Breach

By the time Reagan and Liam returned to Aislinn’s, exhausted and beaten down by the rain, two of Alan’s subordinates were walking out the door. They nodded to Reagan as they passed.

Reagan rushed in, hoping to see Elisa, but instead he found Aislinn hugging Braiden by the fire. Her face was bright red, her eyes puffy, but she had the biggest smile Reagan had ever seen. She got up as Reagan entered, but she held Braiden’s hand as though afraid he would disappear again if she let him go. With her free hand, she motioned for Reagan to come closer.

“Come dry off by the fire, deary,” she said, looking at Reagan with tears glistening in her eyes. “They told me you and Elisa found him by the shore, and you two rescued him from beneath the dam then healed him. I can’t thank you both enough.”

“Is Elisa here?” Reagan asked, shivering. He gratefully accepted the blanket Aislinn offered. From the corner of his eye, he caught Liam shaking his head.

“She’s still with Alan, I’m afraid,” Aislinn said, looking down at the damp rug beneath her feet. “He’s a good man, but he’s a stickler for rules and regulations. His men said she found an amulet, and he and Ronan need to investigate the circumstances.”

Despite the heat of the fire and the warmth of the blanket Aislinn had draped over his shoulders, Reagan shuddered. Everything around him felt ice cold, and he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. They’ll find out it’s a fake. Elisa’s going to die because of me. I played the coward, and someone else will pay the price again.

Catching the look on his face, Liam said, “I’ll go check on her.” He offered Reagan his best attempt at a comforting smile before leaving, but he couldn’t hide the fear in his own eyes.

Aislinn, too, caught Reagan’s worried expression and pulled him into a warm, comforting hug. “Don’t worry, deary. Alan’s a gentleman -- he’ll make sure she’s warm and safe for now, and knowing him, he’ll personally escort her home as soon as he can. She saved my precious boy, and I haven’t even had a chance to thank her yet.”

“And,” Braiden jumped in. “Liam will keep her safe too!”

Reagan tried his best to smile. “That’s right,” he said. “I’m sure he will.” If only he could.

“Now,” Aslinn said, pulling away. “Sit by the fire, and let me bring you a hot bowl of soup while you dry off. We can’t have you catching your death from running around in this storm. And let me take a look at that gash on your chin, too. You don’t want to let that get infected.” She insisted on cleaning it with a wet towel.

Reagan lacked the energy to argue, and as he sat by crackling logs, exhaustion caught up to him. He ate a bowl of potato and cabbage soup without tasting it, then hobbled off to bed with the blanket still wrapped tight around his shoulders. Liam had yet to return by the time an uneasy sleep took him.

Reagan awoke to the other side of the bed still empty. Liam was perched at his side, watching him with an uneasy look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Reagan asked, bolting upright.

“She said not to worry,” Liam started, hesitating. “But Ronan’s transporting Elisa to the capital this afternoon.” He looked toward the window. “They should be leaving shortly, actually.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Reagan said, leaping out of bed. “We have to get to her before they leave.” A cold fear wrapped around him, and panic injected adrenaline into his veins. I can’t let her die in my place. Not again. I have to stop this.

“What do you think you can do?” Liam said, standing. He tried to block the way out the door, but his incorporeal body was no use.

Reagan rushed out into the living room and almost ran directly into Aislinn, who was carrying a bowl of soup on a tray.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” she said with a bright smile. “I was worried you might not be feeling well.”

Reagan forced himself to slow for long enough to say, “Thank you for taking care of us. I’ll be taking my leave now,” with a quick bow of his head.

Aislinn didn’t have the chance to say anything before he was running out the door with his coat still in his hands and his sword poorly strapped to his waist.

“Where are you going?” Liam said over his shoulder.

“To stop the caravan,” Reagan said under his breath. He had enough awareness to check his surroundings for passersby before speaking.

The rain had stopped sometime in the night, and the sun was high in the sky, peeking through clouds as it tried to dry the soaked, muddy ground. The storm had thrown half the town in disarray: torn shutters littered the streets, flowerbeds had spilled their contents all about, fallen tree branches blocked several paths. The townspeople Reagan passed were dumping full buckets out into the streets or struggling to patch holes in their roofs.

“How are you planning to stop an entire caravan guarded by several men, including the town’s two mages?”

“I don’t know.” But this didn’t slow Reagan down as he took a left between two buildings.

“Elisa said not to come.”

“She’s also the one who insisted on making me… in the first place. If she’d let me get the physician instead, or the apothecarist, or literally anyone…” Resentment tried to take the place of worry, but it failed miserably. He shook his head and ran faster.

“You don’t even know where they’re heading out from.”

Reagan finally slowed. He passed a busy storefront and put enough distance between himself and the townspeople before finally saying, “Then show me,” when he was out of earshot.

“Not until you listen for a second.” Liam intercepted Reagan again, and this time, Reagan stopped. “I was with her last night, during Alan’s interrogation. This is just routine business -- they have to send her to the capital to complete the investigation, and then a caravan will escort her back if she wishes to return. She’s not in any danger right now, but if you go up there and cause a fuss, you’ll be putting her in danger.”

Reagan hesitated, reluctant to give in. He looked behind Liam in the general direction of one of the town’s main exit routes, past the belltower he’d seen when they entered. “Do they have any suspicion about the amulet being…?” He didn’t dare finish his sentence.

Liam shook his head. “From what I saw, they have no idea it’s fake. It looked identical to Alan’s. He took it into another room to test it out, and when he came back, he assured Ronan it was real.”

How could it possibly have passed the test? The book said it isn’t possible to transfer magic through objects… He couldn’t voice these thoughts aloud, either.

“I don’t understand…” was all Reagan could say.

“The point is, she’s safe now, but she won’t be if they start to suspect something’s off.” Liam couldn’t meet his eyes as he said, “I don’t think they’d let her live, either, if they found out who you are. If she reveals the truth about their magic…”

It would cause a lot of trouble. Reagan nodded. “Okay, we’ll follow the caravan out, and keep an eye on her in the capital. If anything goes south there, we-”

His words were cut off by a low hum starting in the opposite direction.

“That must be Ronan putting up the caravan barrier,” Liam said. A worried look flashed through his eyes, but he turned away to hide it from Reagan.

Reagan counted the crescendos before the hum abruptly stopped, and the weight in the pit of his stomach grew heavier. If anything goes wrong during the journey or in Omstadt, it’ll be all my fault.

“She doesn’t blame you, you know,” Liam said. “And she doesn’t regret her decision, either. She wanted me to tell you that.”

Reagan grunted in response. “Let’s stock up at the general store, then we’ll head out before it gets dark. He shoved his hands in the pocket of his coat and kept his head down as he walked toward the store, trying futilely to keep his mind off the caravan that would soon be departing Vierdorth.

Reagan had only purchased a few rations of jerky when the first belltower sounded its loud, echoing alarm.