CH12

A week later She met Sibah again. This time she was the first to arrive and sat waiting under a tree till the girl skipped up to her.

"You are not going to believe it!" she gasped as soon as she reached May.

"What?" she asked, concerned.

"Cian is such an idiot. He told me all about his mentor though he wouldn't say his name I hardly had to ask. He told me all about the spells he was learning, but they didn't seem to be dark magic. They were strange though, I had never seen sybil written out with that type of grammar. Honestly the closest thing to it I've seen were the spells you gave me."

"Really? That is impressive. How did you do it?"

"Nah, he doesn't really have any friends. I just mentioned that he was a lot better at casting, and I think he just wanted to tell someone about it."

"Well that's good for us, but a little sad."

"Don't be," she smiled. "It's his own fault. Also I don't think they are planning to do anything soon because he talked about a trip they were going to take next spring."

"Next spring? Amazing work, just keep an eye on him and let me know if anything changes."

"Of course, who knew spywork was so easy right?"

"Anyways let's see if those spells are just as easy."

"I wouldn't call them easy, I only worked on one. I hope that is ok."

"Of course it is better to go at your own pace than push yourself. That is how mistakes happen."

She started one of the most simple spells May gave her. The illusions were improving. Every time she saw her the images were more solid, but she refused to move on to more complex ones. Sibahn specifically picked ones in her comfort zone.

"Why don't you try one of the moving illusions next week."

"Alright, but don't expect much."

"You may surprise yourself."

It was a relief that Cian wasn't using dark magic, yet at least. And if they were planning a trip in spring that hopefully meant she had at least until then to figure out what they were doing. All the information she was getting was giving her hope that they actually could find out. She wasn't looking alone either. Bran was slowly regaining his memories and had been looking for answers himself.

"I found the one that turned me into a dog. I know where he lives." She expected to see a smile but Bran's face was set. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Of course, I can't believe I remembered his face."

"Things have been coming back ever since you got rid of it."

"Why didn't you say anything before? I didn't even know you were looking."

"I didn't want to say anything till I was sure."

He grabbed her hand and led her quickly through side streets and alleys. He must have spent as much time in the quarter as her the way he knew the paths. This had been a long sought question, who did this to him. First the perpetrator of a paltry in comparison hex, and then a death sentence curse. Bran did not seem pleased with its answer. She squeezed his hand; he glanced at her and his face softened, but he did not smile. He pulled her closer to him.

"How did you find it?"

"I found the gaudiest homes in the quarter and steaked them out till I found the right one."

"That must have taken some time."

"I was very dedicated," he cracked a grin, "But it was also the second house I watched."

"It never occurred to me to watch their homes."

"It took me a while to think of it too. Right, here it is," he pointed to a three story building a few blocks from the tower but made of the same greenish tinted stone with elaborate carving and wrought iron all over the house.

"I can't imagine why you chose this place, what did the first house look like."

"I know it practically screams evil wizard."

"Let me check something."

She called Areon to use its sight, to see what this wizard had. The house lit up like a clear night sky. Fifteen, twenty blips of nominal brightness registered and two blips were of note. She moved around trying to locate their position in the house. Both of the two strongest were on the second floor, maybe third, But front or back she needed a better angle to decide.

"Hey," Bran grabbed her shoulders and moved her to face him. She couldn't see him, only the faint glow of the tower in the distance; the rest was shadow. "Wow"

"What" she dropped her spell and saw his face again "what?"

"What were you doing?"

"Looking for magic objects."

"Your eyes were glowing."

"Oh no, glowing"

"What? It looks cool."

"I have been using it a lot and had no idea it was so obvious, does that happen with every spell?"

"I don't think so, how would you not know?"

"I don't practice in front of a mirror, and I wouldn't be able to see this anyways. I can only see magical things."

"So you didn't see me when your eye's were all glowy?"

"No, but I knew I was looking at you."

"That's why you tried to walk into a wall."

"Probably."

"Wait, here he is."

The man I saw was unfamiliar but his voice wasn't. It was the wizard who recruited Cian. His hawkish features beneath golden hair were now etched into her brain. He was in more casual attire, No deep green cloak for his meetings. He paused at the gate as if feeling the eyes on him, but continued into the house as the rain picked back up.

"He is an elder of the green tower."

"Do you know him?"

"Yes he is one of the ones I told you about and I figured he was one of them but now we know for sure. We know what he looks like properly and where he lives. It's thanks to you."

"I only could remember because of you. I mean all I could remember was the color green before you helped me."

"Why didn't I think to find his home?"

"Because you don't think like a thief. He isn't going to keep anything important anywhere else. Honestly they probably only meet at the green tower because it is the only place seeing a wizard wouldn't draw attention." He smiled, "Tiernan, we even know his name."

"How," then she saw the name elegantly scrolled under the address. "Tiernan." Their enemy had a name and it only gave her more determination to stop him.

The fervor of new information gave an extra boost to her casting. Words and gestures flowed seamlessly from one spell to another. Her mind ran three steps ahead while her body moved without hesitation. Arcane power radiated from her before coalescing according to her will. Each spell, fire or ice or something between, landed with the authority of a high caster. Almost in a trance thinking about the events of the past few weeks she wielded her skill with finesse. Winds tinted with her magic deftly bore a feather through the room then shot it with great force between the stones of the wall. Just months ago this would have been beyond her. I was proud of how far she had come. She couldn't only focus on her own problems, She had to fill Geoffrey's request.

It took her several days to come up with a trap fitting Geoffry's needs. It would have been an enjoyable puzzle, if not for her lingering moral questions. After several failed attempts she settled on an enchanted crate. It was a normal crate, they could put whatever lure they liked inside but as soon as it was touched the person would become paralyzed. She modified the spell Ruth gave her. It still froze the person through a fear response but she removed the visions that came with it. There was no need for that and she didn't want them to be traumatized. She didn't know how long they would have to sit in the trap.

Geoffry was out when she came to give them so she made sure to let the bodyguard waiting know that the spell would only last so long, so they must check regularly. It would not be good for a person to be frozen like that for a long time. Bran had recklessly tested it without asking her, so at least she knew it wasn't painful but still. It was only a few days before they were needed, she could only hope no one would be hurt. Even after the time had passed for them to be used she was too afraid to ask Reah what had happened to them but a few days later she saw an unfamiliar face in the common room speaking to geoffrey.

He called her over and she cautiously came to stand beside the woman. "I must thank you for your trap."

"It worked then?"

"You are looking at what it caught."

"Oh, sorry."

"Never before has anything held me, I might have held it against you but," she looked down on May. "As long as you are on my side, I will forgive you."

May looked back with wide eyes.

"Now that you have met her, are you satisfied?" he asked the woman.

"Such a little mouse."

"I will go now," said May.

"Yes," said geoffrey. She left but didn't go far; she was curious what would become of the woman. She didn't seem in peril.

"Yes, even frightened things like her can stay here, You must see I am a better boss for you."

"You do pay better."

"I am not Harrod. I expect more loyalty."

"Why? you're way richer than Harrod."

"There is always someone with more money."

"So what do you want? Do you want me to swear some oath like a knight?"

"No, words like that mean nothing to me. All we need is an understanding. I will be loyal to you as long as you are to me."

"And if I'm not."

"Then you are my enemy," he smiled "I believe you have already met those poor few."

She still marveled at the beauty of the magic, but much of the joy was supplanted by grim determination. Magic had always been a useful novelty for her. Now, with all the dark dealings in the city she knew it may be the only thing that could save someone's life. She owed it to whoever that was to be as strong as possible to have the will to stop the darkness growing in the city. I wished she didn't feel that way that she could be as carefree as she once was. I also knew that she wouldn't be as strong without that drive and not just someone but her own life may depend on that strength. Actions done can not be undone, and things seen can't be unseen. Now that our path was set she needed to be prepared for what lay ahead.

The next few days she continued practicing her power and endurance had improved since removing the curse from Bran but she didn't have the clarity or presence she had that first day. She practiced for a long time, frustrated she hadn't been able to find out anything recently. At the end of one of her practice sessions Reah poked her head down the stairwell.

"Finished," she asked

"Close enough." she wiped sweat from her brow.

"Perfect come to the main hall for an etiquette lesson"

"Etiquette? Am I really that rude."

"No, but there are some things you should know if you are going to come and meet my contacts at the party."

"Party?" She had forgotten that Reah said she would take her, part of her though Reah was joking saying she would take her to a noble party. She had never been to one, but she knew enough to know she would not fit into a highborn party.

"Of course, it's the best place to speak without drawing suspicion."

"But I am not noble, I have never been to one."

"Yes that's what the lessons are for, you can be a little rough as you will be posing an heiress from Sudeland but I will get you passable."

"Lead on."

Reah barraged her with information. She was used to more measured scholarly study and she struggled to keep up with the torrent of rules and guidelines. From all that was presented she gleaned an idea of high society. It was a peculiar place. The flick of a fan or tilt in cheek said so much. Simple habits like touching one's own face was crude. She was glad to not have grown up in such a ridgid place, or maybe it was only because she was unfamiliar with the rules. Reah seemed assured she could get anything she wanted accomplished within the parameters. Every situation May asked about Reah had an answer that was polite and proper. May had none of the instincts Reah had. This frustrated her, but she knew Reah's skill was as much a practiced art as her magic. She would have to work hard to be passable. Reah wasn't as disappointed as she was.

"Now that I have probably given you enough to think about for the next year, let's do something more amusing. I remember how dismal you were at dancing, let's do something to remedy that."

"That's not necessary"

"It most definitely is. You will be a new toy, and everyone will be dancing with you." She said matter of factly, "Now follow me."

She slowly began running through steps and patterns. She tried to explain it was just memorization like the hand movements in her spells. It was not the same to May. Casting was intuitive this was not. Reah made each dance look effortless. She tried hard running the counts in her head. She did get a measure of success in remembering what went next, but it was halting, stuttering, nothing like the elegance real dancing showed off.

"I think you are ready to test what you learned"

"What do you mean?"

She just gave a look then turned to the few people still in the common room "Which one of you lovely gentlemen would like to dance with this lovely lady"

"Yes and condemn their feet," she said under her breath.

Most ignored her. "No offers? Don't you know it's rude to leave a lady snubbed." A man snorted at one of the tables. She smiled and approached. "Gus, you're light footed, come over here and dance." And she pulled the large figure over and placed May and him in the open square.

She couldn't help but tense like preparing for a scrap staring across at the fighter. He rocked on his feet refusing to make eye contact. He cleared his throat as Reah demonstrated the first steps "I'm sorry?"

"For what?"

"I ahh.. for beating Bran up."

"Oh," she laughed, "that was an agreed upon fight. It was his brother's fault more than anything else."

"It's just he is your friend and …" He was scared of her.

"I'm not going to do anything to you. Even if I was mad, which I'm not, I only use magic if someone attacks first."

"Good."

They continued on the awkward dance in silence other than Reah's vocal beat. It was probably for the best. Even practicing the most simple dance they tripped over one another. Reah had to correct us every few steps.

"I can't take this any more," they all stared as Geoffry approached from his desk, "Gus you can take a break."

He nodded and shuffled back to a table, but observed curiously.

"You will find that one's dancing improves greatly with a good partner," he said.

He danced well and both he and Reah's guidance She reached a passable level. Geoffry had the same fighter's grace Bran had. Each movement was quick and sure, but there was also a calculating side. Even as he corrected her posture he was thinking, looking for something else. Reah finally ended her bootcamp and she looked forward to repeating back downstairs. Geoffrey lingered watching the two of them.

"What is the occasion that called for this lesson?"

Reah stopped and squinted before turning like a child caught red handed, "Does there need to be an occasion for a bit of fun and some dancing?"

"No, but I think there is one."

"She is taking me to a party," May said.

"Really?" he glanced at Reah.

"Yes, don't worry her cover is immaculate." she said.

"I am just wondering why my mage is going to a noble party and why I didn't know anything about it."

"It is my fault I am looking for a wizard practicing black magic and there will be ambassadors from the green towers there."

"So?"

"So, I want to try and find the culprit."

"Why, let the green hats kill themselves."

"They aren't killing each other. It's everyone else that is getting hurt. I had to take an imprint off of Bran. It would have killed him."

"So that is what took you out of commission."

"Yes."

"I see my people are better at keeping secrets from me than I thought."

"It's not that way, Geoffry," said Reah.

"No," he sighed. "Fine, follow this lead. I would not mind having dealings with them again. It was quite lucrative working with them last time, but don't want it interfering with your regular expectations. It might come in handy to have dirt on the Tower."

"You may leave Reah," Geoffry dismissed her, but held back May. "Not you."

"Yes?" she said warily.

"You have quite impressed me with your trap. I am interested to see what more you can do."

"What do you want to know?"

"You passed the test of killing the Nuclavee quite easily, how did you do it?"

"I wouldn't say easily."

"You returned with all your companions in one piece, that is easily enough."

"Please do not overestimate my abilities."

"You took out a beast many times stronger than a person, I think I have an assessment of your strength."

"The monster is a dumb creature, It did not know to interrupt my spells which take a long time to cast. What works on it would not work everywhere."

"I guess that makes sense, even I can tell when you are casting. There are no subtle spells?"

"None that I know of."

"I guess even magic has its limits, continue as you are. I have no new requests for now."

He dismissed her by returning to his desk. She shivered as she retreated. She hoped she had pushed any thoughts of her hurting people out of geoffry's mind. It was true that the slow space of spells of any strength kept wizards from being useful in one on one fights. Still she worried Geoffry might find other ways to use her magic. She couldn't let him or she would be just as bad as the wizards she was trying to stop.

May hurried to find Reah, concerned that unwittingly she had got her in trouble. She looked dejected but she glanced back at May and rolled her eyes. And motioned for her to follow back to her office. She served tea in her delicate set. She brushed off Geoffry's rebuke and assuaged May's guilt, but she could tell there was some worry there. It was nice that Reah had protected her in a way. They talked quietly about smaller bits of etiquette and forming the intricacies of her cover.

She gave advice on extracting information subtly. They both knew direct questions about black magic were out of the question. Tam had spoken of generalities on the topic. Reah delved into levels of subterfuge and nuance that May barely grasped. How to lead discussions without the others knowing, finding tells, and forcing people into conversational corners where they had to tell what you wanted or outright deny you were just a few of her techniques. She spoke with life using her hands to explain it all. May could understand why she had risen in the storm's ranks. Her cunning and ambition was now bared beneath her aristocratic facade. May was glad she was not crossing her.

It occurred to her that she didn't know why Reah was helping her. She not only was part of Tam's team but was a driving factor in keeping his station above her. Surely Reah knew she would not betray him. If today had taught her anything it was she definitely knew that, and to never admit to not knowing. So she just trusted her instincts that Reah was her friend. If her instincts would give straight forward answers on other things.

"Come on, what is bothering you?"

"I knew they were likely taking people, but I had confirmation that they are."

"Yes you said yourself it was likely."

"It wasn't just that I found out. I found out because I met someone looking for one of the missing. And … and I had to tell them they were most likely dead."

"I'm sure they will be happy to know after the shock is gone."

"But it still feels."

"Don't feel guilty for something you had nothing to do with, now go practice some magic or read a book and forget about it."

"Thanks," she shrugged and left.

She drifted outside to the stables. Rhiannon stuck her nose out to greet her. She laughed as the horse tickled her with whiskers as she searched for treats. She braided her mane and tail enjoying the sunshine. The coarse hair glided through her fingers like fishing line. before returning to her dungeon to read.

She pulled out the little blue book just to pass the time. When last she picked it up she was semi delirious. Parts she remembered, parts she didn't. The memorandum of Oengus Beli was a curiosity. It's archaic writing style meandering in the typical biography. It started pontificating on the titular Oengus. Reading on, the age of the book was even older than she previously thought. It circled around the many wars surrounding the gifts of Dagda before they were lost. The way magic was spoken of, it could have been from only a lifetime or two from the ascension.

Oengus, if the book was to be believed, and stories of this time rarely left anything unaltered, was a top general from Uthric. It was one of three prominent kingdoms. He wielded the spear of Lugh at a great battle, crushing the enemy. Being virtuous, he rejected its power after he saw the destruction he wrought. Being so selfless and refusing the corruption of such a power he was given another gift. The goddess Danu herself blessed him with the knowledge of great magic. She thought the book was just a historical account, but the last paragraph suggested otherwise.

This is the last testament of Oengus Beli, warrior of Uthric and champion of Danu. Whenever the world is ruled by greed and tainted by lust for powers beyond may those of pure conscience take up this call and use the power of Danu. Wherever they are may Oengus continue to protect the small and innocent. Whoever uses this knowledge for their own gain shall suffer uniquely. This is the will of the merciful, the vertuos, the chosen of Danu Onegus Beli.

She flipped the page and gasped. Spells, spells from the war of three kingdoms, the age of heroes. Skimming them they were unlike any she had encountered before. These spells of power would be dangerous if in the wrong hands. How had she found this? The spells were imbued with their own might. If the caster had enough strength to start them the spell would power the rest. There were five; One to stop time, one to command the elements, one to heal a mortal wound, One to kill in a single blow, and one to call a Tuatha de Danann through the veil.

They were beyond anything she had ever seen. The knowledge and skill required to use the spell was vast. Even if she could ever rise to a level to use them, she wasn't sure she should. Even without the warning at the end the price of using the spell would be high. That didn't mean others would hesitate to use it, not when they already used dark magic.

Part of her wanted to throw it in a fire and let the flames devour it. But they had lasted all this time for a reason, and part of her couldn't get rid of the spells. She would never use them only a great master ever could. She wondered if she was able, could she stop herself from using them. That didn't matter, She would keep it hidden on her. Even though this space was secure, she couldn't risk it. she would be its caretaker.