The Severed Empire Collection

Chapter 16

“What have you done?” Mykal dropped to his knees beside Blodwyn. It was so surreal seeing magic used. He never expected Galatia to go crazy. Somehow she’d thrown Blodwyn into the wall while standing across the room from him, the table between them, and without ever laying a finger on him. Mykal pushed hair out of Blodwyn’s face and lowered his head, putting his ear to Blodwyn’s mouth and listened for breathing. “He’s alive.”

Galatia stood like a statue. “Of course he’s alive.”

Blodwyn groaned.

“He left me no choice. He wanted proof I’m a wizard. There is his proof,” she said with anger. She cupped her hands together. A ball of blue flames roiled in her palms. “Do you require more?”

“She is a wizard,” Karyn said. The declaration obvious, and therefore not necessarily helpful.

is Mykal might have harbored doubts. Those were now crushed. “Leave him alone. He was just looking out for me. He spoke truly. You haven’t told us anything. We don’t know why you’re here. We don’t know where you want to lead me. You keep spewing off about the possibilities of countless deaths and immeasurable destruction to Grey Ashland, but you continually fail to explain the whos, the whys and the hows.”

“I don’t have all of those answers!”

“Tell us what you do have. Tell us what you know,” Mykal said. He sat in front of Blodwyn, protecting him from any further magical attacks. She wasn’t alone in her anger. His grew like fire on wood, its heat rising to his head. He could feel how flushed his face had become.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do. You can’t understand what’s coming, if you don’t understand what’s happened.”

“So you do know what’s coming then?”

“I have an idea. I’m doing my best to explain,” she said.

“You’re not succeeding,” he said, speaking softly. Losing his temper wasn’t helping the situation. It did nothing for Blodwyn. Galatia had proven how dangerous she could be. He needed the tension diffused. He would speak his own truth calmly. “I don’t want to go with you. In fact, I want you to leave.”

“Mykal,” Karyn warned.

“Perhaps you should go, too. The king will come looking for you. There’s enough trouble inside my grandfather’s house to get all of us hung,” he said.

Karyn plead, “But, Mykal—”

“Go. Both of you. Please, just leave.”

Grandfather sat silent, as if unsure what to do next, and unsure if there were anything he could do. Karyn possessed magic, and Galatia demonstrated power only a wizard could control. He was old and confined to a chair with wheels. Mykal felt miserable, knowing that there had been a time when nothing would have given his grandfather pause. Age, however, weathered away more than bone, and youth. It also took its toll of courage, and for that matter, pride. “I want you out of my grandfather’s house, and I will not ask again!”

couldKaryn pushed her chair back from the table, the legs scraping across the floor. She stood and used her hands to smooth the front of her nightgown.

Mykal dropped his eyes. He pretended to be concentrating on Blodwyn’s well-being. He couldn’t look either woman in the eye. Hospitality had been instilled in him by his grandfather since he’d been a child. They didn’t receive many visitors. Throwing people out of their home went against everything grandfather taught him.

Grandfather wasn’t agreeing with Mykal, he did not speak at all, but most of all he didn’t object. You backed family. Right or wrong, if you are able to count on only one person to take your side, it should unquestionably be someone with whom you share blood.

Blodwyn wasn’t dead. Galatia hadn’t killed him. He had no idea what he’d witnessed. How could he kick out the only person who might be able to explain everything, even if she might also be the cause of it all?

“Wait. Just wait,” Mykal said, changing his mind. He held up both hands. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll meet you outside.”

“Is he alright?” Karyn sat next to Galatia on the porch bench.

Mykal said, “Yes, he’s awake. I moved him to my bed. He’s lying down.”

“I’m sorry I had to do that,” Galatia said.

“You didn’t have to hurt him to make your point. You could have just done that blue fireball thing. It alone convinced me.” Mykal’s anger was focused on her. This wizard had disrupted the peace and solitude of life as he’d always known it. He liked things the way they were. He didn’t mind taking care of the animals, and spending long days repairing the wood fence around the property. Nothing good could come from her appearance.

“I’m sorry, too,” Karyn said.

He laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she said.

“Any other day, if I brought someone like you into the house, there would have been non-stop questions.”

“Someone like me? What is that supposed to mean?” she said.

“You’re the king’s ward, a princess. You slipped away from the keep and came here. It won’t be long before your absence is noticed. The king is going to send at least a platoon in search of you. We both know that’s true. The only reason I brought you inside was because I suspected something fishy was taking place.”

“Fishy?” she said.

“Between the two of you. A con. A gimmick. I couldn’t figure out what, but knew something wasn’t right,” he said. “Your being at my house is not being discussed because, as weird as it is having you in our home, your visit is overshadowed by Galatia the wizard from who knows where. This is crazy. All of it is nuts.”

“What you’re feeling, that sense of unease, Mykal, is part of what I’ve been trying to explain,” Galatia said, standing.

He held up a hand. “Please. Just sit back down.”

“We need to go.” Galatia said. “We may have days. If we’re lucky, weeks. Even if we have months, it will not be enough time to fully prepare.”

“Stop. Just stop it. I have no clue what you’re talking about. I don’t want you flinging me off the porch to make a point. So, do me a favor and stop.” She sat down. Mykal faced her. “I want know what happened to the other wizards? I mean, where have you been for two centuries?”

“I can answer those questions.”

“No. I want answers. Real answers. The stories, they’re great. It’s like Blodwyn was trying to say before you zapped him, though. You haven’t really told us a thing.”

“I’ll give you all of the answers.”

“I want to know exactly what it is you think I’m capable of doing? What proof do you have that I’m like you, that I’m a wizard?” Mykal said. He wanted to shout, and express his anger. Galatia simply sat next to Karyn, and had agreed to answer all of his questions, so he took a deep breath and did his best to relax.

Resolved, he said, “Before you do so, I’m going back inside to check on Wyn. When I come back out, be ready. Because I’m not going to stop asking questions until I believe that you’ve been completely upfront and honest with me. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Okay, good.” He stared at them for a moment, knowing other than his size, he didn’t intimidate them. There wasn’t a threatening bone in his body. He went back into the house, and shut the door.

Thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn’t begin to sort them out. There was no reason to trust Galatia, or Karyn. They had both recently appeared in his life, and they both expected him to accept some fantastical truth. None of it made sense. The only reason he’d not dismissed them and their notions was because Blodwyn hadn’t dismissed them, and although Grandfather was frightened, he wasn’t the one who asked everyone to leave.

or Those two facts are what concerned him most.

He had the feeling that everyone knew something, even if only a piece of the puzzle, except him. He intended that to change.

“How is he?” Mykal asked his grandfather.

“I’m fine.” It was Blodwyn who replied. He was still on the bed, one hand pressed against his forehead. “I can’t believe she did that.”

“I think she felt threatened,” Mykal said, having no idea why he was defending the wizard’s actions. “Wyn, what’s going on?”