CHAPTER 2
The stranger fixed me with ice-blue eyes beneath strong brows, taking my measure. A tight flicker ran through his square jaw, a strain that pricked at my instincts.
I stepped back.
“Excuse me?” I said. “What do you mean I cannot leave?”
He was tall. Even with space between us, I still tipped my chin to meet his stare and sensed the strange brush of air that seemed to come from him.
I searched for what made him different, taking in the muscular build and the straight dark brown hair that fell loosely across his forehead. Yet I could not pinpoint whatever clung to him, and the menacing tone he used didn’t give me time to wonder.
“That. I mean that,” he answered, turning his back to me, giving a view of the rumpled white button-up clinging to his broad back. “Did she say how?”
Cerridwen shook her head once.
“I don’t understand,” I said, feeling my palms sweat. “Who are you, and where is this place?”
The man stared at me with an impassive look.
“You’re in Mountheim Hall, the castle of the northern estate in the mageborn territories.
” The other three figures moved closer, as if granting themselves permission to approach now.
“But you were not supposed to know that. Humans are not supposed to wander here.”
I swallowed hard and tried to steady my voice. “Humans? As opposed to . . .” My hand lifted before I realised how awkward it looked. “Right. Whatever this is, I want no part of it. I apologise if I trespassed on your land. I just want to leave.”
The door behind me gaped open, and I made for it without waiting for their answer.
Perhaps the next station would be the right one.
It would be a relief if anything made even the slightest sense today.
But the memory of the creatures outside slid through my mind, and before I reached the threshold, the entrance door slammed shut.
My steps faltered, and a strange, heavy weight pressed against my legs.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t lift my feet, almost as if unseen forces held them down. That same ghostly hold crept over my shoulders until I stiffened, my pulse quickening as I twisted at the waist.
The figures watched in wary silence, and the tall one began to stalk toward me.
“I told you. You cannot leave,” he said, his stance poised as though he meant to catch me the moment I tried.
Alarm flared through me, my nails sinking into my palms. If these strangers forced me to stay . . .
My thoughts muddled the moment I noticed his hands, noticed the veins beneath his skin gleaming as though some luminous substance coursed through them. A pale, unnatural light threaded along his fingers, gathering at the tips.
I braced and tried to lift my feet again, but my body was locked in place.
“Are you doing this?”
“If you don’t try to leave again, I will let go,” he said.
It made no sense. He could not possibly be the force holding me against the floor. Yet the pressure on my limbs was real, and something in his gaze told me he knew it. I nodded.
His shoulder dipped, and his arm lost the illuminated veins. I pulled up my foot, and this time, it obliged. It was a relief to move.
I pivoted toward them, my heart thrumming a wild pace in my chest. “What was that?”
His mouth twitched. “That was just me playing nice. I can keep you pinned like that anytime. And trust me, I won’t hesitate to do it again if you think about running. Now, what is your name again?”
I shook my head. “That is impossible.”
“The shocked Jane Darling from the human lands,” Gwinifer said, her arms crossed again. “I don’t think she’s happy to meet us.”
“No, she is not.” The man sighed.
“We’re not lying to you,” Cerridwen said, her tone almost sympathetic.
When the tall one moved, I missed it. One moment, he was about five metres away, the next, he was in front of me, catching my elbow as I staggered back.
“Are you starting to believe us now?” His voice was slow, laced with condescension. “It would be a foolish mistake to try to leave.”
I pulled my arm free, clenching my fists to suppress the trembling that was creeping in.
Mages. That was what they said, just like they said I couldn’t leave. He wouldn’t let me.
“What do we do with her, Reagan?” someone asked.
But the older man, Barracus, answered first. “Bring her to the magisters. They will try her as an invader.”
“She’s not an invader,” Gwinifer said. “But someone needs to check the passageway.”
Cerridwen replied, “Take her to Malory. She might not even consider it a transgression.”
“Transgression?” I echoed, not bothering to hide the fraying nerves in my voice. “I was almost attacked in the woods by horrible monsters. I was led here by . . .”
They stared at me, and I wondered if they really didn’t know about the beasts. But the tall one, Reagan, had a knowing look.
“There are dangerous creatures in our territory,” he said. “You were lucky.”
Lucky.
“You should bring her today. If something happens now while she is here, you’ll be held responsible,” Barracus said, sounding utterly calm.
“I can’t be here,” I said under my breath. “I was supposed to be at a fair. I had business to do. Just let me go. I won’t mention a word of what I saw.”
I waited for an answer, noticing as Gwinifer rolled her eyes. It became clear to me as the others looked at Reagan that he was in charge.
“It’s not that simple,” he answered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll bring you to Court and let Malory decide.”
The knot in my throat seemed to grow. I was starting to get lightheaded.
They exchanged more words, but I stopped listening, my thoughts drifting to Dominik, waiting for me at the fair, and to my father and sister, who were counting on me to receive the shipments we had invested in.
I had to rely fully on Dominik that those goods would not remain unclaimed and possibly lost.
When I raised my eyes again, Reagan had a black cloak on and was answering someone, “. . . delivering her.” Then he walked towards me. “We are leaving now. Brace yourself.”
Before I could protest, he wrapped an arm around me, and darkness swallowed the room, a violent gust of wind lashing against my skin.
My stomach lurched as if gravity had turned upside down.
I squeezed my eyes shut, clinging to the only solid thing holding me.
A sharp pain knifed through my skull for mere seconds.
When I opened my eyes, everything had changed.
◆◆◆
I could hear my heavy breathing again and feel my shoulders tightly pressed in the direction of my ears.
Blinding light spilled from the ceiling as I opened my eyes, iron walls hemming us in on all sides.
“Release me now,” Reagan said.
Only then did I realise I had a death grip on his cloak, my fingers numb as I forced myself to let go, the trembling slow to leave my hands.
The lift doors parted with a hollow scrape, voices and laughter flooding in from beyond. My boots, still stained with the woods, came to rest on fine grey carpet.
Before I could gather my thoughts, a hand closed around my elbow and pulled me from the lift.
“Come with me,” Reagan muttered.
“How did we get here?”
Before us stretched a wide hallway with curved blue walls, its geometric black-and-white tiled floor neat, its high ceiling lined with rectangular beams cradling spherical bulbs. The space was punctuated by several doorways, with people crammed into every corner, dressed in dark robes and cloaks.
“We flung to this Court,” he said simply. “It’s the closest one to us in my estate.”
“Flung? What do you mean?”
He gave me a side glance before answering, “It means traversing from one place to another without the limits of space.”
“Traversing? How is this even—”
“Keep your voice down, or the entire building will know you’re human,” he warned, pulling me closer by the arm. “If they don’t smell it on you first.”
“Smell me?”
He didn’t answer, but instead entered a long chamber where people sat behind wooden desks arranged in neat rows, a towering column rising at the far end, its middle cradling a stone owl.
He pulled me towards the column as strangers cast glances our way, their eyes lingering on the man before me.
Long stares, as if they recognised him. As if they were worried.
“Name,” a voice said, coming from the owl’s direction.
“Caedmon Reagan,” he answered, facing the statue.
“What is your business here, Lord Reagan?” the owl asked.
“Confidential. Meant solely for Her Honour.” His eyes flicked to me. “Tell her it’s urgent.”
“She will call you if she wishes to.”
Reagan motioned for me to join him in a quiet corner of the room. Gazes followed us, followed him. Maybe he came here often, bringing lost women to be treated like criminals.
“Who is this person?” I asked, turning to the supposed mage next to me.
“She’s the judge who will decide what happens to you, so I’d try to look less frantic,” he replied, ignoring my glower.
He leaned casually against the wall, scanning the room.
It was possible to feel the disdain from a mile away.
“But she won’t kill you. It’s against our laws to take a life, whether you’re a mage or not. ”
I stared at him, taking in the hollow reassurance, as if it were meant to make me feel better. I answered with as little emotion as he showed. “What a relief.”
He didn’t say anything else, though I might have caught a flicker of amusement.
After a few moments of silence, the talking stone owl spoke on its own, “Magister Nova Malory summons the Lord of Mountheim to her chamber.”
He led us into an office space, where a tall, arched window framed a dense forest beyond. Towering bookshelves filled with hundreds of tomes rose on either side, flanked by dark wood carvings and lit by bright golden lamps.
An older woman sat behind a massive, ornate desk in the centre. On the surface, there were a few scattered papers, quills, and intricate metallic ornaments. Reagan didn’t speak as we stopped before the table, and the silence stretched for some moments before she spoke.