“I would like Dimanche to stand,” he said, “but I can only cover a full third of the estimated costs.”
The other three leaders were onto him in a flash.
“A third?”
“Who said you could take a controlling share?”
“I don’t think so. We can do better. We’ll put up half.”
“You don’t even know the costs.”
Valerie and Luka let the argument continue for several minutes, then Valerie raised her voice.
“Gentlemen!”
The word cracked out like a battle command, and all argument ceased.
“No one controls us. Paying more will not get you more favorable treatment than the next person.”
“Then what’s the point?” Freign demanded.
“Exactly,” Valerie replied. “We would be happy if you would each pay a quarter...”
“A quarter!” Freign protested.
“Why not a fifth?” Gaebler demanded. “Surely the Piermonts...”
“There are no Piermonts.” Luka’s matter of fact statement caused all sound to cease.
A heartbeat later, Gaebler cleared his throat.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I said there were no Piermonts. Weren’t you listening when Devin said the Piermonts’ property was overrun?”
“Yes, but...” Realization dawned. “Didn’t you get them out?”
Gaebler looked from Luka to Valerie and back again and his voice rose.
“Are you telling me they were all killed?”
Master Envermet intervened.
“No, but we couldn’t reach them before the raiders dragged them through a portal they opened in the back of their...”
“Ballroom,” Valerie provided.
“...ballroom,” Master Envermet ended. “Are there any more questions?”
The way he said it suggested he was asking if there were any more stupid questions, but Gaebler clearly missed the implication.
“Portal?”
“A gateway through shadow from one point to another.”
“But...you know where they went, don’t you? You can go and get them?”
From the anxiety in his voice, at least one of the Piermonts had more importance than just that of a trade partner. Marsh wondered which one, and why Monsieur Gaebler was so anxious. Roeglin choked back a laugh.
Madame Gaebler wasn’t the only one having an affair.
Seriously?
At the table, the Four founding families came to a decision.
“What are your terms?”
Monsieur Envermet sat and watched silently as Hugh brought five sheaves of paper to the table. He set one before each of the families and the last one before Luka and Valerie.
“I trust you will find these to your satisfaction,” he said, but more to his commanders than the families themselves.
As the leaders fell to reading the contracts, Marsh slipped her hand from Roeglin’s and made for the stairs leading up to where Brigitte and the children were quartered. She didn’t need to be here for this, and she’d promised to tuck someone in.
25
A Trio of Trouble
“You’re a bit late,” Tamlin greeted her when Marsh quietly opened the door.
She had been hoping to see if they were awake and leave without disturbing them if they weren’t. She’d even had Mordan let her kit and Scruffy know she’d be coming so they animals would stay quiet, all to no avail. Apparently, Tamlin had been waiting for her...or he was a very light sleeper.
Marsh was betting on the former as she heard a gasp from across the room and Brigitte sat up.
“Who’s there?” she demanded.
“Me,” Marsh said. “I just came to...”
“You came too late,” Tamlin snapped, resentment coloring his voice, the implication that she was always too late clear.
“Not fair, Tams,” Brigitte interrupted. “You know she’s...”
“There’s always something,” the boy bit back, “whether it’s raiders or getting captured by raiders or running errands for Captain Moldrane. She’s supposed to be our guardian, not everyone else’s.”
Since when? Marsh wanted to ask, but she knew when. She’d made the promise the minute she’d dragged them out of the ambush—and she’d made it again when she’d accepted the ruling that they were her responsibility until she found them relatives or had passed them into the monastery’s care.
She might have warned them that her duties would take her away and Tamlin might have accepted that to start with, but the boy clearly wasn’t happy with it now.
He knows he has no relatives. Roeglin’s presence made her jump. And you promised you’d be their guardian if that was the case. He might not have been so upset at you being away if they hadn’t been dragged out on the road, but they were, and now he knows they can survive it, and he doesn’t see any reason for them to be separated from you anymore.
Roeglin’s words made Marsh realize that there wasn’t one.
Neither do I.
“Sons of the Deep,” he muttered, and Marsh was sure he hadn’t meant to let that slip out.
Tamlin was at the door in an instant, pushing past Marsh and Mordan to glare at Roeglin.
“No, she’s not available. She owes us a month of bedtime stories!”
He didn’t say any more, just grabbed Marsh by the arm and dragged her inside, slamming the door in Roeglin’s face. By then, Brigitte had lit a lantern and Aisha had emerged from under the blankets, rubbing her eyes until she saw Marsh.
Her small face lit up with delight.
“You came!” She glanced at Tamlin, her expression triumphant. “I told you she would.”
Her happiness made Tamlin smile, and he crossed to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Yeah, you did. Move over.”
“No,” Aisha argued. “Your bed is dere.”
She pointed, the gesture as much a command as what she said next.
“You sleep.”
Tamlin sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” he told her, “but tomorrow she sits on my bed for storytime.”
Aisha scowled, and Tamlin scowled right back. The little girl crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
“Fine!”
Marsh looked at Brigitte and the shadow mage laughed.
“Yes, I brought your cookies,” she said as if that was the question Marsh had been about to ask, and she added, “They like adventure stories the best. You must have heard plenty when you were growing up at Hawk’s Ledge.”
Since Marsh had been about to protest that she didn’t know any stories, she figured Brigitte must be a mind reader.
No, but she knows what they wanted. They’ve been talking about “storytime with Marsh” ever since they left Downslopes. Tamlin started it to keep Aisha happy.
He had? Marsh didn’t know whether to hug or strangle the boy. Given he was watching her as he climbed between the sheets, she decided not to do either. Storytime, right?
She searched her mind for one of the funnier tales she’d heard as a child. It surprised her to discover just how many of the merchants’ stories had stuck.
That one, Roeglin told her as she tried to decide, then he knocked at the door, opening it before any of them had time to reply.
“Someone said cookies?”
He slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him and making himself comfortable at the end of Tamlin’s bed.
“Fine,” Tamlin grumbled, and Marsh began.
Aisha was asleep before she had finished and Tamlin’s eyes were closed, but he laughed at the end, and she knew he was still awake.
“You got another?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
“Not tonight, I don’t,” she replied. “You’re on rations.”
“You owe us...” he murmured, but he didn’t open his eyes, and he didn’t protest when she got to her feet, Roeglin mirroring her movement.
Brigitte handed Marsh her cookies and pushed her
toward the door.
“Go on,” she said when Marsh hesitated. “They’ll be around to bug you in the morning.”
Roeglin led the way out into the corridor.
“We’d better get moving,” he murmured. “Master Envermet is going to—”
“Be very upset if you don’t get your asses downstairs,” Gustav finished for him, appearing at the top of the stairs as Mordan and Marsh emerged.
Marsh hastily closed the door behind her, reflexively shushing the captain as she did so.
“Downstairs,” he ordered, the command sounding a lot less fierce when delivered in a hoarse whisper. “Now.”
Marsh ate her cookies on the way.
When they arrived in the common room, she saw Hugh carrying a huge sheaf of papers out of the room and into an office behind the bar.
“Oh, good. You’re back,” Master Envermet greeted them. “I’ll be leaving a delegation with the Defenders and heading back to establish the waystation in the morning. The children—”
“Will be traveling with me,” Marsh told him, defying him to say otherwise.
Master Envermet stilled and crooked an eyebrow.
“Are you a mind reader, Master Leclerc?” He sounded amused and continued before she had a chance to respond. “I was going to suggest that you might like to add Master Petitfeu and the children to your group, since the children still need to inspect their relatives’ property and the three of you need to return to the monastery to formalize their adoption.”
Marsh felt her spirits rise, but then he paused, and Marsh waited for the sting that had to be in the tail end of his orders.
Suggestion, my ass, she thought but didn’t say out loud.
As expected, Master Envermet did not disappoint.
“You’ll take the road to Ariella’s Grotto and offer our alliance and assistance to them before completing your journey. Once I have the outpost established, I will be following.”
So, not a straight run back to the monastery then. What a surprise.
“Captain Moldrane and his team will accompany you, and I will follow once I have helped Alois decide how much of the Piermont’s breeding stock can be resettled in his cavern and how much will need to be pastured at Downslopes.”
He caught the surprise on Marsh’s face and apologized.
“If I didn’t need your team to lay the groundwork at Ariella’s, I’d have sent you and the children back that way so you could spend some time with your cousin and your uncle when you passed through the Ledge, but there is no time. I’m sorry.”
That hadn’t been what had surprised her, and Marsh was about to ask why the stock had to be moved when Master Envermet told her.
“The Defenders will be taking over the Piermonts’ breeding operation as a means of supporting themselves, and Alois says he has the space to stable them, which they don’t have here. Should any of the Piermont children be retrieved from the raiders, the Defenders will keep what they have earned up to that point and hand the animals over.”
It was much the same as Roeglin had said, but Master Envermet wasn’t finished.
“Once the trails between here and the monastery are clear, you’ll be free to look for the raiders’ home. I want you to think carefully about what you’re going to do with the children then.”
Marsh was still trying to work out whether he was warning her or trying to tell her it would be all right for the children to go with her when he gestured toward the table.
“Dinner,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning before you leave.”
It was both order and dismissal, but he didn’t wait for her to acknowledge either. Instead, he seated himself beside Alois, and the two were soon deep in conversation. They paused long enough to accept their meals, and Devin joined them, then Roeglin poked her on the shoulder.
“You going to eat or just watch it all disappear?” he asked, indicating the table.
Marsh decided the man had a point and led the way to an empty space.
“You’re not going to join me?” she asked when they reached it, and he hesitated.
He glanced down at her, his expression distracted.
“I...yes. Excuse me...”
Marsh watched as he turned away, noticing his eyes had turned as white as a budding calla. One of the servers arrived with two fully loaded plates and Marsh sighed.
“Can you give us a minute?” she asked, then hurried after the mage before the server could respond.
She left the man standing with a plate in each hand and a very puzzled expression on his face.
“Ro?” she called, but the mage kept walking, speeding up as he headed around the bar and toward a side door.
“Well, Deeps-be-damned,” she heard Henri grumble, followed by the rattle of downed cutlery and the man’s heavy tread. “Anyone touches this while I’m gone, and I’ll use their head to scrub the latrines.”
Some of the Defenders snickered, but others caught the sincerity in his voice and eyed him warily. Still others decided something was up and wanted to know what it was. Chairs scraped and Gustav sighed.
“Dinner can wait. Those two need minders.”
Minders? Marsh thought. I’m perfectly fine. Only one of us is out looking for trouble.
Usually that would have elicited some response, but Roeglin kept moving.
He didn’t stop, but walked out the side door and into an alley that ran alongside the inn.
“Wait,” he said, his voice carrying undertones of compulsion and command.
Marsh looked to see who he was speaking to and saw three figures at the end of the alley. Two had started to move away, and a much smaller third had hesitated briefly before running after them.
“Wait,” Roeglin said again, and Marsh heard some of the footsteps behind her come to an abrupt halt.
She might have laughed, except she was trying too hard to keep moving. She decided she really was going to have to get him to teach her how to ignore that kind of command.
Again, Roeglin left that thought alone.
Funny. Usually he’d be telling me not a hope in the Deeps.
Marsh’s brow furrowed and she hurried after him.
“Please wait,” he called, and Marsh realized that not one of the three figures they’d seen had stopped at the sound of Roeglin’s voice.
They were all resistant to magic?
Just when she thought they’d have no chance of catching up to them, Mordan raced past her and then past the people they were pursuing until she was in front of them. Once she was in position, the kat turned and growled. All three figures stopped—and then all three tried to bolt down the street in the opposite direction to the kat.
Again Mordan raced around them to block their path.
Finally, Marsh had had enough.
“Will you just stop?” she called. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
Mordan gave her hunting cry, a sort of screaming roar, and the trio skidded to a halt. By that time Marsh and Roeglin had reached the street, and the guards weren’t far behind them.
“What about her?” one of them asked, wrapping her arm around the smaller figure and pushing it behind her, away from the kat.
“She’s just asking you to stop,” Roeglin said. “You’d know that if you bothered to ask her.
“A beast of the earth?” The tallest figure, a man, asked, stretching a hand toward the woman and child.
He tried to edge sideways, but Mordan pivoted to face him.
“A hoshkat,” Roeglin corrected.
“My hoshkat,” Marsh added, but Roeglin refused to be distracted.
“Why don’t you present your request to Master Envermet yourselves?” he suggested. “You’ll find him more accepting than you fear. After all, he travels with me.”
Like that would make a difference, Marsh thought, but it did, and the trio approached until she could make out their features.
Judging from the child’s face, it was a family. The girl looked to be a couple of years older than Ais
ha, and she carried the fine-boned features of her mother and her father’s dark gray eyes. Now that they were close enough, she could also see that their skin was slightly darker than her own and their faces more angular, as if their ancestry was slightly different.
As she studied the trio, the guards’ footsteps thundered over the cobbles as they ran past Marsh and Roeglin, cutting off the trio’s options for escape. Gustav came to a halt beside them.
“Why don’t you join us for a meal?” he asked, the tone of his voice more order than invitation.
The parents exchanged glances, but the girl stepped forward. She looked Gustav up and down, reminding Marsh more of a miniature commander than a child. Her eyes flared briefly white, then she spoke.
“You’ll do.” She turned to her parents. “Mama, Papa, we’ll go with them. Dinner is waiting.”
“I beg your pardon!” Gustav’s voice was full of outrage, and the man and woman crowded protectively close to their child.
“Mina!”
“What have we told you about asking permission?”
The girl rolled her eyes and extended her hand to the captain.
“Let’s go,” she said, “before the others eat your meal.”
“Do that one more time, child, and I’ll put you over my knee,” the captain rumbled.
“And I’ll let him,” the girl’s father responded. “You’ve been quite rude enough!”
With the situation under control, Marsh reached out and wrapped her hand around Roeglin’s wrist. He started and glanced at her.
I can hear them, he said, and laughter rolled through them.
They both looked up to see the father of the group smiling at them.
“You weren’t meant to,” he said. “We were just trying to get Mina to go somewhere safe.”
“And you?” Roeglin asked. “Where were you going?”
The man’s face darkened, and Gustav interrupted before he could reply.
“We can discuss it inside,” he said. “Our dinner’s getting cold.”
“It’s probably getting eaten,” Henri added darkly. “I’ll have some scrubbing to do.”
26
Travel Plans
Trading by Firelight Page 24
