Shadow of a Slave (The Blood Mage Chronicles Book 1)

by Saffron Bryant

“He never has before.”

  “Did you see Rusty jump when Nate said twins?”

  “That’s because we’re scary magical twins.”

  A faint smile flickered across Rae’s face.

  Ash’s hand fell still. “That’s it!”

  “That’s what?” Rae said.

  “Rusty is scared of us. If we can get him to open the door, maybe we’ll be able to get out.”

  “He’s not going to open the door.”

  “He will if he thinks we’re doing something scary down here like calling on dark spirits or something.”

  “He wouldn’t…”

  “It’s at least worth trying. He jumped at Nate’s blasphemy, imagine what he’d do if he thought we were doing something bad.”

  “It’s risky,” Rae said.

  “Honestly,” Ash said, making an exaggerated show of looking around the basement. “I don’t think it could get much worse.”

  “Famous last words,” Rae said.

  Ash stood and looked around. “We have to make it sound really bad.”

  “Chanting always sounds ominous.”

  Ash grinned. “And we’ll talk at the same time.”

  “We don’t exactly have time to practice…” Rae’s eyes widened. “The book of healing.”

  “What about it?”

  “We recite it at the same time. It’s got lots of magic-sounding words and talks about disease. He’ll be terrified.”

  “Perfect.”

  They took up positions at the bottom of the ladder and clapped a slow, steady rhythm.

  “Blood of the lungs. Two spoons of thistle and a drop of yellowcap…”

  Their words matched the timing of their clapping and their two voices intertwined, even Ash had to admit it sounded impressive, magical even.

  “Hey!” Rusty called down from above. “Stop that.”

  Ash and Rae kept going.

  “I’ll come down there and beat the lights out of both of you…” Rusty’s voice shook and his threat trailed off at the end to barely a whisper.

  Ash winked at Rae and they chanted louder. “Pustules, boils and warts…”

  In his mind’s eye Ash could see the healing book as if it was held in front of him and neither he nor Rae faltered as they recited.

  “Stop it. Stop it I say! I really will come down there…” His footsteps paced back and forth above the door. “Bloody Nate. Where is he?”

  “Needles to bleed and release the demons…”

  Rusty’s footsteps froze and then the stiff lock on the door screeched.

  Ash met Rae’s eyes and nodded once. He crouched, ready to spring, but didn’t stop chanting.

  The door burst open and let in a rush of fresh air. Rusty’s silhouette loomed above them, blocking out the night sky.

  “You bastards have done it now. I warned you—”

  Ash leapt up. His left foot landed on the second rung of the ladder and he used it to launch upward, arms outstretched. His hands caught Rusty’s head and clamped tight. Ash lost his footing and dropped back into the basement but he kept a firm hold on Rusty and dragged the other man with him.

  They crashed to the floor. Ash landed hard with his arm caught behind his back and Rusty fell on top of him, knocking the air from his lungs.

  Rusty squirmed free and swung his fist at Ash.

  Ash ducked and the blow landed on his shoulder, sending an explosion of pain through his arm that left his fingers tingling. He rolled across the floor but Rusty scrambled after him and snatched the front of Ash’s shirt. He ripped Ash back and straddled his chest.

  “I warned you!” Rusty said, pulling back his fist.

  Ash strained and writhed but couldn’t get out from under Rusty. He tried to free his arms, to protect his face, but they stayed pinned under Rusty’s legs.

  Rusty’s fist flew forward, aimed at Ash’s face, but his whole body lurched sideways.

  Rae’s dive carried them both to the ground, and off of Ash. She untangled herself and leapt to her feet, her back to the ladder.

  Rusty stood and wiped a trickle of blood from his forehead. “I’ll cut you before you reach the top.” His hand fell to his waist and he faltered.

  “Looking for this?” Rae said. She held a dagger up to the light.

  “You’ll pay for that.”

  “No,” Rae said. “You’re going to let us both go. Otherwise we’ll finish our spell and every demon and creature of darkness that you’ve ever imagined will be here.”

  Rusty flinched and looked over his shoulder, as if expecting to see shadowed shapes behind him. “You wouldn’t…”

  “I assure you,” Rae said. “We would.”

  Rusty bit his lip and his gaze fell to the knife.

  “You won’t make it,” Ash said, coming to stand by Rae’s side. It hurt to breathe and every word sent another stab of pain through his chest but he forced himself to stand straight. His left shoulder hung lower than the right, dislocated, but he pushed the pain away and focused on making his voice deep and foreboding. “Be smart. Let us go. Would you rather lose a few Marks from not handing us in, or let darkspawn loose on Falconwall?”

  Rusty swallowed and hung his head. “Nate will kill me.”

  Rae nodded to Ash and he started to climb the ladder, using just his right arm and leaving the left to hang limp at his side. At the top he turned and stared down into the darkness.

  Rae placed her foot on the bottom rung. “You’ll be fine.”

  “Your threats won’t make him stop. He’ll find you.”

  “Then the demons will be looking for him, not you,” Rae said.

  She scampered up the ladder, Ash slammed the door closed behind her and shoved the lock home. His hand came away covered in specs of rust.

  “We’ve got to go,” Rae said. “Nate will be here soon.”

  They hurried away from the basement door.

  “Do you think he’s right? That Nate won’t give up?” Ash said.

  “Definitely. He betrayed the Red Wave; if Aldrick ever found out, Nate would be tortured and killed. He can’t let us live long enough to tell anyone about it.”

  As they reached the corner and turned down the next street, violent swearing erupted behind them. Nate’s unmistakable voice split the night.

  “Just in the nick of time,” Ash muttered.

  Footsteps thundered behind them and Ash and Rae ran faster. Each step jolted Ash’s injured arm and he had to bite his lip to stop from crying out. He held it still with his right arm but it made little difference.

  They darted into a side-street but the person behind followed, drawing closer.

  Ash gasped, each breath burning his injured lungs. “Do you know where we’re going?”

  “To Aldrick.”

  “That’s exactly what Nate will think of. He’ll have someone waiting for us outside; probably kill us right there just to make sure. That’s if he doesn’t catch up to us first.”

  Ash glanced over his shoulder. Nate rounded the nearest corner; they wouldn’t stay ahead of him for long.

  They ran through twisting streets with no destination; their only aim, to put as much distance as possible between them and Nate. Broken glass crunched under their feet and they passed piles of rubbish as they ran deeper into the slums.

  “Here.” Rae snatched Ash’s uninjured arm and tugged him under a torn canvas that hung from a single hook, the remnants of some overhanging roof.

  They huddled in the darkness and their breathing sounding like a bellows in Ash’s ear.

  He peered out onto the dirty street just as Nate came into view, accompanied by men in City Watch uniforms. They barreled around the next corner and their footsteps faded into the night.

  Ash and Rae stayed frozen for five full minutes, ears strained for any sound of discovery. Nothing.

  Ash sighed and let his muscles relax.

  Rae ran a hand through her hair and studied his shoulder in the dim light. “Want me to fix your arm?”

  He
nodded, bracing himself.

  Rae gripped his arm and shoulder and shoved the joint back. It popped and Ash stifled a scream. He clutched his arm and glared at the ground until the pain dissipated.

  “What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Ash said, keeping his voice low in case Nate came back up the street.

  “We’ve only got one option.”

  “That is?”

  “Get out of Falconwall. There are too many people looking for us, and too many people who know us. Between the Faceless Monks, the City Watch, and now Nate and his friends, we won’t survive for more than a few days. We have to get out.”

  Ash bit his lip and peered out at the street through a thin gap in the canvas. Nothing moved but the back of his neck tingled as if they were being watched. “We don’t have enough money.”

  “We’ll just have to get by with what we have.”

  “But most of it is back at the forge and we can’t go there.”

  “We’ve got enough on us to buy a tent and some warm clothes. I’m sure we can find food in the woods.”

  “Spend the rest of our lives like forest nymphs?”

  “Of course not,” Rae said. “We work our way to the Institute.”

  “We can’t stay on the road,” Ash said. “That’s exactly what they’ll expect, and we won’t be able to get far from Falconwall. We should get enough money that we can travel fast to the Institute and, once we’re there, we stay under cover.”

  “How are we going to make that much money? We’ve got to be gone by tomorrow at the latest. We can’t afford to hang around.”

  “Cards,” Ash said.

  “Cards?”

  He nodded, confidence made him stand straighter and ignore the feeling of dread that chilled his spine. “You know, with our… intuition; we can win enough hands by morning. We make a few easy Marks and we’re out of here.”

  A dim sliver of moonlight fell through a tear in the canvas and lit on Rae’s face. Her brows drew together. “That’s risky. We’d have to expose ourselves, and if someone suspected us of cheating…”

  “It’s the only way. We’ll be quick and careful, go somewhere we’ve never been before. It’ll be fine.”

  Ash could already picture them at the Institute; they’d learn magic and they’d be able to defend themselves. Never again would someone like Nate be able to keep them trapped again.

  “I don’t know…”

  “It won’t be a problem. Here’s my plan…” Ash went on to describe his master plan that would see them rich and out of Falconwall by morning. Rae listened, her hands tangled in the folds of her shirt and her face pale.

  32

  A thick cloud of smoke stung Ash’s eyes, he blinked it away and breathed in little puffs through his mouth but he couldn’t stop the acrid scent from searing his lungs.

  He studied his cards but when he blinked a second set flashed in front of him, Rae’s cards. She sat opposite him, a hood pulled low over her face. They’d been careful to enter the inn at different times and hadn’t made eye contact through the game.

  A man with tattoos running up his arms sat on Ash’s left. His expression had remained a stony mask throughout the game. Opposite him though, to Ash’s right, the fourth player’s face was like an open book. His tailored clothes and clean hands identified him as a Moneybags far from home.

  Ash returned his attention to his cards and pushed three silver coins into the pile in the middle of the table. He had a good hand, and he knew from Rae’s hand that the other two were unlikely to beat it; still, nothing was ever sure in gambling.

  Stony Face matched Ash’s bet. Rae placed her cards face down on the table and shook her head. The final player grinned and added three silver coins of his own.

  “No fun if you don’t play; am I right?” he said, taking a long drink from his tankard.

  Ash didn’t reply but flipped his cards face-up.

  Stony Face cursed and hurled his cards to the table.

  “Can’t win all of them, can you?” Moneybags said, tossing his cards down and pulling a fat purse from his belt. He counted out more coins onto the table in front of him.

  Many eyes watched him from shadowed corners.

  Ash forced himself to ignore the unsavory types licking their lips. It was the man’s own foolish fault for coming into the worst part of the slums and waving his money around. What did he expect to happen?

  Ash scooped the money from the center of the table. He just had to win a couple more hands and he and Rae could get out of Falconwall and away from the feeling that eyes watched their every move.

  The burly man, Stony Face, on Ash’s left narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been awful lucky tonight.”

  “Some days you win, some days you lose.”

  The man grunted but his eyes didn’t leave Ash.

  Rae caught Ash’s eye and a fleeting sense of panic filled his chest. He took a deep breath and pushed the feeling away. The man was just upset about losing, it didn’t mean anything. And they couldn’t give up now, they were so close.

  Ash took the deck and shuffled.

  “I’m sure you won’t mind if I…?” Stony Face laid a tattooed hand over Ash’s.

  Ash stifled a gasp. “Of course not.” He lay the deck on the table and let the big man deal.

  The next few hands, Ash bet low and let himself lose a few coins. “See,” he said. “Can’t win all of them.”

  The man’s lip curled. “A few coppers isn’t exactly the same.”

  Ash pinned his lips closed and said no more. Waves of unease washed off of Rae and crashed over him, knocking his focus. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. They needed to get it over and done with. One big win.

  He picked up his cards and kept his face expressionless. He blinked and Rae’s hand came to his mind, mediocre.

  “Just about time I called it a night,” Ash said. “May as well go out with a bang.” He pushed all of his coins to the center of the table.

  Rae tensed opposite him but he ignored her.

  Stony Face studied his cards for a while before pushing all of his coins to the middle. “I’m in.”

  Rae shook her head and lay down her cards.

  Moneybags nodded and shoved a pile of coins forward. “This is more like it!”

  Cold sweat dribbled down Ash’s temple but he forced himself not to wipe it away.

  “Show us your cards then,” Stony Face said.

  Ash braced himself and lowered his cards, face-up, onto the stained table.

  “Fel’s breath!” Stony Face said. He erupted to his feet. His chair flew backwards and clattered to the wooden floor.

  Everyone else in the bar drew back.

  Ash used his arm to scoop the coins into his purse and tucked it deep into his jacket, heart pounding.

  “Good game!” Moneybags said. “Anyone keen for another?”

  Rae leaned across the table to him and Ash could just hear her voice in the silence that had fallen over the inn. “Go back to Upper Trading or wherever you came from. You won’t last another hour down here without being beaten and left for dead.”

  The color faded from the man’s face. He stood and backed toward the door.

  “I don’t know how you did it, but you were cheating,” Stony Face said, hands curled into fists.

  Ash’s legs shook as he stood and faced the man. “It was just luck. Nothing more.”

  “Fel’s ass. You cheated.”

  Ash backed away. Rae weaved through the crowd toward him but stayed just far enough away that they didn’t look to be together.

  “I won fair and square. There’s no need for trouble.”

  Stony Face stepped around the table so that he loomed over Ash, blocking out the single overhead lamp and casting a long shadow. “Give me my money back.”

  Ash swallowed and looked over his shoulder. “I just took the cards that were dealt to me. Fair is fair.” He might make it to the door, but then where? He couldn’t give the money back because he and Rae di
dn’t have time to win more.

  His prepared to hurl himself at the door and out into the night.

  The door flew open and five City Watchmen poured in, blue uniforms striking against the dreary brown of everything else. Nate and Rusty sauntered in behind.

  Ash faltered.

  “That’s him.” Nate thrust a thick finger toward Ash.

  The City Watch closed in.

  Stone Face stepped back, grinning. “Looks like I’m not the only one you’ve upset.”

  The crowd that had filled the inn just moments before thinned. People streamed out into the darkness, ducking their faces out of sight of the Watch.

  “The girl will be here somewhere,” Nate said.

  “This one?” Stony Face said. His beefy hand disappeared into the cluster of people and came back clutching Rae’s cloak. Her hood fell free and revealed her pale face.

  “That’s her.”

  “Good job, sir,” the commander of the City Watch said.

  Stony Face shrugged. “They stole some money from me.”

  A sly glint sparkled in the commander’s eyes. “We can’t have that.” He turned to his soldiers. “Bring them here.” He then jerked his head at Nate and Rusty. “You two can wait outside.”

  “But—”

  “You’ll get your reward.”

  Nate and Rusty trudged out and three men in blue uniforms closed in on Ash. He turned to run but smooth walls blocked his retreat. Rough hands snatched his arms and pinned them to his sides.

  The commander sneered down but spoke loud enough for the whole bar to hear. “These two… are twins.”

  The crowd gasped and drew back, making protective signs over their chests. Even Stony Face took a shaky step away.

  “They should have been killed at birth; instead, they were allowed to live. Now they must die.”

  The commander nodded and the man behind Ash laid a cool blade against his throat. Another member of the City Watch did the same to Rae.

  “No!” Ash said.

  A cruel grin split the commander’s face. “Justice was bound to catch up with you eventually.”

  Rae met Ash’s eyes and tears streamed down her cheeks. His eyes burned and he found his vision blurred.

  “Him first,” the Commander said.

  The cold metal at Ash’s throat bit into his neck. The soldier tensed and pulled it across Ash’s throat just as a loud pop filled the air.