UNMARKED

27: Wild Goose Chase

It took Blayre a moment to realize that the cacophony of sounds around her were not the panicked screams that she anticipated would follow an explosion of magic, but instead oooh's and ahhh's of wonder. It took her another moment to realize that her eyes were still squeezed shut. Rory was standing behind her, both of her upper arms gripped securely in his hands.

She peeled her eyes open, and was greeted with brilliant and vibrant bursts of glittering light.

"Mage-made fireworks," Rory explained, apparently seeing the astonished look on her face. It wasn't that she had never seen them before - but, why hadn't she known about it ahead of time? Her mouth was dry and she swallowed with some effort. She focused and reached out her Sense, finding the source - sources of the magic, which continued to flash and glitter and shapeshift into golden lions, blue waterfalls, and multicolored dragons. The art was beautiful, to be sure, but Blayre's heart was still beating in a frenetic cadence.

"Duke Rorrick!" A nobleman was calling from a short distance away, waving his hand. "Come join us!"

"It seems, the people tire of you monopolizing my time, lass." He spoke into her hair, his breath tickling the top of her head.

"By all means, go to them." Blayre said. The remark came out more biting than she had intended. She needed to move away from him anyway. He was showing her far too much public affection, she realized now that she was coming to her senses.

"You know I would rather be alone with you than doing this any day." Rory replied softly. His voice holding a note of reluctant sadness.

"I know," she sighed, "But go. I need to find Caval anyway."

"If you say so." He said, then more brightly called to the small group of men "Gentlemen!" and began to stride toward them. Like the flick of a mage light. She thought, watching him blend confidently into the group of men, who laughed and greeted him with brief bows and solid claps on the back.

Blayre did one more check on Briannon's location. Satisfied that she remained in good hands, she tuned her sense to see if she could detect Caval anywhere. Because of the protective spells, his magic was a soft and gradual pull. She found him, by a table with Ripley and Alessa, as the light show began to wind down and the conversations resumed around her.

Caval noted her approach and the question in her eyes. He met her part way before she could join their group and led her into a more secluded area. "No that was not planned." He said, a hint of frustration in his voice. "Though apparently it is a surprise gift from Seorta." He said, naming one of the northern kingdoms.

"What in twelve hells do they think they're doing? With the stunt that got pulled before the coronation..." Her voice trailed off, thinking of the magical explosion from the parade. That one had not been entirely innocuous as this one was.

"I don't know," Caval ran a hand over his close cropped hair with a sigh. "Conal is taking care of the matter, though I don't think it's worth going to war over."

Blayre snorted and crossed her arms. "Maybe not. It seems the threat is not from outside our borders anyway." She sighed, and looked out at the packed room. "I can't wait for this to be over and for everyone to go back to where they came from. It's too good of an opportunity for something bad to happen."

"I know," Caval smiled in understanding. "I know exactly what you mean. And it will be over soon. I don't think we have anything to..."

She could no longer hear him over the sudden rushing sound in her ears. It dissipated, only to be replaced by an intense itching in her nose. "Twelve hells. They're going to do it again." She complained, rubbing at her nose.