Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4)

by Melinda Kucsera

  “It’s time to push,” said the midwife.

  “I couldn’t p-prevent it if I tried.” Shara grit her teeth so hard she thought they’d crack.

  The midwife crouched in front of her as she watched and waited, then nodded to herself. “I can see the head. Another push.”

  Sam crouched beside Shara as she cried out, her back arching with pain. His pale face took on a new pallor as she felt her body tear. The head had passed.

  “Another. Just one more push.” The midwife held the baby’s head as she helped guide the shoulders from Shara’s body, and a cry split the air. “It’s a baby boy!”

  Shara stood in the small house, her house truth be told, and watched her son breathe as he slept. Several months old and already he’d captured her heart more than anything else in the world. He lay in a bed a touch less lumpy than the ones at the inn, cradled against Sam’s chest, and she smiled at the sight. Even in the lone candlelight, Leolin carried her smile and her blue eyes, though his hair was all Sam’s: bushy, brown, and straight.

  Despite the silence across Tarmsworth, she couldn’t sleep. Instead, she paced the house’s single bedroom until it was time to feed Leolin again. Sam handed him off with a murmur, then turned over and was asleep before she’d done more than uncover her breast. On the other hand, Leolin had no trouble staying awake long enough to eat.

  A few tears rolled down Shara’s cheeks as he nursed, his tiny fists balled up on her breast. Tiny fingernails and tiny eyelashes were a miniature version of herself, and the thought of never seeing him again nearly blinded her.

  Once fed, she rocked him until he fell asleep, his mouth slightly open as he breathed against her skin. “I would do anythin’ to keep ya safe, little one. Never forget that,” she whispered before she kissed him on the head.

  Leolin curled up against his father’s chest when she returned him to the bed. Once she was sure he slept soundly, she retreated to the small table in the front room. The chair wasn’t the most comfortable one, but she didn’t need it to be. She didn’t want comfort in the wee hours of the morning. Her hands shook as she picked up the letter from the guards station in town. Sam had brought it home late last night.

  At first, he’d tried to hide it from her—a first since she’d gotten pregnant with Leolin—but his face carried wrinkles it didn’t need to and eventually she’d pulled it out of him.

  Guard Station - Tarmsworth

  I’ve read your report about the incident involving one of our brothers and his altercation with one of your guards. While I greatly appreciate the return of our brother’s body and possessions, it concerns me that such an altercation occurred. That our brother would stab an innocent bar matron seems…unlikely.

  Some would have you believe us little more than common killers-for-hire or assassins, but this is far from the truth. We honor Anur and His Justice. For our brother to stab an innocent goes against everything we stand for.

  I would prefer to send my own investigator to town to interview the bar matron and this guard who took our brother’s life. Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this incident without further harm befalling either of our people.

  Look for my investigator in the following days.

  -O-

  To many, it might’ve resembled a circle, but to those living in Sadai, no one else would dare use that symbol but the Grand Master of the Order of Amaska. It didn’t matter that she’d read the letter three times. Reading it again left her trembling.

  He won’t send just anyone. I know ya, brother o’mine. If ya think somethin’s gone wrong, you’ll send someone older. A Master perhaps or someone with enough experience not to fall for any tricks we might think up. And once they know I’m here…

  Shara dropped the letter, then laid her head against the table and cried.

  She’d intended to leave that night, to escape away after leaving Sam a note, but seeing Leolin’s smile as he gurgled at her gave her pause. Perhaps the investigator would talk to the guards and leave. Maybe they’d never be sent at all, and the letter was merely a tactic intended to cause fear. Either way, Shara had crawled into bed next to Sam and fallen asleep to the sounds of her baby.

  Two weeks had passed uneventfully, and with each additional week that passed, Shara slept better. Every moment she held her child, she relaxed a little more until she’d all but forgotten the letter and the coming investigator.

  The last day of summer rose without a cloud in the sky. She wouldn’t be needed at Mel’s until later in the day, so she set out for the baker’s with Leolin slung across her chest. Several folks greeted her along her walk or stopped to waggle a finger in front of the always laughing Leolin. It was rare she reached her destination unaccosted as the town had fallen completely in love with her child.

  The baker’s stand lay out in the sun as it usually did during the summer, and Shara picked through the various bread loaves until she found one a touch crispy around the edges. Just the way Sam likes it. She handed the baker three half-pennies, and he gave Leolin a bread ring to gnaw on.

  “Thanks! He’ll have it in a gummy mess before I reach home, where I’ll have to pick it out of my hair,” she said, and the man laughed at the daily joke between them.

  As she crossed the clearing in town, the hairs on her arms prickled, and she gripped Leolin tightly to her chest as she glanced around. With a few dozen buildings, there wasn’t much to look at, but she searched rooftops and the shadows between buildings. Those who lived here continued about their business, while merchants scurried between the inn and the various tradespeople. No one watched her, despite her body’s reaction, and she settled in a spot beneath a tree to feed Leolin.

  Belly full and his now-gummy bread ring in his little hands, Leolin wriggled in her arms. She spread his wrap across the ground in front of her and lay him on his back, where he waved his hands and feet in the air as a few leaves fell from the tree. Shara picked one up and twirled it between her fingers in front of his face. When his tiny fingers managed to catch it, his eyes widened with surprise.

  “Ya got it, didn’t ya?”

  Her son gurgled as he tried to taste the leaf, then his face bunched up as he spit it out.

  “Not exactly for eatin’ my boy.”

  Interest lost, he dropped the leaf and swung his other arm which held the bread ring. A shadow moved across his face, and Shara glanced up, expecting to see one of the town’s people come over to play with Leolin.

  Instead, a man stood before her wearing the wraps of the Order. Rather than intimidating, he smiled openly at Leolin and kept some distance between them. When he saw the fear on Shara’s face, he held his hands in the air and open as he lowered his head. “I didn’t mean to startle you, m’lady. I mean you and your little one no harm.”

  Her entire body shouted at her to run or to slit the man’s throat before he laid a finger on Leolin, but neither would help the situation. Shara forced herself to smile and lower her face. “I was so focused on him, I didn’t expect the shadow. My apologies, Master.”

  “Not a Master, m’lady. My name’s Bauden. I’m looking for the Tarmsworth Inn. If you could perhaps point me in the direction of it?”

  “I can, but it’s not open ’til this afternoon.”

  “No worries, m’lady. I have business with the owner.”

  Shara pointed toward the inn and tried to keep her finger from shaking. Bauden followed the line her finger made and nodded. “Thank you. I’ll leave you and your boy to the beautiful day.”

  As he headed to the inn, she noticed the town had grown quiet as folks watched him. If anyone knew Sam and she were Amaskan, no one said anything. To the people of Tarmsworth, they were the guards-for-hire who’d saved Mel and kept them safe. Their family was as much Tarmsworth as the blacksmith or the baker or the woman who sewed clothing down the lane. Shara stared until the man was inside the inn, and when another shadow passed over her, she let loose a cry.

  “I’m sorry, Shara. I did’na mean to startle ya.” The bak
er stood in front of her, concern engraved in every wrinkle. “This town d’na’need their kind here. When I saw ’im standin’ over ya—”

  It was then that she noticed the large butcher knife in the baker’s old hands, and she bit back a laugh. “I appreciate yer concern, but he was just lookin’ for the inn. Hopefully he ain’t lookin’ for a place to stay as Mel’ll have none of that at her place.”

  The baker nodded as he tucked the knife behind his back. With his free hand, he fetched another bread ring from his pocket and dangled it in front of Leolin, who kicked his arms and legs with excitement. Bread ring claimed, the baker gave another smile to her son and a nod to her before returning to his stand.

  For all that she wanted to rush, doing so would only give them away, so Shara remained beneath the tree for a time before she returned to Leolin to his sling. Rather than head home, she took her time wandering towards the guard station and once there, passed through its entrance as if it was a daily occurrence. She found Sam at a desk in the rear, pouring over trade agreements as several merchants waited with grumbles for him to finish.

  He raised his head and spotted her in the background, then placed the parchment on the desk. “Give me a moment, gentlemen,” he said.

  When he reached her, his concern bled through the mask he wore when working. “What is it? Is something wrong with Leolin?”

  She pushed his hands away as he reached out to take their son. “It’s not that. Someone’s here.”

  Sam stilled, his voice going quiet. “Someone from the Order?” When she nodded, he swore, and the merchants behind him cleared their throats.

  “Came right up to us as we played beneath the big tree. I-I don’t t-think he recognized us, but…he’s at the inn. What’re we gonna do?” Her voice trembled, and Leolin squirmed in her arms.

  “Go home. I’ll be there shortly.”

  Shara nodded and as she turned away, Leolin let loose a screech that made her ears ring. He held out his arms for his father and the further away they got, the more he cried. She jiggled him in her arms, but he ignored her attempts to placate him. As she passed by the front desk, one of the guards smiled in sympathy. “Time for a nap for that one,” he said, and she nodded in agreement.

  By the time they reached home, half the town at commented on Leolin’s need for a nap, though it wasn’t sleep that he needed. Rather than keep them both on edge, Shara laid Leolin on a blanket on the floor while she sat cross-legged beside him. While he watched her, she breathed in slowly through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. Sam needed her calm and alert, not emotionally volatile. Same went for Leolin.

  When Sam arrived home twenty minutes later, he returned to a much calmer Shara. “You’re going to have to deal with those emotions later,” he said as she passed him his son.

  “Later is later. Right now, I need to be clear-headed.” Pushing aside her emotions was a technique taught to all Amaskans, though it was one she hadn’t used in a long time as she preferred to feel things rather than pretend they didn’t exist. “I assume he’s at the inn talkin’ to Mel ’bout what happened.”

  “Which means that next he’ll be wanting to talk to me,” said Sam as he paced. “I need to be sure he doesn’t recognize me. If I can be ‘just another guardsman,’ then it shouldn’t be a big deal. Both Mel’s accounting of what took place and mine match. If anything, it’ll prove that your brother needs to better train his people to control their tempers.”

  “I’d swear they want us to have problems controlling emotions. I mean, before ya met me, rumor around the Order was ya had a wicked temper.”

  Sam frowned. “I told Grand Master Elish he was a fool. Once. Apparently that’s all it takes to get a reputation.”

  Shara walked into the bedroom they shared and gathered a small basket, similar to the one Mel had, only Shara’s carried a mix of dyes and powders. “Sit,” she said as she pointed at a chair.

  “Will that stuff work?” asked Sam.

  “It should. Used it for several months to hide my tattoo from ya. The Order uses it all the time if Amaskans need to blend in different places. If they use it, why can’t we?”

  “I still knew about your tattoo though. Sometimes the powder smeared off.”

  “I wasn’t careful enough. Lovin’ ya made me careless.”

  He frowned, but leaned forward for him to work on his face. Combining herbal powders with floral and mineral dyes was a science of its own and one that Shara excelled at. Most of her jobs at the Order involved disguising herself in order to get where others could not. Lucky for her brother had never paid it much mind, seeing it as a woman’s art. She mixed a variety until she matched Sam’s skin color.

  The foundation for her experiment smoothed out some of his wrinkles and gave him a more youthful appearance than he currently had. Ground-up rose petals gave a slight, youthful flush to his cheeks and brow, while coal lent shadow on the sides of his nose, giving his features a narrower look. When she handed him the small mirror, his eyes widened when he saw his appearance.

  “I look nothing like myself!”

  “That’s the point,” she said as she packed up the basket. Shara tossed one of Leolin’s blankets over it, then threw in some toys to disguise its purpose before returning the basket to their bedroom.

  Sam wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her. “You need to stay away from the inn tonight. No matter what you hear, stay here. The only way they’ll think you’re who Bredych’s looking for is if we’re seen together. Between your handiwork and Mel, we’ve got this covered.”

  “And if they think yer guilty of a crime against the Thirteen? What then?”

  He shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to kill him, though I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Someone knocked on the door. Twice.

  Without a word, Shara picked up Leolin and his blanket, retreated to the bedroom, and closed the door behind her. As expected, Mel’s voice sounded from the front door as she talked with Sam. Another voice, lower pitched, spoke next, and Shara carefully unlatched the back door. She stepped outside with Leolin and closed it quietly behind her, cutting off whatever conversation took place up front.

  Behind their house was nothing but trees as the forest surrounded Tarmsworth, but they were trees long familiar to Shara. She walked through the forest until she found the wooden crate Sam had hidden the first time an Amaskan had come calling. Inside was a dark green cloak for her, one that would help her blend into the trees, as well as a sling for Leolin in case she was caught outside without one. A toy or two for Leolin lay inside as well as one of Shara’s daggers. Each week, Sam switched out dried meat or dried fish and a canister of water. She put the sling on immediately and hands free, donned the cloak and dagger.

  I could leave. It’d certainly be safer for Sam if I did, but where would we go? Shara pushed the thought aside as she eyed the crate. Food and drink she’d leave unless absolutely needed. For now, she only need rest on a bed of pine needles until Sam came to find her, or worse, someone else did.

  The sun hovered near the horizon when someone approached Shara’s spot in the woods. By then, she’d used the water and fed Leolin twice, though she’d left the dried meat alone. Her stomach rumbled, but the thought that she might be outside overnight kept her from eating. Hand on dagger hilt, she waited behind a tree as the person advanced carrying a candle. As they stopped before the crate, Shara caught the familiar gray hair and yellow blouse of Mel.

  Shara stepped out from behind the tree. “Mel,” she called out in hopes she wouldn’t startle the woman.

  “I was worried you’d run me through before realizin’ who I was,” said Mel.

  Her stomach flittered as she glanced over Mel’s head. “Where’s Sam?”

  “He’s mindin’ the tavern. Said ya like to come out here ta think and asked if I’d fetch ya.”

  “Oh, okay. Usually if I stay out too long, he comes for me himself.”

  Mel’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the green
cloak. With typical Mel grace, she remained silent and refrained from asking any questions, even as Shara returned the cloak, sling, and toys to the crate. The way the woman stared, the truth would come out eventually but for now, Shara was relieved to return to her house through the front door.

  “I’ll be over to the inn in a moment.”

  “It’s a slow night. Sam convinced me t’give ya the evenin’ w’ Leolin. Truth be told, if I had one as cute as he is, I’d be hard pressed ta leave him,” said Mel as she rubbed a finger across Leolin’s cheek. “Gets slow enough, I’ll send yer man home, too.”

  Mel closed the front door behind her, and Shara collapsed into a nearby chair. While Sam wasn’t being hauled off to the Sadain Capital or the Order itself, the fact that he warned her to stay home meant something was off. Rather than the dozen tasks she could’ve been doing, she paced.

  She nursed Leolin and paced.

  She shook his toys for him and made silly faces that didn’t erase the worry in her eyes, and then she paced some more.

  By the time Leolin was asleep, Shara was ready to beat down the inn’s door and demand an explanation. With a glance toward her sleeping child, she strode to the front door and threw it open to find Sam standing outside. His eyes widened a bit, then he brushed past her and closed the wooden door.

  Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Sam held her close until a sound interrupted them. In the bedroom, Leolin had rolled over onto his stomach and held his head up to stare at them both. He laughed then, his chubby cheeks sporting dimples, and Shara felt the tension in her release as she joined in.

  They both tickled their child for a few minutes before Sam picked him to blow on the child’s belly. Between laughs, Shara opened her mouth but found herself unwilling to interrupt their joy. A candlemark passed before Sam rocked an exhausted but happy child to sleep. He took Shara’s hand and led her back into the front room.