The Sorcerer and the Witch-King's Heir

There was some argument about what to do with Leo. Tobias won, and so that first night he was bound in silver chains to a tree, some distance away from the campfire. He was cold. He hadn't stopped shivering since they'd forced him to strip and show his tattoo. No one had seen that. No one. Not even Michael. Michael. The leaves crunched underfoot, and he looked up to see the nun coming towards him, a bowl in her hand. "It's soup," she said, pushing it towards him. "It's warm." He took it gratefully, fumbling awkwardly with his bound wrists. "I'm sorry about all this," Sister Karina said. "I told them it wasn't necessary, but unfortunately, it's not my call." "S-sister," Leo stammered. "Why are you here? Who are all these people, and why do they want the Witch's Crown?" She sighed and sat next to him, tucking her legs up under her grey habit. "Leo," she began, "I am who you believe me to be, Sister Karina of the Order of St. Agnes. But I am also a member of parliament. Before...I was a general in the revolutionary order. I was in the palace when the Witch-Kings fell. All of those out there, they are my colleagues. Daryl was also in the army, and also sits on Parliament. Tobias is a sergeant in the guard. Those other two guardsmen are under his command. Amaya is here as a representative of the National Library. Adelaide, another senator, found the journal of King Garamond the Third where he said that he was hiding the crown and would reveal the location only to his daughter Beatrice. The librarians were able to find a reference to the tomb, and we thought that was a likely starting place, since we knew it had to be in Breckenridge. "And so here we are." She smiled thinly. "You're all caught up." "And...and when you found it..." "The druids will destroy it," Sister Karina assured him. "They're looking into how to do so right now. You have nothing to fear. The Witch-Kings will never return to power." "Except, M-M-Michael..." Sister Karina frowned, and put her hand to his forehead. "You're feverish," she said. "Do you have your satchel?" He shook his head. "S-so-soldiers t-took it." There is nothing more terrifying than an angry nun. Sister Karina was on her feet in an instant, storming back to the camp, barking orders. Leo finished his soup and let the bowl slide from his fingers. He tried to pull his knees up, but there wasn't enough slack in the chain. He let his head fall so that his chin touched his collar bone, and closed his eyes. He couldn't stop seeing that empty tomb. After some investigation, the survey team had found a tiny passageway under the plinth. It led down and away, carved into the earth, and led to a cliff-side trail on the other side of the ridge. The evidence was clear. Michael had taken the crown and fled leaving him to face the survey team alone. Michael had lied to him. The nun had won whatever argument she was having, because Tobias stomped over to unlock the chains holding him to the tree, and drag him back to the fire. He dropped him unceremoniously on a bedroom, and threw his satchel and cloak at him. Leo rolled to his side, clutching both to his chest and closed his eyes again. The fire was warm at his back. Sister Karina crouched beside him and touched his cheek. "Were you injured?" she asked. "In the fight with the wolves? Could this be infection?" He shook his head. Sister Karina frowned. "It would be easier to help you, if you could give me some idea of what is wrong." "S-s-silver," he whispered. "It-t-t....b-burns." The nun was shouting again. He couldn't make out the words. The world was fading to gray, and then to black as he passed out. ** When he woke up the sky was just starting to turn pink. The chains on his wrists were gone, replaced by simple ropes. He almost laughed aloud. He could burn through plain rope and be halfway down the mountain before anyone in this pathetic retrieval party even woke up for breakfast. But what then? Chase down Michael himself? Go on the run and leave the country to its fate? He gritted his teeth. If he was going to help fix this, he was going to have to cooperate with the government, never mind the fact that they'd probably hang him afterwards. It wasn't like he had anything else worth living for. ** When Karina woke up she saw Leo sitting up, untied, chewing on leftover bread crusts from supper the night before. "You look better," she said, drawing her blanket around her like a cloak and moving to sit next to him. "There's a little color in your cheeks. How do you feel?" Leo shrugged. "Physically?" he asked. "Or emotionally? Or," he eyed her. "Spiritually?" "Any of the above," she said. Leo sighed. "I'm tired. I'm hurt, I'm betrayed, and I'm terrified about what you're going to do with me when we get back to the city." His wrists itched. He scratched at them. "Tell me about the silver," Karina said. "You said that was what was making you sick. Was that just a ruse to get me to let you out of the chains? I've never heard of such a thing." "It wasn't a ruse." He glared at her. "Silver is anathema to magic." "I'm aware of that, but..." "I am magic." She paused to consider this. "But the druids..." "Are very careful. It affects them too. As far as I'm aware, it affects all magic users. It's not like there's a lot of sorcerers left to study in more detail." "But--" "Do you know how they broke our bindings?" he demanded. He shifted on the ground to force her to look him in the eye. "Do you?" She shook her head. "They bound us in silver chains," he said, hammering each word like a nail. "They cut a new sigil over the old one with silver knives. And then they sewed us up with silver thread. Silver is poison to us, and now it was in our bloodstream. The death the druids gave us was merely a slower and more painful one than what you and your parliament had planned." She flinched. "I didn't--" "You did," he accused. "And you still do. You're kind to me because you know me as an apothecary and your faith demands that you show mercy to those who need it. But your policies are another matter entirely and, believe me, I am much more intimately acquainted with those than I am with you, sister." The others were waking up now. Tobias jumped to his feet with a shout when he saw Leo sitting up, unbound. Leo waved him away. "You can haul me down the mountains, raving mad and chained," he said, "or you can trust me to walk back into the city with you of my own free will." Tobias gripped his sword. "Why should we trust you?" "Well, to begin with, because it's not your choice any more." He waved his hand and Tobias yelped and dropped his sword as it suddenly became to hot to handle. Ever since the night in the cave, knowledge had been coming back to him. He often didn't know what he was going to do before he did it, but there seemed to be no limit to his power now. "I should never have listened to you!" Tobias shouted at Karina, his voice going high with fear. "He'll kill us now and then..." "Oh, you definitely should have listened to her," Leo said. "Because if I was raving mad, I wouldn't be able to tell you this." "Tell us what?" "That Michael and the restorationists don't have the Witch-Crown. I do."