The Power and the Glory

Book 4 Chapter XII: Abi Finds Out

Warning: contains zombie-related gore.

Fault-lines tremble underneath my glass house
-- Sleeping At Last, Earth

Zi Yao took a careful step towards the window. Lian and Lady Yuan hovered behind him, far enough away that he was walking on his own but close enough to catch him if he fell. He made it safely to the window before his legs began to wobble. His mother promptly scooped him up and carried him back to bed in spite of his protests.

"That's enough walking for you today," she told him as his servants tucked him in.

"He's getting stronger," Lian said. "Tomorrow I think he'll be strong enough to have a short walk in the garden."

Someone coughed politely behind him. He turned to find a servant he didn't recognise. The man bowed to Lady Yuan then told Lian, "The foreign princess wishes to see you urgently."

Lian blinked in confusion. "Me? Are you sure she doesn't want to see Prince Mirio?"

"No, sir. She specifically stated she means you, and said she wants to meet you at the bridge. She told me you would know the place she means."

~~~~

When Lian arrived at the bridge he found Abi pacing back and forth.

"You said there was something wrong with my magic," she started without any explanation. "What did you mean? Is it still there?"

Lian studied her magic. "Yes, it's as if you've cast a spell that's sustaining itself."

Abi nodded grimly as if she'd thought as much. "What sort of spell is it?"

That unfortunately was a question he couldn't answer. She'd need to ask a scholar who specialised in how different spells affected a person's magic. "I don't think it was cast recently. It looks like it's been there for about a month. Long enough to establish itself and not need any conscious thought to control it."

"Do you think it's necromancy?"

He paused and thought very hard for a while. "I can't tell. Honestly it looks more like a healing spell."

Abi made an exasperated noise and resumed her pacing. "I've never cast any healing spells. I don't know how. Unless you count resurrecting Ilaran, and look how that's gone for both of us."

Lian looked at her magic again. There was something about it that he knew should seem familiar. After a minute he realised what it was. "Have you by any chance visited the Land of the Dead?" Abi nodded with a shudder. "It's left its mark on your magic."

"Then it is necromancy."

~~~~

To Ilaran's relief the telepathic link seemed to fade after a day of consciously trying to block it out. Abihira's thoughts became increasingly indistinct and finally turned into nothing but a faint hum in the background. Therefore he wasn't amused when she did the telepathic equivalent of knocking at his door and then coming in anyway. He was especially unamused because she did it during a council meeting.

What do you want? I'm busy! he snapped. Luckily he had perfected the art of keeping a blank expression at all times. Councillor Osiamil continued droning on in the background, blissfully unaware that his prince wasn't even listening. But then, Ilaran rarely listened to Osiamil. The man hadn't had an original thought in his life and only stayed on the council because his county -- for reasons beyond Ilaran's comprehension -- continued to elect him vatun[1] after vatun.

Sorry. I just wanted to ask if you still feel something strange.

Ilaran considered this for a moment. Yes, I do.