*

  Lily and Marigold arrived on the ground floor of Black Crux Manor. The stairs had brought them directly back down to the entranceway that Lily had been in before. The now translucent Barrier she had cast across the castle’s door still shielded them from the soldiers who had come across the bridge from town thinking to heed the call of the alarm bell. On the floor inside the doorway was a short battering ram, and still stranded behind the invisible wall was a press of confounded soldiers. They had evidently discovered that not only would a battering ram not bring down a Barrier, but, being a non-living thing, would in fact pass straight through it. The defeated soldiers stood impotently glaring at Lily and Marigold, unable to do anything but curse them. With hardly a thought, Marigold slammed the tall door shut in their faces. She and Lily then both turned their attention to the tumult before them.

  Up in the great dining hall, a charged standoff was taking place. The hall looked liked a battlefield. The tables that had been in the center of the long room now lay toppled against the walls. Chairs were scattered all around, some smashed to pieces. All the dishes and tableware that had earlier been so neatly laid out in preparation for the next meal had been reduced to shards of glass and fine china that littered the floor.

  Standing in the center of this circle of chaos, a torn tablecloth dangling from one of her horns, was Fae. No less than six of Lady Iris’s soldiers ringed her, weapons at the ready, while the big panthegrunn turned continually in place, trying to dissuade any one of them from darting in behind her. Three more soldiers lay motionless in the wreckage of the hall, victims of the panthegrunn’s wrath. So, this was where the guards who'd already been within the castle had converged upon hearing the alarm. Lily got the sense that this fight had been raging the entire time she had been trailing Marigold through the manor’s upper halls.

  Fae gave a great roar and stomped her hoof down on a fallen chair, rendering it to splinters. She feinted a charge at one soldier, and when that one stumbled back out of her way, she shifted the aim of her attack faster than an animal her size had any right to. Tossing her head at a different soldier who'd chanced to move too near, she caught the man a blow with her horn that sent him reeling back clutching his ribs through dented armor.

  She was holding her own, but this was too much opposition for any one animal to endure for long. Lily could see how exhausted she was. The panthegrunn’s breaths came ragged and labored. She had blood coursing down one of her flanks, and more splashed over her shoulders and down one foreleg. How much was hers and how much had come from the soldiers was impossible to say. Lily’s heart lurched with worry for her. Tough as Fae was, her strength and energy were dwindling, and Lily wasn’t the only one who could see it.

  “Looks like your beastie has been busy,” Marigold declared humorlessly. “Let’s help ‘er out with these brutes.” Fearlessly, Marigold strode past Lily into the great hall. A strange sight it was, the tiny and stooped old woman walking directly into this strange stalemate. If any of the soldiers noticed the old mage wading into the fray, they gave no indication. They were all much too preoccupied with the enormous charge-beast.

  Lily felt magic building within the room, originating from her Mage-Matron. Marigold placed herself directly beside Fae. She patted the panthegrunn on the shoulder and said something that Lily could not catch. The soldiers were certainly aware of Marigold now, but it was too late for them to do anything about it. With a brashness that defied them to attack her, Marigold swept her gnarled hand across the soldiers in a line. For each one that her focus passed over, she performed a short hand motion. Each of those hand motions was accompanied by a Casting. One by one, Marigold enclosed the soldiers in beautifully shimmering domes each barely taller than themselves. The Castings were fast and precise, allowing none of the soldiers time to understand what was happening until they were already trapped. Lily was awestruck by the masterful simplicity of the spells. Just like that, Marigold showed how a single, elderly master mage could put an end a battle.

  The trapped soldiers’s reactions ranged from anger to surprise to resignation. One sat down in her magical cage and simply glowered at Marigold, as if some unspoken rule of combat had been broken.

  With the threat taken care of, Lily surged over to Fae. She took her panthegrunn’s snout in her hands and kissed her nose. “Oh, Fae, you poor thing,” she fussed, checking over the severity of the charge-beast’s injuries. “But where else could I have left you?” She untangled the tablecloth from Fae’s horn and used it to sop up blood from her shoulders. Unsteady on her hooves, Fae nuzzled at her and issued a low, lion-like rumble.

  “Come on, girl, come on, we have to hurry,” Marigold said. “Through this door. It’s been a long time, but I think I can recall where to find the stairs down to the old dungeon beneath the castle. Hopefully, we’ll find your man there. Leave Fae. She’ll be fine. These climbing rats aren’t goin’ nowhere.”

  Lily brushed Fae's shaggy hair out of her eyes and kissed her nose. “Wait here, girl. We’re going to go find Vetch.”

  “Lily. Now. Let’s move,” Marigold prodded.

  Broken glass and china crunched under their shoes as they crossed the dining hall to the door Marigold had indicated. But, before Marigold passed through it, she stopped so abruptly that Lily bumped into her back. She heard her teacher sigh and then curse under her breath.

  “What is it?” Lily asked.

  Marigold turned back to the expansive hall and stared hard past Lily. Lily turned as well, following Marigold’s gaze. With the exception of the alarm bell, the chamber was quiet. The soldiers stood entrapped in their Barrier cages, while Fae was occupied with licking her wounds. Marigold scanned the chamber with her steel gray eyes.

  “What is it?” Lily asked again.

  “Damn,” Marigold grumbled, mere seconds before all the Barriers enclosing the soldiers were dispelled at once.

  The soldiers were as shocked as Lily was. A couple scrambled quickly to pick up their weapons from where they had dropped them. The heat of magic that Lily felt in the vicinity—what she had attributed to Marigold alone—blazed up around the room, like someone had thrown a fresh log onto a fire. From a door on the opposite side of the long dining chamber, Lady Iris strode into the hall.

  Seeing her caused the hairs on the back of Lily’s neck to stand on end. The woman presented the very same vision she had the last time Lily had seen her, right before she'd sent Lily crashing through the roof of her own bedroom with Barrier-Casting unimaginable. Lady Iris was adorned in a fine bodice, blouse, and skirts of purples, lavenders, and creams. The raven-haired mage practically floated across the floor in delicate slippers, heedless of broken glass and scattered cutlery. She came forward with purpose, skirts and hair immaculate and flowing like drawn theater curtains. She spared not a glance for Fae or Lily, who might as well have not been there, but her dark eyes bored into Marigold with undisguised hatred. When she stopped in the middle of the great hall, her soldiers formed up around her. Her voiced reverberated in the large space when she spoke.

  “Were you surprised to witness that, Mage-Matron? I can dispel your Barriers now." The smug apparition of a smile that flitted across her lips lasted for but a second. Then, the corners of her mouth turned down as she appeared to perceive her surroundings for the first time. "What are you doing?" she demanded of Marigold, her eyes sweeping the chamber. "What have you done to my home? Why is there an animal in here?" She turned her ire upon her soldiers. "Kill it! Or drive it outside. Where is Murzagis and the rest of my guard? Someone find them. And tell whomever is ringing the bell to cease it at once." One of the soldiers hasted to do that. The others closed their ranks around their mistress.

  Lily stood with fear chilling her skin like cold rain as the raven-haired mage approached. The mix of anger and hurt in the woman's eyes, all directed toward Marigold, was hard for Lily to comprehend. What truly had gone on between these two, years before Lily had even met her Mage-Matron?

  She felt Marigold's gnarled fingers encircle her wrist, their grip almost painfully tight. The old master mage prepared something; Lily could sense the magic coalescing. But it was the protective gesture itself that drew Lady Iris's attention, at last, to Lily. Her gaze fixed upon Lily and a sudden recognition flared up. Lady Iris's eyes widened, and when Lily looked into them, the pupils were like little burning coals of fury.

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  A shrill howl of anger erupted from Lady Iris's lungs as, without warning, she flashed her arm out in a violent casting motion. Lily had no time to react as a moving Barrier slammed into her, wrenching her bodily off her feet and across the chamber. Her wrist was torn from Marigold's grasp, leaving bloody scratches across her skin. The Barrier flew across the room, carrying Lily at speed with it, directly at the far wall. She heard Marigold scream "No!" and at the same time felt another flash of magic. Iris's moving Barrier was dispelled, but too late to prevent Lily from crashing to the floor and sliding through broken tableware and detritus until she hit the wall head first.

  White light burst in front of her vision and a ringing filled her ears. Everything became blurry and inarticulate—everything except for Lady Iris's enraged voice cutting through the shock.

  "Powerless little girl! You should be dead. You don't deserve to be Marigold's apprentice. I do! Me! She is my Mage-Matron!"

  Lifting her head, Lily peered through doubled vision in time to see Lady Iris raise her hand again. She tried to gather her wits, but there was too much magic swirling around, buffeting her. Everything felt either too fast or too slow. Blood trickled from a gash near her hairline, tickling the corner of her eye on its way down her face.

  Marigold, too, lifted her hand in preparation to cast a spell, but not as quickly as Iris. The raven-haired mage was going to use a Barrier to squeeze the life out of Lily, as she'd almost succeeded in doing back in Moonfane Forge.

  Suddenly, Fae gave a roar so loud it pummeled Lily's eardrums and rattled the chandeliers overhead. The panthegrunn leapt forward and charged Lady Iris. The woman uttered a short yelp of fear and quickly shifted the aim of her magic to cage Fae behind a circular Barrier. Fae slammed into it with a jolt. Thwarted, she clashed her horns against the shimmering golden wall, snorting her frustration.

  Siezing upon the distraction, Marigold gathered magic unto herself and twisted her wrist like she was turning a doorknob. A little barrel shaped Barrier snapped into existence around Iris's legs, hobbling her. At the same time, Marigold used her other hand to cast a second Barrier around Iris's torso, entrapping her arms.

  Or, she would have, were it not for Lady Iris's quick reaction. Only a mage with extraordinary ability could have dispelled both Barriers as Iris did then. She waved the Barrier meant to immobilize her arms out of existence before it could even form. Then, she dispelled the Barrier around her legs as though she were shooing away a fly.

  "Do you see, Mage-Matron? Do you see how capable I am?" she crowed. "I am your only worthy apprentice. You will teach me. You must!" With a glance at her statuesque soldiers, she commanded, "Bind her and return her to her room."

  Confident now that their mistress could neutralize the old master mage's magic, the soldiers stepped forward, one unraveling a length of cord from his belt. Marigold, appearing unconcerned about the advancing threat, drew in a measured breath. As the man with the cord neared, Marigold raised one arthritic finger, almost like she was tut-tutting a small child. With it she whipped an intricate gesture through the air, fast as a striking snake. The soldier flinched, and upon trying to move away from Marigold, found his wrist bound to the air with a golden Barrier shaped like manacle. He dropped the length of cord and grasped at his wrist, trying to tug his arm free, but he was solidly fastened in place by the magic.

  Lady Iris heaved an exaggerated sigh. When she raised her hand to dispel the ethereal manacle and free the man, Marigold struck. With an upward sweep of her arm, she cast a thin, curved Barrier like a fine golden ribbon. The timing of the spell had to be perfect, placed in the air directly in the path of Lady Iris's arm, so that when she attempted the dispelling motion, her arm struck Marigold's Barrier and her spell came out to nothing.

  Unperturbed, Iris rubbed her arm, growling in exasperation, "Stop this at once, Mage-Matron. It's pointless. What do you hope to accomplish other than exhausting yourself?" She stepped away from the magical ribbon and again went to dispel the Barrier that chained her soldier in place.

  The second she made to step away from the Barrier ribbon, Marigold cast another little golden manacle, this time around Iris's ankle. She stumbled, forced to fall awkwardly in order to avoid snapping her ankle. Mage Marigold was not finished. Ignoring Iris's cry of pain, she shifted her focus back to the soldiers. With efficient motions, her hands looking as if they were conducting two separate orchestras, she again trapped each one of them in place, this time with matching Barrier manacles around all their wrists and ankles. Even then, her masterful casting was still not concluded. Before Lady Iris could free herself of her magical bondage, Marigold passed her hand across Fae's vicinity and released her.

  Finding herself freed, the enraged panthegrunn bellowed a challenge. With her hooves pounding over splintered chairs and broken plates, she charged directly for Iris. Seeing the great charge-beast bearing down on her, Lady Iris shrieked. With a desperate flail of her hand, she quickly threw another wild Barrier around Fae. The panthegrunn crashed solidly into it only a body's length away from Iris. Grunting, Fae gave her head a shake, and again clashed her horns fruitlessly against the impediment.

  Lily witnessed all this as through a haze. It was more than just the cobwebs still clearing from her jolted head. The thick miasma of magic in the air assailed her. She had never before felt so many strong spells thrown back and forth all at once like this. The press of them upon her mind made her feel like a brawler sustaining blow after blow. Marigold's spells were academic, neutral. Iris's, however, carried with them a procession of powerful emotions—anger, jealousy, resentment. Those sentiments seeped into Lily's awareness unbidden.

  Despite the weight of these turbulent emotions, Lily was fascinated by the difference in magical styles. These were the thoughts Iris used to direct her Barrier-Casting toward such terrifying ends? Lily had always known that Barrier-Casting was an emotionally resonant magic, but this flew in the face of everything Marigold had taught her. She had always been told to calm her emotions when casting, to let placid focus dictate her spells. How could two such strikingly different mages as Iris and Marigold ever have been apprentice and Mage-Matron?

  Marigold's wizened voice cut through the confusion. "Lily, are you okay? Hurry now, girl! Go and find Vetch! The door behind me, down the stairway beyond the kitchens. You'll find the cells down there. Go!"

  Lily staggered upright, willing her head to clear, torn between her desire to help Marigold and her need to find Vetch. Using the wall to support herself, she began making her way back to Marigold and the door she had indicated. All the while, she kept a wary eye on the Barrier-manacled soldiers, who clutched their weapons in anticipation of their mistress releasing them. Lily needed to find Vetch and free him quickly. Then, they could come back here and help Marigold.

  Lady Iris dispelled the Barrier around her ankle and got to her feet. "Where do you think you're going?" she taunted Lily. Casually, she whipped a Barrier around Lily's body, making it squeeze tight. Lily felt the air go out of her lungs, her ribs beginning to bend inward.

  "No!" Marigold's voice went high with fear. A flick of her hand dispelled this Barrier just in time, and Lily fell to her knees gasping. "Lily?" Marigold queried.

  "Don't speak to her! Speak to me!" shouted Iris, with all the aplomb of a spoiled child.

  In response to this, Marigold cast yet another Barrier meant to trap Iris. At the same time, she released Fae. But they were weak Castings, and this time Lady Iris was prepared for them. She easily dispelled the Barrier targeting herself and simultaneously entrapped Fae for a third time. The frustrated panthegrunn had not even been able to take a step.

  "Why do you still defy me?" Iris wailed. "Your place is here! You have no right to run away from your obligations."

  "Lily? Get up. The door. Vetch." Marigold's voice quavered on each word. With fear? With exhaustion? Lily could sense that her spells were becoming less corporeal. Clearly, Marigold had held back so far, in order to be able to cast this much magic. But even she could not keep it up forever.

  "Answer me!" Iris demanded.

  Lily shot to her feet and made a mad dash for the door. Marigold put herself in between Lady Iris and Lily, raising her arms in preparation. Lily sensed the magic welling around her.

  Almost to the door. Find the stairs. Find the dungeon. Find Vetch.

  The surge of magic she felt was not Marigold's. Lady Iris lifted one hand and then drew it quickly downward in an intricate weaving motion, instantly encasing Marigold in a Barrier that followed the form of her body, shoulders to feet, like a shimmering, magical sarcophagus.

  Marigold let out a whimper of fear. She hadn't even enough space between herself and the Barrier to struggle. Lily halted, unable to fathom what she witnessed. A Journeyer Mage would be pushed to their limits creating such an intricately shaped Barrier. It shouldn't have been possible at all for an apprentice, as Lady Iris had referred to herself. How was the woman not instantly dropping into Slumber?

  Lady Iris kept her hand held palm upward, fingers curled into claws, as if she clutched a great jeweled egg. Then, astonishingly, she lifted her hand, and Marigold was lifted off the ground with the moving Barrier and conducted over to Iris's soldiers.

  A step from the doorway, Lily stood in disbelief, unable to tear her eyes away. She felt rooted to the spot, her heart lurching in fear for her teacher. She was completely unprepared for the second snap of magic that hit her. Lady Iris performed a horizontal slashing motion with her free arm, causing a windowpane-shaped Barrier to smash into Lily at speed and hurl her like a ragdoll across the chamber. Lily slammed back first against the Barrier that caged Fae and slumped to the floor, her vision blackening. Fae voiced a great moaning chuff and pawed her hooves desperately at her enclosure.

  Iris's laugh was a perverted melody rippling about the great dining hall as she casually flung her hand at her soldiers, neatly dispelling all the enchanted manacles that had restrained their wrists and ankles. "Hurry up and bind the Mage-Matron before that wears off," she commanded. "Kill the girl and the animal."