5. Connected Minds
Connected Minds
“You were right. He’s in the Black Tower.” I glanced at Forsooth’s bear primal where it sprawled on Bones’s rug in front of the fireplace. I swallowed, but my voice remained flat, leeched of emotion. “…The dungeon, I’d guess.”
I’d offered to go to him, to meet him in the same tower and room where I’d just been, but Forsooth insisted on coming to me.
It felt slightly awkward to have him in my new “home,” and not only because I still hadn’t taken a shower.
I also hadn’t cleaned up the ritual circle, so now, in addition to my appearance, he was forced to walk around a large, broken, messy section of floor, half-smeared with my blood, with a large burn mark on the stone where I kicked over a candle.
As for me, I didn’t look in a mirror, but I could only imagine how I must have looked when I opened the door, with blood, amethyst powder, monocerus horn, sphinx hair, scales, salt, cobra venom, and gods knew what else in my hair and stuck in my jumper and socks.
That, of course, was in addition to the blood, mud, leaves, and grass I still had all over my clothes and skin from the fight that morning.
If my degraded appearance surprised or bothered the famed theosophist, he didn’t let it show.
We both seemed to have the same thought around not sending messages with certain types of information across the school grounds. Forsooth had been adamant I shouldn’t communicate information to him magically, or with the use of drakai, and I agreed.
Still, it felt disorienting having Forsooth there.
Maybe it was sheer tiredness on my side, but it felt oddly surreal to see the bushy-haired professor in one of Bones’s red leather chairs, ankles crossed, sipping tea from Bones’s tea set, his bear primal snoozing in front of the flames.
The bear itself seemed to be totally at home.
From where it lay, snoring softly, its fur shone more gold than its usual light brown. Its outline and even its fur sparkled and shimmered.
My deep black monocerus, which liked the bear as much as the bear liked it, bent its knees and sank down on the carpet next to it, and swished its snake-like tail contentedly.
As for me, the best I could do before Forsooth got there was wind my hair up into a messy bun, if only to keep it from smearing everything sticking to it on one of Bones’s leather and wood backrests.
“You were able to tell that?” Forsooth asked. “Even with him forcing you out?”
I glanced over, and saw that intense scrutiny of his aimed at me.
It unnerved me, how closely he watched me.
“Yes.” I felt my face warm, but kept my voice neutral. “I never saw where he was, not in the sense of seeing it, but I knew, once the ritual ended, he was in the Black Tower. I don’t think I can explain that specifically,” I added.
I saw something in his eyes relax as he leaned back.
“There is no need,” he said. “I imagine between the connection you share and the tracking mechanism, that information reached you in spite of his wishes.”
I felt my face flinch at his words, but I didn’t comment.
“Or,” I said flatly. “I could be wrong. Or he could have fed me disinformation.”
“Possibly,” Forsooth said diplomatically. “But I find it improbable. Particularly given the state you described him as being in.”
My face spasmed at that, too.
Truthfully, I knew he was right.
Like feeling Bones himself, I’d felt the Black Tower, as a physical presence in that darkness.
I’d felt Bones’s connection to the place maybe, or Malefic’s, or maybe I remembered something in the presence of the house itself.
Either way, it didn’t feel like it came from Bones, not intentionally, at least.
Despite my partial victory, the entire experience left me sick and shaken.
My hands trembled where I held them on my lap.
My teeth wanted to chatter when I wasn’t clenching them.
The coldness I felt was impervious to the heat coming off the roaring fire.
My stomach cramped and clenched. I’d managed to not cry, at least not in front of Forsooth, but I could feel part of myself had shut down to compensate.
I wanted a shower.
Then I needed to eat, and probably sleep.
I knew I needed food and sleep, that I wouldn’t be able to function soon without both, but even the thought of it made me feel sick. The thought of doing anything that wasn’t going after Bones made my chest and gut hurt like I’d been stabbed.
“Like I said, I can’t tell you much more than that,” I said, clearing my throat. I clenched my hands more tightly together in my lap. I sat on the edge of the leather seat, not wanting to touch the furniture any more than necessary, given how filthy I was.
“…I know he’s there.” I swallowed back a tremble in my voice.
“It was dark. I couldn’t see anything, but it felt big, not like a box or a closet.
I could feel air moving, and it smelled damp, like mold, even fermentation.
They definitely have him underground. If it’s not the dungeon, it’s got to be a crypt or basement, something without windows.
A wine cellar maybe, since I did smell some faint trace that could be that. ”
I stopped, mostly to control my voice.
When I spoke next, I sounded a little steadier.
“I suspect they’re all there, truthfully,” I added. “I have even less to support that, and I didn’t feel anyone but him, but there’s… something. Maybe I got that off Bones, too.”
I hesitated, cleared my throat.
After a pause where my mind ground over every tiny nuance I’d felt, I turned towards Forsooth, who hadn’t changed expression.
“Malefic wouldn’t leave him alone,” I added, my voice more certain. “No matter what he’s done to him. He’d want him somewhere he could keep an eye on him.”
Forsooth nodded thoughtfully, his face solemn.
“Agreed. I know what Corvid said,” he added, referring to the conversation we three had earlier.
“About Malefic being unlikely to return to his family home, but I have a somewhat different read on Malefic Bones than Professor Blackstone.” Forsooth met my gaze.
“I think he would see it as a show of power, to return to the seat of his family’s wealth and influence, particularly knowing he is wanted by the authorities.
Particularly if he knew no one could get to him there…
or that they would choose not to for whatever reason.
It would be a way of showing the world his righteousness.
And his, in his view, divine right to rule. ”
I nodded slowly. I agreed with Forsooth’s take, more than Blackstone’s.
“Will they go after him?” I asked. “They must know where he is by now. Even if they don’t, from what you say, Malefic won’t be hiding it.”
Forsooth didn’t answer me, but continued to stare into the fire. I frowned as I watched him, confused by his silence, but I didn’t ask him again.
Some of my puzzlement must have showed on my face.
“I have a mind-link with Professor Blackstone,” Forsooth explained. “He is an Oracle, as you may or may not know––”
I flinched. Blackstone was an Oracle?
“––which makes some things much easier,” Forsooth continued without a pause. “We’ve found it saves us a great deal of time in situations where there is very little time to spare. And his ability to protect his conversations via the seer arts is unparalleled.”
He took a sip of tea, his eyes slightly unfocused.
“Corvid is readying to send Morag to look at the Black Tower, so he can get a sense of whether and how the chimaeras might have changed. By looking at that, we should have a fairly good idea of where most of Dark Cathedral is conducting their business.”
He gave me another look.
“You should know also, we’ve been in communication with your cousin since I last saw you, and he informed us that the King is still determined to bring Malefic and the others in.
I’m sure there are others in G.O.R.E. and the Central Magical Authority who are more squeamish about taking that step, but Valor believes the Praecuri might be persuaded. ”
Forsooth gave me a searching look.
“Do you think that is a good idea?” he asked frankly.
“For the Praecuri to go to the Black Tower? Valor wished to know of your preference before he attempts to exert pressure on his own leadership. His assessment is that it is better to at least try to breach the Bones Estate, and attempt to arrest Malefic before he grows any more in strength and influence. We can also wait a few moments, if you need to think about it. Morag is leaving for the Black Tower now, and while that bird is very fast… even faster than many drakai… it will take her some time to travel there, assess the structure, and return. If you agree, Corvid would then share that information with Praecuri if you decided he should go ahead––”
“Yes,” I said, cutting him off without thought. “I don’t need to think. Tell Valor to try and persuade them. I want them to go.”
Forsooth’s gaze cleared, and he nodded. “Good. And I agree. I will tell Corvid to sent a drakai to Saladin, the leader of the Praecuri, as soon as Morag returns. It is better if that information comes from us than your cousin.”
I didn’t dig into his precise meaning, but I got the gist.
They wouldn’t trust the information if they thought it came from me. Valor, being family, might be suspect solely due to our blood connection.
I found myself wondering about the exact relationship between Forsooth and Covid Blackstone, instead.
As much as he’d mentioned it dismissively, a mind-link wasn’t a common or casual thing between Magicals.
It required a great deal of trust between both participants, if only because they would have access to some of your most private thoughts.
I could see how it would save time, as Forsooth said, but that seemed like a pretty minor benefit given the risks. Was it a wartime thing? Were we at war now?
“I understand your desire to connect with him, given where he is,” Forsooth said next, his voice grave. “But be careful, Leda.”
I nodded, but the gesture was basically meaningless.