Chapter 32
My eyes widened, and I stabbed a finger at my chest. “Me?”
The guard nodded. “Yes, My Lady.”
“Which village?” Cassian questioned him.
“Thornwatch, Your Majesty.”
Cassian dropped his gaze to me. “Do you know someone there?”
“I don’t even know where that is.”
The king furrowed his brow and returned his focus to the guard. “Have you checked the contents?”
“We haven’t opened the package, Sire, but due to the unusual nature, we have checked to see if it contains magic using the luminarc.”
“And?”
“It does, Sire, of a quite potent kind. The machine couldn’t register that high a magic quantity.”
“Then we had better open the package outside the city,” Cassian told him as he turned to me and offered me his hand. “Will you come with us?”
I set my hand in his palm and nodded. “Definitely.”
“Have my carriage prepared,” Cassian commanded the guard.
The man bowed and hurried to obey, while we made our way to the main gates. I caught Cassian’s tense gaze as we hurried down the hall. “What’s a luminarc?”
“A machine capable of reading magic levels.”
“Why didn’t you use one on me? Did you not have one on you?”
“The machine can’t read magic in any living creature.”
“Oh.”
The starry sky twinkled down at us as we left the brightly-lit palace.
We were soon at the gatehouse, and there was a tension in the air, and two of the guards were crowded around the doorway to their large room.
One of them turned at our coming, and his eyes widened.
He patted his compatriot’s shoulder, who turned and repeated the same shocked process.
They scuttled out of the way and bowed their heads as we passed.
The guard room was only ten feet round and held a few chairs and a table. The commander of the gate stood at the table with his lieutenant at his side. They were both staring at a small package about half a foot tall and deep.
A strange machine sat on the table beside the box.
It was a small, round box with a single antenna protruding from the top.
The face of the round part revealed unfamiliar symbols and a clock hand in the middle.
The hand was pointed at the symbol that would have indicated twelve on a clock face.
The symbol looked like a four-pointed star with long upper and lower portions, and shorter side arms. The star appeared to be made out of rectangles, which gave it an artificial appearance.
There was something familiar about that symbol, but I couldn’t quite place where I’d seen it.
The commander stood at attention at our arrival, along with his aide. “My apologies for calling you, Your Majesty, but this affair is most strange.”
Cassian picked up the luminarc and studied where the hand pointed. His lips were pursed, and his eyes revealed his worry. “So I see. When did the package arrive?”
“This morning, Sire, on the post.”
Cassian grasped the luminarc in both hands as he studied the package. “Have you made any attempt to inspect the contents?”
“None, Sire, save of the luminarc.”
“What inspired you to use the luminarc?”
“Well, the receiver, Sire, and there’s a soft humming coming from inside the box.”
I strained my ears and detected the faint noise.
Cassian took the luminarc in one hand and waved the antenna over the box. The dial hand twitched before coming to a stop at the midnight hour. He set the machine down and frowned at the package. “You did right by alerting me. I will see to its opening personally.”
The guardsman frowned. “You take too much upon yourself, Your Highness.”
“The safety of my people is of the utmost importance.” The heavy sound of hooves and rolling of wheels came from outside. Cassian took up the box in both hands and turned to me. “Let’s go.”
We slipped outside and into the waiting carriage.
Cassian was careful not to tap the box against any surface.
My muscles were tense as he set the box on the cushion opposite us and took a seat beside me.
The vehicle rolled down the road, taking us away from the castle and into the winding streets of his fair and dark city.
Lanterns and candles illuminated the streets, casting long shadows over us as we hurried past.
The interior of the carriage was lit by two gas lamps that hung on either side of the space.
I couldn’t help but stare at our ‘companion’ on the opposite seat with some trepidation.
My heart was trying to beat to a rhythm that was a little too fast for my taste.
I swallowed hard and turned to Cassian. “So what did the luminarc tell you about what’s inside? ”
Cassian remained as he had been since we took our seats: leaning one elbow on the tiny windowsill and staring at the box. He brushed the finger of his bent arm across the lower half of his lips. “It told me there’s a great magic in there.”
“Dangerous?”
“It could be.”
My pulse quickened as the scenery flashed past. “Could it blow up?”
“There is every chance it might cause us such harm.”
“Is it a nethral?”
“No.”
I cocked my head to one side. “It doesn’t fit whatever that hand was pointing at?”
“That’s correct,” he mused as he dropped his hand into his lap and continued staring at the container. “The ‘hand’ pointed to the ancient symbol of power. Only the strongest of magics could force the luminarc to indicate that spot.”
“A four-pointed star…” I murmured as I thought back to the sense of familiarity I’d felt when seeing the symbol.
The memory struck me like a thunderbolt. My head shot up, and my eyes widened. I struggled with the chain around my neck as Cassian watched me with a mix of curiosity and concern. The damn thing still refused to come off my neck.
“Is something the matter?” he asked me.
“I know that symbol!” I told him as I yanked out the locket and held it aloft. The face turned to and fro at eye level. “Is this the same thing?”
Cassian furrowed his brow as he gently grasped the locket in his palm and studied the front face. He lifted an eyebrow, and his eyes darted to me. “Where did you get this?”
My hand shook as I oscillated between the truth and a lie. I opted for vagueness. “I…I told you Vhulkar was looking into the magic that hid me from him, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I wasn’t really hiding. Someone used magic to drop me in your woods.” I tapped the face of the locket. “The man who had the magic gave me this locket. Some sort of powder blew out of it and landed me in the forest where you found me.”
Cassian brushed his thumb over the surface of the trinket. “I see. May I have the locket?”
“I wish,” I told him as I grabbed the chain with both hands and tugged. The trinket didn’t budge an inch off my flesh. “See? It’s stuck to me.”
“Then that’s why you didn’t remove it in the hayloft,” he mused with a hint of his old mischievousness.
“Yeah,” I confirmed as I dropped my hands into my lap. “Does the locket look familiar to you? Or the picture?”
His sharp eyes continued to examine the scene with great care. “Perhaps, but we’ll speak of this later.”
Cassian released the locket and left me feeling that I’d done something wrong. I hurriedly tucked the locket back into my shirt, and a heavy silence fell between us. The carriage rolled through the city and out into the countryside.
Even in such dire circumstances, I couldn’t help but enjoy the view.
The stars cast their gentle light over the golden fields and groves, creating a rainbow of blurry, muted colors that were dotted with the quaint cottages of the farmers.
Dogs barked at our carriage, and horses whinnied as we passed.
A few of the hounds trailed behind, growling and snapping at the wheels.
I leaned out and frowned at their rude behavior. “You might get hurt if you keep doing that!”
The dogs snarled at me. My face drooped, and my eyes widened. I ducked back inside with some color lost on my cheeks.
“They sense it.”
I creakily turned my head to my companion. “Sense what?”
He nodded at the package. “Whatever is in there. Animals don’t need a luminarc to know when a powerful magic is present.”
I was really starting to wish this world wasn’t so magical, and I was immensely relieved when Cassian rapped his knuckle against the top of the carriage.
The vehicle rolled onto the next side road and drove for a mile before coming to a stop near a bit of wilderness.
A copse of trees stood nearby, and a quaint bit of grass invited picnic goers for a treat.
Well, if it wasn’t past sunset, that is.
We didn’t have ourselves a picnic basket as we stepped out of the vehicle. Cassian grasped the package between both hands again and nodded at the nearest lamp. “Take that.” I grabbed the lit lantern, and he caught the eye of the driver. “Drive for a mile and park.”
The driver frowned. “I would rather remain here with you, Sire.”
A faint smile touched Cassian’s lips. “Your loyalty is admirable, but your horses may not like what’s inside. Take them away so they won’t bolt.”
Our driver furrowed his brow, but cracked the reins. The carriage rolled around a corner of the winding road and disappeared. I envied those horses and the driver.
Cassian grasped the box firmly and nodded at the woods. “I know a grove nearby where we can open this.”
His strides were long and fast, and I had trouble keeping up with him without trotting along beside him.
I also stumbled over every bumpy patch of grass and root.
Thankfully, we soon reached the grove, and he set the box in the middle of the clearing atop a flat stone.
He reached into his pocket and drew out a mess of the heat stones, which he illuminated before sprinkling them on the ground around the rock.
Cassian stepped back to where I had stopped at the edge of the grove with my lantern. He drew up his sleeve and pulled a scale from his arm. “Stand behind me.”
“I’ll stand beside you, or you’re leaving,” I warned him. “It is my package, after all. If there’s trouble, I want my share of it.”
The king pursed his lips, but didn’t argue.
He drew his hand back and pinched the scale between two fingers.
With a flick of his wrist, he threw the scale like a dagger.
The plate shot across the meadow and struck the box, removing the top completely.
The box tipped over and fell onto the ground toward us.
The contents spilled out, and the stones cast their gentle light on it.
It was a disc of some kind. The strange object rolled a little before coming to a stop in the grass.
Cassian lowered his arm and slowly walked over.
I followed, and instinct kept moving me behind me.
We reached the overturned box and its contents, and I saw that the disc wasn’t a disc.
It was some sort of mess of cogs and symbols, etched in shiny metal.
The metal was so smooth and glistening that the stars illuminated it almost as brightly as the lantern clutched in my shaking hand.
Cassian stooped and studied the markings. “As I thought. It’s a star.”
I blinked at him. “A star?”
“Not in the literal sense,” he admitted as he dipped his hand beneath the cogs and lifted the thing off the ground. “This is a Dreadwrought device. A mechanism made in the age before the Shattered Arcana.”
“The what?”
“A time when magic and technology were at their zenith,” he explained as he turned the device over in his hands. “This is one of the devices left over from that age.”
“How long ago was this Shattered thing?”
“Two thousand years.”
My mouth dropped open, and I stabbed a finger at the mechanism. “But that looks brand new!”
“Yes,” he agreed as he stood, his eyes ever focused on the machine. “Whatever metal and magic they used on their devices has kept the Dreadwrought in perfect condition.”
“Are there more?”
“Twelve in all, or so the legends say.” Cassian paused, and his eyes were focused on the box. He reached inside and drew out a small slip of folded paper, which he opened and held a stone aloft to read. His eyes scoured the contents, and his eyebrows crashed down. “This is a strange note.”
My heart beat fast as I held out my hand. “Can I see it?”
He handed over the card, and I used my lantern to read the brief contents.
Find the others, and you will find me.