Free Spindle (Two Monarchies Sequence Book 1) by W.R. Gingell Page B

wasn’t there, where was he?
    -trying to get in- sent Onepiece helpfully, crouching nearby in order, if the furious scratching was any indicator, to share his fleas with her.
    Gloomily unsurprised, Poly reached out the part of herself that had found Onepiece effortlessly, and discovered a second presence hovering nearby, humming furiously with power.
    -Onepiece says you want to get in- she thought at it, and the buzzing presence sharpened on her with an almost battering interest.
    -Oh, there you are- it said, and swooped right on past her into a warm, cosy nook that Poly recognised, in some surprise, to be her mind.
    The presence that was Luck solidified into Luck’s person, and Poly did the same hastily, forming metaphysical limbs just in time to drag him away from an interesting little corner that was stacked high with thin folders in shiny poison-red.
    -You have a lot of bad memories- observed Luck, leaving the red folders in favour of a bright four-tiered mobile of planets that was spinning despite the fact that there was no breeze, metaphysical or otherwise.
    Poly eyed the red folders dubiously. There was almost a whole wall of them. -Those are bad memories?-
    -Yes-
    -Can I get rid of them?- Poly flipped through the top few, and a flurry of thoughts and impressions flowed through her fingertips unpleasantly.
    -No. I’ve tried that-
    -Is this what my mind looks like?-
    -Not really- said Luck, cautiously poking at the mobile to throw the planets out of alignment. The planets seemed to think about this for a moment, then gently but firmly wafted back into their correct positions. -It’s an abstract form to help enchanters store and find things more easily-
    -Oh- said Poly blankly. -Then you made it look like this?-
    -Of course not. You did. Poly, why did you have short-sword instruction with one of the tower guards?-
    Poly looked around in dismay to find that he was sorting through the top drawer of a desk that had been set back into a bookshelf. She darted across the room and slapped the drawer shut, nearly catching Luck’s fingers as she did so.
    -You said you wanted to look at the curse- she reminded him.
    -Oh yes- said Luck. -It’s over there-
    When Poly looked over there , it was with the disagreeable feeling that she’d been uneasily ignoring that side of the room from the first moment she entered her mind. Now she knew why: an entire wall was thick with opaque nothingness, shifting and forming almost-shapes. It pulsed, and Poly had the horrible idea that it was actually growing; as if it was taking over her mind in a slow, inching crawl.
    -What’s it doing?-
    -It’s growing- said Luck, confirming her suspicions. He didn’t sound very much surprised.
    -Should it be growing?-
    -Of course not. It shouldn’t even be there. It should have dissipated when I kissed you-
    -If it’s still there, why did I wake up?- Poly demanded. Even when Luck answered questions he somehow didn’t.
    -Because I kissed you. Be quiet, Poly; I need to concentrate-
    She sat back in silence, dissatisfied and worried, to watch Luck at work; but there wasn’t much to watch. He merely sat cross-legged in front of the pulsing mass of curse and stared at it.
    Business as usual, then, thought Poly sourly. His magic was still wrong and confused, so when she became tired of looking at the bruised strands, she sighed and began to straighten it out, combing the strands between her fingers as though they were hair.
    Luck gave her one, swift look that startled her, but since he went back to ignoring her almost immediately, Poly kept straightening and soothing until the strands glowed and became gold again.
    When she at last looked up from her work, Onepiece had arrived and Luck had more or less gone again.
    The less was the fact that his meta-body was still present: the more was that his meta-eyes had gone as blank and empty as his real eyes.
    -Where’s he gone this time?- she asked Onepiece uneasily. She didn’t particularly like the idea of