to it in her own mind. That I saw no hint and heard no whisper of before they snatch little Khylen from the street? Then I don’t deserve my guild and probably deserve to die for such willful or sloppy ignorance. “I will tread lightly.”

He took her at her word, but would worry anyway. “At dawn I’m heading to the docks to see what I might be able to find. It’s what makes sense to me. Nobody wanted to take her just to take her shopping. They wanted to hide her and there are a million places there. Add the mayhem and the fighting that could have broken out and might still, she could have stayed disappeared for some time.”

Neral reached across the arm of her chair and laced her fingers with Bryana’s. “See that you do tread lightly, both of you. And know, Bryana, that I have not lost sight of the fact that, while mages endangered her, mages helped her, too.”

Bryana squeezed Neral’s hand back glad for the fact that Neral seemed not to blame her, or even her kind. She just thought of mages as good people and bad, like every other group of souls. “Know that until this is settled there will be trusted eyes on that girl wherever she goes and whatever she does. And they will act at the slightest provocation.”

“I will have extra eyes of my own on her for the time being, from the time she leaves for school until she returns.” Neral couldn’t help but smile. “I thought there might be a fight, but she actually seems to like the idea of an added escort for a while. She said it makes her feel like the queen.”

They all chuckled at the thought and Deres had to ask, “Did you tell Evaline that?”

“It was only fair of me to warn her. Rest assured that she is now watching her back.”

“How did the meeting go?”

She leaned forward and placed her head in her hands before exhaling a new wave of frustration and leaned back. “As well as could have been expected. Half the nobles wanted the queen to order me to send the army in to lock down every home and store indefinitely until the ‘rabble’ learned its lesson while they tried to scold the queen for treating them like they were capable of civilization for far too long.”

“Half of those probably want to return to slavery,” Deres complained bitterly.

“That the number is now down to about half is good progress. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of ground for them to stake that on since things are quiet now. The idea of some sort of illness has taken hold nicely since all the witnesses of the aftermath reported nothing but confused and frightened people who couldn’t explain sudden and uncontrollable rage. Healer Cass is sending healers into the area specifically to look for a cause.”

Evaline ordered a greater presence of the constabulary and some of my own people are going in as civilians to keep an eye out for anyone there that might want to take advantage of the instability.”

“In private, I told her the entire truth.” The queen had suspected for some time that forbidden magic had a greater hold on the world and Erette that most others were oblivious to. She had grown so certain of it and Neral’s connection to it through her loves that she confronted Neral in the hopes that Neral might be able to bring to her magic to allow her to have a mate and love them for life without falling into the pool of aloof bitterness that her own parents lived in.

She also trusted Neral’s connections to those magics in the form of Deres and Bryana to help protect the kingdom from those that might use magic to harm it. Like now.

“She said she would order us to find a name, but she knows that we already have suitable motivation.”

No one disputed that. Silence descended again as the three again laced their hands together and watched the city in silence as the breeze soothed them.

Bryana Lia dismounted her horse and took the tall grass in long strides, making her way to the abandoned fort that once stood watch over a major road into the kingdom and directly to the capitol. It had been replaced by better facilities almost a decade ago now and, as was custom, the military reclaimed what it valued and allowed the populace to slowly disassemble it over time, taking wood and stone as they needed.

One of the far watchtowers was largely intact, as was some of the wooden walkways that led to it. The populace left that particular tower alone because they knew it was unofficially claimed and had no interest in a conflict with those that had done so, even if most of those people didn’t know who they were. The ladders were long gone and keen eyes would notice that the remnant of connecting wood had been reinforced.

Her senses were enhanced by her power as they always were as she approached anywhere they all intended to meet. There were no mortal eyes on her and there were dimples of magic in the distance and above her as she expected. Searching for lines of force, she saw that none of them were bringing power to them and none of those dimples in the fabric of life were any deeper than they should have been. No one was looking for a fight. Even so, she was prepared all the same, as she knew they would be.

She approached the overhang and gathered her power around her. Even though her magic was honed to a fine point and she trusted her sense of it more than the senses of her flesh she still looked around to see if anyone was watching her that shouldn’t be before she closed her eyes. Her arms at her side, she spread her fingers outward to direct energy and felt the ground leave her. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy the feeling of freedom her power gave her with no longer being bound to earth. It was moments such as this when she knew she could bend the world to her will in even small ways that made her proud to be a mage.

Even before opening her eyes, she knew her position in the air. That dipped slightly and her right foot found the wood beneath. She released her power slowly in the event that the woodworker responsible wasn’t as conscientious with their work as they should have been. It bore her weight as she settled on it and barely made a sound as she walked the dozen or so feet to the door. She took the metal loop firmly in hand and focused her power once again, knowing that the mechanism within would only be moved by magic.

The mechanism gave way and she used her weight to push the door open. As a room meant for two to watch the road through long, narrow gaps in the stone it was barely large enough to hold the table and the six seats around it. The other guild masters were seated and their chatter stopped as the mage entered. She removed the dark cloak she wore to reveal an equally dark dress beneath. Neither were elements of her ceremonial garb, which she shunned here, but she felt that her dark attire at least honored the idea and the others she had come to meet. The only adornment on her person was the silver sigil of her guild on her breast, a hash of lines that combined to create the image of a predatory feline ready to strike.

She met the eyes of each. “I thank you all for your prompt response to my request for this meeting.”

“Under the rather unusual circumstances of the past day, it didn’t seem imprudent to have a meeting.” Brennar said. He had a lean form, and while he was not a wisp of a soul, he often let magic do the heavy lifting in his life. Bryana never thought much of wild facial hair on anyone, thinking it made the whole man look unkempt, and that was only enhanced by the fact that his hair always looked like a comb had rarely been run through it. She suspected he did it to try to hold on to his youth for as long as possible. He was the oldest of them and she knew a small bit of magic was in play to keep the most obvious signs of the fact away when she always thought he should take pride in his longevity. In spite of his general appearance and surrender to vanity, she respected him. He was intelligent, skilled, and not one for games.

He gestured to the cup and the partially drained bottle of wine before her. “Drink?”

“No thank you, Master Brennar. I promise not to keep any of you for very long I know you and your guilds are very busy at a time such as this.”

Another of the assembled took note at her tone. Petrik, a young man tall enough to have to duck to get through most doorways looked otherworldly and as though he were beyond mortals without even trying, which put most on edge. To try to counter this, he went out of his way to be jovial. ‘Master?’ This really isn’t a social call.”

She sat down, her back well against the chair. “You are all familiar with the events of yesterday because it’s hard to miss a burning city. I assume you are also aware of what happened to Khylen Jaye.”

No one acted surprised. “How is the child?” Brennar seemed sincere in the asking.

“Unharmed and her routine restored already. She is a strong one.” Pride crept into the words.

“Are you asking if one of us did it?” Dana wanted to know. She was plain and always looked as though her mood was sour. Her white hair was straight and went almost to her waist. She and Bryana got on largely because they were alike.

“Did you?” She met their eyes again. “I ask only to ask. I ask to hear you all speak the answer that I already believe and so that all of the others can hear it, too.”

“I did not do such a thing,” Dana replied coolly, “If I had I would not have been nearly so sloppy as to fail. But if my issue was with you, I would...take it up...with you. I would not drag innocents into it.”

Kalan, a bald man with well scarred from a challenge to his authority as guild master years before, laughed heartily, “Yes, Bryana, I decided to, without cause, antagonize you, and invite General Neral Jaye to bring her army to me and mine.” He watched Bryana watch him in silence until he spoke the words, “No, Bryana Lia, I did not do this. I enjoy living and would like to continue to do so.”

Brennar and Petrik also answered her, but Brennar continued, taking in some wine. “Is that why you called this meeting? To look us in the eye and see us as we tell you that we did not do this?”

Her head shook. “In part. But it is also to tell you that I will find those responsible. I will find the evidence and follow it where it leads. If it leads to one of your guilds...”

Dana turned colder. “If it leads to my guild, show me proof enough and I will deal with it and invite you to watch.”

Kalan’s smile was gone, “So you do think one of us had something to do with it.”

Bryana suppressed a sigh knowing that she had to tread carefully. They were measuring her reactions. They were deciding if she actually meant what she said or if this meeting was simply a preamble to something she’d already intended to do. Or was doing as they spoke. “If I believed one of you was responsible I would challenge you here and now just to judge your reaction and let the others see it.”

“And if you didn’t like the reaction?”

She looked to Bremmer. The look on his face suggested he was teasing, but he was also waiting for an honest answer that he could accept. “Then I would find the proof I would require for our fellow guild masters, after which we would all drink as we discussed who would rise to replace the...recently vacated position of guild master of the offender’s guild.”

He took a drink, satisfied with her answer. “Early retirement then.”

“I promise the offender a memorable sendoff. But first, I have to find them.”

Petrik followed up. “Plural?”

“That’s where the evidence points so far. Two very different magic forms suggests more than one culprit.”

“And common sense,” Dana continued. “This was, whatever its endgame, a dangerous undertaking. No one would have attempted it alone.”

Bryana was in agreement. “To that end, I am asking for your help. First, I would appreciate it greatly if you hear any hints and whispers among your apprentices that might suggest they might have some involvement or know someone who does that you inform me.”

“If I hear of anything, I’ll follow up on it myself and if there’s anything that you will want to know, I will pass it on.” Petrik made it clear even given the easy delivery of the response that she should tread lightly when it came to the goings on in guilds not her own.

“Don’t forget that if there’s a knife to your throat it’s the closest person to you that’s holding it.”

“I haven’t forgotten that particular truism, Dana. Know that I am listening for whispers in my own house.” Dana wasn’t wrong, but that fact left her with a dark pit in her stomach. She had run her guild fairly, and she dared think more fairly than any of the others did. Bryana discouraged infighting and encouraged the idea that the guild was more than that. They were a unit. They served the guild and their fellows as much as themselves. To think that someone felt so little of that and hungered for power so much that they would try something like what was done sickened her. If she were a woman who put stock in prayer, she would pray that such would not be the case.

“Secondly,” Bryana paused, giving weight to the next words, “I know that we all keep our own counsel, but I must cast my net wide. To that end, I would ask for your records as they pertain to those you have banished.”

“You know who they are,” Petrik told her. “That information is freely shared.”

She corrected him firmly, “’Who’ is freely shared so that no other guild will have them, not the why of it. The why is kept to ourselves because we do not share with one another the workings of our guilds lest another find advantage somehow, lest they find opportunities or weaknesses to exploit or apprentices to woo. And if they were banished before they crossed my path, I wouldn’t be privy to their skills.”

“How do we know you didn’t orchestrate this thing to game us to get this from us for some end to which we are not privy?”

Bryana scowled, “You believe I would endanger Khylen Jaye and then burn the city down for some books?”

Dana corrected, leaning towards her “But she’s not endangered, is she? We only have your word that she was.”

“You have as many more eyes beyond two as the rest of us,” Bryana snapped.

“They see what’s in front of them as well as anyone. But what if what they see is a grand play for their benefit?” She then took a decided turn towards melodrama, “And it’s not as if letting a city burn, especially a part no one really cares about is so far beyond the boundaries of Bryana Lia.” She turned grim again. Would it be so far beyond her boundaries to lie in wait for years for the opportunity to get what she wants?”

Bryana sneered. “Did you start on the wine before anyone else arrived?” Inwardly though, she knew it was the downside of knowing someone very much like yourself. Who she once was might have done exactly that.

“That’s enough.” Brennar said with finality, rising, looking to Bryana in sympathy, hoping to diffuse the situation. “In the same manner that we would demand Mistress Lia show us proof that one of ours was responsible for this, we need to hold ourselves to the same standard.”

He placed his hand firmly on Dana’s shoulder, easing her back to her seat. “There is nothing to say that she is any more responsible than any of us.”

“It is a concern,” Kalan said, putting his palms in the air. “It’s a concern. I can game this out in such a way that you could have used it as part of a plan to grow your power by exploiting what you might find in our records. I can even game it out as it being an excuse for you at least threaten to use Jaye’s army against the rest of us to consolidate power, something which I am not accusing you of, just so we’re all clear on that point.”

Bryana dipped her head in assent.

“But, dear Dana, let’s not pretend that if the potential gains were high enough, any of us would never even think about expanding our personal boundaries of what’s acceptable or not.” He ignored the death stare she gave him.

“Torching the docks is quite a step,” Petrik agreed after batting the idea around in his imagination. “I might just have to own the world after that. Or several.”

“May I continue?”

Brennar again took his seat. “Please.”

“The obvious suspects in this are those within your,” she stopped herself, “our guilds, freelancers, or outlaws. You all have information that I need. If our situations were reversed I would give it to you.”

Dana wondered, “For how much?”

“I would be in your debt.”

“But you don’t need all our records,” Brennar told her, rubbing his hand across his beard. “All you really need are our records on the banished that you have never crossed paths with, which I would be willing to provide to you.” He looked pointedly at them all. “Because whoever has done this thing has placed us all in jeopardy and if I can aid in the search I’ll do so for the good of my guild and yours, too. The rest of you should do the same and shouldn’t have to be spoon fed why it’s in your interest to do so.”

“If you need particular information beyond that, it can be discussed.”

No one objected to that compromise, which pleased Bryana. She would have preferred to be able to have everything so as not to involve any other guild, but, she knew she’d involved them the moment she made the request in the first place, “I appreciate your help.”

“I still like the idea of you being in my debt, so I’ll help myself double by helping you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I expect that you don’t care if I do, but I don’t. If you can lead me to those responsible, I will not be displeased to owe you.”

Petrik slapped his palms to the table. “Now that that’s out of the way, let’s toast and put aside the negativity.”

Bryana reached for the bottle.

Deres walked the streets of the burned out neighborhood, making his way to the docks, dropping coin for almost anyone that asked and doing so without giving it much thought. Perhaps a few were just looking for extra money, but most of them simply needed as they always needed. He promised himself that he would do what he could to help those who needed his magic to heal them on his way back to the clinic, but, for now, he was consumed with what he needed to find.

He left the street’s proper to move into the warehouse district. He moved through the area, asking those that worked there, some cleaning and repairing, some doing their usual work. Just because what happened happened, it didn’t mean the world stopped. Wagons still moved in and out, as did ships, the only difference now was that the usable dock space stacked high while they scrambled to find room for the goods that now had no place to be stored.

He used his senses, all extended by his power to examine the area, seeing beyond the walls, each life a small tick of energy that threaded with others. Everything was connected. Magic left its own unique traces and, while he saw telltales here and there, he saw nothing of what he was looking for as he moved from street to street and alley to alley. He even reached those senses into nooks barely large enough to fit a child because that’s how he’d lived much of his childhood. If one could get there on their own they could be placed there.

In a narrow crawlspace beneath a bar he sensed life. Peering in, he saw a body huddled in the middle so there was enough room to maneuver if need be and enough warning if someone tried to get in. The boy was asleep still. He may have been a nightcrawler, or he may have been trying to forget hunger and want. He reached into the pouch within his cloaks and pulled from it three gold coins. With his magic, they floated through the gap, coming to rest in the dirt next to his head without a sound.

At least being able to spread some wealth was a balm to his growing frustration. From street, to alleyway, to crawlspace, there was no hint of what he sought, and he found himself wondering if he was off the mark. This took planning. There was a plan to take Khylen and a plan to keep her and the plan was executed by mages. Whether they knew the extent of Deres’s gifts or not, they had to know about Bryana. They knew that someone with gifts like their own would seek her, so she would have to be well hidden. That much was obvious, but where he thought he may have gone wrong were in the precautions they would take to hide her.

If it were him wanting to take her, knowing those things about her, he would assume that Bryana had taught Khylen something. That was simply the way of things with the mages in a land where sharing was the only way magic and mages survived. Teaching was done in secret to begin with and they were close. She might have kept her skills to herself and maybe she did, not wanting to reveal the full extent of that skill to Neral or Deres, because she didn’t know how they would react to the knowledge. But what if she did teach the girl? Even a basic fire spell for the unprepared would put quite the crimp in things.

There would have to be runes to blunt that magic. It wouldn’t take much to absorb the skills of a novice, but they would have to be complex in order to hide her from one of Bryana’s skill, though they had no idea of the extent of Bryana’s skill after years of learning from Deres. They would have to exist unless these people were stupid. The question was where. The fact was that he could look for months and find nothing. He was beginning to feel dejected and powerless. He wasn’t there to protect his child when it happened, and he was failing at finding those responsible.

“Where are we supposed to put this shit?”

A voice yelled back, “Put it in your house for all I care. There’s no room for any of it. Put it back on the boat.” He spoke more forcefully, now realizing that he had a not half-assed idea under the circumstances. “Stop offloading from where they came from and tell those guys they’re just going to have to wait until we make room. They got plenty of space.”

“They aren’t gonna like that.”

“Fuck ’em. They don’t get paid unless delivery gets taken. Delivery ain’t getting taken anymore right now. Tell ’em that and tell the guys on their breaks to take ’em by the gangplanks just to make sure no one decides to offload the stuff on their own.”

Deres closed his eyes and chastised himself for his own stupidity. He went to the places he was familiar with, which made sense, but he’d wasted hours by ignoring an obvious possibility, memory drawing him to the places where he’d lived over elsewhere. They could simply put her on a ship and be gone.

Walking those docks, it didn’t take him long to find a likely possibility, a smaller cargo boat, The Water’s Edge, that, by appearances was being loaded as he came upon it. At first, it was simply a hunch in that it looked like something that could slip out and no one would take note. When he drew close enough to board it, he felt the first stirrings of magic as a tickle at the base of his brain. His pace quickened, but remained smooth, slowly homing in the magic as that sensation became more insistent. He stepped on the deck, not getting more than half a dozen steps before he was called. “You there. What’s your business?”

Deres turned his compact, powerful frame towards the voice, seeing a man a good head taller than he, his dark beard trying to cover the scars of a childhood pox. His green eyes were pale and with just a hint of bloodshot. To Deres, he looked somewhat malnourished, which was not uncommon among sailors. “You’re the master of this boat?”

“I am,” he said with some pride. “Captain Phelz. Again, what’s your business? People just don’t get to walk on my boat and wander around as though they own it. I own it.”

“Follow me, captain.”

Deres turned on his heel and walked the deck as Phelz continued to protest.

“We have business, you and I.”

That quieted him long enough for Deres to get to the main hold. It wasn’t full, but had no shortage of cargo, with crates lashed from floor to ceiling. At first, and even second glance, there was nothing unusual. Everything was well hidden to begin with and, add the manner in which the eye would naturally be drawn to the bits of cargo over the ship itself, if not for the magic he could definitely feel and almost see, he might not have noticed at all that the hold wasn’t as wide as it should be

But it was, and the magic was there. He reached out with his skill and saw the empty space. He squeezed between the crates and the wall, his fingers pressing as he sought the change in density that would lead him to the latch or the lock.

Phelz eyes followed and took his forefinger and wiped away the sweat that was beginning to bead on his upper lip, “What in the depths are you doing?”

“Looking for what’s there.” He made his way toward the back of the hold. “If you’d show it to me this would be over a little more quickly.”

“Show you what? What are you talking about?” He puffed up, placing his hand on his belt, his tone turning dark. “Leave now and I’ll forget this.”

In response, Deres, without stopping his search, pulled power to himself and allowed his hands to glow for an instant with the deep, swirling red of mage fire. “And if you draw that blade, I’ll kill you. I suspect you’ll be in some trouble for this, but do you really want to die for it?”

He found the metal beneath the wood. “There we are.” His right hand made a half circle above it until he found a bit of wood with a bit too much give. Deres pressed, it gave, and, with a click, a piece of the wall gave way. Pushing inward, the door yielded and his eye for magic saw the runes blazing, circles on circles and patterns over patterns. Their shielding magics were quite good, he admitted, and they had taken no chances with the runes. They were complex enough to dampen the abilities of a full mage for some time, but there was no magic to begin to drain them and no one had returned to clear the spell. In the crawlspace was a long bench that created a u-shape with loops and chains for as many as a dozen bodies to be crammed together and a single unlit candle in a holder nailed to the wall. The thought of Khylen in such a place angered him beyond measure. The thought that others made this trek in bondage over years or longer only added to his desire to make someone pay.

He turned slowly to find the color thoroughly drained from the face of Captain Phelz. He saw the look in the other’s eyes and he blinked rapidly. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his hand while now careful to keep his hands from his blade.

“You said this was your ship?”

His heart failed to escape his chest, but not for lack of trying. His lips quivered before he stammered an answer, “I-I...well, yes. It’s, umm…it’s is my ship inasmuch as I’m the captain. I don’t… I don’t own it. I’m just an employee.”

Deres took a purposeful step towards the man, who seemed to shrink in response, “Then speak to me about your employer, and don’t leave anything out.”