Trading By Stormlight (The Magic Below Paris Book 7)

by C. M. Simpson

  He whimpered, his face crumpling as he stared at the tower.

  “They came, too.”

  Master Envermet laid an arm across his shoulders. “Well, they won’t come here,” he reassured the man.

  “They won’t,” he repeated when Xavier turned a disbelieving gaze toward his face. “We will not let them.”

  Xavier opened his mouth as though he was going to argue, and Mordan uttered a series of grunting rumbles. The ex-guard looked at the kat, and she returned his gaze with a rumbling purr.

  It was the first time Marsh had ever seen Mordan try to comfort someone without rubbing against them. At last, Xavier gave the kat a shaky nod.

  Mordan twitched her tail in his general direction and stalked past him to where Master Envermet had left Aisha. The girl was walking beside her brother and the kat pushed between them, causing Tamlin to shout in protest and Aisha to stumble.

  “Mreowrr,” the kat demanded and nudged the little girl. “Mreowrr.”

  Aisha huffed out a long-suffering sigh. “Did Marsh tell you to do this?” the little girl grumbled as the kat crouched beside her.

  Mordan curled her lips in a silent snarl and Aisha rolled her eyes, letting them flare emerald as she did so.

  “Well, fine!” the girl snapped and clawed her way onto the kat’s back. “But tell me when you get tired, kay?”

  The kat gave a non-committal grunt, and Aisha sighed. “Have it your way, then,” she muttered, clinging on as the kat rose to her feet and walked alongside Tamlin.

  Scruffknuckle and Perdemor materialized out of the rubble and came to walk either side of the pair. Marsh saw that Master Envermet and Xavier didn’t need her and moved up to walk beside the youngsters.

  She was relieved when Tamlin didn’t protest her presence. Instead, the boy surprised her by saying, “Teach me.”

  “Teach you what?” she asked.

  “Anything,” he replied. “All the things. There is so much I can’t do.”

  He looked carefully around them, but neither Aisha nor Brigitte showed any sign of having heard him. Marsh didn’t know whether to praise their courtesy or curse their cowardice., but she was grateful, nonetheless.

  “What do you want to work on first?” she asked.

  “Is it okay if we do the lightning?” he wanted to know, and Marsh wondered what kind of mischief he’d been up to. The boy was never this polite.

  “Are you okay?”

  He gave her a sideways glance and shook his head. “I will be.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “The lightning?” he pleaded, and she decided she’d pursue what was really worrying him later.

  “Tell me how you call it,” she ordered, and he began.

  They discussed the intricacies of finding the lightning and calling it, of how difficult it was to control, and of the untapped reserves the boy could sense, but when they started the process of testing what they were talking about, Master Envermet intervened.

  He slid into Marsh’s mind and laid a mental hand on hers. Now is not the time, he warned her. We are here.

  Marsh reached out and laid her palm over Tamlin’s hands. “Master Envermet says not now,” she told the boy. “We’re here.”

  Tamlin blinked and shook his head, lifting his face to take a careful look around. Beside him, Marsh did the same and wondered when she’d ever been so wrapped up in magic that she’d forgotten her surroundings.

  Master Envermet snorted. “It’s about time you became a mage.”

  He might have said more, but Dera had led them through the keep’s open gates and was trying to draw their attention. As her guards gathered the travelers and their mules and directed them toward the keep’s quartermaster, Dera led Master Envermet and the rest of his delegation through the gates and into a low stone building set against the wall immediately to the righthand side of the gate.

  Marsh noted the stone pillars raising skeletal fingers to the sky and the druids descending from the walls and flat roofs. The druids moved slowly, as if they’d been working hard all day, and she wondered just how much of what she saw had existed that morning.

  There was a flurry of movement beside her, and Scruffknuckle gave a startled yip. Aisha yelled in protest as Marsh looked over to see what was happening.

  “Put me down!” she shrieked. “Dan!”

  That last cry ended in a high-pitched squeal of frustration, and everyone in the courtyard looked toward them. Master Envermet’s bellow ended the din.

  “Apprentice Danet!”

  Even Marsh froze and gave him her attention.

  Aisha folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. She looked both ridiculous and forbidding dangling from the hoshkat’s jaws. Master Envermet touched Dera’s shoulder by way of apology and came to crouch before the child.

  “Where were you going?” he asked, his tone both gentle and demanding.

  At first Marsh thought Aisha would refuse to answer, then the child heaved a huge sigh and uncrossed her arms long enough to point at the stone stairs leading up to the wall.

  “There,” she told him in a sulky voice.

  He twisted so he could see where she was pointing. “There?” he asked, indicating the stairs.

  The druids descending them paused, casting inquiring glances in their direction. Master Envermet ignored them and concentrated on the child before him.

  “Why?”

  The little girl waved her arms in frustration.

  “Because it’s so big and they...they made a-a thing!” she told him, trying to convey more than the simple words could encompass.

  Master Envermet raised an eyebrow. “A thing?” he repeated, sounding impressed, and swiveled to take another look.

  By then, several of the druids had reached the bottom of the stairs. Instead of walking away, they approached the shadow captain and the frustrated child. “May we be of assistance?”

  Master Envermet stood and held out his hand for Aisha to take. After a moment’s hesitation, the little girl did, scowling at Mordan when the big kat set her on her feet.

  Her eyes flashed green, and the kat cocked her head. Marsh didn’t know what passed between the pair, but Mordan obviously didn’t approve. She bared her teeth and then slowly and deliberately licked Aisha from her collarbone to the top of her head.

  Aisha froze, her whole body stiffening in protest as Mordan looked her over and then turned and stalked away. Several of the nearby druids sputtered with laughter as the kat twitched her tail in insult, and Master Envermet bit his lip in an attempt not to smile.

  Aisha glared at him. “Not funny,” she declared.

  One of the druids who’d come down the stairs bent down to look the child in the eye. “Why did you wish to speak with us?” she asked, her dark eyes shining with amusement.

  Aisha opened her mouth, blushed, closed her mouth, and cast a look of mute appeal at Marsh.

  Like I’m supposed to know what she needs, Marsh thought, but then realized she could just look into the child’s mind. Oh.

  It was so simple it made her laugh.

  “Not funny!” Aisha reiterated, stamping her foot.

  It was, but Marsh stifled her laughter. Swallowing her smile, she cleared her throat and turned to the druid. “She wants to know how you did it.”

  The woman frowned, clearly puzzled. “Did what?”

  Marsh gestured to the pillars rising from the building’s roof and then to the walls beyond. “That. She hasn’t seen anything like it, and she can’t figure it out.”

  Master Envermet started to look worried. “That’s a problem,” he commented, giving the child a wary glance.

  The druid caught his expression, followed his gaze, glanced at Marsh, and then glanced back at the shadow captain. “How so?”

  “Well, she needs to know.”

  The druid shrugged. “That’s too bad.”

  “Is not!” Aisha declared, and Master Envermet cleared his throat.

  “I don’t think you understan
d,” he began. “She needs you to explain how you made the...” He gestured helplessly at the building and the walls. “This.”

  Again the druid shrugged. “It’s not something a child could understand.”

  Tamlin snickered and both Marsh and Master Envermet opened their mouths to protest, but Aisha gave a growl of frustration.

  Tamlin cursed softly. “Merde.”

  Well, that’s one way to put it, Marsh thought as a pillar rose out of the stone courtyard just beyond where Dera and the druid were standing. She watched the druid’s face change from flat refusal to gape-jawed astonishment as the pillar grew until it was taller than the wall by a full two feet.

  Aisha tilted her head to one side and glanced at the druid. “Like dis?” she asked, and Marsh had to wonder why the child had reverted to a younger way of speaking.

  She’s nervous, Master Envermet answered in the privacy of her mind. She wants to make a good impression, and she’s scared she won’t. She wants them to like her.

  I’m not sure she’s going about it the right way, Marsh told him as Aisha raised her hand, turned her palm toward the ground, and moved it horizontally above her head.

  Above them, the top of the pillar folded at right angles and began to spread like a roof. It stopped as soon as the druid shouted in alarm. “Not like that!”

  Turning her hand at right angles to the ground, Aisha made a sweeping motion that the stone reflected by moving back into the pillar. As soon as it was there, Aisha fixed the druid with a beady stare.

  “Show me,” she demanded. “I can so, too.”

  The druid had been eyeing the top of the pillar with drop-jawed amazement, but at the sound of Aisha’s voice, she looked at the little girl. Closing her mouth, she gave the child a thin-lipped smile. “So I see.”

  Lifting her gaze, she surveyed the group of shadow mages before her. “Which of you is supposed to be responsible for this child?”

  Brigitte raised her hand as Marsh and Master Envermet stepped forward. “I am,” they said, three voices speaking as one.

  The druid’s brow lifted in amusement. “All of you?” she asked, laughter rippling through her voice. “For one child?”

  It was Master Envermet’s turn to shrug. “She needs a lot of care,” he explained.

  Aisha scowled at him. “Do not.”

  The druid regarded her thoughtfully. “I see. I will speak to you in the morning if there is time, okay?”

  The little girl gave her a solemn nod. “Thank you.”

  The druid inclined her head. “You are very welcome.”

  She said nothing more but led the small group she was with past them and into a building on the far side of the courtyard. Aisha watched her go, the solemn look on her face slowly melting into a beatific smile.

  The smile did not diminish when Master Envermet scowled at her.

  “You, young lady, are in a lot of trouble,” he growled, and Aisha fixed him with a wide-eyed stare. Master Envermet ignored it and waved at the pillar still standing in the middle of the courtyard. “Put that back where you got it from.”

  Aisha sighed and rolled her eyes, but not even the captain’s orders could diminish her happiness. “Yes, Master Ennermet.”

  “And speak properly,” he scolded. “You’re old enough.”

  Aisha’s smile grew wider, and she bounced. “’Kay.”

  This time, the shadow captain ignored her as he turned back to Dera. “I’m sorry for the interruption,” he said. “Where did you want us to go?”

  23

  Return Point

  “Mistress Sulema is expecting you, tomorrow,” Commander Galaye informed them when he met them in his office. “Our instructions are to give you shelter for the night, feed your people in the morning, and provide you with an escort to the Grotto.”

  He paused, looking at the small group gathered in front of his desk. “I take it you have something else in mind?”

  Master Envermet nodded and indicated Marsh and the shadow mages. “They won’t be returning with me,” he said. “They have duties on the surface they must attend to.”

  The commander frowned. “That was not what I was told.”

  “I can speak to Sulema and have her convey the changes if you wish,” Master Envermet told him, his voice calm and unruffled, “but the tasks are urgent, and a delay is unwise.”

  Commander Galaye’s eyes flashed white, and Marsh felt a brief presence in her mind. She glared at him. “Get out of my head.”

  The presence vanished, and the commander’s eyes returned to their original dark hue. He smiled at her. “No offense was intended.”

  “It was still rude,” Marsh snapped. She indicated Aisha. “How am I supposed to teach this one any kind of etiquette if experienced mages ignore the niceties?”

  Galaye smiled at her. “Point taken,” he acknowledged and looked at Master Envermet. “You did not inform Sulema of the assassins.”

  “They were not a threat to her.”

  “That is an assessment we should have made for ourselves.”

  “If I’d thought it would arise, you’d have been informed, but we have tracked the assassin’s movements, and this was not his destination.”

  “Or hers,” Commander Galaye retorted, revealing how far into Marsh’s head he’d gone.

  Master Envermet shrugged, but his face was as hard as stone. “Again, that was not your concern, and it is hard to teach a young mage manners when her elders have none.”

  If the shadow mage’s rebuke meant anything, Commander Galaye did not show it. Instead, his smile became welcoming and he gestured toward the door. “Sulema has ordered us to provide an escort for you. Your people are free to leave as soon as the gates have opened, and we can take your refugees the rest of the way. Will you need an escort to the Deeps Monastery once these people have been safely delivered?”

  Master Envermet inclined his head. “I would appreciate it if I cannot open a portal directly there.”

  Marsh straightened. This was the first time she’d heard the shadow captain consider an alternative to taking the long journey between the caverns on foot. He winked at her.

  Old dogs can learn new tricks, he told her, and I am not that old a dog.

  Commander Galaye raised an eyebrow. “It is also considered rude to have a mental conversation without including those present.”

  Master Envermet favored him with a predatory smile. “I will have to organize lessons for my apprentice,” he replied, “being new to mental magic myself.”

  If that was news, Commander Galaye showed no surprise. “I will have my deputy commander show you to the commons. There, you will be provided with food and a place to sleep. The fortress is newly built. We hope what we have will suffice.”

  It was a tight squeeze, but it did suffice. Marsh, Brigitte, and the children curled up in a corner with Mordan and the cubs, and their sleep was undisturbed. They awoke to a knock on the door and Master Envermet’s crisp response.

  “Hold!”

  Doesn’t the man ever sleep? Marsh thought, waking up enough to register the gleam of polished leather as he moved to answer the door.

  All around them, people stirred, sliding out of their bedrolls with soft groans as they rose to meet the day. Some left to visit the latrines, and others began packing their meager belongings back into their packs.

  Henri grabbed Brigitte, Izmay, and Xavier and approached Master Envermet. “We’ll saddle the mules.”

  “We won’t need them,” Master Envermet told him, but Henri shook his head.

  “It’s a long walk down,” he began but stopped when he saw the look on the shadow captain’s face.

  Master Envermet laid a hand on the big guard’s shoulder. “I have it covered,” he assured the man, and his quiet voice was full of such confidence that Marsh believed him.

  Henri was right, though. It was a long walk down, and while she was glad to have the mules for her return journey to the fortress, she was concerned. Some of the people traveling
with them were exhausted.

  The journey had been hard enough without the constant attacks from the remnant, and the strain was beginning to show. On the up side, they weren’t differentiating between ex-guards and ex-prisoners anymore. They were treating each other with the same concern regardless.

  At least one good thing has come from the disaster, she thought.

  Master Envermet snorted, and she looked up to find him watching her. “You need to be on your way, Leclerc,” he told her and indicated the guards standing before him. “Henri was just saddling the mules.”

  The look he earned from the big man nearly made Marsh laugh. Apparently, it was one thing to be prepping the mules for Master Envermet and an entirely different thing to be getting them ready for her.

  Marsh forced her face to an appropriately serious expression. “Thank you, Henri,” she managed and started packing up her gear. The children assisted with the packing, while Master Envermet marshaled the travelers around them.

  By the time their gear was stowed, the shadow captain had guided the settlers out of the commons and into the courtyard beyond. There, to Marsh’s surprise, he had arrayed them in four neat rows.

  Henri and the others were tethering the mules to the hitching rail outside the stable when she and the children emerged.

  “It’s about time,” the big man greeted her, and Izmay slapped his shoulder.

  Marsh knew why he’d spoken to her this way when she’d first joined the group, but she couldn’t understand it now. They’d traveled together for weeks! Shouldn’t he be over it by now?

  “Captain Envermet!” Commander Galaye’s bellow ricocheted around the courtyard, and several of the nearby settlers gasped.

  Master Envermet lifted his head and caught the commander’s gaze over the intervening space.

  “Yes, Commander?”

  “What is the meaning of this?” His wild hand gestures took in the shining lines that had split the air in front of each of his four lines.

  “We’re expediting our journey,” the captain replied. “The Monastery has mages stationed at Ariella’s Grotto, and Mistress Sulema has granted permission for us to open a gate from one secure location to another.