by Sharon Shinn
It had been bad enough to fall into a trap, but to find it had been baited specifically for her made Wen feel even more peculiar. And yet, somehow she had the feeling she’d been complimented.
“That’s quite a skill,” she said slowly. “I’d think somebody might pay you pretty well for that.”
“No,” Ginny said swiftly, tightening her arm around Bryce’s shoulders. “We never mention he’s a reader. He’ll chop wood and work in the stables—and I’ll cook or clean or do whatever needs to be done—but we don’t want to tell anyone he’s a mystic.”
“You might want to reconsider that,” Wen said gently. “The world has changed in the last two years. I can think of someone who might want him just because he has magic.”
“Who?” Ginny asked sharply. “Who would need a mystic?”
The name that had instantly popped into her head was Jasper Paladar. The serramarra’s guardian might find it awfully handy to employ someone who could warn him when unscrupulous characters showed up at Fortune’s door pretending to be friends. It was hard to know how much power little Bryce possessed, but enough to benefit Karryn Fortunalt? Probably.
“Someone powerful who needs a reliable advisor,” Wen said. “We’ll think about it while we ride to Forten City.”
Ginny nodded tightly, and Wen gentled her voice. “You can trust me, you know,” she said. “At least—your brother knows that, and it’s true. I won’t let any more harm come to you.”
“I know,” Ginny said. She gave Wen a straight look. “But I don’t even know your name.”
Wen hesitated just a moment before replying. How blatant would a lie have to be before this young mystic picked up on it? She phrased her answer carefully. “Some people call me Willa,” she said. And since that was the truth, Bryce didn’t contradict her.
“Then, Willa, let me thank you for what you’ve done for us so far,” Ginny said formally. “And we will trust you to see us safely to Forten City.”
Chapter 6
NEITHER CHILD WAS COMFORTABLE SITTING A HORSE, SO the trip back to Forten City took twice as long as it had taken Wen to cover the same distance. She put Ginny on the gelding and placed Bryce before her on one of the outlaw’s horses, but even so, their progress was slow. By the time they took a late lunch, they were all weary, and by the time night fell, they were still a half-day’s ride from Forten City. They camped out again and made an earlier start the next morning.
They could smell the sea long before they arrived at the city itself, and eventually all the other scents of civilization began to drift their way. It didn’t take a reader to tell that Ginny was getting more and more tense the closer they came to their destination, but Bryce squirmed on Wen’s lap, trying to catch the first glimpse of the harbor town. Once it was in view, he drew still, staring at it with mesmerized fascination.
They clattered through the gates around noon and Wen instantly started looking for accommodations. Someplace decent enough to offer food and baths, but not grand enough to sneer at her disheveled charges. She found a suitable inn on the outskirts of town, staffed by a harried woman and her incurious husband. Within an hour, the children were washed, combed, dressed, and altogether more respectable. Ginny had even put a ragged ribbon in her auburn hair, still damp from the bath.
Wen sat them down on one of the two beds and poured out the coins she’d lifted from Howard and Ricky. Bryce’s eyes widened, but Ginny’s narrowed; she knew the value of each denomination and recognized that there wasn’t much to crow over. “I got this off your stepbrother and his friend, so you should have it,” Wen said. “We can also sell the horses—though not for much—and the gear. We’ll get enough to buy you each a new set of clothes and a few decent meals. Then we need to find a place both of you can settle. Where you can do a little work to earn your keep.”
“I thought I’d ask the innkeeper’s wife,” Ginny said in a quiet voice. “She looked like she could use some help.”
Wen nodded. “She did, at that. And we can stroll around Forten City, see if anyplace strikes your fancy. Bryce can—” Wen waved her fingers over her head. “See if he senses any spot that seems like a good place for you to land.” Meanwhile, she would seek out Jasper Paladar and see if he was more broad-minded about magic than the erstwhile marlord.
“You want us to go to that man who needs a mystic,” Bryce said.
It really was sort of annoying to have him pick that idea out of her head. She’d have to ask Justin how he managed to shield his thoughts from Cammon.
No. Justin was living in Ghosenhall, and Wen never expected to see him again.
She shoved the thought aside. “I think that’s an option,” she said evenly. “But it’s not the only one. I don’t want you or your sister to have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
Ginny came to her feet. “Let’s walk around the city,” she said. “I’ve never been here. Let’s see what it’s like.”
AT first both children were so overwhelmed by the sights of Forten City that they crowded close to Wen, practically tripping her every time she took a step. Bryce’s eyes darted around nervously, and now and then he twitched a little, as if jerking back from a danger that Wen couldn’t see. She imagined that all the sounds and emotions of the city were pressing on him hard from all directions. It might be like the sense of assault she’d felt the first time she practiced in an actual training yard, with men all around her yelling and striking each other with a musical clangor.
But she’d gotten used to it quickly enough, and Bryce made a fast recovery, too. Indeed, within an hour he seemed more intrigued than overwhelmed, and his bright curiosity had resurfaced. Ginny remained subdued but determined. She looked around at every new street they crossed as if trying to absorb and understand the mix of opportunities it offered, both for good and for ill.
Somewhat deliberately, Wen led them first through the noisier parts of town, the harbor districts and the commercial streets. Both of them, she could tell, were relieved as they made their way west from the ocean, into neighborhoods that had a little less bustle and a little more grace. By contrast, when they turned onto the wide boulevard where Fortune was situated, the street seemed almost deserted.
Bryce, of course, figured out what she was doing and ran forward to press his face against the living fence. “This is it?” he asked, trying to see through the hedge. “This is the house where you want us to work?”
Ginny followed Bryce more sedately. She bent beside him to try to catch a glimpse of the mansion. “It’s very grand,” she said in a doubtful voice. “I don’t know that anybody here would want us.”
“Grand people are the ones who like to hire grand skills,” Wen replied. Then she shrugged. “I don’t even know if the people who live here would want to hire a reader—and his sister. I just thought I’d show you the place. If you don’t want me to make inquiries, I won’t. We’ll head on back to the main part of town and see what kind of work we can find for you there.”
Ginny hesitated, then nodded. They turned their steps back the way they’d come. Ginny just set her shoulders and kept her attention on the street ahead of her, but twice Wen saw Bryce look over his shoulder, gazing back at Fortune.
THEY took a couple of days to just play. Wen figured neither of the siblings had ever had much time to enjoy themselves and would probably be in service the rest of their lives. Why not give them a treat now? So she took them to a museum to see fancy bits of art and strange collections of weaponry. She found a park where a troupe of actors performed comedic theatre outdoors every night. She paid the captain of a trading vessel a small fee to let the children explore the length of his ship, and then she hired one of his friends to take them sailing. Neither of them had been near the ocean before, and Bryce got sick over the railing. But both of them claimed to love the experience and asked her five times if they might go again.
She sold the horses the first day, pawning the tack separately just in case anyone would recognize the animals and t
heir gear if they showed up together. The money was good enough to cover the cost of a couple dresses for Ginny and two complete sets of clothing for Bryce, as well as shoes for each of them. After two days of good food, hot baths, new clothing, and the absence of fear, they looked like completely different creatures. They looked like the children they must have been back when their mother loved them.
“I talked to the innkeeper’s wife today,” Ginny said as they prepared to go to bed on that second night. Bryce was already dead asleep.
Wen nodded. “I saw you. Did she offer you a job?”
“Yes. Room and board for me and Bryce, and pay after we’ve proved ourselves for three months.”
“Well, that’s fair. Does Bryce like her?”
“I didn’t ask Bryce,” Ginny said with quiet dignity. “I’m not so bad at judging a person’s character myself.”
Now Wen grinned. “You are a pretty smart girl. Then are you going to take her offer?”
Ginny was silent for a long moment as she sat beside her sleeping brother, watching his face. Wen rested on her own bed across the room, waiting. “I want him to have opportunities,” Ginny said at last. “You might be right that the best place for him is a nobleman’s house. If he grows up as a tavern boy, he’ll be a tavern boy his whole life. If he serves a marlord—well—who knows what he might be?”
“It’s not just Bryce we need to think about,” Wen pointed out. “You have your life to look forward to.”
Ginny shook her head. “I don’t care about me. Bryce is the one I worry about.”
“You’d better care about yourself. No one else is going to. Figure out what you want and go after it, because it’s not going to come looking for you.” Wen was surprised to hear the roughness in her own voice.
Ginny just regarded her with those big dark eyes. “Then why haven’t you gone after what you wanted?” She gestured around the room. “Because surely this wasn’t it.”
Wen closed her eyes and sank back on the bed. To be reduced to explaining herself to a homeless girl! “I did for a while,” she said on a sigh. “And it was exceptional. My own fault that it turned sour.”
“Well, can’t you fix it?” Ginny asked.
Wen turned on her side, facing the wall. Let Ginny lock the door and blow out the candle. “No,” she said. “Not ever.”
There was silence for a moment, and then the rustling sound of Ginny moving around the room. Wen heard the girl settle on the bed again before she spoke once more. “So—tomorrow? Will you go ask the noble if he’s interested in hiring Bryce and me?”
Wen opened her eyes and stared blankly at the darkness. Go beg a favor of Jasper Paladar. Well, he owed her one. “I will. Go to sleep, Ginny. Tomorrow will be here before you know it.”
WEN waited in Jasper Paladar’s study, feeling a little more nervous than she’d expected. There had only been one soldier at the high, grillwork gate set into the living fence, which she considered inexcusable, and as far as she could tell, no guards were posted near the house itself. If she’d been a mercenary, she could have slipped through these halls and corridors within minutes, found Karryn Fortunalt, and abducted her with a minimum of resistance. It seemed some people were slow to learn lessons.
It might have been hard to pick her way through the house, though, for her brief glimpse of it between the front door and this study had shown it to be very imposing. A broad staircase swept up from the central foyer, and halls branched off both sides. The stairwell itself spiraled overhead into a series of stories, each with its own balcony overlooking the front entry hall. The interior of the house was nearly as severe as the gray-and-black exterior, with white marble floors inlaid with black disks, heavy carved chairs and tables in the rooms Wen could see, and dark drapes outlining every window.
She pivoted on one foot. This room wasn’t quite as stark, possibly because it was messy. A massive desk was littered with papers, while stacks of books and piles of old letters made precarious columns on the floor behind it. A used wine goblet sat on the desk next to a plate still containing a half-eaten piece of bread and a hard wedge of cheese that looked like it had sat out overnight. Must not be many mice here, Wen thought, or that little feast would be gone by now.
When she heard footsteps, she straightened her posture and emptied her expression, and she was ready with a little bow when Jasper Paladar stepped in. Stupidly, her first thought was that she’d forgotten how tall he was. She’d remembered the beard, the brown-and-gray hair, the intelligent gray eyes.
“Willa,” he said, and she found she’d remembered his deep voice as well. “I had not expected to see you again, but I’m pleased to find you here.” He put his head out the door and she heard him ask for refreshments to be sent.
“I’m not hungry,” she said at once.
He came back inside, smiled, and shut the door. “Maybe not, but I am, and I can hardly eat without offering you something. Have a seat.”
He gestured at the grouping of chairs closest to the window, and sat beside her instead of behind the intimidating desk. His legs were so long she thought he could stretch them out and reach the sill. Her own barely touched the floor. She felt a moment’s resentment and quickly checked it.
“So have you been in Forten City all this time since we saw you last?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. I had no plans to come here, but I took a short-term job guarding a shipment coming this way.”
“And you decided to stop by and inquire whether Karryn made it safely back once she’d left your care,” he said, nodding as if that was perfectly reasonable.
She couldn’t help a grin. “No, I have a question to ask you. But I do hope the serramarra is home and doing well.”
“Indeed she is. She’ll be sorry she missed you, however, since she’s out visiting a friend who lives in the city.”
Wen reviewed Karryn’s artless conversation. “She has a lot of friends.”
“She has a lot of acquaintances,” Jasper Paladar corrected. “I don’t know how many of them are truly friends.”
“I hope you sent a guard with her this time,” Wen said before she could stop herself.
He looked amused. “Is that why you came here? To check our fortifications?”
“No,” she said—and then, because his neglect really was criminal, “but they’re lousy.”
“Please. Feel free to give your opinion.”
She gestured. “One guard at the gate? That wouldn’t stop anyone! What would happen to you if I decided to run you through? Is there anyone who could stop me? How many soldiers are on the premises? Is there a training yard? Is there a captain? Who’s responsible for this place?” She shook her head. “Karryn’s not safe, but neither are you.”
“You’ve been spying on us, I see,” he said in a level voice.
“Not spying,” she said shortly. “I walked by, and that’s what I saw.”
He tilted his head to one side. “The offer is still open,” he said. “I will hire you to be my captain and give you free rein to overhaul the guard as you see fit. I’ll give you enough money to do it, too.”
She pressed her lips together. “I don’t want a job like that. But you ought to hire someone to do it.”
“Why are you here, then, if not to look for work?”
“I don’t want a position. But I have someone who might. Two someones. They’re young, but one of them at least has skills that might come in handy for a serramarra.”
His eyebrows rose again. “I’ve only had about ten minutes’ worth of conversation with you over two meetings,” he observed, “and you have never once said what I expected you to say. Who are these young unemployed people with special talents?”
That almost made her laugh. “A young mystic boy and his sister. I found them alongside the road in a dire situation,” she said. “The boy is a reader. He knew it was safe to ask me for help. I can’t tell how strong his ability is—but that’s an impressive skill. The queen’s consort is a reader, you kn
ow.”
