The Seeker

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  “Does it have to be Rose? Theresa would be eager for the chance to do anything that would get her promoted.”

  Apparently. Such as spending her nights in the matron’s bed.

  “Her father is a pig farmer,” the matron continued. “I can do without pork more than I can do without the tapestries and linens Rose’s father provides.”

  The captain nodded. “That might suffice.”

  Rose’s face twisted in disgust. She wished she had her Seeker gear with her. There were a few guards she’d like to skewer on her way out, starting with the captain.

  “It had better,” the matron said. “And keep me informed about these rogues. They could be dangerous to us.”

  “They are more dangerous than you realize,” the captain said. “My sources tell me that the rogues are trying to convince Harbortown to relax the mage laws and open their coven doors.”

  “And allow the mages free access to the port? They’ll be on the next boat to Solace.”

  Unless Harbortown agreed to let mages be free citizens.

  Rose rested her head against the statue. And if Harbortown allowed mages to be free, who knew? Maybe other towns would follow. Maybe The Seeker could retire and the mage hunters would go out of business. Where would that leave her and Bret?

  Rose needed to catch up to these rogues, if only to see if the elementalist was under control. Oh, who was she kidding? Those mages were doing what she was doing as The Seeker, only they were unmasked and trying to do it peacefully. She suspected they were wasting their time, though, and it would all end in blood.

  But what if they weren’t?

  Rose was the one wasting her time in the coven. She had to sneak out and join with them. If only to avoid being made example of by the matron.

  “Would that be so bad?” the captain said. “I’m sick of babysitting these pampered nitwits. Let them learn some life skills or go to Solace, instead of leeching off the towns.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. If the mages didn’t know how to care for themselves, it was because the covens didn’t allow them to.

  “If we abolish the covens and send them to Solace, we’ll be yoked to the mages’ wills within a year.”

  “Not if the ones who try to take control are killed,” the captain said.

  “I don’t want to kill mages. They’re still useful.”

  Rose rolled her eyes.

  “But I don’t think they should all be allowed to go to Solace. If Solace ever decides to take their battle fleet across the Great Sea, we will need magic defenses. Even if they don’t, we need our mages to protect us and the coven is the only way we can have them in society safely. Besides, you said it yourself. They wouldn’t have the first idea how to survive without us.”

  Their voices faded as they continued down the garden path. Rose brushed herself off and looked around to make sure no one was watching her. She had the garden to herself and chances are if the matron and the captain were out strolling, the guards were busy elsewhere.

  Did she dare to try and escape now? Could she afford to wait?

  Heart beating in her throat, Rose forced herself to walk nonchalantly towards the wall. Bending down to examine a flower, she noted there was a patrol walking the wall. If she did this, she’d have to burn through a few spells quickly. If she was caught, it would be ugly. Only an idiot tried to escape from the coven in broad daylight.

  It had never been done before.

  It could give her the edge. No one was watching her now. She couldn’t count on that ever being the case ever again.

  Rose didn’t have a choice. She waited until the patrol was at the opposite end of the wall to where she was. Sprinting to the wall, she cast her invisibility spell. As predicted, the wards flashed and the guards went on full alert. In the panic, it would take a few seconds for the security mage to track who cast the spell and where it originated from. Casting levitate, Rose soared up the wall as the wards flashed again. Still invisible, she scrambled over the other side of the wall just as the pounding of the guards’ feet came closer. Levitating down, she released the spell half way and fell to the ground to speed up her descent.

  “Ouch,” she muttered, as she landed wrong. Checking to see if she was still invisible, Rose took off in a half run, half hobble as her ankle protested the jarring movement.

  The coven guards spilled out of the coven with anti-magic amulets swinging. Luckily, she was out of range. A team of guards headed towards the road. Another team headed towards her parents’ house and yet another team was right on her tail making a beeline to her brother’s house.

  Putting on a burst of speed, even though her ankle was screaming in pain, Rose pulled ahead of the guards long enough to open the fence and close it behind her. As she made her way to the shed, she heard them storm up the yard to pound on her brother’s door.

  “Not again.” She heard her brother sigh as she hobbled into the shed.

  Robert would stall them as long as he could. Easing the trap door open, Rose climbed onto the ladder that led down to the caves. Before she shut the door above her, she dragged a heavy tarp over and covered the trap door as best as she could. It would have to be good enough.

  Making her way down to the caves was slow going because her ankle had become swollen. Rose limped down to where Atalanta was grazing by the water. No one seemed to be coming after her. Wrapping her ankle tightly, she hobbled around gathering her things and then saddled Atalanta. She wouldn’t dress as The Seeker until she needed to, but she still wanted to be on the road heading toward Harbortown without being recognized.

  Rose paused on the road that would lead her away from her home and looked back at the cave. She was leaving Demerest for the last time. There was no way she was going to let the matron punish her. But that meant that she wouldn’t see her family for a while, if ever. She left a note explaining everything to Robert and she hoped he understood. Maybe they would meet again on the docks of Solace, provided Bret wasn’t with him with a sap and a sack ready to take her back here.

  Chapter Nine

  Bret found her in Greenly, the town before Harbortown. It was only sheer luck that she wasn’t wearing The Seeker’s outfit. She had just checked into a bed and breakfast and secured Atalanta in the stables. Rose headed to town to see if she could get some information about the rogue mages. Bret was at the first bar she came to, playing cards in the back room of the saloon. When she walked in, Rose felt someone staring at her while she waited for her whiskey at the bar. Turning her head as nonchalantly as she could, she found herself staring into his cold, angry eyes.

  Run, you idiot, run.

  Her feet were rooted to the floor, but he looked back down at his cards instead of walking over to her. It had been months since she had last seen him. She had many sleepless nights trying to forget his smile and his handsome face.

  Not sure what his game plan was, Rose faltered. The smart thing to do was to grab her things and jump on Atalanta and head out. But he had to know she was headed to Harbortown to meet up with the rogue mages or hop a ship to Solace. All she would be doing was delaying the inevitable. And she wouldn’t have the information she needed.

  So, with a toss of her hair, she paid the bartender and took her drink over to one of the tables with a window overlooking the street. Deliberately, she put her back to Bret. She felt his gaze like a dagger between her shoulder blades.

  While she sipped her drink, Rose looked around the room. It was a rowdy bar and her hopes of overhearing gossip was slim. She really should move on, but part of her wanted to see if Bret would approach her.

  "Can I buy you a drink?"

  The man who came up behind her wasn't Bret, but he was reasonably good looking. Rose finished her whiskey and nodded. "I could use some company."

  He already had a bottle and slid into the chair across from her. He poured her a generous splash.

  "I like a man who comes prepared," she said.

  He poured himself one. "Name's Jeb."

  "Christi
ne," Rose lied. She wasn't going to take a chance that he knew there was a mage named Rose on a wanted poster somewhere.

  "What brings you to our little town, Christine?"

  Jeb had short, cropped, light brown hair and a laconic twinkle in his pale blue eyes. For a moment, Rose wondered if he put a special emphasis on her name. But she decided she was just being paranoid.

  "I'm heading to Harbortown. My father's ship is coming in and I promised I would be there to meet him."

  "Are you travelling alone?" he asked, looking into his glass.

  "Why?" Rose didn't want to lie anymore than she had to, but if he was trying to find out if she was an easy mark he was in for a big surprise.

  "The roads aren't safe with all the rebel mages converging on Harbortown."

  Jack pot!

  Rose leaned forward and was rewarded when Jeb risked a peek at her cleavage. She was dressed in riding gear, denim pants and a cotton shirt. But she had unbuttoned the shirt a little lower, hoping to give herself an advantage if she needed it. Distraction was never wasted. "Why are they going there?"

  Jeb licked his lips and forced himself to meet her eyes. "The town has abolished their coven."

  Years of practice kept the shock from showing on her face. They did it. She took a deep swallow of the liquor and then nearly stopped breathing at the taste. Coughing, she could feel herself turning red as tears streamed down her eyes.

  "Probably should have warned you," Jeb said. "I reused the whiskey bottle for my own hooch. That's my Pappy's grain alcohol recipe."

  "Smooth," she choked, wondering if she breathed on the candle if she would burn the place down.

  He reached over and thumped her on the back.

  "Thanks," she said.

  "Yeah, no one round here could believe it. Most of our mages are content to stay put in our coven. But a few have left."

  "Are you hunting them down?" she asked.

  "You a bounty hunter?"

  "Me?" Rose shook her head. "I can barely find my stockings in the morning."

  Jeb grinned. "I can help you out with that." He took a lock of her hair between his fingers and let them fall.

  Rose eased back in her seat so she was harder to reach from where he sat. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not?” he asked good naturedly.

  "Is there a problem here?" Bret appeared at her shoulder so suddenly that she nearly screeched in shock.

  "Speaking of bounty hunters," Jeb said, leaning back in his chair. "This one over here,” he pointed to Bret, “has been hanging around looking for a runaway mage from Demerest."

  Rose looked at the door, but she didn't think she'd be able to get past both Jeb and Bret.

  "Where did you say you were from, Christine?" he said.

  "I didn't," Rose said.

  Bret tossed a pouch of coins on the table in front of Jeb, and cupped her elbow. "Let's go."

  Jeb opened the pouch and fingered the coins inside. "I wouldn't have recognized her without your poster. I was hoping to convince her to stay here and join our coven. We've got some empty spaces to fill."

  "Yes," Rose said, hurriedly. "I would love to join your coven." That would buy her time to get information and sneak away when they least expected it.

  "No." Bret hauled her up from the chair. "I don't get paid until I return you home."

  Jeb rose too and Rose yanked her elbow free from Bret. "I can't go back to Demerest. They'll torture me. I want to stay here."

  Tossing the pouch back to Bret, Jeb grabbed her other elbow. "Keep your finder's fee. I'll take the girl."

  "The hell you will," Bret snarled and lashed out with a sharp punch to the jaw.

  Jeb let go of her and staggered back. "You're going to regret that." He launched himself on Bret and the two of them rolled around on the floor exchanging blows.

  Grabbing the bottle of grain alcohol and the pouch that Bret let bounce of his chest, Rose ran out of the bar. She packed her things as fast as she could and was throwing the saddle bags over Atalanta when she saw Bret stagger out of the bar. Hauling herself into the saddle, she nudged Atalanta into a fast gallop through the town. Once they got on the open road, there was no way Bret could catch her with the head start she had. Not at this time of night.

  Still, she didn't let Atalanta slow up until she was sure she had a big enough lead. Bret knew she was going to Harbortown eventually. All he had to do was set up in a bar there until she came into town. She had to get there first and get on the next boat or hide with the rogue mages.

  She stopped to give Atalanta a break and some water. No one with any sense would take a chance riding out at night after her at the pace she set.

  Of course, that was a mistake, thinking Bret Wallace had an ounce of sense. It hadn't been two hours when she heard hoof beats coming up loud and fast from behind her. Pulling Atalanta off the road, Rose hoped that Bret would ride right on by. Black horse, black night. But he had eyes like a cat. He passed by where they were hiding, but she heard him slow down. Duke snorted and panted, as Bret turned them around.

  "You cast a spell and I will not be a gentleman," he warned.

  "I'm not going back to Demerest," she said. "My father gave the matron permission to whip me and she said she was going to put me in the stocks to make an example on me. I left when the guards started arguing over who was going to rape me first." Rose elaborated on the story a bit. But not by much.

  He came into view and stopped on the road in front of her. "I won't allow that."

  "Are you going to come live with me in the coven? Because they'll just wait until you leave to do it." She got back on Atalanta and steered them back on the road.

  Duke pawed at the ground, but Atalanta snapped at him and that stopped that nonsense. Bret wouldn't be so easily calmed down.

  "I told you the risks." He grabbed her arm. "I told you what was at stake."

  She tried to pull free, but couldn't. "I was in more danger in the coven than I have been on the run."

  Bret threw her arm away and ran his hand through his hair. "I haven't slept a full night since your father contacted me."

  "I'm sorry," she said. “It wasn’t my intention to have anyone worry about me.”

  "Look, maybe he can buy out your contract and you can come back to Greenly and join their coven like you wanted."

  Was he serious?

  Rose didn't know what to say to that and in the silence, Bret continued on. "Yeah, you should get away from your parents and you've burned all your bridges in Demerest's coven. Why not start new? But honey, Harbortown isn't the answer."

  "Jeb said they'd abolished the coven there."

  "What Jeb didn't say is it's open season on mages. Any runaway mages are now ‘dead or alive’ bounties."

  Gasping, Rose put a hand on her chest. It was suddenly hard to breathe. "How much am I worth?"

  He shook his head. "Don't talk nonsense."

  "What's the price on my head?" Her voice was shrill in the night air.

  Bret grabbed the reins of her horse and turned them back around so they were heading back towards Greenly. "Doesn't matter. I'm taking you home. I'm getting your father to release you from the coven in Demerest and then I'm going to escort you back here to your new coven in Greenly. Jeb won't take any of your shit, so don't try to sweet talk him."

  "Is Jeb the coven guard?"

  "No." Bret sighed. "He's the coven master."

  "You punched out the master? And we're going back there?"

  "I'll make it right with him. And no, we're not going into the town right now. He needs time to cool down. I know a cabin near here that's not being used at the moment. The owner is a buddy of mine and he won't care if we use it for tonight."

  "Just for tonight?" Rose asked.

  Bret let out a shaky laugh. "Hell, it's been this long. What's a few more days?"

  She let her leg bump his as they rode along. "I missed you, you big jerk."

  "Could have gotten word to me that yo
u were alive."

  Rose blew out a sigh. "And you would be up my skirts in a fortnight."

  "If it took that long," he scoffed. "Did you at least have fun?"

  "Yeah, it was one big picnic." She rolled her eyes. Rose was used to being out on her own when she was The Seeker, but Bret had been right, there were more patrols and the sentiment against mages was getting ugly. While she tried to save any captured mages she heard about, there were times when the numbers were too great and she had been forced to ride on. It haunted her, but she needed to get to Harbortown and get some support instead of riding solo. She was hoping the rogue mages could help, but not if they were being hunted instead of finding sanctuary in town.

  "I'm thinking of settling down," he said.

  The blood rushed into her ears and she felt sick. "I see," she said quietly.

  "I was thinking of becoming a coven guard. If Jeb will have me after I beat the snot out of him."

  "Why?" she asked.

  "Because he put his hands on you."

  She groaned. "No idiot. Why are you settling down?"

  "Because I can't be chasing you all over hell and creation when you get a bug up your ass to ride like the wind."

  "I told you why I left," she snapped.

  "Yeah and if I was in the coven, no one would dare touch you."

  He took her breath away. She stared up at the stars and blinked back tears. "You'd do that for me?"

  "If you settle down. I'll settle down."

  And there it was. She could have Bret. If she gave up being The Seeker.

  "Bret, do you think mages deserve the bounty on their heads just because they don’t want to live in a coven?”

  “No, but I still believe the coven protects all of us though.”

  And her outraged scoff he continued, “The coven watches over the mages to make sure they aren’t getting too powerful and protects them from the idiots who want to kill them.”

  “You can’t honestly believe that after I just told you that they were going to rape and abuse me.” Rose gripped Atalanta’s reins until she was white knuckled.