“I wonder—well, if he’s your slave, and you understand the situation—I want him freed.”
Shianan turned back to him. “That’s impossible.”
“My lord! After hearing all I’ve told you—”
“You misunderstand. Since you failed to kill me, Luca cannot go free. It has nothing to do with my preference. Under Chrenada law, only by a specific provision in the master’s death-will may a slave be freed.” And any such will would have been invalidated for treason, which was why he’d falsified a sale to Mage Hazelrig instead of freeing Luca as he would have preferred.
“But….”
“It is a question of law, Roald. Especially after Furmelle…. It is prison to me if I free him.”
“Then sell him to me.”
“You want to purchase your brother as a slave?”
“I want to redeem him!” Roald’s words came quickly, eagerly. “There is no such law in our country. If I purchased him fairly, I could take him home and free him there.”
Shianan looked back at Luca, unmoving but for the mild drift of the current. “And what is the price of your brother?”
That cut Roald. He looked away, his jaw clenching visibly. “I have told you, what we did was a mistake. No one regrets it more than I do.”
“Really? I think Luca might.”
“Because of men like you?”
“Me?” Shianan whirled on Roald. “I told you those stripes were not from me. That was a parting gift from his master before me, a man who starved and beat and choked him. And only the Holy One knows what came before that. I promised Luca, by his request, that no price could ever buy him of me, and you accuse me of what?” He clenched his fists, sweating in the sweltering room. “Don’t accuse me of cruelty, Roald, not to my dearest friend. I might be many things, but I won’t let Luca go for mere profit.”
“As you think I did?” Roald met Shianan’s eyes. “I did not know it was coming, and I don’t think I believed it when I saw it. I had only just arrived home when the trader passed, dragging him—I could not even react. I was stunned. And I rushed to our father, and he explained…. I should have run after him that moment, redeemed him that night, but with what? If we’d had the money, we would not have found ourselves in such a quandary in the first place!”
“And you think to rectify that mistake now.”
“If you will let me.” He studied Shianan. “How long have you had him? Since Furmelle?”
Shianan shook his head. “Not nearly that long. Only weeks.” He half-smiled at the other’s surprise. “There were—circumstances, which demanded we know each other more quickly. Luca is a good and honorable man.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He sighed. “It cannot be coincidence that brought me to you, that allowed me to find Luca with a master who wanted his welfare. Most men would have given him for dead when they pulled him breathless from the river. But you…. If you do regard him as a friend, my lord, you will give him this chance at being a freeman once more.”
Shianan looked away. “Don’t try to manipulate me.”
“It’s only—he can’t remain a slave….”
“Enough,” Shianan snapped. “We’ll talk later.” He rose stiffly from the couch. “I’m going for more tea and whatever else I can argue out of that attendant.”
The mage’s amulet was working. His thoughts roiled as he walked down the corridor. If Luca were awake, would he be glad of a chance to return home and be free once more?
That was ridiculous, he realized. Who would choose to remain a slave?
He found a new attendant for the morning, and curtly he explained the situation and ordered tea and whatever food could be brought. “Even rolls from the bakery. Whatever you can find.”
When he opened the door, he found Roald standing over the bath, staring anxiously at Luca. “What is it?”
“He was—I thought he was waking.” Roald never took his eyes from his brother.
Luca stirred and opened his eyes. He blinked toward the ceiling and at the bath in blank confusion, and then he seemed to notice them. “Jarrick?” he rasped.
“Luca!” Jarrick reached for him, heedless of the water, and pulled him close.
Luca’s jaw dangled in shock as he was lifted from the water and he recoiled, pushing his brother away. “Jarrick…. You….”
Shianan was frozen, watching the brothers’ reunion. It was painful seeing Luca naked, thin, and shivering before Jarrick’s enthusiastic fraternal affection. Luca stumbled unsteadily and nearly went down, landing against the wall backing the bath. “Jarrick,” he whispered.
“Luca!” Shianan moved nearer. “Are you all right? How are you?”
Luca’s eyes turned uncertainly to him. “I—I’m….” His teeth began to chatter and he hugged himself, cold out of the steaming water. He seemed to realize he was not dressed. “What happened?”
“Luca—” began Roald.
“Sit down,” ordered Shianan peremptorily, anxious that Luca not be chilled and unwilling to see Jarrick Roald embrace him again. “We’ll get you something to wear shortly. You’d gone into the river and—you nearly died.”
“I thought I had,” murmured Luca, sinking back into the water. He curled his knees to his chest, hugging them close as he looked from Shianan to Jarrick. Water lapped at his chin.
“We thought you were dead,” Jarrick Roald offered brokenly. “And I thought—I thought you were dead. For years. I couldn’t believe it when I heard your voice, when I saw you and then you fell—I couldn’t believe I’d seen you only just before you died again—”
Luca’s wide eyes suddenly narrowed. “You were going to kill him! Why?”
“Because we must have this market!” Roald’s voice wavered between defensive and pleading. “We joined a league of merchants to help our house recover. We’ve done well thus far, but this is a critical point. The alliance decided to move more—aggressively in this case….”
“Aggressively?” Shianan snorted.
“You could not be allowed to stand in the way,” Roald protested. “You uncovered their most profitable scheme and utterly destroyed it. If you hadn’t cost them a fortune—in lost profits, and in payoffs and bribes to keep those who couldn’t be sacrificed out of prison, and in preparation for the next arrangement…. If you hadn’t robbed them of so much, they wouldn’t have cared about you. But you exposed their richest scheme and they couldn’t let you do it again—”
“It was a sloppy scheme,” Luca criticized to his knees. “It should have fallen apart long ago.”
“Luca! You saw it?”
Luca looked up at his brother. “Did you see their shoddy books? No one could have believed those accounts. Does that mean I have to die, too?”
“We’ll never tell,” Roald said hastily. “They don’t know you’re alive—they don’t know you saw the accounts. They don’t know you exposed them.”
Shianan was staring at Luca, flushed with the bath’s heat and conflicted emotion. But Luca met Jarrick’s gaze directly, without dropping his eyes, and he had not yet used the timid tone he usually adopted before others. He might have been reluctant to meet his brother again, but it had returned him to a previous time in his life, a time when he was not afraid.
“So you won’t kill me for them, but you will kill another?” Luca demanded.
Yes, Luca was his own man now that he faced his brother.
“Luca, you don’t understand—I was only—we had to! I can’t let us lose everything we’ve rebuilt. If I hadn’t done it, someone else—Karlm was originally—”
“So you are willing to sacrifice one person to save your house,” Shianan observed acidly. “Still.”
Jarrick’s face went red. “No! You don’t understand anything!”
“I understand enough.” Shianan wiped his mouth as if he’d eaten something foul.
Luca was staring at Roald. “Jarrick, you can’t kill him. I won’t let you. I’ll go to the king myself and tell him about your alliance and the
murders and—and anything else I can think of! You can’t think this is justified by—”
“I wanted to save our house! I didn’t want to see us on the brink again!”
“I’d rather see you all sweating for Sandis than killing!”
“I can’t lose anyone else!” Jarrick stopped and took a steadying breath. “You don’t understand, Luca. Father—he’s changed. Since you—since you. He isn’t the man he was. And I don’t want to—I don’t want to ever be in that position again, do you understand? I don’t want to ever be pushed to that point!”
Luca glared over his wet knees, his arms wrapped about his legs but his voice steady. “If you would kill Shianan, you’ve already been pushed to that point.”
“Enough.” Shianan looked between them. “I think we can agree, no one here can kill me now. I’m aware of him, and he can’t risk killing me and losing you, Luca. Yes, Roald—Luca is my legal property, and he won’t be turned over to you if I die. You’ll have to find another way to salvage your house than to kill me.”
Roald looked as if he wanted to argue, but lacked the words or strength.
“Luca, put something on. You need warm clothes. And—” A knock at the door interrupted him. “Come!”
Luca pushed his arms below the water’s surface, hiding the cuffs. A slave entered with a tray of hot drinks, fresh bread, and honey. “My lords, I was told to offer this…. We don’t generally keep meals for guests, and I am to apologize—”
“Leave it, it’s fine,” Shianan said impatiently. “You may go.” The slave blinked, set the tray on a table, and retreated. Shianan poured a generous amount of honey into one of the cups and extended it to Luca. “Drink. You need something in you.”
Roald sneered. “Do you mean to prove you’re a kind man, concerned for his slave?”
Shianan shot him a disgusted glare. “No, I’m just a viciously efficient utilitarian looking out for the functionality of his own property.” He tore into a piece of bread, feeling the hunger of three days. “Luca, get your clothes. Let’s go.” He wanted away from Roald, and he didn’t think he could safely or effectively evict him.
Luca drank silently and then rose from the tub, wrapping one of the fluffy towels around himself and shivering.
Roald straightened. “Becknam—my lord—what I said….”
“If you have any questions regarding your contract,” Shianan said, “you may call at my office at a later time. Luca?”
Luca was holding a shredded shirt at arm’s length. “Master Shianan….”
“Oh. We needed to get you in the hot water…. Just put on your tunic and cloak.”
“But, this one was yours.”
Shianan blinked and then sighed, feeling his face move awkwardly into a smile. “Is that so? I suppose it will need some mending. Come on, let’s go.”
Roald might have wanted to say something else, but he couldn’t seem to find the words as he looked at Shianan. Perhaps he couldn’t say it in Luca’s hearing. Luca glanced over his shoulder at his brother and followed his master out the door.
Chapter 69
Shianan’s head was resting on his arm, sliding dangerously close to the desk, when a knock at the door recalled him to wakefulness. He straightened. “Come!”
It was Mage Ewan Hazelrig who entered. “Good afternoon.”
“My lord mage! Please come in.”
Hazelrig smiled. “You have something which belongs to me, I think.”
“What? Oh.” Shianan hesitated, glancing toward the door behind which Luca slept, wrapped in blankets and warmed by a overfilled brazier. “I see.”
Hazelrig raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“To tell the truth, I had forgotten. I have—not had a chance to think on much.” He sighed. “And now I find there are too many claims on Luca.”
“Oh?”
Shianan pushed a hand through his hair. “Luca was born a freeman. His brother, still a freeman, would like to purchase him. But as his family sold him into slavery so they could prosper, I am reluctant. In the meantime, I had written out a bill of sale to you.”
“Which was never actually paid, and I would not hold you to half an exchange. I presume you do not really wish to sell him to me?”
“My lord mage, I do not.”
“I didn’t think so. I have here said bill of sale, for your disposal.” He set it on the desk. “How is he?”
“Recovering. I thank you again for your help. Without that….” Shianan’s voice nearly betrayed him. “Well, thank you.” He swallowed against the lump in his throat. “If I owe for the mage healing….”
Hazelrig made a dismissive gesture. “Nothing. I owe you as much or more. Anyway, Ariana was working with me long before she was Black Mage, and together we produced more healing amulets than expected. A few may go missing without trouble.” He hesitated. “While it isn’t my concern, as my brief ownership has been rescinded, what will you do about his brother?”
Shianan gnawed at his raw thumb. “I don’t know. His brother let him be sold in the first place, but Luca seemed… improved, when he spoke with him. But his brother would take him to the Wakari Coast, and—and Luca is my friend. I haven’t many friends. Can I let one go that far?”
“I’m afraid I cannot answer that.” Hazelrig sighed. “How are you?”
“The amulet you supplied is worth gold, or maybe the Shard itself.”
“You’ll need to sleep, of course. That’s the price of mage healing, along with slower final natural healing.”
“My lord mage, I have craved sleep more than I can say even before your help.”
“Then consider yourself advised to submit.” Hazelrig stood. “Luca left unexpectedly, and there are some items to be collected. But there’s no hurry. Send him only when he is recovered.”
When the mage had gone, Shianan locked the door. He would open it to no one, he resolved, neither general nor the king himself, until he had slept his fill.
He did not hear when the Black Mage came yet again to his door and knocked a long while before giving up.
“Hello.” Tam regarded Luca, shame-faced on the doorstep. “Our master is in the sitting room.”
“Not quite,” Hazelrig corrected from his chair. “Luca’s bill of sale was revoked, so I’m not his master. Come in, Luca. You’ve come for the clothes and things?”
Luca nodded. “And—I’m sorry, my lord. I was a poor servant to you.”
“You were useful enough when that crowd was here,” Hazelrig said. “You had a prior loyalty, that is all. And considering the outcome, I see no reason to argue with it. Tam, could you see to the amulets in the workroom? I worry they’re not progressing as they should.”
Tam’s face clouded at being excused. “I will.”
Hazelrig followed Luca toward the room he’d shared with Tam for a single night, beside the kitchen. “I think I’ll see if there’s any pie remaining.”
“My lord, if you’d like me to bring—”
“No, no, I can fetch it myself. Get your things.” Hazelrig paused. “The commander mentioned your brother had come.”
Luca gave him a quick, worried glance, and Hazelrig regretted his words. But Luca paused in the doorway. “Yes.”
“So you’ll be returning with him?” It could not be otherwise. A man who would sacrifice himself to return a daughter would not refuse to redeem a slave to his family.
Luca remained still. “I—I don’t know.”
Hazelrig blinked. “Are you unsure of Becknam? Or don’t you want to go?”
Luca looked away. “I don’t know….”
Hazelrig hadn’t realized Luca might be as torn as Becknam. He glanced toward the kitchen. “Well, I’ll—”
“I don’t know,” Luca repeated, staring at the wall. His hands clenched into fists at his side.
Hazelrig hesitated. “Why not?” he prompted gently. “Why wouldn’t you go?”
“Jarrick—they let me….” Luca gulped and blurted, “If Master Shianan had been my bro
ther, I would never have been taken!”
Hazelrig looked at Luca in quiet shock.
“I’m sorry.” Luca looked down, ashamed. “I’m sorry, my lord. It’s not my place to—”
“Whose place would it be, to think your thoughts? Who else should know your brother and your master as you do?” Hazelrig pitied the young man before him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
Luca shook his head tightly. “I shouldn’t have said anything, my lord.”
Hazelrig turned away. There was little he could do except be glad it was not important to save face before a slave—a fact which did nothing to cheer him. “Take your things,” he said awkwardly, and he went to the kitchen.
Brothers…. Both Becknam and Luca had spoken of that. No wonder Luca had gone to his master’s aid instead of remaining with Hazelrig. It was almost too bad Luca had a brother to come for him….
Nonsense. Hazelrig despised the slavery which chained men and trade. If Luca could be freed, that was of course best. But it was nearly a shame that of all the desperate enslaved in Alham, Luca would be the one to be rescued.
Chapter 70
Shianan walked stiffly into the training ground and dropped one of the two wooden training swords he carried, surveying the soldiers waiting. They were unnaturally quiet, and as he looked over them their eyes slid, avoiding his gaze.
So be it, then.
“Good afternoon,” he announced. “I’m glad to see you all again. There was some doubt that I would be here today.”
No response. They were leery of him. And rightly so.
“Does anyone recall being a part of an unscheduled training melee some days ago? In the yard? I believe there was some practice of subduing a prisoner. Was anyone there?”
No one answered. As he watched, they shuffled and shifted.
He planted the tip of the waster into the ground. “Well, then, we’ll have to rely upon my memory alone. Unfortunately I was somewhat occupied at the time, but I do recall seeing Tref Plowman. Where is he? Tref Plowman, come forward.”
There was a ripple of surprise, anxiety and even suppressed amusement. Then a man was pushed to the front, his face unhappy.
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