by Beth Alvarez
Nia pulled a book partway off the shelf and paused. “Tahl?”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Will that happen with you? Living... longer?”
Somehow, he'd never stopped to consider the possibility. “I don't think so,” Tahl said. “It's different for skilled mages. I mean... all I can do is this.” He snapped his fingers and a plume of smoke wafted from his hand. A scent like that of a recently extinguished candle filled the air.
Nia waved it away. “Better not do that in the library,” she said. “You'll upset the librarians.”
“Fair,” he chuckled, returning his attention to the books. “See anything?”
“No. It would help if you could remember the name of the author. Colonies and culture whatever isn't going to get us too far.” She put back the book and wandered around the corner. “Why are we looking for a book, anyway?”
Tahl crept into the next row over. “I think she's lying.”
“That would be no surprise. You have a reason?”
He had several, but it was best to keep things simple. “She said the founder Oria was her great-grandmother, but Oria was a powerful mage and the empire is only one-hundred-and-twenty-two years old. The founding queen was old when the empire rose, but not that old. Depending on how rich her mage blood was, she could have lived three hundred years or more.”
Something clunked against the shelf. Nia had dropped a book. “Three hundred?”
“Maybe longer,” he reminded her.
“So if this Oria isn't that Oria's great-granddaughter, who is she?”
Tahl rubbed his chin and pulled a book from the tidy rows. It wasn't the one he was looking for—he knew that one chronicled the bloodlines of the mage queens—but it might share the same information. “I think... well, she's a strong mage. I think she's that Oria's daughter.”
A thump sounded near the door. “Who's in here? Library hours are over!”
“Time to go,” Tahl announced. He cut through the row where Nia searched and caught her arm on the way. She barely had time to put back her book. Tahl held on to his.
“I'll be taking this to my room,” he announced as he emerged from the stacks. “I need to—” His eyes fell on the mage in the doorway and he froze.
“Tahl?” The young man's brow furrowed and his gaze locked onto Tahl's face.
One important element of his disguise had been forgotten in his haste, Tahl realized. The mage's eyes raked over the distinctive scar and he grew pale as recognition struck.
“You're the Ghost?”
Chapter 7
Tahl dragged Nia behind him, where her small frame was safely hidden by his form. He lifted his chin and met the mage's eyes. It was defiant, a challenge, and probably unwise, yet he had seethed with resentment toward the academy and everyone in it for so long that he didn't know how else to react. Even Colbin, the mage in front of him, couldn't escape that, and he'd been as close to a friend as Tahl got. Nia didn't count; she was family.
“I'd heard the Ghost was a mage,” Colbin said, his eyes round with disbelief. “I hadn't thought it was true. I didn't see how one of us... Blight it all, you're the most wanted criminal in Orrad.”
Tahl held up his book. “I'm taking this.”
The mage looked troubled. “I should stop you. I'm stronger than you are.”
“Your magic is more powerful than mine,” Tahl replied, a shade more hotly than he intended. “Don't confuse magic for strength.”
Colbin's frown deepened. His eyes returned to Tahl's scar. “What happened to your face?”
Nia shrank against Tahl's back as if to seek shelter. He reached back to touch her arm and steady her. If they had to run, she had to be ready.
“One of the Elite,” Tahl said.
The mage sputtered a moment before he found words. “And you survived? Brant's roots, Tahl!”
“Like I said,” Tahl murmured as he tucked in his chin, “don't confuse magic for strength. Step aside, Colbin. I won't hurt you if I don't have to.”
Again, the mage's face twisted in a deeply troubled look. “I'm a librarian now,” he said softly. “I can't let you take the book. I'd get in trouble.”
Tahl released Nia's arm. “Well, that's inconvenient then, isn't it?”
“Tahl,” Nia whispered, a hint of fear in her voice.
He spread his hand behind his back in a gesture for her to be quiet. “But if you're a librarian, maybe we can work something out. Shut the door for a few minutes and let me read. Once I get the information I need, I'll be more than happy to leave the book here. As well as the ones in my bag.”
Nia touched his arm as if to ask a question. Tahl ticked a finger at her. He knew the question before she asked. That he hadn't brought his bag wasn't important.
Colbin's tongue darted over his lips, betraying his nervousness. He stepped forward and shut the door. “I'm going to have to report that you were here. There's no way nobody will know. Someone will have seen you.”
“They'll have seen the Ghost,” Tahl corrected. “My name is not to be mentioned. If you play along well enough, we'll earn you a commendation for your skill in deterring me from the library. Let's not forget that nobody's foiled me yet.” He raised a brow as if in invitation for Colbin to dispute the fact.
Instead, the mage grew more pale, though a hint of something familiar lit his eyes. Ambition. Greed, perhaps. “Ten minutes,” Colbin whispered. “That's all I can give you before someone will notice I'm missing. I'm supposed to be aiding a lecture down the hall.”
Satisfied, Tahl nodded and opened the book. Ten minutes wasn't likely enough to find what he needed. The book in his hands wasn't even the one he'd come for. He licked his finger and turned a page. “I don't suppose you have a copy of Pre-Empirical Colonies and Cultures handy, mister librarian?”
“What?” Colbin's brow furrowed. “No, it was pulled from our collection about a year ago.”
Tahl's eyes darted up. “Who pulled it?”
“Well, maybe pulled wasn't the right word,” the mage said. “It just disappeared. It wasn't culled, I don't think. It was still part of the curriculum. I actually tried to replace it, but there wasn't a copy to be found anywhere in Orrad.”
“Brant's bloody branches,” Tahl muttered.
Nia peeked out from behind him. “Let me guess. Oria?”
“Or Atoras,” Tahl said. “Someone who doesn't want us to find what I'm after.”
“Which is?” Colbin asked.
Nia and Tahl both regarded him with skeptical stares.
The mage crossed his arms and shrank back against the door. “I'm a librarian. If you're here for information, maybe I can help.”
Tahl conceded there was little doubt of that. If Colbin had gone hunting for Colonies and Cultures out in the city,Tahl was certain the mage knew what the book contained. He was less certain he wanted one of the mages to know what he was looking for.
A hint of worry crept into Colbin's expression when Tahl did not respond. “It's an unusual subject for a thief to be studying. If you could tell me more about what you're after...”
Did he genuinely want to help? Or was he prying so he could tattle? Tahl's eyes narrowed as he turned another page. “Orrad is a rich city with an equally rich history.”
“A treasure from the old kingdom?” the mage guessed.
“That's one way to put it.” Tahl could work with that assumption. He didn't have to verify it, and it wasn't as if the words had come from his mouth. Sometimes the best way to mislead someone was to let them mislead themselves. “They were powerful mages. Would Colonies and Cultures mention if the mage queens were Gifted in the Lost Arts?”
Colbin perked up. “You're looking for an artifact? I don't think Colonies and Cultures touches on that, but you might be interested in Annals of Archaic Arts. It's a first-century title, published immediately after the empire's founding.” He hurried into the stacks.
“Tahl,” Nia murmured uncertainly. Her fear was understandable, bu
t Tahl pressed a finger to his lips. He'd already decided to shift his focus to a safer subject.
He followed the mage. “Do you know anything about the crown?”
“Like the old kingdom's monarchy? Not a lot. The queen was slain when the city was conquered, but most of the royal family was already gone.” Colbin pulled a book from the shelf and skimmed its index.
Tahl raised a brow and cast Nia a smirk. She scowled back at him. He didn't care. If the royal family fled prior to the siege of Orrad, it made his suspicion about the queen that much more possible. “That's interesting, but I meant the actual, physical crown.”
The mage froze with his finger on the page as if he'd suddenly remembered who he spoke to. “You mean the one you stole?”
Tahl flashed him a grin.
Suspicion and a hint of fear mingled on Colbin's face for a time before curiosity peeked through. “You think the crown is an artifact? If I could see it—”
“No,” Tahl and Nia replied at the same time. He planted a hand on her forehead and pushed her behind him again.
“Right,” the mage muttered. He cleared his throat as he skipped a few pages and held out the book. “Here. Chapter four is about pre-empirical artifacts. They all belong to the crown, you know. I mean Atoras, not... your... thing.” His face crumpled into a scowl.
Tahl shrugged as he skimmed the page. It was longer than what he'd be able to read in a few minutes, but he hoped some piece of information would jump out at him. “If he didn't want anyone to take it, he shouldn't have left it on his pillow.”
“His pillow? Blight it, do you have a death wish?”
“There's a gallows with his name on it at this point,” Nia remarked dryly.
Colbin looked at her for the first time. “Who's this?”
“Sparrow,” Tahl said without missing a beat. “My second-in-command. This says the crowns of the last three mage queens were destroyed when the first emperor took power. The gold was melted into a new crown for the emperor. Would that allow the magic in an artifact to be preserved, or would it be destroyed when the object lost its original form?”
Forgetting Nia was there, Colbin stepped forward to look at the book. “I don't know. I don't think artifacts can be destroyed at all. Something about the magic in them protecting their form. But it's hard to say, because artifacts are so rare, and the mages who could make them have been gone since—”
“Since Orrad fell?” Tahl suggested. “How strong were the queens?”
“I don't know,” the mage admitted. “They say the old blood was still thick enough in them that their ears were pointed.” His hand drifted to his own ear to rub the smooth, rounded helix.
Tahl almost wanted to do the same. “They must've been incredibly strong, then. Even the most powerful Masters in the Westkings barely have any point at all.”
“Strong enough to make artifacts, I'm sure. But they wouldn't have been involved in the forging of the emperor's crown.”
“No,” Tahl agreed. “But maybe she wouldn't have needed to be there. All she had to do was get to it afterward.”
Nia cleared her throat. “I think it's time for us to go.”
Tahl clapped the book shut and pushed it into Colbin's hands. “Agreed. Although...”
The thoughtful note in his voice was apparently alarming, because Colbin took a step backwards.
“I have a job for you,” Tahl said.
Behind him, Nia groaned.
“I'm not helping you,” the mage replied. “You were excommunicated. You're not even a mage, as far as the academy is concerned. I'm going to get in enough trouble just talking to you.”
“Aw, Colbin,” Tahl started in his best persuasive tone, pressing a hand to his chest as if to signal hurt. He took a step forward, and for all that his gesture was earnest, he knew the movement would be threatening.
Colbin shrank back.
Tahl advanced on him and grinned. “How would you ever get in trouble for being kidnapped by the Ghost?”
“Sparrow?” Nia's tone was flat and unamused, though Tahl thought he saw a glimmer in her eyes.
“You're small and flighty,” he said. “It's a good name.”
Between them, Colbin groaned. Tahl had pulled the sack off his head after they'd made it halfway through the sewers, but he still dragged his feet and stumbled about as if he'd been blinded. The dramatics had begun to wear on Tahl's nerves.
Nia didn't seem bothered. “What if I wanted to pick my own name? What if I wanted to be something else? Like... Lark, or something.”
“So you're okay with the bird theme, just not Sparrow?”
“I never said that.”
Colbin groaned again. “The headmaster is going to kill me.”
“We're all going to make sure that doesn't happen.” Tahl tried to sound reassuring, but he suspected his flat tone fell short. “Having a mage I can rely on would be useful. I promise we'll make it worth your time.”
“But I don't want you to rely on me!” Colbin protested. “I just want to sit in the academy with my books!”
Nia prodded his side when he slowed down. “Keep going. Tahl's got something figured out already that'll keep you out of trouble.”
“How do you know?” the mage moaned. “He hasn't said anything that—”
“Because I know him,” Nia snapped. “You don't question the Ghost.”
The anger in her voice caught Tahl by surprise. Where had that come from? He motioned for her to settle. “She's right. About me knowing what I'm doing, not... questioning. People are allowed to ask questions.” He shot a reproachful look at Nia behind Colbin's back. She tucked in her chin as if she meant to sulk.
Colbin didn't seem reassured.
“The point is,” Tahl continued, “I know what I'm doing. All you have to do is play along. You do one small thing in my headquarters for me, and I do one big thing to benefit you.”
“What big thing?” The mage's voice quavered.
Tahl nudged him toward the ladder that led to the museum's basement. “You'll see.”
Though Colbin groaned, he did climb.
Still sulky, Nia leaned close enough to share a whisper the mage couldn't hear. “You're still sure he won't attack us?”
“I don't think he can at this point,” Tahl whispered back. “We just have to watch him.”
The mage had tried to fight them off in the beginning, thinking his Gift had the two thieves outmatched. But he'd forgotten one tiny element Tahl hadn't. Magecraft took concentration. Fear disrupted power. With two thieves to wrestle, both of them armed and ready to jab him with a half-dozen daggers, he wasn't granted much time to focus.
Normally, Tahl would have ushered Nia up next, but he didn't trust his former classmate with the slight girl. Alone, Colbin might try to overpower her, and probably could. Tahl scurried up the ladder instead, then turned to offer Nia a hand. She waved it away with a scowl that said she didn't appreciate the gentlemanliness.
Shrugging, Tahl slipped a knife into his hand, caught Colbin by the arm, and steered him toward the door.
“Where are we?” the mage asked.
“Home.” Tahl thrust open the door and urged him inside. Heads popped up across the room as he escorted his new prisoner into the guild's headquarters.
Jeran rose from his chair in front of Tahl's office door. “Another one, sir?”
Colbin sucked in a breath, but Tahl spoke before he could ask. “To help with the first.”
The thief nodded and scooted his chair aside. Tahl had expected a racket inside the office, but it was deathly silent. A mage's presence prickled at his senses. From the way Colbin tensed beside him, he felt it, too.
Tahl let him go. “Here's your task. There's a mage in here. When the door opens, I guarantee she's going to attack me. I want you to hold the flows of magic outside of her reach so that she can't use them against me. My goal is to speak with her without either one of us coming to harm.”
“How'd you get a mage in there if you can't
do that by yourself?”
“Well...” Tahl scratched his chin with a thumb. “She went in willingly. It was the getting shut in that she wasn't happy with.”
Colbin muttered something about a death wish.
Another thief joined them without being beckoned. She and Jeran positioned themselves behind the mage, along with Nia. Tahl gave them a nod. It helped when his guildmates worked without direction, and it helped to know he wouldn't have to watch his back while he spoke with Oria.
At least, speaking was what he hoped would happen. He'd half expected her to break out. Since she hadn't, either he'd underestimated the complexity of Jeran's locks, or she'd decided to bide her time until Tahl came back.
Bracing himself, Tahl fitted his fingers to the latch and pushed in the code. The current of magic in the air shifted as Colbin seized the flows and rerouted them. The door eased open. The office beyond was dark.
Tahl stepped inside.
Almost instantly, the leg of a broken chair swung for his head.
He ducked, and his hand shot out reflexively to catch the queen's arm.
She gritted her teeth and his senses tingled as she reached for magic. The flows skirted her grasp and her eyes widened.
Tahl spun hard and slammed her into the wall. She sucked in a sharp breath and the broken chair leg fell from her hand.
“Your Majesty,” Tahl began.
Oria twisted in his grasp and swung a knee for his groin. He shifted sideways and she struck his thigh instead, yielding a grunt.
“Let go!” she snarled as she kicked again.
This time, Tahl spun aside, still holding her arm, and caught the back of her leg with his ankle. He swept it out from under her and together, they toppled to the floor.
Nia jerked forward but Tahl's hand flashed up in a signal for her to stop.
In the single moment both her hands were free, the queen slapped him hard enough to rattle his teeth. Tahl twitched his head once, as if to shake off the blow, and wrestled both her arms to the ground. Her limbs writhed like snakes and it took every bit of strength he had to pin her hands over her head so he could shove back her fiery hair.
