by Claire Luana
“But he’s not here yet,” Wren protested. “This concerns all of us. We should all be here. Hale will behave, right?”
“He?” Hale asked, looking between Sable and Callidus and Wren. “Who is ‘He?’”
“He,” Callidus said, “is him.” He pointed a long, spindly finger across the restaurant, and Hale caught sight of man coming towards them. Well, more of a boy, really.
“What am I missing?” Hale asked. Sable hadn’t told him why she had summoned him back from Leads, only that she wanted him to be back in Maradis in time for dinner.
“He’s Gifted,” Wren whispered, leaning over.
Hale raised an eyebrow. Another Gifted confectioner? That was good news.
“His name is Thom,” Callidus hissed. “Let me talk.”
“Thom Percival.” Callidus held out his hand to shake the boy’s.
“Yes,” Thom said. “Er, well, that’s me. Good to see you again, sir.”
“Guildmaster Mikel Callidus, head of the Confectioner’s Guild,” Callidus said, his chest puffed up with pride.
“I’m Wren Confectioner.” Wren offered her hand to the boy, who shook it. “Nice to see you under happier circumstances. I’m an artisan of the Guild. That’s Hale Firena, artisan, and Grandmaster Aiyani Sable.” Sable raised her glass in greeting while Hale gave a shadow of a bow. This would be interesting.
“Can I refresh any drinks?” the server asked. The woman was a tall drink of water—thin and willowy with a mane of jet-black curls piled on her head. She was the type of woman Hale would have gone for in the past. No longer. Mistress Violena has set him straight about some things while mercilessly besting him at game after game of pips. If he wanted Sable, he needed to earn her. Prove himself. And that meant no other women.
“Better not, sir,” Thom said, a sheen of sweat on his brow. Wren shook her head. “Scotch neat,” Hale said, “top shelf, since old Cally is buying.” Sable merely clinked her empty glass with her fingernail. The server disappeared.
“Your master’s shop is the talk of the town,” Callidus said to Thom, businesslike once again. “Wren says the line’s around the block any hour of the day.”
“Hot summer,” Thom said, ducking his head. “We’ve done all right.” Thom had a round jaw and pale skin with a smattering of freckles across his straight nose. His suit was ill-fitting, the knot of his simple black tie not quite right, as if he hadn’t quite remembered how to tie one. The legs of his suit were a bit too short. Though it was the style among some men, Hale suspected he had just outgrown his suit. So from a poor family, perhaps an orphan, trying to make his way in the world through hard work and skill spinning sugar. Nothing to be ashamed of, Hale reminded himself. It had been years since he had been Hale Firena, son of the wealthiest and most influential minister in Aprica. Now he was just a confectioner, like the rest of them. In a way, they were all strays who had found their way to the Guild.
“What’s your most popular flavor?” Wren asked.
“The strawberry rhubarb, I say.” A flash of a grin betrayed Thom’s pride.
“You came up with that flavor, didn’t you?”
Thom swallowed thickly. “Yes’m.”
“It’s delicious,” Wren said, her brown eyes sparkling. She looked a vision tonight, her auburn hair swept back in intricate curls, her pale skin glowing in the candlelight. It seemed the last month of calm and safety had been good for her. “Truly,” she continued. “It’s the best I’ve ever had.”
Hale swallowed a jest about Imbris’s prowess in bed. New Hale, he told himself. New. Hale.
“I thank you again for your aid yesterday,” Thom said. “I’m not sure what woulda happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“We were just glad to be of service,” Callidus said. “Do you have any idea who attacked you?”
Attack? Hale took this all in with veiled interest. He didn’t want to admit before this newcomer that he was out of the loop.
“Naw,” Thom said. “If they were robbers, they were real bad at it. They didn’t try to take my money.”
“Yes, the inspector didn’t think they had,” Callidus said. “We might have an idea about that. It’s part of why we asked you here tonight.”
Thom’s eyebrows went up.
A uniformed waiter approached, his hand behind his back in a formal greeting. “If you would sit, my guests, dinner is ready.”
Two hours later, Hale found himself wishing he had worn looser pants. The courses had been magnificent. A juicy endive salad with duck confit, grapefruit slices, and toasted hazelnuts to start, followed by a silver tray ladened with ice and glistening oysters laid out like lusty ladies waiting to be plucked. Oysters weren’t Hale’s favorite, despite the endless array of aphrodisiac jokes they conjured up. The little ones were all right, with a hint of sweetness amongst the brine. Then quail pâté smeared on toasted buttery bread, and entrées of steaming cuts of beef with succulent garlic and herb sauce. Hale didn’t think he had eaten a meal so extravagant since Callidus’s Appointment Gala.
“I’ve never eaten nothing so delicious,” Thom said with gusto. He had eaten as much as the rest of them put together, and Hale found his smile mirrored on the faces of the others. His genuine delight was infectious. Thom just might be a good influence on their dysfunctional family.
“I hope you saved room for dessert,” Callidus said as the waiter brought out engraved little bowls of ice cream.
“Woof.” Thom blew out a breath, leaning back in his chair. “I’m up for the challenge.”
Hale took a bite of the ice cream that had been set down before him, and the tingle of magic hit his tongue. It was an exquisite dance of flavor—chunks of dark chocolate and tart black cherries, with an undertone of a syrupy sweet, almost vinegary taste.
“Does this have balsamic vinegar in it?” Wren asked Callidus.
Hale wondered what type of magic this ice cream imparted. He found himself watching Sable across the table as she took a delicate bite of ice cream, her lush lips closing around the spoon. What he would give to be that spoon. A pleasant warmth spread through Hale that wasn’t just from the magic. Was it warm in here?
“That’s our Black Cherry Balsamic,” Thom said, a delighted smile spreading across his face. “Our ice cream’s on the menu here?”
“It’s not,” Callidus said. “I asked them to serve it. It’s one of the things I brought you here to talk about.”
Thom set his spoon down suddenly, sensing the change of mood.
Sable’s eyes snapped open, her expression transforming from a look of divine ice cream enjoyment to one that was all business.
“Is this about the attack?” Thom asked. “You said you’ve got…information?”
“Yes and no,” Callidus said. “First, you must know that you have a gift, Thom. A very rare gift. A gift that we all share.”
“Right. We’re all confectioners.”
“And more,” Callidus said. “The five of us at this table are unique. Special. The confections we make…they’re magic.”
Silence stretched across the table, thick as taffy. Thom let out a disbelieving laugh. “Sorry, I thought you said…magic.”
“I did,” Callidus said.
Thom wiped his mouth with his napkin and carefully placed it on the table. He stood. “Sir, I thank you for the delicious meal. But it’s time I say goodbye.”
“Sit. Down,” Callidus said, his voice thunderous.
Wren recoiled at the tone.
Hale frowned. He had never heard Callidus so forceful before—so commanding.
The words had the opposite effect of what Callidus was no doubt hoping for. Thom’s mouth tightened. “You may be my guildmaster, but you don’t own me, sir. I’m leaving.” This was not good. Thom couldn’t be allowed to leave, not with the secret out of the bag. But if they tried to force him to stay, they might poison him against them and the Guild, making it so much harder when Thom inevitably joined their ranks.
“Thom,” Wren s
tood, willowy as a reed, her chestnut eyes wide. “Hear us out at least. Then, if you still want to leave, you can go.”
“You do not have the authority to make such promises,” Callidus hissed.
“What are we going to do?” Wren snapped back. “Tie him to a chair for the entirety of his career? It’s his life too. If we can’t convince him we’re worth joining, we don’t deserve to have him with us.”
“You don’t have to do everything the hard way, Callidus,” Sable said softly.
“This isn’t the hard way?” Callidus asked, before letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Wren, convince him. If you think your powers of persuasion are up to the task.”
Hale hoped her powers of persuasion were, in fact, up to the task. But Wren had surprised him in her time at the Guild. As clumsy as she seemed at times, she had a way of always pulling things out of the fire.
“Will you at least listen?” Wren asked.
“Hear her out, Thom,” Hale said gently. “It can’t hurt to know all the facts.”
Thom sat down with a nod and a frown.
Chapter 5
And so Wren told him. She still remembered how it felt to be sitting in Thom’s chair, incredulous. She thought she could make him see reason. She hoped.
She shared her story, how she had learned. The miraculous coin flips, the binding wine that sealed the truth inside her lips. Callidus had tried to stop her from telling that secret, but she had stared him down. “We’re doing this my way,” she said. “He deserves to make an informed choice.” The wine didn’t bind her this time, because Thom was one of them. Gifted. She told him about her good luck, and Hale’s gambling prowess. Callidus’s ability to be in the right place in the right time, Sable’s uncanny ability to make connections. The other Guilds, the king, the Accord, everything. Well, not everything. She glossed over Kasper’s murder and the fact that his sister, their own Guildmistress Iris Greer, had done the deed and tried to frame Wren. She didn’t think he needed to know all the dysfunction that plagued their Guild and its tenuous relationship to the crown.
Thom sat silently, taking it in, letting her speak. His expression was unreadable, his arms crossed over his chest like armor. Finally, she was done, and they all sat, looking at him. “’Kay,” Thom said. “I believe you.”
Wren blinked in surprise. “You do? You don’t need a demonstration or something?”
“No. I’ve known for a while, if I’m honest with myself. Weird stuff happens around the shop sometimes.”
Callidus leaned forwards, his dark hair falling over narrowed eyes. “You know what your magic does, don’t you?”
“It makes you lucky in love.”
Hale chortled, clapping his hands together and making everyone jump. “I can’t wait to have this guy around,” he said, his grin gleaming like a crescent moon. Though his manner was carefree—Hale as his old self—Wren saw how he watched Sable from the corner of his eye. She didn’t respond with her usual banter, instead taking another sip of wine. What was going on between them?
“Consumption of infused food is forbidden to Guild members,” Callidus said icily.
At least as far as King Imbris knew, Wren thought.
“How do you do it, Callidus?” Hale asked.
“Do what?” Callidus responded warily, unable to avoid taking the bait.
“Sit down with that stick shoved so far up your ass?”
Callidus slapped his hands on the table and stood, his chair knocking over behind him with a clatter. “I should have you stripped of rank and beaten for your insolence—” Callidus began.
“Hale,” Sable growled, “Callidus. Please. We’re all on the same side here. We must stick together.”
“Then tell your pet golden retriever to heel,” Callidus said. “I won’t be disrespected.”
Thom was taking in the exchange with wide eyes.
“You get used to it,” Wren whispered.
“They’re worse than my sisters going for a new roll of ribbon,” he whispered back.
Callidus had sat down, straightening his waistcoat.
“Thom,” Wren said, eager to get them back on task. “How do you know what your infused ice cream does?”
“Like I said, there’s been too much weird stuff in the shop to be coincidence,” Thom said. “Sure, ice cream’s romantic, but I’ve seen total strangers stare at each other starstruck across the shop and leave like old flames. It’d make sense.”
Wren frowned, realizing that Lucas’s and her first date had been at the ice cream shop. Had the infused food somehow created feelings between them? Feelings that wouldn’t have been there otherwise? “Do you think it creates romantic feelings? Is that even possible?” she asked, turning to the others.
“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.