Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(11)
‘I … I didn’t beat Tennat,’ I muttered, reeling from the idea that my fate might have been sealed so long ago. ‘My spell failed, that’s all. I just need a little more practice. Just until—’
The end of Ra’meth’s oak-and-silver rod twitched and for a second I couldn’t tell if he was going to hit me with it or cast a spell. A fleeting motion to my left caused me to turn. Ferius had slipped a hand into her waistcoat. ‘Maybe you should stop shaking your little stick there, fella. It’s starting to annoy me.’
Tennat, having been quiet up until now, finally found an opponent he was comfortable threatening. The tattoed iron band on his forearm began to glow, the eerie grey light cutting through the darkness around us. ‘Speak again, Daroman, and I will make the next words out of your mouth a scream for mercy.’
Ferius took a drag from her smoking reed and nodded as if giving his words deep consideration. ‘Sounds serious,’ she said, and let out a puff of smoke that sent Tennat and both his brothers into a coughing fit. ‘Sorry about that. Guess you got me all flustered.’
Tennat did his best to utter a few curses in between coughs.
‘Shut up, Tennat,’ Shalla said. ‘You’re just upset because you lost the duel.’ She turned to his father, favouring him with a little more respect. ‘Lord Magus Ra’meth, Kellen didn’t violate the terms of the duel. He didn’t set any traps or use weapons. The fact that Tennat thought he was losing and gave in wasn’t Kellen’s fault and it wasn’t against the rules.’
Ra’meth was about to say something when my father cut him off and spoke directly to Tennat. ‘Were you injured, boy? Did my son hurt you with … whatever it was he did?’
Tennat’s chin came up. He looked a little green. ‘I’m fine. Kellen could never hurt me. He’s too weak.’
My father nodded, though I could see the skin around his eyes tightening. ‘Then the question is settled.’ He turned to Ra’meth. ‘Your boy wasn’t harmed. This was a simple misunderstanding and is now an issue to be resolved by the respective families, not by the court.’
For a moment it appeared as if the matter was done with and we could all return home, but Ra’meth suddenly pointed his rod at Shalla. ‘You. You duelled your brother without sanction or agreement.’ With increasing confidence he turned his fury back on my father. ‘This precocious little wretch of yours attacked an initiate who had only just completed a duel. This crime cannot be ignored. The girl must be counter-banded. Permanently.’
Shalla’s eyes went wide with terror. The very thought of what Ra’meth proposed – of my father being forced to burn counter sigils into her bands, forever denying her the ability to perform any magic whatsoever … For a moment I thought she might actually make a run for it.
My father looked pained. Ferius just laughed.
‘You find our laws funny, Daroman?’ Ra’fan asked, stepping forward to stand by his father’s side.
‘Nah, I just think it’s sweet how you’re all so worked up over Kellen’s well-being when a minute ago you wanted to arrest him. You’re quite the little troop of concerned citizens.
Ra’meth’s rod began to smoulder with shifting blue and red light so thick it was like watching twin snakes slithering around the shaft. ‘Watch your tongue, woman. You know nothing of Jan’Tep power.’
Ferius kept a hand on whatever it was she was holding inside her waistcoat pocket. She let out a smoky breath that filled the air between her and Ra’meth and set him to coughing. ‘I know that if you keep pointing that little stick of yours in my face you’re going to find it lodged somewhere mighty uncomfortable.’ Her lips kept their casual smile but her eyes looked deadly serious.
Ra’meth caught his breath and laughed. ‘Would you draw a weapon on me, Daroman? Would you do battle with a Jan’Tep lord magus? Say yes, I beg you, or simply nod and the duel is sanctioned.’
As if on cue, all three of Ra’meth’s sons lined up in front of us, raw magical force twisting and turning around their arms while their hands prepared the somatic forms for a range of assault spells.
I saw Shalla tense up next to me, then try to calm herself, hands at her sides, fingers twitching with her own spells. Ferius still had her hand inside her waistcoat, no doubt holding some kind of weapon. And me? I guess I can throw myself at them and hope it breaks someone’s concentration.
‘Have you lost your minds?’ my father demanded. ‘By the clan prince’s decree we are forbidden from feuding. He will see your entire house exiled for this!’
The threat of exile should have brought them to their senses, but it didn’t. Ra’fan and Ra’dir smirked. Tennat openly giggled. They looked like jackals grinning over wounded prey. They know something we don’t.
‘I suppose you’ve been distracted this night by the plight of your failed children,’ Ra’meth said. He nodded back towards the centre of the city. ‘How else could you have missed the lights above the palace?’
I looked back, past the homes and shops, all the way to the palace itself. Seven beams of coloured light, so pale they almost disappeared against the backdrop of stars, rose from the roof of the palace to meet the sky. I was too young by far to have ever seen the seven sacred lanterns lit, but even I knew what they meant: the clan prince was dead.