“That’s more than we had,” Declan said. “The two of you should get some rest. I’ve arranged for the Guild to assist us in locating Gavin. We’ll find him soon.”
Chapter 51
Awareness returned to Gavin, but all he felt was pain. His head throbbed. His wrists, elbows, and shoulders ached. He could hear the slow drip of water somewhere close, and wherever he was, it was cool, almost cold.
Gavin lifted his head to the accompaniment of rattling chains, and he opened his eyes. He was in a basement or cellar, lit with burning torches that smelled foul. There were no windows or any other way to know if it was day or night. He hung from his arms, the tight manacles around his wrists biting into his flesh. The chains on the manacles were short and anchored in solid stone columns on either side of Gavin. Short chains ran from the stone columns near the floor to the shackles on Gavin’s ankles. Gavin could see runes engraved into the manacles, and to top it all off, he was nude.
The sound of the door unlocking attracted Gavin’s attention, and he labored to lift his head.
There seemed to be a series of locks on the door, and Gavin wrapped the chains at his wrists around his hands and pulled himself to his feet. His shoulders protested such poor treatment, but by the time the door opened, Gavin was standing on his own.
Two men entered. The first through the door was an older man; at least middle age, he was short and wiry with dark hair and a pointed nose. A silver medallion around his neck. The second man walked behind and just to the right of the middle-aged man; a young man, maybe just a few years older than Gavin, he wore dark, matte leather overtop whatever clothes he preferred.
“Ah, good,” the middle-aged man said, “you’re awake. Do you know why you’re here?”
“I think so, but you probably want to tell me,” Gavin said with a sigh.
“I am Iosen of House Sivas, and you killed my son.”
Gavin said, “Your son repeatedly committed one of the most heinous violations of the Arcanists’ Code possible. I know over twenty young women who sleep better now that he’s dead.”
“He was my son!”
Gavin locked eyes with the man and put every bit of his contempt for the man’s son, every bit of his contempt for the man, and his utter unconcern into his expression and voice. “Then, you should have raised him better…or put him down yourself.”
Iosen’s nostrils flared as red crept up his neck, and he said, “I’m going to enjoy watching to you die.”
Chapter 52
It was the end of the second day since Gavin went missing. Declan stood in one of the meeting rooms at the Temple of Valthon, awaiting those he had summoned. Declan chose this venue for one very specific reason, which would become apparent once he shared the information he had acquired not too long before.
This meeting room was no different than its fellows that were scattered around the upper floor of the temple. It was a bit larger, at 20 feet by 30 feet, and the table that dominated the room was a massive, oaken construct that carried the weight of its years with an understated dignity. Like all other original-construction buildings in Tel Mivar, the walls were a white, marble-like stone with strains of gray, black, and the occasional brown, and sconces that neither burned fuel nor radiated heat lit the room.
Declan stood by the room’s sole window, gazing out over the city, and he turned when the door behind him opened. He watched Lillian, Mariana, Wynn, and Braden enter the room. Ovir entered after them and closed the door.
“What’s going on, Declan?” Lillian asked. “Why are we not meeting in Gavin’s suite?”
“Because what I have to say is not for Kiri’s ears,” Declan said.
“Is-Gavin-dead?” Wynn asked.
Declan shook his head, saying, “Not yet. Iosen Sivas arranged for Gavin to be taken, and he is in the process of torturing Gavin to death somewhere on his estate as we speak. Perhaps, you can see now why I did not want Kiri to know of this yet.”
Lillian pulled a chair back from the table and sat, her shoulders slumped. She worked her lower lip between her teeth for several moments before turning back to face Declan.
“She’d be a mess,” Lillian said.
Declan nodded.
“So,” Braden said, “what do we do?”
Declan sighed and said, “I just acquired this information not too long ago, as well as independent confirmation through my own sources. The Guild was very eager to assure us that they were not involved…not even through deniable assets. As for what we do, it seems to me the only answer is we go get him.”
“I have the Warpriests of Tel standing ready,” Ovir said, approaching the table. “Say the word, and we march.”
Declan met Ovir’s gaze, saying, “I’m not sure this is something you should be taking sides in, Ovir. We have deniable assets of our own that would be far less conspicuous.”
“I don’t answer to you, Declan,” Ovir said. “Our side is already chosen…by the only one who can.”
Lillian and her friends turned to stare at Ovir, their eyes wide.
“Valthon has an interest in Gavin?” Mariana said.
Ovir gave Mariana a saintly smile and said, “Valthon has an interest in all of us, child. Don’t you remember the clerics’ teachings?”
Before anyone could respond, the door opened and swung back to slam against its stop. Lyssa Cothos, Torval Mivar, Sypara Wygoth, and Carth Roshan entered the room.
“Why are we just now learning that Gavin has disappeared?” Lyssa said.
“Mother,” Mariana said, “we’re handling it.”
“Handling it?” Lyssa said. “Mari, aside from you, the others are all students. None of you even have the authority-”
“They don’t,” Declan said, “but I do.”
“A traveling bard?” Carth said. “How do you have any authority, especially in something like this?”
Declan leaned forward to rest his fists on the table, and in doing so, he exposed a portion of the tattoo on the inside of his left wrist. The movement drew Lyssa’s eyes, and her gaze locked on the tattoo. Lyssa stood stock still and silent for several seconds before she blinked and shook her head, as if to clear it. When she lifted her eyes to Declan once more, Lyssa’s complexion had lost its color.
“You’re handling it?” Lyssa asked, her eyes locked on Declan.
“Yes, Lyssa,” Declan said, “we are.”
“You know where he is?”
Declan nodded, saying, “He’s somewhere at Sivas Manor. Iosen is intent on torturing him to death.”
“Does anyone know if the Sivas manor-wall has embedded protections like those of the Duchy Estates?” Ovir said.
“It does not,” Torval said. “By the time Sivas reached the point they could construct a manor house, no wizards capable of embedding those effects still lived…at least none who were willing to help Sivas.”
“When do we strike?” Carth asked.
Declan shook his head, saying, “You’re going about this all wrong. If we make a frontal assault without knowing Gavin’s precise location, Iosen will have all the time he needs to slit Gavin’s throat before we can reach him. We must secure Gavin, first. Then-and only then-do we conduct punitive operations.”
“‘Punitive operations,’” Braden said. “I like the sound of that.”
A sprawling demesne, the Sivas Estate occupied an area twice the size of the Mivar Estate. Unlike the Mivar Estate, though, Sivas used his estate as the headquarters of the far-flung commercial interests his family had developed throughout the centuries. Large warehouses, stables, wainwrights, and blacksmiths were just some of the industries represented inside the Sivas Estate.