Bard: Chapter 22

Captain Merk rose, extending his hand. Liam shook it.

“Welcome to the guard,” the captain said genially. “We’re happy to have you.”

“I’m grateful for the offer,” Liam replied. It had all been very straightforward and easy. A signed contract lay on the table between them. The captain took up the the document and set it in a tray of other papers on the corner of his desk.

“You’ll have three days to make arrangements and begin training here at headquarters,” the captain went on. “My clerk, Thom, will walk you through what training and initiation look like.”

“Initiation?” Liam asked. That had meant something terrible when he’d served Vultan, and he could very easily believe the guard might treat it in a similar way.

“Just initial introductions and instructions,” Captain Merk replied. “Checking out your uniform, weapons, and such.”

“I see.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and Liam was introduced to Thom, a slight man with nearly white blonde hair who wore his uniform in pristine condition. He outlined where Liam was to report, and gave him a token that showed he was part of the guard. It would let him enter the headquarters, and get past certain checkpoints.

There was a lot of information, and a surprising number of documents that he was expected to look over before he began work. Liam folded them neatly and tucked them into the inner pocket of his coat. Hopefully Laura or Trista would have time to help him sort them out that evening. He took everything in, asked questions, and after a few hours found himself standing in the square again, processing it all.

He turned the guard token over in his hand. It seemed wrong. If they knew anything about where and how he’d learned to fight, they probably wouldn’t have found it quite so impressive, or commending. No one had asked through. The captain, the clerk, and everyone else just seemed happy to have an able body in the guard, regardless of where he had come from.

It was still a bit early to be home, but he didn’t like the idea of trudging all the way back down to the docks and back when there was so little time left in the day. Liam tucked the token into his pocket and made his way back to the flat.

Laura was home first, despite it being too early to be off work. She had the bedrolls unfurled in a haphazard pile and was sitting amongst the blankets, staring out the window.

“Laura?” Liam asked. “Are you not feeling well?”

“Hmm? No, I’m fine.” She met his eyes, but they were glassy and unfocused. Only a moment passed before her gaze slid past him and to the wall behind him. He gave her a gentle shake and she blinked heavily, like she was just waking up, like she was drugged.

“What happened to you?” he asked anxiously.

“Nothing,” Laura said dully. “I’m fine, just a little…sleepy? Maybe?”

“Did something happen at the library?”

“The library?” Laura crinkled her forehead, then shook her head. “I wasn’t at the library today, I don’t think.”

“You don’t think?” Liam repeated, incredulous. “I walked you there this morning.”

“I…I don’t remember…” Laura said slowly, the words seemed to drag out of her. She turned, as if seeing the room for the first time, laughing when she saw the flowers on the table. “Where did those come from?”

“They’re yours,” Liam told her, panic rising in his chest. He did a scan of the room, but it didn’t reveal anything dangerous or threatening. There wasn’t a place in their flat for someone to hide, and they had few enough possessions that something new would have stood out. He checked their small pantry cabinet, and scoured the table, but there was no sign of any strange objects or traces of drugs. Their water smelled normal, and everything looked fine.

While he investigated the flat, Laura stared at the wall. She looked vacant, like she wasn’t actually in her head. The sight made his stomach knot up. This was Laura. She’d taken care of him when she was far too young to be caring for children. He couldn’t sit there and watch her gape at the wall like she was completely addled. Something was very, seriously wrong, and they needed to fix it–he needed to fix it.

But he didn’t know what to do. What caused something like this in the first place? She wasn’t injured, and if she’d been drugged he had no idea what had been used or how long it would take to wear off. An apothecary might know how to fix it, but not without knowing what she'd been given. Was it an illness? Should he get her to a physician? He needed to get her help, and fast, but he didn’t know where to go or how to go about getting her there short of throwing her over his shoulders.

Trista might be able to tell what was going on. She could probably fix it. She could heal people, and look inside them. Liam didn’t like the idea of waiting for her to get home though. Trista was late at the school most days, and whatever had happened to Laura might be getting worse. He’d have to go get her.

“Laura,” he knelt at his sister’s side, and it took three tries to get her attention. She blinked slowly, unfocused and dull. “I’m going to go get Trista, so she can help you. Stay here, alright?”

“Hmm.” Laura nodded, her eyes sliding away from his and down to the floor with little recognition. He wanted to be sick. How could something like this get so bad so quickly?

“I’ll be back soon,” he said at the door. “Don’t worry.”

Laura didn’t look at him. She blinked slowly at the floor.

Outside, Liam took the road to the bard college at a dead sprint. The light was fading, and he wasn’t sure where Trista had classes at this time of week and this time of day. He guessed she would be somewhere in the music hall, but all of the college buildings were so damn big. It would take hours to check every room and office in the music hall and he didn’t want to be away from Laura for a second longer than he had to.

He turned into the main courtyard and forced himself to pause, sucking in a deep breath, his heart pounding in his ears. Panicking wasn’t going to help anything. He needed to get someone to Laura who could help her, and he couldn’t do that by frantically running in circles.

Liam looked up at the hall, taking in the hundreds of windows spilling light into the courtyard and the garden. Trista could sense panic, it was how she’d found them in Ford. If he just let it happen, if he let himself fall into that sense of desperate fear, she might feel it. Would she come find him if she sensed that? Would she even know it was him? She always seemed to know who was around, always knew who was at the door when they knocked.

Pulling one of the big double-doors open, he stepped into the music hall, making no effort to suppress the crawling discomfort he got from the clean and polished interior of the college. He hurried through the corridors, peeking in every room that had lights burning and letting the fear gnaw at him. It was barely a minute before he heard steps on the stairway ahead, and Trista skidded around the corner, going so fast she had to check herself against the wall. She paused, breathing hard and looking him over. Relief flooded him.

“What is it?” she asked. “What’s happened? Are you hurt?”

“Something’s wrong with Laura,” he said. His voice cracked and he swallowed hard. “We need you.”

“Where is she?”

“At home.”

Trista hurried to meet him and led him out of the building. They all but ran home, and Trista was kneeling in front of Laura before Liam even had the door closed behind them. Laura hadn’t moved from her place on the blankets, and barely seemed to notice Trista cupping her face between her hands and peering into her eyes.

“Do you remember anything about today, Laura?” Trista asked gently. Laura thought for a moment, then shook her head. “How about yesterday?”

“What was yesterday?” Laura asked vacantly. “Was it a holiday?”

Liam’s breath caught, and Trista turned to face him.

“Someone tampered with her memories,” she said, and Liam recognized a thinly veiled trembling rage in her voice. She turned back to Laura, moving into her vision. “I can fix it, but I’ll have to reach into your mind to undo all the knots. I’m only going to undo what was done to your memories, nothing else.”

“My head does feel all knotty,” Laura said, scrunching up her nose. She nodded and leaned her head towards Trista.

“It was magic?” Liam asked. “Can you tell what they did, what they covered up?”

“No,” Trista replied, moving her fingers slowly and methodically over Laura’s head. She made a small plucking motion and grimaced. “But they made a mess.”

“But you can undo it?” Liam pressed, sitting on the floor beside both of them. “Is she going to be alright?”

“Yes,” Trista said firmly. “It’s a clumsy tangle, but it’s not permanent.” She gave him a steady look, and her voice softened. “She’s going to be fine, in just a few moments.”

Liam sagged, resting his elbows on his knees and pressing his hands against his eyes. His heart still pounded in his ears. He wanted to weep with relief.

It was just a few moments before Laura gasped. Liam’s eyes flew open. He reached for her as she sat up straighter, blinking rapidly and looking around their flat like she’d only just woken up.

“What in the hells?” she groaned, rubbing her temples.

“It’s still unraveling. You should feel normal in a few minutes,” Trista explained calmly.

Liam clasped his hand on her shoulder, and she dropped one of her hands to his. She looked up at him with her eyebrows furrowed.

“I scared you,” she observed.

Liam wanted to tell her it was fine, and not to worry, but his throat was so tight he didn’t trust himself to speak. Instead, he just nodded, looking down at the floor and leaning in closer. Laura put her arm around him and patted his back.

“Did you see who did it?” Trista asked, offering Laura a cup of water. Laura took the cup and drained it.

“Some old man in the college offices,” she said, shaking her head. “He had a lot of questions about you, and then said something about keeping the conversation private.” She shuddered. “After that I felt…groggy, at best.”

“Someone at the college?” Trista asked, her eyes narrowing. “Did he give you his name?”

Laura shook her head. “No.”

“How were his eyes?”

“White, like he's blind,” Laura said. “Do you know who it is?”

Trista sucked in a slow breath, drawing herself up with an expression Liam hadn’t seen on her face before.

“I do,” she replied, her voice strangely calm.

“Was it the grandmaster?” Liam asked, and Trista nodded. He went to push himself up but Trista took his arm, her grip surprisingly strong.

“I’ll take care of it,” she said quietly. Giving his arm a gentle squeeze, she released him and stood. “Stay with Laura. Make sure she gets something to eat. I’ll be back soon.”

They watched her go, then Liam dug out some cheese and dried apple slices for Laura, grateful for something to do. Laura gulped down more water, and nibbled hesitantly at the food, grimacing every so often. Liam watched her anxiously.

“It’s just things floating back,” Laura said, catching his look and shrugging. “Like when you remember something embarrassing you did years ago.”

“Ugh.”

“Exactly.” Laura slowly chewed a slice of apple. “I don’t like that she went alone. We should go after her.”

“You’re staying here,” Liam said firmly, shifting so he was between her and the door. To his surprise, she didn’t argue, only sighed deeply.

“I probably should,” she admitted. “It’s just…” she rubbed her eyes, “I didn’t even see it coming.”

“Trista will be alright,” Liam said. “She can handle another mage.”

“She ran from something,” Laura said, throwing her hands down. “She isn’t the strongest magic user in the world. There are things out there that can hurt her.”

Liam sat back on his heels, looked at the door.

“Stay here, alright?” he said. Laura nodded, and he went after Trista