“Is that right?”
Zella was a skilled enchanter, and she led the other enchanters in the city. The last time Gavin had dealt with her, he had threatened her and her people because they had been responsible for bringing the Mistress of Vines into the city.
Why would she send this woman to me for help?
“What kind of item is it?”
This time, the woman did look along the street. When she turned her attention back to him, she leaned close. She smelled musty. “The kind that had been forbidden.”
“An enchantment,” Gavin said.
Her mouth pressed into a thin line. “I wouldn’t go looking for it, but I understand that the situation in the city has changed. This item is of value to me.”
“Why is that?”
“It was given to me by someone special to me years ago, and I lost it in the war.”
Gavin stared at her, keeping his face neutral.
Is that what I am to become? A finder of things?
He had thought it was bad enough before when he had been looking for people, but this was another level altogether. Here he thought that Gaspar had been using him for his magical ability, and he had, but Zella intended to use him for another reason altogether.
It was almost enough to make him refuse.
Almost.
He had been bored, if anything, and having an opportunity to put some of his skills to use—however mildly they might be necessary—seemed as if it provided him an opportunity that he had been lacking. Besides, this might prove an interesting distraction for a little while.
“Tell me what you’re missing and what the enchantment does.”
“Does it matter what it does?”
“It matters if I am to return it to you.”
“Do you really think you can get it?”
Gavin shrugged. “I have no idea. It would help to know what you are after, and what it does, so that I can know what I might need to do.”
“I don’t know that it will be all that difficult for you to find. I know where the item is. It’s the getting to it that’s the challenge.”
“What do you mean getting to it?”
“She told me that you have a connection to him and that you might be able to use that.”
“To him?” Irritation started to bubble within Gavin, and he thought that he understood what this woman, and what Zella, were after.
“Why, the Captain, of course. The necklace is precious to me. It was given to me many years ago, and if I could get it back—”
“No.”
“You won’t do this? She said that he owed you a debt and that it would be a simple matter for you to ask it of him.”
Gavin wasn’t so sure that the Captain owed him a debt as it was that Gavin had threatened him, and after having saved his life, he didn’t fear the Captain coming after him. But he also didn’t like the idea that he would be used for this connection, especially not in such a strange way and for somebody he knew nothing about.
“You still haven’t told me anything about this enchantment.”
“I’ve told you that it is precious to me. I’ve told you that I lost it years ago, during the war, and—”
“You told me about the necklace, but you haven’t told me what the enchantment itself does.”
The woman nodded slowly. “Of course. It is a memory.”
Gavin frowned at her. He had dealt with many enchantments over the years, but more so lately. And in that time, he couldn’t claim that he had dealt with any sort of memory enchantment. The idea that there would be one that could be used in such a way left him somewhat surprised. Perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised that sorcerers, and enchanters, had many different abilities and uses of magic. Why should he be surprised that they would have one for memory, as well?
“It holds memories, you see. It’s precious to me because of the memories that it holds.” She looked up at Gavin. “I stored them there, not wanting to lose them, but I lost him anyway.”
“What’s the memory?”
“My son.”
Gavin clenched his jaw. “Are you sure the Captain has this necklace?”
The woman nodded. “I’m sure. I petitioned him years ago, but he ignored me. He accumulated all enchantments back then and has stored them, keeping them from their rightful owners.”
“Are you sure the enchantment hasn’t faded?”
“It’s possible. But unless he has accessed it repeatedly, I think it would be unlikely. I just want to have those memories one more time…”
Gavin sighed. “I will see what I can do.”
“The timing is urgent,” the woman said. “He has started to move enchantments out of the city. I need you to get it before he takes it where I can’t find it again. I don’t know what I’d do then.”
Gavin frowned. “What do you mean that he is moving enchantments out of the city?”
“I would have assumed you had heard. Zella told me. They have been aware of it and have been trying to prevent him from moving too many of the enchantments, but…”
Gavin was of half a mind to tap on his enchantment and speak to Gaspar, if he would answer. Could that be why he had wanted Gavin’s involvement in the last job?
No. If Gaspar had known that the Captain had been moving enchantments out of the city, he would’ve said something.
Which meant that Gaspar didn’t know.
He had known about the enchantments, though.
“I will see what I can do.” He held out the note. “Five gold coins. As agreed.”
The woman nodded her head quickly. “Of course.”
He looked at the cottage. It was small. Quaint. And he doubted that the woman had five gold coins. If she did, it would probably be the sum of her entire savings.
Gavin started to back away when the woman called after him.
“Is that it?”
Gavin shrugged. “For now. I’ll let you know what I uncover.”
He crossed the street, and when he glanced back, the woman was still standing in the doorway, watching him.
He was less concerned about finding a necklace, though he couldn’t deny that a woman and her memories of her son pulled at his heartstrings. That was likely the intent. He was more concerned that the Captain moved enchantments out of the city. Here Gavin had thought to neutralize him, at least somewhat. If he were solidifying wealth, then there was a real danger that the Captain might become a different kind of a threat.
It meant that Gavin needed to pay him a visit.
But he wanted to be prepared first.
Maybe with enchantments, though he hadn’t necessarily needed enchantments to defeat the Captain the last time. What would be more effective, though, would be information. He needed to understand what was going on.
He tapped on his enchantment as he strode along the street, rounding a corner, and found the crowd picking up as he entered a part of the city with more shops.
“Wrenlow. I’m going to need your help.”
There was silence, and it lasted for a little while.
Gavin had gone another two blocks before the enchantment crackled for a moment, and then Wrenlow’s voice came through.
“What is it?”
“We need to meet. Something’s going on, and I’m going to need your help.”
“What is it? What happened?”
He could practically hear the urgency in Wrenlow’s voice. Gavin didn’t want to take him away from his time with Olivia, but in this case, Gavin thought that he needed him.
“I’m going to need your help, too, Gaspar.”
He had no idea if the thief kept the enchantment in his ear when he was away. Gavin didn’t think so, though. Most of the time, Gaspar left the enchantment out, not wanting to be distracted by Gavin and Wrenlow and their conversation. It was almost enough for Gavin to want to reclaim the enchantment from him.
“I haven’t heard anything from him recently,” Wrenlow said.
Gavin paused. He had reached a large mar
ket. A few trees grew along the border, stretching taller than the nearby buildings, as if serving as sentries overseeing the market. A throng of people was here, with more coming and going. A man shoved past him with a cart laded with smoked meats, his round-faced child chasing behind him. It was a wonder the dog Gavin had seen near the woman’s house hadn’t been drawn here.
Other vendors with carts lined the market, filled with the growing crowd. He passed a few singing minstrels and a troupe of puppetry actors performing a scene with a rapt audience. The air held the mix of smells, from the food vendors to the spice merchants to the florists selling fresh cut flowers.
The crowd made it difficult for him to shoulder his way through. It was times like these when he realized just how much he preferred navigating the city in the dark. At least, doing so at night.
“The Captain has been moving his enchantments.”
“Is that why Gaspar has been chasing down different caches of enchantments?”
“Has he?” It meant that there was more than what Gaspar had let on.
“That’s what Olivia has told me. Don’t tell Gaspar I told you that. Not unless he brings it up first. I don’t want him to think that I am betraying his trust, or that Olivia is betraying his trust or that—”
Gavin shook his head, and a short, heavyset man walking next to him shot him a look. Gavin flashed a smile, and the man scurried off.
He realized how he must look walking to the street, talking to himself. A part of him was amused by it, at least as amused as he could be with the irritation within him.
“Just meet me back at the Dragon.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m heading back to the Dragon. I have to prepare before I go visit with the Captain.”
He had no idea how things would change in the city of the Captain manage to acquire more wealth than he already had. Gavin had shifted the power balance in the city once before, keeping the jade egg for himself, leaving it stored in the underground sorcerer’s lair where no one else would know to find it.
If the Captain decided to chase down a different avenue for power, what else would happen?
Gavin would be responsible for it.
Not directly, but even indirectly, he had no interest in disrupting the power balance within the city. He complained of sorcerers doing the same thing too often and had no interest in doing the same.
And if the Captain had already started to move enchantments, it was possible that the old woman’s necklace would have been moved out of the Captain’s fortress by now.
It’s even possible Gaspar had destroyed it during the last attack.
He tapped on the enchantment again. “Gaspar.”
There was no response.
He waited, listening, looking around at the crowd in the square, before calling out Gaspar’s name again.
He was silent.
That wasn’t entirely uncommon. Gaspar and Imogen often went off on their own jobs, the same as Gavin had gone off on his own jobs when he had first come to Yoran. Lately, though, they had been more of a team, working together. Maybe Gaspar didn’t want that.
Gavin wasn’t sure that he wanted it, either.
He didn’t know what he wanted. At one point, it had been to leave the city, but now, Gavin wasn’t sure he could leave the city until he knew it was safe. Davel Chan’s comment to Gavin came back to him, as it often did when he thought about his time in Yoran.
How could the city truly be safe if Gavin were here?
Chapter Four
Gavin wiped the bead of sweat off his forehead and grabbed for his shirt, slipping it on as he looked over to Wrenlow. His friend dripped with sweat and took one of the towels that Jessica had stacked on the table next to the cleared out portion of the tavern's main room and used it to dry off his forehead before dabbing his chest.
“I keep waiting for it to get easier,” Wrenlow muttered.
Gavin shrugged. “Eventually, I think it will. We just have to keep working.”
Or maybe it would be easier if Wrenlow wanted to stop practicing. Not that he was going to say that to Wrenlow, but Gavin hadn’t managed to make him anything more than a passing fighter. If Wrenlow came across a run-of-the-mill streetfighter, he might be able to withstand that, but Gavin doubted that Wrenlow would be able to hold up under the kind of threats that Gavin typically found himself facing.
“I’ve told you I’m willing to practice more often.”
“You have to be present to practice.” Gavin glanced across the tavern to where Olivia sat in one of the booths, whispering to Jessica. They were the only other two within the tavern.
Olivia was lovely. She had dark raven hair and a youthful face that belied her age because of what had happened when her parents had poured power into the jade egg. Olivia sat with her back stiff, her hands moving, though the enchantments she was busy making were invisible to Gavin from his angle.
She was a skilled enchantress and had already proven her worth several times. She had made him enchantments for speed and strength, and he suspected that she could do other things, if only she had enough time.
Even with enchantments, Wrenlow had not been able to pose much of a challenge for Gavin.
He allowed Wrenlow to use enchantments only at the end of their sparring session and only as a way for Gavin to be tested, if only a little. He wanted Wrenlow to understand that he couldn’t become reliant upon enchantments. Enchantments could fail. A fighter should not.
“I’ve been present,” he said. “Quite a bit more than Gaspar, at least.”
Gavin grunted, and he looked around the inside of the tavern. There had been a time when Gaspar had seemed overly present, but lately, he had been missing. Probably looking into the enchantments.
“I’m sure he’s working on the same thing that we are.”
“We could wait for him,” Wrenlow said.
Gavin sniffed. “I’m not waiting on Gaspar to go and confront the Captain. This is a straightforward job. I need to go to the Captain, figure out what he’s doing with the enchantments, and then find the necklace.”
“Only the necklace?”
Gavin hadn’t given enough thought. Not yet. Wrenlow was right, though.
If the Captain were moving enchantments out of the city, there might be a need for them to prevent him, or to keep them for themselves. He didn’t want to run the risk of him moving something else of value before the other enchanters had a chance to go through it.
If it was just a matter of the enchantments that the constables and Davel Chan had asked him to make, then Gavin doubted he would be all that concerned. If there were others like this necklace that Gavin was asked to find, he thought the enchanters deserved the opportunity to find it.
They had lost enough already.
He pulled his gaze away from Olivia. He had to stop thinking like that.
The enchanters were not his responsibility. He might’ve helped them, at least to a certain extent, but they could track down the Captain and demand whatever enchantments that he had of theirs back. Gavin didn’t have to do that for them.
“Why don’t I start with the necklace, and I will see what else is going on?” Gavin grabbed his cloak, buckled on his sword and dagger, and glanced around the tavern.
“You’re going now?” Wrenlow asked.
Gavin shrugged. “I waited until it was dark, but I don’t need to wait any longer.”
“You could keep trying to reach Gaspar.”
Gavin arched a brow at him. “Or you could come with me.”
Wrenlow looked over to where Olivia sat. “If you think that you need me, otherwise…”
“I see.”
“I said I’d come. I only wanted you to know I could stay here and help.”
Gavin chuckled. “Go ahead and stay here. Like I said. I don’t expect much out of this.” After stopping at the table, he leaned down and kissed Jessica on the cheek. “I won’t be long.”
“Just be safe.”
&
nbsp; Gavin headed out of the tavern, closing the door behind him, and looking back to see Wrenlow sliding into the seat next to Olivia. A wide smile crossed his face.
Gavin shook his head. Jessica’s words stuck in his mind. Be safe.
He didn’t need somebody worrying about him.
He also didn’t need to fear that he would let somebody down if he weren’t safe.
Gavin certainly couldn’t guarantee that he would be safe. With the kind of things that he did, the kind of work he ended up involved in, there was a genuine possibility he would throw himself into danger.
Only Gavin doubted he would find much danger tonight.
The Captain was once somebody he would have been more concerned about. He certainly had been concerned enough when he had broken the Captain’s fortress, but this was different. Gavin wasn’t looking for a fight.
He strode through the streets. Proper darkness surrounded him, and there was no crowd out in the city like there had been earlier in the day. He slipped the enchantment back into his ear, feeling the cold metal chain that connected the earpiece to the badge that he wore on his cloak begin to warm. Wrenlow wouldn’t have the enchantment on now. Not while sitting at the table with Olivia.
Which allowed Gavin to try to reach Gaspar again. He didn’t know if Gaspar would even answer, but he hoped that he would.
“Gaspar.”
There was no response.
He was probably visiting with Desarra. Or off on some job with Imogen.
The least he could have done was warn Gavin he wasn’t going to be available, though.
There was no response.
Gavin reached the Captain’s fortress, having tried to communicate with Gaspar a few more times, but had gotten nowhere. There had been no response, nothing coming from Gaspar, which meant that Gavin was off on this job alone.
He paused at the wall surrounding the Captain’s fortress, his gaze sweeping along it. It was a tall, fortified stone building with a massive wall surrounding it. An actual fortress and secured well enough there weren’t many other buildings around it. The manor homes lining the street in either direction gave the fortress spaces, as if afraid of getting too close to the Captain.
Gavin didn’t need to scout here since he had been on the other side of the wall a few times now. He watched for the patrol that he knew to be present but saw no sign of it.
The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3 Page 59