“It’s not false humility,” Angelique said. “Acri is the mage I fought in Zancara and again in Farset.”
Dream Evariste said as much. Or…real Evariste as it seems. But then that means that almost kiss wasn’t my stupid subconscious—
“And?” Puss prompted.
Angelique had never before been so happily jarred from her thoughts. She glanced at her pins to make sure they were stable, then continued. “He had the shield charm, and I wasn’t able to break through it with any spells.”
“Did you use your core magic?” Gabrielle asked.
Angelique shook her head.
“Aha-ha! That solves it.” Puss stuck his nose in the air. “I am positive your core magic is capable of crumpling such a spell—I’d bet my family name on it!”
“That’s okay,” Gabrielle said. “No one else wants your family name.”
“Roland Archibald Whisperpaws is a wonderful name!” Puss yowled. “Your future child should be lucky to have such a name.”
“We have a sample spell. Why don’t we test it out?” Elle pulled the pendant out of a pouch on her tunic. She rose slowly and with a groan, but sauntered to an empty part of the room and set the necklace on the stone floor, then backed up.
“Start small, then gradually scale your power up,” Puss suggested. “And use a rapier.”
Angelique dropped the pins into their leather storage pouch, then shifted her powers to the rapiers.
She felt both of the blades via the connection her magic gave her, then chose the one that had a sharper edge and better balance (though both of them were not the best blades and were very obviously meant for decorative purposes only).
Angelique wrapped her magic around the selected rapier, dragged it through the air so it hovered above the pendant, then thrust it down at the jewel.
An iridescent green shield sprouted from the pendant, flickering into place. The rapier slammed into the shield—which resisted the stab, though the surface visibly vibrated.
Angelique had half-thought the charm wouldn’t activate since Gabrielle wasn’t wearing it, so the sudden resistance was jarring and made her molars hurt.
“Ouch.” Angelique blinked in surprise.
Quinn stirred from her straight-backed stance. “Did that hurt?”
“Not really, it just caught me off guard.” Angelique added more magic to the rapier and tried again—this time bracing herself for resistance.
The shield resisted again, though the surface quaked.
A third time produced similar results—the shield still resisted, but it flickered and weakened.
“I think if I used enough power, maybe I could break it?” Angelique withdrew the rapier and peered at the pendant. “But given the amount of magic I’d use, there’s a chance it might implode, and I’d rather not ruin the banquet hall since the Count has so nicely offered to house us for the evening.”
“It might be better experimented on out in the wilds,” Puss agreed. “Though I’d be interested to see if you could hone your magic so you could eventually use less of it to collapse the shield.”
Using her magic, Angelique lowered the rapier into her palm. “It’s probably worth practicing. Nefari implied he’s been making a lot of these necklaces. I imagine that means many of the Chosen already have them.”
Elle tapped her chin. “Yes. He seemed to imply we’d know where all of the pendants were going, which worries me, because it means they likely have something in store for us.”
“Unless they’re just outfitting all Chosen mages with such pendants,” Gabrielle said. “As an army. But I’m not sure I like that idea much more than an unpleasant surprise we don’t know about.”
“I didn’t see any hints in his logbook,” Quinn said. “Though, the code was too advanced for me to guess at for the brief time I saw it.”
“That’s understandable. It was just a lucky break that Nefari seemed to think we’d know what he was talking about.” Elle sighed deeply and hunched her shoulders. “There’s no getting around it. We’ll have to contact Severin with a magic mirror and tell him what we’ve found.”
Gabrielle tilted her head as Puss jumped onto her lap and settled in. “And that’s a bad thing?” she asked.
“Yes.” Elle scowled. “Because he’s definitely going to tell me that I need to return home to notify our allies about this development. Even though he’s off having adventures in Erlauf!”
“I don’t know that I’d call facing goblins an adventure,” Angelique said.
“I agree,” Elle said. “But it’s the only way I can think about it without starting to worry endlessly about him.”
Angelique slowly lowered the rapier so the point touched the ground.
That’s right. Even though it feels like I’ve done so much, I’m not the only one racing across the continent trying to stop conflicts.
“I think we put Angelique’s satchel over near the fireplace.” Quinn trotted across the room to retrieve the bag.
“We should probably eat, too—while the food is hot.” Gabrielle awkwardly reached across the table, stretching her fingers so she could tug a covered tray closer without disturbing Puss on her lap.
The food—roasted venison sprinkled with mouth-watering herbs, fresh bread, and more—smelled tantalizing, but Angelique wasn’t all that eager to sit down and eat. She didn’t want to relax. Relaxing made her think of her dreams-that-weren’t-really-dreams, and she’d been avoiding pondering them—and what happened in them—ever since Acri was revealed to be a legitimate person.
Using her magic, Angelique returned the rapiers to their ornamental stand, then scooped up the pouch of pins and shook it for the sheer satisfaction.
Maneuvering the pins into pictures was slightly frustrating—it took a great deal of concentration and mental work despite the little power she expelled.
Puss is right. I need to practice with my core magic. I’m as clumsy as a student, and I’ve been an apprentice enchantress for roughly two decades.
“Perhaps I could offer to notify our allies when Puss and I return,” Gabrielle offered as she sliced into a meat pasty that steamed and smelled of cloves. “We’ll have to depart soon anyway—though I imagine the rest of the alliance would prefer to hear it directly from you or Severin, given you’re the leaders of our association.”
Elle choked on the breadstick she’d torn into. “Me? Lead? Nonsense. That’s entirely Severin’s line of work.”
“You are more the type to run on rooftops than lead,” Puss said.
“Precisely! I am touched—Master Puss—that you understand me so deeply.” Elle said. “Just for that, Gabrielle, next time you visit Chanceux Chateau, I will teach you how to run on rooftops should you so desire!”
Gabrielle thoughtfully pursed her lips.
“Don’t you dare,” Puss declared. “I am the only one in our partnership who has the abilities required for such a feat.”
“But if Elle teaches me, I can develop such abilities, as well!”
“Your Bumpkin Head husband would die from an explosive heart if you took up such a pastime!”