Page 139 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“I can’t. It’s like he’s not anywhere.”

The darkness mage’s pronouncement sent chills down his spine. He dared not ask if her magic prevented her from locating the dead.

“He must be behind a barrier of some kind. When we find him, your first priority is to get him to safety. Taisiya and I will deal with whatever other resistance there is. Once he’s safe, then you can come back for us,” Mereruka instructed, praying he was correct.

Taisiya and Vasilisa nodded. Fury, barely contained, fairly crackled beneath the surface of their hard stares. Good. He’d already explained that this was a situation where lethal force was not to be stinted on.

No one hurts my son.

“You taste anything, even a hint of magic, and you unleash hell, Taisiya.”

“It will be my pleasure,” she replied.

Taisiya was dangerously under-protected in this fight. He’d had just enough time to fashion a bracelet with some rudimentary defences against the worst fae curses, but this was an engagement for which they were woefully underprepared. He’d not had a chance to commission or create a necklace like the one she’d lost in the desert. It should have been his first priority when he’d returned, outside of assuring Bas’ safety.

The spell led them into a newer section of the palace—so new, in fact, that few of the reliefs had even been painted, the outlines still visible where the work would soon begin. The air was hot and thick with constructive magics. The structures surrounding them had only just settled permanently into reality after being created using fae spells.

To be walking so blatantly into a trap, it was just what Khety would want. But the piece of Bas he’d been given was at least a day old. There was no telling how dire his situation had become.

They followed a circuitous route down to a chamber below. Only a few, dim torches penetrated the gloom, but it was enough. Lying across the floor, beaten, maimed and bleeding, was Bas. His hands were tied behind his back, his fingers either broken or missing. His back was a tapestry of gore, his face nigh unrecognizable from the swelling, and his ears appeared tattered and chewed. A thick black collar hung around his neck, no doubt preventing him from shifting to repair the damage.

Mereruka saw red and dashed forward.

“Oof!”

“Ow!”

His light went out, casting the room in even greater darkness before numerous torches came alight in its absence. Mereruka whipped his head back. Both Taisiya and Vasilisa were cradling their noses and hissing in pain at stubbed toes. He was about to reprimand their clumsiness when a muffled sound caught his attention.

“Mrph!”

An indignant feminine growl accompanied the sight of a bound woman, squirming along the stone floor, facing away. Another piece of bait in this pit, no doubt. Whoever she was, she could wait.

“Meri? Meri!”

He looked back again at Taisiya. She pounded on air, as if she stood behind a sheet of glass.

“We can’t enter!”

He squinted his eyes. Above their heads, a message scrawled across the arch of the doorway.

“Fuck.”

“What?” Taisiya asked.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Mereruka removed Bas’ bindings. He went to unlatch the collar with his magic but found himself unable.

“Shit!”

There would be time for regrets later.

He picked up Bas and gently as he could, fighting his rising tide of panic. He’d been caught like a rat in a trap. There must be iron within this room, to affect his magic so. Just when his son needed his healing magic most, he’d failed him.Helpless, stupid, weak. This was all his fault.

“Meri? Tell me what is going on!” Taisiya’s eyes widened in fear.

Walking to the invisible barrier, he found his way blocked. Just as he’d feared. He couldn’t put a single hair on his over that line, but Bas’ head lolled across it. Some small measure of relief hit him.

“Vasilisa, take Bas. Go back to the barge and rouse my soldiers. Have them remove the collar he wears and force him awake. If he can shift, he’ll be able to repair the damage while he’s between forms.”

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