The Wizard King by Julie Dean Smith

before. And much as I hate to say it,” Ranulf finished, casting a remorseful glance to Athaya, “he’s even stronger than you are now.”
    Athaya, Jaren, and Tonia stared at him in wordless unison, temporarily bereft of speech. It was the obvious answer, but one that had never occurred to any of them. The sealing spell was extremely risky and had killed enough curious wizards in years past to incite the Circle to forbid its use to anyone but those to whom they gave permission. Granted, the Sage and his cult held nothing but contempt for the Circle’s strictures, but what wizard would willingly put his life at such terrible risk?
    Only one as greedy for power as Rhodri had ever been, Athaya answered herself, and one who had recently uncovered a way of obtaining more of it. Until Athaya had inadvertently discovered them, no one had known of the power-extending qualities of the seal. And now, she fervently wished that the discovery, however extraordinary, had never been made.
    “I should have known,” she said after a time, rising to her feet to pace anxiously around the chapel. “The timing… it makes perfect sense. But—”
    She and Jaren realized the disastrous implications at the same instant and exchanged a look of muted dread. Ranulf’s news was worse than he knew.
    “The effects of the seal are only temporary, Ranulf. Since you’ve been gone, my level of power has completely faded back to what it was over a year ago.” Briefly, Athaya told him of the dizziness and loss of strength she had suffered after her last attempt at translocation. Then she sighed heavily and leaned her weight against the back of the spartanly adorned alter. “At least we know
his
powers will fade, too. Eventually.”
    The rest was left unspoken, but all of their faces reflected her next thought back to her.
But it took almost a year for my powers to fade… and Caithe doesn’t have that kind of time.
    “At least you’re no weaker than you were before the seal,” Jaren pointed out, trying to salvage a measure of hope from the situation. “And being an adept is nothing to be ashamed of.”
    “No. But it’s clear that the Sage has the advantage of me now.”
    Ranulf swallowed the last of his beer in one gulp. “More n’ you know,” he said ominously, swiftly drawing the attention of three pairs of eyes. “One other tidbit I picked up during my holiday in Sare was that the Sage isn’t affected by corbal crystals. Aw, quit lookin’ at me like that—I
saw
it. It was incredible… he held the damned thing up right in front of me and didn’t bat an eye. Not one eye. And that was before the sealing.”
    Despite his admonishment, Athaya continued to gape at him stupidly, unable to believe what she had heard. All at once, and at the worst possible time, the rules of the game she had taken so long to master were suddenly changed. A wizard unaffected by a corbal crystal? This was a blow indeed; a weapon she never dreamed the Sage would have at his command. At that moment, she felt like a general whose men had marched into battle armed with spears and slingshots, only to find that the enemy was equipped with cannons and siege engines… and vastly outnumbered them in the bargain.
    “How is that possible?” Tonia said, the first to regain the use of her tongue.
    Ranulf offered Athaya a crooked grin, forcing a bit of levity to lift the oppressive gloom. “Kind of comforting to know that even the Circle of Masters don’t know everything, ain’t it?”
    Tonia snorted indelicately as she jammed a wayward strand of steel-gray hair back inside her peasant scarf. “I never claimed we did. Lord, if we’d had any inkling this was possible, why on earth would we have let Athaya learn about the sealing spell in the first place? It’s caused nothing but trouble since, but it was the only way we knew that she could shield herself from the corbal’s pain.”
    “Looks as if the Sage knows another way—and so do a few of his followers.