Sworn To Raise: Courtlight #1 (13 page)

“Glad to know you adore me so, Varden,” Sebastian replied sarcastically without turning around. “Makes me proud, it does.” Ciardis glanced at Sebastian, surprised at the banter, but didn’t turn around to face Varden behind them.

“Forgive my manners, milady,” said Mace, as noticed Ciardis standing by Sebastian’s side. “Who do I have the pleasure of encountering in this…gorgeous forest?”

Sebastian, stoic beside her, said nothing, but he did relax a bit. She suspected he’d decided she wasn’t
a part of the four men’s scheme
.
“None of your business,” Ciardis replied, her gaze firm and stone cold.

Laughter sounded all around them, and Varden drawled, “I like a woman with spirit. I’m so going to enjoy breaking you.”

“No hard feelings, of course, lass,” said Mace. “It’s just that once we get rid of dear old Sebastian here, we can’t have anyone else telling tall tales.”

“Weepy women?” she snarled in outrage. “I’ll show you a weepy woman.”

Ciardis pulled a jeweled dagger from her sleeve. Sebastian glanced at her askance, mildly impressed.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said under his breath.

“Mind your business,” she snapped. “He didn’t insult you.”

The man in front of her snorted and pulled out a full-length sword…
from the air.

“What is they say on the streets, lass?” he asked. “Ah, yes: ‘Bring it on.’”

“What is your business here in the Aether?” she demanded. “And why do you accost us here? Surely four men against one boy and a woman is entirely unfair.”

“We live in the Court of Sandrin,” said the boy standing to the east. “You learn to be pragmatic. If he dies today, our problem disappears.”

“On this I agree with Dar,” said Varden. “Whatever is necessary to restore our rightful power and connection to the lands…even killing a Prince.”

“If you’d actually paid attention in our tutorial lessons you’d know that my death would only make your power dissipate faster.” Sebastian said in a voice dripping with venom, “I am the Prince, the heir, the only one who can see the courts through this crisis.”

“On the contrary, Sebastian,” said Mace as he leaned forward, arms crossed on the hilt of the sword anchored casually in the ground, “we believe—we
know
—that your death is the solution we seek. Life will once more flow throughout the Kingdom of Algardis. Whether or not a direct descendant of the Algardis Emperor rules is no longer a concern. We need new blood, new power—and a new ruler.”

Ciardis was began to panick. She did not like where this was going.
A new ruler?
The Kingdom already has an Emperor,
she thought frantically as she edged closer to Sebastian.
They can’t possibly be considering assassinating the Emperor!

As she wracked her brain for a reasonable explanation, she remembered something with dread. According to the court’s Trial by Combat rules, they could get rid of an Imperial heir—and right now, there was only one.

The full impact of that thought hit her with the weight of a ton of bricks. With an internal groan, she thought in horror,
The Imperial heir is a young prince. I’m standing next to a boy claiming to be that prince.

Perhaps she should have been slightly more polite to him.

Sebastian could feel the disturbed thoughts emanating from the girl, but he was more concerned with the mechanics of his upcoming fight. Perhaps he was a weakling when it came to magical talent, but he wasn’t completely inept at martial arts. He couldn’t depend on the girl; he had no idea who she really was, or if she could fight magically or physically in the Aether Realm. He thought grimly,
If I fire this arrow Varden, at least I’ll have the satisfaction of seeing Varden meet his death before I meet mine.

Then Sebastian frowned. His mage core was pulsing erratically, jumping around as if it were itching to be let loose. That had never happened to him before. His magic was essentially dormant.
What could it possibly be responding to?
he wondered with a fascination he really didn’t have time for.

Keeping his gaze focused outward, he inwardly sought out the spike of power, diving down to his magical core. He was surprised—
very
surprised—at what he found. The brilliant orange ball of fire that pulsed with his magic was tightly locked down, as always, but it was
rippling
. As he watched, he saw flares coming off of the core, reaching for the tangled flares of another mage core that was hovering in a person right next to him.

It was the power of Ciardis Weathervane.

So she hadn’t been lying! To say he was delighted to see his magic combining with—no,
feeding
off of—
the mage core of the girl beside him was an understatement. Assessing his suddenly revived magical talent, he realized that he had enough power to activate the spells to return from the Aether realm. If he’d been deposited o the place in the Aether Realm where thought he was, then with Ciardis’ help all he had to do was cast the enchantment to return home. Unlike some areas in Aether, the jump was relatively easy here; no portals were necessary.

He had just made up his mind when he saw that all four men had decided to pull their weapons from the holders and Mace was bringing up his sword in a firm grip. Sebastian grabbed the girl by her arm, muttered the enchantment, and they disappeared in a whirl of magic.

They landed in an opulent apartment the likes of which Ciardis had never seen. She walked forward across a priceless Sahelian rug and turned to find that the men were gone and the boy was staring at her. “What?” she said. “Still want to kill me?”

“Hardly.” His head tilted back in surprise as he let out a laugh. “I suppose I do owe you a bit of explanation, Mistress Weathervane,” he said ruefully.

She nodded sharply, crossing her arms as she said, “You’re the future Emperor, I take it. Why were those men after you?”

He cast a wry glance in her direction as he walked over to a decanter on a shelf. “Why
wouldn’t
they be after me?” He busied himself pouring water from the decanter into the matching crystal glasses by its side. He walked back over and handed her a glass. “They hate me and everything I stand for.”

“And what would that be?” Ciardis asked as she raised the glass to her lips and took a sip. It tasted clean and new, like water from a mountain stream. Probably was, considering who he was.

“To them I am going to be a magically mpotent Emperor and doom them to powerless Imperial Court,” he replied.

Ciardis frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Where are you from?” he asked abruptly, changing the subject.

“Vaneis,” she replied, swallowing hard. She was beginning to feel dizzy and nauseous, as if something were pulling at her stomach. Unsteadily she said, “Near the White Mountains. I’ve lived there all my life until now.”

As he stayed silent in his thoughts she grabbed at her stomach and dropped the glass, gasping, “What did you poison me with?”

“Nothing,” he said, startled. He saw her form begin to shimmer and said quickly, “You need to anchor yourself, or you’ll go back to where you came from! The bracelet is set to your desire to stay or to come.”

Just before she disappeared, Ciardis called out, “How?”

Sebastian stared at the damp circle of water on the carpet where the girl had disappeared and thought,
Well, god dammit. And dreck, for that matter. She was who she said she was.

Once again, Ciardis felt awash with magic. Her vision faded, and she felt as if her body were being pulled apart in a thousand different ways. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling; it reminded her of a childhood incident when the blacksmith’s daughter had gotten mad at Ciardis for making eyes at the farmer’s boy she liked. One minute, Ciardis had been giving the boy a shy smile, and the next thing she knew, she had been in the middle of a dirty pond, coughing up water and struggling to stand up.

It was just Ciardis’s rotten luck. Mary, the blacksmith’s daughter, was destined to be a portal master, and Ciardis had gotten on her bad side. Mary had called it “gating.” Ciardis had called it being a know-it-all bitch who used magic to get what she wanted. She had the same gut wrenching experience this time…but no Mary to explain its occurrence.

As her vision began to clear, she realized that she was in the bedroom off the memory room where her journey had begun. She promptly passed out in the large feather bed from magical fatigue.

She woke up to a loud clap next to her ear. There stood Serena, crowing with glee. “So it worked, then! Your powers have come in?”

Ciardis, afraid she might faint again, sat up unsteadily on the bed. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again. “Yes, I guess so.”

“And did you like the gift?” asked Serena.

Ciardis wondered if Serena knew what the gift really was. “It’s certainly…unusual,” she replied cautiously.

“Yes,” said Serena, still deliriously happy. “The gemstones are quite rare. We’ll make sure to get you a shorter dress to show it off on the second day of the Hunt.”

“Serena?” asked Ciardis tentatively. “What is the Aether Realm?”

Serena eyed her sharply. “Where did you hear that term?”