Chapter 50: And All is Laid Bare

Castile's dark gray duster cloak was draped behind as she focused on the far side of the stable yard. I was in the largest trough but suddenly felt confined and trapped as my question hung unanswered. Finally, Castile said, "I am going to tell you a story. I do not wish it repeated." Still staring straight ahead, her hand graced the top of the water in the tub. Her hand skated across the surface, and I tensed as it passed over my lower body, but she never looked down, just straight ahead. I nodded, as that was what she was waiting for.

She started her tale with a quiet whisper only I could hear, "When I was a little girl, my mother told me of my grandfather. He was from a place called Madridspain. He came into his magic late in life. But he was powerful. He could teleport almost an entire mile. He could draw aether directly from the ley lines and travel along the ley lines with amazing haste by combing both abilities." She shifted her weight, and I found myself staring up at her stoic profile just above me.

She heaved a sigh, "I never met him, but my mother talked about him and his amazing magic. His most impressive magic was an obliterate spell. He could banish people out of existence. It was from the void sphere of magic, his strongest sphere of magic." She paused and looked down into my eyes, "He was called to the Emperor's service. He was to be made a court mage and wed to a duchess, a First Citizen, and my grandmother's marriage to him was to be annulled. He told my grandmother he would go to the Emperor and reject his offer."

Her eyes returned to looking in the distance. "My grandmother got a letter a month later saying my grandfather had died fighting the enemies of the Empire." Her tone was laced with doubt.

She sighed, "When I was tested on my coming-of-age at a tablet I and was found strong enough to attend the Mage Academy, I did so. My mother warned me never to show my true strength, or I might end up like my grandfather. I followed her advice but also spent long nights in the library reading everything I could about other worlders. I never found notes on another one from Madridspain, which surprised me."

My heart started beating rapidly in my chest. At this moment, I could move Castile's heart into my space and end her. Instead, I tried to remain calm, shifted in the water, and asked, "What else did you learn?"

Still looking forward, I saw her smile, it looked odd on her normally impassive face. "I learned other worlders always arrive in groups according to the Empire records. They always have access to multiple affinities of the rare magics. And that the Emperor always calls any other worlder with void magic as his strongest affinity to his service." She looked at me, "Do you know what happens when you use an essence collector on a mage with a primary magic affinity over fifty?"

"No. What happens?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"An essence is always formed in relation to that affinity—always formed," she stressed. "The Emperor is the most powerful void magic user ever recorded. My grandfather was not the only void mage sent to serve the Emperor who met an unfortunate fate. The public records are stricken and hard to find, but even then, I found over twenty in the last three hundred years of his rule." Castile stood, removing herself from the edge of my tub.

"You never answered my question," I asked stupidly. "Why do you think I am an other worlder?"

She smiled coyly, "You should talk more with your legion mates, Eryk. They would have told you I am famous for three spells. Shadow chains, dispel aether and the all-seeing eye. You have seen me use my shadow chains. My dispel aether is powerful as it allows me to dispel another mage's aether as they try to form a spell. You have also seen me use my all-seeing eye a few times. I summon an invisible aetheric ball that I can send anywhere to scout. My eyes see through it. It can pass through walls and can be sent hundreds of feet away from me. I was using that spell on the wall yesterday," she smiled at the panic in my eyes.

"And what have you seen with your all-seeing-eye that makes you think I am an out-worlder?" I asked weakly.

She snuck a peak in the water again, and I felt myself flushing red for some reason. Her small frame gazed down at me like a colossus, "You did not get the single room by accident, Eryk. I figured you would feel safe inside it to reveal your secrets and asked Linus to tell you first about the move to the villa."

"What? Why would you do that?" I asked as I thought about taking Castile's heart again.

"It was the dungeon. I sent my eye to check on you and found you bathing in the waters furiously, trying to clean yourself and your armor. I assumed you went into the next chamber and fought another monster. I immediately ordered everyone out of the dungeon as I did not want the First Citizen to take whatever prize you may have recovered from the final monster in the dungeon."

"So you want that prize for yourself," I asked a little frostily. I did not even know what the pendant did.

"So you did recover something? Interesting." Her eyebrows arched in thought, "No, you can keep whatever coin and prize you obtained from the dungeon."

"Then what do you want?" I asked, thinking there was maybe a way out of this. "Are you going to turn me over to the Emperor?"

She laughed harshly, "Why would I do that? It would gain me nothing but a pat on the back. I want you to know we are on the same side."

She started to leave, and I asked, "What else did you see with your all-seeing-eye?"

She smiled knowingly, "I know you like the griffin pillow the men gave you. They think you sold it, so keep it hidden. I also know you studied a healing spell form and can now heal yourself of flesh wounds." My mind raced to all the things I had done in the privacy of my tiny room, with the door locked and the window blocked. She could not have been watching me all the time? Not in the middle of the night, when I...

"Did you get an essence from the elf mage?" She interrupted my thoughts.

"What? The elf from the Bartiradians?" I asked numbly. Castile's eyes were hard, her smile gone, and stared through me. "Yes," I admitted. "It was brown with swirls in it."

Her eyes sparkled at my admission, "Do you still have it, what size was it?"

"No, I consumed it. It was an apex essence," I admitted.

"Pity, High Mage Dacian would have given a fortune for an apex earth essence—an opportunity lost. Know, Eryk, powerful mages always give an essence. The chance of an essence coalescing rapidly decreases after thirty minutes. Before that tipping point in time, I got to that mage, and no essence formed, so I strongly suspected you had Durandus'collector. I admit I was confused at the Tribunal Trial. Your control over your dimensional space is exceptional to have brought out that perfect cube of sand."

She smirked, "It was after the failed essence from the mage that I started to watch you even more closely." She sized me up in the tub again, "If we escape this city, we can talk again about your other affinities." She turned and left me in the cold water.

I was stunned. I had been found out—I think. Castile knew about my larger dimensional space. I never confirmed I was an other worlder for her, though. I dunked my head under to feel the cold water one last time. I dressed and drank the cure disease potion before returning to the villa. I used the potion even though my healing spell form worked, as I did not want to take any chances of having my eyes rot out of my skull. The potion was extremely bitter and reminded me of sour grapes without any sweetness. It worked, though, and I could feel remnants of the disease with my healing aether disappear as the potion eliminated all traces.

Walking the streets back to the villa, the hot, humid weather was oppressive, easily past 100 degrees (Fahrenheit). The Bartiradian mages had turned up the temperature again today, so I suspected the fog was going to be much denser tonight, and Konstantin was sure they planned to attack. I entered the villa just before the mid-day meal, and everyone was just waking up from their nap after patrol and getting lunch in the kitchen.

Flavius spotted me first, "Crap, Eryk, Pluto must hate you to keep turning you away from his domain!" Everyone crowded in on me to hear my tale of battle, death, and being revived once again by Castile after trading one of her prized magic artifacts for my cure poison potion. As I wove my tale, I made sure to stress Castile's sacrifice in front of the men. She deserved that much.

Benito praised, "Just like a story of myth, except in yours, it is the woman that saves the man!" This got a whole bunch of jabs at how unmanly it was for a woman to sacrifice so much to save a plain legionnaire like me. I just wanted to get some sleep in my not-so-private room. Castile was at the Legion Hall—so maybe she could not spy on me from so far away...

Adrian broke up lunch, "Everyone, get some sleep. We are all headed to the Trader's Gate before sunset. It is likely there will be an attack tonight."

A few men on punishment details spent their afternoon fortifying the villa under Konstantin's direction. We were not planning on defending the villa but actually retreating to the Citadel if the inner city wall fell. The three men were being punished for going into the city alone.

I found myself in my tiny room. I decided to send all my possessions into my dimensional space. No one was paying much attention to me, and Castile and Delmar were at the Legion Hall, and Adrian probably was headed there as well. No one would notice my room was clean. Also, Castile already knew my space was larger.

I slept restlessly with dreams that everyone in the company was watching me as I slept. Mateo woke me with loud, continuous banging on my door. "Come on, Eryk. It is time to go and stop the entire Bartiradian army while the regulars watch and sip ale."

I geared up in my full armor, and sliding on the metal helm felt oddly comforting. I carried a short sword and dagger on my belt and a medium round shield. If I wanted to throw a spear, there would be pilums on the wall. All three of my bows were in my dimensional space as I was tasked with ferrying arrows to the real archers.

I looked over my small room for the last two weeks and felt I might not see it again. I left the room nice and tidy. Brutus, Mateo, and Felix waited for me. Everyone else had left. Brutus handed me a satchel, "Lirkin prepared everyone two days' rations and two canteens of lemon water." I checked to find two canteens and seven bundles wrapped with string, "One is your dinner. If we don't hurry, Adrian will send the Legion Hounds after us."

We made our way to Trader's Gate in the oppressive heat of the late day. To distract ourselves, we talked about our favorite foods. Mateo liked something that sounded like pulled chicken smoothed in a spicy, sweet sauce. Felix liked something akin to a corn tortilla with carmelized cheese on it. Brutus was happy with a dessert made from heavy cream and spirits. It needed to be made cold and served cold as the cream was whipped into a thick consistency. My favorite food, sadly enough, was fried chicken—with all 11 herbs and spices.

Adrian eagerly sent all four of us latecomers to the wall to take watch. My friends blamed me for having to spend the last two hours in the miserable heat of the day. As the sun set, it was like a switch had been flicked, and the air conditioning had been started. Almost immediately, wisps of fog began to rise from the fields separating the wall and the enemy encampment. As the temperature plummeted, the enemy was soon obscured by a thickening fog.

Adrian walked over to us, "Get down in the tower. The regulars are coming up now to man the walls. Do not get too comfortable. I have a feeling they are going to test us tonight." We could hear muted horns in the distant army as if Adrian were prophetic.