“You what? Some realms are dangerous places if you don’t have magic or know much of the world.” Reckless move, especially for Saris. “How did they even use a portal? Did this guard have magic?”
“No. I don’t know how. I think Lady Nyanda attempted to open a portal when the soldiers broke into her rooms. When I turned around, the guard and the baby were gone.” Saris took a dainty sip of tea. “For seasons upon seasons, I’ve tried to determine where they went.”
“You have more magic than you show, sister. Is it possible you conjured the portal?”
“Such a feat takes more magic than I’d ever have. Believe me, I tried. I worry something may have happened, and the fairies I sent didn’t find either of them, but you know how flighty fairies can be. I believe they may be in the human realm.” Saris fixed Wycke in place with a hot glare that should’ve burned his skin. “You’ve been to the human realm before…”
Wycke sank back. “How did you know?”
Saris gave a lopsided smile. “I know you, dear brother, more than you’d ever realize. Imagine my surprise when I sensed you crossing a portal.”
“You never said anything.”
Saris took Wycke’s hand. “You’re as much a prisoner here as I. We live in beautiful cells with an illusion of freedom, but we’re never allowed to venture out of Dhugach. Neither of us has ever returned to Myrgren, even for a visit. I won’t deny you what little freedom you found, though I must admit to worrying at first.” She released his hand. “But you always come back and somehow manage not to be found out. By anyone but me, that is.”
“Yes, I do.” Should he tell her about feeding in small, undetectable bits of power until a portal came to life?
“Between the two of us, we’ve kept others from discovering your secret.” Saris paused to sip from her delicate teacup. “I won’t ask how often you’ve been there, but you’re familiar with the realm?”
How much should Wycke confess? Share too much, and Saris couldn’t deny knowing later. “I know my way around.”
“I trust you. I need to know how the child fares. Will you do your best to find them and ensure they’re safe? I’ve convinced Broen to let you go alone, though he thinks you’re only sailing across the sea to Latsyrc.”
Wycke wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to escape the palace, but finding a child who could be anywhere in a massive realm? If he’d ever been there to start with. “That was what? Twenty-one human years ago? Time doesn’t always move the same in other realms as here. He could be a child, or he could be past one hundred winters.”
“I realize that. I’ve been trying to decide what to do.” Saris wrung her hands, so unlike her usual sure self. “I really am worried. What if the child fell into the wrong hands?”
Very true. “If he’s in the human realm, he’ll be safe and won’t come back here.” Why worry?
“There is one other thing.”
Prickles raced up the back of Wycke’s neck. He wasn’t going to like her answer. “What?”
“Lady Nyanda told me the child had no magic of his own.”
“There! See! Nothing to worry your pretty head over.” Wycke ruffled Saris’s hair. Which always made her laugh.
This time the gesture failed. “You know the magic suppression cuff I gave you? How it grows to fit your arm?”
“Yes.” Wycke lifted his sleeve to display her gift.
“I found it on the floor of Nyanda’s tower room. Made for a baby. I think she intended the cuff forherbaby.”
“Her baby? But she said he wasn’t magical.”
Saris rolled her eyes. “I’d have doubted the woman if she’d told me the sky was blue.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh. I think she lied. Even now, his powers could be growing. Without proper instruction…”
“Wait!” Wycke lifted a staying hand. “Don’t humans lose all their magical abilities in the human realm?” His instructors taught him so.
“How much do we really know about other realms? What if that’s not true?”
For a moment, Wycke watched Saris, how she nibbled at her lower lip, showing fear she’d never dare reveal to anyone else. They’d both heard the tales of sorcerers who’d grown too powerful and lost control. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Saris’s lips thinned, and she drummed her fingertips against the tabletop. “Two weeks ago, a merchant found the bodies of four mages off the southern road.”