~ Chapter 24 ~
Keli woke with a distinct impression of something very wrong. Tris was still sleeping beside her. She reached for Fyn.
She was gone!
Keli ran to Fyn's room and found an empty bed. She other senses told her Fyn was nowhere on the palace grounds or city.
"What's wrong?" Tris approached her still yawning.
"Fyn's gone." Keli said on the verge of panic. "I can't sense her!"
"Relax." Tris gripped her arms. "Maybe she has learned how to block you."
"Why would she?" Keli tried to keep the fear from her voice.
"How far can you sense her?" Tristen asked calmly.
"Up to the outer most wall of Haven." Keli answered as she started to pace.
"Maybe she is in a shielded area?" Tristen suggested.
"I can sense her even through shields. Even the ones of the Heart Stone's room." Keli shook her head.
"I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation." Tris tried to assure her even though he could think of no reason to explain Fyn's disappearance.
"Name one." Keli challenged as she returned to their room and pulled on the first set of Whites that came to hand.
"I can't think of any." Tris admitted.
"Solaris? Can you hear me?" Keli asked the air.
:What's wrong?: The Cat appeared.
"Fyn's gone." Keli said succinctly.
:What? Couldn't she just be out for a midnight ride?: Solaris suggested.
"In this rain? She refuses to ride Honey in the rain." Keli shook her head.
Tris forced Keli to sit in a chair. "Don't panic Sia. You won't do anyone any favors by panicking."
Keli forced herself to take several deep breaths but her fear didn't abate. "I would have awakened if she left the Palace grounds, long before she left my range."
"Perhaps she has started to manifest a gift and that is hiding her." Tris suggested as he dressed.
:It still wouldn't hide her from Keli.: Solaris shook her head.
"I don't know what to suggest." Tris admitted in defeat.
Keli returned to Fyn's room, to check again, even though she knew Fyn wasn't there.
This time, however, she noticed the faint trace on the bed.
Magic, tainted by blood.
"He took her." Keli's voice was completely emotionless.
Solaris padded up next to her. :You know it's a trap.:
"I know." Keli said with no inflection in her voice.
:Then don't go off half cocked. Tell the others first.: Solaris strained to be a voice of reason.
Instead of panic Keli felt a deadly rage that threatened to overwhelm her.
"Sia, you're glowing." Tris warned her.
The fire in the grate flared and the temperature of the room climbed quickly. The table next to her started to pull itself apart, until there was no piece large than a sliver.
The couch started to do the same.
"What's going on?" Elspeth burst in the door followed by Darkwind.
"He took Fyn." Keli's voice was almost dead.
Elspeth and Darkwind reinforced their shielding and peered into the room.
Tris placed a hand on Keli's shoulder. "Sia, are you alright?"
Keli turned to face him. "I am going to kill him."
Tris was shaken to the core by the hatred in her normally clear, intelligent eyes. "Sola told you, it's a trap. Obviously he thinks you are a threat."
"He's right, I am." Keli stretched out her hand and her sword flew to her. She started for the spare room and its doorway.
Solaris stepped in front of her. :This is exactly what he wants you to do. Nothing would keep you from knowing if Fyn was dead. You act rashly and he will kill her.:
Keli stopped. "What do you suggest?"
:You don't even know where he is.: Solaris continued.
"But I do. He is in the north. The books were clear he was in the north." Keli stepped around the Cat.
Tris had caught up with her and quickly cast a sleeping spell on her. He caught her as she crumpled to the ground.
:She is going to be angry as a hornet when she wakes up.: Solaris said.
"Then we will keep her asleep until we have a plan that doesn't involve blasting an entire mountain range into rubble." Tristen said as he placed her on the bed.
~*~
Talia could still feel Keli projecting rage even though she was unconscious. "We can't keep her like this for long."
"We can't just let her go." Elspeth reminded her. "Could you soothe her if we let her wake up?"
"No." Talia shook her head. "She doesn't want to be soothed."
"I don't want to wait long, no matter what our plan is." Tris said from his post beside the bed. "Fyn is in the custody of a blood mage, who knows when he will decide to kill her."
"I doubt he is expecting us to know of her disappearance so soon." Kerowyn offered. "The sooner we act the more likely we are to surprise him."
"He probably has a place to keep her if he expects to be waiting for a few days." Dirk commented to the room.
"He could easily keep a child under control, he could just as easily be keeping her tied up." Kerowyn shook her head.
Tris smiled slightly. "No offence, but you have never worked with Fyn. She fights dirty and not much can keep her confined."
"She was a thief." Talia explained.
"And if he doesn't know that?" Kerowyn asked.
"He will soon." Tris answered.
"Is there any suggestions?" Kerowyn looked around the circle of worried faces.
"If we can find him, Solaris could pop in and get her." Elspeth suggested.
"How will we find her?" Talia asked.
Tris considered everything for several minutes. "Keli can sense Fyn through any shield. We can also augment her reach enough to see well into the north of the mountains."
"Will she agree?" Kerowyn asked.
"If we can get her to stop for a moment, yes." Tristen said with certainty.
:What are you waiting for then?: Solaris demanded.
Tris removed the spell.
Keli sat up, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
"Before you leave, we have a plan." Tristen stopped her.
~*~
:I can't get a clear location. His shields are too strong.: Keli said to everyone gathered in the room. :But I know roughly where to find him.:
She released the link roughly. "Good enough for now."
"Gives us a bit and we'll be ready to go." Elspeth said as she stood.
"No. I am going now." Keli walked past everyone and out the door.
Tris was still reeling from the severed link. She was gone before anyone could stop her.
Kenyon was waiting for her wearing a saddle with a pillion pad. Solaris was lying on the pad, ready to go.
Keli swung wordlessly into the saddle and turned him to the Grove. She created a portal in the doorway to the Healer's she had been at after she rescued Tris. Stunned Healers and Apprentices watched as she appeared and rode out their gates.