Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
ELARIYA
Istared at everyone. “So, what do you think?” I was surprised I sounded so confident.
After I'd had my grand idea, we'd gathered in the living room and sent word to Kaem. He wasn’t far, so he was able to return to us within minutes.
I laid out my thoughts, and now they were all staring back at me. I couldn't tell whether I'd just inspired them... or lost them completely.
The idea was farfetched enough for them to conclude I’d lost my mind, but no one had called me crazy yet. Even though the plan was definitely the sort that fit the label.
The plan was to use my magic to break Wolfe out of the Citadel.
Yes, I was talking about treason, of which the punishment was death, along with
all sorts of dreadful things that only the gods knew.
Alaric and Bastian looked at me with blank faces. Arielle stared as though she were sitting on the edge of her seat. And my family…
Well, Mother, Grandmother, and Emabelle all looked like someone dear to them had died.
Kaem was the only person who seemed to be contemplating the dynamics of our possible success.
A few moments passed, and I was starting to lose my edge.
“Guys, please… someone say something. Anything.” I searched their faces once more.
“No.” Grandmother stood and shook her head.
Of all my family members, I never expected the pushback to come from her. My mother had always been the queen of that. But I had to admit she’d changed after the last reset when she found out about my relationship with Wolfe.
Now I had my grandmother to deal with.
“Why? It’s a good idea.” I gave her a thin stare.
“Yes. Yes, it is a good idea. Ingenious, if I may add, but, Elariya… it is too dangerous. Stopping time the way you did today is strictly forbidden.” She raised her hands as if to brace herself.
“You froze time for everyone, for hours. Who knows what damage could have been done? You don’t know how long it lasts, how stable it is, and how far it reached.
Spells of that nature can affect the entire world at large. ”
My hands trembled, but not with fear. Raw, unfiltered determination surged through me. “I don’t care.”
Grandmother looked taken aback. “This is something you should care about. The punishment for the misuse of time magic is death. You would be dissolved, too.”
“I said I don’t care. This is Wolfe we’re talking about. There is no question on what I won’t do to save him.”
She drew in a soft breath, came closer, and rested her hands on my shoulders. “My sweet child, please do not ask me to endure watching you suffer if this goes wrong. It’s not fair.”
“Grandmother, how fair is it that my husband has to suffer for someone else’s misuse of magic? He’s helpless in there. I will not abandon him. He would never do that to me. Wolfe would move the heavens and all the hells to get me back. I know that.”
“Elariya—”
“No.” I held up my hands. “Earlier, I told you I wouldn’t accept this as the end. I won’t do it now that I have a way to save Wolfe. And I will do this by myself if I have to.”
“That is not going to happen,” Alaric cut in, pushing away from the wall where he'd been standing beside Bastian. He turned to Grandmother. “My Lady, if I may offer some... insight.”
“Your Highness, with all due respect, there is no insight other than danger. We are talking about breaking into the Citadel, not wandering into a bar. There are powerful magics there that will be able to counter time spells. They’re prepared for every eventuality.”
“You’re right,” Kaem intoned, straightening. “But they’ve got nothing I can’t get around.”
We all turned our gazes to him.
“How?” Bastian asked.
“Because I installed a majority of those spells myself. Especially the ones to detect those casting time spells. It’s one of the Citadel’s greatest security risks.
Time is the one power that can be malleable in ways no one can control when you’re under attack.
But I can get around pretty much anything. ”
I gave him a warm smile, and he threw me a friendly wink. Gods, this felt even more possible now, and he was undoubtedly on board.
“Kaem, you never cease to amaze me.” Alaric huffed out a laugh.
“I always have tricks up my sleeves. The Citadel needs to appear formidable at all times. To do so, they recruited people like me who have above-board skills.”
“Can you get us in safely?” Arielle asked.
I didn’t miss her use of the word us. She was on board, too. I smiled at her. She returned the same.
“I can, but it won’t be easy.”
“I can cloak us and get us through on the Ghost Roads. That way, they can’t detect us if we portal in. After that, I’d need help.”
“It will be better if I cloak you. The Ghost Roads are a good idea, but they’ll still detect your cloaking magic once you’re inside. They can’t detect mine.”
Given what I knew about Kaem, I didn’t bother asking why they couldn’t detect his magic.
“I’d still need you to guide us through the Ghost Roads in case my spells get interrupted,” he added. “And you’d need an anchor.”
“That would be me,” Bastian offered, gazing at Arielle. “I’m her anchor.”
“Yes, you are.” Arielle beamed at him, looking like she’d just been given a dose of new life.
“So, we’re all on board?” I asked, glancing at each of them.
Garrick smirked. “Do you even have to ask? Of course, we are.”
“Thank you.” I looked back at my family. “I need you guys to go back home. To Stormfell.”
Mother shook her head. “No. We can’t go back. Do you know how worried I’ll be?”
“Mother, if something goes wrong, you guys will be punished, too.”
Her brows furrowed. “If you think something will go wrong, you cannot do this.”
“It’s not like that. Nothing is sure.” I relaxed my shoulders.
“There’s always a possibility that things could go wrong.
I need you guys to go back because it may get dangerous after.
People will be looking for Wolfe and he won’t be able to protect you if you’re called into question.
I just don’t want anything to happen to you. ”
Mother looked away. She met Grandmother’s eyes, then Emabelle’s, and slowly drifted back at me. “I hate feeling helpless.”
“I know. But you are still helping me.”
“Don’t worry, Elariya,” Emabelle nodded. “I’ll take care of them. We’ll go back, and you can send word and let us know when it’s safe.”
“Thank you.” I looked back at Grandmother. Her shoulders were tense with emotion. “I need your help. I have to understand a bit more about my powers and I don’t have a lot of time.” At the moment, my grandmother was the closest thing I had to Archmage Magdalena.
We stared at each other for a long moment before she nodded. “Yes. I will help you. Of course.”
“Na māri.” I thanked her in the old mage language, letting her know I was deeply grateful.
“Ma wāi.” She leaned forward and planted a kiss on my forehead, then went back to sit with Mother and Emabelle.
“There’s a lot to talk about,” Alaric pointed out. “Let’s lean into your powers a little more. We need to understand what you’re actually going to do. Your powers have changed.”
“I’m not entirely sure what’s happened,” I answered.
“I think acquiring the sword may have applied what you already had.”
“And restoring her memories,” Grandmother filled in.
I was glad she sounded more like herself.
“They’re not broken or restricted anymore.
The same would apply to her magic. She is simply catching up, and everything you do helps the process along.
The problem is Elariya’s power is growing fast. Maybe faster than anyone can keep up with. ”
“I can’t control it,” I muttered, squeezing my hands.
“You’re not supposed to. You’re a daughter of the hourglass and the power within our bloodline is strong with you, the purest we’ve ever had in the family. I expect even greater things from you. Do not hold back.”
“I won’t.” I smiled. “Right now, I just need to do this one thing. How am I stopping time, Grandmother? What I did today was different from everything else I’ve done before. I didn’t even use a spell the first time. It just happened.”
“Before you portaled, your hands glowed. Blue and gold. The gold is the power. The blue veins are like magnets, attracting the threads of time.”
My breath faltered. My powers had most assuredly changed. Only last week, I had to go in places where those threads lay more abundant. And I had to invoke them through a spell. Now I was naturally attracting the threads.
“Which threads am I attracting?” I asked.
Grandmother took a breath and her pale eyes warmed, looking the way they did when she was fascinated. “All of them. Past, present, future, possibility.”
“Wow.”
“You don’t need spells anymore, my dear. You should be able to feel the threads and choose the path you want. My guess is, because you’ve been training with a sword from the future, you naturally gravitated toward the future today. But there are no limits.”
“Is this power common?” Alaric asked, gaping at me. “I don’t know much about time mages.”
“That’s because they are few. And no, the way the power has manifested is not entirely common.
Because she is half-human, the magical blood inside her has quieted anything that will prevent it from flourishing.
The rest of us have bloodlines that are mixed magically even if we are pure Fae or pure mage. ”
“I think we need to break Wolfe out tomorrow night. So, I need to be ready.” I wanted to do it now, but we needed time to perfect the plan. “Can I stabilize my powers before then?”
Grandmother smiled. “They are already stable. But you need calm and focus to tap into them. That’s all. The magic trusts you. You must do the same.”
I nodded. “I think we need an hour, tops, to get in and out of the Citadel. I don’t know what Wolfe will be like if we need to contain him.”
“That’s the part I’m not sure about.” Her brows furrowed. “Until you master your powers, the length of time you’re able to control this ability will fluctuate.”
“Then we need to get in and get Wolfe out of there as quickly as possible,” Garrick suggested.
“I’ll figure out some ways to buy us time so we can act fast,” Kaem said, dragging a hand over his beard.
Alaric and Bastian nodded.
“What exactly are you going to do, Elariya?” Arielle asked.
“All I have so far is I freeze time, make sure it stays frozen, and we go in and grab Wolfe.” The plan was not exactly the best, but it was simple. “I figured I could freeze him and slow the Deathwalker progression.”
Everyone exchanged glances and nodded their agreement.
“This idea may just work.”
“Just remember, there are some beings who are immune to time magic,” Grandmother advised, her eyes worried again.
“Death is one of them. However, Wolfe should still have some Fae essence. Even a little will work to your favor, but it may not be as strong. It depends on how quickly death consumes him.”
Gods. This had to work.
It just had to.
We had nothing only hours ago. Look at us now. We had a plan. I had to believe that was the Universe, the Great Mother, or destiny at work.
So… the plan had to work.
“Prayerfully, we're successful,” Alaric began, directing his focus to Kaem. “We get Wolfe back here. Then what? We still have the problem of him being a Deathwalker. What do we do then? Obviously, I don’t want to kill him.”
“I’m not sure, my boy. With Elariya’s magic and my skill, I could possibly brew a tonic that will slow the progression.
But I don’t know how long that will last. Perhaps it will give you enough time to retrieve the ring.
Honestly, though…” He dragged a hand over his hair.
“We need the Seer for this one. She can’t cure him or speed things up, but I have no doubt the Lady of Light will have a few ideas up her bell sleeves. ”
“I was thinking the same,” I agreed.
“What about everything else?” Mother asked. “The Citadel will undoubtedly be looking for Wolfe. And they’ll start with all of you. I think they’ll know you had a hand in his escape.”
“This is my suggestion.” Kaem focused on Mother first then looked at each of us in turn. “We need to make it look like he broke out on his own.”
I gasped. “How are we going to do that? Would they assume it was impossible because he hasn’t tried to do so already? They’ll guess he had help.”
“No.” Kaem chuckled. “The person they would suspect of helping him is me, but they believe I can’t help him because I’m supposed to be bound by oath.”
“Supposed to be?” Grandmother gave him a narrowed stare.
“Yes, my Lady. Supposed to be. I unraveled my oath bindings years ago. I won’t be tied down by anyone, least all the Citadel. So, they can’t pin anything on me I can’t get my way around.”
More and more, I was beginning to see just why Wolfe was so attached to Kaem. And I kind of liked the fact that he downplayed who he really was by acting like a traveling merchant who sold notebooks from the Ravenwood and trinkets.
Grandmother also seemed impressed.
Kaem straightened and looked back at Alaric. “Making it look like Wolfe escaped on his own is plausible because no one truly knows the extent of Deathwalker powers. Often, the curse mixes with the person’s existing powers, so it’s difficult to tell how powerful they may become.”
“Don’t you think the Citadel will suspect, even a little, that we helped him?” Bastian asked.
“Of course, they will. But thanks to our Lady Nightblade and myself, there will be no evidence.” Kaem looked proud. “And Gods willing we’re able to fix him and break the curse, he can’t be held responsible for what he did as a Deathwalker.”
I was definitely glad he’d thought this out so well. None of that had crossed my mind.
“It’s also wise not to leave a trail that links you because you have to keep going. By everyone else’s perception, Alaric will be the next king in Wolfe’s place. The rest of you are his trusted advisors. We have to keep the path clear, especially with the kingdom in chaos and war on the horizon.”
Everyone agreed.
“So, we’re doing this,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
“We are.” Alaric nodded.
I smiled, and for the first time in days, I felt hope.
Hold on, Wolfe. We’re coming to get you.
Just hold on.