Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) Read online

  “Good.” Shad smiled as everyone fell into position as they should. The Special Forces on the outer edges acting as a vanguard for the magicians, the Remnant on the interior. Wizards and Witches could be formidable opponents, heaven knew, but Shad had been around them often enough to know that if they were distracted by some magical problem, a building could fall on top of them without their noticing. The Special Forces were there for a first line of defense just in case.

  Despite all of the legal paperwork, Shad didn’t expect to have the Dom agree to a search of the premises. Even with the Crown Prince in tow. Bornemeier’s task was to use the crystal to magically search and detect where and how many Priests lurked in the area. Another Wizard, Clason, stood by with a copy of Chatta’s crystal so that they could positively identify Priests as they went. Xiaolang wanted to know exactly who was captured so that he could keep a head count of how many were missing.

  The other four Witches and Wizard were on standby until they were needed to strip the Priests of magic.

  Audax lengthened his stride to match Shad’s as they walked across the manicured lawn. “Captain Riicshaden, are you a betting man?”

  Surprised by the question, Shad shot him a questioning look. “I’ve been known to make a side bet a time or two. Why do you ask, Princeling?”

  “In my experience,” Audax explained with a mock serious expression, “when a guilty man is cornered, he responds in one of three ways: he either tries to bluster his way out of it, fights head on, or he tries to destroy his enemy by laying some sort of trap for him. You’ve read just as many intelligence reports on this man as I have. Which way do you think he’ll jump?”

  For a split second, Shad just stared at him in surprise. Then he recognized that mischievous glint in the prince’s eyes—Nolan had obviously inherited that look. So. The prince had a sense of humor, eh? There might be hope for him yet. “Well…” Shad drawled, buying a moment to think, “…he doesn’t strike me as the sort who will fight head-on, so I bet traps.”

  “Really? I think bluster.” Audax shot him a look from the corner of his eyes. “Of course, if I’m right, you have to train me with the Special Forces so you can’t treat me as a liability next mission.”

  “If I win,” Shad countered, “you have to get me a dragoo.”

  The subdued glint morphed into an outright grin. “Done.”

  Shad had just put his foot on the bottom step, heading for the main doors at the top of the curving staircase, when the doors abruptly flew open. A rather short man with a thinning hairline, rotund build, and flushed skin stepped out. Judging from the fine silk suit he wore, this had to be Dom Herlevien. He barely rounded the door before he started talking, an indignant and outraged expression plastered on his face. “Prince Audax! What is the meaning of this?! I have done nothing to warrant such an incursion.”

  Audax shot Shad a significant look, which the captain interpreted without difficulty. He owed the man training sessions. Not to mention coming up with some explanation for Saroya as to why he’d let the Prince run around as he’d wished. Coming up with a convincing argument that didn’t start with “Well, I lost a bet…” would take a miracle.

  They made it to the Dom without another challenge. With a smooth motion, Audax handed a thick roll of papers to the quivering Dom, a polished smile on his face. “I believe you’ll find our paperwork in order.”

  The Dom accepted it automatically but didn’t even bother to do more than glance at it. “This is an outrage, Your Highness! I have done nothing to warrant such a visit. I strongly request that you return home! I have always been a strong supporter for the crown and I am shocked, simply shocked that you are coming here in such a fashion! Really! And in such company—” he cast a derisive glance to the magicians and soldiers behind the prince “—well, it’s just unbecoming of a prince. I’ve known your mother for several years, and while her standpoint on politics did not meet with your father’s approval, she is still a fine woman. I can’t imagine what she would think if she saw you here like this. This whole situation is simply untoward.”

  Audax didn’t blink an eye, just responded in a mild tone, “So you are not harboring any Star Order Priests or their affiliates?”

  The Dom drew himself up straight, shoulders back, chest out, chin squared, and strongly declared, “I am not.”

  Despite the posturing, his eyes darted from person to person, giving away his nerves.

  Shad had no patience with bluster and simply turned to look at Bornemeier, who was standing directly behind him. “What’s the count, kid?”

  “Thirteen,” Bornemeier responded without looking up from his crystal. “Ten are in the basement of the house, but three are in some kind of outbuilding around back.”

  All of the blood just drained from the Dom’s face, leaving him pasty white. His mouth moved, but no articulate sound came out, and he started to take shaky steps back into the house.

  With a feral smile Shad ordered, “Bohme, Sloves, Rossi and Janae—go deal with the ones in the back. The rest of you with me.” The four named peeled off and headed for the back of the house at a quick jog.

  Audax waved to the soldiers standing beside him. “Take the Dom into custody.”

  “Your Highness!” the Dom wailed, eyes wild with panic. “You must believe that I did not know about any of this!”

  “Your guilt or innocence will be established later,” Audax responded coldly.

  Judging from the smoldering anger on Audax’s face, Shad bet that the Dom would have to pull in some pretty hefty proof to “establish” innocence. Every person that harbored Priests like this, every effort they expended to protect the Order, delayed Nolan coming home. For a father, the continual delays must’ve been torturous.

  In Audax’s place, Shad would not have been so patient.

  Of course, with the prince in this fine mood, if they broke a few things they shouldn’t, well…odds were they’d be forgiven for it. That thought put a smile on Shad’s face. He waved his hand in a casual flick.

  “Alright, Bornemeier, show me where they are.”

  The Wizard came to stand at Shad’s left elbow and he enthusiastically moved forward at a fast walk. “There are three in this back corner, but most of them are right under our feet.”

  The basement, eh? Most basements opened up near the kitchen, at least in Shad’s experience. He didn’t really feel like searching this entire main floor to verify that theory, though. Just this viewpoint made the building look like a museum. Whoever had built the house originally put in smooth, pale oak flooring that appeared white under the massive chandelier lights. The walls were stark white as well, not that you could see much of them with very expensive paintings, tapestries and huge statues taking up every square inch of the wallspace. From here, he could see four different hallway intersections, and not one of them hinted at being a servant’s route.

  “Somebody find me one of the staff. We need a tour guide!”

  “No need, Captain,” Loewen denied with a predatory smile of satisfaction. Out of all of the Remnant magicians that’d came over for this mission, she was the shortest and in Shad’s opinion, the scariest. He had enough experience in the world to look past her diminutive build, heart-shaped face and feminine look to see the razor sharp intelligence in her eyes. In the day that he’d known her, she had already shown an amazing knowledge of magic, fighting, and tactics. It was no surprise to him when she waved her wand in a small, circular gesture and a glowing blueprint of the house drew itself in light blue lines into the air. “I put a tracer spell on the house as soon as we arrived. This is the main floor and basement area. The tracer is still working on the upper levels.”

  “This is fine,” Shad assured her, turning his eyes to the blueprint. “Our entrance is the back left corner of the building. Hmm. Only one staircase to the basement?”

  Loewen gave a shrug of the shoulders. “Apparently so.”

  “Well, that won’t do.” Shad pointed to the tile floor under his fe
et. “Loewy, sweetums, make me a new door, won’t you?”

  “With pleasure,” she purred between clenched teeth. Raising her wand hand above her head, she gestured sharply down while commanding, “Break!”

  A square opening four feet across abruptly opened in the floor, the cut section falling into the basement with a crack and thud. Several male voices yelped in surprise when the ceiling above them crashed through. So, Bornemeier wasn’t joking when he said that there were people directly below them, eh?

  Before anyone below had the chance to grab a weapon or come up with a good tactical plan to fend off invaders, Shad took a giant leap forward, jumping down with a shout of pure happiness. Leaping into an area of known enemies with limited intel and only a sword for backup—ah, it was bliss.

  He landed on top of what used to be the floor with a crack of tiles. The basement had only three oil lamps for light, so the area was dingy at best. Like most basements, it had a cool and moist air to it and that slightly earthy smell of being underground. Shad spun low on his heels as soon as he landed, just in case someone took a swing at him, but it turned out to be a useless movement.

  There were four young men huddled in one corner, not one of them armed. They looked to be in their early teens. Not one of them had on the gaudy robe of a Star Order Priest, but Shad had no doubt they belonged to that group.

  “Captain!” Audax leaned over the opening, a frustrated scowl darkening his face. “What kind of fool stunt was that?!”

  Shad ignored the angry prince yelling over his head and gave the Priests his most evil glare. They flinched and tried to press themselves further into the wall. Clearly, no fighting spirit here.

  “Loewy, make a staircase so people can come down,” Shad ordered casually. He knew good and well that no one else had followed his leap for the simple fact they were afraid to break a leg in the attempt.

  “If you’ll move, I’ll do just that,” she responded with acid sweetness.

  Bossy little thing, wasn’t she? Shad smiled as he stepped to the side, keeping a weather eye on the door and another on the huddling cowards.

  The ruined sections of the floor flew up and reassembled into a crude and narrow staircase. Almost before the last step was formed, people started to pour down it. Shad left the four he found to Loewen and Bos, choosing to go search the rest of the basement.

  He needn’t have bothered.

  The basement had been divided into a dozen rooms altogether, most of them jam packed with either food or storage, and only three of them had been converted for living space. All three rooms held Priests that were young, barely out of their teens, and not one of them ready to fight. When confronted, they quickly surrendered, pleading for mercy. They hadn’t even attempted to set booby-traps either.

  The whole mission was terribly disappointing.

  Shad, with a disgruntled frown, ordered all of them to be taken up. The Priests were herded into an empty ballroom on the main level, surrounded by Remnant magicians. The three Priests from the back had already been dragged into the main building. Judging from the demeanor of their captors, those three hadn’t put up a fight either.

  The Remnant formed a rough circle around the hunched Priests and started the sing-song chant to strip them of their magic. Since he didn’t have an ounce of magical ability in his body, Shad couldn’t follow what they were doing. He’d been given the basics of this before they left, though, and knew that it would take at least an hour before the ritual was complete. Until then, no one was going to move. He had no desire to drag a bunch of empowered renegade Priests back to Alvacon, no matter how spineless they were.

  Shad stayed on the sidelines, watching, and tried not to growl in displeasure.

  “This went very smoothly,” Audax noted as he relaxed against the wall at Shad’s side. His eyes remained on the circle in front of them, but he pitched his voice low, clearly meant only for Shad’s ears. “In fact, for a brand new team that is not experienced with each other, it was almost miraculously smooth. So why aren’t you pleased?”

  “It wasn’t challenging at all,” Shad bemoaned. “No one put up a fight, no one tried to escape, it was boring.”

  Audax shot him a bemused smile. “Boring missions are good missions.”

  “Says who?” he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Busted buckets, I really wanted booby traps too.”

  For some reason, the prince found this particularly funny and he laughed out loud. “Maybe next time,” he offered in consolation, still chuckling.

  Chapter Five: Dom and Domess

  I don’t know what sin I committed in a previous life to deserve this, but it must have been a hideous one. Maybe I was a serial kitten killer. It must have been a serious crime to warrant putting up with her as atonement.

  The day had started out well enough. Shad and his team had disappeared for another Dom’s province after some information had reached our ears, and was probably even now fighting with Priests. I’d spent most of the morning closeted with Ries and learning everything I could about Dom Adairshaean, wife of the late Adairandenen. She was in her mid-thirties, with perfectly styled blonde hair and a full figure to her. Objectively, I looked at her and saw a woman that was very beautiful, with the wealth to enhance that beauty as she chose. She had charm and confidence and a natural grace to her movements that reinforced the reputation she had in the capitol. I had no problems seeing her as the seductress the rumors painted her to be. Especially not in that dress.

  Ries had informed me in his dry, factual way that she had brains to rival her beauty. Adairshaean had her finger square on the pulse of information and politics and it would be wise to remember that.

  When the invitation to join her for dinner had been extended to me, I knew that she would pump me for all sorts of information about my political views. With that in mind, I’d dressed in the formal Mage robes Chatta had hastily conjured for me. She’d done some sort of magic on these so that they looked like they were made of fine, dark brown suede, but felt like they were of a much lighter cotton instead. For once, I wouldn’t have to roast through a formal dinner.

  Then, with a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach, I’d saddled Night, descended onto the earth path, and traveled the, unfortunately, short distance to Domess Adairshaean’s mansion.

  I couldn’t find a clear area near her mansion to rise up, so I had to do so some distance away from the house. Night, in the spirit of evil delight, had traveled the entire distance at a rolling parade gait, showing off. I really wanted to strangle him for that, but couldn’t. Since he would be telepathically coordinating Ries and I throughout the evening, I couldn’t afford to upset him now. I gritted my teeth and rode in silence, promising myself I’d get revenge on him later for this.

  Upon arrival, we’d been ushered through the very grand foyer and into an equally grand dining room with speed. The room had been built to hold a hundred people with ease, so seeing just two place settings at the ridiculously long table looked odd. Every candle on the massive chandelier was lit, which reflected off of the gilded edges on the furniture and the scroll designs on the wall. It was an obvious statement of wealth and I felt very out of place just walking into the room.

  Still, I’d shoved the feeling down and greeted my hostess with studied courtesy. Ries had taken up the bodyguard position behind my chair, his back to the wall. As I sat at the table, I’d foolishly expected that as soon as the first course was served, she’d start in with the subtle questioning of my political standing.

  Turned out, she couldn’t care less about what I thought.

  “Tell me, Magus,” Adairshaean purred, eyes smoldering. “How long do we have the pleasure of your company in the capitol? I do hope that since Vonlorisen has given you such a vital position at court that you will stay at home now?”

  I tried to smile but it felt very forced to me. Why did I have to sit kitty-corner to her? I would have vastly preferred the width of the table between us. As it was, I had this uncomforta
ble feeling that she was going to reach out and touch me at any moment. “I’m afraid that I have many demands on my time, Domess. I cannot predict how long I will stay in Alvacon.”

  A pretty pout formed on her mouth as she actually did reach out and trail a finger along my forearm. “Oh, but it would be a shame for you to leave so soon! We have just only become acquainted, after all.”

  I tried not to flinch at her touch, but I still jumped a little. What was this woman thinking?! You simply didn’t touch another man like this on a first introduction! Ries, I complained to the man standing so stoically behind me, you didn’t tell me that she wanted to seduce me!

  “I didn’t know what designs she had,” he said patiently. His mental voice had a timber of amusement, however, so I knew that somewhere in his head he was having a good chuckle at my expense. “This is better than her pressing you for political information, isn’t it?”

  No, it isn’t, I fumed. You don’t have a fiancée with a jealous streak!

  At that, he really did laugh. I turned in my seat slightly to flash him a dark frown. Ries hadn’t even cracked a smile, just stared straight ahead as if the whole evening was completely boring for him.

  Obviously a change of plans is in order. I have two people to get revenge on.

  “Tell me, Magus,” she asked in that same smoky tone, “however did you come into your powers?”

  As this was a safer topic than anything else she had asked since I stepped inside, I gladly answered her, although I did keep it brief. I still had some dim hope that I might be able to escape soon.

  “My, how dangerous!” she exclaimed. Even though it was said as if she were surprised, nothing about her expression or demeanor said the emotion was sincere. Clearly, she already knew the story. In fact, I’d lay odds that she knew far more than I had told her. “It must have been so terrifying to be running from bandits with your power still so unpredictable. You must be very strong and…powerful.”