A year after I moved into Richard’s mansion he sent us on a mission to Arizona, hunting down two kids our age, a girl and a boy. What happened to them both was ugly, and I started having second thoughts. After taking longer than I should have, I decided I was going to break the girl, Catherine, out from where Richard was keeping her prisoner. It never occurred to me that I could fail. I knew the mansion inside out, I knew the security systems, and I could predict where everyone was going to be. I had it all planned out.
It didn’t work.
I had a lot of time afterwards to think about what I’d done wrong. Looking back on things and picking up all the little details I’d missed, I realised that Richard had not only known what I’d been planning, he’d known pretty much everything that I’d been doing while I’d been at the mansion, all the little minor disobediences which I’d thought I’d been so clever in hiding. He’d let it slide, not because he hadn’t known, but because I hadn’t stepped far enough over the line.
Pain is an effective teacher. I learnt my lesson, and when I finally escaped the mansion, I did it at a time when Richard was too busy with his major plans to come after me himself. Instead he’d sent Tobruk. Tobruk was crueller and more sadistic than Richard, but for all his power he wasn’t dangerous in the same way. I tricked Tobruk and lured him into a trap, and he paid for it with his life. And then I kept running and hiding, waiting for Richard to come after me himself, and I knew that if he did then that would be the end, because while I could outsmart Tobruk I could never outsmart Richard. It took me a long time to realise that Richard wasn’t coming, and an even longer time to make myself believe it. I’d almost managed to convince myself that I’d never see him again.
Until now.
The castle was quiet. In the distance I could hear a bird calling, but here by the windmill the only sound was the rustle of the wind and the creak of the sails. I stood in the windmill’s doorway, half a step in front of Anne, the two of us staring down at the man on the grass. The moment stretched out.
“I’m glad to see you’re together,” Richard said. His voice was deep and powerful. The first few times I met Richard, that voice of his had always felt oddly jarring—you’d ignore him until he spoke, then all of a sudden he’d dominate the room. Once you got to know him better, you didn’t need the voice to remind you. “Why don’t you introduce me to your companion?”
“I . . .” Speaking was difficult; my voice sounded cracked and uneven. I took a breath and tried again. “This is Richard Drakh. My—teacher.”
I didn’t turn to look at Anne, but I felt her tense as she made the connection. “And you must be Anne Walker,” Richard said to her with a nod. He came to a halt and looked back to me with raised eyebrows, obviously waiting for me to speak.
I didn’t. My mind had gone blank and I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“No questions, Alex?” Richard said. He looked interested.
“How did you get here?” Anne said from over my shoulder. She was staring at Richard. “Did Sagash let you in?”
“A reasonable conclusion, but no. Sagash is occupied with his own research these days, and he tends not to react well to distractions.”
“Then . . . how did you get in? The shadow realm’s gate locked.”
“Yes, it is.”
I swallowed and Richard turned his attention to me. I had to take a breath before I could trust my voice to be steady enough. “Why are you here?”
“Now that is a more interesting question,” Richard said. “What do you think the answer is?”
“I think you’re here for me,” I said quietly.
Richard gave me a quizzical look. “Strictly true, I suppose, but why?”
“Because I turned against you,” I said. It was difficult to say out loud, but I wanted this out in the open. “That’s it, isn’t it? I betrayed you, so you gave me to Tobruk. Then when I got away, you sent him after me. Now you’re here to finish what Tobruk started.”
Silence. The wind blew across the grass. Richard studied me for a long moment; I held my breath, and I could feel Anne doing the same. If Richard chose to make a fight of it, I had no illusions that I’d survive. The most I could hope for would be that Anne might get away.
Then suddenly Richard smiled. “Alex. Not everything is about you.”
I stared at Richard. Whatever I’d been expecting, it hadn’t been that. “Did you really think I was here for revenge?” Richard asked. “What would I be taking revenge for?”
“I . . .” I didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t how I’d thought the conversation would go. “Catherine.”
“Catherine was a necessary component in my plans, and unfortunately she was not replaceable. You tried to remove her, and so I was forced to keep you confined. I wasn’t going to kill you, Alex. I simply removed you from the situation until you could no longer interfere.”
I stared at Richard. “As for Tobruk,” Richard continued, “I did not send him after you. In fact, I specifically ordered him not to pursue you, an order Tobruk chose to disregard. If he had survived, I would have been quite as upset with him as I was with you.” Richard tilted his head. “Does that answer your question? Let me put it another way. What significant harm have you ever done me that I would hold a grudge for?”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d been keyed up, ready for Richard to attack. Except . . . I’d never really thought about why. I’d been so caught up in how I felt towards Richard that I’d never thought about how he might feel towards me. I’d tried to rescue Catherine, and I’d failed. I’d tried to stop what was happening in Richard’s mansion, and I’d failed at that too. The four of us had ended up fighting and fleeing and dying until only one was left to take on the mantle of Richard’s Chosen . . . just as he’d wanted.
Richard was right—I had only been thinking about myself. I’d hated Richard, but why should Richard hate me? He’d won. When you crush your opponents that completely, you don’t carry a grudge against them afterwards.
“You’re playing with us,” Anne said abruptly.
I looked at her in surprise. Anne was standing to her full height, looking across at Richard. “Is this a threat? You found us, so unless we do what you want then you’ll tell them where we are?”
Richard looked back at her calmly. “What would you do if it was?”
I felt Anne tense. “No,” I said sharply. “Don’t.”
Anne hesitated, looking between us, and the moment was gone. “I did not come here to assist Sagash or his apprentices,” Richard said. “Your conflicts with them are no concern of mine.” He raised his eyebrows. “Unless you’d like to change that.”
“Then how did you find us?” Anne said slowly. “How did you know we were here?”
Richard glanced at me. “Alex?”
My thoughts were starting to work again. My mind still felt slow and clumsy, but I forced myself to think. “He’s not working with Sagash,” I said, half to Anne, half to myself. Richard didn’t lie—that was one of the things which made him so dangerous. He might leave things out, but if he said something directly, then you knew he was telling the truth. Either that, or he was just good enough never to get caught. “He found out some other way.” Richard had said that he was here for me, or partly so. Who had known I was looking for Anne? My friends, Sonder, Caldera . . . and the mages I’d spoken to at the Tiger’s Palace. Ordith, Meredith . . . Morden. Arachne had linked Morden’s name to Richard, and he’d said . . .
“Morden,” I said. I felt Anne look towards me, and I turned my head just far enough that I could see her without taking my eyes off Richard. “I saw him the day before I came. He told me to forget about you, that he’d find you and take care of it.” I looked back at Richard. “He told you and you tracked us here . . .”
Richard gave me a single nod, the same gesture he’d always used when one of us had gotten something right. I felt a moment’s satisfaction, followed by a chill. Was I trying to show off for Richard? That was insane. Within minutes of seeing him I was falling back into my old habits, apprentice to master.