“Master Evariste? Roland?” Her throat cracked with grief, but she merely cleared her throat and shouted again, her persistent panic making her louder. “Evariste!Roland!”
She stumbled into the salon, her eyes flickering to the portals/windows mounted on thewall.
The glass frame that usually held a portal to Verglas was empty, but the wooden frame that faced the very edge of the Alabaster Forest and the white stone frame that overlooked Fillia still sparked withmagic.
Some of Angelique’s fears decreased at the sight of theportals.
If Evariste was killed, they wouldn’t still be working—or operational. In theory, anyway. Evariste is legendary, so I guess there’s a chance his magic could survive death, but no. He must still bealive!
Angelique glanced around the salon—which was a burnt husk of its previous splendor. There was some blood, but no bodies or bones. All the furniture was shattered beyond repair, and the walls were singed and dusted withash.
“Evariste, Roland!” Angelique ducked out of the salon and made a meticulous search through the house—going floor byfloor.
She hoped to find Roland—it seemed unlikely the mages would take a cat—particularly if his collar was still on and they didn’t know he was magical. But she couldn’t find himanywhere!
By the time the sun had risen above the trees that surrounded Evariste’s home, Angelique’s fears had matured intodread.
I need help!She glanced upstairs, where Evariste’s room was. She knew he had a portal straight to his office in the Veneno Conclave fortress, but she wasn’t certain the Conclave was the most powerful option shehad.
She bit her lip as her eyes strayed to the ruined salon.But I’m not certain I can reachthem.I might not fit.She narrowed her eyes.I’ll haveto.
Angelique reentered the salon, making her way towards the portal-window that looked intoFarset.
Evariste had once told her that technically the windows could operate as portals—though they weren’t meant to, so the trip would be uncomfortable and perhaps a bitpainful.
That doesn’t matter. Evariste is missing!Angelique pushed a half-burnt stool to the base of the window, then started to crawlthrough.
Itwasa little painful and discombobulating—not because the magic was any different, but because Angelique was stuck in limbo—her upper body in Farset and her legs in Torrens—while she tried to maneuver her hips through the narrowwindow.
The magic made her body tingle, and the confusing limbo made her feel more than a little nauseated. When she finally managed to hoist herself through, she fell into Farset with a splat, landing in a pile of icy coldslush.
Shivering, Angelique automatically cast a heat charm on herself, then staggered up to the tree line that marked the beginning of AlabasterForest.
She almost barged across the forest boundary before remembering that as she was not with Evariste, she couldn’t freely enter the elves’ territory. Only elf-friends could do that, and despite her many visits with Evariste, she had never received thetitle.
She cringed, but cleared her throat and shouted, “King Themerysaldi! Lady Alastryn! I need to speak withyou!”
She waited for a minute—aware it might take a bit of time for elf scouts to hear her and trot her message back to the Elf King—then shouted again. “King Themerysaldi, Lady Alastryn! It’s me—ApprenticeAngelique!”
She licked her dried lips and glanced behind her, relieved she could still see the window into Evariste’s study—hidden in a tree trunk and spelled against prying eyes. She rubbed her hands together, then hopped in place. “King Themerysaldi? Lady Alastryn? It’s aboutEvariste!”
Minutes passed, thenhours.
No onecame.
Angelique paced up and down the border of Alabaster Forest, shouting until she was hoarse, yelling until her voice was entirely gone, then shooting up plumes of fire and bolts ofthunder.
The Elf King never showed, nor did any of hissubjects.
The sun set, leaving the forest frigid and lonely, and Angelique was forced to admit that she wasn’t going to find any help inFarset.
Almost blind with exhaustion and hunger, she found the tiny window back to Evariste’s brokenparlor.
Getting back through was a near thing. Even though she had her heat charm to warm herandused some strength magic to help her climb the tree trunk, her grasp on her magic was shaky. She precariously climbed through the window and struggled to get her hips through before abruptly falling. She hit her head on her stupid stool and sat in the salon for a moment, dazed andnumb.
Get up! You have to get help!Slowly, painfully, Angelique climbed to her feet and dragged herself down the hall. Climbing the stairs was torturous, but she forced herself up eachstep.
Get help. Get help. Gethelp!
