Alaric took the book out of her hands and gathered her into his arms. “We freed the child. He’s beyond torment now.”
“How could anyone do that to another person, let alone the child she carried inside her body and nursed and raised?”
“I don’t know,” Alaric murmured into her hair. “I think you need to be done for tonight. You’re shaking. It’s been a long day, and you’re probably still suffering the effects of the phantasm’s attack. It could have killed you.”
“The phantasm attacked you, too. Don’t you feel it?”
“I weigh more than twice what you do, and it wasn’t in contact with me for as long. Come with me. I’ll draw you a bath, and you can have a nice soak and then go to bed. The journal will be there in the morning.”
She leaned into him and sighed with happiness. Rance would never, she thought, and the rest of the thought was swallowed up in a blinding revelation. Of course Rance wouldn’t have had such care for her needs. He hadn’t loved her.
Sienne turned and put her arms around Alaric’s neck, drawing him close for a kiss that had her whole heart in it. He cradled her cheek in one large palm, brushing her hairline with his fingertips. “What brought that on?” he said when she released him. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Because of who you are,” Sienne said. “And because I love you.”
His eyes widened. “Sienne,” he said, then kissed her fiercely, his hands settling low on her waist to pull her close. Her arms went around his neck once more, and she kissed him, moving from his lips to his cheek and then to his ear. He buried his face where her neck met her shoulder. “I love you,” he murmured. “I’ve wanted so long to hear you say it.”
“You have? You could have said something. I didn’t know—I was afraid I was the only one. How long?”
He let out a short laugh and nuzzled her throat. “I’ve loved you since the night we first kissed. But that ass Rance Lanzano hurt you so badly, I knew you weren’t ready to hear any declaration of love from me. So I waited. Not very patiently.”
“You were patient. And you told me you loved me, every day, with every kiss and every tenderness. I just didn’t realize until right now.”
“I’m glad you realized it.” Alaric caught her around the waist and lifted her into his lap. “Much better. We fit together so perfectly this way.”
“I love it. I love you. I can’t believe you love me.”
“Can’t you?” His lips touched hers again in a long, lingering kiss that filled her with an unexpected rush of desire. “Are you so unlovable?”
“I keep thinking how I disliked you, and you hated that I was a wizard—”
“We’ve come so far from those days. You’re right, it’s unlikely. And wonderful.” Alaric kissed her again, his lips tender on hers, and once more desire filled her, a need to feel his skin against hers. She hesitated, and he drew back. “What’s wrong?”
“I want you, but I’m not ready for sex. I hope you don’t—that’s all right, isn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed. “Of course. You didn’t feel I would insist on it, did you? Ten minutes ago I didn’t know you loved me. Going from that to sex in half an hour is a little much.”
Sienne sighed and rested her cheek against his. “I wasn’t sure.”
“We have all the time in the world. I love you, Sienne, and I only want you to be happy.”
“I am. More than I can say.”
He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Then—bath, bed, and in the morning I intend to kiss you where everyone can see, so there’s no question of how I feel about you.” He laughed. “Though I doubt it will be a surprise to anyone.”
“I thought we were being discreet.”
“Discreet, yes, but it’s hard to conceal affection from people you share such close quarters with. I wager Perrin and Kalanath have been politely pretending not to notice the way I look at you for the last several weeks. Or the way I’m prone to putting myself between you and danger.”
“You do that for everyone.”
“I do it far more often for you, sweetlove.”
The endearment made Sienne tingle all over and briefly reconsider the no sex decision. “You have to be careful or one of these days I’ll hit you with a force bolt meant for an enemy.”
Alaric shrugged. “I try. But it’s who I am.”
“I know. I love that about you.” Sienne stood, retaining her hold of Alaric’s hand. “I don’t think I’ll need that bath to relax. I feel as if I could float away.”
“So do I. But I still don’t like the tremor in your hand.” He took her by the wrist and held her hand up to her face. He was right, it trembled visibly. “I’ll draw that bath, and then I’ll finish sorting these letters while you soak.”
“All right. Did I say I love you? Because I do.”
He smiled. “You can never say it enough.”
4
Alone in the bath house, half-submerged in hot water, Sienne tried to think of anything but the dead child in the chest. Unfortunately, everything she’d been doing for the last few weeks was related to necromancy, and she couldn’t escape those thoughts. She wrapped her arms around her chest and let herself weep for the child. Though he had had his revenge, if he’d killed his murderer. Saved his brother Stefen too, probably, which was a cheering thought.
She heard the back door open and shut. Kalanath, or maybe Perrin. She stood and let the tub drain, then dried herself and put on her nightdress. The hot water had relaxed her enough she thought she might be able to sleep, and time would make memory fuzzy.
When she emerged from the bath house, she heard Dianthe and Alaric talking in low voices in the kitchen. She thought about stopping in to say good night, then decided not to interrupt their conversation. But as she walked past the door on her way to the stairs, she heard Dianthe say clearly, “But I am a murderer, Alaric. It’s all true.”
Sienne jerked around and took three rapid steps into the kitchen. “What?”
Dianthe and Alaric turned at her entrance. A scowl of epic proportions transformed Alaric’s normally pleasant expression into that of a furious force of nature, ready to explode. Dianthe looked as guilty and miserable as Sienne had ever seen her. “Nothing,” Alaric said.
“She said—”
“Don’t try to protect me, Alaric,” Dianthe said, “there’s no point in it anymore. She deserves to know the truth.”
“What truth?” Kalanath said, entering behind Sienne. He held a small plate strewn with crumbs, the remnants of a bedtime snack.
“Never mind. Go to bed. We can discuss it in the morning,” Alaric said. The back door opened and shut again, and Alaric closed his eyes as if praying for divine patience.
Perrin appeared in the doorway. “I hope you are not all waiting up for me.” He was steady on his feet and didn’t smell of alcohol.
Dianthe shook her head. “Sit down, everyone. Something’s happened, and I…might need to leave Fioretti for a while.”
“Leave Fioretti?” Sienne took a seat, her eyes still fixed on Dianthe. “But we’re still doing research.”
“Not you. Just me.”
“This sounds dire,” Perrin said, sitting next to Sienne. “I hope you will explain. I will otherwise imagine the worst.”
“I doubt you can imagine this.”
Dianthe waited for the others to take their customary places, then drew out her chair. Instead of sitting, she gripped its back and leaned slightly on it. “I don’t talk about my past, and until tonight that was fine, because it didn’t matter to any of you. But tonight…things changed.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, her eyes focused on something far from the kitchen.
“I’m from Sileas, born and raised,” she said. “When I was seventeen, I worked as a maid in the ducal palace, where my mother was head cook. It was never meant to be permanent, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so there I was. Light work, nothing too tedious, and I always had plenty of time for fun.
“There was…a man. A noble at court. You can guess where the story goes from there. He wanted me, I said no, he persisted. I learned to avoid him, and I thought I was in control. Until the night he and a friend followed me into town, got me alone and…I’ve never fought so hard in my life. All I had was a knife, but it turns out that’s all you need to kill someone.
“My knife found his heart, he fell, the friend ran one way and I ran the other. I knew the story the friend would spread—that I’d tempted them both and then attacked them.”
“But that’s ridiculous! Who would believe anything so stupid?” Sienne exclaimed.
“The duke of Sileas isn’t as honorable as he should be. Whenever it’s a question of a noble’s word against anyone else, no matter the evidence, the noble always wins. It wouldn’t matter that it was two against one or that all the staff knew how that man had been after me. I killed him, and that made me a murderer. I got out of Sileas as fast as I could, but news of my deed had already spread, and I had to use every trick I knew to escape. Then I went as far north as I could get.”
Kalanath stirred. “If you were a servant, how did you know to fight two men and survive? Or to escape the guard?”
Dianthe smiled. “I was only a servant because I didn’t want to be a thief. I had a friend, Corbyn—actually, he was one of my mother’s friends, and I think he was sweet on her, though he never did anything about it. He used to hang around the kitchens, cadging food and entertaining me. Corbyn played games with me when I was a child, seeking games and puzzle games…I didn’t know he was teaching me his skills until the first time he gave me a padlock and showed me how to open it without a key. I think I was fourteen. He showed me how to conceal a knife where even the keenest guard wouldn’t spot it, and how to strike with that knife from the shadows. It saved my life, though there were times I almost wished it hadn’t.”
“Never say that,” Perrin said. “Your life is precious. We are all of us grateful you survived.”
“At the cost of another’s life. And at the cost of my own, if you figure I had to leave my mother, my friends, and everything I knew behind when I fled.” Dianthe sighed. “I made my way to Concord, the free city, and then I met Alaric. So it wasn’t all bad.”
“I had to talk hard to convince her to come south with me,” Alaric said. “Fioretti is a big enough city for anyone to lose herself in, and we couldn’t make a living hiring out as bodyguards from Concord—too many other people looking for the same work.”
“This is what I always feared,” Dianthe said. “Being found.”
“Did someone identify you?” Perrin asked.
“Wanted posters. Big ones, all over the south side, offering a thousand lari reward for information leading to my capture. Looking for Dianthe Katraki, not Dianthe Espero, granted, and it’s not like the drawing looks much like me, but it’s just a matter of time before someone puts it together.”
“But it’s so unfair!” Sienne exclaimed. “Are you saying in Sileas it’s illegal for a woman to defend herself? That’s not murder!”
“Nobody knows the truth but me and that other man,” Dianthe said, “and he wouldn’t speak up to defend the low-class bitch who killed his friend. There’s nothing I can do but get out of town and wait for this to blow over.”
“That’s not a solution,” Alaric said. “Are you going to keep running every time the search heats up? It’s been nine years, Dianthe—why would they come looking for you now?”
“Who knows? Maybe the dead man’s family experienced a sudden surge of familial pride and decided it was a matter of honor for them to find me and bring me to justice. It doesn’t matter.”
“Wait—where’s Denys?” Sienne asked. “What happened when he saw the posters?”
“He didn’t see them. I steered him out of that area and then faked an illness. I don’t think he believed me. He’s too smart sometimes. I’m afraid I hurt his feelings, but—” Dianthe buried her face in her hands. “My worst nightmare is him putting me under arrest. I’ve done everything I can to stay on the right side of the law, because it would kill him if he had to do that.”
“He won’t,” Alaric said. “You said those posters look nothing like you, and he doesn’t work that side of town, anyway. Dianthe, you don’t have to run.”
“Not forever. Just for a few weeks. A month, maybe.” She didn’t look convinced.
“Then I guess we should pack up,” Sienne said. “I’m sure we can find a job that will take us out of the city for a while.”
“Sienne, this is my problem. None of you should have to uproot because of me.”
“You are one of us,” Kalanath said. “If we were in trouble, you would not wait to help. You should not be alone.”
“Exactly,” Perrin said. “Now, I would suggest we tear down all those posters, but it seems to me that would suggest to someone they are looking in the right place. Sienne is right, packing is the next step.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Alaric said. “Dianthe, Fioretti is three times the size of Sileas. There’s no way anyone will find you here. We’ll stay out of the south side and you won’t go out alone, just in case. Whoever is funding this search won’t be able to keep it up forever; they’ll run out of money. We just have to stay out of sight until that happens.”
“Oh!” Sienne exclaimed. “I must be more tired than I thought. I can cast shift or even imitate and you won’t look anything like yourself!”
“An excellent idea!” Perrin exclaimed. “Have you never dreamed of being an Omeiran redhead?”
“I don’t speak Meiric,” Dianthe said, laughing. “But…yes, that would make me feel more comfortable. Even so, you shouldn’t—”
“Do not say it is a thing we should not do because it is dangerous,” Kalanath said. “It is what we do for each other.”
“Then I won’t say it,” Dianthe said. “Thank you, all of you. The idea of running again…it was so hard, last time, and it’s even harder now.”
“I suggest we all go to bed,” Alaric said. “I’ve done some reading of those letters, and I have five names I want us to track down in the morning. They were all in correspondence with Penthea Lepporo about practical necromancy, and at least one of them knew something about binding rituals. Probably some of them are dead now, but it’s worth pursuing.”
Sienne pushed back from the table. “I’ll read more of her journal tomorrow. She seems to have wanted the binding ritual to trap a spirit without turning it into a phantasm, and one of her experiments might have succeeded.”
“You don’t have to be the one to read it,” Alaric said.
She smiled. “I don’t mind, really. It will be easier in the morning. I feel we’re getting closer, don’t you?”
“I will be happy when we have the ritual and must no longer study these things,” Kalanath said, wrinkling his nose with distaste. “I fear what I will dream tonight.”
Sienne watched him covertly. This was not the first time Kalanath had complained of bad dreams, and Sienne suspected him of being superstitious about them. She didn’t know if it was an Omeiran thing, or if it was personal, but so long as he never talked about them, she didn’t feel comfortable prying.
She followed Dianthe up the stairs, and at the top, she hugged her friend and said, “You wouldn’t have just left without saying anything, right?”
Dianthe returned her embrace. “I might have. I’m glad I have all of you to keep me sensible.”
“You’re usually the sensible one. This makes a nice change.” She smiled at Alaric, whose smile in return was warm but absent, as if he were thinking of the next day’s plans already.
Safely in bed, she curled on her side and searched for thoughts that weren’t a small body wedged into a trunk. Even remembering Alaric’s arms around her, the feeling of being loved and cherished, wasn’t enough to dispel the images. It took her an hour to fall asleep.
The next day dawned bleak and chilly, with rain having fallen the previous night and
threatening to do so again. Sienne ate her porridge and stared out the window at the side garden where Kalanath was practicing despite the weather. He whirled his staff through a complicated routine of blocks and thrusts that dizzied Sienne. She didn’t know enough about fighting to tell if his routine included an invisible partner. Surely he’d trained against real opponents, back in Omeira.
“Good morning,” Alaric said, leaning down for a kiss. She returned it, feeling horribly self-conscious and aware that Perrin was seated opposite her even as her heart beat a merry welcome to her love. Perrin eyed them both, but said nothing, instead taking another long drink of hot coffee. Dianthe didn’t say anything either. Maybe Alaric was right, and this was something her friends had known all along.
Alaric’s plate overflowed with two slabs of ham, a pile of bacon, and three fried eggs. Sienne’s stomach revolted at the idea of solid food so early in the morning. She spooned up more comforting porridge and said, “I hope there’s something we can do for research that keeps us indoors today. I hate the idea of trudging around Fioretti in the rain.”
“Unfortunately, trudging is on the schedule,” Alaric said. “Three of the five letter writers live in Fioretti, or did thirty years ago. We’re going to visit each of them and see if we can get them to open up about their knowledge of necromancy.”
“I fear that will test even my well-known diplomatic skills,” Perrin said. “Do we have a specific line of inquiry to pursue?”
“We’ll start by mentioning Penthea Lepporo and the correspondence each had with her. If we present ourselves as fellow researchers into necromancy, without hinting that we believe them to be practitioners, we should come across as innocuous enough that they’ll open up.”
“So what’s our interest in Penthea?” Dianthe asked. “They’ll want to know why we care about a thirty-year-old correspondence.”
“We’re scrappers.” Alaric took another large mouthful of food. “We’re working on behalf of the family to recover Penthea’s records, and we hope her old friends might know something about where she stored them.”
Mortal Rites Page 4
