A Jewel Bright Sea

by Claire O'Dell

  Things. Anna’s skin prickled with apprehension.

  He went to the door and spoke briefly with someone outside. Moments later two ship’s boys arrived with a basket of flatbread, cheese, and a jug of wine. Shortly after, a girl hurried in with a platter of grilled fish and wine cups.

  Koszenmarc poured wine for Anna, then himself. “Thea tells me you overtaxed yourself today, but this is a discussion that cannot wait. We can eat while we talk.”

  He gestured to the dishes between them. Anna helped herself to a serving of bread and cheese, watching with quick glances as Koszenmarc did the same. His face had all the marks of exhaustion and more than a little anxiety. It’s not just the jewel that worries him.

  For several moments, she had a reprieve as they ate. Koszenmarc finished off a serving of the fish and drank a cup of wine, then refilled his plate with bread and cheese before he spoke again.

  “I mentioned that Joszua brought me news from Vyros,” he said. “There’s more than what I told you before. The details seemed irrelevant, but that was before today.” His expression had turned thoughtful, as though he were still sorting through the implications of that news. Or, Anna thought, he wanted to choose how many of those details to reveal. He had mentioned trust, but she knew theirs was a limited and temporary trust.

  He went on, “I had ordered Joszua to investigate the aftermath of your arrest. Along with what I told you before, he learned there were several robberies in the city. Swift, professional robberies, each costing the victim a substantial sum of money. One of the victims was murdered when they discovered the thief in the act.”

  Anna thought she understood the drift of this news, but she waited in silence.

  Koszenmarc smiled faintly, as though he could read her thoughts. “That alone is nothing unusual. But the robberies stopped after six days. Not long after that, a mage connected with certain city gangs vanished. My question is this… Might there be a link between your friend Raab and what happened today?”

  Her mouth went dry. “I would not call him my friend. A useful associate would be more accurate.”

  “So I thought. Do you trust him?”

  She managed a careless shrug. “For certain matters, yes.”

  Koszenmarc tore off a piece of bread and rolled it between his fingers. Without meeting her gaze, he said, “I had wondered. He was not part of our agreement, after all. It’s possible he wishes to rescue you and Maté. Or he wishes to rescue the stolen goods himself for your client back in Duenne.”

  “That is possible,” she said reluctantly. “Truth be told, my client would…dislike our agreement. He wished us to accomplish our task discreetly and quickly, neither of which has happened. And even if your client agrees to negotiate with mine, I suspect he will demand a very high price.”

  “I suspect you are correct,” Koszenmarc said. “One risk of our trade is that our clients are not always reasonable.”

  There was nothing she could say to that, so she simply smiled.

  Koszenmarc smiled back. “At least your other companion is a friend. Eleni believes you were both bonded servants. Likely to the same master, she said.”

  Anna froze. Ah, so, this friendly dinner was simply another, gentler form of questioning. She would have to tread carefully—and find the means to speak privately with Maté again to make sure their stories agreed. “We were, once. We’ve remained friends, as you can see.”

  He abandoned the bread, now reduced to a heap of crumbs, and took a sip of wine. “You were lucky to earn your freedom together. Your old master must have been in a generous mood. Is he the one who had you trained in magic?”

  She hesitated, uncertain where he was leading this conversation. “I began my studies with my father. When he died, I sold my bond and my new master allowed me to continue. He wanted a mage in his service, you see.”

  “He must have thought highly of you.”

  He only thought to make use of me.

  Immediately, her appetite vanished and she set her fork down.

  “What’s wrong?” Koszenmarc asked.

  “Nothing.” Her belly shivered, and she was certain that her voice did too. She drew a long breath to steady herself. “Other than a very tiring and frightening day.”

  He lifted his eyebrows, but when she didn’t say more, he murmured, “My apologies for touching upon unpleasant memories.” He refilled their wine cups, then took a drink. “Quite a few of my company took service for much the same reasons. Eleni did. When she was twelve, she sold herself to a rich man on Vyros so her brothers and sisters would not starve.”

  Anna needed several moments to realize what he’d said. It seemed a good idea, Maté had said. Yes, I know how that is, Eleni had replied. Only now did those words carry a deeper and darker meaning. “She won back her bond, then?” she said.

  “No.” His gaze flicked up to hers, then back to his plate. “She ran away with her son. I haven’t asked her why, but I can guess. You see why I don’t give her any missions on Vyros or the other large islands.”

  So much left unspoken, but Anna thought she could guess those reasons. “What about Nikolas?”

  He had the grace to look embarrassed. “That was a mistake. I wanted to send one of the boys or girls after you, to make certain you were safely delivered on Vyros. Nikolas insisted he would not be in any danger, if he landed well away from the city. He was wrong. The shore patrol nearly caught him. Eleni was…not pleased.”

  It was a mistake, Nikolas had said to his friend Theo.

  “Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “No reason.”

  When he spoke next, it was to make an observation about her magical studies with Thea. Anna gave a suitable reply, and gradually the conversation drifted away from the personal to more general topics. History. The Emperor, his heirs, and his Court, about which Koszenmarc seemed remarkably well informed, despite his long absence.

  Under any other circumstances, Anna might have enjoyed their conversation, but she had told this man too many lies. It would be too easy to let slip a remark that contradicted the story she had given Koszenmarc about her supposed client in Duenne. Or worse, that might lead him to suspect who that client was. The thought of what Brun might do if that happened…

  With a start, she realized Koszenmarc had asked her a question.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “What did you say?”

  He smiled. “Nothing important. I’m afraid I’ve been chattering. Perhaps I should follow my own orders about taking a watch below. As you said, we’ve had a long and exhausting day. We should both turn in.”

  Anna stood, grateful for the reprieve. Koszenmarc raised his cup as she left the cabin. But later, as she lay in her hammock, unable to sleep, she wondered if she had revealed anything that would in time betray her.

  CHAPTER 12

  Nine days later, Anna Zhdanov sat opposite Thea Antonious with the scent of incense rising up from the copper bowl between them. It was midmorning of an early autumn day, and though the seasons in Eddalyon were nothing like those in Duenne, there was a marked difference in the quality of the sunlight, and the far more frequent storms left a lingering trace of electricity in the air.

  Anna sighed and attempted to pin her thoughts on the balance point. Thea had given her a more difficult task—to translate herself to the edge of the magical void, to the moment where her soul could take flight, and then to hover there for the space of three breaths. Once she had mastered that, she could make the leap into Anderswar and, perhaps, discover the exact trajectory of Sarrész’s path when he reentered the ordinary world.

  She breathed in, held the air inside her lungs, then released it slowly as she whispered the words in Erythandran to summon the magical current.

  …Komen mir de kreft, komen mir de strôm…

  Her skin rippled. The dark red-and-black patterns against h
er eyelids turned to unrelieved blackness. The air felt thicker, more alive, and she felt a curious lightness within. Another breath and her soul would lift from her body…

  Her throat squeezed shut in sudden panic, and the current vanished.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  Anna pressed the heels of her hands against her forehead. Six attempts today. Six failures. At this rate, they would never find Sarrész. Off to one side, Daria Ioannou sighed and muttered a few curses of her own.

  “Daria, my love,” Thea said. “Why don’t you take a walk?”

  Daria lay on her back, arms flung out to either side, taking up most of the floor in Thea’s chambers. She was the very picture of exasperation. If Anna had not been so frustrated herself, she might have been amused.

  “I took a walk,” Daria said in a plaintive voice. “Twice, no, three times today. What I want is a ship, a ship and a crew, as bloodthirsty as possible, but our beloved captain…”

  She trailed off with a hiss.

  No need to explain that hiss. When the Konstanze returned from Idonia, Koszenmarc had declared a state of siege. No more secret missions to seek out Aldo Sarrész. No more visits to port cities to take on victuals and other supplies. The company would forage on neighboring islands for greenstuff and lumber, he said. As for rope and iron and other such items, they would make do until the crisis had passed.

  If it ever does, Anna thought. Koszenmarc had sent Joszua with the cutter back to Idonia, to visit his family in secret and learn whatever he could about Druss’s and Maszny’s actions. Joszua had returned, pale and shaken, with the news that Maszny had issued a warrant for Koszenmarc’s arrest.

  Anna blew out a breath and dismissed all thoughts of Koszenmarc. Her task was the balance point between worlds. And for all his sudden fanatical precautions, at least the man had not forbidden these magical attempts.

  Perhaps he knows it’s our only chance.

  She closed her eyes and concentrated on that balance point, all it represented to her, to the company. Everything, was her first thought. She laughed, a light and breathless laugh, which brought her back from the edge of despair. It was possible. She knew it was. She only had to pin her thoughts and will upon that moment, just as Thea had taught her.

  Before she could utter the first syllable of the magical summons, Thea touched her wrist lightly. “No.”

  Anna blinked. “What? I was about to—”

  Thea glared at her. “You were about to launch yourself into the magical void. No thought. No planning. Just…leaping into nothing without any thought. Gods-damned stupid child,” she went on, with more heat than Anna expected. “I have no wish to lose you, simply because you overreached yourself.”

  “But Thea—”

  “But nothing. Stop. We’ll try again tomorrow, after you’ve had some proper rest.”

  Anna pressed her lips together. She could not explain how urgent the matter was. If she could cross into the void, she could track Sarrész’s path from Vyros and back into Eddalyon. She could recover the jewel and win her freedom.

  It’s already too late. He told you autumn.

  No. He’ll understand.

  He won’t. You know him well enough, Anna Zhdanov. He’ll take the jewel and take you back into bondage. He might even pretend regret as an afterthought. It won’t make any difference.

  “You have that look again,” Thea said softly. “Stubborn and irrational.”

  “Like you, my love,” Daria said.

  “Perhaps,” Thea said. “We’re all a bit on edge these days.” Her gaze narrowed. “Elise, would you please do me a favor? Take that basket over by the wall, the one I packed this morning, and find a quiet spot outside. I need you to sort through the medicines, the way I taught you. Daria and I need to have a talk.”

  It was an obvious ploy to send Anna away, and the reason didn’t matter. At the same time, Thea was right—until Koszenmarc lifted the siege, the company depended on whatever supplies they possessed. With a sigh, Anna slung the basket over her shoulder and exited the room, leaving the other two women to their private conversation.

  Thea’s chambers were a twist and a turn from the inner harbor, now crowded with sailors at work. The cutter Daemon had been hauled onto the sand to repair a leak in her hull. Both Konstanze and Mathilde had been emptied entirely with a view to examine all their stores and, for the Mathilde in particular, to improve her handling.

  Several of the company on the shore glanced in her direction. It was not a friendly glance. Anna resisted the urge to glare back at them and continued on her way, rounding the point of the island, until she came to the low, flat shore on the western side. The sands here were wet and grey and scattered with broken shells. Across a short expanse of water lay the other two islands in Koszenmarc’s domain. Both were empty—yet another outcome of that ill-fated visit to Idonia. No more drills. No more goats and sheep grazing in the open air. Everyone and everything had been gathered into Asulos’s main sanctuary.

  A fringe of clouds blurred the far horizon and the wind was freshening, blowing in directly from the west. There would be rain before sunset. Anna breathed in the scents of salt and mud and the coming storm and felt her own unsettled nerves grow quieter. She had not conquered the world and all its magic today. As Thea said, they would make a fresh attempt tomorrow and soon, soon—

  She turned away from the open sea and continued her circuit to the far side of the island. Here the seas rolled on without interruption to the horizon. Here a small passageway cut into the island, one of dozens that honeycombed the rock. A few large boulders shielded its entrance from the sea, with more that could be leveraged to block the entrance entirely in case of attack, as she had learned from Daria.

  It was almost as though Koszenmarc had expected an invasion long before he had kidnapped her from Maszny. Who was he, damn him, this man who understood warfare on land and sea? Perhaps later, once she had regained her freedom, she might look into his past.

  She settled onto the sands and picked a jar at random from the basket. Morinda (Leaves) read the label, followed by a notation in Thea’s hand. Harvested six months ago, apparently, from a trusted supplier in the central islands. Bought two weeks later by Thea herself.

  Five months ago, I left Lord Brun’s household to find a thief.

  A task she’d failed to accomplish.

  Her stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch at how badly she’d failed.

  She ordered her unruly organ to behave and set the jar onto the packed sands. Ought she sort the medicines by date first, and then examine their potency? Thea had not said. Still considering how to approach her task, she picked up another jar. Saltbush (Sap), read the label. Acquired two months ago, from the markets of Iglazi.

  Two months ago, she had set sail for Eddalyon, along with Raab and Maté. According to Koszenmarc, Raab had since disappeared. As for Maté, he might as well have vanished. Even with the entire company crowded into the heart of Asulos, Anna had not spoken to her friend since her return from Idonia.

  It was no accident. That much she knew. Everything—their quarters, their chores, even the hours they took meals—had been arranged to ensure they had no chance to speak privately. Abruptly she shoved the two jars back into the basket and stood. It didn’t matter where she spent the next hour, as long as Thea had her privacy and Anna checked over the medicines. She slung the basket over her shoulder and ducked into the passageway.

  By now she knew every route along the lower levels, knew which branch to take at which intersection, which stairs led to other halls or passages, and which deliberately ended in a blank wall. She turned left and left a second time, past the next intersection to a wide set of steps that brought her into a wider tunnel where a dozen members of the company were playing a noisy game of dice.

  The moment Anna appeared, the game stopped, the players went silent. She dropped her gaze and passed by,
trying to ignore how the back of her neck prickled. It wasn’t until she had rounded the next bend that their conversation resumed, and only in whispers.

  It doesn’t matter, she told herself. We only need to find the jewel, then they’ll be happy enough again. And Maté and I will be gone.

  She came at last to the great gathering hall and stopped as a wave of noise washed over her.

  Once, she had accompanied her father to a lecture hall at Duenne’s University, on the day a famous professor was to give a speech. The din from a hundred men and women and children echoing off the high stone walls reminded her of the din the students made as they argued over the best seats. If the voices here were punctuated by the bleating of goats, or the clash of sword against sword, well, the resemblance still held.

  Across the way, she spotted Maté on one of the raised steps that circled the hall. He had a leather apron draped over his lap, and a neat stack of weapons off to one side. One of the company’s dogs lounged next to him, tongue hanging out in the heat. Anna picked her way between the knots of men and women, many of them bent close in whispered conversation. There were more pointed stares and sudden silences. Anna ignored them, though once again her neck prickled with the weight of so much attention.

  Maté glanced up at her approach. His expression was nearly impossible to read, but when he didn’t tell her to leave, she took a seat next to him and began to sort through her basket. After a glance around the hall, her friend shrugged and resumed polishing a blade. In the center of the hall, Eleni led a group of the older children in a drill with wooden swords. She had sent one expressive glance toward them before she turned her attention back to her students.

  “I missed you,” Anna said softly.

  “He’s made sure of that,” Maté replied, just as quietly.

  No need to say Koszenmarc’s name. She wondered if Thea had not expected Anna to seek out her old friend.