by Jane Glatt
“She’s very determined. Helping us will put you in danger.”
“What I have seen with my own eyes makes me believe that you are worth it,” the Seyoyan replied.
Kara peered towards Mage Guild Island. They were far enough away that she could no longer make out the figure that must still be standing at the edge. Purple mage mist sped their way twice more, but she easily deflected it. The mist seemed less dense, but was it because her mother was depleting her magic or was she sending different spells? Thankfully no other Mages joined in the attack. Had Valerio Valendi been her mother’s only ally? Would the Mage Guild leave them alone? No, she’d killed the Mage Secundus, the guild could not allow that to go unpunished.
ARABELLA CLUTCHED HER fists to her side and watched as the small boat pulled into the shadow of a ship. Seyoyans. She’d need to talk to Rorik about this. The thieving foreigners could not be allowed to steal the girl and the Assassin away from her. Her eyes narrowed. Seyoyans were closer to Warrior Guild than any other—even the Merchants who sailed to their lands—could this ship have been waiting for them? Was this why they’d come south—away from any bridges or ferries?
“They’re gone,” she said to the guard still at her side. “I must return to the council. There is much for me to do.”
She looked towards the centre of Mage Guild Island. The sun sparkled on the now quiet bell tower. She wished Rorik had waited for her return before having them rung—now the news was known. The Secundus was dead, and no doubt her fellow council-members were already scheming. She had to get to Rorik now—had to make herself absolutely necessary to him.
She took a deep breath. Her magic was depleted, but she would have to find the energy to hurry. She rushed down the street, the guard trailing her. At a crossroad, she slowed.
Let them wait for her. She was the one who’d been trying to avenge Valerio’s death, she was the one who had been closest to him—she was the one who had been with Rorik when he received the terrible news of Valerio’s death. And she was the one with information about his killers. She would make them all wait for her—make them realize that nothing would happen until she was ready.
She calmed as the guard fell in behind her. It would have been better—so much better—if she’d been able to tell them that she’d avenged Valerio—that she’d killed his murderers. She smiled—and so she would.
She turned onto a lane that led towards the edge of the island. No one was around—every Guildsman had responded to the summons of the bell. After travelling a few minutes she felt some of her power returning. Just enough to allow her to suck the breath out of her companion. She let him fall—she’d blame his death on the girl and the Assassin—no one would know anything different.
Arabella tousled her hair and ripped her skirt before heading towards the centre of the island.
She’d arrive disheveled and alone—but victorious. The fugitives had managed to kill the guards, but she’d been able to force them to jump into the sea to try to escape her attack. She had waited until she was certain they’d drowned before returning to report to the council.
Once she was Secundus, she would have the political power to find the Seyoyan ship and take it apart.
THE DORY SLOWED, and Kara peered over her shoulder. They were less than ten feet from the side of the ship.
A rope ladder was lowered, and the Seyoyan in the prow of the dory seized it. Kara grabbed the Seyoyan’s outstretched hand, and he pulled her over to the ladder. Reo was right behind her, steadying her as she gripped the rope rungs. She scrambled up, and the dark-skinned hands of Seyoyans helped her over the gunwale. She took a shaky step, then another, and then Reo was at her side again, pulling her into his warmth.
“I will take you to a cabin,” the Seyoyan said. “And I will have a healer look at your leg.”
Kara followed the Seyoyan through a small wooden door and down some steep steps, clutching at the thick rope railing as the ship pitched and rolled. The Seyoyan opened another small door and gestured for her to enter.
“In the cabinet, you will find dry clothes that should fit well enough,” the Seyoyan said. “Although they are not very fashionable.”
She plucked her bedraggled trousers and blouse. “They can’t be worse than what I have on.”
“Now we shall see to your friend,” the Seyoyan said.
Kara had a brief glimpse of Reo’s wan face before the door closed.
The room was small and quiet. A narrow bunk stretched across the far wall, a grey woolen blanket carefully folded and placed on one end of it. The only other piece of furniture was the cabinet. It was tucked along the wall to the left of the door, directly across from a small round window. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out a pair of soft black trousers, so worn in spots that the fabric showed grey, and a long green shirt that had been patched many times with neat, compact stitches.
With numb hands, she stripped off her wet clothes and tugged the black trousers on, threading the damp rope through the belt loops to keep them up. She sighed as the dry, green shirt slid over her damp skin.
Kara piled her wet clothes into the corner by the door and barefoot, padded over to the bunk. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, tucked her feet under her, and leaned against the cabin wall.
She should be worried. Reo was gone, and these Seyoyans were strangers. For all the time she’d spent with Chal, she didn’t know very much about his people—their politics, their loyalties. All she really knew was that they had elaborate customs surrounding stealing—and that she was grateful that they’d agreed to help.
The Seyoyan had seen what she could do with mage mist, with magic—and he wanted to know more. Which meant that Chal hadn’t told them about her. Would they know of Reo? That he worked with a Seyoyan? Would they help him because of that history, or would they try to keep him from her so they could find out what else she could do?
She pulled the blanket tighter. She’d see Reo again—he’d taken his vow to save her very seriously. They’d have to kill him to keep him from her—which would not be easy—so she would see him.
And then what? If she asked, would they take her to Seyoya? Her mother would be glad to see the last of her, although Kara thought she’d rather see her daughter dead than gone. Did she want to go to Seyoya? It had been one of her mother’s suggestions—to live in another country and teach. Now that she could speak Seyoyan, she really could do that. But did she want to?
There was a sharp knock at the door.
“Kara, it’s me,” Reo called. “May I come in?”
“Yes.”
He ducked through the doorway, closing the door behind him, and crossed the small space to stand in front of her.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Fine,” she replied. The blanket slipped a little, and she pulled it back up. “A little cold still.”
“That should pass soon.” Reo sat down on the bunk beside her.
For a moment she thought he would wrap his arms around her, but then he dropped his hands to his thighs and looked away.
“Are we safe?” Kara asked. “How’s your leg?”
Reo stretched his left leg out. “Good.” He met her gaze. “We’re safer than I’d hoped. The Seyoyan who plucked us from the bay is in charge.”
“Is he the ship’s captain?”
“No, but Javan Losi can see magic.”
“Like Chal,” Kara said.
“Like Chal,” Reo agreed. “That talent is a little more rare and important than I knew.”
“Chal kept things from you.”
“So it seems.” Reo gave her a crooked smile. “But I kept things from him as well.”
She laughed. Of course he had. Reo didn’t trust his own guild, of course he wouldn’t trust a Seyoyan. For the first time since they’d been pulled from the water, she felt as though they might actually have a real chance to be safe.
“What did Javan Losi have to say about me?”
“Not very much,” Reo said. “I think he�
��s going to ask you himself. We’re to wait here for something to eat and drink, and then he’ll come see us.”
“Are we prisoners?”
“Not exactly,” Reo said. “I think Javan Losi has already decided that he will help us. I think he wants as few witnesses to our rescue as possible because they’ll have to answer Mage Guild’s questions.”
“Mage Guild will ask them,” Kara said. Her mother would not give up so easily.
“The Mage Guild Secundus was killed,” Reo said softly. “They will ask.”
She shuddered and huddled into her blanket. She hadn’t meant to kill Valerio Valendi, she’d only been protecting Reo, but he was dead, and by her hand. Mage Guild would put all of their considerable power behind the search for Valendi’s killer.
“Maybe I should go to Seyoya,” she mused out loud.
“If that’s what you want, then we can ask the Seyoyans,” Reo replied in a tight voice.
When she looked over at him, he was staring down at his bare feet.
“It’s not what I want,” she said. “But it may be the best way to stay alive.”
Reo gazed into her eyes. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do my best to make it happen. I owe you so much, Kara, I’ve done you so many wrongs, let me try to make things right.”
Reo’s eyes held such sorrow and regret that she found she couldn’t look away. She took a deep breath.
“I want what I’ve always wanted. A place I can call home with people who I consider family. For me that’s Old Rillidi with Santos and Vook and Pilo and the rest of them.”
Reo smiled and squeezed her shoulder beneath the blanket. “Then that’s what I’ll get for you,” he said.
She frowned and shook her head. How was that possible when she’d killed the Mage Guild Secundus?
Chapter twenty-three
FOOD ARRIVED—A spicy fish soup that warmed her to her toes and dry journey bread that she and Reo soaked in the soup to soften. After eating, her eyes drooped. She barely noticed when Reo took her mug from her and helped her stretch out on the bunk.
She woke to murmurs. She opened her eyes and yawned, covering her mouth with the blanket. Reo’s eyes darted in her direction, and his mouth twitched in a soft smile.
“Ah, you are awake.”
Again the Seyoyan spoke Tregellan. He smiled broadly at her, his light blue eyes contrasting with his dark skin. His white hair was cropped short, and a gold chain dangled from his right earlobe.
“I hope you are comfortable.”
He took a step towards her, but Reo blocked his path. The Seyoyan shook his head.
“Where are my manners? I am Javan Losi, at your service.” He bowed, and Kara pulled herself up to a sitting position.
“Javan Losi,” she repeated. “Hello,” she said in Seyoyan. “I am Kara, and I owe you a great deal of thanks.”
“In Tregellan please,” Javan said. “Most of the crew does not speak it.”
He glanced at Reo, who smiled, a tight, warning smile, and stepped aside. Javan crossed the floor to stand by the bunk.
“The fewer who know you are here the better.”
“Didn’t they see me come aboard?” Kara asked.
“They saw someone, yes,” Javan said. “We will tell them it was the Assassin.”
“Yes,” Reo agreed. “That should work.” He looked at her. “Warrior Guild will protect me. I will tell them that it was a commission.” Reo smiled slowly. “Let Mage Guild prove it wasn’t.”
“My mother knows we came aboard your ship,” Kara said. “She won’t stop looking for me.”
“No, she won’t,” Reo agreed. “But Mage Guild will, if they believe you are dead.” He looked at Javan. “If the Seyoyans all swear that only I came aboard and I swear that you drowned, Mage Guild will have to stop their search.”
“But you must make it worth my while,” Javan said. “Lying to Mages carries considerable risk.”
“You would have the satisfaction of knowing that you had stolen something of great value from Mage Guild,” Kara said. “Would that not be a great reward?”
Javan’s blond eyebrows arched up, and he smiled. “And what would I have helped to steal from them?”
“Me,” Kara said. “I’m Mage Guild born, but I ran away. They want me back. The guild doesn’t understand what I am, what I can do, but my mother, Arabella Fonti, does.”
“And what is it that you can do?” Javan asked.
“I see magic.” Kara nodded at him. “Like you. But I can also manipulate it. I can divert it, as you saw, I can send it back to its source, as Mage Guild Secundus discovered too late—and I can unmake spells.”
“Unmake spells?” Javan repeated. “How?”
“It depends on the spell,” Kara said. She wasn’t about to admit she didn’t understand her talent, not with so much at stake. “Some I simply touch and they disappear, others I need to unwind slowly.” She looked up at Javan and then over at Reo. “Given enough time, I think I could unmake Mage Guild Island.”
Javan sucked in his breath. Slowly a smile spread across his face. “Kara, daughter of Arabella Fonti, you are indeed a worthwhile prize to be stolen from Mage Guild. I will help. My crew will be saddened to hear that a young woman perished before we could reach her, that the Assassin was the only one we were able to pull from the sea.”
“Mage Guild will use magic to question them,” Reo said. “Will they be able to resist?”
“No, of course not,” Javan said. “This is why the few men who know she is aboard will leave the ship as soon as possible. As for me, I will be able to dodge the spells, and thus my lie will seem like truth.” He regarded Reo. “Will you be able to resist?”
“No,” Reo said. “I will make sure that they do not question me.” He looked directly at Kara. “I promised that you would be safe no matter the cost to me. If they come for me, I will kill myself.”
Kara frowned. “Gyda! Will you stop staying things like that? We’ll get a spell to counteract anything Mage Guild uses on you. Besides, it would look suspicious if you died right before being questioned.” She glared at Reo.
He blushed and ducked his head.
“I want to stay dead this time.”
“I doubt any Mages will be willing to go against their guild so directly,” Javan said. His amused gaze swept between Kara and Reo. “And you say that you have been dead before.”
“Yes,” Kara said. “Until a few days ago Mage Guild and my mother thought I was dead.” She tugged on the blanket. “And all of us were very happy with that situation.”
“I see,” Javan said.
He nodded his head, but Kara could still see questions in his eyes.
“But that still doesn’t help you buy or coerce a Mage to go against their guild.”
“Then we won’t ask anyone in the guild,” Kara replied. “Can you take us to Old Rillidi? There’s an old manor house at the northeast tip.” She smiled at Reo. “Santos will help.”
Reo nodded, and his shoulders relaxed.
JAVAN LEFT TO give his crew instructions, and Kara sat on the bunk, leaning against the wall. Reo stood by the door, his body stiff, as though he was expecting her to order him out of the room.
They would leave the ship after dark, Javan had said. In just a few hours, she would be back on Old Rillidi Island with Santos, Pilo, and Vook. Would they be happy to see her? Would she be welcome at the little cabin? After months of living in her own suite of rooms on Warrior Guild Island, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to share that small space with all the children.
“I forgive you,” she said.
Reo shrugged. “I have not forgiven myself.”
“I’m at fault as well,” Kara said. “I should have told you who my mother was.” She shook her head. “Especially after Noula saw me at Founders Day.”
“It is not your fault,” Reo said, his eyes boring into hers. “It was my doing.”
“Why did you do it?” Kara asked softly. “Why did you take me to see the wo
man who wanted you to kill me?”
Reo ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I was not thinking clearly,” he said finally, staring at the floor. “I was angry—furious—and I reacted.” He smiled ruefully. “Assassins are taught to perform without emotion because emotions get in the way of reason, as I found out. Somehow I thought that taking you to see the woman who wanted you dead would prove how much you needed me.”
“Because I refused to go along with your plans,” Kara said.
“Yes. But you also refused me.” Reo met her eyes and looked quickly away. “I told myself that bedding you was necessary in order to reinforce our story and keep us both safe. But the truth is I desperately wanted you. You were willing to do anything within your power to keep those you care about safe. I’ve never in my life had anyone willing to fight for me in that way. I wanted that for myself.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “I am sorry.”
Kara was the first to look away. The yearning in Reo’s eyes was disconcerting. Was that because she had wanted what he had offered that night? Did she still want it?
“I know you’re sorry,” she said. “And I did do anything within my power to keep you safe.” She met his eyes again. “I killed a man for you.”
His face froze, and he hurried to her side.
“Gyda,” he said. He sat down on the bunk and wrapped her in his arms. “I forgot. And you are not used to killing.”
Kara leaned into him and closed her eyes. “I can still see him,” she said. “I can still smell him.” Would she always be haunted by the smell of burnt flesh? A part of her wished she’d listened to Reo and not looked, even though she felt it was necessary to acknowledge what she had done.
“It’s not something you forget,” Reo murmured. “I still remember the first man I killed. All Assassins do. At least all the ones I’ve talked to.”
“I don’t want to remember,” she said. “I want it out of my head. He was my mother’s lover—the father of my unborn half brother or sister.”
“And he was trying to kill us,” Reo said. “You saved me, saved us both.”