Chapter 13
Joshua stared out his window, simply waiting for Lizzie to return to his study. Desperate though he was to leave and find his daughter; he didn't want to leave now. Specifically, he didn't want to leave Lizzie alone. True, she did have an entire castle full of nobility to help her, but after that night, seventeen long years ago, he couldn't help but be a little over protective of the woman he loved so very much. Lizzie was with Rose right now, trying to dissuade the stubborn princess from following him and the King. Joshua was supposed to be doing the same with Anduin, but one look at the young mute's face told him that he would have better luck telling his own head not to come. And Joshua had to admit, he did want more company than just what a simulacrum could provide.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. Anduin noticed the gesture and put a sympathetic hand on Joshua's shoulder.
"You don't have to come, you know," Joshua said rather half heartedly, since he had promised his wife to try. Anduin shrugged, as if to say 'I know.' Joshua let it drop. Anduin would be a valuable addition to their party, for Joshua had seen him do magic, albeit surreptitiously, and he knew the young merman was quite good. Besides, he thought morbidly, he's bound not to talk even if tortured.
But there were other problems occupying Joshua's mind. It was obvious to him that the King was not himself, but he couldn't figure out how Henry had created such a good facsimile. The royal family had consciously avoided marrying any known mages, so it couldn't have been the King himself who had done it. And though the wizards had no real hierarchy, he couldn't believe that the five or six other mages with these abilities wouldn't at least inform one another that Henry was up to something, again. So who could he have gone to in order to create this spell?
"Well," Joshua said, starting to speak out loud, "He might have gone to another country to get it done. But they would never have kept it secret, this is too precious even to share with our allies. It must be someone who has a very good reason for helping the King, not to mention someone who is answerable to no one, for two men can never keep a secret."
Anduin's eyes went wide. He remembered what his uncle had said long ago about being allied to England. Perhaps he had helped kidnap Diana. Anduin turned towards Joshua to tug on his sleeve, but the latter was distracted when his wife, niece and liege lord entered the room. The King, so to speak, had taken Rose's hand and was guiding her courteously. Lizzie had strode on ahead.
"Any luck?" she asked, motioning to Anduin.
"No, you?" he replied. She shook her head. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "Are you sure you can't come?" he asked softly.
"I won't be any safer there," she pointed out.
"I know," he replied. "But I'll be there."
"Someone needs to stay home and fix the mirror," she answered. "I'm sorry Joshua, but you know I'm the only one with Diana's memories and she made the mirror."
"I know," he repeated. "But-"
"I'll be fine," she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Now go rescue your daughter."
"All right," he said, strengthening his resolve. "I can do this. Your majesty," he said sarcastically as he turned to the King, "Where do we begin?"
The king stared at him. "I can't tell you," he said softly.
Anduin tapped Joshua on the shoulder before the latter could launch into a tirade and mouthed 'I can.'
Joshua stared at him, openmouthed. "How?" he spluttered. Anduin grabbed a sheet of paper and, with a pang of remorse, began to write the answer in shaky letters. He could barely write and the little he could do was all due to Diana's patience and encouragement.
The ocean, it said with my uncle.
Joshua's jaw practically hit the floor. "Your Uncle?" he nearly screamed. "What does he have to do with this?"
"Who's his uncle?" Rose exclaimed. Joshua and Anduin shared a look.
"We have time for this round of questioning," Joshua said with a sigh. "Or we'll make some. I'll get the trube."
"Trube?" Rose and the King both repeated.
"Truth tube," Lizzie responded. "Don't ask." They sat in silence as they all waited anxiously for Joshua to return. Anduin fid
geted a little, hoping that his hunch would prove correct, otherwise he would have wasted valuable time in finding Diana. He shivered slightly, for no one else present could imagine what sort of situation she might be in. But Anduin knew his uncle all too well and he didn't want to think of what she might be facing.
The heavy footsteps of a running man signified Joshua's return. He entered the room breathing heavily and held out the tube to Anduin, who, as he took it, couldn't help but think that Joshua was not as young as he had once been.
"I heard that," said Joshua, still gasping slightly for breath.
'Sorry,' said Anduin, not sounding sorry at all.
"I'm sure you are," said Joshua sardonically, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from the room's other three occupants who could not hear Anduin's side of the conversation. "So what can you tell me?"
'I bet that Henry called on the pact he had made through your father with my uncle. The deal wasn't just in the name of Gilld, but also in the name of England. He has the power to do it and it wouldn't be dangerous to any of their allies, since almost no one underwater believes that humans really exist, not to mention vice versa.
"Really?" Joshua asked incredulously.
'It's information reserved for mages, royalty and fairy tale tellers,' Anduin replied with a shrug. 'So there was no risk of warfare between the two countries. And Diana's explained to me that your magic doesn't work underwater, so that would be why you couldn't spot her. But I don't understand why they would agree to this ridiculous plan.'
"Well, it's obvious what Harry's motivation is," Joshua answered. "He wants the Gilld magic in the royal line. The rest of Europe will have a field day when they find out. But you're right. Tritan definitely gains something from this deal...but what?"
'Can we rescue Diana first and decide motives later on?' Anduin asked.
Joshua grinned, beginning to wonder if Anduin's reasons were purely in the name of friendship or whether there was some deeper motivation attached to them. Compared to the arrogant twit who had kidnapped his daughter, Joshua would gladly have a merman on the run for his son-in-law. Come to think of it, compared to Harry, Joshua would rather have a rampant rhinoceros as his son-in-law. "Very well," said Joshua. "You're right. Let's go."
"Care to clarify that conversation for the rest of us?" Rose asked acerbically. Anduin patted her hand condescendingly, unable to suppress a grin. She glared at him and he sighed; he would have gotten a much better reaction out of Diana.
Joshua ignored her. "You will stay safe?" he said worriedly to Lizzie.
"To the best of my ability," she answered with a gentle smile. "You stay safe as well." Joshua held her tight for a moment as they whispered their farewells and Anduin, Rose and the King tried not to watch.
"All right," said Joshua. "Let's go." And he swept out of the room, his long traveling cloak billowing behind him. The other three followed rather meekly. They were out of the castle less than one hour later, mounted on horseback and riding at a breakneck pace towards the ocean.
They arrived that night, their horses foaming at the mouth and exhausted. Joshua dismounted and marched towards the docks after handing the reins to a nearby innkeeper who had come out when he had heard footsteps and was not at all happy to find that his only customers were four horses. Anduin followed him, slightly bowlegged as he had never been on a horse that long before and it hurt like all hell. Henry helped Rose down, cautiously taking her hand and treating her with the same delicate respect one would show for a perfect blossom. She ignored him, allowing him to treat her as such without any acknowledgement on her part as they followed the two men down the quay and towards the water. He was just glad to hold her hand. It had been torture these past few weeks, utter torture, and he hated what had brought him to this state. But there was nothing he could have done and there was still nothing his could do. He shivered and let her assume it was due to the weather.
"So," said Joshua as they stood on the edge of the dock in the deep darkness of midnight, "Who goes first?" They looked around at one another before Anduin jerked his finger towards the King, then ran his forefinger across his throat.
"I don't think the water will be dangerous to us," Joshua answered, frowning. Anduin shook his head. pointing to the King again, then sketching the ancient magical hieroglyph for simulacrum in the air.
"Good idea," Joshua said. He knew what Anduin meant now. Water was impervious to magic...at least the sort of magic Joshua could do. Rumor was that merfolk knew a different sort as well that worked under water and only under water. By virtue of the fact that the simulacrum existed above ground, it meant that the magic was of the air variety. More importantly, simulacra required a constant flow of magic to keep them going, so if this one were to step into water it should disappear, which would make all their lives simpler, as a pretend King was not exactly the sort of thing one wanted to be wandering around with. "Your majesty, will you do us the honor of leading the way?" he asked sardonically.
The King shrugged and grabbed hold of one of the ropes used to anchor boats and, with that, carefully lowered himself into the water. And, to the shock of all present, remained perfectly fine.
"Who's coming next?" he asked the man asked, looking up at them.
"Who ARE you?" Joshua shouted, staring down at the man, now that his pet theory had been so well debunked.
"I can't tell you," he replied, though it was a terrible struggle to get those words out. Anduin made a face and dove in next to the man while he was still shouting "I can't tell you," over and over again. He yanked the King, or whoever it was, under the water and, suddenly, the spell that controlled his words no longer worked, for, as Anduin had guessed, it was not a one-time prevention like his own, but one that was set off again every time he tried to talk to someone. So the water would prevent the spell from working. The King got a mouthful of water and inhaled most of it, but there was just enough time for Anduin to hear his true name. Anduin stared at him underwater in shock as the other man tried to claw his way back up using the rope.
A moment later, a third person joined them in the water and Joshua pulled the man back into the air. He began to cough up about half the ocean, while Joshua glared down at Anduin, who had just remembered that he breathed air, not water, and should resurface soon.
"What was that for?" Joshua growled. "Why didn't you save him?" Anduin tried to speak, swore as he realized once again that he couldn't, and grabbed the knife in his pocket. He began etching symbols into the wood of the pier, symbols in the ancient tongue of wizardry that Joshua had to squint at to decipher. When he did, he nearly dropped the man in his arms back under water.
"Are you sure?" he asked Anduin. The latter nodded. "But if he's up here," Joshua murmured, "Then who has..." He trailed off and met Anduin's eyes with identical looks of fear. Things had just gotten a whole lot worse.
T.B.C.
A/N – Erm, umm, so I think this might be two cliffhangers I've left you with at once. Is that illegal or something? Don't worry, I promise next chapter will be Diana's discovery of her parentage – not pretty. And if I was unclear about any bits of magic in water, here's a little explanation. There are two types – that which works in air and that which works in water. They cannot occur in their opposite element but, if some magic was done in its own element, the effects remain if the magicked object transfers elements. Hence Anduin's lack of voice and lack of fins. However, a simulacrum, for example, is magic in a constant state of movement, so it doesn't qualify as magic already done and can only exist in its own element. All good?
Now, I would love to do individual thank yous, but I don't have enough time and I figure you guys prefer updates over me taking two days to go through my inbox for reviews. Am I right? I'm always right. Oh, and if anyone's read the 6th Harry Potter and wants to rant, drop me a line.
So thank you to all my wonderful reviews who make the Gillded world go round. I love you all and I'm glad you hate my cliffhangers. And special thanks to someone for lending me a protagonist and a kiss in times of need. Once again, I love you all!
Levana (Damian)