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

  Marsh heard a world of authority in those tones and studied the man more closely. Until he’d spoken, she’d thought Rocko was the trio’s leader. She realized she’d made a mistake.

  The speaker had dirty-blond hair pulled back in a rough ponytail. His hands were as rough as the blacksmith’s, but his face was younger and smoother under the dirt. He studied her briefly before moving on to Roeglin.

  He might be saying very little, but his eyes gave him away. He was assessing them as closely as they were assessing him, his gray-green gaze shrewd and intelligent. Master Envermet looked at him, and he stiffened.

  “I...I’m sorry. It was necessary.”

  Marsh crouched, glancing out into the dark, but the shadow captain calmed her.

  “Stand down, Leclerc. He was only apologizing for hiding his identity. I will explain later. In the meantime...” he turned back to the man, “Liam has a lot to explain.”

  The blond man sighed. “We came because we were afraid you were raiders, and we are not expecting the next expedition for another week. If you had been them, we would have needed to send for more supplies to be able to meet our obligations for freedom.”

  “Explain.” Even to her own ears, Marsh’s voice sounded brittle.

  “We exist because we feed them and give them shelter,” Liam told them, and his face burned with shame. He ducked his head to avoid their eyes. “It’s not something we are proud of.”

  “So, why do it?”

  “Because it is preferable to the alternative,” he admitted, “although not by much.”

  He raised his head. “If it were only us, most of us would have fought, but we don’t have a right to send our families into slavery or to certain death. That is not our choice to make.”

  “So you let them take other people’s families to certain death instead?” Marsh’s voice rose in disbelief. “Because that’s okay.”

  He shook his head, his voice soft with regret and grief. “No, it’s not, and we will someday be held accountable.”

  “That’s not fair, Liam,” Rocko protested. “We do what we can.”

  “Do tell,” Brigitte challenged, her soft voice full of threat, and they all looked at her.

  “Sometimes we can get the prisoners medicine or extra food and water. It’s not much, but it gives them more of a chance than they’d have if they try to make a break for it further down the road.”

  “And do they?”

  Liam nodded. “Some do. If they make it back to us, we try to keep them free.”

  “And then there are the children,” Rocko added. “We sometimes get them free.”

  “Not all of them, though.” The third man spoke for the first time, his expression haunted. His voice quiet. “We don’t get them all.”

  “We know it’s not enough to make up for all the others we don’t save,” Liam told them, “but we’d save no one if we weren’t here.”

  “What do you do with them?” Marsh asked, and he gave her a puzzled look.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The ones you rescue or help. What do you do with them?”

  “We get them away from the raiders,” Liam told her, and his eyes shifted.

  “Where do you send them?”

  “We don’t send them. We make sure they get to safety ourselves.”

  “Where?”

  Liam ducked his head. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t tell you that.”

  Marsh pulled a sword from the shadows and leveled the tip of its blade at his throat. “No. We won’t.”

  He shifted his eyes to his men. Following his gaze, Marsh saw that Rocko had gone pale, and their guilt-ridden friend had closed his eyes.

  “They don’t trust us,” Master Envermet said, and they all stared at him. He shrugged. “It’s understandable, really. We’ve only just met.”

  He glanced at Roeglin and Roeglin raised his head, letting the men see his sheet-white eyes.

  “They are afraid we will betray them,” he added, staring at Liam. His gaze shifted to Rocko. “That we might have already done so.”

  Rocko paled and glanced in terror at the kat. Roeglin looked at the last man. “And Marius, here, desperately wishes he could ask us to see if his sister has survived being taken.”

  He paused, his face sympathetic. “He could not stop Joanna from fighting them when they first arrived.”

  “There was a child.” The man’s voice was hoarse. “She would not let them have it.”

  “But they took it anyway,” Roeglin finished for him and Marius nodded, a tear escaping from the corner of his eye.

  He looked up at the mage. “Can you?”

  “Can we what?” Marsh asked.

  “Get her back for me?”

  “We can try,” she told him, then asked again. “Where do you take them?”

  “There is a village...” Liam began, but Master Envermet held up his hand.

  “Enough,” he said. “We know where. It was clear in your mind, and I will not risk your words carrying. However, let me offer you an alternative for the future.”

  The three men leaned toward him and he smiled, his eyes flaring white as he dropped the directions to the surface cavern into their minds.

  “It is closer,” Liam noted.

  “They were saying they were getting overly full when last we checked.”

  Liam met Master Envermet’s eyes. “Thank you. We are sorry for the attacks that passed through us.”

  “You weren’t to kno—”

  Liam held up his hand, cutting him short. “Yes, we were. We know their business. They go out with empty chains and come back with them full. We’re compromised, not stupid.”

  “But you do more good as you are than by not being here at all,” Master Envermet told him. “I will plead for you when the time comes.”

  “And I pray it comes soon,” Liam replied, “no matter the price.”

  He got cautiously to his feet. “There were deer a little to the east of here. If we can bring one back, no one will ask questions as to where we went.”

  Marsh glanced at Mordan, and the big kat rose to her feet. A hunt would be good. “Dan will help you,” Marsh told them as the kat slipped through the entryway.

  “You can retrieve your weapons on the way out. Shoot the kat or any one of us, and I will level the town and every living thing within it.”

  Marsh gave him a shocked look, but the expression on Master Envermet’s face said he meant every word. She wondered what else he’d read in their minds.

  As they were about to leave, Tamlin spoke up. “The cages were empty, Marsh. I expected to see him, to see prisoners, but they weren’t there.”

  His voice took on a desperate note. “I don’t know how far behind him we are.”

  Marsh turned back to where the men had halted by the gate. “Perhaps you’d better sit,” she told them. “Mordan can catch your deer.”

  The kat gave her a filthy look and an unhappy growl as she left the fireside. I shall return with two.

  The men exchanged uncertain glances but returned to their places.

  “The last group of raiders,” Master Envermet began. “Tell us about them.”

  8

  Compromise

  Liam crossed his legs and put his hands on his knees. “There’s not a lot to tell,” he said, “but I’ll give you what I know.”

  Master Envermet gestured for him to continue, and Roeglin sat behind them, his eyes glowing white. Marsh and Brigitte watched them, ready to act at the first sign of betrayal.

  “They arrived the day before last, and they weren’t happy,” he began, and Rocko and Marius nodded. “It looked like they had a good haul of prisoners, but they were complaining of the ones they’d lost. What I heard from them sounded like they’d caught double what they had and lost half.”

  He gave them a speculative look. “Some resistance in the tunnels. We didn’t know what tunnels they meant until just before. Now we do.”

  He frowned. “I don’t remember seei
ng anyone wearing clothes like yours among the slaves, but I can ask around.”

  “No. Don’t,” Master Envermet ordered. “You don’t know who you can trust, and we don’t want the raiders alerted as to who we’re interested in. We’ll go after them ourselves. Better you don’t know where or when.”

  Liam nodded, and Marius breathed a sigh of relief.

  He caught Marsh’s look of curiosity and shrugged. “What I don’t know I can’t be made to tell,” he explained. “It’s better that way. It’s bad enough we know about you at all, even with the alternatives we’ve been given.”

  Marsh glanced past him, and Roeglin nodded.

  “Do you know where they’re going next?”

  “Three days’ march from here, there’s this castle on a hill. It used to be a place of learning, some kind of religious site, but that isn’t what it’s become.” He shivered.

  His words reminded Marsh of what she’d seen when Kearick had made his escape: a room with high-vaulted ceilings and bookcase-lined walls. The walls had been solid stone, as had the floors, and the furniture was built from sturdy, well-worn timber.

  She focused on what Liam had to say next, sure she had found Kearick’s refuge.

  “If it helps,” Liam said, regarding her with curiosity, “we think there’s another village between here and there.”

  “Like you?”

  The man shrugged. “Who knows what they’re like? They might be completely on the raiders’ side for all we know, or they might be like us and help where they can. I don’t know. The last of us who asked if the raiders knew of any other trading points ended up being an example of why not to ask.”

  He paled, and Master Envermet winced. “I am truly sorry,” he said, and Liam shook his head.

  “Nolan was a greedy bastard who’da sold his mother for a profit.” He swallowed hard and shook his head. “He didn’t deserve that, though.”

  “No,” Master Envermet agreed. “He didn’t.”

  “Which reminds me,” Liam continued. “If you come to our town, be careful. While most of us are against what is happening, there are some who are not. They’re smart and know they’re in the minority, so they keep their mouths shut and betray us when they can. If you come to town, the raiders will find out.”

  Master Envermet glanced anxiously at Tamlin, but Liam shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that one. He was quick and careful. The only one who saw him was my own boy, and he only told me in private and away from my guests.”

  Marsh breathed a sigh of relief, and Master Envermet relaxed slightly.

  Liam continued, “I fetched Rocko and Marius in time to follow him from town, but it was hard work. He kept vanishing into one set of shadows and coming out of another. We came close to losing him several times.”

  Tamlin stared at him, his face going white at the thought of what could have happened if the men hadn’t been friendly. Marsh decided she didn’t need to emphasize it later. The boy had pretty much made the jump all by himself.

  I’ll remind him later, Roeglin said, if he shows signs of forgetting. That much terror will be easy to bring to the surface.

  Marsh frowned, not sure it was a good idea, but she decided to leave it in Roeglin’s hands and trust his judgment. After all, it looked like he was going to be around a while. Another thought crossed her mind, and her frown deepened.

  “If the raiders left so long ago, how would they know if we passed through?”

  Liam shrugged. “We do not know. All we know is that there have been times when they have returned unexpectedly, usually when we need to do something out of their sight.”

  “Do you know why?” Tamlin asked.

  “Or who?” Master Envermet added.

  Liam shook his head. “I wish we did, but on each occasion, it was when we set up a cover that involved a town activity that should have been considered normal for the season. The one thing we’re sure of is that it isn’t someone who knew the real plan or those involved, because the raiders didn’t know exactly where to strike.”

  Rocko nodded. “They just arrived and blended with the crowds. They didn’t ask questions of anybody, but they were watching.”

  “And they were everywhere,” Marius told them. “Back kitchens, stables, walking through people’s homes like they had every right.”

  He shuddered. “If your boy hadn’t been watching the mouton that last time, we’d have been gone.”

  Liam nodded, his eyes dark. “They nearly took him,” he said. “If I hadn’t been able to convince them he was terrified and we wouldn’t have a meal ready for them when they arrived, they would have.”

  Judging by the looks on his friends’ faces, that came as news to them. Rocko laid a hand on Liam’s knee.

  “That was too close,” he told the man. “You need to leave.”

  Liam shook his head, but Marius broke in.

  “You know you do. One more incident, no matter how small...” he gulped, “and they’ll take you all with no chance of escape. You know they will. You can’t let that happen.”

  Liam shook his head. “But I can’t. For what I’ve done, I don’t deserve...”

  Master Envermet’s voice cut through his anguish and self-loathing like a landslide. “I will speak for you. Sulema will expect you and your family inside the week.”

  His eyes went white. “They will send riders within the next day if you can be ready.”

  Rocko’s eyes lit up. “We could all escape,” he said. “Just vanish.”

  Master Envermet smiled and looked at Marsh.

  “You may not need to,” he told them, “but if what you say is true, then we need to ensure Liam and his family do not join the next shipment. From what you say, they may not have the time the rest of you do.”

  Marius nodded. “You are right. One mistake, and they will be gone. Rocko and I, not so much.”

  “Are you known as his friends?” Roeglin asked, and the three men shook their heads.

  Rocko gave Liam a credible sneer. “This one? I only tolerate him because he bribes me with venison.” He jerked a thumb at Marius. “And this one brings me rabbits, or I wouldn’t be seen with either of them.”

  Behind him, Roeglin nodded. The man spoke the truth.

  Liam looked at the stars and then at Master Envermet. “We need to be getting back, or there will be questions.”

  As he spoke, Mordan gave a series of coughing grunts at the gate and they jerked around. The kat stalked into the campsite and settled by the fire to clean her paws. Rocko looked past her and grinned.

  “Well, well, well,” he said, looking at Liam and Marius. “Looks like you guys just caught yourself...”

  He stared at the carcasses visible through the entryway and glanced at Marsh. “Two?”

  She nodded. “You lucked out.”

  His smile was full of gratitude as he got to his feet.

  “With your leave?” he asked, addressing Master Envermet.

  “Go in peace. You were never here.” He gave Liam a sharp glance. “Two days’ time. They will be accompanied by a man dressed as I am.”

  Liam took a moment to study Master Envermet’s uniform and then nodded. “I will try to remember it.”

  “They will know you,” Master Envermet promised him. “Be ready.”

  The three men returned to the gateway and collected their weapons. The hunters hoisted the two deer onto their shoulders, and Rocko stomped into the dark ahead of them.

  Master Envermet glanced at Roeglin. “Can we trust them?”

  “They are all that they promised,” Roeglin assured them, “and they need our help.”

  Across the fire from them, Mordan rose, stretching her forepaws in front of her and yawning before stalking out the entrance and into the night.

  “Where’s she going?” Brigitte wondered, and Mordan sent the answer back.

  “She’ll follow them into town and then come back,” Marsh relayed. She turned to Master Envermet and Roeglin. “Did either of you sense anothe
r mind mage in the town?”

  They both shook their heads, and Roeglin added, “We weren’t looking for one, though, only for the number of active minds.”

  He glanced at Master Envermet for confirmation, and the shadow captain nodded. “I could scan again, but I don’t want to alert them.”

  “What if they are active now?” Marsh asked. She was really asking, what if they had somehow discovered Tamlin and were already reporting it?

  Worse would be if they had discovered the rest of them and alerted the raiders. What if there was a punitive force already on their way, and the villagers were about to be punished?

  Master Envermet understood. “That’s a risk we’ll have to take.”

  He held up a hand when Marsh went to protest. “If there is a mind mage in the town, we’ll have to be prepared to find them in the morning.”

  Marsh subsided, and he went on, “If you, Roeglin, and I go in ahead of the others, we can scan for a mind mage then. Chances are we won’t find one, particularly if they’re not shielding, or are shielding very well, but mornings are the most likely time for them to be making a report, so we might get lucky.”

  He glanced at Roeglin and then caught Marsh’s eyes. “I’ll have the rest of the team ride in an hourglass after we leave. If there is a mind mage, they’re sure to become active then, and we’re going to have to move fast to stop them from getting an alert out.”

  Marsh nodded. “And the other traitors?”

  He frowned, so she explained, “Liam said news of extra activities got out and that he knew not all the townsfolk were on board.”

  Master Envermet sighed. “We could try to deal with them all, but people don’t always act rationally when they’re under this kind of threat. Fear can make them do things they very much regret later.”

  “You sound like you know it well.”

  He gave her a quick, tight smile. “I’ve seen a lot of people acting badly in these circumstances. Not everyone has the kind of courage Liam and his friends do. Some are only human. In my experience, very few are deliberately evil, just afraid.”

  “It’s no excuse,” she snarled.