Riven opened his mouth, but the King was gone and the door closed before he could even think of what to say.
He hadn’t evenfinished his meal before Avice arrived.“Through here,” she said over her shoulder.She was leading a number of servants, each carrying sacks and crates of books.
“Mind my floor,” Riven snapped, leaping up to protect his chalkings.
Avice raised an eyebrow, then nodded.“Yes, mind the floor.Line this stuff up against that wall.”She gestured toward the window.“They can be shelved later,” she said.
“That was not the impression the King gave me,” Riven said glumly as he watched the pile grow.
“King Xyrath was here?”Avice asked as men kept filing in.
“Yes,” Riven said.“To warn me that the books were coming, and threaten me if the spell fails.”He watched Avice closely.“He said the Chained Mage’s heart gave out.”
It was fast, not more than a quick quirk of the lips, but it was there.“Yes,” Avice said.“His heart.”She gave him a side look.“Do mages’ bodies always…melt…after death?”
Riven gave her a startled look.“Not that I know of, but Chained Mages,” he shrugged and spread out his hands to show his ignorance.
The last of the guards dropped his sack with a thud.
“Don’t wait for me,” Avice said to them.“Go and clear the rest of the shelves.One more trip should do it.”
“There’s more?”Riven asked.
“Yes,” Avice said with a patient air of suffering.She closed the door behind the last man, then turned back to Riven.“The Queen says there is no danger of discovery now.There will be no Chained Mage wandering the halls, and no further visits from the Mage Guild’s Guildmaster.At least, not for the foreseeable future.”Avice looked self-satisfied as she tugged at one of her sleeves.“The Queen asks what further supplies you might need, toward casting the spell.”Her eyes glittered.
Ah.There was more to this, but now was not the time to ask.Riven cleared his throat.“I have been giving that a great deal of thought,” he said.“We don’t want to attract too much attention to our activities.”
Avice waited.
“Is there a butchery in the Palace?”Riven asked.
Avice frowned at him.“Off the kitchens.But what has that to do with—”
“Admittedly, it’s slower than more traditional methods.”Riven said.“But it doesn’t affect the taste of the meat and no one ever questions it.”He paused.“We’ve time to use the slower methods to build power.Of course, that is just for preparation.It will not serve for the actual casting.”
She nodded in understanding, but the look she gave him was a long one.“You have done this before?”she asked.
“Yes,” Riven gave her a half-smile.“I am one for caution, lady.”
Avice nodded, clearly thinking it through.“I will speak to the Queen.”She snorted softly.“Nora will be disappointed.”
“Lady?”Riven asked, but there came the sound of servants outside, no doubt bearing a fresh load of books and scrolls.He didn’t press her further.
He didn’t really want to.
Riven spent the rest of the evening putting books and scrolls on shelves.It seemed that the laborers had just swept materials off shelves as they were, so there was some semblance of order as he unpacked them.The books weren’t magical; he’d checked them first thing with mage sense.Mostly history, actually, especially on the Mage Wars.
There were quite a few volumes on ancient myths and legends about a mage who had been able to heal using magic.Riven scoffed at that.He knew full well how to pull powerfroma body.But put that power into a living body and heal in the process?That seemed pretty far-fetched.
Oddly, or perhaps not, there were no books on spell-casting.But then, why would there be?Mages had been hunted and killed in the years before they were chained and the Guild established.It made sense that their books had been destroyed.
Riven was sitting with the last sack of scrolls, all of which seemed to be on the art of blacksmithing, when the door opened.Nora walked in, carrying a tray.
She too was dressed in the black, and on her it was stunning.It emphasized her dark eyes and the curve of her hips.
It was her eyes that drew him.They sparkled, almost feverishly.She seemed to be full of energy and excitement, almost vibrating with life.Her smile was curved and sassy as she took in the room and his labors.But then she gave him a mock frown and put the tray down hard.“The butchery?Just animals?I am disappointed.”
“Safer than humans,” he said with a shrug.
