by Jasmine Walt
I snorted. “That’s the understatement of the year,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Thankfully we managed to escape, and just in time, too. There’s still so much to be done.” I sighed, flopping back down onto the couch. I was so tired…
“I should go and find Mina,” Fenris said, noting the way I slumped against Iannis. “You two look like you need to rest.”
“All right,” I said sleepily. “You said you were staying at the Marwale, right?”
“Yes,” he said.
“That’s much too far away,” Iannis protested. “You and your friends must come stay here in the palace tonight. It’s getting late for such a long drive.”
“I agree,” I said before Fenris could argue. “I’ll have a suite readied for you and will tell the staff to expect you. Tell Com I said hi, and that I’ll come see him when I’m alive again.”
Alone at last, I snuggled with Iannis on the couch. “Can we just sleep here?” I mumbled into his chest. “I don’t wanna move.”
“We’ll be waking up with aching backs if we do,” he said, scooping me into his arms. “I see no need for that when we have a big bed waiting for us.”
I wrapped my arms around Iannis’s neck and closed my eyes as he carried me to the bedroom. A few moments later, he set me down on the mattress, and I groaned in relief—it was the softest surface I’d lain on in days. “I am never taking this for granted again,” I moaned as Iannis rummaged through a chest of drawers nearby. “Never.”
Iannis pulled out a crystal bottle filled with gold liquid and filled two small glasses. “Drink this,” he said, handing one to me. “It’s a restorative potion for rest and relaxation. I take it when I know I’m only going to manage a couple hours of sleep, and it makes me feel like I’ve had eight.” He downed the contents of his own glass. “We cannot afford the luxury of resting very long, but I’ll make it up to you on our honeymoon.”
“Sounds good to me.” I took a swig, then shimmied out of my clothes and burrowed beneath the blankets with Iannis. As he folded his strong arms around me, I immediately began to drift off. Soon we would be married, and this bed would be ours, not just his.
Take that, Ta’sradala, I thought sleepily as I drifted off. She might be a bitter old bitch, but Iannis and I were stronger than all the malice in her ancient, blackened heart.
21
The week following our return was a crazy whirlwind of activity. I met Mina, who was very likable and a perfect match for Fenris, and instantly decided to help organize her and Fenris’s wedding. It seemed best not to wait, as my shifter senses told me she might already be expecting their first child—or cub, as the case might be. Whichever they got, I had no doubt Fenris would be a wonderful father.
“Why do you think Fenris fell in love now, after going so long without female companionship?” I asked Iannis as we were riding in the carriage to yet another reception. “Do you think he was waiting for Mina all this time?”
“They fit together well,” Iannis said, “but I think it just was time for him. When he was a Chief Mage he hid behind his position, duties, and scholarship, and his parents’ nagging to find a wife probably had exactly the contrary effect. Then, while he lived here with us, being a fugitive who had to hide his true nature would have been an obstacle. I suppose that being all alone, thrown upon his own resources, made him reevaluate what he truly wanted in life—and lo and behold, there it was, right within reach.”
“Very lucky for him,” I said, “and for Mina too.”
“Now, of course, our case is very different,” Iannis said. “I was waiting for you, obviously, all those centuries, though without being aware of it. It took me a little while to realize what a treasure had fallen into my lap.”
“I forgive you,” I said with a wink, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Since you eventually came to your senses.”
It was a good thing Nelia did most of the actual preparations for Fenris’s and Mina’s wedding, as I was soon involved in some very unpleasant business. The chief suspect of the aborted Resistance plot, a construction tycoon called Moredo, turned up dead in his cell in the Enforcers Guild. I was called down to investigate whether it had really been suicide, as the enforcers claimed—and even if it was true, why had they left the man his belt to do the deed? That seemed pretty suspicious, and since Iannis was busy with the Convention, the responsibility to find out what had really happened fell on my shoulders.
“Enforcer Baine,” Captain Skonel said calmly as I entered his office. His deputy was standing by his side, stiff-backed and stern-faced, but the captain himself seemed relaxed. “I’m happy to see you’re back here in one piece.”
“As am I.” I gave Skonel a smile of my own as I sat down, ignoring the lie. He was certainly not happy to see me—I could tell by his change of scent—but he was diplomatic enough not to say so, and since I didn’t actually think he wished me dead, I didn’t see a need to press the issue. “Do you have the report I asked for?”
“Of course.” Skonel gestured to his deputy, who handed me a file. I flipped open the manila folder and perused the contents, which included Moreno’s arrest report, notes from several interviews, and the suicide report, which was accompanied by some grisly photographs.
“So,” I said slowly, closing the file, “the guards really didn’t see anything?”
Captain Skonel’s expression didn’t change. “They’d been checking on him every hour, as instructed,” he said. “We don’t know how he managed to get hold of the belt he hanged himself with.”
“If he didn’t have any visitors, then one of the guards must have slipped it to him,” I said, pointing out the obvious. “Did you interrogate everyone who was on duty at the time?”
“Of course,” Skonel said, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. “I know how to do my job.”
“Right.” I stood up, tucking the file beneath my arm. “I’ll need to see the cell, and speak to the guards as well.”
Skonel nodded. “My deputy will escort you downstairs.”
I held in a snort. Once upon a time, I wouldn’t have needed an escort. But times were changing, and though I still had my enforcer license, I was too important to be allowed to wander around without any sort of protection. Not that I needed help from the likes of the deputy, I mused as we rode down the rickety elevator. After everything I’d been through recently, I was practically bullet-proof.
I spent the next hour examining the cell and questioning the guards who were on rotation. The cell turned up nothing—there were so many different smells down there it was impossible to isolate which didn’t belong—and the guards were equally unhelpful. None of them had seen or done a damn thing, and my nose told me they were truthful. The only idea I could come up with was that an imposter had slipped down here to do the deed…but with no witnesses, it was impossible to pin down who it might have been.
Frustrated, I returned to the captain’s office. He looked a little too smug for my taste, clearly happy I hadn’t been able to find anything incriminating against his staff.
“What’s this Fenris told me about you imprisoning him?” I demanded, determined to find something to nail Captain Skonel with. I hid a smug look of my own when he flinched, the reaction barely detectable even to someone with my discerning shifter gaze.
“That was an unfortunate misunderstanding,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “One that has been corrected.”
“You’ve got that right.” I folded my arms. “How did this ‘misunderstanding’ arise?”
The captain scowled. “Fenris did not reveal his identity to us,” he said. “He was magically disguised, and there was no way for any of us to guess who he truly was until after his illusion failed. Once his identity was revealed, Director Toring vouched for him, and he was released.”
“Hmm.” I searched his face. “Without your permission, I imagine.”
“My permission was irrelevant,” the captain said stiffly. “Fenris is not a criminal.”
“Damn rig
ht he’s not.” I leaned forward. “How exactly did he come to be in that cell?”
“Enforcer Galid Meltin, from the third crew, brought him in unconscious,” Skonel said. “He’d been charged with destroying property and refusing to pay for services at a brothel, though the charges were later discovered to be fraudulent.” The captain pressed his lips together. “Once we discovered the deception, we brought in Meltin, who confessed that he arrested Fenris as a favor to a brothel owner, with whom Meltin is close friends. We’ll need to look into all his previous bounties from that area.” He rummaged in a drawer for a moment and brought out a well-worn leather pouch. “Please return this to Fenris with my apologies that I did not believe him at first. Of course, if he had not tried to disguise himself, this whole thing would not have happened in the first place.”
“What’s going to happen to Meltin?” I asked, ignoring the captain’s excuses. “This seems like an excellent test case for those disciplinary commissions we are setting up.”
“True,” Skonel admitted grudgingly. “He is in cell eighteen now, and the commission will meet once we have completed the investigation. It turns out that Meltin was not the only rotten apple in the barrel.” From the stiffness of his neck, I could tell how much it cost Captain Skonel to admit this. “All of his crew knew what he was up to and turned a blind eye.”
I suppressed the urge to say “Told you so” and tucked the pouch in my magic sleeve. “Let me know how things turn out—after my honeymoon.” I didn’t want to hear about any of this crap until I got back. After dealing with Ta’sradala, I deserved a week or two of peace.
“Very well.” Captain Skonel relaxed, and from the change in his scent, I knew he was relieved to have gotten off lightly. “And my best wishes for the forthcoming festivities. I look forward to attending your wedding reception.”
The most notable event of that week was Fenris and Mina’s wedding—a beautiful ceremony held at Solantha Temple. It was the first time I had seen Fenris in robes, though from his memories, I knew he had worn them every day for most of his long life. Now that he was acknowledged as a mage-shifter hybrid, like me, with magic of his own, he could wear them openly once more, though I had a feeling he’d stick to his tunics as a habit. Mina was absolutely lovely in the wedding gown I’d helped her choose, with those blonde curls and blue eyes, and everyone could tell how much they loved each other as they recited their vows. Her pregnancy was not yet showing but nevertheless lent a special glow to her fair skin. Watching them get married made me look forward even more to my own wedding, which was almost upon us.
After the wedding, we all retreated to the palace for an intimate reception. Since Fenris and Mina didn’t want a lot of fuss, and weren’t politically prominent, only the close friends and family who’d attended the ceremony were invited.
“Two weddings in one week,” Comenius said as he gazed fondly at Rusalia, who was flitting from person to person like an eager butterfly. “It’s no wonder she’s so excited.”
I nodded. “It looks like you’re all getting along well these days,” I said. Rusalia had made a rough start of it with Comenius and Elania—her mother had just died, and the little girl was rebellious and belligerent. She still had a bit of that wild streak in her, but ever since her near-death experience in the quake, she’d become much more manageable and affectionate.
“Oh, absolutely,” Elania agreed. “She is a darling. She has already promised to help look after her little brother and sister, when the time comes.” She placed a hand over her belly, which was barely beginning to show.
My eyes widened. “Twins?” I asked in a hushed voice.
She beamed. “We are doubly blessed,” she said, planting a kiss on Comenius’s cheek.
I hugged them both, feeling absurdly excited for them. “I’m so happy for you both,” I said. Everyone seemed to be increasing their families…but Iannis and I would get around to that eventually, when things settled down a bit. There was no rush, I told myself.
“You haven’t had any more trouble with your in-laws in Manuc?” Com asked, leaning in as he lowered his voice. We’d told Comenius and Elania what had happened, as well as Fenris and Mina, but no one else knew the truth about our long “vacation.”
“No, and I don’t expect to hear from them again,” I said firmly, sincerely hoping I was right.
“Good. They sound far too troublesome.”
“If you need any help with them, we are at your service,” Elania said.
“I know.” I smiled at them, glad that in all likelihood, they would never need to face a Tua. There were some things better left to old legends.
Iannis and I made our rounds through the gathering, talking to Rylan, who complained how boring his life was these days, and to Janta and Tinari, who were doing fine. Tinari had been overcome with joy when I’d returned—when she’d first laid eyes on me, she’d wrapped her arms tight around me and refused to let go for a very long while. Janta informed me that she and the other girls felt guilty, and I’d had to assure them all that what had happened wasn’t their fault. Ta’sradala would have found a way to get to me even if I hadn’t been playing hide-and-seek in the garden.
Fenris and Mina’s friends, Barrla and Marris, a cheerful young couple from Watawis, were playing with Liu, who had got the afternoon off for the occasion. Trouble was observing everything from the curtain rod and occasionally repeating something in his raucous parrot voice.
“We’d love to stay longer,” Iannis finally said to Fenris and Mina, who were sitting with Fenris’s “grandparents” in the corner, “but unfortunately, Sunaya and I have to be off to the Minister’s reception.”
“Of course.” Mina and Fenris rose. “Thank you so much for doing this for us,” Mina said, reaching up so she could hug Iannis. “It is amazing what you two have pulled together on such short notice.”
I laughed. “We couldn’t have done it without my assistant,” I said as I hugged her next. “I’m just glad I got to see the two of you married. You two were made for each other.”
“Yes, we are,” Fenris said, putting an arm around Mina’s shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, and she snuggled into him, her face glowing with pleasure. Exchanging glances, Iannis and I left them to enjoy the rest of their reception, and we changed and got into the carriage.
“We’re nearly done with all this wedding business now,” I said to Iannis as we slowly progressed through the heavy traffic. “How is the Convention going?” It had kept him very busy, since he was the head of the Canalo delegation and had missed all the preliminary horse-dealing sessions.
“Reasonably well.” Iannis smiled. “Yesterday we managed to defeat a new law that the Minister proposed to extend the mandate of Toring’s new agency over the entire Federation. Garrett will still need to work with the Chief Mages, and seek their permission, before he undertakes investigations in our states.”
“Garrett won’t like that,” I said. I could imagine the disappointment on his face when the bill was struck down. “Was there really any chance of something like that getting passed, though? Surely the Chief Mages would not vote for something that decreases their autonomy so much?”
“You’d think so, but it was a near thing. I’m sure they will try again at the next Convention. Toring is nothing if not tenacious.”
We arrived at the concert hall and were received by the Minister, as the host. There was some initial tension between him and Iannis that made me wonder if it was just because of the defeated legislation or something more serious—but this wasn’t the time to ask Iannis, as both of us were swamped with felicitations, questions, requests, and gossip. The hall was packed with close to a thousand people, including forty-seven of the fifty Chief Mages and many of their families, the entire Federal Government from Dara, the most important foreign diplomats, and the heads of numerous institutions, museums, newspapers, and big companies.
Supposedly, all these bigwigs were there to celebrate Iannis and me getting hitched. It was mor
e likely that they were all here to hobnob and trade favors with each other, but I just went with the flow, chatting with everyone I was introduced to, sipping at my wine, and letting the glitter and noise wash over me like a river. Yes, it was more mind-numbing than filing paperwork, but at least I was back home instead of fighting my way through another one of Ta’sradala’s challenges.
As usual, there were a few mages who eyed me with disdain, but I ignored them. I couldn’t wait to seal my bond with Iannis, our commitment to each other, in front of the mage community, and finally shut up the naysayers who insisted our romance would never work out. After everything Iannis’s grandmother had put me through, I wasn’t ever going to let anyone say that I wasn’t worthy of Iannis. I had survived those tests for him, and we had made it through the last one together. If that wasn’t a sign from the Creator that we were meant to be a couple, I didn’t know what was.
22
“Sunaya! Iannis!”
I froze, mid-conversation with a nosy socialite, at the sound of Fenris’s voice in my head. It sounded staticky, like it was coming through a bad radio connection, and I frowned. Was I imagining things?
“Miss Baine?” the socialite asked, giving me an odd look. “Is everything okay?”
I shook off the strange feeling. “Everything’s fine,” I said. I must have imagined his voice. What would Fenris be doing here anyway? He was supposed to be back at the palace, enjoying his reception with Mina.
“Sunaya!” Fenris’s voice came through loud and clear this time, blowing that theory out of the water. “Can you hear me?”
“Fenris?” I called back, alarmed now. “Are you here?”
