Angelique frowned. “Alabaster has natural defenses that will slaughter any goblin stupid enough to enter it.”
“Yes.” King Themerysaldi rubbed his thumb on the edge of his teacup. “However, once…it’s broken, the magic holding those defenses together will collapse, and neither I nor any of my people will be in any condition to get our shields back up.”
“The curse obviously seals your magic, then?” Trying to make sense of the complex swirl of spells that surrounded Themerysaldi, Angelique tried to pick out the line that would cut the elves off from their power.
Themerysaldi nodded.
“And all fighting forces—including the elven generals—are outside the woods, cursed to wander,” Quinn added.
“We’ll be slaughtered,” Themerysaldi said simply.
Angelique considered her tea as her mind raced with all the new implications.
Once again, the Chosen are five steps ahead of us. They obviously realize the elves have been discovered and have given up all sense of subtly in an effort to end the elves one way or another.
She peered at Themerysaldi again, inspecting his curse. And there is something off about this spell. It’s different from the others I’ve encountered, like the one on Severin. It’s not as neatly constructed—it looks like the black mage who cast the spell and the person who provided the power are two different people. I’d hope that would make the spell easier to adjust, but whoever powered it has a lot of magic, and I don’t think I could pry the pieces apart by brute force or even with my core magic.
Unease swirled in the pit of Angelique’s stomach.
She knew she wasn’t the most learned enchantress, but she’d gotten fairly good at picking apart Chosen magic. Since this is so foreign, did they use the ancient mirror they took from Verglas to forge it?
It seemed unlikely. If they managed to use it on the elves, why not use it in all their endeavors?
“Is Clovicus available?” Themerysaldi asked, breaking Angelique’s thoughts. “Could you send for his help—or the help of any other mages?”
Angelique shook her head. “Clovicus is being squashed under the Council’s thumb. He finds it difficult to escape, and it seems like someone has been assigned to watch him.”
Themerysaldi set his teacup down. “What has happened in the Council that they feel the need to watch him?”
“Ahhh, yes. I unfortunately have some very grim news to share with you.” Angelique drew her shoulders back and then spilled out a shortened version of all that had happened since Evariste’s capture—including the Summit and Prince Severin and Princess Elle’s quest to unite the continent against the Chosen.
She noticed Themerysaldi didn’t seem surprised by the story of Evariste’s capture—which worried her—but it was hard to tell for certain given his curse-forced mask. But the elves’ news of being unable to help—due to their magic being stolen and the goblins waiting to march on them—depressed Angelique about as much as her news about the Chosen and recent events bothered Themerysaldi.
Angelique set her teacup down with a quiet clink. “I came here hoping you might be able to help the continent, but it seems that is not possible.”
“Correct,” Themerysaldi grimly agreed. “If it was broken, and we had a few months to recover…”
“And you cannot tell me anything about Lord Enchanter Evariste?” Angelique asked, hope briefly flickering in her. If he wasn’t surprised about Evariste being taken, maybe he knows something?
Themerysaldi shook his head, dashing her hopes. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Angelique sighed as the numbness of disappointment invaded her soul again. “I should have expected as much. But I had hoped…”
Quinn offered her a half-apologetic smile. “The King and Queen are searching for you.”
“Seeking my help, no doubt,” Angelique grumbled.
She cast another annoyed glance at Themerysaldi’s spell—she still hadn’t been able to make any progress in understanding it. “Tell me this. Your curse cannot be broken by true love’s first kiss or by someone falling in love with you, correct?”
“Correct.”
Angelique relaxed and picked up her teacup again to sip her now-cool tea. “Good. I thought not.”
“Can you study his curse and tell us how it can be broken?” Quinn asked.
Angelique suppressed an eyebrow twitch in her irritation with herself. “Unfortunately, not this time. Normally I can, and I’ve been trying to get a look at it since I met you. If you study a spell, you can generally pick it apart and see the loops and strings of power in it. However, whoever powered this curse had a great deal of power and highly advanced magic, which makes it nearly impossible for me to read. I can tell that the magic user who cast the magic is not the same magic user who provided the power.”
Angelique extended a finger and traced the two different lines of the muddled spell across Themerysaldi. “There’s some discord between them. Unfortunately, I can’t get a read on who supplied the power—the spell caster’s magic covers it too heavily.”
Emerys nodded. He seemed to struggle to try and speak, and in failing to do so, he slammed his fist on the table.
“I understand your frustration perfectly,” Angelique said dryly. “The dual casting, unfortunately, makes it nearly impossible to alter. In the past I’ve had some luck changing and altering curses, but whatever was put on you is a level of skill far beyond my reach.”
Emerys shrugged. “I expected as much.”
Angelique narrowed her eyes as she studied him. “You expected that?”
He nodded.
Hmm. There must be something about the casting of this curse. Themerysaldi is powerful. He wouldn’t have been beaten easily. I suppose if he couldn’t beat the black mage that cast this, I wouldn’t stand a chance, but that doesn’t seem to be what he’s implying.
Quinn cleared her throat and smiled a little when Angelique yanked her gaze toward her. “Tonight, my band and I are to follow the princesses for the last time. Tomorrow, I’m bringing some military officers here to meet with Emerys and the humans stranded here. Will you join us?”
A sigh leaked out of Angelique, and she glumly stared at her teacup. I’ve wandered into another catastrophe when I was hoping to get help. Instead, this is going to be like every other season that has passed since Evariste was taken, and I will end up having to put my search for Evariste aside in order to help the continent.
That Evariste would approve of such priorities didn’t make the knowledge any easier.
“You should stay here for a few days at the minimum, Angelique,” Themerysaldi said, being thoughtful and perhaps even kind to Angelique for the first time in his life. “You look awful,” he sincerely added.
Ahhh, yes, there we go.
“How your kind words warm me,” Angelique snarled. “You just want me around because you’re hoping I can help.”
“You’re an enchantress,” Themerysaldi said.
“In training!” Angelique shot back.
“That’s a load of bosh. You could have become one years ago based on your power alone.”
Angelique narrowed her eyes to small slits as she glared at the Elf King. Why does Evariste like him? He’s insufferable! I mean, I understand that Evariste is gracious and kind to a fault, but he should have his limits!