“Lilia!” Reud shouted as he ran over to her.

To his side, Lec stood with arms raised, lightning flashing out from her in regular intervals to keep the luxomancer writhing on the ground. He’d wanted to stay back, to let Lilia handle the upstart mage, but she’d proven far more capable than they’d expected.

That wide-area blast had been powerful.

“Fuck fuck fuck… I’m fine. I’m fine. Fuck…” Lilia grunted out when Reud reached her, hunched over on her knees.

“Let me see.” Reud said, pulling her hands from her face.

Her face was not fine. Bad burns covered her cheeks in long, straight lines, the edges of the rents black and charred. Her eyes were milky, one glistening orb split by a line and running with clear fluid. The rest of her skin was cracked and a blazing angry red, a brutal testament to the spell that struck her. A gasp of pain shuddered through Lilia, making her fingers twist into agonized claws.

“Bo, fetch Aleida, quick!” Reud shouted, sending Bo racing off into the city. “Rachel, lock them down.” He pointed at the six men that had arrived with the female mage.

Moving as one, a group of four skeletons surrounded the small group, an action that caused the soldiers to draw their swords and form themselves into a ring, nervously eyeing the undead around them.

“Aleida’s coming, hold on.” Reud said to Lilia, wanting to hold her but cognizant of her injuries. “Let me just finish this mage, and we can get you healed.”

“My lord!” A man shouted. “Please, this is a misunderstanding.”

Reud stopped and turned to face the man that had originally acted as the spokesperson for the group. Thio, he remembered.

“My lord, please, don’t kill her. It wouldn’t be in your interest, I promise you.”

“Not in my interest? She attacked us!” He snapped back. “Look at what she’d done to my wife!”

“She screwed up, I don’t deny that.” Thio said. “But if you kill her, if you kill me, you will be making a grave mistake. Our families will not rest until they have revenge.”

“And why should I care about that? A few more corpses would be a boon, not a curse.” Reud snarled, turning towards the luxomancer that was lying limp on the ground.

“I’ve seen your city, my lord. How happy the people are. How hopeful. They would be the ones hurt if the nobles send a force to seek revenge. And, from what I’ve heard about you, that wouldn’t be something you want.”

That stopped Reud in his tracks.

“Are you threatening my people?” He said, his voice cold.

“No, no, that wasn’t my intention at all.” Thio said, wringing his hands. “I’m just stating a fact. Putting me to one side, Belinda is the darling daughter of Lord Marches, a child he dotes on. If she doesn’t return, he will not rest until he has revenge. He knows we came here, so this is the first place he will search. And, his influence in the court means he won’t be coming alone. Killing her, killing me, there’s just no benefit for you.”

“Well, what do you suggest then, Thio Hostmeir. That I simply let you go?”

“I…”

“I don’t want to go.” A cracking voice said from behind him.

Reud spun to find the luxomancer looking up at him with wide eyes, her hand outstretched. His immediate reaction was to command Lec to blast her again, but stopped at the last moment when he noticed she wasn’t trying to cast anything. Instead, it was almost like she was… reaching for him?

“Please, don’t make me go back.” Belinda said, her voice cracking once more. Her eyes had a feverish intensity as they focused on him, an intensity that bordered on the fanatical. “Keep me with you, great lord.”

“What?”

“I want to stay with you, study with you, be with you. Your power… you are the most deserving of my loyalty.” She said, dragging herself towards Reud with obvious difficulty.

“Don’t move.” Reud snapped, stopping her in place. Turning back to Thio, he gestured at Belinda. “What is this?”

“I… don’t know. I’ve never seen her like this.” Thio said, looking just as confused as Reud felt.

Any further questions were stopped as Bo raced back into the field, a screaming Aleida clutched in his arms.

“Stoooopppp!” She wailed as she shielded her face from buffeting air caused by the sheer speed with which Bo ran. “Puuutttt meeeee dooooownnn!”

Bo skidded to a stop beside Reud, great chunks of earth spraying into the air as his booted feet tore into the ground. With deliberate gentleness, Bo deposited Aleida at Reud’s feet, the poor girl wide-eyed and trembling.

“Aleida, I’m sorry for the abruptness of your summons.” Reud said, squatting down beside her. “I need your help. Lilia needs your healing.”

Aleida’s panicked eyes focused on Lilia and her wounds, instantly going from terrified to determined.

“Can you do it?” Reud asked.

“Yes, my lord.” Aleida said, nodding. “But, if you could help me over to her? My legs seem to have turned to jelly.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Reud offer an arm, and together they managed to move Aleida over to the gently rocking and whimpering Lilia.

“Lilia, Aleida’s here, healing is here. Lie down, gently now.”

Carefully, they urged her down onto the ground, and Aleida bent over her, her eyes igniting into blazing purple as she began to cast. Reud hovered over them both, anxiously watching as the magic flowed down through the young woman’s arms and into Lilia, dancing through her flesh. It attacked the cracks and the weeping eye, the burst of healing wiping the wounds away as if they never existed. Then, it turned to the burnt skin and… slowed.

Aleida sagged, gritting her teeth, the light of her eyes dulling to a flicker.

Mana exhaustion.

Reud stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing mana into her in a great surge. Immediately, the woman straightened and the magic redoubled in intensity. An orange wave washed over Lilia’s face, and in its wake it left perfect, unblemished skin. The moment the spell finished its work, Lilia stilled, finally relaxing. Aleida slumped back too, an exhausted groan escaping her mouth.

“Lilia, Lilia!” Reud said, darting in to cradle her head. “How are you feeling?”

“Actually fine, now.” She murmured back. “Fuck… That spell hurt. Did you get the mage?”

Reud looked up at the woman still watching him with those intense eyes. “Of a sorts, yes.”

“Good.” She said. “Now get off me and give me a moment to rest.”

Reud smiled and did as she asked, standing up. Turning back to Thio, he stepped over towards the group.

“I’m not going to kill you-” He started.

“Thank you, oh thank you, my lord.” Thio said, a chorus that was echoed by the men with him.

“But I can’t let you go, not yet. You are going to stay here, in my custody, until I decide what I’m going to do with you.” Reud continued.

“They have more men, on the boats at the dock.” Rachel said, stepping up beside him. “Two score, maybe.”

“Are they still there, Bo?” Reud asked the skeleton. Bo cocked his head a moment, then nodded. “Good, we will need to fetch them too. Then, we need a place to keep them.”

“We just finished the block at Riverside. You know, the one we were going to offer for merchant crews.” Rachel said.

“Perfect. Thio, you and your men will stay there for now. You will not attempt to leave. You will not attempt to send any messages back to your home. You will not harm anyone in my city.”

“Of course, my lord.” Thio said.

“You set even a single toe out of line, and my undead will kill you. There will be no mercy. Am I clear?”

“As crystal, my lord.”

“Belinda, you will stay with them too, however you will have an extra minder. Lec, you are to watch her every moment of the day. If she starts to cast any spells, no matter how minor, blast her.”

“My lord, I would never dream of-” Belinda said.

“Silence, I have no interest in listening to you right now.” Reud snapped. “Rachel and Bo, you will supervise their peaceful surrender. Take Thio and his men to the docks, collect the rest of his group, and guide them to their accommodations. Kill them if they resist.”

“Yes, Lord Reud!”

—

“So, what are we going to do about all this?” Reud said with a sigh, looking over the council that had once again convened in the audience chamber.

“It was always going to happen, one day.” Rowan said. “Duke Hosta is not a man to let a new city just pop up out of nowhere. At least this Thio fellow seems to be a reasonable man. We could certainly have been visited by much worse.”

“Any issues with their confinement?” Reud asked Rachel.

“None, my lord. Half the men obeyed Thio without question, the other half Belinda. It seems like it's some sort of joint operation between the two houses. I’ve set a couple of the guard skeletons, along with some of the watch to keep an eye on the building.”

The leader of the watch, a ginger haired man named Felix, stepped forward. “I’ve got some of my best boys on that duty. Anything remotely suspicious happens, we’ll know.”

“That’s a relief, at least. Rowan, do you agree with their assertion that killing them would be a mistake?”

“I do. Thio maybe we could have brushed away, but Belinda is a powerful mage. She will be a great part of how her house maintains its influence. Her loss would not go unavenged.”

“I thought as much.” Reud said, with another sigh.

“Lord Reud.” Rachel said. “On the way to the docks, she would not stop asking about you. She seems obsessed, ever since you bested her. Maybe there’s something we can use in that?”

Reud shot a glance at Lilia. “Wouldn’t that be a bit…”

Lilia laughed. “No, go ahead, use her. She should be obsessed with you, you are after all the most amazing person in the world.”

“If you can get her on side, it would be a great help.” Rowan said. “She could use her family and name back in Calista to deflect the Duke’s attentions from Srinaber. Maybe even bring us information on houses that would be sympathetic to working with us. She could prove a critical asset.”

Reud sat back. “Okay, let’s give them a few days to stew, then explore that avenue.”

Lilia laid a hand on his arm. “They’ll serve us, I’m sure of it. And if they don’t… A luxomancer skeleton would be a valuable asset too.”

Reud smiled a grim smile.

“How goes the search for the mage children?” He asked, directing the question at Rowan.

“So far, there has been no Seeker activity around Lisa, or in any of the other villages we have been watching. With the tensions brought by the enclaves being wiped out, and the exodus of people to Srinaber, there has been a… reluctance to speak to us.”

“No hints at all where the other children may be?”

“Well, we did hear something, but we haven’t yet been able to confirm it. I was speaking to some of our new arrivals from Nileshurst, and they said that Seeker boats that docked there didn’t always go south to Avonford, some went north instead. Now, the only reason they’d do that is if there was some sort of separate enclave to the north, though given the lack of Seeker activity in the area it must be a fairly small one.”

“Now that is interesting. Very interesting.” Reud said.

“It’s still a large area to search, however. But I did hear something that may narrow it down a little. The man I spoke too said it was easy to identify which direction the boat would take, as the ones that would go north had these reddish streaks along the sides. Now, from memory, there are Redrake trees that grow in a particular region to the north-west of Nileshurst. Rubbing up against those would definitely cause the colouration the man mentioned.”

“Fantastic work, Rowan. That’s exactly what we were looking for. Jessabelle’s brothers had been commissioned to retrieve some mage children by boat, this facility must have been their destination. We will organize an expedition soon, once we can refit the boats these refugees are leaving us.”

“I live to serve, my lord.” Rowan said, bowing his head. “If I may, what shall we do about Lisa? Do you want us to keep observing her? Or shall we bring her in?”

“Let’s just get her here. She must be reaching the critical point in her pregnancy that the Seekers would normally treat her to induce the affinity. I think it is time we gave her the choice if she wants to proceed with it or not.”

“You figured it out?” Lilia said, surprised.

“I think so, or close enough to it, anyway.”

“Is it safe?”

“No. But what really is, when playing with magic? With the injection, an affinity is nigh on guaranteed. Without it, the chance is merely a coin toss. The choice shall be hers, however.”

“Then we will bring her in, my lord.”