Chương 28: The Imperial Bloodline (4)

"So, can you remove the trap?" Teren asked.

"I believe so." Then Edras looked at the threshold again.

"But I won't know for certain until I've exposed the entire array. That alone could take weeks. Possibly months."

"Months?"

"This is an extremely complex runic array. If I tear apart the obvious sections, I may simply activate something I have not found yet. If I damage the connection to the resonator incorrectly, I may activate the threshold myself." Edras's eyes remained on the stone.

"I won't attempt to dismantle it until I understand exactly how the whole array works." Teren glanced toward the outer courtyard.

"What about everyone outside? Could this thing just explode on its own while we're standing here?"

"I have found no autonomous trigger." Edras gestured toward the dark symbols.

"In its present state, the array is stable. Judging by the surrounding stone, it may have remained dormant for longer than I have owned this hall. It is still waiting for the resonator to supply the activation signal."

"So the compound is safe."

"For now, yes. As long as no Corvadryn uses the resonator, the array should remain dormant." Teren nodded slowly. The important part was that the compound was safe for now. Edras closed the iron door to the basement but did not restore its ordinary wards. Instead, he drew a new set of blue symbols across the outer frame. The lines spread over the iron, then into the surrounding wall before settling into a faint glow.

"No one enters this room until I say otherwise." Teren looked toward the basement. He certainly had no intention of ever going down there again. They went back outside the hall, the golem following behind them. The servants, assistants, and guards were still waiting beyond the compound. At a gesture from Edras, the golem walked to a patch of bare ground in the courtyard and collapsed into loose pieces of stone. Teren was still amazed to see it.

Edras had created the thing from loose stone, sent it through the building, and dismissed it again with barely any effort. Edras called one of the guards over to the courtyard, while the others looked at them curiously from outside the compound.

"Go to the palace. Tell them I require a secure carriage and an escort for two people. Request accommodation in the palace for two people in my name. I also need an immediate private audience with Duke Ordaan." The guard glanced at Teren.

"Should I tell them why?"

"No. Just say that it concerns a matter I will discuss with the duke personally." The guard nodded and hurried toward the gate. Teren waited until the guard was out of earshot.

"We're staying at the palace?"

"It's safer for now."

"What about your compound?"

"My assistants can continue their work in the west building. I will return tomorrow to examine the trap." Edras looked at Teren.

"You will certainly not be living beside it." Teren had no objection. Edras's gaze moved toward the research hall again.

"I also need to know who built that array and how it remained hidden inside my own compound for so long. Until I have answers, I would rather keep you somewhere protected by more than my personal wards and a handful of guards."

"The palace." Edras nodded.

"It is the safest place in the city." Teren looked uphill. The stone walls of the palace complex were visible above the trees, with one of the airships moving slowly beyond them. The last time he had followed Edras into this compound, he had died before either of them reached the duke. This time, the research hall still stood. More importantly, so did they. Edras turned back to him.

"One more thing. You do not discuss the purple flame, the tests, or what we found beneath the hall with anyone here or in the palace. Not my assistants, not the guards, and not anyone you meet within the palace."

"What do I say if anyone asks why you closed the research hall?"

"That I believed there might be a dangerous magical fault in the building and needed time to investigate it." Teren nodded.

"That's not even much of a lie. And the duke?" Edras's expression became more serious.

"When we are alone with Lord Ordaan, you answer what he asks. Until then, say nothing about the Corv—" he trailed off, glancing around them.

"About that bloodline." If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Teren gave a nod, and looked once more at the sealed research hall. He had reached Edras again without being burned alive. The trap that had killed Teren earlier was still hidden beneath the building, but now Edras knew it was there and could work on removing it. For the first time, knowing what had happened in a previous loop had finally allowed Teren to avoid the same fate.

They started walking towards the others waiting outside the compound. Edras spoke first to the guards.

"The immediate danger has passed. Send someone to the nearby houses and tell them they can return. Keep everyone out of the research hall until I say otherwise." Two of the guards hurried down the road. One of the assistants stepped closer.

"Master Edras, what did you find down there? You even made a golem for this. I know it takes a lot of mana to make one."

"I'll explain once we're somewhere private. For now, all you need to know is that no one is to enter the research hall." The young woman glanced toward the building.

"How long will the hall be closed?"

"Weeks at least. Probably longer." One of the male assistants frowned.

"What about our usual work?"

"Tell me what you need from inside. I'll take it out. None of you are going back into that hall until I say it's safe."

"All of our work?"

"Everything important from the upper rooms. Notes, active samples, calibrated instruments, stored crystals, and anything else you need to continue the work." Teren looked toward the main building.

"Aren't you going to remove anything from the basement?" Edras glanced at him.

"No, it's too risky."

"But the golem went through safely."

"That tells me the dormant array did not react to the golem. It does not give me permission to start carrying charged crystals and old equipment through a trap whose full structure I have not yet mapped." Edras looked toward the basement side of the building.

"Nothing crosses that threshold until I understand every part of it." Teren had no argument with that. Finally, Edras told everyone they could return to the compound now, then sent the guards and servants back to their usual work. The assistants remained nearby, waiting to move their equipment once it was brought out of the research hall. Teren looked toward the building.

"How are you even going to bring all of that out by yourself? Do you want me to help?"

"No. Move back, all of you." The old mage stood in the courtyard with both hands raised. Thin tendrils of blue mana spread from his fingers and slipped through the open doors of the research hall. At first, nothing happened. Then a stack of bound notebooks lifted from one of the tables inside and began to float towards the yard. A wooden case followed it. Then another. Teren stared as more objects began floating through the open doorway like they had a mind of their own.

Boxes of mana crystals, rolled charts and scrolls, bundles of papers tied with cord, metal instruments, glass vials, and sealed containers moved into the courtyard in a slow procession. Nothing bumped into anything else. A row of glass vials emerged together, each suspended separately in the air with just enough space between them that they never touched. Edras did not even seem to strain. Teren looked at his own hand. He could make a flame barely large enough to light a candle.

The old mage was moving half a laboratory through the air while keeping stacks of loose paper from sliding apart. The difference between their skills was daunting, to say the least. The assistants hurried forward.

"Take the glass first," Edras ordered.

"Use the west building for now. Clear the large room there and set the instruments along the inner wall." The young woman and one of the men began taking the suspended vessels from the air. As soon as each object was secure in someone's hands, Edras released it. The boxes and bundles of notes were lowered gently onto the dry stone near the path, where servants collected them and carried them toward the farthest building in the compound. Teren watched a heavy brass instrument float through the doorway.

"Could you have done that with the tables and chairs too?" Edras looked at him briefly.

"Of course." Teren decided not to ask why anyone bothered carrying furniture in this world if high-level mages could simply make it fly. Then again, hardly anyone could afford to hire an archmage for ordinary manual work. Within half an hour, most of the important things from the upper halls had been moved. Edras left the furniture, shelves, and replaceable supplies where they were. The basement remained untouched. Teren just looked at the process in amazement.

The secure carriage from the palace arrived not long afterward, accompanied by twelve mounted guards in dark uniforms and another six on foot. Its doors were reinforced, the shutters were narrow, and the guards watched Teren more closely than they watched the research hall. Edras noticed.

"He is with me," the old mage said. The nearest guard bowed his head.

"As you say, Master Edras." His eyes still returned to Teren. Teren could not blame him. He was barefoot in slave rags, with dried dirt on his sleeves and an armed escort forming around him. If he saw himself from outside, he would have guessed prisoner too. Edras checked the carriage wards himself, then added another layer of them, before opening the door. Then he gestured for Teren to enter. This time, Teren did not hesitate.

They rode up the hill in silence. The research compound fell behind them. Teren had barely paid attention to the noble district when they arrived earlier, but now that there was no immediate danger, he had time to look around. The streets were wider and cleaner than those in the lower city, with large walled residences lining both sides of the road. Pale stone paving had replaced the packed dirt, and crystal lamps stood at regular intervals in iron frames along the way. Soon they reached the palace walls.

This time the carriage did not even have to stop. The palace guards riding with them were apparently enough. The men at the gate opened it without asking any questions and let the carriage through. Teren watched through the small window. He had been watching the manor houses and mansions in the noble district on the journey. This place was different. The palace covered much of the upper hill, built in layers of stone terraces, towers, enclosed courtyards, and thick walls. Pale banners hung from high poles.

Men in chainmail guarded the archways, and a row of weathered stone figures stood above the main entrance, their faces too worn for Teren to recognize. The carriage stopped inside a covered entry court. Edras stepped out first. Teren followed. A palace servant in a dark green coat approached, saw Teren's clothes, and stopped just short of showing alarm. Edras did not give him time to speak.

"I already have an appointment with Duke Ordaan. Tell him I've arrived, and that I need to speak with him privately as soon as possible." The servant bowed and left at a near-run.