Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(47)

“I won’t let that happen,” Annia said, her eyes narrowing on the tent as well. “I’ll be by her side the entire time. There’s no way I’m going to let her run off again, not when it resulted in this fiasco.” She swept her hand out, indicating the sleeping children. Her expression softened as she gazed at their peaceful little faces, and the anger sparking in her eyes gave way to sadness again. “I can’t imagine the fear and pain they’ve been through these past weeks. Or has it been months? Do you have any idea how long these children have been down here?”

“I don’t know.” My eyes were drawn to the blonde girl who looked like she could belong to the Baine Clan. I didn’t think we had any small cubs missing, but I would have to ask when we got back. “Their parents must sick to death with worry.”

“I know I would be.” Annia shook her head, returning her gaze to mine. “What kind of monsters could do such a thing, Sunaya? Steal innocent children from their beds and inject them with fatal diseases?”

“The kind that believes in the ‘greater good’,” I sneered, remembering Dr. Mitas’s hateful, impassioned words back in Dara. He was supposed to be a doctor, a healer, yet he had no qualms about participating in such horrific activities. I didn’t believe in any greater good myself, mostly because that phrase was so open to interpretation. The rulers’ ideas of what the greater good meant rarely matched the ideas of the common man, after all. The Mages Guild was proof of that.

“I shouldn’t really be surprised,” Annia admitted. “As enforcers, you and I know better than most the lengths criminals will go to justify their actions.”

“I think that the day we stop being shocked by this kind of thing is the day we should be afraid,” I told her. “We should hold society to a higher standard, or the world will never become a better place.” An ember popped, sending sparks shooting through the sky. I held out my palm and caught one of them as they floated back down to earth, watching as it briefly stung my palm before its orange glow faded to black.

Transient, just like everything else in life.

Annia’s lips curved at that, her dark eyes sparkling. “Why Sunaya Baine, you almost sound like a sage. Is that the sort of thing that happens when one joins the Mages Guild?”

“I suppose I’ve gotten a little more philosophical these days,” I allowed, smiling a little. I imagined my deeper thoughts were inspired by the brief, but meaningful conversations I’d had with Resinah’s spirit—the first mage, entrusted with wisdom by the Creator. I glanced down at Annia’s bandaged arm and changed the subject. “How did you get that?”

A shadow crossed Annia’s face. “One of the soldiers broke my arm as punishment for trying to resist capture.” A faraway look entered her eyes. “I killed three of them, but I was outnumbered. Even so, I don’t suppose he would have broken my arm if I hadn’t spat in his face.” A smirk curved her lips. “The big brute didn’t like that much.”

“Ouch.” I winced, glancing at the sling again. I couldn’t imagine what that must be like for humans such as Annia, having to wait six to eight weeks for her limb to heal. Mine would have been better in the morning, so long as it was properly set and I’d had enough to eat. The bullet graze on my shoulder from earlier had already healed, nothing more than a memory now. Perhaps Iannis could mend Annia’s arm once he had dealt with the current mission. I was surprised he hadn’t offered already, but, then again, he was exhausted.

“You do look remarkably un-beaten up aside from your arm,” I said as I looked her up and down again. Her face was clear of any bruising, and although there could be bandages beneath her clothing, the way she moved did not hint at any hidden injuries.

“Since they’re a science lab using live test subjects, they happened to have a damn good doctor on staff, and some crazy medical procedures I’ve never seen before.” Annia briefly touched her cheekbone. “The doctor who treated me was surprisingly compassionate, considering I was a prisoner. She put some kind of tingling, foul-smelling cream on my face that handled all the bruising, and she set my arm and bound it up.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re human,” I said, unable to think of any other explanation. “Or because you’re Noria’s sister.”

Annia snorted. “Either way, I’m hardly softening up to them. Just because they treated the injuries they inflicted on me doesn’t change the fact that they were planning to commit mass murder.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t,” I said softly, looking back at Noria’s tent again. And that Noria had helped us in the end didn’t change the fact that she had joined the Resistance and aided them in attempted genocide, willing or not.





20





Lord Logar and his team arrived bright and early, just as the sun was cresting the horizon. He sent Iannis a message via ether pigeon asking us to meet him in front of the compound, so we dressed and straightened ourselves up as best we could, then went out.

Annia stayed behind again with the slumbering children, to watch over them until Logar’s team came to fetch them. I hoped they had brought suitable food for children, though in a pinch, we could make them porridge.

“Good morning, Lord Iannis,” Lord Logar said as we approached. For a change, he wasn’t the stereotypical tall, long-haired mage. He kept his silver hair short, wore a beard of the same shade, and had a stocky, five-foot-six frame. The emerald robes he wore seemed to highlight the flecks of green in his hazel eyes. His twelve fellow mages, ten males and two females, all stood a few inches taller than him. They wore a variety of robes with the Osero Mages Guild emblem stitched to the breast, a standing grizzly bear, stitched onto their breasts.