The Perilous Sea (The Elemental Trilogy #2)

“I want to come with you.” The memory keeper had gone through a great deal of trouble to keep her out of Atlantis’s reach, so she should not be in danger from that quarter. And in any case, if Dalbert was correct, Commander Rainstone would be busy all afternoon. “Your safety is at least as important as mine—I’m not sure Wintervale can last five minutes on Atlantis without you.”


“All right,” he relented. “But do not let your guard down.”

From an empty alley nearby, he vaulted her to the anteroom of the hotel suite. The small space was covered with crimson wallpaper—Iolanthe remembered somebody, probably Cooper, telling her that there was no point making interior walls in London anything except dark colored; the quality of the air was such that one was guaranteed to have dark-colored walls in a few years, no matter what.

The prince set to work, unwinding the anti-intrusion spells. She didn’t know enough of the techniques to help him, so she kept herself in a corner, out of his way, and tried to breathe slowly and evenly. To not grow too excited, or let her hopes get away from—

Footsteps approached from the other side of the door.

Titus leaped back and immediately began putting up shields. Iolanthe had his spare wand out, pointed at the door, fear and a sensation of giddiness taking turns accelerating her pulse.

The footsteps stopped. The door handle turned and slowly the door opened a crack, revealing the familiar face of Master Haywood.



Master Haywood’s hair had been cut short, and he sported a funny-looking mustache, but there could be no doubt it was him.

It was him.

And then Iolanthe could hardly see him for the tears in her eyes. She launched herself at him. “Forgive me! Forgive me for taking so long to find you.”

He banded his arms tightly about her. “Iola. Fortune shield me, it is you. I thought I would never see you again,” he said, sounding dazed.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Baron Wintervale might have provided the biological beginning to her existence, but Master Haywood was her true father, the one who sat by her bedside when she was ill, checked her homework, and took her to Mrs. Hinderstone’s on summer days for pinemelon ice and then to the zoo to look at the dragons and the unicorns.

“I’m so glad you are safe,” he said hoarsely. “So very, very glad.”

Only then did he look up and notice that she had not come alone. He let go of her and bowed hastily to the Master of the Domain. “Your Highness.”

“Master Haywood,” Titus acknowledged him. “With your permission, I should like to search the premises for translocators.”

“Of course, sire. Shall I ring for some tea, sire?”

“No, no need. You may be at your ease.”

Titus moved off to the interior of the suite. Master Haywood gaped at him for a second longer, and then turned to Iolanthe and drew her into the sitting room. “So all along you have been at that nonmage school they took me to, the prince’s school?”

“Yes, yes, and I’ll tell you everything,” Iolanthe said. “But first tell me, how did you disappear from the Citadel that night?”

“I wish I had a better idea of what had happened. All evening long Atlantean guards around me kept whispering to one another about the Lord High Commander. It made me quite afraid, thinking the Bane himself might interrogate me.

“I was at the Citadel for almost an hour before I was marched into the library. My knees knocked. I could barely feel the floor beneath my feet. The next thing I knew, I was inside this hotel suite, with a note on the table that instructed me to never leave the perimeters, if I wanted to stay out of the Inquisitory. And this is where I have been ever since.”

“Have you really not stepped out once?”

The sitting room, with the same crimson-colored walls, was of a decent size. And the bedroom, which she could see through its open door, likewise. But still, to not leave this limited space for four entire months . . .

“Compared to the Inquisitory, this is heaven. Plenty of room to stretch my legs, no one to question me, and all the nonmage books and newspapers I can ask for to be delivered. Except for a lack of your news, I really can’t complain.”

Her heart constricted as she remembered his tiny cell at the Inquisitory. “But can you leave this hotel if you wanted to?”

Master Haywood blanched. “I . . . I don’t want to. It is too dangerous out there. I’m much better off here, inside.”

“But if you walked out of here, then no one will know where you are. You will be completely anonymous and that will protect you better than any anti-intrusion spells.”

“No, no. It’s unthinkable.” Master Haywood clenched the back of a chair. “It was because I destroyed that batch of light elixir that you called down lightning—and now you will never be safe. By staying here at least I will cause you no more trouble.”

His adamancy baffled Iolanthe. Was it yet another symptom of the harm the memory spells had caused?

“By the sound of it, Fairfax, I would say your guardian has been placed inside a fear circle,” said the prince, coming out from the bedroom.

“What is that?” Iolanthe had never heard of such a thing.