Free The Unmage by Jane Glatt Page B

trouble, Kara thought darkly. She probably wouldn’t even miss Timo once he was gone.
    “That’s it. We all know what to expect,” Reo said. “In two days, Mole will talk to Timo, and in five days, we’ll be on Mage Guild Island.”
    “And in six days, we’ll be home with Timo,” Mole said, and Kara hoped he was right.
     

Chapter 5
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    FOUNDERS DAY WAS less than a week away, and Timo hadn’t heard from Mole. He hadn’t said when he’d return so it was up to Timo to get himself to Old Rillidi. He hoped Kara really did want him there.
    As he shuffled out of his workroom into the long hallway, he glanced towards Rorik’s workroom door. It was closed, as it always was these days, but he knew the Primus wasn’t working. The man could only stand for a few minutes at a time anymore—his health had failed that quickly.
    The door to the workroom suddenly opened, and Timo met his mother’s frown as she exited the room.
    “Get your Master some broth,” she said as she strode down the hallway towards him.
    “He can’t swallow it,” Timo whispered. “He chokes.”
    His mother stood in front him, her frown deepening as she stared at him. “Then do something else useful,” she finally said. “I’ll be at home if anything . . . happens.”
    “Yes, Donna,” Timo said. He knew she meant if Rorik died. The Healer hadn’t been able to do much for the man except keep him comfortable, and now he couldn’t even do that. Rorik was in constant pain and each breath was a struggle.
    His mother strode down the hallway to the door that led outside without a single glance at him.
    What had she meant about him doing something useful? Was that a request for him to try to remove the spell? Did she know that Rorik was cursed? Rorik could barely speak—soon he would no longer be able to ask Timo for help. Had she been urging him to use his unmagic?
    If he did nothing, Rorik would be dead in a few hours, a day or two at the most. The man wouldn’t live to see Founders Day, not at the rate he’d been deteriorating. If Timo was to have any chance to save him, he’d have to do it now.
    He pushed open the door to Rorik’s workroom and entered. One small mage light hovered overhead, but Timo didn’t need that light to see into the room. The hunched figure of Rorik was illuminated by a thick swathe of gold mage mist. It lazily circled his neck and upper chest, throwing his face into stark relief. The man’s eyes had sunk into their sockets, and his once robust face was gaunt and etched with pain.
    “Arabella?” Rorik whispered. He started to turn his head but the small movement sent him into a convulsion. He doubled over in his chair, coughing and gasping for breath.
    “No, it’s me,” Timo said. He sidled over to stand in front of the man. “I came to see if there was anything you needed, anything I could do to help.”
    “Timo.” Rorik’s voice was barely audible, and one papery hand lifted off his lap for a moment before it dropped back down in defeat.
    “I want to try,” Timo said, and Rorik’s head came up. Timo met his watery eyes. “I don’t know what to do, but I want to try, if you’ll let me.”
    Rorik sighed softly, and his chin dropped onto his chest. “Yes.” The word was spoken so quietly that Timo had to lean over to hear it.
    “Then may Gyda guide me,” Timo said. He straightened up and looked around the room. Was there anything he needed? Anything that would help him? He shook his head. Kara hadn’t needed anything when she’d removed Rorik’s curses almost two years ago, but she had walked around Rorik studying and testing the spells. Would that help him?
    He stood behind Rorik. The mage mist seemed just a bit thinner at the back of his neck. He poked at it with a finger, and the gold mist eddied away from him. He shivered. The closer he came the more strongly he felt the malevolence of the spell.
    Timo peered at it. Was the mist moving faster? He waved at it