Chapter Twenty-One

"Sweet Mother of All," Loralie whispered, going over to pick up the book she had last seen in her mother's library. "This should not be here."

"What is it?" Det asked, moving quickly to her side.

"A book of magic from the Guardian's library. I thought it lost along with all the others," she said softly, touching the book with reverent hands. "My mother let me read this book when she was teaching me." Sudden tears gathered behind her eyes.

"How do you suppose Gebel came into possession of it?" Det asked, his brow furrowed.

"I don't know. I guess it must have been outside the Citadel when my mother triggered the failsafe. Though none of her books were supposed to be taken far from the Gates. I certainly wasn't allowed to do so. Maybe she had it outside for some reason and left it there? I can't imagine how or why such a thing would occur, but it's even less likely that someone went through one of the Gates without my knowledge and took it from its resting place. Moreover, the library was frozen in ice along with my mother. Nobody could free the books without my knowing." She turned to Det, puzzled to her very marrow. "At least, I don't think they could."

"It sounds like you will have to go there and check once we decide what is to be done with Gebel," Det said with a finality she didn't really feel.

Still, his plan had merit. She would have to consider all her options. She had to go back to the Citadel at some point to stop Skir from finding and perverting another mage on the outside to do his bidding.

Was it so wrong that she wanted to postpone that final reckoning? She'd only had one night with Det. She wasn't sure she could have more, but if possible, she realized suddenly, she wanted them. She wanted as much time as she could get with him before she faced that final challenge, but she was walking a thin line. She had to stop Skir's plans before he did something even worse than what he had so far accomplished through Gebel. She couldn't put off her task indefinitely. In fact, she couldn't put it off, in all good conscience, for more than a few more days. Perhaps a week, at most.

Just long enough to spend more time with Det, if he allowed it, and perhaps a final chance to see her children. She wanted to know what Petr looked like now and see how he had grown. She wanted a chance to tell him how much she truly loved him and to apologize for everything that she had done and that had happened. She wanted to hug Penny again and give this book of magic into her keeping. It was the one practical thing she could do to help prepare her daughter for the role of Guardian that would pass to her once Loralie tripped the failsafe.

She was far too young, but so had Loralie been young when she had inherited the title of Guardian. At least Penny would have Det and his people to help her in her task until she was old enough to manage by herself. The fair folk could be trusted to help Penny learn how to guard the Citadel. They would not fail her or their duty to both guard their Gate and aid the hereditary Guardian.

Once they understood who Penny was and how important her task they would assist. Loralie was nearly one hundred percent certain of that. Still, it would be good to make certain before she went to the Citadel for her final act.

"I'm going to propose to the Council that they put Gebel on trial for his crimes," Det said, intruding on her inner reverie. "The truth about his dealing with you and others needs to come out before his fate is decided. It would be too simple to just execute him and be done with it. He has to answer for his crimes before a court, and they will decide his fate."

Loralie had never really considered such a thing, but she had trapped him rather than kill him outright, so maybe somewhere in her subconscious mind, she had been thinking it. If Gebel's crimes were aired in public, perhaps there would be a bit more understanding of Loralie's actions. She didn't really think she could be redeemed by such a thing. It was far too late for her. But it might help Penny and Petr become more accepted by the fair folk. Maybe that's why Loralie had chosen to ice him rather than burn him to cinders as she'd always thought she would do.

"I suppose it makes sense," Loralie replied after thinking it through. "I didn't intend it, but I think it would be good to clear the air for the children's sake."

"And yours," he added gently. She didn't reply. It was sweet that he thought he was trying to help her, but in the reality she saw coming, it wasn't going to matter.

"There are more books over here, milady." Michael's voice came to her, and she blinked, redirecting her attention to the young mage. She had almost forgotten his presence.

Looking to where Michael pointed, her eyes narrowed. There was a shelf with at least a half dozen books on it that looked somewhat familiar. She walked closer cautiously.

Sure enough, there was a magical glyph overlying the entire shelf. She would have to dismantle the spell before the books could be accessed. She set to work, putting the first book into one of the panels of her gown. There were secret compartments within the skirts that could hold quite a bit, and the book fit handily.

About a half hour later, she finally found the right counter-spell to neutralize the glyph, and the books were accessible. One by one, she examined them. All were from the Guardian's library.

"Somehow, the library must have been raided before my mother was able to trigger the failsafe," Loralie said, musing aloud as she peered at the first pages of each book and the marks there that had been made by Guardians of generations past.

"Perhaps that's why she triggered it to include what remained of the library," Det offered, standing by her side. "Maybe encasing the remainder of the books in ice with her was the only way she could think of to stop the enemy from getting more of them."

She looked up to meet his gaze, snapping the final book shut. "You could be right," she told him. "I think you are also right about my having to go and take a look. Most of the library is completely inaccessible, but I'll have to take inventory as best I can when the matter of Gebel is settled. Penny will need to know if more of the books are missing, at the very least. They could prove dangerous."

"What about these books?" Michael wanted to know. "Do they hold forbidden knowledge?"

"Not really," Loralie answered. "These were the books I was allowed to study from as a child, so they mostly contain basic magical information that each Guardian needs to know, though I didn't get through them all. However, in a way, it's good to have these available for Penny. She can study from them and at least get the basic knowledge my mother allowed me when I was her age."

As Loralie opened the last book, a thin piece of parchment fell out of it and onto the floor. She bent to pick it up, gasping as she recognized her mother's handwriting. It was a note. Addressed to her. Loralie quickly scanned it, and tears came to her eyes once more.

"What is it?" Det asked, concern in his tone.

"It's a note from my mother," she told him, still staring at the page in her trembling hand. "She left these books for me. She put them outside the Northern Gate, which was where she sent me that day, but I didn't see them. I knew something was wrong, and I paced until the time she told me I could return. I didn't look around much." Loralie shook her head, remembering that terrible day, then returned her attention to the words in her mother's note. "She says she put these books there for me in case something bad happened to her and that I should study and learn all I could from them." She hiccupped, unable to disclose the rest of her mother's heartbreaking message.

Her mother had known the likely outcome of her plan and had left this note to tell her only daughter and heir how much she loved her. Reading it sent chills down Loralie's spine because she knew exactly the terrible position her mother had been in when she'd written it. Loralie faced a similar challenge and planned a similar outcome.

But knowing what had happened in her own life, how could Loralie go through with it?

How could she not, when the alternative was to let an evil wizard regain more power with each day he wakened a little more? Her choice was to sentence her own family to tragedy or the entire world. There was no good outcome for her and her little family either way.

"There are a few baubles in the chest over here. Gebel left the lid open, and I can see in," Michael said, breaking into her spiraling thoughts.

Loralie straightened. There was still a great deal of work to do here. She had to examine Gebel's belongings and make sure nothing was left here that could possibly be harmful to either the Citadel or the fair folk. She was reasonably certain that the enclave's mages would want to take a hard look at Gebel's things, though Loralie would retain ownership of the books. They were her mother's after all. She would not relinquish them to anyone. Except maybe Penny, who would need the knowledge in them for the future.

Putting the books down on a nearby table, Loralie went to the farthest corner of the room and started her examination. The two men looked at her oddly, so she felt the need to explain.

"I need to look at every inch of this room. Gebel could have hidden things anywhere. The best way to proceed is to start in one corner and work my way around." Michael tilted his head as if considering her strategy, then shrugged and backed away from the small chest he had been peering into. "Just give me a few minutes to do a first pass."

The men stood in the center of the room by the table with the books and watched as she did her best to illuminate any hidden magic that might be lurking along the walls. She found one spot where the ornate wood paneling opened to reveal a hidden compartment. She broke the ward on it, finding a cache of diamonds inside, along with a signet ring that felt sort of sinister. She lifted it, keeping a fold of cloth from her overskirt between her bare hand and the items, then put it all on the table and moved back to her search.

"The signet bears the emblem of Skithdron," Detlif said as he bent to look more closely at the gold ring but wisely did not touch it.

"Not really surprising, considering where he's been getting his forbidden knowledge," Loralie said as she moved along, concentrating on her search. She found another shielded section on the built-in bookshelves farther along the wall. The hidden shelf contained several bags of gold and silver coins.

"That is probably what he pays his mercenaries with," Det observed. "Just one of those gold coins would pay for at least two months of a merc's time and allegiance."

"We never discussed this, but we should split this booty in some way," Loralie said idly as she moved the heavy bags to the table and then continued her search. "I will not give up my mother's books, except to Penny. Likewise, I have no need for coins, but I would like to leave whatever portion is allotted to me to the twins. For their future."

"You're right that we have not yet discussed this, but rest assured, your part in this victory will not be ignored," Det said in a stiff voice. It wasn't really an answer, but she found a third hiding spot and decided to let the matter rest for now.

Opening the third panel, which was built into the floor, she discovered a small bag of colored gemstones, cut and polished, but loose and ready for a jeweler to turn them into something spectacular. Between the three hidden compartments, Gebel had a fortune in gems and precious metals. It didn't make a lot of sense to Loralie, who had never seen riches as a goal in itself.

"With all this, he could hire himself an army that could rival any of the kingdoms," Det muttered as she placed the bag of cut stones on the table with the other loot. She looked at him and saw he was frowning, his expression grim. "Yet the force he had here was not nearly as large as he could afford. Do you think he was gathering all of this loot for his master?"

"If he somehow managed to free Skir, I have no doubt the wizard would not hesitate to gather an army the likes of which has not been seen since the days of the wizard wars. He would conquer the peaceful kingdoms first, then I believe he would go after Gryffid, running over Draconia in the process. The two were bitter enemies in the old days. The only wizard Skir hated more was Dranneth the Wise, or so the tales all say." Loralie went back to her search, having covered one half of the room and starting on the other half. "But nobody knows where Dranneth and the others went after they won the war. Except that Gryffid revealed himself a few years back to the youngest Draconian prince and is now known to be living with a large enclave of fair folk and gryphons on an island far to the south."

"So, you're saying that, if Skir or any of the others trapped in the Citadel are somehow freed, we could be caught in the middle of a renewal of the wizard wars?" Michael said, his voice rising in alarm.

"What did you think would happen if the Citadel was ever breached?" Det asked the younger man.

"I don't really know," Michael answered, cringing. "I guess I thought, if anybody ever escaped, we'd just have to fight them ourselves. All the mages, I mean. I didn't think there would be a renewal of the wizard wars."

Det shook his head as he met Loralie's gaze. She shrugged. Michael was young, but he was a mage. If he hadn't understood what was really at stake here, then the others probably didn't realize the full scope of the problem either.

"You're going to have to explain it to them," Loralie said to Det as she went on with her search.

"I'll do my best," Det promised, looking a bit grim. "Perhaps you can help."

Loralie felt a twinge of apprehension at the thought of speaking to more of Det's people, but if she could help them understand the real danger on their doorstep, she would have to do what she could. She didn't get a chance to say that, though, because at that moment, she ran across another of Gebel's traps, and this time, she sprang it by mistake and not by design.

"Ow!" she yelped as she drew back her hand, but it was well and truly stuck. "Dammit!"

"Hold fast, milady," Michael said, coming over to stand behind her. "Let me see if I can undo the trap. I was watching how you managed the others, and I think I have the way of it."

If he did, Michael was a fast learner. She turned her head, in case anything exploded as he started moving his hands, forming small glyphs of power. She didn't see exactly what he did, but she felt when the trap dismantled, and her hand came free. Only a few angry red marks on her wrist remained.

"Thank you, Mage Michael," she said formally, rubbing her wrist while she examined what had been revealed behind the glyph of concealment.

"It's a map," Michael said unnecessarily.

Det came over, looking over her shoulder. "It's a map of our enclave and the secret passages to the Gate we guard."

"That isn't good," Loralie said quietly, looking up at Det's frowning face. "How could he get such information?"

A heartbeat, then two, counted the silence before Michael spoke.

"Only from someone on the inside," the young mage intoned bleakly.

"Not good," Det agreed with Loralie's view.