The Bronze Mage (24 page)

Tabitha sat up, shaking. She wasn't angry at James anymore. She was mad at the mages. What were they doing to her? Why was it taking so long? Did it not occur to them that her being unconscious was not a good thing?

After a few minutes, her anger wore off. What did she know about magic? Maybe the spell was unraveling. Maybe she just needed to be patient. Tabitha wondered if it was possible to sleep in this place. She decided to try. It might at least pass the time more quickly.

Afterwards, she wasn't certain if she'd succeeded or not. She couldn't remember dreaming. She got up, and decided to try climbing one of the trees. That might give her a useful overview. She could see if the forest continued on forever, or faded into nothing after a few hundred yards. If it faded, why couldn't she walk out of it? Did the forest move with her?
 

Most of the trees had branches that started too high up, but two of the repeating types had lower branches. Scrutinizing her dress, Tabitha wondered if this was the type of dream where she could imagine herself in her sparring gear and make it true. Evidently not. Too bad, that would have made climbing much easier. Well, she'd climbed trees in dresses as a young girl, she could surely manage now. At least it wasn't a fancy gown. The skirt was full enough that she could grab opposite sides and knot them together after a fashion. This kept it out of the way of her feet, but it revealed her feet and ankles, and her drawers up to her knees. She hesitated.
 

If James came when she was halfway up, what would he think? Well, he'd seen her in the servants' garb last summer, so her ankles were not new to him. Besides, he hadn't shown any romantic interest in her since last autumn. The summer solstice would be next week. It was safe to assume he didn't think of her that way. Besides, what were the chances that he'd come while she was up there?

Tabitha set her jaw and started to climb. Frustratingly, climbing was like walking: you could keep going forever without making progress. After the first fifteen feet, she seemed to stay always the same distance from the ground, no matter how many branches she climbed.
 
Of course, the knot in her dress tended to come undone. Tabitha had a few interesting moments, balanced against the tree trunk, re-tying it. She wondered what would happen if she fell. How real was this place? She didn't want to find out that way. Once she'd given up ascending, she worried about the descent, but it turned out much simpler to make progress in that direction. In fact, almost as soon as she'd started down, she reached the ground.

Well, her worries about immodesty had been unfounded. So had her hopes of seeing a way out. At least she'd passed some more time. This was the longest she'd been in the woods, Tabitha was sure of that. Whether that meant anything or not she had no clue. Perhaps only five minutes had passed since the experiment had started.
 

She wandered again, not trying to accomplish anything, but just to be moving. Surely the spell would break soon....

Tabitha stumbled into James when he appeared to her left. The pull of the spell knocked her off balance. He caught her and set her upright. She actually had to lean back to resist the drag it had on her.
 

"Oh!" she said, "sorry."

James scowled. "Do they mind me pushing you back? Does the magic throw off what they're doing?"

Tabitha's eyes widened. "I don't think so." She didn't know whether she hoped he wouldn't send her back to her miserable body, or was afraid he would refuse to do it. "Couldn't you ask them?"

"You ask," he said as he pushed her out of the forest.

THIRTY-FOUR

The End of the Experiment

Tabitha was lying on the forest floor. James was gone. She sat up, feeling disoriented. Had she not woken up at all? Or could she not remember it? When she started to sit, the forest seemed to sway. She lay back down. Maybe she should try to sleep again.

Eventually, she sat. Then stood. A gnawing worry was growing in her. Was this the same forest? Had James accidentally pushed her somewhere else? Was that possible? She explored enough to verify the trees were the same, then sank to the ground to lean against a trunk. She may have dozed off. More than once.
 

She must have slept, because she woke with her head on James's lap. He was leaning against the tree trunk, stroking her hair, frowning.

Tabitha felt her face heating up, but remembered not to sit too quickly. It wouldn't do to reveal how poorly she felt. "Hello," she said, then struggled to rise at all.

James's frown deepened. The pull diminished and Tabitha sat carefully next to him. "You sleep in your dreams?" he asked. "Isn't that usually a sign of extreme exhaustion?"

Tabitha shrugged and changed the subject. "If you keep frowning all the time, you're going to get wrinkled prematurely."

"I would smile more if I didn't always find you here."

She tried again, deliberately misunderstanding him."Nice to see you, too! You know, if you didn't want to find me, you might try looking in someone else's dreams. But since you're here, did you bring me anything?"

James raised an eyebrow.

"Most men bring gifts when they visit a girl. Flowers are nice. Though I'd settle for a picnic basket." She stomach obligingly rumbled.
Now that was odd in a dream
, she thought.

His eyes tightened as he scrutinized her. "Tired and hungry in your dreams? Are you nauseated again?"

Tabitha sighed. "You could play along, you know."

James just sat, waiting for her answer.

"I've been fine," she assured him. "They just wanted me not to eat today, to allow the potions to absorb more quickly. I have a habit of expelling them."

He nodded. Then quirked a small smile. "They're hoping the potions will ex-spell you before you expel them?"

Tabitha grinned. "Exactly."

"They started this latest experiment this morning?"

"Right after everyone else ate breakfast," she nodded, but her smile faded. "Is there any way you can check on their progress?"

"I can't go there, Tabitha. I can't be near you. You see how strong the spell is even here. Besides, it would probably start a fight."

When she failed to hide her disappointment, he added, "I'll write Mage Edgar. He's likely to brag about whatever progress they've made."

"Thanks," Tabitha said, and forced a smile.

"Won't your sister tell you anything?"

"She might. But I'd feel better if you'd write." For some reason, Tabitha was reluctant to admit she was afraid the experiment still might not be over. She sat up straight and braced herself for whatever she might wake up to. "Okay. Please, send me back."

She woke with her head on James's lap again and immediately struggled to sit, fell back into him and dry-heaved her imaginary stomach into a knot of cramps. James had scrambled onto his knees and hovered over her. Her left shoulder pressed against his chest, pinned by the pull of the spell.

"What is going on, Tabitha?" his voice was angry. "Mage Edgar wrote that you were no longer my concern. I thought that meant they'd broken the spell. I came here just as a precaution, only to find you sprawled on the ground. You've been sleeping
in your dream
for hours. Now you're trying to throw up on me."

"I don't feel well." She couldn't bring herself to look up, but his left hand was a white-knuckled fist, and the tendons and muscles were clearly defined in his tense arm. "Can you help me figure out how much time has passed?"

"Since when?" He sounded calmer. "I check on you every night."

"But more than once," Tabitha corrected, "because I've seen you many times since they started this experiment."

"Tabitha, how many experiments have they done since you stopped waking as soon as you saw me?" his voice was very quiet.

"Most recently?" she was confused by the question, but becoming alarmed, "Just the one they're still working on."

"So you've seen me five times during this one experiment?"

She nodded, that sounded right, but she couldn't remember exactly. Her fear grew.

"Have you eaten or drunk anything in that time?"

She shrugged, not trusting her voice.

"Is Mage Crandall there?"

She shook her head, then shrugged. Taking a breath, she forced herself to sit straight and look at James. She elaborated, "He wasn't there at the beginning. He wasn't planning to come, but I haven't been able to make out people when I've gone back." She hesitated, then added, "I don't think I have gone back the last two times. Has it really been five days?"

"Yes." He was quiet a moment. "I don't see how I can help. I can't use magic on you."

"Why not?" she asked, puzzled. "Mage Crandall said that would help."

James looked shocked.

"Didn't you know that?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head slowly. "Does Mage Edgar agree?"

"I don't know. Maybe. He spent all last summer grousing about how I was your problem and you should clean up after yourself."

James frowned. "That may not mean anything. I need to talk to Mage Crandall. Even so, this is going to get complicated."

Tabitha thought of something. "Have Mage Crandall check on me. He doesn't believe you meant to harm me. I think that's why he didn't come. Maybe he can talk my father into bringing me home."

James nodded. Then he disappeared.

Tabitha waited for him a long time. At least it felt long. Now that she was anxious, she suspected time felt slower than it had before.

Five days. She'd been unconscious almost continuously for five days and five nights. Why had Mage Edgar blown off James's inquiry? Did he think she was already dead? Was she? That seemed unlikely, but was she dying?
 

Fear propelled her to her feet, unsteady as they were.

She forced herself to wander through the forest.

When she couldn't bear to move, she sat.

Worry kept her awake this time.

Forcing herself back to her feet, she walked.

Slumped back to the ground.

Worried still.

Walked.

Waited.

Worried.

Then the forest was ripped away like the husk from an ear of corn. She tried to cry out from the shock of it, but there was no sound. She was moving at incredible speed and yet holding still. Being held still. There were arms around her. Her head rested on a shoulder. She was so thirsty.

It was dark and quiet. She was carried through a door, which closed behind them. Lights came on. Tabitha flinched. They dimmed. Her eyes wouldn't focus, but she recognized his smell. The sound of his breathing.

James set her down on some kind of couch. She tried to say his name, but couldn't.
 

"Wait," James said. He pressed a cup of water to her lips. She gulped it down as fast as he would let her, which wasn't very. Too soon, he took it away. "Not so fast, Tabitha. You'll get sick."

He stroked her neck and chin, tracing patterns along it with his fingertips. It might have tickled, had not the sensation been overshadowed by the tingling it caused inside. He had healed her, at least her mouth and throat. The rest of her still felt like she'd been dragged by a horse over cobblestones for several hours.

"Thank you," she said. And then she started crying, and sniffling. She felt miserable, and still scared, but mostly relieved. James reached over her to grab a blanket. He covered her with it. That started her shivering. Soon her teeth were chattering. The indignity of it all made her laugh. "I'm a mess."

"Yes. You are."
 

The anger in his voice sobered Tabitha, but her eyes were still watering, her teeth still chattering, and she still shivered. She bit back a sob.
 

James waited her out. Gradually she calmed. The warmth helped. It made her sleepy. For such a thin cover, it seemed to radiate heat. "Did you do that? " She asked, unable to pry her eyes open.

"Get some sleep," James said. "I need to figure out what to do with you. In another hour, there will be some very unhappy mages at the college. They'll alert your father that his court mage helped me rescue you. Though I doubt they'll use those terms."

Tabitha tried to lift her head. There was something she had to tell him, but she couldn't remember what. Maybe after a nap...

She heard James rise. The first step he took away from her tilted the couch. She tried to cling to it, but it tilted again and dumped her on the forest floor.

"No!" Tabitha yelled. But it was too late. She was sitting in the leaf litter at the base of an oak. At least she felt awake, and free of pain.

Almost as soon as she clambered to her feet, James appeared.

"Wait," she said. "Before you send me back and I'm too tired to think: You have to take me home."

James gave her an unreadable look and woke her up.

Sort of. She was back in reality, but not very awake. Warmth and exhaustion spread over her like a fog. James gave her a little more water. Then everything faded.

She woke to her stomach growling.

James was seated in a chair he had pulled up to the couch. He helped her sit, and gave her some more water and some broth. Even as hungry as she was, it didn't sit well. As she struggled against the nausea, James laid his hand on her stomach. Slowly it settled.

She smiled at him appreciatively. "That's a nice trick. So is this blanket. No wonder King Fenril wants to keep you."

"Too bad your father doesn't feel likewise. It would simplify matters."

"Regardless, I have to go home soon. Before you patch me up like new and he doesn't believe how bad it was."

"You mean, how close you were to death." He was serious. "I can't do that Tabitha. I'm not welcome in Felsungen, and you can't go alone this time. Even if you could stay conscious, your father might send you back to the college. I would rather not have to choose between starting another war or watching you die."

"Is Mage Crandall back in Valstadt?"

"Yes, he should be by now, but your father isn't listening to him. He'll be no use magically. He's exhausted. He had to get you out of the workroom and hide his tracks, then pretend you were missing when he arrived."