“We’ll see to it.”
The crowd leader turned to him.
“And Monsieur Laberge?”
“We’ll investigate,” Gustav assured him.
“And he is under our protection,” Valerie added. “An attack on him is an attack on the cavern. Make sure that is understood.”
The man paled and backed away.
“Understood.”
The other leaders repeated him, then they broke and went in several different directions.
When they had gone, Monsieur Laberge turned to them.
“Thank you for your assistance,” he said and began to walk back to the house.
He stopped just as quickly, surprised when they moved with him.
“Can I help you?”
“When we’re back inside,” Valerie told him.
He looked a little worried but hurried inside. Marsh, Gustav, and Roeglin followed, standing to one side of the man’s office while the troops lined the corridor outside the door.
17
Secrets & Shadow Mages
“What can I do for you?” Monsieur Laberge asked when they were settled in his office.
Marsh and Roeglin leaned against the wall on opposite sides of the door, letting Gustav, Valerie, and the leader of the other mercenary group, Luka, take the seats in front of the desk. It was Gustav who replied.
“We need to know your activities for the last five days.”
Surprise flashed across Laberge’s face, and he frowned.
“I… Let me see…”
He glanced around the desk and picked up a large leather-bound book. It took him a few heartbeats to leaf through its shroom-paper pages, but finally, he passed the book over, holding it open as he did.
“Here,” he said. “It’s all here.”
Gustav took it and glanced down at the page, then passed it to Valerie and Luka.
“Roeglin.”
The dark-haired mage closed his eyes, and Marsh did the same. Maybe she could…
Not this time. Later.
As if that made a difference.
Marsh kept her eyes closed, figuring Roeglin was about to be too busy to notice what she did or didn’t do. How did he look into someone’s head, anyway?
Maybe it was like finding the natural energy of the world around her…Maybe thoughts had energy…Maybe she just had to want to know what someone was thinking and the magic would take her into their heads. Maybe…
I’m going to kick your ass when we’re done. Now focus on being quiet and just watching.
If it was possible for anyone to sound impressed and thoroughly annoyed at the same time, Roeglin managed it. Marsh tried to do as he said, although it was strange to feel his presence in someone else’s head and stranger to be in someone else’s head, and yet she knew she was.
She stayed at the edges of Monsieur Laberge’s mind, just getting used to knowing what someone else was thinking and feeling. The man was worried. He knew he’d done nothing wrong and knew without a doubt that he’d had nothing to do with the Iselin disappearance and had no idea how to prove it.
He had no idea how to prove it?
That thought made Marsh want to know more. She followed the thread of thought, looking for the reason connected to it.
Why could he not prove it? What had he done that he couldn’t...
Oh.
Marsh couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing, losing her connection to Monsieur Laberge as she doubled over with mirth. Across the desk from her, the merchant looked mortified, his face turning crimson with embarrassment.
Roeglin sighed and opened his eyes, not seeming to care that the white hadn’t quite faded from them. Monsieur Laberge looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.
“You could have warned me,” he murmured as Luka and Valerie looked on in puzzlement.
“Would you have allowed it?” Gustav asked, and Laberge shook his head.
“At least we know you’re not guilty.” Roeglin sounded tired, and he glared at Marsh. “Although I was hoping to be more subtle.”
Marsh straightened up, swallowed her laughter, and cleared her throat.
“Sorry.”
Valerie shifted in her chair.
“Care to share?”
Marsh looked at Roeglin, trying to work out how to respond.
So now you want advice?
Please!
I’ll take it from here…and I’m busting you back to apprentice.
Before Marsh could work out what to say to that, Roeglin had turned back to the merchant.
“Please accept my apologies for the apprentice. She has a lot to learn.”
Gustav said nothing, but his face said they’d both be hearing from him later. Roeglin continued as though they had nothing to worry about.
“I think, Monsieur, that your alibi might be better coming from you. You are going to have to tell us where to find your witnesses.”
If the merchant’s face had been crimson before, it was the color of a fire-glow now, and burning with the same intensity. Marsh no longer felt amused, and as funny as it had been to walk in on his secret, so to speak, it wasn’t funny now.
“Perhaps you should start by telling us where Madame Iselin is hiding,” she suggested, keeping her eyes on the merchant when everyone else turned toward her.
We are way beyond ass-kicking, was not something she wanted to hear from Roeglin.
Fortunately, whatever else he might have wanted to say was cut off as Monsieur Laberge began to speak.
“She’s safe. Devastated by her family’s disappearance, but safe. My wife…” He moved his hands in a helpless gesture. “She doesn’t know. We didn’t mean…”
He sighed again.
“I sound like a teenager making excuses, but at least you know why I would never have moved against them.”
“And why there are a few people who think you’ve shown enough interest in their property that you might have been planning a takeover,” Valerie finished for him.
“It would have come out eventually,” Luka added. “Nothing stays secret for long in this cavern.”
Marsh wanted to argue that the raiders had managed it, but she decided she was in enough trouble as it was.
You have no idea.
She wanted to tell Roeglin to shut it but thought better of it. Like the man said, she was in enough trouble as it was…apprentice-busting trouble, even.
“You mentioned ‘witness-es,’” Gustav prodded, looking at Roeglin, before turning his attention to Monsieur Laberge. “What did he mean by that?”
Monsieur Laberge’s face had almost returned to its normal color. Now he blushed again.
“He means that Madame Iselin was not the only person I was entertaining,” he admitted, “but I want your word that you will not tell anyone who was with her.”
“I don’t see how…”
“It’s either that or you don’t get to speak to her,” Laberge insisted. “They are old friends, but…”
Luka guessed what the man was desperately trying not to say and cut across him.
“Which of the wives is involved?” he demanded.
All eyes turned to him, then returned to the merchant.
Laberge kept a close eye on Valerie when he replied.
“Madame Gaebler.”
The mercenary’s jaw dropped, then she closed her mouth with an almost audible snap. For a moment nobody moved, then Gustav shrugged.
“I don’t see what was so funny,” he muttered, “and we have more important things to discuss.”
He didn’t see what I did, Marsh thought, but she kept her eyes on the floor and stifled the smile that threatened to appear.
No, but no one needs the detail, Roeglin told her, as entertaining as it is.
He had a point, but Valerie was speaking.
“I had people protecting her.”
It was as much a question as a statement of fact, and Monsieur Laberge knew the answer she was looking for.
“They r
efused to leave her.”
“A short-lived secret, indeed,” Luka observed to no one in particular, but the merchant ignored him and continued.
“So she swore them to secrecy and made it clear their lives wouldn’t be worth living if anything about us ever came to light.”
“It wouldn’t have been worth living if they’d left her,” Valerie muttered. “As to whether I’ll let them live after this…”
Monsieur Laberge looked alarmed.
“Please don’t say anything. They refused to leave their posts and they’ve kept her secret, which is just another part of keeping her safe. If Monsieur Gaebler ever found out…”
“He won’t!” Valerie snapped. “My people know their jobs. I’ll still need to speak to them. You and she will have to give them the freedom to do that.”
Monsieur Laberge relaxed, but only slightly.
“Only to the five of you here,” he agreed, even if he cast a dubious glance at Marsh as he did so.
“Agreed,” came as a single murmur from everyone present, and most of the tension left Monsieur Laberge’s face.
“Thank you,” he said. “Now, what else can I do?”
“What do you know about the last caravan to head to the surface?” Gustav asked, and the merchant blinked.
“I…why? Is it okay? Did it arrive at Downslopes okay?”
He stopped, catching the looks on their faces.
“That’s why you’re asking…because it didn’t make it to Downslopes.”
He gave a heavy sigh and bowed his head, rubbing a hand over his eyes. Marsh watched him, wondering at the grief she saw in his eyes when he lifted his face to look at them. He didn’t leave her to wonder for long.
“My son…” He paused, looking as if he’d aged a century in seconds. After a pause, he tried once more. “Were there any survivors? Did you retrieve the bodies?”
Gustav shook his head.
“There were no bodies…unless you count the bodies of the mules. That section of the trail is closed until the clearing force goes through. There’s at least one shadow wraith hunting the scavengers.”
Laberge’s next words revealed a father’s hope rather than a businessman’s concern.
“So they might still be alive?”
It was clear who he meant: the merchants, the guards, and the people taking their goods to the surface, his son included. Gustav nodded.
“It’s possible. We know the raiders take prisoners.”
“Do you know where they take them?”
“No. That is something we will pursue once the caverns are secure.”
“And you’ll try to get them back?”
There was no doubt who he meant by “them.”
“Oui. Shadow Mage Leclerc is tasked with that responsibility.”
Laberge regarded Marsh with an uncertain expression.
“Are you sure?”
And Marsh rolled her eyes.
“I’ve already tracked one group to a blank wall.” Roeglin snorted but she ignored him, hoping he wouldn’t reveal that she’d been the raiders’ prisoner at the time. “I can track them again. Right now, though, I need to find my boss…the merchant who came through town recently.”
Laberge’s gaze sharpened.
“Kearick?”
“Oui.”
“Why?”
Marsh’s expression hardened, and Laberge flinched. His reaction didn’t stop her from answering.
“Because he’s helping the raiders and I’m going to stop him.”
Laberge looked at Gustav.
“You might have mentioned this sooner.”
Gustav’s face was bland as he replied, but Marsh noticed the slight flicker of his eyes as he tried not to look at Valerie.
“We had other concerns.”
Marsh remembered how Valerie and her people had ambushed them and thought that was an understatement. Apparently, Valerie thought so too.
“We detained them,” she said, and Laberge stared at her.
“Why?”
Valerie gave him a small and secretive smile, darting a quick glance at Gustav before she replied.
“Let’s just say I’m used to Gustav bringing trouble, not solving it.”
Marsh saw the color rise to the Protector captain’s cheeks and wondered why.
You’d be surprised.
Care to share? she demanded, mimicking the mercenary leader’s earlier question.
Roeglin’s reply was as abrupt as it was short.
No.
Marsh changed the subject, addressing Monsieur Laberge directly.
“Do you know where Kearick is?”
Laberge’s brow furrowed.
“He asked directions to where the shadow mages meet.”
From his tone of voice, that location was common knowledge to the locals. Marsh waited for him to continue, but he remained silent. In the end, she had to make it obvious.
“We’re not from the cavern. Perhaps you could direct us?”
“Yes. You take the road to the mines at the north end of the cavern, past the Iselins, and…” He stopped, as a sudden realization struck him. “But those shadow mages have been among us for years. They have no connection to the raiders. Why would he want to see them?”
It was a good question, but Gustav had the answer.
“Are they the only known magic users in the cavern?”
“They are now that the Iselins are gone,” Luka replied.
“What?” he added when they all turned to him. “It was one of our assignments: Let them know where they could find ‘magical resources.’”
“Who?” Valerie demanded, then added, “Who set it?”
“The Piermonts. Oh. The Shadow-deviled Deeps! We have to hurry.”
Luka was out of his seat and moving for the door even as Roeglin cursed the shrooms and called the shadows. Marsh followed the shadow mage out the door, both of them preceding Luka as they ran for the first floor and front door. Gustav was hard on their heels, and Valerie started calling names as she assigned Laberge’s protection.
“Don’t let him out of your sight. Make sure he lives.”
“Mais oui.”
“Finn, you’re in charge.”
Finn?
Marsh couldn’t put a face to the name and made a note to find out who he was. They hit the front door and crossed the porch, slowing their pace to let Luka and the other mercenaries catch up.
“This way,” he called, and Gustav dropped back to give him the lead, glancing back just as Valerie raced through the door.
“There’s no time for the mules,” she said, falling in alongside Luka as they settled into a jog that would carry them for miles.
“Not heading for the mules,” he replied.
Marsh pushed aside the thought that they’d already walked most of the day and stretched her senses into the cavern. Even if she didn’t know exactly where they were going, she could at least try to look ahead. The cavern was full of life, mostly insects, but also other creatures around the size of the “bunnies” she’d seen around Kerrenin’s Ledge.
It was a relief to both see and not see any sign of human life.
Mordan paced beside her until they reached the edge of town, then the kat slid into the rocks and shrooms lining the path, vanishing into the background of pale stems and stone. She hoped none of the mercenaries would forget the big beast was on their side when she re-emerged.
The path was deserted, and Marsh made a note to ask what was normal for the cavern. Had the raiders been there long enough that folks didn’t venture outside the town without the mercenaries? She hoped not. That would mean the raiders would be harder to remove from the cavern...unless they took out the mages who opened the gates.
The mages!
Dan?
The kat caught her concern and sped off into the cavern, the sound of her movements causing several of the guards to reach for their swords.
“Stand down!” Gustav snapped. “It’s only the kat.”
&nb
sp; “Only...” muttered one of the men, and several others snorted in agreement.
None of them argued, though, and Luka and Valerie didn’t falter, keeping the pace as they ran along the trail.
At first, Marsh wondered just how far they were going to have to run and when they’d know they’d gotten there, but then she focused on her magic. It was hard maintaining her contact with the shadows and lives around them while she ran. She was getting to the point where she’d have to stop when she’d realized they’d arrived.
Roeglin caught the images before she could speak, sending a silent mental alert to all in range. Marsh caught his projection of what she’d seen ahead and felt a moment of unreality—and she dropped the scans.
Calling sword and buckler from the darkness, she raced forward with the rest.
The local shadow mages were barely holding their own, but they weren’t giving up. Outnumbered, they fought back, sliding in and out of patches of darkness to avoid being struck, then coming at their attackers from another angle. The only problem was that the raiders had brought mages of their own.
Marsh watched as one of the locals stepped into the dark beside a rocky outcrop, only to be bounced back into the light of a stand of callas. Two raiders moved to attack but the mage scrambled back, lashing out with tendrils of shadow to take them off their feet.
Marsh changed course to help. Her battle cry drew the raiders’ attention, but only one of them faced her when they got back up. The other acknowledged her with a glance and moved to deal with the shadow mage.
The mage lashed out with more dark tendrils, her face lighting up with an evil grin.
“How’d’you like these odds, you Deeps-forsaken shroom beetle?”
Marsh blocked her opponent’s first strike, thrusting beneath it to gut him in a single move, but her eyes were drawn by the black flame that sprang up along the tendrils as they wrapped around the raider’s body.
“Burn!” The shadow mage pulled the tendrils tight and the flame burned from black to blue, engulfing her opponent.
He screamed even as the mage released the tendrils back to the darkness, pulling the flame into two glowing balls that she threw onto the next-closest raider. Her eyes met Marsh’s, and they turned toward the closest raiders.
All around the clearing, the battle raged, but the raiders hadn’t planned for a larger force and were soon overwhelmed. When the last of them fell, the shadow mages looked at the mercenaries, and one of them stepped forward.
Trading by Firelight Page 16
