The Other Apprentice

20-2 | The Cost of Power

Quinn waited until they had entered before responding to Madrigal. "What? What do you mean you're going to die today? How could you possibly know that?"

Madrigal didn't look at her as he led the way toward the elaborate maze representing his memories. "You've heard the stories about me during the wizarding wars. I had a different moniker then, named for a garment of extraordinary power that I typically wore."

Realization hit Quinn. "Blackmantle." All the old stories of the wizard wars spoke of Madrigal Blackmantle and his eponymous cloak of power. In the months she'd severed with Madrigal, she had never seen the cloak, and had rarely heard him mention the garment.

"Indeed. Its design allows one to store a great deal of power efficiently, but it also served as a symbol. Symbols have a power of their own, and none know the power of symbols better than a practitioner of magic. That cloak is a symbol of a dark time, of foolish choices, and a past no one has wished to see me return to, least of all myself. There are those who would not welcome its return."

A memory struck her. "Valryk."

He turned back to her with a quizzical eyebrow. "Ah, so he has told you of his purpose in being here."

Quinn hesitated, then nodded. "Valryk told me once that he was here to guard against you becoming who you once were. Said that if that day came, he would kill you."

"And rightly so." Madrigal continued walking. Quinn followed. "He swore an oath. I have never seen him break an oath, and I would not ask him to."

Quinn shook her head. "But it's just a garment. You need it to fight Saedus and prevent him from collapsing the veil. It doesn't mean you're the danger that you used to be."

"Even if an arsonist has not set a fire in years, all eyes are on him when he lights a match. I appreciate your support, Quinn, but this verdict was sealed long ago and will bear no deliberation. I agreed with the terms myself."

Quinn was uneasy about this news. "I don't think Valryk would kill you when there's still a bigger threat out there."

Madrigal gave a slight nod. "That is my hope as well, that I can convince him of a stay of execution long enough to face Saedus. But I know the consequences of my actions. They will not meet with forgiveness. If Saedus does not end me this day, Valryk will."

Before she could answer, Widdershanks nipped at her ear, begging to be let down. Quinn set the playful ferret on the ground and let him run ahead.

Madrigal called out after him. "Do not scamper off too far, Widdershanks!" He glanced around, high and low. "Keep your sword handy, Quinn. I fear the enemy has compromised my memories. We may not be alone in here."

Quinn reached for the hilt of her sword for reassurance. Rookplume's knife was also within reach. "You're expecting a sword fight?"

Madrigal nodded. "Perhaps. The veil does not extend into the Embrance. Using magic here is unreliable. Swords are always reliable. Remember that."

Quinn looked around cautiously, eyeing her surroundings, looking for anything that seemed out of place. She chuckled to herself. She was walking through a maze that embodied the memories of a wizard in a realm of thought, and she was looking for something unusual? Everything about her life these days was unusual. But when she thought back to her former life, she no longer minded the oddities that had become commonplace to her.

Quinn turned to Madrigal. "So that's why you wanted me here. As backup in case someone's set up an ambush."

Madrigal tilted his head, keeping his eye on playful Widdershanks. "Only partly. If Saedus is in the marketplace, I think it unlikely anyone is waiting in ambush for us. I have other reasons for wanting you here."

Quinn nodded. "I'm listening."

"Returning to the Embrance is always an emotional ordeal for me. Twice in one day is nearly unprecedented. But placing that mantle on my shoulders fills me with fear as much as it does others. You do me a kindness accompanying me, but there is more. Another burden I must place upon you, Quinn."

Quinn braced herself. "This sounds bad."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." Madrigal searched for the words. "I told you my mentor, Araxus, was head of the wizard council before that responsibility fell upon me. As head of the council, I did a poor job. I should have been stripped of my title long ago, but I left no wizards alive to replace me."

Quinn saw where this was heading. "You want me to be the head of the wizard council?"

"It is probable that I will die this day, Quinn. It is possible that you will as well. If you survive, you will be the only wizard left. As a qualification, it is admittedly lacking, but it is the best we have to work with. Refusal is not an option for you. If you wish to free yourself of the burden, you must train a new generation of wizards and find a suitable replacement."

"And what if I don't? What if we can't stop Saedus? What if we both die today?"

"Then there will be no wizard council. The kingdoms may celebrate at first, but they will be worse off for it in the long run. We must do what we can to ensure that does not happen."

Quinn had an idea. "You said Valryk would kill you if you wear the cloak. But there's no prohibition against me wearing it. I'm not as trained a wizard as you are, but if I could tap into its magic, perhaps we'd have a chance and no one would need to die."

Madrigal smiled at her. "You truly are a clever young woman, Quinn. Training you to be a wizard has been one of the greatest joys of my very long life and I wish I could live to see where this path will take you, but I have three reasons to refuse you, and three sound reasons is grounds to refuse anything. You lack familiarity with my cloak, which would put you at a tactical disadvantage. It would be irresponsible of me as your mentor to subject you to such danger while I stand aside. And I am loath to tarnish your name as a wizard by association with such a tainted artifact. You will suffer enough merely from your association with me."

"I'm not worried about what people think of me. I never have been. If it would keep you alive—"

From out of the shadows, a woman's voice interrupted her. "Oh, don't worry about that. Nothing's going to be keeping him alive."

Quinn turned to see a shadow of a woman wielding a dagger standing down a nearby branch of the maze. Quinn drew her sword and charged at the darkened figure.

Madrigal yelled something, but Quinn couldn't hear as the blood rushed. She brought her sword angrily down at the shadowy figure, but it vanished. The voice came again from Quinn's side. "Too slow. Over here."

Quinn adjusted her course and once again slashed at the hidden woman, but again the shadow vanished into nothingness before Quinn's sword could strike. Laughter came from around another turn, trying to lead Quinn deeper into the maze.

Rather than take the bait, Quinn turned away and ran back toward where she left Madrigal. As he came into view, she saw the woman appear behind Madrigal and draw a dagger she held to the wizard's throat. The woman was no longer in shadows. Quinn recognized Bria, the maid from the Greased Cog. But she was unsure why this woman would be in the Embrance, holding a knife to Madrigal's throat.

Bria's face was firm and emotionless. "I thought my phantasms would have you fooled a tad longer. You're quicker than I gave you credit for. Stay back or I slit his throat."

Quinn stopped in her tracks, confused. "What's this about, Bria? Who put you up to this?"

"Put me up to this?" Bria's eyes opened wide. "Nobody put me up to this. I've wanted to see Madrigal dead for a very long time for what he did to me."

Madrigal croaked. "Lass, I know you not. Whatever transgression I have perpetrated, you have my condolences and my desire to set things right."

Bria kicked the back of the wizard's leg. "Your death will set things right. But I want you to know that your apprentice is going to suffer the way I did."

Quinn raised her sword and took a step forward. Bria saw this and shouted. "I told you to stop or I'll slit his throat."

Quinn shook her head. "You were going to do that, anyway."

Malice burned in Bria's eyes as she pulled the knife tighter against his throat. "You're right. I am."