The Confectioner's Coup

by Luana, Claire

  “I’ve heard of infused foods from the Baker’s Guild creating lust or making someone more attractive to the opposite sex,” Sable said. “But I’ve never heard of the ability to create love.”

  “I don’t think it creates love,” Thom said, shaking his head. “Helps people see what’s in front of them. Or bump into the right person. Or at least, that’s what I’ve seen.”

  “An interesting Gift indeed,” Callidus said, his gaze intent on Thom, his eyes seeming to weigh and measure the man. “You have a decision to make now. And there is one more piece of information you should have.”

  Wren perked up at this. What was Callidus on about?

  “Wren mentioned the Accord between the king and the Guilds. It sets the terms of our agreement, our alliance. The king lets the Guilds and the Gifted continue to operate independently and rule and regulate themselves, in exchange for a monopoly on infused goods. Strict secrecy of the existence of the Gifted is of course the cornerstone of this agreement.”

  Thom nodded as Callidus continued. “The Accord is renegotiated every twenty-five years. We are renegotiating right now. The king is nervous about the Aprican force threatening our northern border. It is little known, but the Apricans crossed into Alesia one week ago and by all accounts are headed for Maradis. They say King Evander is ruthless and hungry to taste Alesia’s spoils. We are headed for war. It has made the king overreach in negotiations. Some of the infused foods could be critical in battle—not just our luck but strength from the Butcher’s Guild, strategic genius from the Cheesemonger’s, healing from the Cuisinier’s. He wants more control of the Gifted. He wants soldiers stationed in our Guildhalls. He wants to oversee the production of infused food. He is breathing down our necks,” Callidus said.

  Wren’s stomach turned sour. Certainly, rumors of Aprican movements had circulated for the last few months. Lucas had said as much. But to hear confirmation that they were headed for the city…this was terrible news indeed.

  “That’s awful,” Thom said softly. “But what’s it have to do with me?”

  “The crown is aware of you. That you are Gifted,” Callidus said. “I had hoped to keep you safe in plain sight, in your master’s shop. But that was before. The king’s steward was overheard talking about your master’s shop. And then last night’s attack…it wasn’t just a robbery. Someone tried to take you. I can’t believe it was a coincidence. “

  Anger flared to life inside Wren at the mention of the king and the king’s steward, Willings. The man who had been integral in trying to frame her for Kasper’s murder. Who’d gotten off without even a slap on the wrist after Greer had been exposed. Though Greer had made her bed, it wasn’t fair that she had taken the fall and Willings had suffered no consequences for his role in the plot. She supposed that was what came with having powerful allies. And then there was the fact that Callidus hadn’t mentioned this to her before they’d gone to meet Thom last night. If there had been any possibility of danger, he should have told her.

  “You think the king was behind last night’s attack?” Wren asked, trying to dismiss the memory of the hooded man’s iron grip tangling in her hair. “You think the king would stoop to taking Gifted Guild members? And what, holding them hostage? Forcing them to cook for him?” Even as she asked the questions, she knew the answer. The king would stoop to anything, if he thought it served his purposes.

  “It’s possible,” Callidus said. “We’re in uncharted territory. I won’t take the risk. Thom, you are a member of our Guild and it is our role to keep you safe. It’s not right to ask you to make it on your own. I learned that…the hard way,” Callidus said, his eyes briefly flicking to Wren.

  Wren exchanged a surprised look with Sable. Had Callidus just admitted that he had been wrong to mistrust Wren and leave her to uncover Kasper’s murderer by herself? Then why was he keeping his own counsel now? Didn’t Callidus see that they all needed to know what was going on?

  Thom seemed to weigh all these words. “If I join you at the Guild, what’s the pay?”

  “The pay?” Callidus blinked, running his fingers through his hair. “I…don’t actually know.”

  “Better than your master pays you,” Wren said. “Two gold crowns per month for a journeyman, three for an artisan.”

  Thom spluttered out the sip of water he had been taking. “Are you serious? Why didn’t you just say so in the first place? I’m in.”

  Wren understood. She had felt much the same when she had joined. It was more money than she would have made in a year working at Master Oldrick’s shop.

  “That’s it?” Callidus said. “The money?”

  “Spoken like a man who’s never had none,” Thom said cheerfully, then ducked his head at his impertinence. “Sir.”

  Thom handled the binding wine with far more aplomb than Wren had, though she supposed she would have handled it better had she known what was coming, and not thought Kasper and Callidus had been trying to kill her. They exited the restaurant into a cool clear September night, a hint of salt and seaweed on the air. Her skin pebbled in the breeze and she reveled in it. She was ready for the sweat and glare of summer to be past.

  “Hale, you accompany Thom to retrieve his things. Bring him back to the Guildhall directly,” Callidus said. “No detours.”

  Hale gave a mock salute and slung his muscular arm around Thom’s narrow shoulder. Thom was almost as tall as Hale, but Hale was about twice the other man’s width, a solid block of muscle and sinew. Wren smiled at the familiarity, remembering when Hale had first thrown that meaty arm around her own shoulders, distracting her from her first-day panic with his golden aura.

  Wren climbed back into the carriage after Callidus and Sable, seating herself across from the Guildmaster. “That went well,” she said, actually meaning it. It had. Despite a few missteps, they had accomplished what they’d set out to do. They had brought a new Gifted into the fold.

  “We should have Olivia set him up a room next to Wren and Hale’s,” Sable said. “Hale can start his lessons this week.”

  “I’ll be sponsoring Thom,” Callidus said, looking out the window as the carriage started to roll. “I’ll teach his lessons myself.”

  “What?” Wren and Sable said at the same time. Callidus had never sponsored anyone, had never taught any lessons. Lennon, one of the artisans, had been petitioning Callidus to sponsor him for a year now, but Callidus had steadfastly refused.

  “Why?” Sable asked, peering at Callidus through a narrowed curtains of black eyelashes.

  “The boy has talent. I won’t have you bumbling his training like you did with this one.”

  “My training wasn’t bumbled,” Wren said grumpily. Though if she were honest, her lessons had hardly been regular, sandwiched between sneaking around trying to uncover a murderer, Sable’s poisoning, and Wren’s arrest and near-execution.

  “There were extenuating circumstances with Wren,” Sable said. “Are you certain you have the capacity to take this on? You can’t simply put him in a cage and let him out once a week when it suits you.”

  “Yes, I understand he’s a journeyman, not a pet rabbit,” Callidus said. “The decision is made. End of discussion.”

  Wren and Sable looked at each other, the question reflected in each of their faces. Had something gotten into Callidus to inspire such a change of heart? Or more likely…what was he up to?

  Hale was trapped in the same dream. Always the same. Sable’s fine features, pallid as the grave. Her delicate fingers tinged an unnatural shade of gray. His fingers brushing her cheek, shaking her shoulders, to feel only clammy cold. A wave of despair more powerful than anything he’d ever felt, sweeping him away. Drowning him until there was nothing left. Until he was nothing.

  Hale jerked awake with a gasp, his skin drenched in sweat, his hair mussed about his face. He brushed it back, burying his face in his hands, willing his heart to slow. It had only been a dream. Sable was alive. Strong and vibrant and infuriating and alive.

  He thr
ew off the tangle of covers, walking to the washroom to splash cold water on his face. He wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore tonight. He never could, after the dream. He toweled dry his face and peeked out the curtains. Dawn was breaking over the horizon, the first rays of caramel sun illuminating a cloudless sky. At least he had gotten most of a night’s sleep. It was the worst when the dream came early, leaving him with a sleepless night to fill. He had spent many restless hours on the back patio at Mistress Violena’s, looking out at the quiet expanse of the lake, at the glow of Maradis’s lights across the water. Even miles away, he felt Sable. Tugging him back towards her. She was his sun, and he was as helpless as a planet trapped in her orbit. Once, he had been able to fool himself. Convince himself that his feelings for her were just lust, that he appreciated her the way any man appreciates a beautiful woman. He had told himself that their working relationship, their friendship, was too important to risk jeopardizing it with a fling. But that was before he had almost lost her. Before her lifeless body and her blue-tinged fingers had filled him with a terror the depth of which he was still struggling to comprehend. No, it was not lust. He was desperately, hopelessly, in love with her.

  Some nights Mistress Violena would join him, sitting out in the darkness, ice tinkling in her glass. She knew Sable better than any, as she had all but raised her in Sable’s teenage years. Violena had told him, without compunction, exactly what he needed to do to be worthy of Sable. Put other women behind him. Put Sable first. Her needs, her wants, her ambitions. To tell her without a hint of deceit or fear how he felt and what he wanted, and then to respect whatever decision she made. To love her as a friend, if she would not let him love her as a man.

  It sounded near impossible—all selfless and serious and raw. But for Sable he would do it. New Hale. He was the new Hale.

  A knock sounded on the door and Hale’s heart leapt in his chest. He jerked the door open to find the last person he’d expected. Callidus stood before him, his expression suggesting that he was as displeased with the situation as Hale. Behind him towered Thom, who waved awkwardly.

  Callidus spoke. “Hale. I have business to attend to today. You will show Thom around the Guild and make sure he has what he needs.” Callidus turned to Thom. “I will see you in the dining hall for dinner.”

  Hale opened his mouth to object, holding up a finger. But Callidus was already gone, striding down the hallway.

  “Sorry,” Thom said with a rueful grin.

  Hale grunted in frustration. “It’s all right. Come in. You can wait while I get ready.”

  Hale ushered Thom into the room and motioned to the small table and chairs by the window. He sat, squinting as Hale threw back the curtains to let the stream of morning light into the room. “Sorry about Callidus,” Hale said as he grabbed a pair of denim trousers and a blue collared shirt from his wardrobe. “He’s an ass.”

  “Does he ever…warm up?” Thom asked.

  “That’s about as sunny as old Cally gets,” Hale said, pulling on the trousers. “As friendly as a cup of vinegar. But the rest of us make up for it.”

  Thom chuckled. “Being a bit hard on the vinegar, don’t you think?”

  “Hungry?” Hale asked, buttoning his shirt while he pulled on a pair of nubuck loafers.

  “Always,” Thom said.

  “That’s my man,” Hale said, nodding his head towards the door. Thom rose and Hale slung his arm around Thom’s shoulder, giving him a little shake. “Nice to have another tall guy around here. Let’s go. I’ll introduce you to the best part of this place.”

  Thom’s green eyes opened as round as saucers as they entered the dining hall, taking in the buffet of breakfast foods arrayed before them. Crisp fragrant waffles, glistening fruit, bacon and sausage dripping juice, steaming pots of coffee and tea. Hale was used to the excesses of the Guild, but he could practically hear Thom’s stomach rumbling.

  “Is it always like this?” he asked reverently.

  Hale chuckled. “Dig in.”

  Thom was miraculously balancing two heaping plates of food and a cup of black coffee in his hands when he found Hale at his table.

  “Maybe you’ll put on a few pounds,” Hale said.

  “Naw,” Thom said, tucking in to a mound of fluffy eggs. “I’ve always been skinny. My master took it as a personal challenge to fatten me up. No matter how much I eat, it doesn’t make no difference.”

  “Hale!” a melodious voice called from across the room. Olivia was weaving her way amongst the tables, bright as a daffodil in a fitted dress of yellow chiffon.

  “You must be Thom,” Olivia said, sliding onto the bench next to Hale and beaming at Thom.

  “Noish ta meetcha,” Thom managed through a mouthful of crispy potatoes. He wiped his hand on his napkin and held it out to Olivia, who took it warmly between her own.

  Hale stifled a smile. Did the blush on Olivia’s cheeks seem especially deep?

  “So thrilled to have another new Guild member. With Hale gone, it was getting downright boring around here.”

  “He was gone?” Thom looked between the two of them for explanation.

  “Just for a few weeks,” Hale said, managing a halfhearted explanation. He was loath to explain the entire sordid history. He still wasn’t sure if he would ever forgive himself for how he had treated Wren, jumping to the worst conclusion and then nearly killing her. He took a sip of coffee, trying to force down the memories of her swanlike neck grasped between his fingers. Gods, perhaps he didn’t deserve to be back here. Didn’t deserve Sable, new Hale or no.

  Hale cleared his throat, grasping for a subject. “Callidus has agreed to sponsor Thom.”

  “Callidus?” Olivia raised a golden eyebrow, her blue eyes wide in surprise. “Let me guess. He left you to your own devices. Did he even find you a room?”

  “Naw,” Thom said. “I slept on a couch in some sorta library slash kitchen room? It was pretty comfy, actually. I can fall asleep anywhere”

  “Men.” Olivia looked daggers at Hale. He winced. He hadn’t thought to ask Thom if he had been given a room. “It’s amazing they manage to tie their own shoes some days,” she continued.

  “That’s actually something I’m quite good at,” Thom volunteered.

  Olivia snagged a raspberry off the pile on Thom’s plate. “Don’t you worry. I’ll get everything set up for you. Just come find me when you’re done with Hale. What are you two up to today?”

  Thom looked at Hale with a quizzical expression on his freckled face.

  Hale wracked his brain. He didn’t feel like being cooped up in a teaching kitchen today. He needed to move. “I was thinking of heading to the farmer’s market in the Lyceum Quarter, to pick some things up. You game?”

  Thom nodded. “Yup.”

  “I’ll bring him to you when we’re back,” Hale said. “And leave him in your capable hands.”

  The farmer’s market was a thirty-minute walk across town, but the morning was warm, the sun as bright as a butterscotch toffee in the sky. Thom was pleasant enough company, chatting amicably with Hale. He seemed a good fellow, marked by unflappable positivity. Hale wondered if Callidus would rub off on Thom, or vice versa. Callidus could use a brighter outlook, or he’d find himself in an early grave.

  “Anything in particular we’re looking for?” Thom asked as the purple banner for the market came into view.

  “There’s some chili smoked salmon that Sable loves. The guy catches the fish off the Magnish Ice Floe down south and is only in the market a few times a year. I want to get her some.” Hale frowned at the row of Cedar Guards that flanked the entrance. There had definitely been more Guards about as they’d made their way here. It seemed the king was taking the Aprican threat seriously.

  “A gift for Sable, eh?”

  Hale suppressed a wince. “You’ll find out soon enough that keeping your grandmaster happy has a direct correlation to keeping yourself happy.”

  “I’m screwed then, aren’t I?”

  Hale laugh
ed in surprise and clapped Thom on his bony shoulder. “Yes, Thom. Yes, you are.”

  “Does he get better?” Thom asked.

  “Not to me,” Hale admitted. “But I am an acquired taste. He and Wren seem to be getting on all right, and he hated her at first. Thought she was a murder.”

  “A murderer? Of who, the old guildmaster? Kasper, right?”

  Hale nodded, weaving through the white tents into the thick of the market. It was bustling—mothers pushing buggies and men walking little terriers, cuisiniers in white and black finding the perfect ingredient for that night’s featured recipe.

  “She didn’t, right?” Thom asked with a weak smile. He had a crooked eyetooth that gave him a hint of mirth. “She looks like you could blow her over with a stiff wind.”

  Hale forced a chuckle, guilt flooding him. How had he ever thought Wren was capable of murder? Thom didn’t even know her and could see her innocence. Lucas had vouched for her. And Hale, after befriending her and taking her under his wing, had turned on her. “She did not turn out to be the murderer, no,” he managed. He fumbled for a change of subject. “If you want, after this, I could take you by my tailor. He’s the best in town and would give you a good price.”

  “Do I need new clothes?” Thom asked, looking down at the rumpled suit he had been wearing last night.

  “You’re in the Guild now. Doesn’t hurt to look the part.”

  “’Kay,” he said. “Makes sense. But I help out my family and need to keep that up. Don’t feel right having a bunch of fancy new things when they’re still hungry.”

  Hale softened. “You have brothers and sisters?”

  “Five,” Thom said. “Plus Mum and Dad. I’m the oldest.”

  “Your money is your own. Send it all to your family, if you want,” Hale said. “Callidus and the other Guild tight-asses can deal with it.”

  “No, you’re making sense. We gotta keep up appearances. As long as I don’t have to look as slick as you.”