It took Blayre a moment to realize that the cacophony of sounds around her were not the panicked screams that she anticipated would follow an explosion of magic, but instead oooh's and ahhh's of wonder. It took her another moment to realize that her eyes were still squeezed shut. Rory was standing behind her, both of her upper arms gripped securely in his hands.
She peeled her eyes open, and was greeted with brilliant and vibrant bursts of glittering light.
"Mage-made fireworks," Rory explained, apparently seeing the astonished look on her face. It wasn't that she had never seen them before - but, why hadn't she known about it ahead of time? Her mouth was dry and she swallowed with some effort. She focused and reached out her Sense, finding the source - sources of the magic, which continued to flash and glitter and shapeshift into golden lions, blue waterfalls, and multicolored dragons. The art was beautiful, to be sure, but Blayre's heart was still beating in a frenetic cadence.
"Duke Rorrick!" A nobleman was calling from a short distance away, waving his hand. "Come join us!"
"It seems, the people tire of you monopolizing my time, lass." He spoke into her hair, his breath tickling the top of her head.
"By all means, go to them." Blayre said. The remark came out more biting than she had intended. She needed to move away from him anyway. He was showing her far too much public affection, she realized now that she was coming to her senses.
"You know I would rather be alone with you than doing this any day." Rory replied softly. His voice holding a note of reluctant sadness.
"I know," she sighed, "But go. I need to find Caval anyway."
"If you say so." He said, then more brightly called to the small group of men "Gentlemen!" and began to stride toward them. Like the flick of a mage light. She thought, watching him blend confidently into the group of men, who laughed and greeted him with brief bows and solid claps on the back.
Blayre did one more check on Briannon's location. Satisfied that she remained in good hands, she tuned her sense to see if she could detect Caval anywhere. Because of the protective spells, his magic was a soft and gradual pull. She found him, by a table with Ripley and Alessa, as the light show began to wind down and the conversations resumed around her.
Caval noted her approach and the question in her eyes. He met her part way before she could join their group and led her into a more secluded area. "No that was not planned." He said, a hint of frustration in his voice. "Though apparently it is a surprise gift from Seorta." He said, naming one of the northern kingdoms.
"What in twelve hells do they think they're doing? With the stunt that got pulled before the coronation..." Her voice trailed off, thinking of the magical explosion from the parade. That one had not been entirely innocuous as this one was.
"I don't know," Caval ran a hand over his close cropped hair with a sigh. "Conal is taking care of the matter, though I don't think it's worth going to war over."
Blayre snorted and crossed her arms. "Maybe not. It seems the threat is not from outside our borders anyway." She sighed, and looked out at the packed room. "I can't wait for this to be over and for everyone to go back to where they came from. It's too good of an opportunity for something bad to happen."
"I know," Caval smiled in understanding. "I know exactly what you mean. And it will be over soon. I don't think we have anything to..."
She could no longer hear him over the sudden rushing sound in her ears. It dissipated, only to be replaced by an intense itching in her nose. "Twelve hells. They're going to do it again." She complained, rubbing at her nose.
"What? How do you know that?"
"Information for another time," Blayre replied. "Wait..." She felt again. This was not the same magic. It felt akin to the imprinted magic that had been in the crystal on that night in Mountainvale.
"I don't know - something isn't right." She began to move closer to the two royals, her sense humming in her bones. Nose itching something fierce. She felt Caval's magic building as he followed her. Preparing.
Everything happened in a matter of seconds. Blayre brushed up against a young blonde man in formal attire and was jolted into recognition when they made contact. "You!" She exclaimed. He looked startled and his powerful magic waned slightly from the distraction, but then a look of panic crossed his face and it built up again.
Briannon was the closest, but if she could get between them both and take the brunt of whatever in twelve hells this mage was trying to do... It wouldn't affect Blayre anyway.
Blayre flung herself in front of the Queen just as the magic wielder flung out his attack, but Rory, the gods-forsaken man attempted to get Blayre out of the way of it, obviously thinking she needed to be protected. This resulted in Blayre only taking a partial hit from the magic, and Rory absorbing part of it as he touched her while attempting to pull her out of the way.
Chaos erupted, and Blayre saw a streak of blonde hair, and Caval's darker head giving chase.
"You stupid, foolish man!" Blayre said, once she had regained her breath. Rory was looking dazed and Conal had appeared by his side.
"I have to go - find that - mage." Blayre got out. The Crown Sorcerer simply nodded and began to administer magical treatment to Rory.
She was too crazed to notice Ripley's approach as he just about tore through the gathering crowd to get to his friend. "What in twelve hells happened?" he growled, glaring up at Blayre as if she were the source of his friend's malaise.
"Sorcerer Conal, if you could fill him in? I have a mage to catch." Blayre was on her feet and sprinting away, tearing off the skirt of her outfit as she made long strides following the trail of magic like a bloodhound. The mage was leaking like crazy after his attack, and Caval was using magic, so they were easy to follow.
She pushed through the bodies of curious onlookers not caring if she stepped on anyone's toes in the process. Most moved out of her way, parting like a delta around her.
Her Sense led her along a winding route through the outer palace. The halls were mostly empty, save for the occasional palace staff. Most of the resources - including people - had been concentrated into the coronation ball. Her footfalls echoed on the marbled floors, but she couldn't hear anything else. She cursed. They had too much of a head start.
The two magics began to fade until only one remained - Caval's. Her breaths came rapidly. Blayre wasn't used to running this fast, this long. There were three possible reasons for the lack of magic coming from the other mage. One: Caval had killed him or disabled his magic somehow - doubtful because Blayre had not felt any large pulse of magic from him. Two: The mage-assassin had depleted his magical store of energy. Or three (and this was the most likely reason), the mage had gotten out of the palace and away from Caval, who's magic imprint was beginning to wane.
She passed to the outside of the castle and came upon her friend, sitting in one of the courtyards, his back against the wall. Blayre glanced around. This was an area where there should have been guards stationed. Where in all hells were they?
"Caval!" She hissed, keeping her voice at a whisper. If the mage-assassin was still around, she didn't want to draw attention to herself. If she had to guess, he was long gone though. Escaping through whatever pre-planned route had been laid out for him.
He grunted in response, reaching a hand up to massage his head. His magic had about fizzled down to nothing now. She didn't think that he had drained himself, only that he was no longer using it.
"What happened? Did you see where he went?"
"No," Was all Caval said at first, as though trying to make sense of what had happened. "The guards - helped him." His eyes were squeezed shut. Moon and Sun the man must have received a head wound.
Blayre paused and thought - the guards. Why would the guards help him? She had assumed that someone had gotten them out of the way. But this was different.
"The rebels." She murmured aloud. "Maybe they've infiltrated the palace and the palace guard." A chill crept down her spine.
"That's impossible," said Caval faintly.
"Why is that?" He sounded as though he was about to sink into unconsciousness.
"Because ... I am one of the rebels."