The Book of Maladies Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I don’t like it,” Alec said. There was something hiding behind his eyes, but she still couldn’t see what it was.

  “Will you do it for me?”

  He met her eyes and sighed before finally nodding.

  12

  Pursuit

  As they followed the princess, they had to circle around to the bridge in order to get a better view. Alec had grown increasingly somber the farther they went. He didn’t want to be here—at least not following the princess—but now that Marin had disappeared, Sam couldn’t shake her desire to know more about the princess.

  Maybe she could learn answers from her that she wouldn’t from Marin.

  Her questions for the princess were not the same ones she had for Marin. Did the princess know anything about her poisoning? Did she know who was responsible? Could that be why she was here? To find out? Or maybe she already knew and was out here planning her revenge. Maybe she was gathering information about the Thelns. Maybe she was trying to find more easar paper.

  There were many things that the princess might’ve been doing. None of it made a whole lot of sense to Sam, but then she wasn’t one of the royal family. She had never had someone use a magical book to try to assassinate her. Gods, for that matter, she’d never even heard of a magical book until recently.

  “You’ve been quiet,” Sam said as they trailed the princess.

  “You still haven’t told me why you wanted to follow Marin.”

  “I wanted to come because…” Did she need to tell him of her concern about finding enough easar paper to continue practicing? Was there something else she could share? Did he need to know about the attack at the tavern?

  If she couldn’t tell him what she was doing, how could they have an effective Kaver and Scribe connection? How could they ever be anything else?

  She flushed at the thought. Maybe anything else was beyond what they could be. Alec was highborn—or at least, nearly so. She was lowborn. The lowest of lows. Caster was one of the poorest sections of the city, and there would be no reason for Alec to be with her, not when he had so many other opportunities.

  “Bastan asked me to do a job,” she said.

  Alec frowned, and he flicked his gaze straight ahead before glancing over at Sam. “What kind of job?”

  “The same kind that he’s always offered,” she said.

  “You’re still stealing for him?”

  Was it irritation or disappointment in his voice? “You’re still working with your father.”

  “Not as much as I did. Not as much as—” Alec shook his head. “Maybe it doesn’t matter.”

  He fell silent, and Sam decided not to push. She thought she knew Alec well, but there was no reason for her to irritate him any more than he already was. She sensed disappointment from him, and she didn’t want to be the reason for that disappointment.

  They made their way into a highborn section, crossing a bridge without any opposition. Sam was surprised by that, but figured it was because of Alec’s presence. Not only his dress—the cut of his cloak was much nicer than most worn within Caster—but his mannerisms declared him as something more than a lowborn. Merchants weren’t restricted the same as lowborns, even if he had rarely left his section of the city.

  Sam cast Alec a sideways glance as they were waved through. She didn’t need him to help her get across the bridge. She had her staff and wasn’t afraid to use it to jump the canals, but it was easier crossing by the bridge and not worrying about who might’ve seen her crossing—or the possibility of falling into the canal and getting bitten by one of the canal eels. They were real, regardless of what others wanted to tell her.

  “We’re getting too close,” Alec said.

  “Too close? We can barely see them.”

  The procession remained in the distance, too far to see them in their entirety, but close enough that she could at least see the backs of the soldiers. As she and Alec crossed over the bridge, moving into a much wealthier part of the city with enormous buildings rising above them, the crowds thinned out making it much less difficult to follow the royal procession. She didn’t even need to rise up on her staff. Were she on her own, she might’ve climbed onto the rooftops and used them to follow. That might’ve been easier than trying to keep after them in the streets.

  “I can see them just fine,” Alec said, “but we’re getting too close. I don’t like this.”

  Sam glanced over at him. In this section, the towering homes were similar to the one Sam had broken into when she’d stolen the paper. It was wealthy, but it wasn’t the kind of area she’d expect the princess to visit.

  The smells in the air changed, losing the scents of the market, those of sweets and meats and the crowd of bodies, and taking on a more perfumed odor. She detected notes of flowers, and it wasn’t until they passed a small elevated garden that she understood why. There were dozens of different-colored flowers in the garden, all with petals of different sizes and shapes. A garden like that would have been vandalized in Caster, but in the section—whichever one this was—it was left alone.

  “You don’t have to come with me,” she said. The change in his expression and the hurt on his face came immediately. “I want you to come with me, but I don’t want you to think you have to, especially if you think it’s a bad idea.”

  “I don’t want you to do it, either,” he said. “Isn’t part of being your Scribe keeping you safe?”

  “I don’t know. I kept myself safe my entire life. Tray, too. I can do this.”

  “That’s not what I mean.”

  She tapped her canal staff, looking away from him. “I didn’t need your help getting into the section, either.”

  “Sam—”

  “I just want to see what she’s up to. She was poisoned, Alec. By some strange assassin who shouldn’t even be in the city, and because the Thelns had chased the paper to the city. She has to know more about it and I want to know the answers.” Especially if Marin wasn’t going to share with her. She made a point of keeping her voice low as she said it, not knowing who might be listening. Here, there might not be anyone listening, not as it would be in Caster, but she didn’t want to take that for granted.

  “I know what happened. I was there.”

  “You were there, but you don’t seem as interested as I am in understanding what happened, or why she was poisoned, or what any of this means!”

  “The Thelns poisoned her. That’s all we need to know.”

  Sam didn’t know enough about Thelns to know whether that answer made sense. Were they only after power, or was there something more to it than that? She didn’t know, and that troubled her. If only she could force Marin to give her answers.

  And now, between seeing the princess out in the city and almost finding Marin, she didn’t know if there was anything more that she needed to be worried about. Had the Thelns even been defeated? Ralun hadn’t been. She had stopped him, but he had disappeared following the attack. If he returned, she wanted to be able to defend herself.

  She didn’t even know if she should be risking herself on one of Bastan’s jobs. She liked the idea of no longer being tied to Bastan, of being able to walk away if she so chose, but would that be a waste of her abilities? It seemed as though there should be something more to them, it seemed as though there should be something more for her.

  Maybe that was the source of Alec’s frustration. He was disappointed in her.

  She had to be honest with herself. If she didn’t have him, she wouldn’t be able to work with her augmentations, and would likely never learn what it meant to be a Kaver. And he was her Scribe. They were a team, whether or not they wanted to be—though Sam definitely wanted to have that connection to Alec. She didn’t want to disappoint Alec. She didn’t want to do anything that would upset him and drive him away from her.

  “You’re right,” she said with a sigh, slowing. “Maybe we shouldn’t risk ourselves like this. Besides, I need to find Tray and see what he’s been up to.”

 
“You know how to find him?”

  Sam shrugged. “He’s going to be in Caster somewhere. Marin wouldn’t send him to the other sections. He’d stand out.”

  “I can come with you,” Alec said.

  Sam grinned. “I think I can manage finding my brother. I think I will head back to Caster.” She waited, thinking he would come with her, anyway. They could continue to practice their augmentations, something they hadn’t spent nearly enough time on lately.

  But Alec surprised her. “I… I think I need to go and see my father. I’m sure I can work with him and having some normalcy wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

  Sam forced a smile. “You do that.”

  “I’ll meet up with you later?”

  She nodded.

  “Do you need help getting back?”

  Her expression soured. “I can get around without being caught. Besides, I can move faster than you.” She tapped her canal staff on the ground. Alec might not have difficulty crossing bridges, but there were shortcuts through the city if you knew how to navigate, and Sam knew how to cross the canals in a way that was much faster.

  Alec nodded and started off. She stood, waiting, watching as he headed across the bridge and toward the Arrend section before she lost sight of him. When he had been gone long enough, she turned her attention back toward where the royal procession had gone.

  She still wanted to see the princess.

  Sam reached a section of wall that she could climb up and scaled it before using her staff to vault on top of the roof where should could move more quickly. If she went too slowly, she risked the princess getting ahead of her and disappearing altogether.

  Up ahead, she noted a flash of the crimson and blue. She was able to keep up with them while maintaining a steady pace, not risking a misstep that could result in her falling off the roof.

  Sam couldn’t tell where they were going. This was a section of the city that she didn’t know very well. In many of the outer sections, she could anticipate where someone might be heading, but here she had no sense of what was in the area. She rarely risked spending any time in sections like this. It wasn’t that there was nothing worth stealing here—at least, nothing that she’d been asked to—it was just too risky being here.

  The procession turned and headed toward a bridge that led to yet another.

  Sam paused, crouching on the rooftop. That was strange. If they were to head north, they would’ve headed toward the palace, but traveling as they did, moving west and taking the bridge, would take them away from the palace to another section.

  An outer section.

  More than ever, there was something about this that intrigued her.

  She slid down her staff, back to the cobbled street, and made her way toward the canal, following the princess. The canal was not quite as wide as some that she’d had to jump across when she was trying to reach the university, but it was wide enough that she worried about her ability to jump it safely. She had a longer staff now, and it should make an easier job of it, but her memories of landing in the canal, and the sensation of creatures wriggling against her skin—canal eels, regardless of what anyone else told her, with their sharp teeth threatening to tear through her flesh—came to mind, and she let out a frustrated sigh, watching the procession as it crossed the bridge and disappeared.

  Maybe she should do as she had told Alec she would and find Tray. There had been a time when finding Tray would have been as simple as tracking down Marin or going to Bastan and asking where he had gone. Now, Tray was off on his own and working for Marin without her. It wasn’t that it bothered her—at least, not that she wanted to admit—but it worried her.

  She had been the one keeping him safe—and alive—for the entirety of his years. Now that she knew about his heritage, whatever it meant for him, didn’t she owe it to him to keep him alive longer? Shouldn’t she help him understand what it meant for him to be descended from Thelns? Not that she understood it herself yet. Why wouldn’t Marin tell him?

  Sam started back toward the Caster section. When she had crossed a few canals, easily jumping them, she was still deep in highborn sections when she noticed a familiar figure. There was no mistaking his enormous frame, or the way he walked, leaning forward as if trying to fight through the wind as he hurried along the streets.

  She frowned. What was Tray doing this far into the city?

  13

  A Brother’s Conversation

  Sam struggled with how long it had been since she’d last seen Tray. It troubled her that she didn’t see him nearly as often as she once had, when they had worked together on each and every job. Then, Tray had been her protection, though she liked to claim that she protected him. She wasn’t sure how much she ever did protect him, especially given that he’d still managed to get caught and thrown into prison despite her best efforts.

  Now, he worked for Marin.

  That had been the agreement. Now that Sam knew his heritage, and now that she understood the risk of the Thelns, she understood that having Marin protecting Tray was perhaps better than having Sam keep an eye on him.

  She trailed him along the edge of the canal, moving from building to building as she did, staying hidden. There was no point in drawing attention to herself, not yet, not until she had a sense of what he was doing and where he was going.

  Where would Tray be going in this section of the city at this time of day?

  Could it be an assignment from Marin?

  Regardless of what Marin said, Sam still felt as if the woman used her brother. Yet, Tray didn’t seem to mind. He allowed her to use him.

  Then again, was Bastan any different? He used Sam in much the same way Marin used Tray. Marin was even more open about it, and had always paid him well, never trying to scam her brother—at least as far as she knew. Bastan… Bastan was different. It wasn’t that he tried to scam her, at least as far as Sam could tell. It was just that he felt there was more to the relationship than Sam did. He felt she owed him something.

  Tray reached one of the bridges that crossed into the Farnum section. At least this was a section Sam recognized. It was primarily made up of merchants, not quite highborns, though still much wealthier than anyone in Caster. Why would Tray come here, especially alone?

  She should probably catch up to him. She missed working with her brother, sneaking around the city with him. She missed the bond they shared. It felt as if they’d grown apart ever since he was released from prison. It was almost as if the connection she once had with Tray was now with Alec, though their connection came from their shared powers.

  At the next bridge, Tray hurriedly crossed over, though he did pause and hazard a glance down the street. It almost seemed as if he was trying to sneak on his own, though that didn’t seem like something he would do. He had always been smart enough to realize that wasn’t his strength. He disappeared behind some buildings on the other side, and she swore under her breath before hurrying after him.

  She slipped her staff into the water until she felt it touch bottom, then leaped across. She cleared the canal and pulled her dripping staff from the water, tapping it on the ground in a single motion to dislodge the mud, then unscrewed the ends as she hurried along the street, trying to stay somewhat concealed in the shadows.

  What foolish game was he playing at?

  When she reached the place where he had disappeared, there was no sign of him. It wasn’t like Tray to simply vanish. He wasn’t skilled enough at sneaking around, so it seemed unlikely that he would be able to escape notice altogether.

  She moved along the streets but saw no sign of her brother. Every so often, she paused, looking to see where he might’ve snuck off to, but there was no sign.

  She wasn’t going to find him this way.

  Maybe she’d be more successful from the rooftops.

  The roofs of this section were sloped, and they would make footing more treacherous. Sam searched for a building that would be easier to climb and scaled it, clinging to ivy that grew along t
he side of the building. When she reached the rooftop, she threw herself flat and lay there for long moments, catching her breath.

  When she no longer felt as if she might slide down, she started forward. Every so often, she would stand and look around, searching the streets. As she went, she looked for movement. That was often the easiest thing to see. It was something Bastan had taught her, and the reason he advised that she not make any rapid—or sudden—movements.

  A flash of movement below caught her attention, someone entering the alley ahead of her.

  The figure was much too big to be anyone else. It had to be Tray.

  If only Alec were here, she would have been able to ask him to augment her. Maybe she’d ask him to give her better hearing, or something else that might allow her to sneak along the rooftop more easily to see what her brother was doing. Alec would probably think of something clever for her to try; he usually had better ideas than she did when it came to finding different augmentations for them to practice. She preferred simpler enhancements: strength, speed, agility. They were useful, but there might be ways to use other augmentations, as well, such as when he’d made her a giant.

  She continued carefully along the rooftop until she got close enough that she could hear voices.

  “Why did you risk coming here?”

  “You said to send notice if anything was off.”

  That was Tray. Though his voice had changed over the years—especially the last year—she recognized the manner in which he spoke. There was a distinct sort of cadence to it that was nothing like Sam’s and her preference for rushed speech, and not like Bastan’s or any of the others’ Tray had grown up around.

  “I said to send notice.”

  “There was no safe way to send word, so I brought it myself.”

  “There are ways of moving safely—and discreetly. You have chosen to come openly and in the daylight. Did you not consider what this means for what we’ve asked of you?”