Prince of Magic (17 page)

Not that he hadn't already realized that leaving her to her calling would be extremely difficult.

"I'm not trying to trick you, Sian, and like you, I do not enjoy the idea of creating a child and then running off to war not knowing what the future will bring."

"Then why do you torture me?"

And though she might not intend it, having her stand this close was torture.

"I feel time slipping away from me," Ariana said gently. "I have so much to learn, and I know that even if I spent years as your student, I would not be proficient enough to face what I have been chosen to face. We don't have years. I'm afraid I won't ever see my family again. Duran, yes, but I suspect I will be gone before my sister Sibyl arrives, and my parents and other siblings are so far away, and… and you are all I have. No one else understands what awaits me. No one else, Sian. So if I wish for a particularly close togetherness in the time we have remaining, does that make me a scheming woman intent on tricking you?"

"Of course not, but…"

Ariana reached into her pocket and withdrew a small vial. "I am a healer and an herbalist. Do you think I do not know how to make sure I won't conceive a child?"

The erection that had grown the moment she'd touched his hand responded by growing harder and throbbing slightly. "You have taken this formula?"

Ariana smiled. "It is not for me, enchanter. It is for
you
."

Duran was a fine soldier, and when he learned that she would be leaving here with an army, he would insist on being beside her. No, he would insist on being in front of her, protecting her from all she was meant to fight.

And he would die.

Ariana didn't know what was intended for her beyond the coming battle, but she could and would protect those she loved most from the war that was meant to be hers.

It was late in the afternoon when she found the opportunity to call on the emperor. She had turned some of his care over to other, less talented healers, and they followed her instructions. They would continue to offer care until Sibyl arrived. On this day the emperor's health was no worse, and no better. He always seemed to be slipping away, fading into nothingness. It was for that reason that she and Sian had chosen not to tell him that the monster she was going to fight was his son. The news would destroy him.

When she was finished with her examination and the administering of some potent herbs, Ariana stood before the emperor and adopted a subservient pose. Hands clasped, head bowed, she curtsyed gently.

"My lord, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything."

No one but the emperor, Sian, and she knew of the prophesy and what was to come. There was no other way. No one beyond those necessary could know until the time of battle was upon them.

"I suspect I will likely be leaving the palace in a matter of days. A week or two, perhaps. No more. The enchanter has not suggested to me the date of departure, but I feel it is impending."

Arik nodded his head once.

"I do not want my brother Duran with me."

The emperor's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise. "Duran Varden is a fine soldier, one of the best. Why do you wish to leave him behind?"

"If he goes with me, he will be determined to protect me. I know Duran, my lord. He will throw himself between me and whatever comes my way, and he will die. This is not his calling, it is mine."

"How do you propose leaving him behind when the time comes?"

Ariana drew a folded sheet of paper from her pocket. "I have penned this letter to my cousin Lyr, explaining what I know of the prophesy and our part in it. It's my intention to head toward the Anwyn mountains and speak to Keelia personally, which leaves no time for traveling to Tryfyn. In my letter I ask Lyr to meet us there.

"The letter must be closed with your seal, one Duran would not dare to break. By the time he delivers the letter, I will be well on my way to the mountains."

"Sian approves this plan?"

"The enchanter does not know of this letter, or of my plans to travel to the mountains of the Anwyn."

"But—"

"He is my teacher, and a fine one," Ariana interrupted. "But the war to come is mine, is it not?"

"Yes, it is," Arik answered calmly as he took the letter from her hands.

"Then some of the decisions must be mine as well."

Arik agreed with her, and she left him resting, still clutching her letter in his aging hands. She was not surprised to find Sian waiting for her in the hallway. He was still concerned that Diella might rise to the surface once again. Ariana believed that the dark spirit of the evil empress was gone, had been gone since the moment she had told the demon to get out of her ocean, but Sian was not convinced.

"How is he?" Sian asked, distant and cool for the sentinels who stood nearby and listened closely.

"The same." They walked away from the emperor's quarters, side by side, Sian's pace shortened to match Ariana's.

"His care must be left in the hands of others. You must learn to delegate."

"Delegate, not abandon," she argued. She could tell Sian of the letter, she supposed, but as he did not intend to leave the palace with her when the time came, the knowledge was not necessary. He said she was to be a leader. A general, of sorts. It was best that she start to act like one, rather than asking her teacher for constant advice and approval.

She could feel the time of her leaving creeping up on her, coming toward her faster than she had imagined it would.

"For now, you must return to your studies," Sian said. "We made great progress this morning."

Yes, learning that her magical abilities were tied to her emotions had been an important step. If only she could tap into those emotions at will, perhaps she'd be able to manage a few more of Sian's tricks.

He was a good teacher, but an aggravating man. When she'd given him the concoction she'd devised, he'd slipped it into his pocket and turned away from her. She supposed that was better than refusing to accept the vial, or laughing at her offering. Not much better, but some.

Heavens, she hoped he didn't try to ingest the mixture. Not that it would harm him, but it would surely taste horrendous.

Enclosed in the space that had become their classroom, Sian immediately began the lessons once again. He had already lined up several objects of varying size and heaviness on the table. One of the objects was a small knife.

Ariana lifted the knife and hefted the weight of it in her palm. "I sent the bowl hurtling toward your head, and you select a knife for the next lesson?"

He smiled. "You must learn control."

"Must I? Now?"

"Yes."

Ariana turned her attentions to the array of objects. The manipulation of energy she needed to master was tied to her emotions. Goodness knows she was a bundle of emotions at the moment. Duran would soon be departing for Tryfyn. Sian would not leave the palace with her when the time came. When she led her army away from Arthes, she would be more alone than she had ever been.

Sian knew she still needed his power added to hers, so she was not surprised when she felt his hand at the small of her back. One touch from the powerful enchanter, and her magic was greater than before.

She saw the energy rise on the palm of her hand. It swirled and danced and sparkled, white and blue with touches of purple the color of Sian's eyes. Holding her breath, she threw the energy toward a book Sian had placed at one end of the table. The book opened, and the pages fluttered.

"Good," he whispered. "Very good."

Ariana turned her attentions to a small cup filled with water. She thought of nothing else but that cup, and with a wave of her hand she was able to lift it from the table. The cup floated in the air for a moment, and then she separated the cup from the water inside, so that the water floated on air.

"Wonderful." Sian's voice was deep and soft, a rumble that almost caressed her skin.

Ariana's energy began to fade. A few droplets of water fell to the table, and her focus faltered.

"Emotion," Sian said. "Always emotion."

The cup began to tremble, as if it was preparing to fall.

"Think of pain if you must," Sian instructed, his voice growing sharper as he sensed she was about to let the cup fall. He pressed his hand more firmly to her back. "Think of your long-ago love, and the way you felt when you discovered it was false."

She had not expected him to turn their private moment into a part of her lesson! It was a kind of betrayal, and a rush of anger rose to the surface. The water returned quickly and neatly to the cup, and the cup lowered to the table with a snap. Ariana turned her attention to the small knife. In a flash, it rose from the table, turned on air, and flew toward the door, where it thunked solidly into the wood.

For a moment all was silent in the room, and then Sian muttered, "
Very
good."

"I didn't send it anywhere near you, so don't sound so worried."

"I'm not worried," Sian said, very unconvincingly, as he dropped his hand and stepped away from her.

There was a knock at the door, and a moment later it opened. Duran stepped into the room, a sealed note in his hand. He left the door open, so he did not see the knife. "Sorry to interrupt your lessons, Ariana, but I'm to leave the palace tonight."

So soon? Arik had wasted no time. "Oh." She tried to pretend innocence. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Tryfyn, with a message for cousin Lyr. Well, more rightly I have a message for the new Prince of Swords." He waved the note, then placed it in the inside pocket of his green sentinel's vest. "I hate to leave you here unprotected, but I won't be gone a moment longer than is necessary."

It would take weeks to travel to Tryfyn, deliver the note, and return. By the time Duran's chore was done, she'd be gone.

If he knew she had a hand in this, he would never forgive her. Ariana stepped calmly toward her brother and smiled. "Have a wonderful trip." She took his face in her hands and kissed his cheek. "Give Aunt Isadora and Uncle Lucan my love. Lyr, too."

"I will." Duran glared down at her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm very well." She hugged Duran close, and for a moment she infused him with a healer's health, a healer's protection. A sister's love.

Duran glared at Sian in an overly protective, brotherly manner, then once again said good-bye to Ariana. When the door closed behind him, she began to cry. She did not sob, but large tears ran silently down her cheeks. It was very likely that she would never see her brother again.

She turned to find the objects on the table dancing. The knife, which was still embedded in the door, quivered. Sian was not touching her, and still, the objects were affected. Ariana wanted no more lessons, but this moment only proved what Sian had told her to be true. Her emotions and her power were linked. Her ability to do what needed to be done depended on her ability to harness that emotion. With tears running down her face, she pulled the knife from the door. The hilt lay, cool and heavy, on the palm of her hand.

The objects on the table stilled as she focused her energy on the knife. Sian knew what she was trying to do, and he did not reach out for her. This was a test. Could she function without his added power? Were these lessons wasted when he was not with her? The knife spun on her palm and flew from her hand, speeding toward the opposite wall at her command. It once again imbedded itself in wood, this time directly over a picture frame which held the portrait of some long-departed emperor's daughter whose name had been forgotten.

"I am impressed," Sian said reverently.

"Don't be," Ariana said as she crossed the room to retrieve the knife. "I was aiming for the curtain's sash."

The sash in question was several feet away from the portrait, but what she'd accomplished was a start. A very good one.

He needed sleep. Three sleepless nights he could handle, but four? Yes, he needed sleep, but he could not allow Ariana out of his sight for more than a few minutes, even though he had seen no glimpse of Diella since the episode in his quarters.

Pacing outside Ariana's room, Sian reached into his pocket and fingered the vial of potion she had fashioned for him. There were other ways for a woman to trap a man than with a child. He already felt too connected to this witch he was sending to her death. He already felt tempted to accompany her into a battle that was not his to fight.

He had spent years in study, in order to make himself more than a man. In deepening his magic he had by necessity often separated himself from that which made him mortal. People were not as important as the honing of his skills. Emotion was not as important as knowledge. And yet here he was, feeling like nothing more than a man where Ariana Varden was concerned. She waited on the other side of this door, and she wanted him to join her. At this moment he cared only about what his body demanded. Ariana wanted more from him, he knew that. She wanted the comfort of being held, as well as the sex. It wasn't the physical pleasure that would bind him to her. No, it was the closeness and that comfort that would undo him.

That had already undone him.

He unlocked her door magically, and opened it in the same way. Using no magic at all, he closed the door behind him and rebolted it. The vial sat on the palm of his hand.

"How is this applied, and how long does it take to be effective?"

Ariana was awake. Given the excitement of the day, he was not surprised. What did surprise him was that beneath the coverlet that only partially concealed her body, she was naked.

She had known he could come. She had known he could not resist her.

Ariana sat up, and the coverlet fell to offer him a full and unobstructed view of her breasts. She reached out, offering one hand, palm up. "May I show you?"

Sian was not an overly trusting man, and with good reason. He had never before considered giving a potion of a witch's design to her hand for application of an unknown sort.

And yet, he laid the vial on Ariana's palm.

"You must remove your clothing," she instructed.