A City in Ruin (The Dark Sorcerer Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “It’s not charming anymore?”

  “Not like it was. When Jonathan disappeared, I decided it wasn’t nearly as charming as he thought it was. Or you. I’ve been looking for him.”

  “I know you have.”

  “I haven’t heard anything about him, or from him,” Jayna said.

  “I doubt you will,” Matthew said.

  “Why not?”

  He looked up, shrugging. “If he got caught in the job—and that’s the only thing I can think of—then it’s going to be difficult for him to get out of it. He didn’t take easy jobs, Jayna. You have to know that about your brother. The kind of work he always liked getting involved in is the kind that was bound to attract the wrong sort of attention.”

  Jayna pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket, the one she had taken off of the pair of Celebrants who had tried to shoot her with the crossbow, and unfolded it, sliding it across the table. Matthew looked down at it, frowning. “What is this?”

  “Just look at it. Tell me if you recognize anything about it.”

  Matthew studied the scrap of paper. “I haven't seen anything like it before.”

  Jayna's heart sunk. She had thought that if anyone connected to her brother would know something, it would be Matthew. Only, it was far too fortuitous for him to have appeared shortly after she had defeated Gabranth.

  “I don't suppose you know the name Gabranth.” She said it quietly, and while she met his eyes, she doubted he would know anything.

  Matthew leaned forward. “I know you are hoping for some great answer about your brother. But if he got pinched, he might be gone.”

  “I know he’s gone, which is why I have been looking for him.”

  “Not like that. He might be gone gone. Do you hear me?”

  Jayna held Matthew’s crystal-blue eyes, shaking her head. “I don’t want to believe that.”

  Matthew leaned back, throwing an arm over the back of the chair. “You can believe it or not, but that’s the nature of the business. He knew the risks.”

  It was a harsher statement than she would have expected out of him. “My brother was one of the most skilled thieves in the city.”

  “Not one of the most.”

  “Now he’s gone, you want to disparage him? You used to work with him, Matthew Varen. You of all people should support him.”

  Matthew reached for the pint of ale, tipping it back and taking a long drink before setting it on the table in front of them. “He wasn’t one of the most skilled. He was the most skilled. I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years, Jayna. Your brother is at the top of that list. He has a way of anticipating things others simply don’t. He's incredibly skilled at his job, so if he were to get caught, it would suggest somebody wanted him to get caught.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “If you’re working on the assumption that he isn’t dead—and the gods know I’d like to work on that same assumption—then you have to consider the possibility he’s captured somewhere. You have to start looking into prisons, and once you figure out where he might be imprisoned, then you need to start looking at who is responsible. That’s the part that you need to piece together if you want to help your brother.”

  “So you think it’s possible we can help him.”

  “We?”

  “You don’t want to help him?”

  “I would do anything to help Jonathan, but he and I both knew the risks. He and I both understood that if we were to get captured, neither of us was coming for the other. That’s the job. That’s the danger. And he and I both knew that if something like that happened, we were to work with each other to make sure the other’s loved ones were safe.”

  “So you were to take care of me?”

  “I was, until you got tied up with the Academy. You sort of took care of things on your own.” Matthew smiled and took another drink of his ale. “Not that I’m complaining. I don’t know what I would’ve done with a little sister.”

  “Thanks.”

  Matthew winked at her, taking another drink before setting it down. “You know, he had always wanted to bring you into the work.”

  “I know.”

  “He seemed to think you had a talent for it, even if you wouldn’t believe it.”

  “He told me that once,” Jayna said. “Right about the time when I was getting close to entering the Academy.” There was a flicker of something on Matthew’s face. Irritation? If he were anything like Jonathan—and she suspected he was—then he might share Jonathan’s irritation that she had entered the Academy in the first place. Jonathan hadn’t really wanted her to do that. He had wanted her to stay with him, mostly so he could play at keeping tabs on her, protecting her, regardless of whether or not he had any way of actually doing that.

  “Did he? I was never sure if he admitted that to you. He wanted you to be brought in. Figured that having you as a part of it would make a difference.”

  “A difference how?”

  “I don’t know. He never really knew what happened to your parents. When they disappeared—”

  “They didn’t just disappear,” Jayna said softly.

  Matthew arched a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” It occurred to her that Matthew wouldn’t know what she had learned about her and Jonathan’s parents having been destroyed by dark magic. Jonathan wouldn’t know either.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “If you learned something—”

  “Anything I learned doesn’t make a difference anymore. Jonathan is the only person I have left—which is why I’m not resting until I figure out what happened to him and how to help him.”

  Matthew studied her for a while, shaking his head slowly. “You know, getting involved in this kind of work after you’ve been tied up in the Academy is probably dangerous. You don’t want to lose your standing with the Society.”

  Jayna kept her face neutral. How would Matthew react if she were to tell him that she is a Toral? He might not even recognize the term, and might not know what it meant. The only thing he might understand was that she had left the Academy.

  Would he understand if she told him she had started chasing dark magic? Would he think it was something beyond her capability?

  It was why she kept that to herself most of the time. Not only that, but Ceran had made it clear that sharing details of her work as a Toral was forbidden—and sharing that he was Sul’toral was forbidden.

  When—or if—she found her brother, she wondered what Jonathan would think of what she had done. Maybe it was easier for her to claim that she was part of the Society. Maybe it was easier for her to stay bound up within that, and to use that knowledge to her advantage.

  “I’m still going to help him. I’m not leaving Jonathan imprisoned somewhere, if that’s what’s happened to him.”

  Matthew watched her. “If you ever make your way back to Istanal, there’s someone there who might know a little bit more.”

  Jayna hadn’t been int the city of Istanal in a long time. “How do you know this?”

  “Rumors, mostly. I haven’t dug into them, not much, at least, but those rumors are there. I figure there has to be some meat to them, and that they’re not just bones, but I still haven’t gone looking.”

  “This is Jonathan we’re talking about.”

  Was this Matthew’s way of telling her something he wasn’t supposed to? When it came to him—and her brother—she didn’t know. They had their own secretive way of working together.

  “It is,” he said softly. “But I don’t know what I would do if I found out there was something I could have done and didn’t.”

  “You’d rather just pretend there isn’t anything you can do now?”

  He looked up, locking eyes with her. “I’d rather just do what the two of us agreed to. If I found out too much, I know what I would end up doing.”

  Jayna just shook her head. “I can’t ignore the possibility that I might be able to help him. You were his best friend.” />
  “I still am,” Matthew said softly. He pulled the tray of food toward him and began picking at it, taking a bite of the meat, nodding to himself. “Not bad.”

  Jayna ate in silence, starting with the meat, moving on to the vegetables, and leaving the bread for last. When she was done, she rolled up the bread in the napkin and stuffed it into her pocket. She could return the napkin later.

  She watched Matthew eating; he had a ravenous look as he devoured his food. How long had it been since he had a good meal?

  “What about you?” she asked him.

  “What about me?”

  “Are you well enough?”

  Matthew flashed a smile. “You don’t have to worry about me, Jayna. I can take care of myself.”

  “I don’t mean like that.”

  He sniffed. “When your brother disappeared, it gave me a chance to look into a few things. I . . . Well, I figure I’m going to chase down some information I’ve been avoiding.”

  “What sort of information?”

  Matthew took a long drink of his ale, then set it back down. “The sort I don’t like to talk about.”

  Jayna watched him for a moment before shaking her head. “I could help. I have resources.”

  He smiled to himself before finishing his ale and pushing the tray and the mug away. “I know you’d like to, but I doubt there’s anything that anybody in the Society would be able to do to help me. Anyway, this is the sort of thing I need to do on my own. I don’t know if you could or should help me at all.”

  She nodded. She understood.

  “How long are you going to be in Nelar?” Jayna asked.

  “Not all that long. You?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure. Hopefully not too much longer.”

  “You don’t care for Nelar?”

  “There are elements to it that I like, but there are parts of the city I’m not terribly fond of,” Jayna said.

  “It’s like that anywhere you go,” he said.

  “I don’t know. It feels like it’s more prominent here.”

  “Of course it does,” he said. “You’re at the edge of the city, along the outskirts. Your magic is not the most potent type of magic out here.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “There are all sorts of powers in the world, Jayna. Sorcery is but one of them.” He smiled. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time wandering since losing your brother, it’s that sorcery is not even the most powerful magic. Why else do you think the king made such a point of pushing out the El’aras?”

  “It’s not just the El’aras,” Jayna said softly.

  Matthew watched her, looking as if he wanted to ask her something more, before nodding slowly and getting to his feet. “It was great to see you, Jayna. Be careful.”

  “You, as well.”

  Matthew regarded her for another moment before stepping out of the tavern, leaving Jayna sitting there alone. It didn’t take long before Robert strode over, taking a seat in front of her.

  “Is he really an old friend?”

  Jayna nodded slowly. “I’ve known him for almost my whole life. I never would’ve expected to see him here, though.”

  “What’s he doing here?”

  “If I know him, something dangerous.” She turned away from the door, looking to Robert. “If you hear anything about him, would you pass word to me?”

  “You think to protect him, too?”

  “I don’t know. Given the kind of thing he is likely bound up in, he might need help and not even realize it yet.”

  Robert grinned. “I’ll pass on whatever I learn. You certainly do keep interesting company.”

  “You have no idea.” She pulled the charred remains of the enchantment out of her pocket, and set it on the table. “Does this look familiar? Did you see this last night?”

  “Not that,” Robert said.

  Jayna reached for it, but Robert tapped on it.

  “He didn’t have one like that, but he did have something similar.” He shrugged. “Ever since the attack, I haven’t been as connected to the dular as I once was. I don’t know if I could even help you as I once would’ve been able to. I probably would have known exactly who made an enchantment like that.”

  “You would have?”

  “That was my ability, such as it was. I couldn’t make a whole lot of enchantments, but I could certainly feel the presence of one, and I would know anything about it. Not that it served me all that well. I had plenty of people trying to draw me into their work, but I enjoyed my tavern.” He got to his feet, tapping the back of the chair. “Be careful out there, Jayna. If you come back tonight, I’ll try to have something different on the menu for you. You’ve been eating here a lot.”

  “You’re a good cook, Robert.”

  He smiled. “Aw, that’s awfully nice of you to say. Now if you would only spread the word and get me a bit more business, I would appreciate it.”

  “You were busy enough last night.”

  “That’s ale. Not as much coin in ale. I need to sell food. I need to get people in here—eating, leaving, you know. The full spectrum of business.”

  Jayna chuckled. “I’ll pass the word on.”

  She tucked the enchantment back into her pocket, finished her ale, and got to her feet. She needed to find Rosal. To do that, she was going to need Topher’s help.

  She didn't think Raollet was involved, not anymore, but that didn't mean that some follower of Gabranth didn't lurk in the city wanting revenge for what she and Eva had done. In fact, she wouldn’t dare put it past any dark sorcerer.

  As she left the tavern, she had a sense that somebody watched her, but she couldn’t tell. If Matthew were out there, following her, then she would give him a boring chase.

  She took the long way back home, wandering along the outskirts of the city, meandering between buildings and some ruins, before eventually making her way back to the home. The sense that somebody had followed her soon faded, then was gone altogether.

  It had to be Matthew.

  When that feeling left, she felt a bit bittersweet about it. Knowing that Matthew was in the city made her feel better, for whatever reason. Maybe it was just having that familiarity, knowing there was somebody here who knew her, even a little bit, or maybe it was tied to the fact he knew her brother, and she still wanted to do everything in her power to figure out what happened to him. Either way, she wondered if there might be something she could do to help Matthew.

  Maybe not directly. Matthew wouldn’t allow that. Still, if she could figure out what he was doing in the city, she may be able to help. That would make her feel a little better, and make her feel like she was doing her part to help Jonathan.

  6

  When she arrived home, she paused just inside the door.

  Eva rested on the chair next to the hearth, and once again it was crackling with a hot intensity, the fire burning brightly, as it often did when Eva was here. Conversely, it burned down quickly when she was gone, though she wondered if Eva had controlled it with her magic, or if the fire went out simply because nobody was there to tend it. Matthew’s conversation stuck with her. There were other kinds of power in the world.

  It was a strange thing for him to acknowledge. She’d always seen Matthew as a thief, and given that he spent time with her brother, she believed he was a skilled one, but that didn’t mean he would understand power.

  What if he really knew something more than he let on about her brother? It would be just like Matthew and Jonathan, she told herself, to keep secrets like that to themselves.

  Maybe while Matthew was in the city, she would have to keep tabs on him.

  Jayna pushed those thoughts away.

  The fact that Matthew was in the city only complicated things for her. He knew who she was in the past, and he knew about her connections to the Academy, but more than that, he also believed she was still attending the Academy. If she ran into him again, she would have to at least pretend she was still
working with the Academy, and not doing anything else.

  She passed through the main room and stopped in the entrance to her bedroom.

  Topher was there, placing some pebbles into the wall, smoothing out the surface. He glanced over to her, grinning when she entered. “There you are,” he said. “I’ve been working on this, trying to help as much as I can.”

  “I’m not so sure that patching the wall with pebbles is the way to go,” she said.

  Topher turned his attention back to the wall and shrugged. “Maybe not, but you still had some holes in it. I figured that between some stones I found and whatever power you put into it, we can fully close this off so you don’t have to worry about anybody attacking you.”

  “I’m not terribly concerned that somebody might attack me again,” she said.

  “You may not be, but I am.” He shrugged again. “I don’t want something to happen to you, Jayna.”

  She shook her head, breathing out a sigh of irritation. “I don’t need you to watch over me, Topher. I have enough skill and ability to do it on my own.”

  “Of course you do. I was just trying to do whatever I could in order to help you, but . . .” He lowered his hands. He had two fistfuls of pebbles.

  Jayna let out a frustrated groan. She needed to be more careful with Topher. This was what had changed for him.

  Robert’s injury following the attack was obvious, but it wasn’t nearly as apparent with Topher. He had changed, she was certain of it, but not in a way she could see. Instead, it was evident every time she talked to him, in the way he reacted to her, and in how he acted, almost as if he were a little bit off.

  She would need to ask Char if there was anything that could be done to help him.

  “I’m sorry, Topher. You’ve been doing great work. I appreciate everything you’ve done to help make sure the wall is restored. I just don’t know how much you can do to help this. The wall needs more than just pebbles. It needs . . .”

  What it needed was something she didn’t necessarily have.

  It needed time, patience, and somebody with the expertise to create the right enchantments to place over the wall to secure it in place, and to ensure it didn’t break through. It needed a true sorcerer, not somebody like herself.