That was the only sign she’d heard him, though. That, and the dismissive flick of her tail as she stepped into the compound. She took one look at the pup and kit tussling with each other and gave a low rumble.
The youngsters froze, Perdemor with one paw upraised to smack Scruffy across the face, and Scruff with Perdemor’s other paw in his mouth. Catching his mother’s look, Perdy lowered his paw. As soon as the kit did, Scruffy spat out the one he held in his mouth and rolled to his feet.
Doing their best to look like they’d never dream of roughhousing where the humans could see them, kit and cub flanked the kat and solemnly accompanied her across the compound and into the long, low building in its center.
“This wasn’t where the prisoners were kept,” Claudio observed as Henri and Akachi stepped through the door.
With the gate secured behind them, and not enough manpower to patrol the walls, Master Envermet had called them all into the main hall. Henri locked the door behind him as Evan replied.
The ex-guard had gone beet-red. “I...” He hesitated as though at a loss for what to say.
Claudio laid an arm around his shoulders. “No,” he agreed, “and it’s in the past. Let’s see what’s left in the kitchens.”
Evan’s wife followed him, and Marta went with her.
“Henri,” Master Envermet ordered and jerked a thumb toward the kitchens.
Henri rolled his eyes and gave a heartfelt sigh. He looked at where Marsh was standing by one wall but didn’t say anything.
Small blessings, Marsh thought and glanced toward the windows.
Even though she said nothing, what she was thinking must have shown on her face, and Henri scowled at her.
“If you’d just open a portal to the Grotto,” the big man grumbled, “these people could be home, and we could get back to where we’re truly needed a darn sight quicker.”
He didn’t stop moving as he spoke and vanished through the kitchen door before Master Envermet could rebuke him. Marsh stared after him, her mouth hanging open. She closed it, then realized Master Envermet was looking at her.
“Captain?” she asked.
“What do you think, Leclerc?”
At first, she didn’t catch his meaning. “About what, Master Envermet?”
She ignored Tamlin’s impatient sigh and saw a look of consternation cross the shadow captain’s face.
“Of Henri’s suggestion.”
Around them, the quiet rustle of people setting up their sleeping rolls paused. Marsh glanced at them.
“I don’t know if I can,” she admitted.
Master Envermet gestured at the shadow guards standing around the hall. “There are five of us. Will it be enough?”
Marsh frowned, thinking about how it had worked when she’d opened a portal to the small settlement of Shamka. If she remembered rightly, there had been the same number of mages then, too.
She shrugged. “We could try.”
“I’ll help,” Tamlin declared, his tone daring her to deny him.
Marsh didn’t bother trying. The boy had already proven he could handle the magic required. Instead, she nodded and returned her attention to Master Envermet.
“Tomorrow,” she told him, then hesitated. “Unless...”
He shook his head. “No, tomorrow is a good idea. The last thing we want is tired mages losing their grip on a portal before everyone is through.”
At his words, nervous glances were exchanged around the hall.
Master Envermet pretended not to notice them. He surveyed the hall, watching as Marta called a couple of the other travelers to come and assist her in setting up a table.
There had been nothing in the storeroom worth eating.
“Damned roaches,” Henri had grumbled, but Marsh was pretty sure it wasn’t roaches that had taken out the supplies.
“You should have seen the mess in there,” Akachi added. “It’s no wonder the wolves said it smelled funny.”
They sealed the kitchen, and everyone pooled their supplies. Dinner became a meal of bread and dried meat, but no one complained. The day’s walk, on top of their time as prisoners or guards, had left most of them too tired.
Looking around the hall, Marsh saw that their rescuees had started to intermingle. The families of the guards weren’t being pushed aside by the ex-prisoners, and the guards were being tentatively included as well.
Watching the group made her wonder if a portal was a good idea. If a day’s journey could get folk talking, what would two do? Or four?
Her heart sank as she thought about the time she’d have to spend away from Roeglin, but if it meant these people could find enough common ground to start over...
Master Envermet interrupted her thoughts. It’s not just you I’m thinking of. It’s getting these people to shelter as quickly as I can. The longer we’re out on the road, the more likely we are to lose some of them.
Master Envermet paused, and Marsh glanced at him. He wasn’t staring at her but letting his gaze wander around the room, his expression thoughtful. After a moment, he caught her eyes.
I’d like for that not to happen.
He turned away, severing the link between them, but not before Marsh sensed the worry that events of the past would repeat. She frowned.
The last time he’d mentioned his past, it had been to agree that taking away a captive’s footwear was a good thing. Now, he was worrying about losing the people he was escorting—and then there was the way he fought.
He wasn’t the captain of the shadow guard for nothing, and he wasn’t a typical mage—and he wasn’t the only one whose magical ability worked right alongside their skill with weapons. It made her wonder exactly who had founded the Deeps Monastery and why.
“If you’re done eating, Leclerc, it’s time to sleep.” Master Envermet told her.
When she looked at him, Marsh saw nothing in his expression to indicate he was in her head, but she had little doubt. He moved away to speak to Obasi.
Marsh scowled. Well, if that was the way he wanted it.
She shrugged off her pack and looked around for somewhere to set up her bedding. It took her a minute to realize Roeglin wasn’t there to ask, and that she didn’t need to find a space big enough for the two of them to share.
That hurt, but she pushed the feeling away.
Don’t be a child, she scolded herself. It’s not like you have to have him nearby.
Master Envermet snorted and Marsh ignored him, searching for somewhere she might sleep. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to sharing her space with others. She just didn’t feel like being that close to strangers.
She sighed. The children were nearby, but she didn’t know if they wanted to be with her. She figured from the way they’d been avoiding her, they might not.
Still, there was always the shadow guard. It wasn’t hard to find them. They’d set up near the front of the hall, having flipped a couple of tables and braced them against the door. If anything came through, they’d form the first line of defense.
Marsh shrugged. It wasn’t a bad place to be, even if it left her feeling exposed to the strangers in the main body of the hall. She didn’t know why that mattered, but it did, and she wasn’t sure she’d sleep.
Shrugging that thought away, Marsh took a step toward where the guards had set up. She was stopped when a small hand wrapped around her fingers and pulled her to a stop.
“This way.”
Marsh glanced down and found Aisha looking up at her. The little girl’s face was a mixture of determination and uncertainty, and Marsh found it impossible to ignore the appeal in her eyes.
“Fine,” she agreed, trying not to let the sudden burst of happiness show.
Aisha’s impish smile of pleasure was almost her undoing. It was hard, but somehow she managed to keep a straight face as she followed the little girl to where she would be sleeping.
Brigitte and the children had commandeered a corner against the rear wall. They’d also set a table on its edge, but wh
ether this was as a barricade or for privacy, Marsh couldn’t tell.
Tamlin looked up as she approached. “Took your time,” he grumbled.
Marsh barely stopped herself from snapping back. I didn’t think I’d be welcome, she thought, keeping the words firmly in her head. A long-suffering sigh drew her attention.
It was followed by a groan as Mordan lifted her head and stared at her. She’d forgotten the kat was inside her mind.
Why wouldn’t the cubs want their mother nearby? The kat’s question made Marsh’s eyes prickle with tears, and she concentrated on laying out her bedroll until she had her emotions back under control.
Why wouldn’t they, indeed? It wasn’t easy to push away the answer, but Calantha’s face drifted through her thoughts. The kat snorted again.
This time Marsh got the impression that the kat thought mothers came in many forms and the cubs were lucky to have two. It made Marsh curious to know what the cubs thought, but she didn’t dare ask.
She finished laying out her bedding and was startled when Brigitte put a hand on her shoulder. “They’re waiting,” the shadow mistress told her.
Marsh frowned. Waiting for what? she thought, and Brigitte answered before she could ask.
“You owe them a bedtime story.”
She did? Marsh’s eyebrows rose. She wanted to ask if Tamlin wasn’t too old for stories but decided against it. If the boy wanted a story and didn’t want to ask, she wasn’t going to embarrass him by pointing it out.
Good choice, Aisha informed her, and Marsh jumped.
She’d forgotten that Master Envermet and Roeglin weren’t the only ones who could read minds.
“That’s rude,” she told the child, and Aisha scowled.
“Is not.”
“Is too.”
“Master Ennermet does it.”
“You’re not Master Envermet.”
“Nope. I’m a girl.”
Tamlin snickered. “She’s got you there, Marsh.”
“Uh-huh.” There wasn’t a lot Marsh could say to that, so she crossed to where the boy was tucked inside his bedroll and sat beside it. She figured the empty bedroll on the other side of her belonged to Aisha.
“You want to get in?” she asked, looking at the child and patting the blankets.
Aisha’s scowl got deeper. “Nope.”
Marsh frowned back, ignoring the slight smirk on Brigitte’s face. “You going to get into bed?”
Aisha sighed. “Fine,” she agreed, flouncing over to the empty blankets and sliding inside.
Marsh was tempted to tell her not to bother if it was so much trouble but thought better of it. What if the child took her up on that suggestion?
It didn’t bear thinking about. Instead, she changed the subject. “What story am I going to tell you tonight?”
Tamlin groaned. “You’re the grown-up,” he reminded her. “You think of a story.”
Marsh looked at Brigitte for help, but the shadow mistress had turned away and was fussing with her blankets.
It’s like that, is it? Marsh went back to her days as a child at her uncle’s waystation. There’d been plenty of stories then, even if none of them had been bedtime stories.
The traders and travelers visiting Kerrenin’s Ledge had gathered around the hearth in the communal dining hall and shared their tales. Some hadn’t been stories, just news from distant corners of the Devastation or beyond, but they’d been just as good.
One of Marsh’s favorite stories had been about a girl and a dragon. She’d heard it a couple of months before accepting Kearick’s mission to carry the artifact to Ruins Hall.
The traders who’d told it had insisted it wasn’t just a tale, but a true story. The same was true for the next set of traders who’d come through with an updated version just before she’d left.
Marsh had her doubts. For a start, dragons didn’t exist.
She glanced at Aisha and found herself gazing into two overly awake eyes. Another glance at Tamlin revealed the same. They were going to need a long story before they let her go.
Marsh sighed. Well, that made it easy. She’d heard half a hundred tales about Hannah and the dragon. Some of them even mentioned someone they called the Founder, named Ezekiel.
Marsh hadn’t heard of him either, and there hadn’t been time to ask her uncle. She’d been avoiding him so he couldn’t disapprove of her mission or her desire to become a Seeker. He’d wanted her to think about taking over Downslopes.
He hadn’t been impressed when Marsh had told him Downslopes belonged to her cousin now, and there was no way Marsh was going to take it from him. He’d felt guilty since the surface waystation had belonged to her parents and hadn’t understood that was why Marsh hadn’t wanted to take it over.
She sighed again, and Tamlin poked her.
“Hey!” he said. “You mind getting started? Some of us want to sleep before the sun comes up.”
Marsh stared at him. “What?”
“You heard.” The boy looked far too pleased with himself, but she felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Cheeky imp, she thought. What she said was, “A little while back, I met some traders from a city called Arcadia...”
5
The Shortcut
The night passed uneventfully, and Master Envermet had the travelers gather in the courtyard while he climbed the wall.
“Come with me,” he ordered Marsh when he found her eating breakfast with the children.
In the end, they’d settled for two stories about Hannah and the promise she’d tell them another the next night. Once they were asleep, she and Brigitte had shared a cookie and talked about what training the shadow mistress had planned.
It had been late when Master Envermet had ordered the pair of them to sleep. He’d stomped off muttering about some people being “old enough to have more sense,” and they’d slept shortly after, albeit not well.
Following him up onto the wall, Marsh wanted to know what the captain wanted.
“I thought you might like to speak to Roeglin,” he said, answering her question.
“You know that’s rude, don’t you?” she asked, ignoring the happy skip of her heart.
His lips twitched into a smile. “You’re welcome.”
There was no answer to that.
“I tried to contact him last night,” the shadow captain continued, “but it was hard, and I didn’t want to risk anyone by coming out to the wall.”
He caught her anxious look and hastened to reassure her.
“I was able to get onto the roof and hold the link long enough to let him know we were safe, but that was all.” He directed her attention to the surrounding buildings. “Notice anything?”
Marsh looked. At first, the terrain and structures around them looked much like those she’d seen elsewhere, but when she looked more closely.
“The raiders built lookout posts in the buildings?”
“If not them, then someone else,” Master Envermet commented, “but it looks like they used the local stone as reinforcement—”
“Which is why you had trouble getting through,” Marsh finished for him. “You think being up higher is going to make a difference?”
“I’m thinking they were targeting mind mages for a reason, but I haven’t worked out what it was.”
Marsh studied the terrain. “We’re also in a dip,” she noted.
His mouth curled. “Notice anything else?”
Marsh looked again. It was true they were in a dip, but it was more than that. The raiders’ trail had led them along the top of a ridge and then down to where their slave compound sat at the foot of a low hill.
“It’s a bad place for a fort?”
He nodded. “You have to ask, ‘why here?’”
Marsh looked again. She noted the well in the center of the courtyard compound, and then the slightly deeper drop-off beyond the next line of rubble. Master Envermet was right.
There were plenty of ways the compound could be
approached by a hostile force, and its walls weren’t that tall. In the end, she couldn’t figure it out, so she shrugged.
“It’s enough to keep the remnant out,” she observed, “and the wolves.”
He nodded. “Let’s see if I can link to Roeglin from here.” He hesitated as though remembering something. “Or you could try.”
It was a thought. Marsh had a link to the mind mage in much the same way as she had a link to the kat. “You want to try separately and see which one works best?”
He avoided her eyes. “Something like that.”
Marsh frowned. “Okay.”
She didn’t bother pushing him further. If the man had wanted to explain, he’d have done so already. Instead, she closed her eyes, thinking of Roeglin and the distance between them—and just how much she wanted to talk to him.
Roeglin? she called. Ro?
For a moment, there was no answer, and panic uncurled inside her. What if something had happened back at the fort? What if something had come out of the library basement and caught them?
I’m here. Roeglin’s voice sent a wave of relief cascading over her, even if it was full of worry. Are you safe?
We’re safe. We camped at one of the stops the raiders used.
And nothing happened? He sounded like he couldn’t believe it.
Roeglin, is everything all right?
She felt him focus on her more intently, and he didn’t reply right away. When he did respond, it didn’t make sense.
You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?
I... Now that he mentioned it, Marsh realized she hadn’t. Sure, she’d been tired and fallen asleep quickly enough, but when it had come to actually sleeping...
Marsh shivered. It’s nothing.
Master Envermet snorted, and disbelief rippled out from Roeglin’s presence.
What? Marsh asked, and Master Envermet explained.
“Nothing is when you wake up with a gasp because you thought you were being chased by remnant and fell off a cliff,” he told her. “Nothing is when the dreamscape suddenly eats you. Whatever you were dreaming, last night, it wasn’t nothing.”
Marsh frowned at him. Neither of those things sounded like nothing. They sounded like pretty standard nightmares to her. “Your point?” she demanded.
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 Page 144
