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He approached me and offered me his arm as though I was a genteel lady or something and when I placed my hand on his forearm he just smiled, showing too many teeth, as his goldengaze ate me up. To say he made me uncomfortable would be an understatement. "Right this way, my lady," he said as we left the room.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Wyn, Ronan, and Thorn were still standing and saw worry plastered all over Ronan's face, while Thorn's brow was creased in a way I'd only seen when we were on the road with the king's soldiers. Whatever this testing was, I had a feeling that it would be unpleasant to say the least.
Chapter
Fifteen
Senara
Fenvalur led me down a long hallway that seemed to be much longer than the building I saw from outside would imply. When we went out of one door and into another that was just across a small alley I realized that we were passing through different buildings, they were just connected in a way I didn't realize.
Part of me was disappointed since I wanted to see more of the city, but I wasn't going to complain to Fenvalur. The man was walking at a speed that was hard for me to keep up with given my smaller stature unless I gave in and broke into a run, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
Eventually after me losing all sense of direction we ended up in a building that appeared much more sterile with plain white walls and a simple gray stone floor. There was no art or filigree anywhere like there had been before. It was the sterility of the walls and floor up to that point that made the room we walked into so breathtaking.
The place was massive, so much more so than I ever would have expected from the size of the doors. It had appeared as nothing special from the outside with a simple sign on the doorthat I couldn't read due to the fact that it was written in a language I didn't understand.
Once we were inside though my breath caught in my chest. The room was a long hall that was multiple floors high. The ceiling was enclosed but on each side over what appeared to be a second level of books there were open cylinders going upward, each of which was lined with even more books.
My first thought was that Wyn would have been beside herself with joy at the sight. My second thought was curiosity at the globes of glass that appeared to be hanging from the ceiling at varying lengths all along the center. Each globe had a brass base which had buttons and levers on it, some were even wrapped in chains as though the glass wasn't enough to contain whatever it held. The effect made me wonder what could possibly be inside. There were enough of them that I couldn't clearly see into any of them.
At the very end of the hall there appeared to be a workstation that was up on a dais. It was surrounded by a half moon of walls, which were, again, lined with bookshelves, only this time instead of books it was scrolls and various implements that filled the shelves.
Over all that hovered what I thought was called an orrery. In the human kingdom the structure was used to track the stars and help predict the future, though I had no idea how accurate they were. It was the kind of thing only the nobles had the money to play with.
This was unlike any I'd ever glimpsed before. Usually the circles were only two or three rings going around one another with varying stars on each ring and each signifying something specific. This was like a drunk, massive version of that. It was suspended above a large workstation but I couldn't see what held it in place. There were at least six rings that I could see from the opposite end of the hall, which made me fairly certain thatthere were even more to be seen up close. To top it off each ring had its own variety of what looked like dials and small levers on it.
Fenvalur led me forward before stopping in the center of the room, releasing my arm, and taking another couple of steps so he could turn and look at me. "Welcome to my research laboratory, commonly referred to as the Calcel or sometimes the Understone. Here we study magic of all kinds and we specialize in that of sun kissed and moon marked." He opened his arms wide and a smile that bordered on maniacal spread over his face, making me want to withdraw from him even though we weren't standing particularly close anymore anyway.
"Sounds interesting," I replied carefully.
His gaze narrowed on me. "This is the only place in the city where it's safe enough for anyone to unleash the full might of their magic and not cause mass amounts of destruction or loss of life."
"But I can't use my magic, so I won't be doing anything like that." I gave him a tight-lipped smile.
The one he gave me in return made my skin crawl. "Not yet, but we'll see."
Somehow I didn't like the idea of whatever he had in mind to bring my magic out.
"If you'll wait there for a moment we'll get started."
Nerves battered my insides like waves against a shore. I wish they would just tell me what was about to happen, but I had the distinct impression that they weren't telling me for a reason.
Without warning Fenvalur raised his hand and a surge of flame came from his fingertips. The floor under my feet glowed for a moment before spreading out to light up sigils that had been carved into the stone floor.
I was standing in the middle of a damn magic circle and I hadn't even noticed. I'd been so focused on the creepy fae andthe glittering objects that hung from the ceiling that I hadn't been paying enough attention to all of my surroundings.
The sigils and runes lit up glowing around me. I moved to take a step backward but found that my feet were locked in place. As I tried to move the glow that I'd seen around them flared once again.
"I'm afraid you'll be unable to do that," Fenvalur murmured as he approached the edge of the magic circle.
Anger bubbled inside me. "What are you doing? What is this test?"
"Nothing you need to worry about. All you have to do is stand there and not fight it." The curious glint in Fenvalur's eyes made me uneasy. He wasn't looking at me like I was a person, more like I was a bug that he wanted to study.
"Not fight what exactly?" I asked.
Before he responded I felt magic rush over my skin like small bolts of lightning. Fortunately, it was nowhere near as painful as when I'd been in the veil. Still it was uncomfortable to say the least. If he said not to fight it then I'd try my best, but the more I gritted my teeth and tried to bear it the worse it became.
