The Crimson League (The Herezoth Trilogy)

by Grefer, Victoria

  Laskenay glanced at the fire. “Your water’s boiling.”

  445

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Of Weddings

  The morning was warm, the straw pile outside the Palace stables wet with dew as Alten Grombach watched two servants hoist the last of his travel cases on a horse-drawn cart that creaked in protest. Four lady’s bags and the rest of Alten’s luggage already weighed it down. A head framed in white appeared in the window of a coach some feet away.

  “Are you quite finished?” asked Malzin.

  Damn her.

  “It’s not my fault those imbeciles cracked my best case. If you wish to go ahead, Captain, you can manage without my company.”

  Malzin chuckled. “Of course I can. But Zalski named you my escort.”

  “One of the, ah, perquisites of having earned his trust.”

  “He trusts your power, should we need it for defense. Don’t let your head inflate, General. It won’t fit inside the coach.”

  “Don’t worry about that. There’s plenty of space where your woman’s heart should be.”

  Malzin sighed. “Enough of this,” she said. “We’re stuck together for two days. We might as well be civil and make them tolerable.”

  Alten gave a grandiose bow and turned to the men now securing the cart’s cargo with ropes. “We’re on a schedule!”

  A tap sounded on the window, making Kora start. She stopped pacing the main room of Menikas’s apartment. Craning her neck, almost sliding on a stack of maps, she discovered the source of her fright: a cardinal, perched on the sill and looking stunned. She shooed the bird away before it flew into the pane again, while Alten climbed in the coach.

  The general struck up conversation with his travel companion. “You’re going to Yangerton to….”

  “To take over the search for the Librette. My men have proven stunningly incompetent.”

  “Their captain’s presence will give them focus.”

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Why else are you going?”

  Malzin crossed her legs, sizing up Alten. “Surely the spellbook’s cause enough?”

  “You’d travel for the book, but you’d be griping. At the very least you’d have suggested some alternative, one to keep you in Podrar. You did nothing of the sort.”

  “Since you mention it,” said Malzin, “I hope to acquire a specific piece of jewelry. It’s one of a kind. Unique. And I don’t mind telling you, trinkets aside, the idea of returning to Yangerton has its appeal.”

  “You spent summers there as a child, if I’m not mistaken.”

  Malzin raised her eyebrows. “When you do research…. Yes, I spent summers there, at my grandmother’s mansion. I always loved the city. I found its people just eccentric enough to hold my interest. I loathed the old woman.”

  “Did her servants treat you poorly? The cook dry out your meals?”

  “I thought we agreed to be amicable.”

  “My apologies.”

  “I was actually quite fond of Windy: the cook. She saved me extra berries and took me to the park on her days off. But Nans bored me to tears. She was always droning on about dukes ten years dead. Worse, she’d barge in to offer tea when Valkin visited and end up serving her life story.”

  “How dreadful,” said Alten. He turned to the window and rolled his eyes. Patience. You need to last two days with her. Two days! The coach began to move down a dirt drive.

  “Valkin,” he said. “Where have I heard that name?”

  “Zalski’s brother-in-law.”

  “Ah, yes.” Alten smiled. “You two were close? Don’t tell me he chose Laskenay over you?”

  “Of course he didn’t. Valkin was my first love, and I his. You recall what it is to be fourteen: I idolized the boy. I idolized him and grew disenchanted long before he fell to Zalski’s sister, years before. If I’d wanted him I’d have had him, make no mistake.”

  “Oh, you wanted him,” Kora muttered, pulling off her chain.

  “What was that?”

  Laskenay had just brought Zacry over.

  “Alten’s on his way. Malzin’s with him. She’s going to head the search for….” Kora remembered her brother. “She’s going to head the search herself.”

  Laskenay stiffened. “Is she now?”

  “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

  “I was hoping later.”

  Zacry looked around. He bent to examine the maps Kora nearly had knocked out of place. “What are we doing here?” he asked.

  Kora said, “I need to explain some things. Why don’t we sit?” Zacry took Menikas’s usual place around the table. Kora and Laskenay pulled out chairs. “You asked last night what I’d been up to.”

  Zacry leaned forward. “You mean you’re gonna tell me?”

  “Parts of it. I went to Podrar. I went to Fontferry. I actually spent some time at Wheatfield.”

  “Mom’s Wheatfield? Really? Was Grandmother’s table there?”

  “The table was filthy, and beautiful, absolutely beautiful, I wish you could see it…. Zac, listen, I discovered some things in Fontferry. About our family history. You know the story Father used to tell about the sorcerers? The revolt? It turns out Mayven wasn’t a casualty. She had a daughter after.”

  “You mean we’re from Mayven’s line?”

  “We are.”

  “And that, that’s why you’re a sorceress?”

  “It explains it, don’t you think?”

  “And you,” he looked at Laskenay, “You must be a sorceress as well?”

  Laskenay nodded. Zacry slammed the table. “And I have no magic. How is that fair?”

  “Zac, you do have magic. At least, there’s a chance you do.”

  “I’d have the mark. I’d have the stupid mark.”

  “Mayven erased the mark from those who share her blood.”

  Zacry’s mouth fell open. Then he shut it. He asked, “Are you sure she did that?”

  “I’m positive,” said Kora.

  “Then I really could be….”

  “I’m a sorceress. You’re my brother. I’d guess it’s pretty likely.”

  “How do we find out?”

  “Mudar,” said Laskenay, waving her arm, and a tome soared from the shelf into her arms. Zacry sat in shock as she flipped through the pages, then set the book before him. “This incantation will stop someone cold,” she said. “It suspends their breathing, their brain activity, all muscle contraction. They become a kind of statue. If you’re a sorcerer, you should be able to cast it on your sister, at least in part.”

  Zacry looked horrified. “On my sister!?”

  Kora had never felt the power of that spell, and had no wish to, but Laskenay caught her eye and she understood: Estatua was the kind of magic that would frighten Zacry into prudence, especially when he saw what it did to someone he cared about. Kora sighed. “He can cast it on me,” she said. “When you’re ready, Zac.”

  Zacry mumbled, “I don’t…. I mean this isn’t, it doesn’t sound like….”

  “I’ve cast the spell multiple times,” said Laskenay. “I can reverse it. Kora won’t be harmed. You want to know if you’re a sorcerer, don’t you? This is how you find out.”

  Zacry turned to his sister. “Are you sure this isn’t dangerous?”

  Kora said the spell was not, and Zacry shut his eyes. Laskenay said, “You don’t want to do that. It’s inefficient and it’s craven. If you’re willing to curse a person, you need to look at her while you do it.” Zacry stared at his sister, close to trembling. She nodded him encouragement, and he spoke the incantation.

  The next thing Kora knew, her overturned chair lay on top of her. She had no memory of falling. Her wrist was bent painfully, and she grabbed at it. Laskenay sat with arms folded on the table, but Zacry had jumped up, despite the fact his knees looked ready to buckle. He pulled Kora’s chair away.

  “I’m just fine,” she assured him. Her brother gave her a hand and dropped back in his seat, without words f
or what had to be the first time in his young life.

  “That was impressive,” said Laskenay. Impressive was an understatement.

  “How did he do that flawlessly? The first time? His first spell ever? It took me ages!”

  “Zacry’s magic does seem stronger,” admitted Laskenay. “Still, I don’t think you realize how strong your magic actually was for a novice. The force behind your spells is incredible, both of you.”

  “But how?” insisted Kora. “Magic’s been dormant in our line for hundreds of years. That should make it deteriorate, not strengthen.”

  “Didn’t you mention a spell Mayven wrote, to eliminate the mark? Maybe the incantation did more than she intended. Maybe it preserved her magic through the generations. That’s pure conjecture, but it’s the only explanation I can offer.”

  “It makes sense,” said Kora. “Zac, are you all right?” Zacry was staring blankly at the wall. “Zac?”

  “Do you have any idea what I just did to you?”

  “I’ve seen it before. Listen, you didn’t hurt me, I swear. I’m good as new.”

  “You toppled over!”

  Laskenay said, “Increased weight’s a effect of that spell. She wasn’t seated squarely, that was all. It had nothing to do with you. Magic can have unforeseen results, for many reasons. That’s something to keep in mind.”

  “Right. So what, what happens now?”

  Kora said, “Now I’m going to take a few days to teach you some spells. I want you to be able to defend yourself.”

  “After that, can I join the League?”

  Kora’s lips pulled tight. “No way.”

  “But I’d be useful! Another sorcerer, don’t pretend I wouldn’t be.”

  Laskenay said, “It’s out of the question. Zacry, I appreciate your offer. You have pluck, and a fighter’s spirit to boot, but you’re nowhere near coming of age.”

  “Mother sent you to the orphanage to keep you safe. Safe, you told me that yourself. Imagine what she’d do to me if I let you run around with the Crimson League!”

  “You’re gonna hole me up in a safehouse again, aren’t you?”

  Kora’s heart skipped as she remembered all the X’s on Lanokas’s map of the city. “I don’t want him in a safehouse,” she told Laskenay.

  “Nor do I.” Laskenay sighed. “They aren’t as safe as they were.”

  “So what’ll I do? I don’t guess you’ll let me stay here?”

  Laskenay said, “I’ll find a place we’re all comfortable with, and I promise that in ‘we’ I’m including you. In the meantime, your sister’s right. You should learn some magic. Defensive magic. Kora….”

  “I’ll round up a volunteer. Trasporte.”

  The rest of the League was eating breakfast; Hayden had bought muffins to celebrate the latest raid’s success. Everyone was so used to Kora’s popping in and out of the apartment by now they mostly ignored it. Only Bennie, who happened to be gazing at the wall where Kora materialized, bobbled her half-eaten pastry.

  “Geez, Kora!”

  “I’m sorry. Where’s Kansten?”

  “Yo!” Kansten was sitting on the floor with Ranler on the other side of the room. “You got news for me?”

  “You wouldn’t believe the half of it. You remember the kid we picked up last night?”

  Ranler scanned the room for Zacry. “Where’d he go?”

  “With Laskenay. He’s not just any kid, he’s my brother.”

  Kansten spit out a bite of muffin. “Your brother?”

  “Yeah. That was Zacry. It turns out magic runs in the family. I want to teach him some spells, so he can protect himself. Since you were kind enough to, to uh….”

  “To be your punching bag,” said Kansten.

  “Yeah, that, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me train Zac. I don’t want to ask Laskenay, she has too much on her mind already.”

  “I’d love to, let me tell you. The thing is, Ranler and I convinced Menikas to give us a couple days off.”

  “Seriously? Menikas?”

  Kansten said, “Cross my heart. He’s not happy about it, but I told him if I didn’t get a break I’d make his life a living hell. I can be good at that.”

  “Fair enough,” said Kora. Kansten was almost beaming.

  “Two days. No raids. No guards. Just the public gardens and a swordplay tournament if we can sneak our way in.”

  Kora blinked. “Are you two together?”

  “Don’t tell the others. They’ll guess eventually, but yeah, for two weeks now.”

  “Wow,” said Kora. “I didn’t know. Obviously I didn’t know, you hadn’t told me…. Well, congratulations. You deserve some time to breathe, both of you.”

  “Hey Bidd!” Kansten yelled, her smile turning devilish. “Get over here!”

  Bidd scowled and left Hal to watch his muffin. “What do you want?”

  “What’s with the attitude?” said Kansten. “You want to be more active, right? Contribute to the League?”

  Bidd looked skeptical. “Why? You got a job for me?”

  “Kora does. You’re perfect for it.”

  “Actually,” said Kora, “why don’t you get Hal and Hayden? It’ll be less strenuous with three.” She rubbed her wrist where she had fallen on it earlier, and noticed Bidd had carried something with him. “Is that the newspaper?”

  Bidd scoffed. “It calls itself a paper. Only the fifth issue of the new Gazette. It’s a bunch of bull, straight from Zalski’s administration. I was using it to catch crumbs. Neslan read us an article yesterday, but he won’t look at today’s yet. Wants to digest first, or he’ll puke.”

  The front-page article was about a new social welfare office created by “the king” to oversee orphanages and shelters. There was also a wedding announcement, and the schedule for a new theater piece to be performed in the plaza. So Zalski was committed to the community, was he? Nothing appeared about the grain heist, but that was a matter of time; the Gazette would denounce the culprits tomorrow. Kora turned to the wedding announcement:

  In news from the capital, the first marriage between nobility since the transition of power occurred Saturday at the Crystal Palace. Carson Amison, firstborn of the Duke of Yangerton, aged thirty-three, wed Brianna Bellis, aged twenty, daughter of the Count of Riverton and native of Podrar. We celebrate the union as a mark of the increasing amity between cities and a spirit of cooperation weaving itself through Herezoth. The king himself blessed the marriage.

  “So what are we doing?” asked Hal. His voice made Kora jump; she had not heard him and Hayden walk up. She stuffed the paper beneath her arm, her heart pounding.

  “How many copies of this do we have?” she asked Bidd.

  “Just one.”

  “Has Lanokas read it?”

  “Nah, he called it garbage. Refused to touch it.”

  “He did offer to throw it in the fire,” said Hayden.

  “I get you,” Kora said. Hal frowned at her.

  “You sure you’re up to…. To whatever you need our help for? Kora? You look sick.”

  Lanokas’s Brianna. At least Zacry would keep Kora busy before she dealt with the prince that night. Brianna’s first fiancé was still in the dark, and was unlikely to hear about the marriage if Kora kept the paper. Neslan would be in all day with the royals, with no chance to grab a second copy.

  “Are you three ready?” she asked the teenagers.

  “Take my hand,” Kansten said, in a perfect imitation of Kora. The sorceress forced a smile.

  “Nice, smartass, but not yet. Let me get Zac some breakfast.”

  * * *

  Zacry’s training went well. While he waited with Laskenay, she gave him all the warnings and general advice she had passed on to his sister months before. When the elder sorceress left, Zacry’s fright from enchanting Kora stuck with him, and he was far from taking his skills lightly, though he gradually grew more comfortable with the idea of them. The strength and precision of his casting were incredible. Fo
llowing some setbacks due to nerves and hesitation, by mid-afternoon he had mastered Estatua, the binding spell, and invisibility. He looked ready for more, but his test subjects, to put it mildly, were disgruntled. Bidd had a bruise across his arms from struggling with magic ropes, and Hal tweaked his ankle coming out of Estatua. Kora’s continual distraction helped nothing. No matter how she tried not to, she kept thinking of Lanokas, her stomach queasy at the thought of what the paper’s report would mean to him. The sensation peaked each time she saw the Gazette, until finally she covered it with a stack of Menikas’s documents.

  “That’s enough for now,” she said, when Zacry reappeared for the fifth time after vanishing.

  “Thank God,” said Bidd. He plopped on the floor, and Kora tapped the back of the chair next to hers, telling her brother to take it.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, after how mad I was when Laskenay told me the same thing. Zac, you’re going to want to argue, but listen. I don’t know how long you’ll be with the League, that’s a fact. So is this: you’re not one of us. If we’re attacked, anywhere, at any time, I expect you not to fight. I don’t care how bleak it looks. I don’t care where I am or what state I’m in. I want you to cast the invisibility spell and get yourself out of there. If you can’t get away, hide.”

  “I can do that.”

  Kora cracked a brittle smile. “No you can’t, no more than I could have when I got those orders, but I have to ask you to try. Mother would kill me if I didn’t. Promise me, I mean it.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Good. Now let’s get out of here. I bet someone has dinner ready across the street.”

  Bendelof had indeed set a leg of lamb and potatoes cooking. The smell was wonderful, the first thing Kora noticed when she transported in, and she took a deep breath, forgetting her upset stomach. Zacry went to take a nap before dinner, along with the teenagers, who were no less tired than he was after a day of jolts, slams, and arguing who should take the next hit.

  Laskenay was out. So were Ranler and Kansten, which reminded Kora they were dating. They seemed a bit unreal as a couple, but she had to admit they were compatible, as far as anyone could be compatible with Kansten. She had never struck Kora as someone who would want a man gushing over her. But then, Ranler was not one to throw anybody on a pedestal.