The Evermen Saga 01 - Enchantress (16 page)

The smoke drifting up from her steady hand smelled surprisingly pleasant, but Ella kept her head turned to the side. She had practised the runes so many times that if anything she kept her eyes away from the wallpad, afraid she would copy Master Goss’s mistake.

It took her a little longer than Master Goss, but then Ella was done. Remembering her training, she carefully put the stand back to its original state, double checking all of the seals and ensuring everything was in its proper place.

"It’s done," she said. "I used a slightly different activation sequence to distinguish the two."

"Well?" said Master Goss. "Let’s have it. I think you’ll see that—"

"
Tish-tassine
," said Ella.

Master Goss’s nightlamp lit up brightly, filling the room with a green glow.

Pausing for dramatic effect, Ella spoke again. "
Tish-tassun
," she said, with a different inflection. Her nightlamp flared brightly.

There was no doubt. Ella’s nightlamp was the brighter of the two. Its light was clearer, yet softer, a richer shade of green.

The class erupted in applause.

13

It is better to negotiate standing on two feet, compared to when a foot is on your chest.

— High Lord Tessolar Mandragore to Lord Marshal Devon, 524 Y.E.

O
UTSIDE
, in the Great Court, students kept rushing over to congratulate Ella. She felt slightly foolish. Perhaps she’d been a bit too proud? They assured her it was the greatest moment in their entire time at the Academy. Master Goss didn’t have a lot of adoring students, it seemed.

The two girls sat underneath one of the centurion trees, Amber sprawled next to Ella with an envious expression on her face — especially when young men kept approaching Ella, only to be rebuffed.

"Ella, that was amazing! I can’t believe you showed up Master Goss like that! The students are going to be talking about it for the next ten years!"

Ella blushed. It really wasn’t like her to do such a thing!

"I swear, you’re going to make High Enchantress one day. Imagine that! All the lords bowing to you, Ella. You!"

Amber enthused as Ella sat, lost in thought. "And I bet Miro will be a famous bladesinger, sung about across the land. We’ll all travel far and wide together, our enchantments known for their quality and beauty." Amber’s face suddenly fell. "Only…"

Ella looked up. "What?"

"Only I’ll be married to some old man, who makes me work for him and does horrible things to me." Amber burst into tears.

"Don’t worry, Amber. I have an idea."

Amber looked up. "You do?"

Ella smiled wickedly. "I do."

She’d help her friend yet.

~

E
LLA
crept through the Academy halls, so empty at this time of night, when most people were fast asleep and alertness was at its ebb.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this, but then again, she couldn’t believe she had stood up to Master Goss. She was going to help her friend and that was all there was to it. Master Samson didn’t deserve Amber.

Master Samson’s work area was located in the east wing, at the far end of Graven Building. Without difficulty, Ella located the entrance and crept down the set of sandstone stairs. A small pathfinder rested in the pocket of her dress, but she refrained from using it yet, the moon providing more than enough light to see by.

Ella came to her first locked door. She tried a trick Master Merlon had shown her, a naming technique used more for remembering common activation sequences than anything else. Some enterprising students had found it worked for testing locks or other matrices with encrypted activation sequences. Word had got out.

Whispering softly, Ella ran through a series of activation sequences. Nothing. She tried another. Nothing. Hearing a noise behind her, she started to panic. She quickly tried a third series. "
Torn-aloa
!" As she spoke the words, the door popped open.

Ella dashed inside and closed the door behind her, her heart pounding. Perhaps this was a bad idea. What if someone caught her?

Someone was moving around outside! Ella thought quickly. If she knew the naming sequence, then the converse was… "
Tula-alnas
," she murmured. The runes changed again; the door was locked.

Ella waited for a moment. Whoever was moving outside eventually passed. Feeling more confident, she rose from a crouch and regarded the room.

Some runes were activated in the corner, bathing the room in a soft glow. The various enchantment projects of Master Samson and his apprentices were situated around the room: some kind of sword, exceptionally large and curved slightly; a set of armour, made with heavy steel — if the runes ever faded the wearer would still have a good degree of protection; and a set of two deskpads, linked with a slim fabric. Ella wasn’t sure what that was.

Ella knew what she was here for. She had read the Academy charter, ultimate responsibility rested with the master.

Ella opened cupboard after cupboard until she found what she was looking for. She had to break another coded door, and then she was holding it. Ella took the tiny vial of essence from the shelf, regarding the oily black liquid in the wan light cast by the activated runes.

Deliberately, Ella removed the sealed cap from the bottle. Looking for a good spot, she placed it down on the workbench next to the sword. There, her work was done.

Ella smiled to herself. Master Samson was known to arrive late, after his apprentices, and was always the last to leave his workroom. When one of his apprentices arrived in the morning and saw the uncapped vial they would immediately report it. Leaving essence unguarded and unsealed was a serious breach, especially for a master. It would no doubt see Master Samson disgraced, and Amber’s parents would have no wish to see their daughter married to such a man.

Ella quietly left the way she had come. She hoped Master Samson wouldn’t pay too high a price, but it made her feel better to picture the smile on Amber’s face, the love she was sure Miro would feel for Amber when he realised what a beautiful young woman Amber had become.

Deep in thought, Ella didn’t realise until much later that she’d forgotten to lock the workroom door behind her.

~

T
ALWIN
arrived at the Academy early, hoping to have a word with Master Samson. He had never had the courage to speak privately with the imposing master before, but after his father had seen his last grade report for naming, Talwin had decided to see if he could get some private instruction, perhaps from one of the master’s apprentices.

Talwin stood outside the door, summoning the nerve to knock.

Ever since Ella had turned him down in the Court it seemed life couldn’t go right. Talwin was sure Amber had seen him cry too. He had avoided both girls, hating himself, unwilling to face the humiliation.

Why did he have to say something? He’d been so sure. Ella had started spending more time with him after her brother left. Talwin had felt so proud, having such a beautiful young woman at his side. She laughed at his jokes, and poked fun at his dress sense. He watched her when he knew she couldn’t see, his eyes running over her figure. Aching for her.

Now she thought he was a fool.

Talwin sighed. The Academy was everything to him, everything to his family. They expected a lot of him, as the first son. He was expected to be at the top of his class, not dragging up the bottom.

With trepidation, Talwin knocked on the door to Master Samson’s workroom.

He waited. Knocked again.

"Ho, is anyone there?" he called.

Talwin pushed gently on the door. It fell open in front of him.

In awe, Talwin ran his gaze over the Master’s workroom. He knew he was overstepping but he couldn’t look away. He took a step inside.

All manner of strange and fantastic equipment was spread around. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a set of enchanted armour, covered with matrices of runes, too many for his mind to encompass.

Talwin took a few steps further inside, running his hand over the armour. It was deactivated, he was sure of that. There was no harm in touching, was there?

Growing bolder, he moved deeper into the workroom. Talwin stopped, staring.

It was a zenblade, he was sure of it. The sword was massive, bigger even than the swords he’d seen at the sides of the bladesingers. Whoever wore this sword would be a powerful man!

Talwin ran his eyes down the length of the blade, trying to decipher each rune as he came across it but giving up. Then he saw it. His heart stopped.

It had to be. It shouldn’t be. But it had to be. Essence.

And there, on the workbench next to the tiny vial, was the bottle’s cap. It was unsealed! Realising the danger, Talwin moved slowly forward, not taking his eyes off the vial. Yes, there was liquid inside it.

It was terribly dangerous, leaving a bottle of essence unsealed on the workbench like this. What was Master Samson thinking!

Talwin saw an opportunity, a chance to get into his teacher’s graces and do a good deed at the same time. He lifted the stopper, and then picked up the small vial.

Talwin’s hand shook. A droplet, the smallest amount of moisture, slipped out of the bottle and onto the bare skin of his hand.

Sweat broke out on Talwin’s brow. The bottle dropped out of his hand, smashing on the floor. He screamed.

14

If the builders ever get as greedy as the artificers, wars will take a good sight longer.

— Tingaran legionnaire, date unknown.

E
LLA
strolled along the familiar path to the Academy, crossing the Sarsen at the Tenbridge and admiring the immaculate beauty of the surrounds. There was a morning chill to the air, not enough to be uncomfortable, but crisp and fresh-smelling. For once she was glad of the thick green wool of her student’s gown.

She passed an elderly couple, not talking but sharing the view from the bridge and smiled at them. Maybe one day she would find someone to grow old with, to share the smallest moments with.

The previous night’s adventure seemed far away now, banished by the light of day. It only remained now to see the results of her work. Once again she pictured Amber’s smiling face, and Ella smiled herself.

A passing groundskeeper — several years older than Ella — smiled in response and touched his fingers to his forehead in greeting. Ella’s smile grew broader as she nodded to him. The groundskeeper’s gaze followed Ella as she walked past and she could feel his eyes on her back. In a moment of mischievousness Ella increased the roll of her walk, her hips curving first one way, then the next.

Ella turned suddenly, and caught the almost docile expression on the groundskeeper’s face as he watched her body. His face turned red and he quickly looked away.

Finally arriving at the Academy, Ella walked through the archway leading to the Great Court. She could see an astonishing number of people in the Court, milling around, expressions of consternation on their faces. Had Master Samson been caught out so quickly? She had expected the Academy leaders to keep the incident quiet, dignified. It seemed everyone shared some momentous piece of news.

Students milled beside the sandstone walls, deep in discussion. As she grew closer to the throng, Ella realised the largest crowd was near the east wing. She heard a sound coming from beside her as she passed a couple of students sitting in the shade of a centurion tree. Looking over, Ella realised a girl was crying, the tears rolling down her face. The girl looked up at Ella as she passed, her expression desolate.

Starting to feel concerned, Ella decided to walk straight towards the crowd loitering outside the corner of the east wing. A peal sounded and she jumped. It was the great timepiece on the face of Green Tower, calling the start of classes. Not one student moved. Ella was feeling very worried now.

She passed a youth from one of her own classes. His eyes were red-rimmed. He walked past Ella without saying a word.

Directly outside Graven Building was a small group of teachers. Expressions of sorrow marked their words to each other.

Master Samson shook his head as Master Lodley said something. The usually jovial Master Merlon kept running his hands through his hair. Two of Master Samson’s apprentices sat on a wall close to the teachers, murmuring to each other. Master Samson certainly didn’t appear to be in any kind of trouble.

Master Goss was absent. Ella looked around for him and saw his familiar figure in the distance under one of the arches, talking to a woman in green silk.

Suddenly realising where she was, Ella stopped dead in her tracks. It was so different in the light. Graven Building. The stairs were right there, leading down to Master Samson’s workroom.

Ella started to walk again, faster this time. She heard Master Lodley say a name, Talwin?

"… The boy’s family," Master Lodley was saying. "They should not see him like this."

It hit her in the pit of her stomach, like a heavy stone being dropped from a height. Ella felt her face drain of all blood.

"No…" she said.

Master Lodley turned, noticing Ella for the first time. "My dear, you should not be here."

"No…"

"It’s a terrible tragedy. I’m so sorry, my dear. He was a friend of yours, was he not?"

"No!" she screamed. Ella ran for the workroom stairs. Master Samson grabbed hold of her tightly, his grip like iron, the pain almost welcome. She twisted savagely and kicked out. He let go, stunned.

"Ella!"

"No! Talwin, no!" she screamed.

Ella ran clear of the teachers and threw her body down the stairs. The door was ajar. She thrust it to the side and entered the workroom.

A terrible smell assaulted her, the most dreadful smell she had ever encountered. It was every bad, noxious odour combined into one. It was so thick it was almost tangible, like a wall of evil.