Tristan shot Celeste a quizzical look, then walked over to Wigg. An eerie silence still commanded the room. Wigg's eye was still trained upon the lens at the top of the signature scope as though he thought that if he stared at the blood signature long enough, he might somehow change what he was seeing. Tristan placed a hand upon the First Wizard's shoulder.
"Wigg," he said quietly, "are you all right?"
Wigg looked up at the prince. It was plain to see that he was overcome.
"What's wrong?" Tristan asked.
"It's her blood signature," Wigg breathed. He looked over at Jessamay. "You knew, didn't you?" he asked. "That's why you wanted me to use the scope."
Jessamay nodded.
Sensing Jessamay's pain, Celeste walked over and put her arms around the older woman. Jessamay gave Celeste a startled look. Then she looked back at Wigg. A strange mixture of sadness and surprise had suddenly come over her face. Celeste held Jessamay closer.
"What did you see through the scope?" Celeste asked her father.
Wigg sighed. "Do you remember my telling you that blood signatures lean either to the left or to the right?" he asked. Tristan and Celeste nodded.
"If the signature leans to the right, then its owner is induced to practice the Vigors," Tristan said as if reciting a lesson. "And if it leans to the left, the Vagaries. The lean is determined at birth, and it is immutable."
Wigg nodded, then shook his head in wonder. "Jessamay's signature displays no lean whatsoever," he said.
Tristan scowled. "But you said that was impossible!"
"That's right," Wigg said. "And until this afternoon, that's what I believed. But the proof is right here, on this table."
He went to sit on the bed. As Celeste moved aside, he took one of Jessamay's hands.
"Failee did this to you, didn't she?" he asked. "It was part of her experimentation."
Using her free hand to wipe away her tears, Jessamay nodded.
"It was so horrible," she whispered. "I was the only one who survived. Even so, Failee hadn't quite finished her work."
"What do you mean?" Tristan asked.
"Failee was trying to convert her signature from right-leaning, to left," Wigg answered for Jessamay. "But you killed the First Mistress before it was done."
He shook his head. "Jessamay and the others were here the entire time we were. They were only two rooms away, and we never realized it. If only we had known…"
He looked back down at the terrified sorceress. "I'm right, aren't I?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "Failee wished to convert disciples of the Vigors to willingly serve the Vagaries by altering their blood signatures," she said.
"Had she completed her work, our world would be a far different place. During her last session with me, she bragged about how close she was."
"Who were the other subjects in the alcoves?" Celeste asked.
Wigg's mouth suddenly fell open and he covered his face with his palms. He shook his head gently.
"They were my other female officers of the Black Watch, weren't they?" he asked, his voice muffled by his hands.
Jessamay touched Wigg's face. "Yes," she answered. "She never told us what became of the male Black Watch officers she captured. Killed, presumably. We females were brought here by Succiu, when she returned from her raid on Eutracia. Failee gloated about it, telling us that she now possessed not only us, but the Paragon and the Jin'Saiou, as well. She said that nothing could stand in the way of her creating her fifth sorceress. Katherine, Jessica, Phaedra, Mallory-" Her voice broke. "Not all of us, but many. You and the other wizards no doubt thought us killed in battle. But we were here, suffering under Failee's hand. The bones of my Black Watch sisters lie in the alcoves below."
"What is the Black Watch?" Tristan asked.
Wigg rubbed his face. "The Black Watch was an elite fighting force formed during the height of the Sorceresses' War," he said. "Each officer was endowed. They were trained in the craft as best we knew how during those early days of the war-and all were devoted to the Vigors. They commanded handpicked Eutracian citizens who had volunteered for hazardous duty. Using hit-and-run tactics, the Black Watch came to be the scourge of the Coven." He paused for a moment, looking up at the prince.
"As the commander of all the forces fighting the Coven, I also oversaw the Black Watch. Jessamay was my most accomplished commander. We fought side by side many times. She saved my life twice."
He looked back down at Jessamay. "There is still something I do not understand. That was more than three hundred years ago. In between your capture and Succiu's bringing you here, where were you kept?"
A dark look came over Jessamay's face. "We were held prisoner in individual sorceress' cones, deep in the Caves of the Paragon," she answered. "For nearly three hundred years we lingered there, under Failee's charms of endurance. During the Coven's banishment, we were watched over by a mad, half-human, half-blood stalker named Ragnar."
For several long moments no one spoke. Tristan took Celeste's hand. They had both been scarred by Ragnar, but his treatment of Celeste-three hundred years of abuse and torture-was by far the worse.
Another sudden look of understanding crossed Wigg's face. Staring out at nothing, he slowly nodded his head. Then he balled his hands up into fists.
"Of course!" he whispered. "So that is how Nicholas managed it! I should have guessed sooner!"
"What?" Tristan asked.
"Nicholas' conversion of the consuls," Wigg answered. "We were never sure how he enticed them to the Vagaries. Now we know."
Tristan nodded. "Failee must have finished her research at some point, and recorded the calculations in the Scroll of the Vagaries," he mused. "But I obviously killed her before she could complete the spell upon Jessamay-or Shailiha and me, for that matter. Then the Scrolls somehow came into Nicholas' possession. He used the same calculation to convert the consuls, before he hid them in the Gates of Dawn."
"During my time with her, Failee talked about the Scrolls, and the science of Forestallments," Jessamay said. "Where are the Scrolls now?"
Tristan exchanged glances with Wigg. "The Scroll of the Vigors is safe in Eutracia," he said. "But the Scroll of the Vagaries is in the possession of…other forces. And I fear we have not heard the last of its new owner."
Jessamay took hold of Wigg's robe. Her eyes searched his face.
"I must speak to you alone," she said. "It is vital. I mean no disrespect to the Jin'Sai or to your daughter, but you must grant me this request."
Wigg smoothed her hair. He nodded.
"Very well," he said, "if it means that much to you."
Wigg looked over at Tristan and Celeste. Tristan nodded, and escorted Celeste from the room. Then Wigg turned back to his old friend.
"First I must ask you a question," he said. "I must admit that we did not come here searching for you. We came seeking someone else. Someone known as the 'Scroll Master.' Do you know anything about him?"
"I do," Jessamay said. "From what Failee said, it sounded as if he resides in Eutracia, where he guards something called the Well of Forestallments. I will gladly tell you what I know of that later. But right now you must let me speak. When I tell you, you will understand why."
"What is it?"
Jessamay looked away for a moment. When her gaze returned to him, her eyes were again full of tears.
"Your daughter is dying," she whispered.
For several long moments Wigg felt frozen in time. As his mind started to work again, he stared blankly at Jessamay. Anger boiled up within him.
Suddenly he grabbed Jessamay by the shoulders. His powerful aquamarine eyes seemed to bore right through her.
"You lie!" he shouted.
Jessamay turned her face away.
"You couldn't possibly know such a thing! You have been locked away for nearly three centuries! Celeste is fine!"
"Please, Wigg, you must listen to me!" Jessamay said quietly. "You have no idea how much it hurts me to tell you this."