33. Rohak
Chapter 33
Rohak
A nd so, then Gene was thinking, what if Charise had two focus rods instead of just one? And I was disappointed that I didn’t think of that idea first, so Gene and I had a little competition, you know? And we both came up with a prototype for a double-rodded Charise. Get a look at ’er, General!” Art waltzed into my office nearly a half hour ago, already talking before he even cleared the threshold. Apparently, he and Gene had some sort of disagreement about the new prototype weapon and decided to build two prototypes.
It was late, well after midnight, and I couldn’t sleep—a problem I’d been having more often lately. Sometimes I simply couldn’t fall asleep due to the sheer number of things cataloguing in my head and vying for attention. Other times I woke mysteriously in the middle of the night, damp with sweat and breathing heavily, a dream that felt so real just out of reach of my conscious memory and understanding. The latter is what prevented my rest tonight, and I decided to come sit in the office and wade through the mountains of paperwork on my desk rather than lay in a sweaty bed for four hours, unable to get back to sleep.
It was peaceful for the first hour, just the crackling of the fire and a singular orb over the top of my desk providing the only light. I was able to get through a full stack of missives and petitions and was finally feeling productive in this office setting for the first time since I’d taken on the extra responsibilities.
But all that changed as soon as Art caught wind that I was in the building.
How did he know I was here?
He was still droning on about his version of Charise versus Gene’s Charise, that he was calling Not-Charise—the whole thing was ridiculous and confusing, and I had tuned him out a long time ago.
My magical signature device must be hooked up to some sort of return in his office. Or he was bothering the Mages on duty, and they informed him I was here. Yes, that had to be it. Bastards .
I inwardly cursed the Mages on security detail tonight. Sometimes it was Lex, though he was stationed at the front gate tonight, and his Bonded would generally humor Gene and Art long enough that I could get some work done in peace. I think Ilyas actually lived to see how much he could antagonize Gene and Art.
“So what do you think, General? Charise or Not-Charise? Which prototype gets you going, if you know what I mean?” His expression was earnest, which, coupled with his large ears that stuck out a bit from his head and the sizeable round glasses that amplified his eyes, really gave off the vibe of a small child stuck in an awkward man’s body. It was endearing and annoying all at the same time.
I sighed and dragged my hand down my face.
“Art, I think you and Gene are the experts and I trust you’ll make the best decision between Charise and . . . Not-Charise,” I placated. If I picked a side, or even appeared to pick a side in this little tiff, I’d never hear the end of it from either of them. And the other would be miffed enough that they’d make my life harder for no reason.
Last time I stupidly selected Art’s prototype, Gene proceeded to lock me out of my own office. For a week. He insisted there was something “wonky” with the signature orb, but he could never hide his snickers long enough for me to believe him.
Art harumphed, “Well, that’s not really an answer, General.”
“Why don’t you just create both or combine your ideas?”
Art was silent and stared unblinking at me in horror .
“You want me to put Not-Charise parts on Charise?” he gasped, his hand flying to his chest and the other grasping Charise tightly.
Why was I referring to the damn prototype as Charise?! I was going crazy, clearly.
“Honesty, Art, I don’t care what you do, just . . .” I trailed off as heavy feet thundered up the stairs and to my office. I rose, expecting some sort of fight or confrontation, only to see Ilyas bent over at the waist, puffing deeply.
“General,” he said between heavy breaths.
“Ilyas? What’s happening? Where’s Lex?” Instantly my hackles were raised, and I was on high alert. Lex and his Vessels were at the main gate. If Ilyas was here, then there must be trouble, and there was never trouble at the main gate. We had put in enough protocols and procedures to make sure that the main gate wasn’t an issue when we weren’t fully staffed at night.
The big man pushed himself up from his knees and placed his hands on his trim waist. Lex and his Vessels couldn’t be more different physically—where Lex was all dark hair and lanky strength, Sasori resembled a raven in more ways than one, and Ilyas was built like a bull. Or a rock. Either way he was an incredibly large man. He must have run all the way from the gate to be as out of breath as he was.
“There’s a Mage, General. He arrived here half-dead with Mage Sickness and just conscious enough to tell us about rebel activity,” Ilyas panted, chest heaving. He ran one large hand over the sweat on his brow, mopping it up and wiping it on his black pant leg. His close-cropped blonde hair shone with sweat and his green-blue eyes swam with worry.
Rebel activity? Mage Sickness? Fuck, there’s a lot to unpack there .
“Where is this Mage?” I asked, already moving to the door and adjusting the sleeves on my tunic. Ilyas followed me as I began striding down the hall, and I heard Art call after me.
“I’ll just take Charise here back to my office! We’ll talk later!” I didn’t bother to turn around, just put my hand in the air in a casual wave.
“I trust you to lock up, Art.” I didn’t bother to wait for a response, my mind was already focused on the new development from the main gate.
As we descended the steps and exited the administration building, I grilled Ilyas further on the mysterious Mage.
“Who is he? How did you know he has Mage Sickness? Where is he? Where are the rebels attacking?” I rapidly fired questions at Ilyas, the two of us walking briskly through the streets, the glow of the moon and the occasional light orb lighting our path. The streets were dead in this section of the city at this time of night. Other sectors, namely the Pleasure Sector, came alive with various nightlife activities, and I subconsciously started walking in that direction. Inevitably that is where Lex and his Vessels would congregate as Lex’s power recharged fastest there.
“Sir, you’re heading the wrong way,” Ilyas said, lightly touching my arm to halt my progress. I stopped and turned to face him.
“Well, then where did Lex take this Mage?”
“Straight to the palace, General. He thought it best to avoid as many prying eyes as possible,” Ilyas intoned lowly as to not draw attention to our conversation. I appreciated his discretion, even if the streets were deserted.
Lex was smarter than I gave him credit for.
I huffed a pleased sound before abruptly turning on my boot heel and striding back the way we just came.
“Very good. Now tell me what you know.” The palace wasn’t a far walk from the administrative offices, and Alois and I had created quarters on the first floor, separate from the remainder of our living space, for instances like this. We’d just never had to use them before.
“He’s approximately Lex’s age, maybe a few years younger. Big man, an Earth Mage. He arrived about a half hour ago nearly unconscious from his ride or the sickness. Maybe both. He didn’t say much, only that he was from Isrun, in the Borderlands, and that there was aggressive rebel activity.”
“Isrun? That’s nearly a week’s ride.” I’d sent a small convoy of Mages to Isrun roughly a month ago to deter suspected rebel activity, but I never received any communication that would lead me to suspect there was trouble. My stomach sank abruptly at the thought that I missed some letter in the pile on my desk.
Fuck, I need to get through those missives .
“He was holding three crystals in his hand. We think that he pulled too much for too long and burned himself out trying to get his horse to go faster and even out the ground. We’re guessing he made it here in three days, four days max.”
My eyebrows shot to my forehead.
“Who made that assumption? That’s almost unheard of, especially for a backwater Earth Mage. ”
“I did, General,” Ilyas admitted.
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as we rounded the street where the palace gates sat at the end.
“I have some abilities with animals as Lex’s Vessel, and the feeling I was getting from the horse was not one of malnourishment or extreme thirst. Sure, she was tired and hungry and thirsty, but not anything more than what would’ve been caused by a three or four-day trip.”
“Hmm,” I hummed. If that was true, it would certainly be an interesting development. I had never heard of a Mage being able to travel that quickly.
We reached the gates and they opened automatically, sensing my signature.
Ilyas and I walked silently through the gardens, the only sounds were our breaths as they puffed in the night air and the slap of our boots against the stone pathway.
“He asked us to save someone,” Ilyas added almost as if he were talking to himself.
I nodded to the Mages standing guard at the door to the palace, and they quickly moved to open one, Ilyas and I pausing only long enough for the door to open enough for us to pass.
“Save someone? Who?” Our boots clipped as we walked down the passageway to our left. The palace was still and quiet, the servants still not up for the day. We reached yet another door that opened with my magical signature, this one led into the portion of the house that Alois and I had built for this exact purpose.
Alois must already be here if Lex was able to bring the sick Mage on his own .
I felt an inkling of frustration again at the fact that Alois didn’t think to tell me about this as soon as Lex arrived, but I pushed it down for now.
Perhaps he knew that Ilyas was already on his way to my office .
This part of the house had a plethora of bedrooms and communal bathrooms. There was also a sitting area with a variety of chairs and tables, a communal dining hall, and a Healer’s room. All of it sat bare and empty since Alois and I never had guests.
“A woman. Her name is Faylinn, apparently,” Ilyas added as we reached the only open door in the hallway.
I stopped and stared at Ilyas .
“Faylinn?” I asked him. The name sounded familiar, I just couldn’t place where or how.
“Yes, sir. I feel like that’s a name I would remember,” he said wryly.
I hummed thoughtfully, struck by the odd sensation that I should remember that name.
Something to sit with later in my immense amount of free time .
I shook off the feeling and the two of us entered the bedroom. The guest rooms were made up of a small sitting area in the entryway and a large four-poster bed, which took up most of the remaining space. Perched in the two chairs were Lex and his other Bonded, Sasori. Lex constantly ran a hand through the longer part of his dark-brown hair, lightly tugging at the ends as his leg bounced, his deep-brown eyes trained on the doorway. Sasori sat stock-still and straight, clenching and unclenching her hand that rested on Lex’s leg. As soon as Ilyas entered the room, Lex pulled his hand from his hair and ceased his bouncing while Sasori’s body visibly relaxed and she loosened her grip on his thigh.
The connection between them, and worry for Ilyas, was palpable. I was struck again at how naturally their triad worked, even though only Ilyas was a True Bond. Lex treated both Ilyas and Sasori the same, never showing preference or favoritism to Ilyas and often consulting both of them in decisions that a Mage would usually make on their own. I was suddenly grateful to have a man like Lex as a Mage, both at the Academy and as a loyal friend to both Alois and me.
I glanced about the room quickly, noting the hulking frame of a man in the bed, the Healer applying some sort of salve to his face.
He’s bigger than Ilyas! The man quite literally looked like a boulder. Do they make all of them that big in the Borderlands?
Alois was standing sentry next to the bed, leaning against the window like a shadow. He nodded at me in acknowledgement, and I made my way over to him, but not before stopping by Lex and gently clasping his shoulder.
“Thank you,” I said.
He huffed a laugh. “You quite literally pay me to do this, General.” But his expression showed his gratitude.
“Take the rest of the night off, all three of you. And take a late morning tomorrow. I’m certain we can rearrange some of your lessons.” I made sure to make eye contact with each of his Vessels as a sign of respect. Both Ilyas and Sasori bowed their heads in response.
“Thank you, sir. If that’s all?” He stood from his chair, his Vessels quickly copying his moves.
I nodded and he offered a slight bow before the three of them made for the door.
“I can think of so many ways to use these off hours,” I heard Ilyas say as both Sasori and Lex laughed in response.
I guess the rumors really are true about them . I was hit with a sudden pang of longing for that. Not necessarily for a triad, but for a Bonded Vessel. A True Bond. Someone to share my magic, my bed, my secrets and hopes with.
Alois caught my eye, and my want must’ve been written on my face because he gave me a pitying look. I quickly schooled my features, tamping down the desire for something I couldn’t have, at least not right now.
“What’s the status?” I asked Alois as I slid against the window next to him.
Alois blew out a breath, his black hair rumpled from sleep and his clothes slightly askew.
“Mage Sickness, first stage. We’re doing what we can to prolong it, but it’s not good. We’ve never brought someone back before,” he said, never taking his eyes from the bed. “Though if anyone deserves it, it’s probably him. Using all his power like that? Knowing he’d burn out and get the sickness, on the off chance that he could save some of his village? That’s loyalty and dedication that most people lack.”
Alois wasn’t wrong, we did lack that type of dedication, especially in our newest Mage recruits. There was less faith and more disgruntlement about the state of Elyria.
“We could force a Bond, but there’s no guarantee it would stick. Or even work,” Alois said. “We’ve never tried it before, but the healers are going to convene this week and discuss it.” He blew out another breath. “You know, if we had someone to decipher those texts, we could have a way to prevent this.”
I grunted in agreement. “And I wouldn’t be buried in paperwork and accosted by Gene and Art every five minutes.”
Alois grinned. “They talked to you about Charise and Not-Charise, then? ”
“Oh, not you, too!” I groaned and Alois laughed, but it died quickly.
“Are you prepared to move out?” His voice was quiet again as the Healer finished her work and began to clean up her supplies.
“Yes,” I said. “I wanted to verify Mage numbers and designations with you before sounding the alarm. Once we’re done here, I’ll have the commanders get everyone ready to leave by midday.” It would be a whirlwind and an intense morning, but it wasn’t an unreasonable time goal.
Alois nodded his head. “We’re going in blind, Rohak, so bring who and what you need.”
I thanked him before moving to the door.
“Oh, and Rohak? Be careful. This whole situation feels . . . off in some way. What the boy said was true, and it unnerves me that our Mages who were already there couldn’t hold them off. I’m thinking there has to be one of her higher-ups with them.”
I stopped walking and rested my hand against the door frame. “I think you’re right, Alois. But that concerns me even more. What does she want with a little backwater town in the Borderlands?”
“What did we want with a little backwater town in the Borderlands?”
“Touché, Alois,” I responded.
“We’re likely there for the same thing. On the off chance she knows something we don’t, try and get as much information as you can. We can dissect it later.”
I nodded once more.
“Oh, I also sent out the missive for a Rune Master and scholar. Hopefully we’ll have a paper pusher for you and someone able to decipher those books for me by the time you get back.”
Thank the gods. I smiled at that.
“One can only hope, Alois. I’ll see you soon, old friend.”
Alois grunted with a small smile, then went back to staring at the bed like he was trying to solve a puzzle that only he could see.