The Steel Princess

Chapter 7: Henbane And Hemlock

Despite what the Imaldrans might think, Eskelene magic wasn't ubiquitous. There were petty spellcasters offering love charms on street corners, of course, and then there was the iron to suppress the dead. There were also the greater enchantments and grand wards, millennia old, that protected Eskeleth's borders, and which the Empire longed for more than anything. General magic was uncommon, though, few people having the skill, the knowledge – or the stomach – for it.

Skye was surprised, then, when neither of her guardians protested at what she was going to do; her plan brought barely a tut of disapproval. The Shenlanders were more used to minor spells than most Eskelenes, she gathered, annually wreathing their villages in fresh protections against winter storms and night wraiths. Amongst their people, too, queens were also witches; unfortunately for Skye, there wasn't a drop of magic in Eskel blood, nor had there been for centuries.

She sent Auda out for the supplies they'd need; the guardian bristled at being ordered around, but went anyway. That left Josselyn to watch her poring over a musty volume she'd dug out of the castle archives – or try to, anyway. It didn't take Skye long to remember there was a reason she'd failed so badly at tactical training, and, at Morwenna's suggestion, been sent off for something more... practical, instead.

She slammed the book shut, valiantly attempting not to cough at the cloud of dust it produced. She might almost have shoved the whole thing off the edge of the desk in a fit of pique, except there was a strangled noise of complaint behind her that could only have come from Josselyn. When she turned, he was ramrod straight and pointedly not looking at her, but she could read his disapproval far better than she could read the book.

Skye got to her feet, her chair scraping across the floor. "I'd like to see you do any better," she grumbled.

Josselyn didn't seem to know what to say, and resorted to, "Your Highness?"

"I have better things to do than peer at books," she replied, gesturing in disgust towards the volume behind her. "Besides, the words all dance on the page, and the letters turn themselves upside-down. How anyone can make sense of such ridiculousness is beyond me."

"Your Highness." There seemed to be a thousand ways Josselyn could say those words; now he sounded thoughtful, and not quite sympathetic enough for Skye to want to punch him. "Perhaps you could tell me what you wish to know, and I'll... decipher it."

Skye almost refused outright, but she knew better than to be petty. She knew, too, that where those pages were gibberish to her, others read them with ease – and if Josselyn could make sense of them, she needed to swallow her pride.

She nodded, just once, not looking Josselyn in the eye. "It's a spell of recall and scrying, as I said before. Auda's gone for the ingredients – now we need the instructions."

Josselyn gave a slight bow, then passed her to open the book. Where she wanted to smash it against a wall, he handled the volume almost reverently, long fingers brushing against the pages – and when he concentrated, his tongue just caught between his teeth.

He seemed to study it for a long time, as Skye paced and dusk settled over Celiande. She paused to look out just once, peering past the embrasure to catch a glimpse of the Opaline Tower. It wasn't dark enough yet to tell whether a light burned inside, but her aunt was in there all the same. And Skye would see her freed.

It was almost full dark by the time Auda returned, a sack over her shoulder. "I've had to go over half the city for this," she growled, dumping the contents in a pile on the bedroom floor. "Have you any idea how difficult it is to find rose quartz at this time of night?"

"Maybe you should have found that first," Skye snapped, but she wasn't really irritated with Auda. Her nerves felt all aflame, jitters running down her spine. Only her hands were completely still.