Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more

by C. M. Simpson

They jogged all the way back to the junction and then fell into the traveling pace the Master of Stone had used to reach the shadow-mage monastery. Jogging twenty paces and then walking twenty was still hard work, but they could keep it up for ages. They traveled along the dark and empty trail leading to Ruins Hall, stopping when they arrived at the turnoff for Cleon’s farm, Under-Paris Cheeses. Marsh looked at Roeglin.

  “Are we going to stop, or do we need to get to Monsieur Gravine first?”

  He looked torn.

  “We should…” He let his words trail into nothing and looked up the road.

  Jogging toward them, three abreast, was a trio of heavily armed warriors. Instead of the leather armor worn by the caravan guards, these guys were wearing tunics that looked like someone had sewn small overlapping plates of metal together. Four interlocking circles were outlined in bronze on their chests. The warriors raised their weapons as they approached.

  “Halt in the name of the Four Caverns!”

  Given that they’d already stopped, Marsh thought that was overkill. She tried to see if there was anyone among them that she knew, but their helmets obscured their eyes and cheeks, and she couldn’t see enough of their features to be sure.

  She looked around for Mordan, and was relieved to see the kat and her kits had vanished into the surrounding dark.

  “Who—” she began, but Roeglin raised his hand.

  “I’ll take it from here, Trainee.”

  Right. This was official business. Marsh held her tongue, but it was hard. She was used to dealing with her own problems, and working inside a hierarchy was harder. As she waited, Roeglin stepped forward. His movement was mirrored by one of the warriors blocking the road before them.

  “State your business.”

  “We have urgent news for Monsieur Gravine from the shadow-mage monastery.”

  “That trail is closed.”

  “We are in the process of re-opening it in accordance with the agreement we made with the founder, but we need to see him.”

  “You will surrender your weapons.”

  “I will n—” Marsh began, only to find Gustav’s hand over her mouth as he lifted her sword from her belt.

  “We will surrender our weapons,” Roeglin confirmed. Marsh wanted nothing more than to flee.

  You could run, Roeglin told her, but it would be better if you did not.

  His voice inside her head reminded her that he could walk the pathways of other people’s minds, and Marsh steadied her breath and nodded. Gustav removed his hand and passed her the hilt of her sword.

  “I trust you can take it from here,” he said, and Marsh’s face heated even as she nodded again.

  She accepted her sword and then removed the dagger from her belt, careful to hold them in such a way that she posed no threat when she walked up to the waiting soldier and handed them over.

  “They will be returned when the founder orders it,” the woman assured her, and Marsh was sure she’d heard the voice before.

  She couldn’t put a name to it, though, so she just nodded once more and stepped back to where Roeglin and the others were waiting.

  “Form a single line,” the warriors’ leader ordered, and the shadow monastery’s emissaries complied.

  The warriors formed up around them, and they headed to town.

  “Keep up,” was all the warning they got before the squad broke into a fast trot that took them through the town and out along the road to where Monsieur Gravine had built his mansion.

  10

  Ruins Hall Arrival

  The squad rattled their way through a pair of gates set in a high wall jutting out from the base of the cavern wall. To Marsh, it looked like the road led to a dead end, except for the wall and the gates. She could see figures walking along a balcony set inside the wall, and some stopped and glanced down at their arrival. They were armed, she was sure.

  Marsh came to a halt with the rest of the squad, careful not to run into Roeglin’s back. When they moved forward at a quick walk, she went with them. The soldiers who had escorted them in stayed in a tight formation around them until the outer gates were closed and a pair of heavy metal-bound doors set into the cliff opened.

  By the time that happened, Marsh had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but she didn’t say a word. She also resisted the urge to look for the kat, trusting Mordan would stay close by until Marsh could find her. Instead, she followed Roeglin’s lead. After all, he’d pulled the Trainee card, and he hadn’t done that often. Time she trusted someone, right?

  Right.

  Marsh sighed.

  Especially when that someone could see right into her head...

  Before Roeglin could add anything to that, the inner doors stopped moving and the patrol led them through. They found themselves in an entry hall large enough to accommodate them, but not big enough to accommodate much else.

  “This way.”

  They followed the squad leader through to a smaller room, the squad peeling away from them as the leader directed them to line up along one wall.

  “Hands,” he said, pulling a set of handcuffs from his belt.

  Marsh stepped back. Roeglin put a fist on one hip and cocked his head.

  “You want to tell me why?”

  “There have been attempts on the founder’s life. Cuffs make that harder.”

  Roeglin locked eyes with him, and Marsh caught the flare of white that told her he was checking the truth behind the man’s words. After a short moment, he sighed, shrugged, and presented his hands.

  “Sure,” he said, but his sigh was echoed by Gustav and more than one of the guards.

  “Do it,” Gustav ordered, and the brief shuffling of feet stilled.

  They were cuffed quickly and efficiently, then led out the door at the opposite end of the room and along several corridors before the squad leader stopped in front of a large steel door.

  “Come.”

  Marsh tensed. Somewhere in her journey along the corridors, she had started to worry that they weren’t in Monsieur Gravine’s mansion at all. That someone else awaited them, and their fate was uncertain.

  You have no faith in people.

  Marsh ignored Roeglin’s comment. Given that her parents had neither returned nor called for her to join them when they set up Downslopes, she had her reasons.

  That was a long time ago.

  Marsh refrained from telling him Kearick hadn’t been the best example of humanity, either.

  You need to make better friends.

  If he kept it up, she was going to kick him.

  “Roeglin!” Monsieur Gravine’s exclamation of delight brought Marsh abruptly back to the present and she blinked, but the founder hadn’t finished speaking. “Get the emissary and his escort out of those handcuffs and return their weapons.”

  “Oui, Monsieur!” The squad leader snapped to, freeing them in double-time and returning their blades.

  He didn’t apologize, though, and the founder didn’t expect him to.

  “Thank you, Andres,” he said. “You are dismissed. Finish your shift.”

  “Oui, Monsieur.”

  The founder watched his men leave, but that didn’t mean he was alone. Marsh recognized the guards standing around him and they recognized Gustav, as did Monsieur Gravine. He stepped out from behind the large desk that dominated the center of the room’s back wall and hurried to greet his guard.

  “Gustav! I have missed you!”

  “Bardin has treated you well, I trust?” Gustav replied, his gaze flicking to the man who had stayed by the founder’s side.

  “Yes, yes, very well.” The founder echoed Gustav’s glance, his lips curling with mischief. “But he is not you.”

  To Marsh’s surprise, Gustav colored at the remark.

  “I am honored to be back, Monsieur.”

  “As am I. Please, come and sit.” This time the founder extended the invitation to everyone. “I look forward to hearing what the Master of Shadows has to say.”

  �
�He agrees,” Roeglin told him, and Monsieur raised his eyebrows.

  “He does? What, to all of it?”

  “With some modifications.”

  Gravine smiled at that.

  “Of course, with modifications. How could it be otherwise?” He paused as a door at the other end of the room opened and several stewards entered, bringing food and drink. “I assume you have not eaten recently?”

  “Thank you, and no, founder, we have not eaten.”

  Marsh noticed that Roeglin did not say they had not eaten for much of the day, the excitement of meeting with Master Envermet’s security force followed by their rapid journey to Ruins Hall having made them forget. Either the founder could read their silence or he’d had experience with envoys before because he waved the stewards forward.

  “I hope you do not mind talking while we eat,” he said. “I worked through the evening meal and am hungry. I’d be honored if you’d share this with me.”

  “Founder, the honor is ours.”

  If Roeglin’s words hid a smile, his face hid it better. Monsieur Gravine waited until the stewards had served them each a thick, meat-filled sandwich, and heavy glass containing a dark liquid. Judging from the light-colored froth at the top of each glass, it was one of the local brews, and rather than speaking immediately, the founder concentrated on eating. They followed his example until their plates were cleared and their glasses emptied, the stewards appearing as soon as they were done to refill their glasses and take their plates.

  “Now,” the founder said, sitting back in his chair, “tell me what the Master of Shadows said in response to my request.

  Roeglin cleared his throat and glanced at Gustav. The bodyguard waved for him to relay the message.

  “The Master of Shadows greets you and agrees to your proposal to build a force to protect the Four Settlements, starting with the Ruins Hall cavern. He agrees to provide a place of security for your troops and their families, just as he would extend such hospitality to any in the caverns. He also suggests that eligible adults be trained within the ranks of your forces, while younger talents serve their apprenticeships at the academy.”

  “Agreed,” the founder said, “but what did he have to say about patrolling and protecting the caverns?”

  “He said he would send a contingent of shadow guards and mages to be divided between your patrols, and to man the waystations the rock wizards are building on the trade routes so that the caravans have a safe place to rest. He also agrees to his mages being accompanied by your men when they recruit.”

  Monsieur Gravine gave Roeglin a long and steady look.

  “May I speak with him?”

  “Yes, Monsieur,” Roeglin replied and shifted his seat so that the founder could look him directly in the eye. “When you are ready.”

  His eyes flared white, as Roeglin relayed the Master of Shadow’s words, and the two leaders finalized their understanding.

  “I will send you the parchment by courier,” Monsieur Gravine said as they concluded their business, and Roeglin dipped his chin in a very Shadow-Master-like nod.

  “I look forward to seeing it.”

  When the white faded from Roeglin’s eyes, Monsieur Gravine nudged the shadow mage’s glass closer.

  “Thank you, Shadow Master.”

  With that, the founder sat back in his chair, running his gaze over them as though he were contemplating what he might say next. In the end, it was another request for information.

  “Tell me what you found between here and the shadow monastery.”

  Roeglin obliged, pulling information from each of them. The founder seemed most disturbed by the depopulated claim and farm and sighed.

  “It is the same here,” he said. “We are losing the outlying settlements, to the point that I am on the verge of pulling the outermost people closer to the center.”

  “You will need to do that anyway,” Roeglin added. “They have assembled a force in Leon’s Deep and intend to attack Ruins Hall.”

  He shifted uneasily in his chair as though he’d just remembered how urgent that part of his message was.

  “We had an assassin come after Marsh. Something she was carrying for delivery was of some importance to them.”

  The founder leaned forward.

  “Did they get it?”

  “No. We have secured it.”

  “I don’t suppose…”

  Roeglin shook his head and held up his hand, and the founder sat back, his lips twisting in a wry smile. “I thought not. Please. Continue.”

  “The Master of Shadows is repairing the glows between here and the monastery, and the road to Kerrenin’s Ledge will be next. He does not believe we have the time to delay. That team is on its way, along with a security team to ensure its safety. Please let your patrols know. I do not think Master Envermet will be either as cooperative or understanding as we were.”

  Monsieur Gravine nodded.

  “It shall be so. Continue.”

  “Master Envermet’s security team will join you in defending this cavern, and in helping us secure and repair the route to the Ledge. His mages will bolster your forces immediately afterward until his replacements arrive. Recruiting needs to occur soon, or you will run out of mages to distribute between your forces.”

  Roeglin looked at Marsh.

  “Is there anything I missed?”

  “I need to see Madame Monetti.”

  This brought raised eyebrows from both Roeglin and the founder.

  “Why?”

  “I believe she is working with the raiders. She is the only one who could have told them who had the artifact since she was the one slated to receive it.”

  “She’s the addressee?”

  “Oui, Monsieur.”

  The founder sat back in his chair, his expression clouded as he thought about what she had said. Finally, he straightened up and looked at her.

  “Madame Monetti lives a little farther back in the cavern, not far from the tunnel leading to Leon’s Deep.” He drew back as Marsh got out of her chair. “I will send an escort with you.”

  “Thank you, Monsieur.”

  Marsh pushed back her chair and had stepped around it to head for the door when Monsieur Gravine raised his voice.

  “In the morning,” he finished in a tone that said his decision was final.

  Marsh hesitated, tempted to continue walking, but she stopped. When she turned slowly around, Monsieur Gravine and Roeglin were staring at her.

  “Tomorrow might be too late,” she said. “We need to go tonight.”

  This time it was Roeglin who denied her request.

  “Tomorrow will be soon enough,” he told her. “She doesn’t know we’ve arrived, and she certainly doesn’t know what happened to Mikel. We have to be the first to reach the Hall since then.”

  He waited, and, when Marsh did not resume her seat, he sighed, putting a sense of uncompromising steel in his next two words.

  “Tomorrow, Trainee.”

  Use rank on her, would he? Marsh gritted her teeth.

  “She could get word tonight. The raiders used gates to navigate the shadow, remember? They don’t need to follow the trails. She could be being briefed right now, and we’d never know it.” She paused. “Shadow’s Deep! She could already have been briefed, and we wouldn’t know. We have to go, now. Tomorrow—”

  “Will be time enough!” Roeglin snapped, glancing at Monsieur Gravine. “Now, return to your seat.”

  “You need to wait for your shadow guard,” Monsieur Gravine said, picking up where Roeglin had left off. “The six men you have with you will not be enough to deal with the guards I would expect at that lady’s mansion. I must insist you wait.”

  “Marsh,” Roeglin’s voice was softer, now, almost pleading, “Master Envermet will be here in the morning. At least wait for him.”

  Marsh sighed, catching the subtle shift of the guards as they moved to block the door leading out of Monsieur Gravine’s office. To her surprise, the founder spoke agai
n, doing his best to convince her of the wisdom of waiting instead of giving her a direct order.

  “The cavern is not safe by night,” he added. “With the glows down, packs of joffra have moved in, some from the direction of Leon’s Deep and some from other tunnels. We’re working on blocking those, but we’re a long way from done, and the Seekers won’t be happy.”

  Marsh couldn’t imagine they would be. The secrets of the tunnels were their bread and butter, roads to wealth or oblivion for the ones who dared to walk them. Blocking the tunnels meant less access to the very routes that gave the seekers a livelihood. Monsieur Gravine carried on, oblivious of the direction of her thoughts.

  “Only the Protectors move freely during the night, and that because they go so heavily armed and in squads of eight to twelve. Even the joffra prefer easier prey. You can leave when Master Envermet arrives. In the meantime, while you were gone, I had my clerk search the records in Ruins Hall pertaining to the Danet family. As you can imagine, there were very few, and the ones we do have suggest there might be documents pertaining to the Danets in Kerrenin’s Ledge.”

  Marsh walked slowly back to her seat, noticing that Roeglin relaxed just a little as she sat beside him. Still, Monsieur Gravine wasn’t finished.

  “I will speak with your Master of Shadows regarding the importance of you traveling with the repair teams when they leave for the Ledge. We should do our best to connect the children with their loved ones.”

  From what Tamlin had said, there hadn’t been a lot of love shared between his parents and their relatives, but Marsh kept that to herself. No doubt it would come out in the wash, and there was no need to air it here.

  “Thank you, Monsieur Gravine.”

  She couldn’t think of anything else to say. In fact, she was trying hard not to think of anything, what with Roeglin sitting right beside her. With his propensity to go walking through her head, she didn’t want to think of visiting Madame Monetti before Master Envermet could arrive with the shadow mages everyone thought she needed to keep her safe.

  It was enough to make her blood boil, being treated as though she didn’t know her side of the business. If she were Kearick, she’d have had someone waiting for Mikel outside the monastery, and if that artifact was as important as they seemed to think it was, she’d have had a mage or two standing by to open a gateway directly from the monastery’s cavern to as close to Madame Monetti’s mansion as she could.