NOVEL NEXT Eleven
Siegfried pushed the door to his office open and nearly banged into a chair as he staggered inside. He held a candelabrum in one shaking hand with half of the candles on it extinguished. Eisengrim followed in after him.
“I’ve sent someone to get the horses ready,” the veteran said, remaining at the doorway. “What are you looking for?”
“My copy of Ignis in Tenebris,” Siegfried replied. He reached his desk and began waving the weak, shimmering source of light about. He had been reading the tome this morning. It had become part of his morning ritual, in fact, since his uncle had given him this position. He knew he had left it in here somewhere.
“You’ve been reading Hauser?” the old bull asked from the hall. There was clear disapproval in his tone.
“Yes. So?”
“Hauser never encountered any witches in his career, your Grace. A lot of his material is based on conjecture and folk lore he collected from the runner clans in the north.”
“That’s right,” Siegfried nodded, deciding not to pay attention to Eisengrim. He found the tome lying open amid the sticks of wax for his seal of office. These he scooped up and pocketed first, before picking up the tome. He already wore his dagger, so it was just a matter of collecting his sword from the wall next. “I might not have done any ranges like you, but that’s no excuse for me not to do something to understand what these things are.”
“If that is so, your Grace, might I recommend Ziegler’s Servi Umbra? Unlike Hauser, his work is based on experience with magic and their users. He spent nearly a year in the Sanctum with a witch, and observed their spellcasting under very controlled conditions. Your predecessor kept a copy on him at all times.”
“And did you continue that tradition?”
“Of course.”
“Good,” Siegfried snapped before he could stop himself. He turned and made for the hallway and the waiting Hunter. “Then we’ve got everything we need!”
Back out into the hall, the Prince deposited the candelabra onto a nearby desk. He started marching down the echoing corridor, the fall of his boots ringing just loud enough to drown out the wild thudding of his heart against his ribs. This was it. He was about to encounter magic. That had to be it. He could not countenance this alarm being anything else. The thought both thrilled and horrified him. He had read so much about this. He had been planning on visiting the Sanctum at some point, observing the few living captives they had as he knew Eisengrim and Dietrich had done. But it was far away in the mountains, protected by hazardous roads, biting snow, and the minotaurs of the Cloud Walkers clan. The books were right here, and the Palace infinitely more comfortable. There could be no excuses now.
The threat was here, at the edge of his adopted home, too close to everything left in the world that he loved. His uncle had trusted him with this most sacred position. Siegfried was determined not to let him down. The weight of his sword at his hip helped steady his nerves, lent him the illusion that he might know what to do when the time came.
“We should leave Mr. Bauer here,” Eisengrim said to him, just before they reached the courtyard where the horses and other Hunters waited.
“Do you know the way to this farm? Do any of the others?”
“I do not believe so, but given the dark he may not be as useful as you think. I have an idea of where to go, and that is enough.”
“Well, it isn’t for me,” said Siegfried.
“Your Grace, he is a civilian.”
“Whose son and entire livelihood might be in danger, or destroyed. How can I expect him to sit here and wait for us to let him know what we find?”
“If Theo is correct, your Grace, then bringing that man along is tantamount to murdering him yourself!”
“And if Theo is right, then that man has nothing to live for,” the Prince replied. He stopped just as they came upon the courtyard. Outside, beyond the open door, he could see the other Hunters waiting, seeing to their patient mounts. Just at the edge of the gathering stood the man who had entered the hall with Eisengrim. He looked terrified and lost. Yet he held the reins of the horse he stood beside so tightly that, even in the dim light provided by the braziers, Siegfried could see the man’s knuckles growing pale. Despite the fear, he had a look on his face that reminded Siegfried of his own late father.
“How about we ask him?”
“He’ll say yes,” Eisengrim responded, with just the beginning of an edge to his voice. “What else would you expect him to say? His child might be dead, and he doesn’t understand the danger. It’s astonishing that Theo was able to make him come here at all.”
“Then you will make him understand,” the Prince said. His hand went to the pommel of his sword. He squeezed it tightly, glad that the minotaur could not see his face just then. “You have two minutes to make Mr. Bauer understand the extreme peril his life is under if he accompanies us. If you still cannot convince him to remain, then he comes along. Do you understand?”
“Of course, your Grace. Anything to ease your conscience, eh?”
*
Within a quarter hour, they were riding out of the Palace grounds with Prince Siegfried and Eisengrim at the head of their small column. Gerda, Dietrich, Klara and Janus kept a close pace. An exhausted Kurt Bauer brought up the rear. Though his breathing was laboured, even desperate, he did not complain about the pace they kept. He had a fresh horse, and Martin might be in danger.
He had done as Theo had asked of him. Hopefully, his friend was right, and this was all just an overreaction on his part. It had to be. As they rode on, Kurt remembered the stone in his pocket. He did as Theo advised him, gripping it tightly in his fist, even as he held the reins in them. He did not know what use it could be against whatever might be waiting for them all out there in the dark, but it gave him courage, after a fashion. It lessened the urge to scream from worry and fear. His son, his whole world needed him. Damn the nonsense that old bull had spouted! There was nothing on this earth or beyond it that was going to stop Kurt from getting to his, and Sabine’s, child.