Trading by Firelight

by C. M. Simpson

  He stopped as he reached it and turned the handle, surprising them all when the door opened easily and they could step inside.

  They were too late.

  Marsh knew it as soon as she’d crossed the threshold. This room had been some kind of meeting hall, with a row of tables along the front of a slightly raised dais and a horseshoe wedge of tables arranged around the edges.

  The Guard leader jumped over the nearest ones and Marsh went with him, aware of Mordan surging ahead of them as more mercenaries followed them over the tables and across the room. In front of them, the room’s back wall was torn in two as if it was the backdrop for a stage play. A portal formed, and two great paintings ended in jagged edges as the marble-floored room of an ancient building stretched beyond the mansion.

  “Stop them!” Marsh cried even as Mordan leapt for one of the mages standing to one side of the rift.

  The mercenaries charged forward but the raiders split into two groups, half moving forward to meet the charge, and the other half manhandling a small family of merchants through the portal and into the marbled halls beyond. As the last man in that group stepped after a protesting merchant, he signaled the retreat.

  “Fall back!”

  Immediately those who’d turned to stop the mercenaries began moving back toward the rift. Some had almost reached it when Mordan ended the life of one of the mages keeping it open, and Gustav charged through the door. He took in the situation with a sweep of his eyes and put a crossbow bolt through the forehead of the other.

  Without their focus to keep it in place the rift snapped shut, and the raiders renewed their struggle, fighting for their lives. Luka’s men gave no quarter, and Valerie’s people forged their way to the front to help them end the life of every last man or woman who had opposed them.

  Mordan used her claws and teeth to take down as many as she could, and Marsh worked her way around the melee in order to fight at the big kat’s side. When the last raider had fallen, she stopped and stared at the carnage, then lifted her gaze to look for Master Envermet.

  He was standing at the back of the hall with Gustav and Devin. The three of them waited as the two mercenary leaders moved among their troops, Luka introducing Valerie and both leaders letting the mercenaries stationed at the Piermont’s compound know that they were all part of one team and that the contracts were no more.

  “Couldn’t be otherwise, could it, sir?” asked the man who’d met Marsh outside the stables. He gestured at the space the portal had occupied. “We lost them to the raiders.”

  “They’d lost us before that, Quentin. We were coming to terminate the contract.”

  Quentin tossed March a wry look.

  “And here we thought, sir, that you were coming just for us.”

  Luka smiled.

  “Once we saw the raiders, Quint, you were our only concern.”

  Quentin grinned at Luka.

  “Of course, we were, sir.”

  “Of course,” Luka assured him, and the men around them laughed.

  As Valerie and Luka crossed to speak with Devin, Gustav, and Master Envermet, Marsh turned to inspect Mordan for any wounds, running her hands through the kat’s blood-slick fur. She had just reassured herself that the kat was uninjured when someone came to stand behind her.

  “So,” Quentin began, “how exactly did you get a kat to agree to be your familiar?”

  Marsh straightened.

  “You said that word before,” she commented. “What do you mean by ‘familiar?’”

  “It’s an animal that has a bond to you,” Quentin answered. “Does she?”

  Marsh thought about it.

  “I suppose so.” She shrugged. “I don’t know about bond, though. We sort of just have an agreement. I help her get her kits back from the raiders, and she keeps me alive to do that, then we go our separate ways.”

  She knew she was wrong the moment she said it, both from Mordan’s rumbled growl of protest and Quentin’s mocking smile. Those, and the feeling in her gut. The kat was going to stick around. She almost missed Quentin’s next words in the sudden surge of joy.

  “Not how it works, I’m afraid. You might have started out with an agreement, but you earned the kat’s respect and she’s bonded to you. She’s not going to leave you when your bargain is done.”

  As if to confirm what the man was saying, Mordan swept a paw across the back of Marsh’s ankles and pulled her to the ground, then she laid a paw on Marsh’s chest.

  “See?” Quentin grinned. “She’s making her claim right there.”

  Marsh didn’t know about claim, but she did know the kat’s paw was heavy, and her backside hurt from landing on the floor. She stared up at Quentin.

  “You want to tell my familiar she can let me up now?”

  “Nah,” he said, turning away and moving toward his leader. “You’re the one with the bond. You tell her.”

  “Everyone’s a smart ass,” Marsh muttered, wrapping both hands around Mordan’s paw and trying to lift it clear.

  “Everyone,” she repeated when the kat let her get it a couple of inches off her and pressed it right back down.

  She lay there for a moment and glared at the big beast.

  “Roeglin wants to see me,” she said, and the kat regarded her with a contemplative stare. “He really does.”

  The kat stood and looked around. If Marsh hadn’t known any better, she would have said the creature was looking to see if what she’d said about the shadow mage was true. That thought was confirmed when Mordan stilled, staring intently at the mage in question. When it became clear that Roeglin was busy listening to the discussion going on between the leaders of the cavern, the kat turned her attention to Marsh, cocking her head to one side.

  Diversions aside, the heads of their pride were busy. Did Marsh want to go and see what the cubs were up to before they were tasked with something else?

  Marsh nodded.

  Let’s go, she agreed, and Mordan lifted her paw away so Marsh could scramble to her feet.

  They snuck out of the hall and found the children in the stables, Tamlin watching as his sister moved from one stall to the next, soothing the frightened jennies and mares, her small voice reassuring them that they were safe now and that the “bad mens” would not hurt them. Marsh came to stand beside the boy as Aisha laid her forehead against the lowered head of one of the female donkeys, the jenny closing its eyes as the little girl stroked its face.

  The moment was lost as soon as Mordan slipped into the stables, the big kat’s presence startling every donkey or horse who caught her scent.

  “Merde!” Aisha exclaimed as the jenny knocked her off her feet and backed up, trembling, against the end of the stall.

  The little girl turned and glared at the kat, her hands on her hips.

  “Dan! You bad, bad kitty! Go sit with Perdemor.”

  Perdemor? Marsh wondered, but understood as soon as Mordan turned to lie down beside her kit, which was sitting next to a very quiet Scruff. Perdemor is the kit’s name?

  “Now I hasta start again,” the child grumbled once the kat was settled.

  As much as she wanted to intervene, Marsh decided it would be better if she stayed quiet and let Aisha work. The little girl’s eyes flared green, and she approached the jenny again. Once she had the animals settled, Aisha came over to Marsh.

  “What happen next?” she asked, sounding almost as grown up as her brother.

  Marsh thought about that for a minute.

  They couldn’t leave the animals at the compound, she realized. With the Piermonts gone, the poor creatures would be food for every predator in the cavern, as well as any that came in from the surface, and those that weren’t eaten would probably starve to death.

  “I’ll ask Captain Envermet,” she said as the door to the stables opened.

  “It wasn’t my decision,” the captain said, having caught her question, “but I’m glad I found you here. Gustav and the others were ready to tear the place apart looking for
you.”

  “Roeglin couldn’t sense me?”

  “I had him speaking to the Master of Shadows, and the others didn’t want to wait. It seems your headstrong habit of doing things as you think of them is contagious.”

  Marsh scowled. She didn’t see how that was her fault. Gustav and the others were fully grown. They were responsible for their own actions.

  And you are responsible for the examples you set.

  Give it a rest, Ro.

  “I can rest when I’m dead,” he quipped, coming into the barn, and Marsh thought that that could be arranged.

  Nice, he responded, then said out loud, “We need to come back out to investigate the Danets’ property. The Defenders and Keepers want the animals secured, and they don’t have the manpower to leave them here.”

  “What about the entry to the surface world?”

  “Master Envermet has already spoken the local druids. They have people who can seal it until there are enough people to man it as an outpost.”

  “What if the Piermonts are still alive?”

  “You mean what if you retrieve them when you retrieve everyone else you’ve promised to get?”

  Marsh’s face heated even as she nodded, and Roeglin ignored her discomfort to continue.

  “They’ll be tried for treason and executed, and their assets confiscated and held until their children reach their majority. The cost of maintaining the value of the herd will be taken out of the sales made in the interim, and those holding them will receive a percentage of the profits.”

  “Wow,” Marsh said, her tone of voice making it clear she wasn’t entirely impressed. “That popular.”

  “Yeah. After what they’ve done? That popular.”

  “When do we move out?”

  “For that, I need Aisha.” Brigitte had arrived, and she didn’t sound happy.

  She crossed over to where Aisha sat with the kit and the pup and crouched down before her.

  “You’ve already made some friends here,” she began. “You want to help us move them back to town where they will be safe?”

  “Uh huh.”

  Aisha leapt to her feet, and Marsh wondered where the child found her energy. Only a few short months ago, the girl would have been exhausted after speaking to so many creatures.

  And you would have been out like a light if you’d done as much as you’ve done today, Roeglin reminded her. Honestly, now, how do you feel?

  “I feel fine.” She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, and the comment caused several nearby people to turn and look at her.

  Roeglin laughed, but Marsh decided to change the subject.

  “How many do we have to move?” she asked, indicating the donkeys, mules, and horses being led out.

  Some were saddled, others were tethered in clusters.

  Roeglin shrugged.

  “A lot, but it’s better than having the raiders get a hold of them.”

  “They’d have left them behind, wouldn’t they?”

  “One of the teams we sent out after the battle caught a small group of raiders coming out of the other barn. Each one had a string of animals tied to their saddles.”

  Marsh thought about that, trying to work out the implications, but gave up when Master Envermet called for their attention.

  “Defender Captains Brandt and Inglis need your assistance,” he shouted. “Do as they ask until I say otherwise.”

  Having directed their attention, he stepped back and let Luka and Valerie take over. Before too long, the Piermonts’ breeding stock had been gathered together and was being led out of the compound toward Dimanche.

  23

  Of Kats, Kits, and Healing

  It took them until well into the night to reach Dimanche and find stabling for the Piermonts’ breeding stock, their activities drawing the attention of the other four families. Valerie sighed and rolled her eyes when the first of them arrived at Shameless.

  “Looks like it’s going to be a long night.”

  Marsh saw Envermet glance at Gustav and Roeglin and stifled a sigh of her own.

  I’m putting the children to bed, she said before the shadow mage could open his mouth, her tone defying him to deny her. Mordan snarled to emphasize the point.

  Figuring the kat had said it all, Marsh ignored their stunned looks and went to find the children.

  Behind her, she heard Gustav’s voice raised in a soft murmur and Roeglin’s quiet reply, but she couldn’t make out the words. She could imagine, though—and she didn’t care.

  Tams? Aysh? she called, reaching out for the pair with her mind as she hurried back toward the stables.

  Of all the places they might be, that was the most likely, since Aisha would insist on seeing her new friends settled before she’d let herself be put to bed. Of course, that could also be the five-year-old’s way of avoiding bed, which would explain why Aisha wasn’t answering her.

  Brigitte?

  Who’s that? Marsh? The woman sounded shocked, and Marsh realized she’d never used her mind to speak to anyone besides Roeglin.

  It’s Marsh. Where are you?

  She’d reached the back door and opened it by the time Brigitte’s answer reached her.

  Up two floors, about halfway along the corridor to the left.

  Marsh was about to pull the door closed again when a flurry of movement at the gates leading into the rear courtyard caught her eye. She hesitated, trying to see who it was, but, before she recognized anyone, Mordan bounded past her, knocking her out of the doorway.

  “Hey!”

  She landed hard on the cobbles, feeling bone crack and muscle tear when she put her hand out to break her fall.

  “Sons of the Deep’s dark-assed britches! Dan!”

  She tried to ignore the pain as she rolled to her feet, but agony lanced through her and she shouted in pain and dropped back to the cobbles. Crouching by the wall, she sucked in several fast breaths trying to get the pain under control and was surprised when the kat came to stand beside her.

  “It’s a pity you can’t fix what you broke,” she muttered, leaning into the big beast’s side.

  Feelings of apology washed over the link between them, the kat’s concern for her covering something else. Marsh figured she’d ask Mordan what it was just as soon as she could think straight.

  The kat nudged her.

  Did she want to borrow some of Mordan’s strength for healing?

  It was a good suggestion, even if Marsh didn’t think she could concentrate enough to get the magic to do what she needed.

  If not Marsh, then who else?

  The kat’s concern was palpable, along with her anxiety that Marsh be healed enough to deal with the next problem to arrive.

  There was another problem?

  The kat nudged her again.

  Borrow my strength.

  “Deeps, Dan. Quit pushing!” But her protest was drowned out by the small wall of noise that ran past them, Scruffknuckle barking excitedly as he led the way.

  “Scruffknuckle!” Aisha’s childish treble followed in a wail of annoyance and protest.

  “Aysh!” echoed over the girl’s cry, coming in two tones of sheer exasperation.

  “What in all the Deeps is going on?”

  Mordan growled, her impatience palpable, and Marsh rested her good hand against the big kat’s side. The pain was still there, but with her arm still, it had died down to a dull, persistent throbbing. The steady beat of it echoed through her skin, making it hard for Marsh to concentrate. She tried to ignore it, focusing instead on gathering the energy she needed to make it go away.

  She was relieved when she felt it flow into her, even if it was hard to direct it where it was needed. Every time she thought about where she needed it to go, she noticed just how much she hurt and almost lost her grip on it. It was easier when she just directed it toward the hurt and asked it to fix whatever was wrong in her arm.

  It became impossible when she felt bone shift back into place and she yelped, losing control o
f the magic. Squeezing her eyes tight shut against the pain, Marsh waited for the pain to subside, feeling the magic slowly fade as it completed the task she had set.

  “You done yet?” came from the doorway when she had been still for several heartbeats, and Marsh recognized Henri’s voice.

  “Yeah, I’m done,” she answered, taking her hand off the kat and pushing to her feet. “Why?”

  “Your kids are wreaking ten kinds of Darkness over by the gate, and we’ve got guests.”

  If that was Henri’s way of telling her to get her tail over to where Tams and Aisha had headed, Marsh didn’t think much of it, but she went anyway. When she arrived, Aisha was crouched beside two kits, and Scruffknuckle was prancing around them in sheer, unadulterated delight. Tams stood beside Brigitte and the druid chief from the tunnel leading to Dimanche. He smiled when he saw her.

  “Marsh.” His gaze shifted to include someone arriving behind her. “Gustav, Roeglin, and Master Envermet, I hope I haven’t come at a bad time.”

  He turned his head as though taking in the activity around the courtyard.

  “Things have changed since I was here last.”

  “You could say that.” Valerie’s voice cut across Gustav as he was about to reply. “Alois. What brings you here?”

  The druid shifted his attention to the mercenary leader and he gestured to indicate Gustav, Master Envermet, Roeglin, and Marsh.

  “There was talk of setting up a group to protect this cavern. I seek an alliance.”

  “You’d be foolish to turn him down,” Devin said as he and a small contingent of druids and shadow mages joined them.

  Valerie’s eyes shifted as if she was only just noticing how many of them were gathered in the Shameless’ open gate.

  “Let’s take this inside,” she said, and glanced at the children. “And get them back into bed. Reunions aside, they have work to do in the morning.”

  The look on Tam’s face said he was wondering who’d died and put Valerie in charge, but the mercenary leader ignored him, turning instead to lead them back into the waystation.

  Marsh watched them go, noticing that Roeglin didn’t go with them. Instead, he cocked his head to one side and regarded Aisha with serious eyes.