Page 19 of Pawns of Fate

But before she could break the connection, Nicholas whispered, “Don’t. Don’t hide it. I want to see every part of you.” The shiver that sent down her spine made her lose complete control of her aural magic and invited in a host of strange, though not unwelcome, sensations.

Until she noticed a life force surrounded by malignant energy in the oak tree’s branches. How could she have missed such a thing before?

“Rose?” Nicholas pulled his face back, probably in an effort to check on her.

Her physical body must have gone deathly still as she focused on identifying the energy in the tree.

The longer Rose concentrated on it, the more worried she became.

She’d never seen anything, plant, animal, or human, like it—like someone had stolen a furious piece of the night sky.

Nicholas shook her shoulders. Her sense snapped back to the physical plane.

“There’s something in the tree, Nicholas!” Rose pointed to where the swirl of dark energy had been just seconds before, but there were only shadows.

Nicholas looked at the spot. “Syzman, if you’re spying, come out now.”

Only the rustle of the tree branches in the wind responded to Nicholas’s command.

Rose reconnected her senses to the aural plane. The creature, whatever it had been, was gone.

NICHOLAS

Nicholas leafed through a few of the documents that littered his desk while waiting for Syzman and Lyla to appear. He’d called for them almost immediately after his talk in the garden with Rose.

She’d tried to explain what she’d seen, but it was hard for him to understand.

Only aural magic users could access the aural plane, so Rose’s descriptions didn’t always make sense to Nicholas.

But whatever Rose had seen scared her. He’d never seen fear in her eyes before and never wanted to see it again.

A soft knock at the door, and Lyla entered his study, followed by Syzman.

Nicholas sometimes wondered why they bothered to dress Lyla in a maid uniform.

From the way she carried herself to her lavender hair and sharp gaze, a person would have to be clueless to mistake Lyla for anything but a powerful mage.

Syzman and Lyla positioned themselves in front of his desk, standing rather than sitting. Nicholas wasn’t sure he’d ever seen either of them sit down for more than a moment or two.

“Yes, little lord?” Syzman said with the barest hint of mocking.

Gods, he hated it when Syzman called him that. “I’m not in the mood, Syzman.” He slapped the papers onto his desk. “ Were either of you spying on Rose and me in the garden?”

The shadow mages exchanged a concerned look so quickly that Nicholas would have missed it if he hadn’t worked with Syzman for years.

“No,” they answered at the same time.

“I’m not angry,” Nicholas said, letting out a puff of annoyance. “I just need to know. Rose saw a strange shadow in the garden. I’m hoping that it was just one of you.”

Syzman’s usually apathetic expression melted. “What did you say?”

“Rose and I were… Rose was showing me her aural magic. She saw a strange darkness? An energy? I don’t know how to describe it.

I can’t access any magical planes. Whatever it was, she could see it in that dimension, but it didn’t exist in this one.

I wondered if it was one of you in your shadow form. ”

Color drained from Lyla’s face.

“Are you sure there was nothing on the ordinary plane of existence? Where did she see it?” Syzman’s voice carried an edge of concern that Nicholas had only heard a handful of times before. Nicholas felt his blood pressure rise. Why couldn’t they just give him a simple answer?

“It was sitting on a tree branch!”

“A shady tree branch?” Lyla asked softly. Her fists clenched.

“Yes, it was very shadowy. That’s why I thought it had to be one of you,” Nicholas retorted.

Lyla shook her head. “I can’t travel through shadow. Only a handful of shadow mages can manipulate the magic to that extent, and my talents lie elsewhere. ”

“You can, though, Syzman?” Nicholas asked, hope still in his voice. “It’s not that I’m angry about you spying on us. That’s part of your duties as a bodyguard. I just need to know how to explain it to Rose. I want her to feel safe.”

“It wasn’t me,” Syzman replied.

The shadow mages exchanged another concerned glance.

“Then what did Rose see?” Frustration clawed at Nicholas’s neck. His shoulders inched toward his head.

“I don’t know much about the aural plane, either, my lord,” Syzman replied with an apologetic shrug, “But it sounds like another shadow mage, a skilled one at that, was spying on you and Rose.”

Nicholas cursed.

“How much do you know about Rose’s abilities?” Lyla asked.

“Not much. Why?”

Lyla’s shoulders slumped, ever so slightly. “I’m worried they’re after Rose, not you, my lord. Auras like Rose’s are rare and very useful. She was able to spot a hidden shadow mage today, and that’s just the least of her abilities.”

“How much do you know about the soothing aura, Lyla?” Nicholas struggled to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

He trusted Syzman and Lyla, but at the end of the day, they were still shadow mages bound to the rules of their tower, and if a rival tower was after Rose, things could get out of hand very quickly.

“I’ve done some research since you assigned me to guard her,” Lyla replied coolly .

Nicholas fidgeted with a pen. “Go on.”

“Some soothing aura users can control monsters, to an extent. One of Rose’s ancestors famously used his aura to increase the mana flow of his comrades during the heat of battle.” Lyla bit her cheek, then added, “You can see why I’m concerned. Power like that is very… tempting.”

Nicholas nodded. “You’ll go with her to the Ojoh.” He gestured to the visible runes on Lyla’s arms. “Disguise that you’re a mage a bit more cleverly.”

Lyla pushed down her sleeves.

“That will make communicating with the soldiers we send to the swamp very difficult!” Syzman argued.

“Do you have a better suggestion?” Nicholas snapped.

Both shook their heads.

“Dismissed.” Nicholas waved Syzman and Lyla away and fought the urge to slam his head on the desk. How was he ever going to send Rose to that damn desert now?