Shadow Heir

As for me, the disorientation returned, again messing with my sense of balance. I nearly joined Jasmine on the floor but just barely managed to stay upright. I didn’t do so gracefully, however, and probably looked like some kind of drunken ballet dancer. With only Varia for an audience, I didn’t really care.

“What ... are you doing?” I asked through clenched teeth, still fighting to keep control.

“What I do naturally,” Varia replied. “Come now. Did you think that I had no power of my own? That I only organized others into doing my errands?”

To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about it. We’d talked a lot about the complex group spells worked in the Yew Land. The fact that she ruled a kingdom implied she possessed considerable magic, but the specifics had been less important in the face of the blight’s greater threat. Now, as a grating buzzing filled my ears, I realized Varia must have some ability to affect a person’s equilibrium and neurological functions. In less scientific gentry terms, she could “mess with your head.”

It was astonishing and frustrating how crippling this was. In some ways, it was a lot like my helplessness with healing. Gentry magic expressed itself in a wide variety of forms, and mine was primarily a physical manifestation. If she’d started hurling fireballs at me, I could’ve answered her in kind with tangible elements. This kind of attack—invisible and almost psychic in nature—wasn’t anything I could throw a lightning bolt at. I could throw a lightning bolt at her, but that was going to require me pushing back against this mind melt—and right now, that was pretty damned difficult. The best I could hope for was that the others in the hall would show up before she killed us. Surely she couldn’t exert this kind of control over a bunch of people, and maybe someone would be more resistant than—

I gasped as a revelation came to me. Mustering my strength, I tried to ignore her mental attack as best I could in order to extend my homemade wand. I managed to recite Volusian’s summoning words, unsure if I could actually get him when I was in such a compromised state. Miraculously, he appeared.

“Volusian!” I exclaimed. “Help us.”

Volusian didn’t respond right away. He didn’t even look at me, really. Despite his shifting, flickering form, his red eyes burned bright and steady as he fixed them on Varia.

“Varia, daughter of Ganene,” he said, almost politely. “You resemble your mother.”

Varia frowned, and I felt the slightest easing of the magic she was working on me. Apparently, she could only focus on a limited number of things, which boded well for when my reinforcements arrived. Which I hoped would be soon.

“Who are you?” Varia demanded. “What are you? There’s something about you ... familiar and not familiar.”

“I should be familiar, as I still bear the brand of your mother and grandmother’s magic.”

Her eyes flicked to me, as though recalling my words when I’d called him. “Volusian? Surely not ... not that Volusian. He died long ago.”

“Dead and not dead,” he said. “Per the terms of the curse.”

While I was sure Volusian’s life history was fascinating, we had no time for it. “Volusian, enough small talk! Do something to help us!”

“Gladly, mistress.”

Volusian moved as though to attack but didn’t get far when Varia shrieked, “No!” Her mental attack on me disappeared, and instead, I felt a ripple of invisible power go through the air and threaten to unravel the bonds that held me and Volusian together. His image flickered, and I could barely believe what was happening.

“Impossible,” I murmured. “She’s trying to banish him.” Considering I couldn’t even banish him alone, I at first thought this must mean Varia was far more formidable than I’d suspected. Then, thinking about the conversation I’d just overheard, I reconsidered. If she had some sort of familial connection to Volusian’s curse, she might also possess an inherent ability to shatter it and send him from this world. Volusian was a pain in the ass, but I couldn’t risk losing an ally like him—especially now. I was in possession of my powers once more and used them to slam Varia into a wall with a blast of wind. At the impact, her grip on Volusian loosened, and my bonds to him reestablished themselves.

“I’m doing you a favor!” she hissed to me. “You want nothing to do with a black wizard like him! He’s evil and traitorous!”

“You can thank your mother and grandmother for that,” returned Volusian smoothly. “I would have been the most loyal of servants if they hadn’t betrayed me. Had I been able to then, I would’ve made them pay. Instead, I had to wait all these centuries until I was bonded to someone strong enough to bring me back to this wretched land. I would rather take my revenge on Ganene and Onya than you, but I’ve long learned to make do with what I have.”