The Mirrors Of Bershan: Bound Part 1

BOUND.

The Mirrors of Bershan.

J. Elizabeth Hill.

For my mother, who taught me to read.

For my step-father, who taught me perseverance.

For Em and SJ, who helped me fly.

Thank you.

Chapter 1.

The voices led Fay down the darkened corridor and she pretended not to notice them falter as she entered the small, spa.r.s.e room that usually served as storage s.p.a.ce. She walked casually to her place near the beginning of the line. It was alphabetical by first name since few students at the Voleno Academy possessed a surname. The chatter quickly resumed and the hum in the room rose with the pa.s.sing minutes and growing excitement. Graduation day, Fay reflected wistfully. She already knew that she would be the only one walking across the stage solo, but that didn't bother her. She was used to doing things on her own after ten years of magical education. But she kept finding her hands twisting the fabric of her skirt, or playing with her loose dark blond curls and had to force them to stillness. Nerves like this were unusual for her and she wondered if it was about the future. Most of her peers had positions lined up already, but none of her inquiries had yielded anything more than polite refusals or deferment. She knew it was because she lacked a partner, and yet it didn't change her feelings on the matter. Something will come along for me, she told herself as she waited for the time to arrive and forced herself to stop tapping her foot.

Her teachers had remarked throughout her schooling that her magical talents were exceptional, yet there had always been a subtle pressure from everyone around her to choose a partner, something she had stubbornly resisted. Every other student in her year had chosen someone to bind their magic and therefore their life to, but she had not. Though she felt very determined about it, she sometimes found herself wondering why, more frequently during this final year at the academy. It wasn't that she didn't have reasons, ones she was certain would be accepted by anyone if she were to articulate them. Except in her own mind, her reasons felt thin, unconvincing. She had considered the idea that it was pure perversity on her part, her reaction to the way everyone insisted that she needed one, especially her father. Calder Derrion often reminded her in his infrequent letters that she was to select a partner worthy of her talents and not to settle for anything less, but she had decided years ago that he was more interested in the prestige and advancement of their House than her happiness. She no longer paid attention to any advice he gave her, and doubted this was the true source of her resistance. So what was, she wondered again.

Movement caught her attention as plump, smiling Professor Aliestra walked into the room and looked around. She nodded her head. "Come on, now. It's time to get into position. They're almost ready to begin."

The line started forward and soon they heard the headmaster, Professor Siveth, giving some specific notices regarding the school and the reception that was to follow the ceremony. The line quickly shortened as people moved to stand beside their partner. Several minutes that seemed much longer to Fay went by and then the line took a few more steps forward as Professor Aliestra moved the first pair into position at the edge of the curtain. They all heard Professor Siveth say, "And graduating from the Voleno Academy this year, I have the honor and pleasure of presenting," He paused, and Fay was certain he was consulting his notes. "Amira Friant and Soriol."

There was a polite applause, the line moved ahead a step, and then Siveth's voice called out Annesh and Zuri. Cianto and Koron Ollial, then Dagon and Inia. With each name called, she came closer to the front, mounting the few steps up into the wing. Eivan and Hallis. And then there was no one in front of her.

"Faylanna Derrion," Siveth called and she forced herself to step out from behind the curtain, her head held high. Keeping her eyes focused on the headmaster, she ignored the buzz from the watching families and friends of the graduates. With great effort, she kept her hands and arms still at her sides. She knew her father would be out there, but she would not turn to look for him. He wouldn't be smiling. He wasn't applauding her, because she would have heard it. No one was clapping for her as she made her way across a stage that hadn't seemed so large moments ago. She reached Professor Siveth, who shook her hand and smiled at her.

"I am so glad to see you here today, Fay. It has truly been a pleasure to have you at my school, and I look forward to watching you continue to confound the expectations of everyone who has underestimated you." She hadn't expected such a warm, personal comment and gave a stunned smile in response to his own. He reached up and placed the first two fingers of his left hand on her forehead. She had known this was coming, but was still surprised by the tightness stretching from one temple to the other along her hairline in an arc around her forehead as the spell settled into her skin. Then it eased and the headmaster drew his hand back, shook hers once more and released her to walk past him.

She had gotten only a few steps when a child's voice rang out above the still-buzzing conversation her solitude had evoked from the audience. "But I don't understand. Why is she alone? Doesn't she know you can't do real magic alone?"

Fay nearly froze as the child's voice was swallowed by a crescendo in the audience's babble. She forced herself to keep walking, though she could hardly feel her legs now, and saw someone waiting for her that made her heart swell with grat.i.tude. Her mentor, Professor Samell Ganson stood with a rueful smile, yet she knew the pride in his eyes was for her alone. She resisted the urge to run the rest of the way to him, walking into the wing and he pulled her into a strong hug.

"Come on," he said quietly as the ceremony continued and the audience clapped for the next pair of graduates. "Let's go to the reception. I've seen Calder here already, so we might as get it over with. He's not in a good humor from what I saw and that little remark won't have helped the situation any, I fear."

He released her from the embrace but took her elbow and began guiding her along the corridor leading away from the stage. As they were walking, he said, "I'm sorry you had to hear that, Fay."

She laughed but was dismayed to find her voice unsteady. "Why? Do you imagine I don't hear the things the other students say about me? That I somehow missed my father's comments on the few occasions I've seen him since I was transferred here? Or the ones in his letters? Professor Ganson." She stopped, forcing him to face her. "Do you think I don't ask myself the same question?"

Pairs of students were walking past them as they came from the stage, some running their fingers over the new narrow black strip of symbols imprinted into their skin. She could still feel the tingling of her own Mark, which told the world she was a fully trained Magicia. Pulling her attention back to this unexpected conversation, she forced herself to say out loud the things that had been running through her head constantly for most of this final year of her education. "I wonder every day why, with all the people out there, I can't bring myself to accept any of them as a partner. What am I waiting for? Am I being too picky, or just pigheaded? It's not like I haven't met others who would gladly take the offer if I made it. But every time I meet someone and consider it, something holds me back, some sense that they aren't the right one and I don't know why. I've already discovered that having a future rests on having a partner, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I simply can't imagine making the offer to anyone I've met or accepting one."

There was more to it, things he didn't know and she didn't want to say. Ganson reached out, took one of her clenched hands in his and said, "Come on. I just saw Merinda and Vroste go by, which means that they're nearly done in there. The reception will be starting soon and we will be expected to be there when it begins. There's time for this discussion later, perhaps tomorrow. I've wanted to talk with you about this for some time, yet you always seemed unwilling until now. I'd like you to join me for dinner before you leave the academy in any case, and we will talk about it then."

Fay allowed him to draw her along the corridor and into the large hall just outside the auditorium. The chamber's two-story ceiling echoed with the voices of the gathered graduates and most of the teachers. It was early evening and lessons were over for the day, allowing the entire faculty to join the celebration. Tables with food had been set up already on either side of the room. The thought of eating made her stomach clench. Her father would be coming out of the auditorium soon and she didn't know what to say to him. She was sure he would be angry after the child's remark. He had been angry every time she had seen him since the Council Magicia had announced their decision to transfer her here from the academy in Rianza. No one had explained the reason for the transfer to her, but it had felt like a small gift in some ways, though it took her away from every home she had ever known. Her father's constant reminders to seek only her equal to bond with had become tiresome long ago. Professor Ganson's immediate acceptance and regard for her had contrasted sharply with this, only intensifying her feeling of happiness at the time. He had been her only teacher in Voleno, as the lessons in the academy had begun to focus almost exclusively on bound magic at the time, something she was unable to study herself. Rather than feeling excluded from the other students though, she'd felt privileged by the attention of such a famous and accomplished Magicia.

By the time the double doors of the auditorium opened, Fay was too nervous to speak, even though the wait was only minutes long. People flowed down the steps from the doors and dispersed through the room to find their graduate. Many of them were trying to avoid looking at her without being obvious, but she pretended not to notice. She thought she heard that same child's raised voice through the crowd's babble, though mercifully not talking about her this time.

She looked up the stairs, waiting for her father to make his presence known. And there he was, appearing at the top. Their eyes met and even at a distance, she could see that he wasn't angry. His face was impa.s.sive as he walked down the stairs, but as he drew closer she realized it was anxiety she saw in his eyes. She could hardly credit the idea, but it was undeniable. His gaze flickered around incessantly as he walked toward her. She noticed shadows under his eyes that hadn't been there when she had last seen him a year earlier. Only when he stopped in front of her did his attention focus on her, but one of his hands still played restlessly with the cane he had carried with him as a curious affectation over the two last years.

His voice was steady as ever when he spoke, his tone disdainful. "Still hovering over her like a nervous guard dog, I see, Samell. As I have explained to you before, I seek only the best for my daughter."

Professor Ganson was standing a little behind her so she couldn't see him, but she wished she could. She was close enough to feel the tension radiating from him, so unlike his usual calm. When he spoke, he used the formal, dispa.s.sionate tone Fay had always thought of as his Amba.s.sador's voice. "Yes, so you have said, Viscount Derrion, but I have seen enough evidence to the contrary that I am not about to leave you alone with this bright, independent young woman. You are not a man I would make the mistake of trusting."

If it had been anyone but her father in front of her, she would have turned around in shock at Ganson's words. They hinted at communications she had never heard of before, and a side of her father she knew nothing of. But before she could even remind herself to ask the professor about it later, her father said, "You have no idea what you're talking about, Samell. I wish to help her find her place in the world, that is all."

Calder turned his eyes on Fay. She waited for his tirade about the embarra.s.sment he had suffered at the ceremony because of the child's words, perhaps another lecture about finding a suitably strong and well-bred partner or an exhortation that she must listen to his advice above all others, as he had told her in several letters. When he did speak, his words were so counter to her expectations that it took a minute for her to make sense of them. Even his voice, softer, more of an entreaty than a demand, confused her. "It's time for you to come home with me, Faylanna. All else must wait. Go gather your things. I can help you with that if you need, but we must leave for Iondis tonight."

As she tried to digest this strange request, Ganson said, "There's no need for such haste, Calder, particularly as it's already dark out. The morning should be soon enough for her to pack and begin such a long journey, if she wishes to go."

Her father ground his teeth and then answered stiffly, "Faylanna hasn't been home for years. Of course she wishes to go. However, none of this is your concern. She is and always will be my daughter, Samell. I will thank you to leave while I have a private word with her."

Fay finally shook off her confusion and responded before Ganson could speak. "I would prefer he stay, Father. Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Professor Ganson. If it can't, then it isn't something I care to hear."

Calder's eyes bulged slightly. She had never spoken to him like this and found it refres.h.i.+ng to a.s.sert her own will with him. When he finally found his voice again, it was the tense, unhappy tone she had heard so often in recent years. "I am your father, Faylanna, and you will obey me. Now go pack your things. Or we can leave right now and have the academy send your things on later. Those are your choices."

She picked her words carefully, but not to avoid offending her father for once. Her voice was stiff with anger. "While I didn't see you at the ceremony, Father, I'm sure you were there. Even if you somehow missed that I have now graduated, this," she pointed up to the new markings around her hairline, similar to his own, "is not something you can ignore. I am now a fully qualified Magicia, with all of the rights and privileges that entails. It means that I do not, in fact, have to do what you tell me. I am, under Imperial law, now responsible for myself. Do you understand?"

The explosion she expected didn't come. Instead, her father returned to the same quiet tone of entreaty he had used before. "I need you to come with me. It is time for you to prepare. All of these years, the sacrifices, now is when it all comes to fruition, Faylanna. There can be no further delay, no deferral. Now is the time."

She had to fight the urge to shake off the hand Ganson placed on her shoulder as she frowned at her father. "I don't understand, Father. Prepare for what? What are you talking about?"

"This is a matter for private discussion. You need to trust me in this."

She laughed bitterly. "As you've trusted me? Why won't you tell me what this is about?"

Calder didn't speak, only stared at her with those anxious, now-pleading eyes. It was Ganson who broke the silence, his voice uneasy. "Fay is not going anywhere with you, Calder. Not tonight, certainly, and not ever if she doesn't want to. I mislike anything you might have to say that is intended for no ear beyond hers, and I will not let you endanger her."

Fay thought she heard something, almost like a hidden message in the words, but didn't understand what it might be. She saw her father's jaw muscles flex as he ground his teeth in frustration. His eyes became tight, but she thought she saw an edge of something entirely unlikely there: fear and pain. "You have no idea what you're risking, either of you. If you won't come with me, Faylanna, then at least come to Iondis. You must come, you must be ready. I can help you, make it easier for you."

Fay felt bewildered again by his words. It seemed like they should make sense, but they didn't. "Make what easier?"

"You need to do this my way. The alternative... No, mustn't go that route. The risk if you do that, you've no idea." As he spoke, the words came faster, almost running together. "Come along, Faylanna, you must come with me."

"No."

She read a strange panic in his eyes at her simple refusal. He spun on his heel and strode from the hall, seemingly oblivious to the many people watching him leave. Fay gave him several long minutes to depart entirely from the building before turning to Ganson.

"I think I've had enough of this party. I'd like to leave now." Her hands and voice were shaking and she wasn't surprised this time. "Could you please escort me to my room?"

He looked into her eyes, his own concerned and disturbed, and then nodded. They left the room together, his arm around her shoulders, and everyone around them pretended not to watch. Such a wonderful graduation day, Fay thought to herself with bitter sarcasm as they departed.

Chapter 2.

Two nights after her graduation, Fay mounted the steps of Professor Ganson's tower to take him up on his dinner offer. The last of her belongings were packed, though she still had no idea what to do with them. She was sure that the headmaster would give her more time if she asked for it, but she knew it couldn't be forever. She put questions about the future aside and turned her mind toward the more pleasant prospect of dinner in the professor's apartments.

The Academy had been built to resemble a castle, in order to remind the n.o.bility of the empire of the privileged place Magicia held in their society. There were four towers, two occupied by the headmaster and deputy headmaster, the third reserved for any special meetings that might take place at the school. Granting the fourth tower to Ganson when he came to Voleno was a mark of respect, an acknowledgment of all he had done for Magicia and the Empire in his many years as an amba.s.sador for the Imperial Throne before he had turned to teaching.

Fay knocked on the large wooden door at the top of the stairs with the heavy bronze ring. After a moment, a small older woman opened the door. Ivanne smiled and said, "Ah, how excellent to see you, Fay. Please, come in, my dear. The professor has been expecting you."

Fay nodded a greeting and tried to pa.s.s Ivanne as quickly as she could, but the other woman laid a gentle hand on her arm, surprising her and nearly causing her to flinch. The gesture itself was unusual. Though she tried to hide the unease she always felt around her mentor's a.s.sistant, she often wondered if Ivanne was aware of it. Normally, the older woman kept her distance where possible and never touched her like this. Ivanne wasn't to blame for the reaction, but neither could Fay help it. She worked instead to minimize the outward signs of it. Across her years there, she thought she'd become good at it. Certainly, she'd had plenty of practice. Ivanne had been Ganson's a.s.sistant for over forty years, and Fay had witnessed how much he relied on Ivanne. This had, unfortunately, made Ivanne a frequent part of her education, and Fay had been unwilling to ask for that to change, not when her reasons were so selfish.

As if sensing her reaction, Ivanne withdrew her hand quickly. In a kind voice, she said, "I was sorry to hear how things fell out with your father at the ceremony. I've always hoped he would come around for you, even at that last moment."

"Thank you, Ivanne," Fay responded, trying not to sound stiff but hearing it in her voice anyway. "But I think that was too much to ask for. I see Professor Ganson has left the door of the study open. I'll see myself in."

She pretended not to see Ivanne's disapproval of her curtness while she walked over and slipped into the room that was like a second home to her within the academy. Her eyes roamed the shelves, aware that she might not see them again for a long while, if ever. So many artifacts of the professor's prior life were arrayed around the room. Although she knew many of their stories, some were still mysteries to her. Awards and gifts from the three Emperors he had served in the one hundred and forty-three years since his own graduation sat beside other artifacts collected during years of scholarly research. She knew that her mentor's life had taken him across the length and breadth of the known world, beyond even the vastness of the Rianzire Empire. She had never understood why, in the prime of his life, he had given it all up to teach, but she was grateful for it.

As her eyes swept the shelves, she found herself staring at a particular object, the strange pendant covered with a gla.s.s bell jar. She knew the special gla.s.s such jars were made of held protective enchantments, and this one hummed with extra spellwork she suspected was designed to seal it. She didn't understand why such lengths were taken with this particular object, nor why it held such fascination for her above everything else in the room, drawing her eye every time. All she knew was that it seemed familiar, as if she was on the verge of remembering where she had seen it before and that she often experience a desire to hold it. She'd never asked, of course, nor mentioned her reaction to Ganson. She didn't know how to explain it to him. The pendant itself offered no clues either. It was made up of two lengths of silver shaped to look like folded ribbons looped through each other, one covered in obsidian crystals, the other with white enamel. The interlocking loops were further bound by a ring of polished iron. A delicate silver chain was attached to either end of the obsidian ribbon. It was pretty, but it was far from the most beautiful piece of jewelry Fay had ever seen. Even so, she found she had to work to keep her eyes from it whenever she was in this room and even that wasn't working at that moment.

"I'm so glad you were able to join me tonight, Fay. I won't have you going off to live the rest of your life without a chance to say goodbye."

Professor Ganson had been sitting at a small table set for a formal dinner, but now he stood and came over to her, distracting her from the pendant. They embraced and he led her over to the table without a word. After settling her into a chair, he resumed his seat. Rolling his sleeves up to keep his green linen s.h.i.+rt from getting dirtied, he uncovered a small basket of still-warm rolls and offered them to her. As he b.u.t.tered his own, he continued speaking.

"It feels so strange to not be your teacher anymore. The past four years have gone so quickly, and I find myself unprepared for their end."

She laughed and said, "You will always be my mentor, Professor. I don't think it matters how far I go or what I do. You've left your mark on this humble student."

He harrumphed. "Humble, ha! You're the most brilliant student I've ever met, Fay, with both intellectual acuity and magical strength to spare. You've no need to be humble."

She frowned at this. "Don't I? I appreciate your admittedly biased opinion of me, but we both know that isn't the point. I still have no prospects now that I'm graduated. As I said at my graduation, nothing seems to matter except my unbound status."

"Well, that's their idiocy, this idea that only bound Magicia are worthy. You're stronger than many I've met even when they were working directly with their partner, let alone on their own after the bond has had its effect. I've a mind to see if I can't arrange something. You know that I am not without influence and there are a number of people I could get in touch with to-"

"No, thank you," she said softly, cutting him off. This was not a new topic and there had already been too much mutual stubbornness in their previous discussions. "I'll find something on my own, Professor. Please, could we talk about something else?"

Ganson watched her as he chewed. "Then tell me what your immediate plans are. I would like to know where to find you once you leave. I want to be able to keep in touch with my favorite student, after all. And when are you planning to leave? Speak to me of these things, if we can't discuss the others."

"Tomorrow. I'm leaving early in the afternoon. Before I go, I have to see Professor Siveth and ask him about storing my belongings in my old room for a little while longer, at least until I have some idea of where I'll need them."

"Then where are you going?" he pressed. Given the years together and the close relations.h.i.+p they had shared, his insistence about knowing her plans should have seemed natural, yet it didn't entirely. This was the same man who had once told her that she should live in the moment more and worry about plans less, that the future would always be there for her.

"In spite of what I told my father, I thought I might go back and collect some things from Iondis that I-"

"No!" he said forcefully, his face alarmed for a moment before he regained control of himself. "No, I don't think that's a good idea." He seemed to grope for something more to say as she stared at him, shocked by the outburst. "What I mean is that Calder would likely misinterpret it as you being there because he wants you there. I don't believe that would be in your interests, as you'd only have to fight the same battle with him regarding your independence all over again when you wanted to leave."

Ganson had his equanimity back entirely now, but the slip was the first she had seen in her four years with him. He looked uncomfortable with her scrutiny. "Have you given a thought to what professional pursuits you would be interested in, Fay? I know you don't want me to help you secure a position, but perhaps I can offer some guidance, advice on a path."

She pushed aside her misgivings about his outburst. "I haven't made any decisions, no. I've considered my options, the things where I might be accepted as an unbound Magicia. Maybe I'll teach others, pa.s.s on the gift you've spent these years giving me. Or research. Surely there's need for researchers who can go anywhere they might need to, free from any partner's obligations. I'm not really sure. I'll admit that none of the ideas that occurred to me are my first choice, but it's clear the things I might wish aren't an option without a partner."

She heard a sound, metal rattling on porcelain, approaching the door a moment before Ivanne entered the room carrying a tray with two covered plates in. She set the plates in front of each of them, whisked the covers off to reveal savory roast pheasant and vegetables. Fay didn't move until Ivanne left the room and had closed the door of the study behind her.

Ganson was watching her again as she reached for her fork. "You know, I always thought that you would become used to Ivanne as most people do, but if anything, it's gotten worse over the years. You always become so still when you see her. Why?"

Fay set the fork down and returned her hands to her lap, where she gripped the napkin she'd laid there. She considered how much she wanted to say as she twisted the cloth around her fingers. When she answered, she kept her voice quiet. "I always worry that there's nothing more for me than a life like hers. Ivanne seems happy enough as an unbound Magicia, but I don't think I could be in her place. But what if I never get a chance at more?" She took a deep breath and the rest flooded out of her before she could stop it. "You said that we would talk about it, and tonight might be our last chance. Professor, why do I refuse to chose a partner? It isn't as if I've never had a reaction. They've been weak, pale in comparison to how I've heard others describe their own, but wouldn't that be better than not being able to accomplish anything based on something so stupid as not having a partner at all?"

"Do you really want to be bound forever to someone you may end up despising for not being a worthy partner? I can tell you that there are those who regret the choice they make, but they cannot unmake it. Is it perhaps wiser to be choosey, to have a care who you make the offer to or accept it from? I wonder if we do a disservice to the children who come through the academies by pressuring them to make such an irrevocable choice that they have neither the knowledge, the experience, nor the wisdom to understand." There was a bitterness to his tone that she had never heard before. Ganson never discussed his own partner, and though she had always a.s.sumed it was out of sensitivity to her situation, she was beginning to think she might be wrong. After a moment, he went on, "Beyond that, Fay, you would not be the first person I've ever met to find their partner later in life. Those I've known who did so actually seem happier to me than those who jump at the first offer."

"I didn't jump at the first offer. Or the second. There have been a few," she admitted reluctantly as Ganson watched her closely, his surprise barely registering in his eyes before he controlled it. "I just can't imagine having chosen any of them. I tried, truly I did, Professor, but something inside me turned away before I could give it more than a cursory thought. While I'll admit I might find someone out there I'd have a more powerful reaction to, I somehow doubt it would make any difference. I'm not sure why I think that, but I do. For some reason, I find it incredibly difficult to consider partnering with anyone and I need to understand why, given the life it may condemn me to."

She could feel her emotions teetering at the edge of her control and struggled to calm herself. As if sensing this, Ganson didn't speak for several moments, pulling apart his own pheasant instead and taking a bite before responding. "Perhaps it's something more to do with your father, then, rather than simply a fear of being bound. You told me before that he impressed on you many times as a child the importance of choosing the right partner. While you know how much I dislike agreeing with him on anything, I'm not sure he's wrong about that. Putting that aside though, I have often wondered if those early lessons are the source of this hesitancy."

She found her mind cleared by having final spoken aloud her fears and worries. Able to at last think past these things, she considered closely what he was suggesting. Part of her was repelled by the idea that her father might still have any control over her behavior, but she forced herself to examine the possibility as she used her fork to pick at the carrots and beans on the plate. She took a bite to buy herself more time to think. Finally, she said, "No, I don't think it's that. Not entirely at least. Father said on many occasions that I should have the highest standards for a partner. That's always been the important thing to him, so far as I can tell. What you're suggesting is different, I think. And it doesn't matter, because I doubt either is the case. This feels more general to me, almost like I'm avoiding it completely. I have trouble even thinking about it. When I was younger, I wanted to prove that you didn't have to have a partner in order to do well, and for the longest time, I thought that's all it was. That idea is still there for me, the desire to show everyone that I can be something without conforming to their vision of what my life has to be. But this last year, it's been harder to ignore the rest, especially this sense that there's more to it."

She hadn't forgotten the implication from their conversation before the reception that there was more that Ganson knew and she was trying to prod him toward telling her what it was. The thought had occurred to her the day before that he might be able to explain it all to her, but she saw the same misgiving in his face that she'd heard before in his voice. She was determined to get at least some of the answers though, so she watched him carefully. He kept silent for several minutes, not meeting her eyes. Eventually, he spoke, though with the greatest reluctance.

"So, now we come to this conversation. I think I'd always hoped we might somehow avoid this, even though I understood how necessary it is. Even today, I wanted to at least get through dinner without having to dig into this subject, but I should have known better. In four years, I've never known you to go slow when you could sprint. They told me I'd likely be the one to have to tell you, but I don't relish it." He paused, clearly gathering himself for something unpleasant and Fay wondered if she should stop him, only to realize that she couldn't. She needed to know. "It does have to do with Calder though. I've never told you why I dislike your father as I do, but I will have to now, for it involves what he has done to you, including the effect on your ability to decide certain things for yourself. When you were-" Ganson broke off as voices raised in argument erupted in the foyer.

The door of the study was thrown open and a man of average height with short salt and pepper hair stomped through it. His clothes were decently made but his style was obviously defined by indifference and they looked more than a little rumpled. A light cloak still hung about his shoulders, though Ivanne trailed after him, spluttering about his insistence on seeing Ganson immediately. He stopped beside the table, his dark eyes focused with piercing scrutiny on Ganson, who was frowning at him.

"Dal, you're interrupting an important discussion," Ganson said disapprovingly.

"Hang the discussion, there's no time for it. The man's starting to move already, something I didn't think he was ready for. I still don't, but something's happened that seems to have forced his hand. I told you Derrion would continue to be trouble, despite the girl graduating."

"Dal Brinds," Ganson said in a loud, firm voice. "I'd like you to meet my former student-"

"Hang the student too. Samell, we've got to move now, only I can't see how. I've no idea what he's up to, but we have to stop him. If they get their hands on her and the pendant, it's all done. I know that much." Brinds paused for a breath. "You once said you had a plan to get her away if we needed to. Will it still work or do I need to think up something else?"

Ganson looked more angry now that Fay had ever seen him. "You're an idiot, Dal," he hissed at the man before taking a deep breath. Ivanne took Brinds' cloak now that he was standing still and she left the room. Ganson went on in a calmer voice. "Let me introduce you to Faylanna Derrion, my former student and now friend. Fay, this is Dal Brinds, my often excitable partner."

Several things happened at once then. Brinds looked down at her, his face full of surprise. Ganson was beginning to rise from his chair when one of the gla.s.s jars in the room shattered loudly. Fay slid off her chair instinctively at the detonation. After a moment she raised her head and saw a cloud of darkness pouring out of the shattered remains of the bell jar. She stared in disbelief and confusion. How could the jar have been weakened enough for this without Ganson detecting it?

As the dark mist poured down the shelf to pool on the floor, tendrils formed and reached out toward Ganson and Brinds. Both men were shouting, but Fay thought that the explosion must have damaged her hearing because she couldn't make out what they were saying. Every sound was a heavily m.u.f.fled buzzing to her. Ganson was looking around frantically and relief flood across his face when he saw her. He stepped toward her, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet. He was looking in her eyes and she saw his lips moving, but she still couldn't make out the words. When she didn't respond, he shook her, said something, then pulled her away from the table. Around his shoulder, she saw the tendrils strike out at Brinds, wrapping around his arms and torso. He opened his mouth and she heard a m.u.f.fled sound that might have been a scream. The smell of brimstone and burning cloth and flesh p.r.i.c.ked her nose, making her stomach roil until she was glad she hadn't eaten much of their dinner. The shadowy appendages pulled Brinds into the roiling ma.s.s that was still growing and this time his scream was so loud that she heard it with horrifying clarity.

Ganson looked back over his shoulder, flinching as Brinds disappeared into the darkness. He turned back to Fay, shouted something and then shoved her back toward the open door of the room. He took two steps away from her, toward the black s.h.i.+fting ma.s.s. She wanted to reach out to stop him, but she was frozen in place. She wasn't sure what he was planning, but it was faster. Thickening arms of darkness whipped out more quickly than she would have believed possible and wrapped around the professor's body and head like bands, pinning his arms to his sides and cutting off any scream he might have tried to make. The smells came again, thicker, closer and she gagged on them, trying desperately not to throw up. The darkness flexed, pulling Ganson into itself as rapidly as it had attacked him and then began to advance on her.

She thought that her hearing must have been starting to recover because she could hear a whispering that wasn't quite words, and wondered if the sound came from this monstrous thing before her. It approached her, rearing up, dozens of tentacles and thick arms of blackness reaching out toward her, coming at her from every direction. She was unable to make herself move, to even close her eyes so that she didn't have to see the end coming. But the darkness suddenly flinched back from her as if struck. Before her disbelieving eyes, it pulled back and began to swirl about its center, moving faster with each moment until she was nearly dizzy and had to look away. As she turned her head, she realized that the dark cloud was shrinking as it spun. When she looked back, there was nothing where she had last seen it.

A hand grabbed her arm and Fay shrieked. She heard it clearly and was surprised to find her hearing recovered completely. A familiar voice spoke in an alarmed tone, "Fay, it's okay, it's Ivanne. What happened?"

Turning, she saw the professor's aged a.s.sistant and tried to calm her racing heart. She breathed in long, slow breaths. "Something came out and... It got the professor and that other man."

Ivanne's eyes went to the shelf and the broken jar, gla.s.s shards radiating outward from it and she seemed to deflate. She let go of Fay's arm and went over to the side desk in one corner of the room. She rummaged around in one of the drawers and came up with two items, a white crystal the size of the palm of her hand and a packet of letters, tied together. She returned to Fay and held them both out to her.