"You should have found them by now." Queen Eleyna—and she was most certainly acting as queen right now—pinned Sedgewick with a piercing stare. She usually told him to sit down when he visited. She hadn't this time. "It's unlike you to take so long."

Sedgewick shifted his weight and resisted the urge to rub his throbbing temple. "I know that—"

"Then why haven't you caught them?"

"Maybe he's losing his touch, 'Leyna," Fenroy said while leaning against the chair she was sitting in.

Sedgewick's lips curled into a barely-contained sneer. That accusation had been cropping up more than he would like. Lady Calinya especially had been shooting him looks when every day brought her no further word on Desden and Dormaeus. Some unintelligent people had blamed it on Feyla being a distraction but that was ridiculous so he ignored it. Pity she had trouble doing the same.

No, the only person he blamed was himself. Every time he sat down to map out a search plan, his head started throbbing and his notes looked a jumbled mess of contradictory details. Curse Feyla's absence. Maybe if she was back here instead of cloistered away with her mother and being pushed into the arms of her handsy former betrothed, his plans would make sense and his head would stop hurting. She always did make him feel better.

"Did you try the lower docks?" Eleyna asked.

Sedgewick blustered. Had Fenroy finally made her think he was a total idiot? The lower docks were the most logical place for a couple of young wizards to be hiding. There were plenty of discreet buildings and the docks provided both a quick exit from the city and—despite his best efforts—a convenient way for people such as the crime lord Crayden to sell his illegal spellcasting wares to the wizards.

"Of course I—" Sedgewick hissed out a breath as the pain spiked again. Had he? Why wouldn't he? His mind flew over his plans. Sedgewick was sure he'd marked that down as one of the first places to search but when he tried to recall sending Sandrina there or going himself, nothing. "At least I thought..."

"Not really seeing a lot of thinking here," Fenroy said, digging the knife in further.

Sedgewick usually would have snapped back with an insult, but his head was throbbing harder as he tried to remember...tried to remember...

"Are you all right, Master Sedgewick?" Eleyna leaned forward in her chair, her regal demeanor slipping into concern.

"It's just a headache." Sedgewick tugged his coat straight and ignored the receding jabs. "I'll have the docks searched by tonight. Don't worry."

Eleyna settled back into her seat and scanned him once more, her bright golden eyes missing nothing. She didn't believe him. "We need them caught. The Magic Ministry is under the crown's direct command. The Healer's Guild is not. I don't want this position compromised by allowing the lords more input through them. You of all people know how poorly things went when the lordships managed their own magical affairs."

Sedgewick nodded grimly. Back when he was a court mage, the lordships were supposed to organize their own forces to stifle the use of black magic. Unfortunately, hunting wizards and sorceresses was rather different from waging wars or capturing common criminals, and many territories didn't give it the importance that Sedgewick felt it deserved. The weak central command from the palace court mages also made it easy for black magic practitioners to flee to another lordship and remain hidden. Sedgewick establishing the Magic Ministry under only the crown and organizing his own forces had dealt a hard blow to the black magic community.

"I won't let you down, your Majesty," Sedgewick promised.

Eleyna smiled slightly before it dipped away again. "You still don't seem well. Is there a..." Her voice dropped away as she chewed on the phrasing. "Personal reason?"

Sedgewick colored. Queen or no queen, discussing his romantic relationship with the woman he viewed as almost a daughter didn't seem appropriate. "I'll have it taken care of, Eleyna."

Eleyna accepted his sidestep of the question and motioned for him to leave. "Go see Lady Calinya after this. She's requested an audience with you. One of the servants should be waiting to escort you there."

Sedgewick gave a bow to Eleyna and a glare to Fenroy before exiting the room. If Lady Calinya was hoping to press him for good news, she was going to be disappointed.

Lady Calinya possessed a regal dignity despite the barely-concealed nervousness in her every jittering touch. "Thank you for coming, Master Alverdyne. I know this time of year is busy for you." She handed him a cup of something that was sadly not coffee before taking a seat on one of the silk chairs in her quarter's sitting room. It was fit for a lady, although not as large or elaborate as Beryn's was.

Sedgewick accepted it and sighed. Tea. Weak tea, at that. He quickly set it on the small table beside him and hoped the lady wouldn't be offended. If Feyla was here, she would have charmed Lady Calinya into calling for some coffee.

Lady Calinya paid no mind to his rejection of her drink. She fidgeted in her chair again before hastily standing and pacing to the window across the room. A wooden box and a small personal portrait sat on the windowsill. She picked up the portrait and brushed her finger across the frame. "Thank you for coming..."

"You don't need to thank me twice, my lady. I'm here because the queen requested it." His tone was sharper than it needed to be. He decided to blame it on the headache.

Calinya laughed softly. "I understand why some of the council dislikes you. Loyal to a fault but not to them, and you make no effort to hide that."

"I dislike false pretenses."

"Candid to a fault as well." Calinya smiled but none of the mirth reached her eyes. "You want to know why I asked for you."

"Obviously."

She handed Sedgewick the tiny portrait. In it, Calinya sat posed in a chair. Her face was solemn, as most portraits were but her eyes gleamed. Her husband stood behind her and her daughter Laryssa sat at her feet.

"I had this done just after Laryssa's hundredth birthday. My husband always said she took after me but...she has his eyes, don't you think?"

"I think you're right," Sedgewick replied softly as he handed the portrait back.

"Thank you." She pressed it to her chest and turned away. "I wasn't entirely honest with you all those years ago."

"I suspected as much."

"Go open the box on the windowsill."

Sedgewick stood and picked the box up. He flicked the latch open and raised the lid slowly. Papers, yellowed and wrinkled like they'd been read over and over again before being carefully tucked back away, filled it to the brim. He rested the box on the seat and pulled them out. Snippets of words jutted out as he quickly shifted through them.

"...prettiest girl in Abreyla."

"I did forgive you for threatening me, didn't I?"

"I know I said I should stay away, but I've missed you terribly..."

"If you're sure you still want to see me..."

"...can't change their minds. I don't blame them..."

"...Des'll get used to you."

"Meet me tonight."

"Love letters?" Sedgewick asked finally.

"A summer's worth." Calinya stared at the letters like they were poison. "To my daughter."

"From?" Sedgewick asked even as the answer rose in his mind.

"Dormaeus Carrow." Calinya spat out the name. She lowered herself down into her chair. "I don't know how they met. Maybe they wouldn't have if my husband and I hadn't let Laryssa explore the city." Her cracked as she struggled to maintain her composure. "They were planning to run away together."

Calinya took the letters from Sedgewick and pointed to a specific one. Unlike the others, the writing on it seemed frantic, desperate even. "This is the last one. It's also how her father and I caught her. He asked her to meet him."

"Did she?"

"We forbid it, obviously." Calinya tucked the letters back in the box, her gaze hazy and unfocused. "I grabbed the rest of her letters and was on my way to fetch you. Laryssa never arrived at their meeting spot."

Calinya's dusty skin paled, but she didn't look ill. She looked like a woman at war. "So he burnt my family. He robbed me of them. And after the fire died, the only thing that warmed me was knowing that he would die for it as well. Your betrothed and her guild robbed me of that."

There was the motive. It was like finding the one thread running through a knot that led to the undoing of all the others. A wizard resorting to violence after feeling abandoned by his lover sounded much more plausible than a random attack. Sedgewick's brief sense of victory soured at the sight of Calinya. "Why didn't you tell anyone to begin with?" Sedgewick asked.

Calinya looked at him sharply. "My family was dead. My people were in mourning. I was not going to ruin my child's memory when tell anyone wouldn't change anything."

Sedgewick nodded in understanding. He stared down at the yellow rug on the floor and turned the information over in his mind. "Tell me, how did the guild manage to deprive you of justice? Dormaeus was sentenced to execution."

"You're betrothed to a healer, Master Alverdyne. You know where they stand on violence. The Healer's Guild has long been against execution."

"Former healer," Sedgewick corrected. "And yes, I'm aware of that. Stop dancing around in circles."

"They claimed to have developed a new technique to reform monsters like him. And since you failed to catch him before they did, King Eldain allowed them to test it."

Sedgewick pushed his glasses up his nose and pushed down a bitter glare. She wasn't entirely wrong, but the new knowledge that he'd unknowingly been competing against Feyla took some of the sting out of that failure. Feyla at least was a worthy opponent.

"They used magic to wiped his memories, Sedgewick," Calinya said finally. "He doesn't remember anything about his old life."

And just like that, the knot untangled.

********************

Author's Note:  Dun, dun, dun! Sedgewick knows things now (and you all too obviously). How's this going to affect the healers? What is everyone thinking of Dormaeus/Reiden now?

Chapter 24: The mage tilted her head to the side. "How's your little trips to your healer cohorts going?"