by Pam Uphoff
"Okay . . . You and you, hold here, above the hock and pull while I . . . " Wolfson ordered the assistants around. He sounded absorbed, his hands on the stifle joint, the first joint down from the hip. A faint crunch; the lumpy joint changed shape. "There we go. Now the hock. You two hold up there . . . Captain, if you could help the doctor pull . . . "
Staven shifted around to the doctor's right side so he could get his left hand around the horse's . . . not shin bone, although it looked much the same. Staven tried to think of his physiology lessons, not the horrible damage. The cannon bone of the horse was made up of the fused equivalent of the foot bones. The hock joint was the ankle and heel . . . he felt through his grip the joint click into place.
"Excellent, now the tendon."
"Can you actually heal it? How do you keep it in place long enough to heal? Do you understand the tension it's under?" The vet sounded like he couldn't decide whether to be outraged, delighted, or just faint.
Personally, I'm ready to go for "faint."
"Yes." Wolfson ran his hands over the horse's . . . gluteus muscle. It sagged, utterly limp. "Now, let's flex the stifle joint, straighten the hock and find both ends of the tendon . . . what a mess."
As far as Staven could tell he just sat there, his hands in the wound . . . Staven blinked as bright light flooded the stall. He glanced aside to see who had opened a window . . . but there was none.
He's glowing. He's glowing so brightly it hurts. Why didn't I see that before?
"I shield it, most of the time." The glow was dimming. Dying.
I didn't say that aloud.
The vet shifted uneasily. "Shield what? It looked like the tendon melted together. Is it truly healed?"
"No. It'll take a good six months to finish healing. But I've rushed the start far enough along that it should hold together, just lazing around a stall. I'll keep him sleeping while we finish up. How's your stitchery, Doc?"
The vet perked up at the thought of a familiar task.
Wolfson eased back and thumped down against the stall wall. He looked exhausted. Nodded. "It's been a busy few days." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.
Staven got out of the way of the vet and his assistants, now armed with needles and thread. He scowled down at Wolfson. "Thank you . . . Mind you, you're still a suspect."
The lieutenant's mouth quirked up. "God, you're stubborn."
Staven sighed. Admitted the truth. "No. I'm terrified. You're the only suspect that I don't give a fig about. I can't stand thinking that Garit could have done this. That he's in Ash so often, probably sees Mihaela all the time . . . could have suborned her into an assassination plot. Oh. And I hate you because Mihaela trusts you."
Xen snorted. "That nice little witch? I barely know her. If I was going to need a witch's help . . . no, couldn't recruit my sister, she'd snitch and then my dad would come knock some sense into my head. And Jade's gone, but her sisters might not worry about legalities . . . But they're kind of whiney. Umm, sorry, but if I ever go loopy in an ambitious and bloody fashion, I'll be doing it solo."
Staven growled. "She trusts you."
Wolfson started grinning. "Ah, I see. Jealous. Have no fear, I run from witches, and the only one I wish would show some interest is more likely to kill me than kiss me." His grin widened. "Do you realize that witches do, very rarely, get married?"
Staven blinked. Mihaela's mother married, but that was before she'd ever met any other witches. And one of Lord Hell's daughters . . . And I won't even be the Sword Heir much longer. So no reason a . . . crippled . . . ex-soldier . . . Oh damn it all.
Two weeks ago, I was ready to resign. Ready to have Rebo unwillingly removed from his position. I never thought about what I would do later.
I suppose I just assumed I'd be an army officer.
Well. It's about time I started thinking about the future.
He turned away from Wolfson and crouched down beside Devil's head. Stroked him with his left hand. Like Uncle Day said, if we're not sound, we'll find something else to do.
But first I'm going to find the people who killed Rebo.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Winter 1393, day 17
Crossroads, Section 1, Foothills Province
Quicksilver didn't dare use magic to spy on them. And she couldn't get very close, either. It was frustrating. She'd brought in more horses, to help explain any glow she might leak. But if she moved in closer, the difference between a human glow and an equine one would be obvious.
If Ricardo really was strong enough to be warped into some sort of new god, she really needed to not be detected.
Ricardo did indeed come on horseback, an elegant thing, a bit spindly. Looked young enough to be one of the statue yearlings. Teri had taken a bottle of wine, and doped it from the vet kit before she slipped out. After she had thrown herself at Ricardo, and been repulsed, she made a big show of making up to the horse, and giving it a huge dose of wine in a tin pail.
She chattered nonstop, infuriatingly just low enough that Quicksilver couldn't catch what she was saying. At one point Ricardo did snap around and ask about some of it, and reading body language, Quicksilver rather thought Teri went coy and used the information to drag some attention out of the man.
He undressed her and took her, with so much response from her that Quicksilver wondered if there really was a spell of continuous orgasm on the girl. Not that she'd ever heard of such a thing, but . . .
Movement ceased and the breathy chatty tones returned.
They competed a bit with some horsey snorts and squeals as the new horses moved in to check out the strange horse. Quicksilver gritted her teeth and kept quiet. There was clanging and competition about the tin pail and Quicksilver informed herself that she was not going to blow a major stakeout over some mares getting bred, no matter how infuriating. No matter how many of her mares he mounted. It wasn't like she'd be driving Ten around that much, hadn't ridden any of the others in weeks . . . but Galena wasn't quite two. And Nil was going to get sarcastic about the fillies she'd borrowed from him.
When the new horse chased the three other males off, Ricardo cursed, and she could feel the mental compulsion he used to bring his horse back.
"Bloody hell. Just what I needed. A randy stallion." He irritably readjusted the saddle, and mounted. "Behave or I'll turn you into a mare. I know how it's done." He rode off without a glance for the girl.
Teri watched him out of sight, then slunk homeward.
Quicksilver shifted around the hill, cursing her equine children under her breath, and watching Ricardo, checking his path. Pretty much due west. He corridored, and she picked up a faint echo, still west, about fifty miles. So. They had a good idea of where he was. Could they catch him? Kill him? Or did they need to wait and find his friends.
:: Easterly? He corridored to the west. Should we follow? :: The poor man was laying out in the grass two miles to the west. What she got in return was an unvocalized mishmash. Exasperation, irritation, disgust . . . The telepathic equivalent of a suppressed curse.
:: You watch Teri. I'll check out the corridor. ::
Herc came up, looking for sympathy, Jack and Hornet trailing behind. None of them had gotten into the wine, so there hadn't been much of a fight with the new horse. Two geldings and one suppressed two year old. They got the sympathy, then she tracked down the rest of the horses and found them flirting with the Old Dun. She'd locked him in the barn, to prevent any stallion rivalries when Teri doped Ricardo's new horse, but he'd let himself out.
"Damn it fillies, you're too young, and Galena, the old boy is your grandfather." She scolded them and then had to get ropes and halters to drag the fillies away. She locked them in stalls.
"Dun. Leave. Them. Alone." The old stallion waggled his ears innocently. Quicksilver sighed, and left Ten, Cat, and Stripy out to distract him, and walked home.
Teri was looking smug, with a glass of wine in hand. "Did you find Harry?"
"Yes. Sor
ry to leave you alone all evening. Beats me why I worry about the God of Travelers wandering off."
"Humph. I don't see why a Real God would want to work so hard. I want to live in a city. Probably Karista."
Quicksilver nodded. "I like Karista. Kind of expensive, though. How are you at metal working? We've just concentrated on triad exercises, I didn't mean to neglect the other parts of your training."
"I'm about as good as a Half Moon can get with metal." Teri smirked at the glass of wine and sipped. "You really ought to advance. That shield spell I showed you will help. So many men don't want babies, they've all started using that haploid spell, to avoid feeling responsible. They're telling each other about it and soon every wizard will know it. They don't seem to realize that we women need babies to advance."
Quicksilver made a noncommittal sound. "Since you've advanced, you could easily earn a living making jewelry or other things with a high value for the effort involved. You could really clean up if you combined that with doing your own mining for gold and semi-precious stones. I understand that gets tons easier after childbirth." Quicksilver grimaced. "I seem to intimidate men."
"They just want sex. It's easy." Teri sounded a bit pleased to have found a chink in Quicksilver's perfection. "Especially the ordinary men. And really, with the Wine it doesn't matter. It fixes all the incompatibilities between ordinary chromosomes and the ones with the magic insertions. I heard Lady Gisele say that witches and mages used to be lucky to have any children at all. On average, the first few generations of magic exiles had less than a quarter the number of children as the normal exiles."
Quicksilver eyed the girl. "You have a perfect memory, don't you?"
Teri smirked. "Yes. I have lessons for every level of ability stored away, until I'm ready to try them. I'm practicing all the Half Moon exercises, whether Answer thinks I'm ready for them or not. You could too, if you had a baby."
"Yeah. Well, after I've finished college, maybe I'll have time for a baby."
"When I have a little boy, he'll be a lovely quiet child." Teri smiled and sipped.
Quicksilver nodded. "Yeah, and Answer will skin you alive if she finds out you had a boy on purpose. And whatever for?"
Teri eyed her. "The magic potential. Don't you think you ought to choose a God? One of the new ones? I mean, Kipp is right here, and you know Orion and Korbin. I know you don't like Ricardo or Eternal." She snickered. "Or is the problem that they don't measure up to Xen?"
Quicksilver gritted her teeth, but refrained from slapping her down. Information is more important. "Eww! My brother? I don't think so!"
Teri snickered. "Does it matter, when all the problem genes are fixed? You should put on an illusion and seduce him. What he doesn't know, won't hurt you."
"Umm, no. Eventually I'll have a daughter for further advancement. What more does a witch need?"
Teri sipped her wine and smiled. "Whatever it takes to be a goddess?"
***
"Another meeting. I hope Easterly has found something out."
Poor Markly was still bravely following at his heels. The boy had been so appalled by Devil's injuries he hadn't watched Wolfson's magical healing. Passe, on the other hand, had. He spotted Wolfson and moved to stand where he had clear sight of him. They eased into Wacolm's conference room. Staven sat, Markly and Passe occupied wall space.
Easterly was talking. "Ricardo's corridor just opens out to more grassy hills. But there was enough snow on the ground to track him to another corridor. But this time it let out a few steps from a road. Two miles from the Jalasi's home farm."
Staven drummed his fingers. "So there's—possibly—the boss. We'll need surveillance, find out if he has more people than we've seen." He didn't look down the table at Wolfson. Kept his attention on Easterly. "I wonder if you are right about this mage compass thing. If they need eight men . . . we're short two names." Now he turned slightly and looked at Wolfson.
Son of a bitch was trying to not grin. He doesn't care if I suspect him, damn it.
Wolfson's expression flattened. "We've got five men locked up, so we could be missing three men, two, if Rebo could work with them. I've checked Art's Museum twice, no sign of anyone else moving around in it. Pity. I'd rather hoped we could link Ricardo to him." Xen steepled his fingers. "But Ricardo . . . May I rope in some magical help and try to ambush him if he comes back tonight?"
Janic bit his lip, then slowly nodded. "Yes. We're getting nowhere as it is. Try to take him alive. Let me know if he doesn't show. I'd rather hit him in the open, but if he won't give us the opportunity, I'll arrange a party to hit the Jalasi's. Don't twitch, you lot. Yes, we'll hang back and let the magically talented go in first."
Staven nodded to himself. Get the killer and finally find out who hired Rebo's assassination.
Chapter Thirty
Winter 1393, day 17
Crossroads, Section 1, Foothills Province
Xen shivered on the frozen ground. I almost wish he wouldn't come tonight! This cold front is inconvenient, to say the least.
They were hidden all over the hill. Every soldier who was powerful enough to not be completely helpless against Ricardo, powerful enough to hide from magical detection, plus Quicksilver. Six of us. Xen thought. And that might be enough to let us capture him, keep him under control. I should have recruited people in Ash . . . should have worried less about word that I was recruiting a magical team getting to Teri, or through someone else getting to Ricardo, because I really don't know that I can trust all those randy witches, when someone as attractive and manipulative as Ricardo is involved.
::He's coming.:: The Old Dun was grazing peacefully on the crest of the hill, the look-out no one would notice. Pyrite was to the southeast, to watch for anyone coming from that direction.
A group of mares grazed to their north. A lure to Ricardo's horse. Probably a waste of time, given Ricardo's ability to travel.
Quicksilver was tasked to raise a physical shield to keep Ricardo trapped, and a mental shield to keep his friends from knowing what had happened. The traveling . . . all they could do was keep him too busy to concentrate, hit him with a sleep or stun spell.
And their bait was here. Unaware of the people lying in wait in the tall grass, Teri walked up the hill.
Past Dominic and Jeff; the two mages he had found in the Army were barely trained. But they could conceal their thoughts, with mental shields that ought to be able to deflect some spells.
Teri walked between Deena and Easterly. Not stopping where she'd met Ricardo the night before. Now she was walking between Xen and Quicksilver.
A rider crested the hill, and Teri stopped.
Ricardo dismounted and left his horse loose, strolled over to Teri, a frown gathering on his face.
"Isn't it great? I took right away! I love being pregnant!" She started chattering immediately. "He'll be such a good little boy! I just. . ."
"This? This you thought was important enough to bother me today? I am too busy to worry about you and your baby obsession." He pulled out of her fumbling grip as he backpedaled, turning.
Teri lunged for Ricardo. "No! You know I love you. I won't let you go."
Ricardo's head jerked around, scanning the slope of the hill.
Damn, he's spotted us.
Ricardo shoved Teri aside, right hand going for his sword, left pulling back, ready to throw a spell. He spotted the first movement Xen made, and threw a spell before Xen had even stood up.
Not a fireball or slice, nothing he'd expected from Ricardo. The spell blew past his physical and mental shields. It dropped him flat, and Ricardo laughed. "I learned that one from you, Xen. Oh, my. The Goddess of Mercy. I laughed my ass off."
My genetic transformation spell, maybe with a few extras attached to it. He flicked a glance down hill to where the other four were coming out of concealment. If they were throwing spells, Xen couldn't see them. Couldn't see Ricardo's shield. Knew that he himself was bare-assed naked to anything Ricardo wanted to do.
I really really hope that my spell didn't mess up the other power genes. Which are quite similar to the witch gene.
Ricardo advanced on Xen. "I must run, big date at the Council Hall, you know? But I can spare a moment to do something I've wanted to do for such a long time." He grinned and spread his arms, sword in one hand. "Go on. Strike, oh master swordsman! Xen, who no one can beat! I'll give you the first thrust, so no one can say I took advantage of your condition."
A memory from a long time ago, Ras's words to his mother, when he asked her to alter his genes, to give him the power gene he lacked. I can do magic. I just don't have an exterior source of power.
Xen had, perhaps, one chance.
He didn't have to see a shield to know it was there. A physical shield piercing spell, concentrated on the tiny tip of his blade. He lunged. It was like stabbing through putty, and it still deflected the blade a bit to the side, but through was the operative word. Ricardo stared at the blade in his chest, his left hand twitched, and Xen released the sword and dove, in case Ricardo was throwing a spell. He rolled and leapt, throwing himself on the wizard. Pinning Ricardo's left arm.
"No!" Teri jumped at him, and he shoved her off with a shrug of his shoulder, drew his knife left handed and . . . Ricardo disappeared.
Teri shrank back as Easterly rushed up.
Xen rolled over and laid there. Failed to pull in any power.