Page 65 of Poisoned Kingdom (Secrets of Dagome #1)

We didn’t enter the Court of Aether through the main doors.

Instead, I was taken to a strange back entrance that led to a heavily warded chamber.

As I drew a shaky breath, I noticed the strands of aether weaving and wrapping themselves around the walls in hypnotic, swirling patterns as Ciesko walked out and gave me one of his benevolent smiles.

‘Welcome, Roksana,’ he said. ‘You’ve caused quite a stir. I wish you’d followed my advice when I said not to disclose your skills to anyone until you went through the geas ceremony.’

The battle mage choked and spluttered. ‘You knew?’

Ciesko waved him off, taking my elbow. ‘Of course, I knew. I discovered her,’ he responded, completely untroubled, as if he hadn’t just admitted to hiding vital information from the council.

‘Come, child, let’s get it over with. The geas hall will be ready for you momentarily. You know you have to do it, right?’

‘Yes, Arch Healer, thank you for arranging this,’ I said.

If he hadn’t, I would’ve begged him to do so as soon as possible.

Even if giving my geas would leave me enthralled to the Crown, anything was better than worrying what might happen if I lost control of my magic without someone like Irsha there to stop me turning everyone into monsters.

We entered the room, and four other mages turned to observe my arrival. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I curtsied the best I could.

‘Greetings, esteemed council members. How may I be of service?’ I said, desperately trying to recall all the court protocols I’d learned as an assassin when training to infiltrate the nobility.

‘We are not here for your service, girl, but to establish if you should live,’ one man answered with a sneer.

‘Girl? My name is Roksana Regnav. I’m no youngster, but I’m sure you can see that, Mage. What name do you go by?’ My anger rose at his attitude, but Ciesko snorted his amusement at my sharp-tongued reply.

‘His name is Marius, a master artificer. I can only assume my esteemed colleague is sour because the way you repaired your friend’s fingers reminded him of his own limitations,’ answered the man who walked into the chamber behind me.

He looked so much like Riordan that he could be his father. ‘Why was I not invited?’

‘Riordan the senior, I assume,’ I said before realising I’d spoken out loud. ‘I mean, Royal Mage Riordan, how good it is to see you.’ It wasn’t pretence—I was genuinely happy to see him, especially since he was directing his ire at the arsehole who sneered at me.

‘I didn’t think it necessary,’ Marius responded. ‘You know the law. Vivamancers are dangerous and need to be neutralised.’

‘That law was written before we had the geas ceremony, Marius. Let’s not draw hasty conclusions.

I, for one, am curious as to what she can do,’ a woman sitting next to Zenon, the provost of the University of Magic, chimed in.

‘I am Anora, head of the battle mages,’ she said for my benefit, and I had to school my face not to smile with satisfaction at the angrily pulsing vein on Marius’ neck.

‘Neutralised?’ Ciesko jumped in. ‘Only a fool like you would consider Roksana dangerous. I’ve worked with her for a month.

I’ve thrown every obstacle into her path, hurt her with harsh words, exhausted her, belittled her and judged her character all the way.

Roksana can control herself, and she is not prone to emotional outbursts.

Teaching her is as safe as any other mage. ’

Ciesko came closer, placing a hand on my shoulder while I stood gaping at him like a fish out of the water. All this time I’d wanted to murder the patronising prick, and he was quietly testing me? His hand tightened as if he could read my thoughts, and his slight nod confirmed my suspicions.

‘From the drivel that healer sent me,’ he continued, ‘it was clear she pulled Master Orenson from the brink of death and restored the salvageable flesh before repairing the missing tissue with wood. Roksana didn’t use her power to create life but to preserve it.’

The vein on Marius’ neck pulsed faster. ‘You conveniently forgot to mention that she lost control of her power, which started transforming everything in reach until the Dark Brotherhood assassin ended the threat. How is that safe? How can you be so fucking blind?’ Spittle flew during the master artificer’s outburst, and I jumped when he hammered his fist on the table.

‘Language, Marius,’ Ciesko said. ‘I’m not blind. You can’t blame her for that. We all made mistakes at the beginning of our training. Should I remind you of yours? All we need is her geas, and you can sleep the night knowing you’re safe in your bed.’

‘I don’t care about my language. Ciesko, for fuck’s sake, you can’t train a chaos mage!’ Marius was beside himself, jerking from his seat with such force that his chair fell back with a thud. I gasped, looking between the two, unsure of what was going on.

‘She is not a chaos mage. Is it simply your lack of knowledge, or have you become so senile that you cannot remember that one has to be a conduit to manipulate chaos? She can’t channel limitless spells or feed off destruction.

We have a pure vivamancer, an extinct trait, and we’ve been given a second chance to nurture this beautiful ability instead of trying to destroy it. ’

Ciesko looked around, and whatever he saw in the council’s faces tightened his lips. ‘I’m calling for a vote.’ The old mage’s voice hardened as he pulled me to his side. ‘And be mindful of how you vote because I won’t stand idly by if you make the same mistake as our ancestors.’

And I thought you were a prick . . . I thought, ashamed at how many times I had cursed his name.

‘Vote it is,’ the Royal Mage stated. I looked between the council members, shocked at how fast it had come to this.

‘Nothing that can be said or done will change the fact that Roksana is a vivamancer who has manifested her power. It is our job to assess if we’re willing to risk the kingdom or even the entire continent’s safety. ’

‘You’re ready to decide?’ I asked. ‘How is this fair if no one wants to hear my opinion on the matter?’ I grabbed Ciesko’s hand, but he shook his head.

‘What could you say, Mage? You are who you are. As much as I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, not a single vivamancer has resisted the pull of their power, becoming its mindless tool in the end,’ Anora said before raising her hand with a heavy sigh.

‘My vote is no. I’m curious about vivamancy, but the risk is too great to allow the history of the Mad Mage repeat itself. ’

My heart skipped a beat, panic tightening my throat when Marius raised his hand with a smirk. ‘No, but let’s ensure her death is painless, especially since Master Ciesko claims she has merit.’

I looked at Ciesko, then at the doors, wondering if I could dash to safety, but I was surrounded by the most powerful mages in the country. Even if I made it past them, there were battle mages outside trained to subdue any threat, ready to jump into action. And I refused to play into Marius’ hands.

‘My vote is yes,’ Ciesko said. ‘Roksana will live, surrender her geas, and train under my supervision. I’m ready to take full responsibility for her.’

I swallowed hard, looking at the other two—the royal mage and the university’s provost. Riordan Senior looked at me with a gentle smile and nodded his head.

‘It looks like your mishandling of Annika Diavellar’s 3 case taught you nothing, Marius. I have the testimony of another mage offering to vouch for her character: My grandson—who, as of tomorrow, replaces me as royal mage,’ he said, smiling at me. ‘I vote yes.’

‘If you plan to retire, you shouldn’t vote,’ Marius snapped before turning towards the provost, who sat there, a silent enigma, not saying a word. ‘What say you? Be reasonable and stop this madness.’

My survival hung by a thread, or rather, on the decision of someone who didn’t know me at all. I looked at him, cold and distant, unsure if I should drop to my knees and beg. A single tear fell down my cheek when our gaze met.

‘Decisions guided by fear are never wise. I read the report, and I found no evidence of wrongdoing. If we punish mages for deeds they hadn’t yet committed or lack of training, you, Marius, would never have survived your studies. Let her live. I vote yes,’ he said, and I felt able to breathe again.

My knees buckled, and I crumbled to the floor, hiding my face in my hands when a silent sob shook my body.

‘Stand up, child,’ Ciesko ordered, but I didn’t know if I could. My body felt boneless and uncooperative, the suddenness of my reprieve stripping me of my strength. He must have noticed because he gestured to the mage who arrested me. ‘Take her to the geas chamber and wait for me there.’

He lifted me as I took a breath, still dazed after regaining my life, and carried me along a dark corridor to a massive door, its frame carved with countless runes.

The entrance stood open, but all I could see were shadows surrounding a huge stone block with heavy, metallic manacles fused to its surface.

Atavistic fear boiled to the surface. As soon as the mage put me back on my feet, I turned, seeking a way to escape, but the only exit was blocked by Ciesko, who nodded towards the door.

‘Enter, my dear, that’s our price for your life,’ he said, and with a shuddering breath, I turned to face my fears.

1. Manticore (s.)/manticores (pl.) — beasts with a lion’s body, human head, and scorpion tail that love to eat their victims whole after paralysing them with their scorpion’s venom.

2. Harpy (s.)/harpies (pl.) — Rapacious monsters described as having a woman’s head and body and a bird’s wings and claws; depicted as birds of prey with women’s faces.

3. Annika Diavellar — a conduit mage whose efforts won the Second Necromancer’s War for Dagome. After the death of her first Anchors, the council planned to force her into a new Anchor bond, but she faked her death and ran away.