Stealing Sorcery (32 page)

Oh, bastard.

“My reasons for using dominion marks is quite different. You touched on the first point, if not directly – a dominion marked item can access multiple different dominions at once. The mark itself is imbued with essence, rather than the entire item. That is not the most important part either, however. The most important part is the ability to connect a dominion marked item to other things.”

Like how Edon marked humans, allowing them to draw from the items at a distance. Someone with dozens of marks could presumably have access to dozens of types of sorcery without even carrying a single item on them.
“You can bond the items to specific people to give the person access to new types of sorcery. That does seem like it has vast potential for someone wealthy enough to make a large variety of items. Like yourself, for example.”

Hartigan nodded absently. “Oh, yes, that’s possible. But that’s not the most important part, either.”

What else could he mean? Using bonds to make a sorcerer stronger at their own specialization, perhaps, or combining different types of sorcery together in ways that are normally impossible?

She gave no indication of her thoughts, and after a moment, he smirked and spoke again. “The dominions themselves, Miss Scryer. There are three marks beneath the stone. The first allows the wearer to use the stone to connect with the Dominion of Flame, using the stone’s essence as a catalyst instead of the user’s. The second mark draws continuously from the Dominion of Flame to restore the stone to its full capacity. The third mark prevents the ring from being activated by anyone who is not bonded to it.”

Lydia raised a hand and rubbed her forehead.
Of course it doesn’t work unless it’s been bonded. That’s such an obvious defense mechanism – I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.

“Why are you telling me all this? Didn’t you just explain that it was too dangerous to share all this information?”

He shrugged. “I’m only telling you theory, Miss Scryer. That doesn’t give you anywhere near enough information to replicate the process on its own. My reasoning is simple enough – I can’t stand the idea of someone wearing one of my rings that doesn’t even know how it works.”

She fidgeted with the ring, turning it around on her finger. “That’s magnanimous of you, considering how I obtained it, but I won’t turn down information. Will you show me how to bond the ring to myself so I can actually use it?”

“Well, I suppose I should probably determine if you plan to arrest me first, my dear girl. It wouldn’t do to equip you with the ring just to have you use it against me, would it?”

She chuckled.
Oh, is that what you’re playing at? This has to be the world’s most elaborate bribe.
“All right, Hartigan. That seems fair. So, to get back to the core point, you’re saying you use all these pieces of solid essence in rings and other trinkets to make dominion marked items?”

“Not precisely. You see that there are two jars for the Dominion of Flame?”

She nodded. “Yes, one of them is marked ‘refined.’” Examining the two jars, she noted that the stones in the first looked like simple red rocks – rough and uneven. The contents of the “refined” jar looked like cut gemstones, similar to the one in her ring. Or, she realized, the gems in the hilt and pommel of the Sae’kes.

That could mean that even the gods themselves may have used similar techniques to Hartigan’s when they constructed that blade. Fascinating.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, flame doesn’t exactly like to be stored in a solid state. The same is true for many of the other dominions you see represented there. To get ‘solid flame’, I conjure dominion essence into specific materials that are capable of holding it. Those are volcanic rocks in the first jar; they can be safely saturated with a high degree of flame without melting or losing the essence. Once I have stored up several of those, I transfer the essence from them into something even more stable – an artificial gemstone, like the one in your ring. I will not tell you the process of making such gems; that step is what prevents most sorcerers from duplicating my work.”

Hartigan walked to the opposite side of the room. “I’ve shared a great deal of valuable information with you, and asked for little in exchange. You may think this is to dissuade you from investigating me further, but I have no intention of interfering with justice. I did not kill the poor boy, of course, but you may proceed with your search through whatever means you find appropriate. I will ask, however, that you do not share the information on dominion marks that I have given to you.”

“That request goes against the core tenets of the followers of Sytira, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“And I hope my arguments have been sufficiently persuasive that you’ll understand why an exception is necessary, Miss Scryer. You don’t go around spreading knowledge about the Dominion of Void, either. There’s a reason for that – it’s simply too dangerous.”

She rested her head against a fist, leaning back against the wall next to the shelf. “Very well. I will not distribute this knowledge broadly. I cannot claim I will not speak of it at all – some of it may be relevant to my investigation.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “How so?”

“A solid piece of dominion essence of poison was found at the scene of the murder. As I’m sure you’re aware, dominion essence of poison is typically stored in a gaseous state. And you just revealed not only that you would be capable of storing it as a solid, but how and why you would do so.”

“Oh, dear. It would appear that my ramblings have implicated me rather strongly, haven’t they?” He smiled, putting a hand over his eyes. “This is what I get for talking too much.”

“As a small point in your favor, I don’t see any dominion essence of poison here.”

Hartigan chuckled, still holding his hand over his eyes. “Meaningless, as you know. I could have simply run out, or stored it in another room. Or even another house. I’m sure you know I have other property.”

“Yes. I do intend to search this place more thoroughly, but that can only help me positively identify you as connected to the murderer – I doubt I could find evidence to the contrary. I will read your alchemical notes, as we discussed, but you could have simply written any time you wanted on them – especially after coming back from a murder.”

“Of course, of course. If you’ll allow me a bit of freedom to influence you, however, I may be able to assist you in narrowing down your list of other suspects.”

Well, he certainly has clear motives to get me to investigate other people, regardless of whether or not he’s actually guilty.
“If I tell you who I’m planning to investigate, you could warn them to hide any evidence if you’re connected. Or even if you’re not, and you just want to protect a friend.”

“A fair point, although if I am connected to the murder, wouldn’t I just warn my accomplices regardless of if I know they are being investigated? That leaves only the latter – and if I’m not connected with the murder, don’t you find it unlikely I would approve of it?”

“Unlikely, yes. Impossible, no. If you want to help, you could simply provide me with your own list of people who I should investigate after I conclude my search here. Assuming I don’t end up arresting you, of course.”

He made a ‘hmmm’ noise and raised a finger to the front of his mouth. “I suppose I could do that, although seeing your list would allow me to comment on any names you’ve come up with and provide you with a better idea of who you should pursue or dismiss.”

“I’ll have to take the risk of wasting effort on unlikely candidates regardless of what you say. Your word that I should ignore someone as a suspect would, unfortunately, almost make them appear more suspicious.”

“Very well. Provide me with what information you can share on the crime and I will provide you with my own list. You’ve already given me quite an interesting tidbit about the poison gem – not many could accomplish such a thing. In fact, I can think of only a few who could have served as the source of the item – but the gem could have been sold to another sorcerer, of course. Many of the pieces of dominion essence you see behind you were purchased from other sorcerers or made by my apprentices. If I take you on as an apprentice at some point, I would teach you the process of making similar items – but keep the first ones you create for myself, as a part of the fee for my training.”

Lydia nodded. “That sounds like a fair trade. For now, however, let’s work on that list.”

***

Hours later, Lydia had finished her search of the building and rested in a guest bedroom. She had little fear that Hartigan would try to have her killed in the middle of the night – he seemed much more interested in manipulating her for his own ends than causing her harm.

And it helped that she sincerely doubted he was the killer.

True, she had found no direct evidence of his innocence, and he was almost too happy to help in her investigation – but an identify spell on his person had not detected the Dominion of Travel or the Dominion of Poison. Without the capability to cast travel or poison spells, his likelihood as the murderer was lessened significantly.

While it was possible he had dominion marked items that could serve those functions, bonds to those items would have been detected by her spell, and she doubted he would have had the foresight to break his bonds to the items before her visit.

Hartigan’s ability to store solid dominion essence was simple enough that she could have replicated it herself – and Jonan had invented something analogous on his own, in a liquid state rather than a solid one – so that evidence didn’t weigh against him particularly strongly. Hartigan also didn’t seem to guard that particular knowledge anywhere near as carefully as he had guarded the secrets about the dominion marks, which meant he might have told any number of people about the method. Certainly his other apprentices would have the knowledge.

The remainder of the search had turned up little else related to the investigation, but Hartigan’s libraries contained an impressive supply of obscure books, and his “armory” had a supply of dominion bonded items that rivaled one of the vaults of the Paladins of Tae’os as a whole. Coming back for training was a sincere temptation and she resolved to take his offer seriously after she had found Kae’s murderer.

A shuffling sound near the entrance to the bedroom made Lydia spring to her feet to investigate. She found a handwritten note that had been slipped under the door.

Miss Scryer,

I have a number of colleagues that have the capability to perform the spells necessary to commit the murder as you described, but few would have the motives to do so. My advice would be to consider the few names below as the most likely culprits.

House Theas has long protested the dominance of the Rethri on the city council. Edrick’s has repeatedly antagonized the most powerful Rethri nobles, including the king. I doubt King Athelean would move against Edrick so openly, but other high noble families might be more brash. I would consider Ulandir Ta’thyriel and Volanen Dianis both capable of the crime and possessing sufficient motives.

Kae’s sister, Nakane, may seem an obvious choice at first. She is a brilliant young woman and quite a powerful sorceress for her age. I feel she lacks the motive, however. When Edrick realized her sorcerous proficiencies matched my own more closely than his, he sent her to stay with me to spend a year in my tutelage. During that time, her greatest sorrow was her distance from her sick brother. I cannot believe she would have willingly done him harm – and she would not benefit from it. Even his death would not allow her to inherit House Theas. She is, after all, a woman.

When Edrick finally meets his end, the house will pass to the eldest male heir – Nakane’s cousin, Larkin Theas. Larkin was shunned for his lack of ability with sorcery, and thus he left Velthryn many years ago to make his fortune by other means. I doubt he would be involved – the boy abandoned his name years ago. When he last wrote me, he called himself “Landen”.

I wish you the best of luck in your investigation. May Sytira guide you and Xerasilis lead you to justice.

Blake Hartigan

              Lydia held the note for a moment in a trembling hand.

              Landen is the next heir to House Theas. He could be the murderer, but another scenario is far more likely.

             
He is, most likely, another assassination target.

             
Lydia flipped over the note, retrieved a quill and ink from her pouch, and began to write.

“Find the cinderglow extract, would you?” Jonan gingerly held the crystalline flask as far from his face as possible, trying not to inhale the acrid odor it was emanating. He tilted the vial in his right hand just slightly, allowing a steady stream of green liquid to trickle into the blueish fluid in the flask. The sizzling sound at the contact between the fluids made him wince, but he retained his grip.

The left side of the work table held dozens of other mixtures and concoctions, each sealed and labeled based on their ingredients. The right side had a large bowl – currently empty – and several small vials with samples of assorted poisons.

“Am I one of your servants now?” Nakane complained, searching through the jars on a nearby shelf. “And I still don’t think cinderglow is going to have any effect.”

“It might not, but it’s one of the only counteragents we haven’t tried yet.”

Nakane sighed aggressively, snatching a jar from the shelf and bringing it to another nearby table. Lifting a knife, she began to cut away at the wax seal around the rim. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Jonan chuckled. “What makes you say that?”

“You haven’t stopped grinning like an idiot in the last hour.”

He shrugged, spilling a tiny bit of the flask’s precious liquid onto the table. “Shit!” He set down the flask on a dry spot nearby and fumbled for the cork for the vial of dreamseed oil. As he corked the vial, he could see the few drops of spilled fluid burning into the metal. Cursing, he replaced the vial among its allies and grabbed a flask of water, pouring it onto the burning metal.

Jonan sighed as the burning ceased, leaving a puddle and a trail of awkward rents in the metallic barrier on the table. “Well,” he conceded, “I suppose we probably wouldn’t have wanted to drink that one.”

Nakane folded her arms. “You’re still trying the cinderglow. I’ve already opened it.” She picked up the container and set it down on the table near his flask. “And clean up my table.”

Jonan rolled his eyes, wiping his hands on his pants. “Yes, Lady Theas.” He went to a nearby cupboard, opened it, and fetched a towel from within.

“Doesn’t this seem like an exercise in futility to you? Even if you find an antidote to the poison that killed Kae, it’s extraordinarily unlikely the assassin would be foolish enough to use it a second time.”

Jonan shook his head, sopping up the mixture of water and his most recently failed counteragent. “It doesn’t matter. I mean, well, it does matter – it would be better if the assassin does use the same poison. Or, rather, it would be the most ideal if he never attacks again at all, but –”

“You just want to be as prepared as possible. That’s admirable; I just don’t think this is a meaningful use of effort.”

Jonan set down the towel, rinsing his hands in a nearby bowl of fresh water, and then pouring the now-tainted water into the nearby sink.
Use your words, Jonan. She’s not that intimidating.

He pointed to one of the samples of poison in the vials. With no ability to use the Dominion of Poison himself, he had taken the yellow orb that Lydia had found to the nearby Thornguard base and instructed a local poison sorcerer on how to convert it into liquid, much like how he gathered his own Dominion Essence of Sight for his mirrors. He disliked sharing his methodology, but Aayara already knew his secret – a couple more Thornguards with the knowledge wouldn’t be likely to hurt him.

“We know this is from the Dominion of Poison, but we know very little about it, aside from its presumed lethality. If we can find a solution that neutralizes it, I can look up the antidote to try to find out what type of poison it is.”

“Really?” Nakane leaned forward across her table toward him. “That’s your brilliant plan? You do realize that this was the essence used in the portal – not the poison that was in my brother’s body?”

Jonan nodded. It was a fair question, if needlessly pointed. “Yes, yes. But if we presume that the assassin was a summoned entity from a particular point in the Dominion of Poison related to the dominion essence we found, the creature itself would likely be composed of – or utilize – a similar poison to the poison from the crystal that powered the portal.”

“That seems like a bit of a leap.”

“I don’t think so. How well versed are you in planar composition theory?”

The young lady of House Theas turned her head skyward. “You must be joking. My father wrote half the books on that subject.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve read them.”

“Well, I have. And written a few papers of my own, in fact.”

“Right. In that case, you should be quite aware that most entities that are native to specific planes prefer to draw upon their own essence for what we would consider spells, rather than directly utilizing their connection to a plane. Then, they naturally regain their own strength – or enhance it further - by gathering essence from the core plane. A Gatherer of Flame, for example, would use their own body to fuel fiery attacks, and then recharge or enhance themselves by absorbing a campfire or whatnot.”

“You’re using a very specific example. Gatherers are relatively benign as far as planar natives go – they just collect their dominion’s energies and then take them back home. Others, such as Harvesters, are considerably more dangerous. A Harvester will try to spread the power of its plane as broadly as possible to encourage its use, and then collect it all at once at a later time. And a Harvester is much more likely to be the agent at work here.”

“Harvester or not, it’s still likely to be drawing from its home location – which likely has a similar composition to the poison used in the portal.”

“I still think that’s a bit of a logical jump, but I do agree that knowing the composition of the crystal would be interesting, if most likely useless. Fine. You may continue to work.”

“Thank you.”

He wasn’t exactly sure why he was thanking her for permission to try to save her life, but for some reason that always seemed like the natural response when he was dealing with Nakane.

They worked together for several more minutes before an intruder arrived.

“What’s all this?” Rialla emerged from the stairway into the basement laboratory, still in her “Vorianna” guise. Jonan found it more than a little ridiculous, but he had to admit that was mostly because he already knew her.
I wonder if my own disguises come across as caricatures.

“Just trying to find a useless cure to a poison we haven’t even identified yet. You know, one of Jonan’s typical brilliant ideas.”

“Sure sounds like it.” Rialla grinned brightly.

You don’t always have to agree with her.
Jonan clasped his hands in front of him, sighing. He slightly extended the pointer finger on his right hand, sending Rialla a subtle sign that he wanted to trade places with her soon. The silent communication wasn’t strictly necessary, but it was good practice.

Rialla caught the gesture and made a similar one of her own. “You two need a hand with anything in here? Lady Theas – the elder, I mean, the baroness – is off to bed early tonight.”

Jonan contemplated that for a moment, considering Rialla’s skill set.

Actually, this might be a good test.

“Actually, Vorianna, can you make Dominion Essence of Water? The supply here seems to have evaporated, and it could be useful for our attempts at making an antidote.”

Rialla folded her arms. “S’pose I could try. Haven’t made an effort at water sorcery since I was little, but I might be able to manage it.”

“That would be fantastic. I’ll get the empty vials in a moment.”

“I already got them.” Nakane set a small open crate on the corner of Jonan’s table. A dozen empty vials were inside. She glanced at Vorianna with a dubious expression. “You never mentioned anything about your sorcery skills. Isn’t it rare for Rethri to study sorcery other than their bonded dominion?”

Rialla scratched at the back of her head, looking sheepish. “Wouldn’t call them skills, m’lady. Parents wanted me to be more impressive than I’ve got the talent for. Threw me at all sorts of classes when I was a girl. Never got much out of it, ‘shamed to say.”

“Why not just focus on your bonded dominion? Those eyes – it’d be what, secrets? Deception, or lies maybe?”

“Deception, m’lady. Not much good training for that, I’m afraid. Most practical applications of it are illegal, ‘less I wanted to be a street magician or somesuch. Parents wanted me to make better than that.”

“Well, I suppose being a guard is noble in its own sort of way.”

Jonan barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the exchange, focusing on setting up the next experiment. He set a fresh sample of poison on the right side of the table while beginning to mix the cinderglow extract with his other prepared ingredients.

The line of questioning had produced some interesting results among the obvious deflections – Rialla most likely had sorcery skills he hadn’t seen yet, and water was one of the dominions she practiced. He had seen her utilize the Dominion of Ice once, but skill with one did not necessarily imply the other. More interestingly, he recalled rumors that Rialla’s eye colors had changed between her arrival in Orlyn and her departure – indicating that perhaps her dominion bond had been altered somehow.

Her answers were fluid, nearly automatic, indicating either a layer of truth or a degree of practice at telling them. Determining which was the case could provide more amusement than any number of alchemical experiments.

He probably could have asked her some of these questions directly, but that would have spoiled the fun.

Rialla uncapped one of the bottles and closed her eyes to concentrate. Nakane, looking bored, seated herself nearby and folded her arms.

“Shouldn’t one of you be watching my mother? Even if she’s sleeping, someone should be nearby. In fact, she’s probably most vulnerable while she’s asleep.”

Jonan shrugged. “We keep a guard rotation on the room. Given the hour, it’s probably Dominic at the moment.”

Nakane shifted in her chair. “Yes, we’ve all seen how helpful the house guards are at stopping assassins.”

Jonan finished mixing his latest concoction, setting the flask down on the table while he poured a vial of poison into the nearby bowl. “In fairness, m’lady, it doesn’t take a sorcerer to see an intruder and raise the alarm. The assassin’s methodology could indicate a desire to avoid a direct confrontation. Either that, or the method of the killing was a signature, or in some way symbolic. In any of those cases, I suspect the mere presence of a guard would be a significant deterrent.”

“Assuming the same assassin strikes twice. Given that we’re obviously prepared now, it would seem more advantageous for whoever hired the assassin to send someone different for any subsequent attacks.”

Jonan nodded, barely paying attention to the conversation. He poured a bit of the liquid from the flask into the bowl, watching it mix with the poison within. The resulting mixture was an inert red-orange fluid. “Hrm. This might have some potential.”

He stoppered the flask and covered the bowl with a lid. “I’ll check what state the mixture settles into in the morning.”

“Good. If you’re done here, you can go watch for intruders.”

Jonan sighed, moving to the sink and pouring a flask of water over his hands to rinse them again. He didn’t think he had spilled anything this time, but it was always better to be safe. “I suppose so. As long as you keep Vorianna with you.”

“I assure you I am quite capable of defending myself, but if you insist, I will humor your request.”

Jonan dried his hands on another towel, glancing at Rialla. She was still focusing on the vial, wearing a grimace. “Good night to you both then.”

The sight sorcerer slumped his shoulders, shambling out of the chamber. Once he was out of sight, he straightened his back, shaking his head.

Finally, free from observation. It’s time to get to work.

***

With most of the household sleeping, Jonan was free to wander the grounds outside without disruption. At least four guards would still be awake within the manor, in addition to Rialla, so he felt comfortable that the people within were relatively well defended.

The outside of the manor, however, was unguarded – and made them potentially vulnerable. In his time spent protecting the Theas family, Jonan had formulated a dozen plans for how attackers could bypass the guards and assassinate the victims within – and thus far his countermeasures only provided protection from a handful of those plans.

Tonight, he was setting up one more of his contingencies. Not a defense, exactly, but a foundation for a counter assault.

Invisible to the eye, Jonan walked a meandering path around the house. Near each entrance, he opened one of his pouches and poured a few ounces of glittering dust onto the road. A few flecks of his powder from the last time he had gone through this process were still visible, but he repeated the procedure every few days to ensure a useful amount of the dust remained in each location.

The powdered glass was taken directly from one of his mirrors, and thus already imbued with the Dominion of Sight. While the fragments were too small for him to use as viewing devices like the mirrors themselves, the dominion auras were still connected to the original mirror – and that connection could be tracked.