The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

Although it was the most Aamir had said, Alex couldn’t help but feel even more exasperated by the tale. To his ears, it sounded like fiction—nothing more than the regurgitation of a story he had been told before.

“That doesn’t sound possible,” he stated.

Aamir shrugged. “Well, it’s all I know about it.”

That can’t be all, thought Alex irritably.

“But why do they do it? Why do these people think they can just take the lives of young mages, no matter which way they wrap it up?” he probed angrily. They had no right, and yet nobody was stopping them. Alex hoped Aamir would give him more than just the robotic recitation of the rhetoric he’d been told.

“It is for the greater good of the magical community.” There was a haunted expression within Aamir’s eyes that sent a shiver up Alex’s spine. Aamir opened his mouth again, whispering softly. “It is your fault.”

“What?” gasped Alex.

“We are forced to do this to keep the world safe from the Great Evil that was released by your kind, years ago,” he hissed.

Alex flinched. “Released by my kind? A void was left behind because your kind wiped mine out! Don’t you dare, Aamir—don’t you dare,” seethed Alex, his anger flaring.

A stillness spread out across Aamir’s face, as the haunted, eerie stare disappeared, replaced with a sad, troubled expression. “Forgive me, Alex—I should not have spoken so,” he said miserably.

It wasn’t enough to calm Alex. “You say it is for the greater magical community, but who are these people? Who are these sacrifices protecting? If they’re so interested, why don’t they use their own essence?” he snapped.

“I don’t think I can give you an answer that will satisfy you, Alex.” Aamir turned his face away.

“Try,” he pleaded.

“As far as I know… all this is done to protect the magical community and those in the world beyond it. The bottled magic taken from the linked havens holds the Great Evil at bay. There is an enormous force of power in this life essence—it is used to keep the havens hidden from this evil, whether by way of moving buildings and their inhabitants daily or shielding them in a realm of magical existence, like here. This is why the essence is taken—for all these purposes.” He exhaled slowly. “The collected life essence is shared among the havens, so each one has a balanced quantity of magic to protect themselves and keep the chain linked, holding off the evil that would consume us all.”

Alex listened intently, though it was as confusing as it was intriguing. Slowly, true understanding began to dawn. The shifting windows, the moving horizons, the crackling magic in the air all around them, in this peculiar world. It was all run on the stolen life essence. The knowledge made Alex feel sick.

“So why isn’t Spellshadow more like this place?” Alex asked. He despised the beauty of Stillwater now that he knew the price of it, but he questioned why the Head hadn’t tried to create a paradise to entice students to stay of their own free will. One caught more flies with honey than vinegar, after all.

Aamir smiled. “Even if Spellshadow were heaven, would you have really wanted to stay, knowing that some form of graduation was inevitable? The students here are all the sons and daughters of noble mages from the magical elite. Sacrifice is expected of them. They do not need to be forced to comply.”

“How do you know that? About the students here being nobility?” Alex asked.

“I overheard that girl,” he replied quickly—almost too quickly.

Suspicion plagued Alex as he leveled his gaze at Aamir, wondering if he had caught the man out in a lie. He could not shake the feeling that there were still residual threads tying Aamir to the Head and a continued loyalty to Spellshadow. It was clear to Alex that Aamir knew more than he was letting on, but the older boy was clever and knew how to evade the questions he didn’t want to answer. Alex wondered if a day would come when he’d be able to get the whole truth. Unfortunately, today wasn’t that day.

“Please, may we stop? I am tired,” announced Aamir. “We can continue another time, when I am feeling stronger.”

“We will continue this,” Alex assured him.

Leaving Aamir alone, Alex headed up toward the top room of the tower with his head swimming. There was certainly plenty to think about. As he walked over to the open window to feel the cool rush of a breeze on his face, Alex’s eyes rested upon the arena. Fear and horror twisted in his heart as he thought about all the ways in which the magical elite were taking the lives of so many young mages. Not just noble ones who expected it, but ones who never asked for it. The ones who were taken against their will. As the dread seeped into his bones, he found himself thinking about the other two havens that were out there somewhere, Kingstone Keep and Falleaf House. Were they being used for the same purpose?

As he gazed out at the empty arena, he realized the stakes had been raised, whether he liked it or not. His future, and that of his friends, had become about more than simply getting home—he owed the other young mages, at Spellshadow and Stillwater, and beyond, the same hope.





Chapter 13





It was early evening, and the others had turned in for an early night. The events of the previous days had taken their toll, and nobody seemed to feel much like socializing.

Alex had retreated upstairs to the bell tower and was watching the stars beginning to shine overhead when the sound of strange, whispered voices floated up through the window on the opposite side of the tower, distracting Alex. He rushed over to the slim sill and peered cautiously down into the courtyard below, trying to make out where the voices were coming from. It was dark in the abandoned section of the villa, keeping the speakers shrouded.

Only when a figure emerged from the shadows at the far side of the courtyard did he see that it was the beautiful woman from the night at the arena, though she was not quite as elegantly dressed now as she had been then. She still wore a gown of sorts, in white and gold silk, but it was more modest than the gauzy, dazzling dress she had worn for the Ascension Ceremony. Her white hair, too, was held back simply with a plain silver band.

Her voice was stern and irritated as she became more visible in the dim evening light. She kept glancing furtively over her shoulder, as if to make sure she was alone. Alex’s chest clenched in alarm as he saw her gaze turn briefly to the tower behind her. He hoped the others were being quiet in the rooms below, though he stopped short of calling out to them in case it drew any further attention from the glowering eyes of Princess Alypia. After a moment, she turned back around.