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

  Abner dropped his voice to a whisper. “But we stole from you.”

  Roeglin’s lips twitched into the slightest of smiles. “Out of necessity,” he told the man. “The people here have forgiven worse.”

  “And we can bring the mushrooms back,” Abner admitted. “We haven’t eaten any of them yet.”

  “Then no harm, no foul,” Roeglin told him.

  Tok’s people are watching them, he whispered in Marsh’s mind. They’ll keep them safe and will watch where they go if they leave.

  Have they? Marsh asked.

  No, although they are divided.

  Better make this a quick tour, then, Marsh told him.

  “That will be all right, won’t it?” Abner pressed, and they realized they’d been quiet for far too long, although both Marsh and Roeglin had kept their heads down to conceal the fact that they were communicating mind to mind.

  Roeglin lifted his head. “Even if you couldn’t return the trade goods,” he assured the man, “it would still be all right. We have good people here.”

  “So, they’d give us a chance to redeem ourselves?”

  “Of course. Please,” Roeglin gestured for Abner to precede him out of the hall, “come and meet them.”

  “Meet them?”

  “Bien ça, meet them. How else are you going to decide if you are safe here?”

  “You’re not going to choose them for me?”

  Roeglin’s eyebrows lifted. “Would you trust them if I did?”

  Abner gave him a crooked smile. “No…and thank you.”

  Marsh went to follow them, but Aisha struggled in her arms, and she had to stop. She waved Roeglin on, ignoring his look of concern to focus on Aisha.

  Setting the child on her feet, Marsh crouched before her, supporting her under the arms. “Aysh? Aisha? Hey, come on, kiddo. You’re okay.”

  The little girl’s eyes snapped open, and Marsh found herself staring into two pure white mirrors.

  “Not okay,” the girl told her and lowered her voice to a fierce whisper. “That is a bad, bad man.”

  Marsh caught her arm as she lifted it toward the door Roeglin had just closed behind him. Marsh stared at Aisha. “Who? Abner?”

  Aisha gave her a solemn nod and then shook her head, her eyes going from white to a dark distressed blue. “No, the one with him.”

  The one with him? Marsh frowned. We have to catch up.

  Yes. Aisha wound her hand around Marsh’s and tugged her toward the door. Come.

  Ignoring the odd looks from the others in the hall, Marsh let the little girl pull her in the direction Roeglin had taken. It didn’t take them long to catch up.

  “And are these all the residences?” Abner was asking, his gaze taking in the cottages standing inside the wall.

  Roeglin frowned. “Most of them, although we have a few families like your own, who are just passing through, or whose homes haven’t been built yet.”

  Marsh watched as Abner’s gaze swung from the gate to the communal mess hall and kitchens, to the dwellings and then around the yard to the large three-storied building that had originally housed the prisoners.

  “Do these others share a house or dwell somewhere else?”

  The formal phrasing caught her attention. It sounded wrong coming out of the man’s mouth, as though he was trying an unfamiliar way of speaking. Roeglin seemed to hear it, too.

  “How do you mean?” he asked.

  Abner shrugged. “I guess I’m just wondering where my family will sleep,” he answered.

  Roeglin nodded. “We’d put you in the barracks to start with,” he began, only to be interrupted.

  “Barracks? You have soldiers here?”

  Marsh saw Roeglin’s eyes widen and glanced down at Aisha. The little girl hadn’t let go of her hand, and she was studying Abner intently. Her small face was pinched with concentration, and her blue eyes were narrowed.

  “We have enough to deal with the raiders and keep others at bay.”

  “Will they stay here?”

  To Marsh, the man seemed a little too eager for the information, and she wondered if Roeglin had picked it up. The mage did not reply to her thought, but he was holding Abner’s gaze, and Marsh guessed he did not want to reveal his mind-walking abilities.

  “This is their home,” Roeglin told him, “so of course, they will stay.”

  “And defend it?”

  “If they must,” Roeglin answered, “although most would prefer to be farmers.”

  “So, you grow your own food?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then who brings the trade?”

  “We have friends who live underground.”

  Abner’s gaze slid to Brigitte.

  “The Four Caverns? I thought they were farther away.”

  “Why do you think we wanted our trade back?” Marsh put in hastily.

  Let the man draw his own conclusions…and perhaps get the wrong idea.

  Abner nodded as though what she’d said made sense, and he turned back to Roeglin. “Where did you say we would be staying?”

  “This way,” Roeglin replied and led him toward the repurposed barracks. “The civilians stay on the middle floor.”

  “And there are soldiers living in all the rest?” Abner’s voice was full of awe, and Marsh could understand why.

  The building was huge. For the ground and third floors to house nothing but soldiers indicated a large standing force. For a moment, she almost wished Roeglin would lie, but that, she realized, could be a two-edged sword.

  If Abner was part of a force planning to attack, it might not make them go away. It might make them go and find the numbers they’d need to take down a force that large, and then the people they protected would have no chance of escape.

  Exactly. Roeglin’s head was down and turned slightly away from their guest. Aisha, show me what you see.

  The child’s reply was not reassuring. Nuffing yet.

  Well, tell me when you do. Roeglin accepted Aisha’s word and looked at their guest, his eyes their usual golden-green.

  Replying to Abner’s question, he said, “No, most of the lower floor is dedicated to housing cattle and storing building supplies, and we’ve reserved at least half of the third floor for food storage and crafting.”

  “And you still have room to offer travelers?” Abner showed a ready grasp of the logistics.

  “Yes,” Roeglin answered, but did not expand.

  For a moment, Abner looked like he might press for more detail, but then his gaze caught on the Library and he stopped.

  “What is that?”

  “It’s a library,” Roeglin told him, his eyes wary. “Do you want to see it?”

  “Oh, very much, please,” Abner’s voice became a purr, and Aisha shouted in alarm.

  “No! He must not. He is a bad, bad man and sees too much! He has to leave now.” She made a grab for Abner’s hand, but Marsh was quicker.

  She scooped the child off the ground and threw her over her shoulder.

  Aisha gave another frustrated squeal and began punching the back of Marsh’s armor.

  “Down! You. Put. Me. Down! NOW!”

  As she kicked and squealed, she sent a single image into Marsh’s mind—that of an all-too-familiar lump nestled beneath Abner’s shirt.

  6

  An Offer of Sanctuary

  Do you trust me? Marsh asked, carrying Aisha away from the stranger.

  Behind her, Roeglin was apologizing profusely for the little girl’s behavior. “I’m sorry. She’s not usually like this.”

  Do you trust me? Marsh repeated, but Aisha kept struggling.

  As soon as they had rounded a corner out of Abner’s sight, she stilled. Yes.

  So you know what I’m thinking, right?

  I hate you, Aisha told her matter-of-factly.

  But you’ll do it?

  Yes.

  Good. Here we go. Marsh set Aisha down on her feet and took a firm hold of her hand. She hoped to all the Deeps tha
t the little girl really would play along.

  “You’re very, very tired,” she scolded loudly, dragging Aisha back to where Roeglin and Abner stood, “and you’re going to say ‘sorry’ and go right to bed.”

  “I am not,” Aisha declared, dragging at her hand. “I’m not sorry. He is a bad, bad man.”

  Marsh caught Abner’s gaze and rolled her eyes.

  “I’m really very sorry, Mr. Mirrow, but she’s had a very busy morning and needs a nap. Honestly, I’ve never seen her this tired.”

  “I’m not tired!” Aisha shrilled.

  Marsh used her protest as an excuse to turn away from Abner and reach along her link to Roeglin. Abner was already hurrying to reassure them he understood.

  “Believe me, I know children,” the man was saying, “so I take no offense. If she needs to sleep, she needs to sleep.”

  Aisha’s voice scaled up a pitch. “I no need to sleep!”

  My ears are never going to be the same again, Roeglin muttered, but Abner had already moved on.

  “I’m quite happy to have just one escort,” he was saying. “I’m sure we can manage without the shadow mistress and the child.”

  Roeglin made a show of looking at Marsh and then at the Library, and finally, at the sky. “Or we could postpone it until after lunch.”

  He returned his gaze to Abner. “It’s just that if you’re thinking of staying, we should let the kitchens know we’ll need more for the midday meal, and we need to do that soon. I also need to let the guard captains know we’ll have new faces for their men to get familiar with, and the supply master will need to arrange bedding and other equipment. If I tell him, now, your family will have a place to sleep by nightfall.”

  For a moment, Abner looked torn, and Marsh bent down to lift Aisha from the ground.

  “Come on, trouble,” she told the child. “It’s nap time.”

  Did it work? Aisha asked, letting herself be carried toward her home.

  Yes. The relief in Roeglin’s voice was evident. Good work, Aysh. Now, go tell the healers and Obasi that we need them.

  Abner’s voice confirmed it. “I think we will stay,” he declared and looked at where the sun stood in the sky. “And you’re right, it is nearly time for the noonday meal.”

  “Then come with me.”

  Marsh was approaching the first row of cabins when a familiar figure hurried around a corner and made a beeline toward them.

  “Oh, thank you,” Calantha declared, loud enough for Abner to hear. “I was wondering where the little scamp had gotten to.”

  “She’s had quite the adventure,” Marsh replied, passing Aisha to her mother.

  Mother will help me get Obasi, Aisha told her.

  You called her, didn’t you?

  Aisha smiled. Yup.

  “Well, I’ll take over now,” Calantha told her. “It will be an early naptime for you, young lady.”

  “Not tired,” Aisha grumbled as Calantha winked at Marsh and returned the way she’d come, taking Aisha with her.

  Marsh trotted back to where Roeglin and Abner had paused on the steps to the barracks and supply house. “Her mother was looking for her.”

  “I can see why,” Abner said. “Does the child wander often?”

  “Often enough that anyone who sees her knows where she needs to be.”

  That made Abner chuckle. “Well, that’s good to know.”

  I just bet it is, Marsh thought, trying to work out how much of the man’s curiosity was Abner and how much was the puppeteer riding under his shirt.

  They found Evan and Alain on the ground floor. The two men were discussing fodder counts and how soon they’d need to start slaughtering for the smokehouse.

  “…has to be done before the snows set in,” Evan was saying, “and you don’t want to do it too close to the barns.”

  “Oh. I’ll get the druids to help. The rock mages should be almost done with the…” Alain’s voice trailed off as Roeglin’s figure blocked the light from the doorway. His eyes took in the stranger beside the mage. “Can we help you, Shadow Master?”

  It didn’t take Roeglin long to organize rooms and equipment for Abner’s family. The man was shocked by what the community was prepared to give.

  “It’s too much,” he said, repeating himself for the fifth time. “We can never repay…”

  “Are you saying your people have all this gear?” Evan challenged, and Abner shook his head.

  “No, but…”

  “So, are you saying you won’t need it?” Evan pressed, trying to make his point.

  Again, Abner shook his head, his mouth working silently as he tried to find the words he needed.

  “Well, we don’t believe in anyone going without when we have some to spare,” Evan told him firmly, “and we don’t expect all of this to last through the winter, either. You’re going to need repairs and replacements, and I expect to see you when you do.”

  “I hope that’s understood,” Alain reiterated quietly. “You might be planning to move on in the spring, but you are one of us while you are here and do not need to go without.”

  “But we can’t repay you!” Abner looked close to tears.

  “No need,” Evan told him.

  “Although, if you want to help out, I’m sure we can find something for you to do,” Alain quickly added.

  Abner relaxed. “Add us to whatever rosters you have,” he told them. “We don’t expect to be carried.”

  It was hard for Marsh to keep the frown from her face as she ran through the different tasks and worked out what information they could glean while they were doing them. What if they were all affected?

  We’ll check first, Roeglin told her. You do remember how, don’t you?

  Marsh nodded and saw Abner look toward her.

  “Your help will be appreciated,” she confirmed, and he relaxed.

  They found Gustav and Brigitte waiting outside. Henri and Izmay were with them.

  “Heard you might be heading back into the ruins,” Henri told them. “Figured you shouldn’t do that on your own.”

  “We’re not,” Roeglin argued. “The kat…”

  He looked around, his expression showing the slow realization that the kat and her kits and the pup were nowhere to be found.

  “I don’t suppose you know…”

  “Probably hunting,” Izmay informed him. “It’s that time of day.”

  As if the kats and pup went hunting every day…or went anywhere without Aisha or Tamlin or her nearby.

  Abner isn’t to know that, Roeglin reminded her, and I think Mordan is keeping the mantids company.

  The mantids. Marsh remembered that he’d asked to keep an eye on Abner’s “family.”

  The trip back to the ruins was uneventful, which was more than could be said for the time those waiting had had. There was a mantid standing at the top of the stairs. Its eyestalks swiveled back and forth as Marsh and Roeglin approached.

  Abner gasped at the sight of it, and Marsh tried to imagine how the man must be feeling at seeing what amounted to a giant insect, some seven-feet tall and as long as a horse. Its segmented body was a burnished red, as were its antennae, and it walked on four feet with two arms held before it.

  The triangular shape of its head reminded Marsh more of a mantis than anything else, and its mouth lacked the hard-edged mandibles of most insects but was more membranous and held teeth. From Abner’s perspective, the mantid must look like a monster.

  Oblivious to the effect it was having, the waiting mantid made a series of rattling sounds accompanied by the rasp of its hind legs against its abdomen.

  Roeglin stopped, his eyes flashing white as Gustav grabbed Abner by the arm.

  “What in all the worlds is that?” the man roared.

  “He’s a friend,” Gustav declared, shaking Abner for emphasis. “A friend.”

  The mantid retreated far enough for them to move past without coming in range of the weapons it carried in a harness crisscrossing its chest. Abner glowe
red at it as he walked past.

  “My family had better be all right,” he growled, and the mantid cocked its head, making a curious whistle, followed by a series of clicks.

  Abner tensed, but Gustav’s grip kept him moving, and they reached the door to his family’s quarters. Another mantid stood outside it, but it backed down the corridor to give them room to pass. Abner gave it a frightened look and hurried through the door.

  Gustav kept a strong grip on his arm as they went. Marsh followed. Judging by the chorus of voices that greeted their arrival, things had been tense.

  “I thought you were never coming back!” the woman wailed.

  “Hush, Neela. I’m fine.” Abner wrapped his arms around the woman and pulled her close.

  Knowing what was under his shirt, Marsh shuddered. She wondered what the bug was doing—and how it had avoided detection thus far.

  Did it let its host do what he pleased until it needed something? How easy was it for the bug to override the man carrying it? Did it depend on how long it had been there? What happened when its host was no longer useful to it?

  And most importantly, was Abner even aware he was carrying it?

  Marsh! Roeglin’s mental contact jerked her back to the present, and she watched as Abner told Neela of their offer for shelter for the winter.

  “And we don’t need to worry what they think about mages,” he whispered. “Look at them. So far, every single one of them has used magic in front of us in the open and without fear.”

  “And the child,” she whispered back. “She’s not afraid of her own abilities.”

  “It says a lot,” one of the younger men added, pressing close. “We might be safe.”

  “Even with the bugs,” another one added, and then frowned. “They do know about the bugs, don’t they?”

  A soft, chittering laugh rattled across the room, and Marsh looked over to where Tok was standing by the window.

  What are you doing here? she asked, knowing he would pick it out of her head.

  They tried to leave.

  They did?

  Oh, yes. They were going to abandon the older male and not be here when you returned.

  It was news to Marsh. She cocked an eyebrow and stared at the woman.

  “You want to tell me what you were doing when the bugs arrived?”