The Captive Shifter (Magic of Claddare Book 1), page 8
CHAPTER SIX
Caitlyn needed no further encouragement, scrambling up the rungs as fast as she could, Kyler hot on her heels. They’d barely cleared the ladder and were running for the next one, at the opposite end of the level, when water fountained from the passageway they’d just left.
Swearing, Kyler stopped for a second to sweep Caitlyn into his arms, before sprinting toward the next ladder. Water flowed into the cavern, but he kept his footing. Caitlyn clung to his neck, amazed at the speed Kyler was making through the tunnel, faster than a human could run. Even carrying her didn’t seem to cause him distress nor impede their rapid progress. He was up to his knees in foaming water by the time he set her feet on the rungs of the ladder. “Climb for your life.”
Making sure he was right behind her, she scrambled up the rungs. Fast and cold, the water rose, swirling around her legs. Caitlyn realized Kyler must be submerged but from the way he was pressed against her, he was still climbing. With only a few rungs to go she was losing sensation in her limbs, causing her to miss the next step. She slipped and the water tugged at her. Her hands came off the ladder and she was about to be swept away until Kyler made a lunge underwater, grabbing her with a grip like iron bands. Unable to breathe, she was drowning, so chilled she could do nothing but flail her arms.
A shocking blow to her chin came out of nowhere and gratefully she surrendered to the black unconsciousness.
When she awoke, she was outside in the pale afternoon sunlight, soft grass under her back, and Kyler’s anxious face hovering over hers. With his strong arms he braced her as she threw up a vast quantity of metallic tasting black water. He kept her hair out of her face, then hugged her when the spasm was over.
“We had a close call,” he said.
She rested her head against his chest, calmed by the steady beat of his heart. “If I’d been in the caves by myself today, I’d have died. I didn’t even hear the water coming till after you did.”
“Ears of a cat,” he said simply.
“Thank you,” she whispered. She was trembling from the cold, her clothing soaked through.
“We must get you warm, get you inside.” He rubbed her arms to help the circulation. “Your people have no idea what they were asking of you, expecting of you. I can’t believe they sent you to the City so blind to all the dangers.”
“To be fair, I doubt if anyone could have anticipated a flooded cave.” Hand to her mouth, she waited to see if there was going to be more vomiting.
Kyler didn’t seem to find her weak attempt at humor amusing. “You can laugh but death was too damned close.” He stopped rubbing her arms and made her meet his eyes. “I’m sorry I had to hit you. You were flailing so much I couldn’t get a good grip to carry you to safety.”
” I certainly forgive you under the circumstances.”
Kyler was careful, solicitous in his concern as he touched her cheek, whistling between his teeth. “The bruise rises already.” Leaning forward, he brushed a soft kiss at the edge of the tender skin.
Caitlyn realized she was holding her breath and exhaled when he didn’t make any further advance. “If anyone asks, I’ll say I slipped by the stream and fell in. The recent rains and flooding made the banks unstable. They’ll believe it.”
“You need to get to your room, change out of the wet clothes. I’ll have to let you go the last part of the way by yourself, though it I hate to leave you alone ever again. But we can’t be seen together.”
He bent to lift her but she stopped him. “I need a favor.”
“Having recently saved your life, I have to ask what more a friend can do in one day?” His expression was serious, brows drawn together.
Loathing the necessity to make the request she forced the words out. “I have to know if the Stone was down there. Or if it wasn’t, then I have to know where in the castle it lies hidden.”
His green eyes were hooded, his voice flat. “And this involves me how?”
“I need to cast a search spell. I’ve tried it before, as I told you, and the energies of this place confuse and confound the results.” She gestured at the hulking castle looming at the end of the overgrown garden. “I need—I’d like to borrow some of your magic to give my search a boost and cancel other influences. Please?”
He was silent for so long her resolve failed.
Is he thinking I’m like the Witch Queen and Bradana, only wanting to use his magic? With reluctance, she had to admit she was following in their footsteps in this instance. “I’m sorry, forget my request,” she apologized as the awkward silence stretched on. “I had no right.”
“If anyone has the right to call on my power, it would be you.”
A little tingle of pleasure ran through her at the vehemence of his statement. “But?”
“Margred can tell when I’ve tapped my magic for anything but her purposes. She questioned me closely after the incident with the crystals,” he said.
“She knew you helped me?” Caitlyn was appalled.
“Fortunately, no. She apparently can’t tell exactly what I use my power for, but she can definitely perceive I have, stolen from her, as she phrased the accusation.” Kyler eased the collar a bit on his neck, as if the constriction continued to affect him.
Taking note of the involuntary gesture, Caitlyn’s anger flared like acid in her heart. “Did she punish you?”
“That’s not important,” he said, not meeting her eyes, thereby confirming Caitlyn’s guess. “She mustn’t connect you to me. I’ve never used my powers for anything unless she commanded it, in all the time I’ve been here. Until the day of the Trial, to assist you. If I defy her again so soon, I’m afraid she’ll figure out the common thread of my unusual rebellion has to be you.”
“Then sit and guard me, if you will, while I make my own attempt. I don’t want you risking yourself.” She didn’t wait for his answer. Fighting the wet skirts clinging to her legs, she made an effort to stand, his hand supporting her. Grateful to be alive, all her senses more alert than normal, she admired the azure sky, inhaled as much sweet fresh air as her lungs could hold, then exhaled and launched into a chant combining a spell and a plea to her Lady for aid. Drawn out of her body, into the dreamspace, Caitlyn flew across the palace grounds, through the walls and into the upper halls, where the Witch Queen and her sister Bradana had their chambers. Her spirit self stopped at the door to the queen’s wing, halted by some barrier, a spell safeguard perhaps. Sensible for the queen to close her private chambers to spell casters. Caitlyn tried to strengthen her own spell, fighting to hold onto the seeking a few moments longer, to locate the Stone.
She was failing, being tugged back to her body, when suddenly Kyler was standing beside her in the dreamspace, his hands on hers. Together they went thru the door as if it didn’t exist, stumbling into a long hallway. As they walked, doors flew open, revealing the Witch Queen’s study, her library, sitting room, bedchamber, and then a similar set of rooms which had to be Bradana’s. Holding Kyler’s warm hand, Caitlyn pushed onward, until she came to a door which didn’t budge.
The lock was ancient, huge, with the keyhole in the shape of a stylized eagle. Their combined magic curled and coiled an inch or two above the surface of the iron banded, black wood door. Even in the dreamspace Caitlyn was afraid to touch the panel.
The spell broke and in the far garden she and Kyler fell to the grass in the real world.
Hand to her forehead to ease the pounding headache she’d developed, Caitlyn spoke first. “What room can that be?” She blinked, trying to clear the jagged lines of lightning running through her vision. “I’m going to need some of my own best headache remedy and soon.”
Kyler shook his head, running his hands though his hair. “No idea. I’ve never been to the far reaches of the Queen’s wing. But clearly what you seek is there. Even I felt the echoes of some power foreign to this place. Not of my people, but akin.”
Caitlyn crawled over to him but didn’t touch him. “Thank you.”
He sat up, unkinking his back, having fallen on a root, rather than on soft grass as she had. “I could tell you were so close to your goal but barred from what you sought. I’ll think of some lie to appease the queen.”
Caitlyn’s heart was so full of concern for him, entwined with rage at Margred that she couldn’t find the words to tell him her thoughts. Emotion choked her throat.
Taking her hand and kissing her palm, he said, “We should return to the palace before it grows any later. You can’t be gone too long in case Ylain or someone else has need of you. Your absence would be remarked.”
“Kyler—”
“Let us talk about it no further. The queen won’t punish me too severely. She needs me. The mission was worth the risk and the consequences. I’m still my own man and I take full responsibility for my decisions.” Frowning, he stared at her. “You’ll have to develop a whole new set of devious plots, to get into the Witch Queen’s corridor and breech the imposing door.”
“Now I know the location, I’ll get my hands on the Stone,” she said. “I must.”
He kissed her hand lightly, a courtly gesture. “I’ve no doubt concerning your ultimate success.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“There’s to be another spell casting tonight,” said Princess Ylain the next day as they made their way to the palace from an afternoon of healing rounds in the poorer quarters of the City. “You remember you’re forbidden to attend?”
“Yes, your highness. I’ve no desire to be there,” she answered with perfect truth. “I’ll spend the evening in the stillroom, preparing more of the herbal medicines we’ll need tomorrow for treating this new fever. I find it concerning how rapidly the malady is spreading along the river and in the most crowded sections of the City.”
“Good. I appreciate your work more than I can say.” Leaving on a note of praise, Ylain headed towards her own quarters in the upper levels of the palace.
Taking her dinner on a tray, Caitlyn sought refuge in the stillroom, at first trying to work on mixing medications as she’d said she would. Even when she set safeguards with her own powers, the currents of magic swirling in the palace made her restless. She sat in the small, cool space with the dried herbs and flowers, and thought about Kyler. Without a doubt the Witch Queen would have him brought to the spell casting, drawing upon his energies to support her again.
“I don’t want to watch, I don’t. Once was enough,” Caitlyn said out loud, hearing the bitterness in her voice. Clearing a space on the scarred table to pillow her head on her crossed arms, she tried launching herself into the dreamspace, to search for Kyler. I need to see if he’s all right, if I can help him as I did the first time. It’s too soon for them to be drawing on his power again. Her quest met a solid wall. It seemed the spell casting chamber was protected from the outside and try though she might, she couldn’t cross the magical barrier to reach him.
She sent a prayer to her own Lady Tiermalleia, asking for protection for Kyler, as man and leopard and then closed the stillroom, since she couldn’t force herself to work. She sought her bed, traversing hallways out of her normal route, however, attempting to gain access to the floor where the Witch Queen’s chambers were located. She hoped this might be the perfect time to at least examine the door she’d seen in the dreamspace, but there were guards in all the stairwells and pacing in front of every door. She didn’t want to risk the men challenging her or reporting her presence where she had no business.
Tonight wasn’t the night she’d succeed in her quest.
Frustrated on all counts, she proceeded to her dormitory room. Susana and Gretha had just been released from the spell casting. Neither girl seemed too happy, Gretha avoiding her entirely, rushing out to bathe.
White faced, shadows under her eyes, Susana stared at Caitlyn, shaking her head slightly. “You should be glad you weren’t there.”
Misgivings crowded in Caitlyn’s mind, feeding her anxiety. “Why? What happened?”
Invariably cautious about being overheard, Susana flicked her gaze sideways, as if there was someone hiding in the confines of their small room, and then she came to sit next to Caitlyn on the bed. “I’m no adept yet but these spells smell wrong to me. They reek of the Shadow. No one seems to know why we’re doing this magic or what the result is. Princess Bradana took a much more active role tonight than ever before, pushing the Witch Queen and Ylain to try something new. I don’t know what they were doing but it made me nauseous. Drained somehow.”
“You’re pale,” Caitlyn agreed, taking the girl’s icy hand. “You’re shaking.” She tore the quilt from the bed and placed it on her friend’s shoulders.
Trying to calm herself, her roommate took a deep breath. “A couple of girls fainted tonight, like you did the other time.”
“And Kyler? Was he there?”
Susana’s face was expressionless. “Of course. According to my mother, he’s always a key piece of the spells the Queen and her sister cast.” Licking her lips and swallowing, she averted her eyes, pleating the sheet with restless fingers. “Don’t ask me about what happened, please. I want to sleep and forget.”
Caitlyn had a great many more questions about the night’s ceremony but clearly Susana was on the verge of nervous collapse. “Do you need something to help you sleep? I’ve some mild herbs in my pack.”
“Can the posset keep me from dreaming?” Susana lay back on her pillow and tears fell from her bloodshot eyes. “Ghastly nightmares haunt me after these spell castings.”
“Affliction with nightmares can be another sign of the Shadow,” Caitlyn said reluctantly as she hauled her trunk out from under the bed and searched for the right bottle.
“Yes, I know.” Rubbing her forehead, Susana curled into a ball and tucked the quilt in place more firmly. “May I have the medicine?”
Caitlyn dosed her friend and then lay on her own narrow cot. Talking to Gretha would do no good and might do harm since the apprentice was highly regarded by Bradana and loved to make trouble. Worried about Kyler and what might have been done to him, she searched the dreamspace. There was no longer a wall in her way but she couldn’t find him either, not as man or leopard. Once there was a faint hint of the leopard but the trail was gone before she could follow it.
“Tomorrow I’ll seek him out,” she vowed quietly to herself, rolling over and punching her pillow hard.
But the shapeshifter was nowhere to be seen in the palace the next day or the day after. Princess Ylain sent word she was standing vigil at his bedside, leaving Caitlyn to do all the regular healer duties in the City. By the third day after the spell casting, Caitlyn couldn’t bear not knowing what was happening to him. The worry was driving her wild, making her unable to concentrate on even the simplest tasks. Not being able to find him in the dreamspace scared her, although if Ylain was with him, he lived. Scant comfort. In the middle of the day, Caitlyn escaped outside, to a secluded spot in the farthest garden, and prayed to her Lady of the Forest for strength.
Later in the evening, long after the palace inhabitants had settled in for the night, Caitlyn made her way to the wing where Kyler’s quarters were located. She tapped on the door, opening it as she did so and stuck her head into the room,
The chamber was dimly lit by candles. Caitlyn’s attention was immediately drawn to Kyler, unmoving on the bed, unnaturally pale, great bruises on his arms and circles under his eyes. She crept to the bedside.
“You know you’re not supposed to be here,” Ylain said reluctantly as Caitlyn tiptoed past the chair she was sitting in.
“Has he been like this since the spell casting?”
“Yes. He never regained consciousness, yet he took no physical hurt during the ceremony, I assure you.” The princess sounded unconcerned, yawning.
Caitlyn caged all her angry retorts. Ylain isn’t the true enemy. “Has this happened to him before?” she said instead.
Wearily, Ylain shook her head. “No, although it has taken him longer recently to regain his full strength after each spell casting. Except the last one, for some reason. He recovered from that one quite rapidly. But even when he did require significant recovery time, the symptoms weren’t like this episode.”
“What have you tried?”
Ylain named several combinations of herbs. Caitlyn barely heard what the princess listed. The desire to touch Kyler made her hand shake but she didn’t dare the familiarity in front of Ylain.
“You appear exhausted, your highness,” Caitlyn said with perfect truth. “I could sit with him until dawn and you could go rest.”
Ylain appeared tempted by the offer. “I’m too tired to see straight, you’re right. Three days and nights of attending to him have worn me out. But Bradana specifically instructed me you weren’t to be in contact with Kyler. She said his healing was too important to be left to an apprentice.”
Because she wants his magic, not because she cares otherwise whether he lives or dies. With effort, Caitlyn kept her features calm and schooled her voice to remain pleasant and reasonable. “Your highness, my only interest is in helping him regain his strength, if such can be accomplished. I want to support you. Am I not a member of your household?”
“Frankly, I’m too exhausted to think twice about accepting your offer. The Queen herself didn’t issue the ban regarding your help so we can stretch the boundaries a bit. I’ll seek my own bed gladly. He’s to have this potion after the clock strikes midnight.” Ylain pointed at a small glass of clear fluid on the side table. “I’ll be back at dawn, with the manservant who assists me in his care during the day. You’ve only to sit and watch and summon me if anything changes with his condition.”
“I can handle the assignment,” Caitlyn answered with only a mild trace of sarcasm, which she knew would go over the placid Ylain’s head.
She waited a few minutes after the princess left before she stirred from the chair to go to the bed where Kyler lay unconscious, barely breathing. She ran her hands over his body, six inches above his skin, checking bones and muscles and blood flow while chanting a healing spell. She found no physical injuries beyond the bruises and some loss of blood. Observing the marks where Kyler’s vein had been opened and he’d been bled, her heart sank. A shifter’s blood must be like liquid magic but it wasn’t the queen’s—or her sister’s—to steal. His life force definitely flickered low.
