Trading Into Daylight (The Magic Below Paris Book 6)

by C. M. Simpson

  Master Envermet gave her a direct look, making sure she could see his eyes shift. “Lady Bernice, we will know.”

  She gasped at his use of her name but nodded acceptance. “That is all we ask. We will wait.”

  Master Envermet gestured at the ex-raiders. “They will keep you safe.”

  Muttered protest greeted that declaration, and he waited for it to die down. “I don’t have the men to spare, and you need to let them prove their regret.”

  “I can make sure of their regret,” another woman promised, and scattered laughter agreed.

  “That won’t mend what’s been broken,” Master Envermet told her.

  “Not sure anything can mend that,” she retorted.

  His lips gave a wry twist as he replied, “You have to start somewhere.”

  “I’d rather be ending it,” a man declared.

  Again Master Envermet smiled. “And how well do you want to sleep afterward?”

  That brought silence, and Master Envermet gestured for Marsh to go. Behind her, he gave those newly freed one warning. “There will be no murders while we are gone. Very little separates you from them. You are not remnant.”

  He did not wait for them to respond to that but signaled for Henri and the others to follow them.

  Where are the children? he asked as they followed their guides to a door at the back of the library.

  Marsh showed him a picture of the space they’d found beneath the study table, and he relaxed.

  “Could we ask the kat to guard them?”

  The kat rumbled a protest, and Marsh shook her head. “We have not yet found her kits.”

  “Ah...”

  They reached the door the men had brought the food to and the spokesman turned. Dividing his attention between Marsh and Master Envermet, he said, “This is as far as we were allowed to come.”

  As he said it, his eyes sought confirmation from the other two and they nodded, their eyes flicking nervously to the door and then back to Marsh and Master Envermet.

  “What is it?” the shadow captain snapped as Roeglin’s eyes turned white.

  “We heard...” The guard gulped, his face paling, eyes distant with a memory he’d rather forget.

  “It’s okay,” Roeglin hastily assured him. “You don’t need to speak.”

  From the sudden bleakness of Master Envermet’s expression, Marsh was glad she hadn’t shared that particular memory.

  Do you want to? Roeglin offered, and she quickly shook her head.

  “Merci, mais non.”. Not for all the Deeps did she want to share a memory that brought that look to the shadow captain’s face.

  Master Envermet opened the door. It surprised them all when there was nothing more than the locking bar holding it closed from the Library side.

  “I thought there were men stationed here?” one of the ex-raiders commented, and another shrugged.

  “Must have brought everyone out to try to stop the intruders in the atrium. It’s not like the prisoners can get out.” He indicated the bar.

  Marsh shifted to become one with the shadows and drifted into the space beyond. A short flight of stairs led down to a narrow stone-walled corridor. It was narrower than any of the corridors upstairs, with doors spaced every two yards.

  “They kept a lot of folks down here,” Roeglin observed, stepping out of shadow form beside her as the smell of cold stone, dank air, and confined humanity hit them. Master Envermet and the rest walked down the stairs as soon as he’d sent the all-clear.

  To Marsh’s relief, the raiders had repeated their use of simple bolts to secure these cells, too.

  “I guess they figured there was no way folks could manipulate them through a solid wooden door,” she mused as she pushed the first one open.

  She stumbled back a moment later, gagging slightly. “Or they knew bolts would be enough.”

  Turning away from the door, she fought down the urge to vomit and pulled her cloak over her mouth. “We have to get them out of there, but they’re not going to be able to travel for a while.”

  Master Envermet copied her action with the cloak before following her back into the cell. He stopped dead when he saw the three men shackled to the walls. “Do we have keys?” he asked, and Marsh shook her head.

  The shadow captain stooped to examine the fastenings.

  One of the men made an indistinct sound, then cleared his throat and tried again. “No keys. Pins.”

  He watched the guard through dull eyes, breathing a sigh of relief as Marsh helped to get him off the wall. As soon as he was down, she guided him out of the cell and handed him to one of the guards.

  “Take him upstairs. Find him somewhere he can sleep safely,” she ordered, and the guard nodded.

  As he helped the mage up the stairs, Marsh heard him whisper, “I am so very, very sorry.”

  “Need a wash,” the victim muttered, and the guard nodded.

  “I can help with that.”

  “Send people down to help,” Marsh instructed. “The Deeps know how many we’re going to find.”

  Master Envermet emerged from the cell with the next mage, and one of the other ex-raider guards stepped forward. “I’ll take him.”

  By the time he’d reached the top of the stairs, Henri had taken charge of keeping the flow of prisoners moving. Marsh, Roeglin, and Master Envermet worked their way down one side of the corridor, and Gerry, Zeb, and Brigitte took the other.

  Jakob and Obasi met them at the door, bringing the freed cell occupants to the foot of the stairs, where the next ex-raider or freed prisoner was waiting.

  “I could get the kitchens started,” the guard spokesman offered, and Roeglin’s eyes turned white.

  “Thank you, Xavier.” He looked at the freed prisoners waiting on the stairs. “Take Terrence with you.”

  He sighed. “We need healers.”

  Terrence had been eyeing Xavier with some dislike, but his face momentarily cleared, and he turned back to Roeglin. “I can ask among the ones you freed. There are bound to be healers there.”

  He scowled at Xavier. “They won’t have discovered them in the untested captures yet.”

  Xavier flushed, then gave Terrence a tiny, crooked smile. “They didn’t discover all of them in the tested ones, either.”

  Terrence’s look of surprise might have been funny if Roeglin’d had had any time to appreciate it. “Go,” he ordered them. “Get the kitchens going and ask the healers to set up a makeshift medical center.”

  He started back down the corridor, relieved to hear Terrence ask, “So, you hid them, then?”

  “I tried,” Xavier admitted. “I didn’t report them if I saw them.”

  “Like who, for instance?”

  “You.”

  Terrence was shocked. “When?”

  “The child that fell. She broke her wrist. I was close enough to hear it snap. You wrapped your hand around her arm, and she could move her fingers again.”

  “And you didn’t...”

  “You’re still here, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t know whether to hit you or let you live.”

  “I have a lot to make up for if I’m allowed.”

  It was a start, Roeglin decided, admiring the way Xavier hadn’t reminded Terrence he owed him his life. Terrence realized it, though, and was honest enough to admit it. “I’ll vouch for you.”

  “There’s no need,” Xavier began, only to be asked, “Do you want to live or not?”

  “You did that on purpose,” Marsh accused him when he passed her at the door.

  “They recognized each other. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, and Terrence has influence.”

  They didn’t stop to share more but continued clearing each cell. The prisoners farthest from the door were in better condition.

  “Shortest time down here, and farthest from where the testing takes place,” Master Envermet noted after searching for the answer in the ex-raiders’ heads.

  All except for Kearick and Gustav, who the
y found halfway along the second floor down—right beside the interrogation room for that level. Each man had a cell of his own, and both bore the marks of torture.

  “Damned if I know what they thought these two knew,” Master Envermet muttered, gently lifting Gustav down, “but if I’d known, none of them would have died so easily.”

  “Numbers. Locations,” Gustav muttered. “Deeps, but you took your damned sweet time.”

  “He never did wake up well,” Marsh commented, the lump in her chest easing as the guard captain cracked an eyelid to look at them.

  “Kids?” Gustav mumbled, trying to speak through bruised and swollen lips.

  “Fine,” Marsh told him, and he tried to smile.

  “I’ll get you out of here,” Master Envermet told him and led him to the door.

  25

  Reunions

  Kearick died with Marsh’s blade through his chest after Roeglin had taken every skerrick of information he could ferret out of the man’s tiny mind.

  “That is not a nice man,” he commented when he was done, stepping aside so she had a clean shot.

  “I know,” she replied, releasing the blade and thanking the shadows for their service. She studied the corpse. “But even he did not deserve this.”

  Roeglin gave her a dark-eyed look. “He deserved all that and more. You are too merciful.”

  She remembered the slaughter in the atrium and other occasions and gave a bark of unhappy laughter. “Your idea of mercy leaves a lot to be desired.”

  He managed a tight-lipped smile at that and they exited the cell, leaving Kearick’s remains hanging on the wall and bolting the door behind them.

  “You know that won’t stop his ghost, don’t you?” Roeglin told her, and Marsh scowled.

  “Ghosts aren’t real.”

  “Don’t let Aisha hear you say that.”

  “If you tell her, bad things will happen while you sleep,” Marsh informed him.

  He smirked. “Promise?”

  Marsh changed the subject. “How did he end up in there?”

  Roeglin raised his eyebrows and all humor vanished. “Salazar told ‘the General’ that Kearick had some talent manipulating stone.”

  “He did?”

  “He’s just that kind of guy.”

  “No, I mean, Kearick had a talent for manipulating stone?”

  “A small amount. The interrogators thought he might have more.” Roeglin shuddered. “He had more than he thought, but nothing like Aisha. It was enough for them, though.”

  His eyes widened. “They will be coming for him. I don’t know when, but soon. Days, maybe? He was terrified. They were coming from Below.”

  “Where is that?” Marsh asked. “Everyone keeps talking about it. I was beginning to think this was it, but you make it sound like it isn’t.”

  “It’s not. There’s an entrance...” Roeglin stopped outside the interrogation chamber’s door, and he turned his back to it. Taking the two paces he needed to bring himself face to face with the opposite wall, he moved his hand over the stone.

  Marsh watched, calling another sword and shield to her hands just in case. They proved to not be needed. Roeglin’s fingers found two hollows, and he flexed them.

  A hollow click rewarded his efforts, and the section of wall slid toward him and then along the side of the corridor, revealing a short corridor and a large, hollow chamber beyond.

  “What in all the Deeps is that?”

  Roeglin replied, “That is the entrance to the Below.”

  “Where?”

  He led them through the door, ignoring the way the rest of the team followed them in, weapons drawn, faces alert.

  “There,” he said when they reached the chamber and found a pit covered by an iron grate some three yards across.

  Marsh peered over the edge. The pit was a man and a half deep if the man was Roeglin’s height. Three arches opened into it, each leading into a tunnel. If she’d had to bet, she would have said they were connected by a corridor that circumnavigated the pit proper.

  “Why all the precautions?” she asked.

  “An uneasy alliance?” Roeglin suggested, then shrugged. “For now, we need to make sure it’s secure and stays that way. There is no way I want anything coming up to say hello when we least expect it.”

  “Agreed.” Marsh followed him as he inspected the padlocks fastening the grate to the stone rim supporting it.

  She was impressed when he tested the hinges to see if they lifted apart and relieved when they didn’t. When they were both satisfied the pit was secure, they returned to the door into the corridor.

  “I wish Aysh was awake to seal this,” Roeglin muttered.

  “I can wedge it,” Jakob offered. He’d been standing quietly to one side, studying the door as they’d slid it closed.

  Roeglin turned to him. “Can you?”

  Jakob flashed him a tired grin. “Sure, I can. I just need Zeb’s help, and we’ll have it done.”

  Marsh glanced up and down the corridor. “Are there any others?”

  She meant prisoners, not doors. It was Gerry who replied.

  “We’ve got them all.” He eyed the cell doors and glanced at Roeglin. “We need to lock everything down, and find some way of setting an alert in case something comes through another way.”

  His expression dared anyone to make fun of him, but no one did.

  “Agreed,” Roeglin acknowledged. “Do you have any ideas about how that might be done?”

  “I’ve got a couple, but we’ll need to get everyone out of here first, and I’ll need to clear the way if we want to come back down.”

  “Do it,” Marsh told him. “What can I do to help?”

  They secured the lower floor, then did the same to the upper level before emerging to find there were still people waiting. When they saw only the guards, the crowd stirred restlessly. Roeglin lifted his head and met their eyes.

  His gaze turned briefly white and he sighed. “There’s no one else. I’m sorry.”

  Tiredness bled through his tones, and a sadness reflecting what Marsh saw on the faces before her. People laid gentle hands on their neighbors’ shoulders or arms, turning them toward the Library entrance.

  “I’ll fetch the children,” Marsh told Roeglin, saying it out loud because she knew he was tired. Several of the ex-prisoners turned toward her.

  “Our children,” she told them, her voice firm, and most turned away.

  Marsh looked at the remaining man. He had a hand on the back of boy somewhere between Aisha and Tams in age and carried the sleepy form of another boy a good bit younger. He took a few hesitant steps toward her.

  “You’re from the Caverns, aren’t you?” he asked, and Marsh nodded. The man sighed, hesitancy and sadness warring in his expression.

  “What is it?” she asked, the question coming out more harshly than she’d intended.

  “Did you ever travel between Kerrenin’s Ledge and Ruins Hall...” His voice petered out as he caught the look on her face. “I’m sorry. It’s just...” He waved an aimless hand. “We were attacked...”

  On the verge of revealing she’d found two children on that trail, Marsh hesitated. Instead, she asked, “Who did you lose?”

  “We were traveling with our children when we were taken.” He stumbled over his words in his hurry to explain. “A boy and a girl.”

  He gulped. “My son, Tamlin... He would have been about ten. Aisha, my second-youngest daughter, would have turned six just over a week ago.”

  Marsh’s heart dropped, and she fought back an unexpected onslaught of tears. She hadn’t thought... She’d known there was a chance they’d find their parents, but she’d forgotten how close they were.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, catching the look on her face and misinterpreting it. “I didn’t mean...”

  “I found them,” Marsh choked out, and his face fell.

  “Are...are you sure it was them?” he asked, and she realized he thought she was trying to tell him she�
��d found their bodies.

  The sound she made next sounded like a cross between a sob and a laugh. “Damn sure,” she told him. “They’re over there.”

  “They’re what?” Confusion and disbelief made his voice rise. “What do you mean?”

  Marsh ducked her head and took a breath, forcing her roiling emotions under control. Taking a second breath and letting it out slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.

  “I grabbed Tamlin and Aisha when the shadow monsters attacked and got them out of there. They’re safe.”

  She did not add that she’d adopted them in the absence of their parents. The emotions rolling across his face were turbulent enough. He didn’t need to worry about what this might mean for her. Roeglin’s warmth at her side had never been so welcome.

  “Vi’s parents are here, too,” he murmured. His using his words to tell her was a sure sign he was close to exhaustion.

  His voice must have carried because two more anxious adults pressed closer. “Did you say ‘Vi?’”

  Roeglin and Marsh gave them tired smiles.

  “They’re helping look after Aisha,” Marsh explained and turned to lead them around the bookcases.

  “They are?” Vi’s mother sounded surprised, then her brow furrowed with disapproval. “You brought them into a battlefield?”

  Marsh couldn’t help herself. She stopped and pivoted to face her.

  “Marsh...”

  She ignored Roeglin’s warning and glared at the woman.

  Poking her finger in the woman’s chest, she snapped, “What would you rather we did? We bring them with us and make sure they stay safe, or we leave them out there with the remnant and the wolves?”

  She flung her arm in the vague direction of the wall and didn’t mention that the wolves would probably have guarded the children with their lives. Vi’s mother looked shocked, and Tamlin’s father started.

  It was an improvement on disappointed or disapproving.

  Mouton-headed, Deeps-be-damned—

  “Shadow-Mage Leclerc!” Master Envermet’s shout of disapproval stopped her before the words could reach her lips.

  She pivoted toward him and pulled herself to a posture resembling attention. “Yes, Captain?”

  Her tone of quiet innocence brought a snort of laughter from Tamlin’s father. When she looked at him, Marsh saw he was smiling.