The Memory of Darkness (on hold until October)

18 - Under the Skin

"Burned into the wall?" Anton's face flickered briefly with an unpleasant smile, before his usual implacable composure returned.

"Yes, Your Grace," said Coren.

Sebastian's eyes widened. "Well, that's... good for her, I suppose. It's one less of the bastards still out there."

"Perhaps she's given sil Vaddrin the same treatment," mused Anton. "Could somebody like him recover from being fused with the stonework?"

"One would expect not, Your Grace," said Coren. "Though my associates think he'll have taken this sort of thing into consideration, by binding her powers or something similar." He paused. "There was one possibility raised, but it's not a comfortable thought."

"Go on," said Anton.

Coren took a deep breath. "He might have no need to defend himself. She could have gone with him willingly, happily, even."

Sebastian let out a bark of laughter. "Not a chance!"

"It's not a comfortable thought," said Anton. "Though my worry is that she's dead, and that he plans to control her by... whatever it is he does, and use her powers that way."

"I don't like the way your mind works," said Sebastian.

Coren's blood ran cold. That possibility had never occurred to him, though now it was in his mind, it seemed so obvious. The man was a Necromancer, he could control the dead. What were the limits of his control, if any?

Anton gazed out of the window. It was open, despite the rain, and the muted light from it made him look eerily pale. Coren was certain that he had grown thinner since they had left Alsenberg, but if he was questioned about his health, he only ever claimed to be tired. The Prince sighed. "Do a Mage's powers leave them when they die?"

"I don't know for certain, Your Grace," said Coren. "In my limited experience, yes, but that's hardly conclusive." He glanced at Sebastian, who shrugged but said nothing.

Anton nodded, slowly. "I want to assume that she's alive. It gives us something better to work towards than the retrieval of her remains. Whether she went with him willingly or otherwise, I want her returned."

"Of course, Your Grace," said Coren, unnerved by the coldness of the Prince's tone.

"Remains?" asked Sebastian, outraged. "Is it really necessary to say things like that."

"We have to consider the possibility," said Anton.

"He's in love with her," said Sebastian.

Anton glared at his brother. "So he claims, though you yourself pointed out that people sometimes kill the ones they love. If she's rejected him, he may have taken it badly. That's assuming her injuries didn't..." His voice trailed off, and he closed the window with a loud sigh.

"She's alive," said Sebastian. "I'll continue to believe that she's alive unless it's proven otherwise."

"As will I," said Anton. "I'm sending troops to Estenfold. The Margrave might not be too pleased about that, but his kinsman has caused all of this, so he'll have to put up with it. The people will expect a show of force."

"What good are soldiers?" asked Sebastian. "If she's in some kind of inter-dimensional bubble, I doubt that our best men and biggest siege engines would make a difference. We need Mages, lots of them!"

"We don't have lots of Mages," said Anton.

"We don't!" snapped Sebastian. "Thanks to dearest Grandmamma forcing most of them out of the country or into their graves. We're lucky that there's even one who wants to help!"