Page 92 of Poisoned Empire

“Stop! We need to escape first, or this is for naught! Selene will go first and act as our shield. Douse her in water. I don’t want any more surprises if we need to touch her. Keep your blade at her back. Now, move!”

Magister Amethyst commanded the remaining conspirators like a strategos, his voice whipping them as effectively as his lightning might have. Amethyst father and son took to walking behind her. Damn! She should have begun poisoning the air sooner. Leo Sapphire was all too happy to call forth a cascade, pinning her under the icy deluge. The poisons leached from her clothes and skin. Just before she began choking for breath in the maelstrom, it was over. A shadow mage hauled her up and pushed her forward.

“Actually, I have a better idea,” Leo said ominously.

Selene gasped in a breath. It was her last as she was swept up in a tide and tumbled around. When the dizzying motion ended and she dared open her eyes, she was surrounded by a bubble of water. She could hear angry shouting outside of her watery prison and prayed it would end soon. She’d never had to hold her breath this long before. She clawed at the bubble, but vicious currents raced along its borders, keeping her contained. Fucking water mages! She should have just pumped poison into the room the second she’d entered. Selene had gambled and lost.

Suddenly a pocket of air encased her head, and she gasped for breath. They’d left the confines of the cell. Outside her bubble she could see the distorted figures of what could only be the remaining Sapphire sons, their colouring identical to their dead father’s. There was another man there who had the colouring of Magister Diamond. In all, four had joined the party. Discounting, of course, all the traitorous shadow mages who’d brought in the reinforcements. Selene was entirely outmatched, outwitted and desperately short of luck.

“The wards protecting their cells in the prison have been undone, allowing entrance to the shadows there. The magistri have had their collars removed. They’re waiting and bickering. The poison mage is seated, thus far unharmed, but there is another mage guarding her shadow,” the shadow mage replied, bowing deeply.

Belisarius didn’t like what he was hearing.

“Why didn’t she just poison them already?” Alexandra asked, plaintive and panicked.

The prince held up his hand for silence.

“Will the other spies know you’re eavesdropping?”

“Not unless they try to enter or exit from the same shadow I’m hiding in, Your Royal Highness.”

“Can you take out the mage hiding in Selene’s shadow?”

“Yes, but it will alert the others hiding on the shadow path.”

“Continue to monitor them, and alert us if something new happens.”

“As you wish.”

The shadow mage dissolved into the darkness.

“Why can’t we go down and rescue her?” Iliana demanded.

“If we fight in that enclosed space, the magistri could bring the entire dungeon down on our heads, and Selene is likely to die in the crossfire or get dragged into the void,” Marduk replied, his voice calm. “We need to draw them out into the open. They want their escape to be public and brazen, so let them have it. If we herd them, we can force a battle in the entrance courtyard, where the archers can get clean shots. They don’t know about the arrows.”

“Have the archers ready and the healers close at hand. I want all other routes out of the palace inaccessible. Have our earth and barrier mages in the front lines to block their attacks. I want as few casualties as possible,” Belisarius commanded.

Marduk bowed, grabbed Iliana by the hand and rushed from the room to carry out his orders. Even before the door to the study closed, Iliana had set in on the strategos about how to rescue Selene. Belisarius wished his only concern could be Selene’s safety. He had more than one traitor within his walls, aiding his enemies and undoing palace wards. Most of them could slip into another world altogether to avoid detection. Only the ridiculous showmanship desired by the traitors prevented them all from getting away.

“Your Royal Highness, I want to help.” The silver-tongue mage spoke up, twisting the fabric of her dress in her shaking hands.

“How many can you command simultaneously with your voice?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“How far from your target does your command project effectively?”

“I don’t-”

“Does your target have to make eye contact with you first?”

“Um-”

“Have you been trained for combat?”

“No-”

“Then do not ask to help! If you wanted to help, you should have ordered Selene to escape with you in the first place!” Belisarius slammed his fist on his desk.

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