Treasure and Treason

by Lisa Shearin

  The demon zombies shifted uneasily, and a few stepped back. None fled.

  My shadow magic met the mage’s darkness and stopped.

  I pushed, testing the barrier.

  The mage’s darkness held.

  Dammit.

  I could only hold my shadow barrier in place for a few minutes. I could gain a little more time—if I dropped the protective shield I held in place around us.

  The mage stood easily as if she had all the time in the world.

  “I had been told you were strong,” she said, and her voice didn’t sound strained at all. “I didn’t believe it. I was wrong.” The mage actually sounded happy about that.

  I couldn’t spare the strength to speak, so I let my shadow magic continue to do the talking for me.

  The mage extended her hands and pushed against my shadows with her darkness.

  It held.

  Yes.

  “Very impressive indeed,” she murmured. Then she gestured to the demon nearest her, indicating that he come closer. When he was within reach, the mage reached out with one hand and simply touched him on the arm.

  The demon disintegrated without even trying to escape.

  He had sacrificed himself, his power flowing into her.

  And my shadow barrier was kicked back five feet.

  I pushed with everything I had to regain the lost ground.

  Nothing.

  The mage lowered her arms, no longer needing a physical gesture to focus her power. “I can endlessly replenish my strength. Can you say the same?”

  I couldn’t say anything. Everything I had was holding what little protection we had left.

  The mage knew it.

  And I suddenly knew fear.

  The darkness pushed my shadows back, flowed to the edge of my shields, and stopped mere inches from my boots. Our captor—she could no longer be called anything else—would hardly destroy that which she wanted.

  Agata Azul.

  “Actually, Primaru Nathrach, you could prove quite valuable to me as well, too valuable to destroy.”

  She was skimming the surface of my thoughts. I slammed the door. It didn’t even earn as much as a wince from her.

  Primaru meant archmage of the royal blood. I seldom heard it anymore. It was a title from another time, another life. A time when I had battled and lost—my wife, my position, and nearly my life. A time when all I lived for was revenge. The time of Sarad Nukpana and his Khrynsani.

  The mage smiled slowly. “Sarad speaks very highly of you. It was he who warned me of your strength.”

  Agata gasped from behind me. I would have done the same if I’d had enough air.

  Sarad was dead. He had to be. I’d seen the demon lord I’d summoned carry him screaming into the Lower Hells. The demon may have played with him first, but he would have killed him. I’d chosen that particular demon for that reason.

  Sarad Nukpana made a deal.

  The words appeared in my mind, but I knew them to be true. Knew it down in my bones.

  His mother had made a deal with an off-world invader, and her son had likewise bargained for his life with a demon lord.

  Sarad Nukpana was alive.

  Chapter 12

  “Magus Azul, if you will come with me, no harm need come to you,” the mage was saying. “I am fully capable of taking you or having you taken by force, but I would rather have your willing cooperation.”

  Willing cooperation.

  I’d heard those two words earlier this evening in reference to Sarad Nukpana. He’d wanted Agata’s help finding the Saghred. The Saghred was gone, or at least beyond anyone’s reach.

  Until a moment ago, I’d thought the same of Sarad Nukpana.

  “I am highly selective of whom I accept as clients,” Agata said, her voice and expression cool and composed. We were surrounded by a darkness that could consume us with a touch. By necessity, she stood with her body pressed against mine. I felt the faintest tremor; then again, that might have been me. “And any acceptance is contingent upon the work in question not conflicting with one I have already accepted.”

  “You have accepted work with Primaru Nathrach?” the mage asked.

  “I have.”

  “May I inquire as to the nature of that work?”

  “You may, but professional ethics prohibit me from answering.”

  The dark crept closer, touching the tips of my boots and Agata’s.

  Agata never looked down, but her fingers tightened on the back of my arm.

  The mage’s voice was quiet and almost gentle. “Are your ethics worth your life?”

  “Do you expect me to willingly cooperate with my life under threat?”

  “I expect you to be reasonable.”

  “Reasonable. An interesting word choice from a woman who sacrifices her own people to get what she wants.”

  Confusion passed over the mage’s face. “The undead one that gave his power?”

  “The human assassin across the street.”

  “He was none of mine, nor are any of his companions. They flushed you out into the open, earning my gratitude, so if they come no closer, they may leave here with their lives.”

  “You’re popular this evening,” I murmured to Agata.

  “So it would seem,” the mage said. “I can assure you, Magus Azul, that allying yourself with Tamnais Nathrach will only bring you suffering and result in your death. I, on the other hand, can guarantee your survival.”

  “I’d like to say I could match that offer,” I said, “but she’s got me there.”

  “And she’s got us here.”

  I didn’t need reminding. The mage’s dark magic had absorbed not only light but the remaining heat. A cold beyond anything I had ever felt was seeping up through the cobblestones and through the soles of my boots, permeating my skin and numbing the muscles of my legs. Running was something I very much wanted to do, but even if I hadn’t been surrounded by death-bringing dark, I didn’t think I could move, let alone run. The mage had to know this, but she remained where she had first shown herself to us, making no move to come closer.

  Perhaps she couldn’t.

  Even if maintaining her dark magic kept her from approaching, that didn’t make our situation any less dire. No one was going anywhere until the darkness retreated, or was called off.

  A flash lit the street like high noon, and agonized shrieks came from all around us.

  When I could see again, the demon zombies surrounding us writhed in the street, clutching what passed for ears, dark blood pouring through their fingers. The zombies were down, but their boss lady wasn’t. What she was was pissed. The darkness wasn’t gone, but it had weakened. Her attention was on whoever had put down her demons, not on the couple she had trapped.

  I had one shot, and I took it.

  I lifted my hand, spread my fingers, and with a roar, sent five needles of red fire at the mage, bending them to hit head, torso and legs. She was shielded, but I was determined—and desperate.

  Our rescuer launched a furious attack that hit everywhere on her that I didn’t.

  Green.

  His magic was green.

  Kesyn.

  With a vicious grin, I redoubled my efforts, slashing with my hand as if I were using claws—stabbing, slicing, darting and attacking again from another angle.

  The mage wrapped the darkness around her like a protective shroud, and our fire merely impacted on the surface—a surface that was sinking like molten tar into the cobblestones until only a black greasy circle remained.

  When she vanished, so did the undead demons.

  The air reeked with the overpowering stench of burnt flesh and brimstone.

  So much for my neighbors ever speaking to me again.

  Chapter 13

  Kesyn Badru was bent over, hands braced on his knees, sucking in air as if he’d run the length of the city.

  He scowled at the two of us. “I was right.”

  “I don’t know what you’re right about, but congrat
ulate yourself once we’re behind my wards.” I hooked an arm around my teacher’s shoulders and pulled him upright to hurry him along—and to help me stay on my own feet. Just because the mage was gone and her minions along with her didn’t mean she couldn’t come back, this time with more demon zombies.

  Or someone else entirely.

  I dragged in a breath. “She said Sarad—”

  “I heard,” Kesyn snapped. “Send him to Hell and he still—”

  I pulled Kesyn and Agata back into the shadows.

  I’d seen movement up ahead. Not enough that my eyes could see, but my magic senses were on high alert. Nearly being eaten by black magic sludge would do that to you.

  My house was being watched.

  By goblins. Eight well-hidden and well-trained goblins.

  Human assassins, demon zombies, and now goblin hitmen. At least I assumed they wanted me dead; everyone else tonight had.

  I reached out with my mind, the barest brush of magic to determine their intentions.

  They were armed, and all were ready to kill. I didn’t push hard enough to get a name and possibly alert them; that they had my house surrounded was enough information for me.

  Kesyn and Agata remained motionless. I didn’t know if Agata could sense them, but Kesyn could; plus, he trusted my survival instincts. During my previous tenure in the goblin court I experienced at least one attempt on my life per day, and that was on a slow day. I was good at staying alive.

  I indicated a detour and they followed. Rather than risk another fight when Kesyn was exhausted and I wasn’t much better, I opted for an alternate way home.

  *

  The last time I’d used the tunnel beneath my house had been when Sathrik Mal’Salin still reigned with Sarad Nukpana by his side, and I had been forced to sneak back into my own home. That time, there had been eight of us. Now there were only three. I knew for a fact that we were alone. I had set the strongest wards and repelling spells possible to guard the approaches to my home from every direction. Since I had returned home from Mermeia and the Isle of Mid, and once again had my family around me, I was determined to keep them safe.

  The wards were intact on the hidden wine cellar entrance. No one had tried to breach them tonight.

  That was both good and bad, or at least suspicious.

  I disabled the wards in one section of tunnel and replaced them once we’d passed through. The door to my wine cellar was well hidden by vines, but I had warded it as well. Paranoia had always kept me healthy, or at least alive to be paranoid again.

  Once inside the cellar, I replaced the wards on the door.

  When I finished, I turned to find Agata surveying the damage to the room. Kesyn had already seen it.

  After I had been forced out of Regor, Sathrik had ordered all of my possessions confiscated for the crown, though I knew where most of them had gone—into Sarad Nukpana and Sandrina Ghalfari’s homes and coffers. My wine cellar had once been the envy of the court. Now it was a room empty of wine and full of overturned and broken racks. Or at least it had been. Since I’d returned home, we’d swept the floor and piled the debris in one corner. The racks made excellent firewood. What wine I had now, I kept upstairs. Replacing my wine collection hadn’t made my list of priorities since getting Chigaru on the throne.

  “You’re home early, Your Grace,” said a voice from the stairs leading up into the house.

  “And I’ve brought two guests.” I stepped aside so Barrett could see them, especially Agata.

  My majordomo had aged entirely too much during the time I had been away. Most people wouldn’t have noticed it, but I did. I had caused it. Not myself directly, but my actions had brought the wrath of Sathrik Mal’Salin and Sarad Nukpana down on my family, and I included Barrett as one of them. He’d played a large part in raising me, but as I had done with all who had tried to guide me, I had ignored his guidance, discarded his advice, and nearly destroyed my life, and by association his as well. Barrett and my parents and brother had welcomed me back with open arms. I hadn’t deserved it, but I was beyond grateful for it, and was determined never to put any of them through that again.

  “I take it your meeting went well only to a point,” Barrett noted with his usual reserve. “And judging from your collective smokiness, I assume Magus Azul gracing us with her presence wasn’t her choice.”

  “Unfortunately correct on both counts, Barrett,” I said.

  Agata sighed. “After Chancellor Nathrach’s visit, my home is now a pile of smoldering cinders surrounded by assassins. I was left with little choice.”

  Barrett graciously inclined his head. “Regardless of the reason for your visit, be welcome in this house, Magus Azul. Since his return, His Grace has developed an annoying tendency of bringing guests in through the sewers. I’m beginning to fear he’s lost any trace of the manners that I assure you he was taught.”

  Kesyn barked a laugh. “Beginning to fear?”

  Barrett stood aside on the landing. “Hospitality and chivalry demand that we immediately see to Magus Azul’s comfort and needs.”

  *

  As always, Barrett saw to all of our comfort and needs.

  Needs were met in the form of a guest room for Agata so she could clean up, and then food for all of us.

  Our comfort came when Barrett informed us that the goblins lurking outside were lurking under Imala Kalis’s orders. They were guards to protect me, not assassins sent to kill me.

  That was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

  Though right now, I thought that Imala, who had just arrived, might be reconsidering their orders.

  “They’re armed and were lurking outside my house,” I said. “What was I supposed to think?”

  “If you had accepted my offer of guards the first five times I offered, you would have known about them and we wouldn’t be having this pointless conversation.” Imala’s voice was a silk-covered stiletto. Most goblin women were tall and coldly beautiful. Imala Kalis was petite and—though I’d never say it to her face—adorable. Adorable and deadly, with dimples. She wasn’t showing me her dimples now. In fact, I didn’t think I’d be seeing them anytime soon. I towered over her by a good foot, but that had never stopped her from getting in my face, figuratively speaking.

  “My wards are sufficient,” I told her.

  “Are they now? And what if this mage had decided to come here rather than capture you and Agata in the street? From what Kesyn told me, she would be more than able to get through your pride and joys.”

  I didn’t say anything. Just because a statement might be true didn’t mean I had to acknowledge it.

  “You were lucky I happened along when I did,” Kesyn said, enjoying himself far too much at my expense. “I came by here earlier, thinking you’d be back, but Barrett told me you hadn’t come home yet. I knew you couldn’t still be talking to Aggie. She’s got more sense than to fall for your tall, dark, and charming act. So I figured you—or the two of you—had gotten yourselves into trouble.”

  “We didn’t get into trouble,” Agata told him. “Trouble set fire to my house.”

  Kesyn’s eyes flicked between the two of us. “Which one were they after?”

  “The ones you met wanted Agata,” I said. “And seemingly for the same reason I did. I don’t know what the pyromaniacs wanted, other than to flush us out of the house.”

  “You think they were working together?” Imala asked.

  My mind flashed back to the assassin being consumed by the black magic-spawned darkness. “I have a feeling they weren’t.”

  Imala pushed back a curl of dark hair that’d escaped from her long battle braid. “I received intelligence that some out-of-town talent would be paying Regor a visit. Considering the level of the talent, I assumed they were here for Chigaru and Mirabai. When I determined that wasn’t the case, you were second on my list of people most likely to have a price on their heads.”

  “Unfortunately, you were right.”

  “Yes, I was.”


  “You don’t have to sound pleased about it.”

  “It’s so rare to have you acknowledge when I’m right. How else am I supposed to act? When I found out that Agata’s house had been firebombed, and knowing that you were going to ask her to go on the expedition—”

  “Wait, how did you find out that—”

  Imala just looked at me. “I’m the chief of goblin intelligence. It’s my job to know everything.” She flashed a dimpled grin, but it wasn’t friendly. “When I got here, I asked Barrett where you were. I extrapolated the reason for your visit based on your not having asked Cort Magali yet.”

  Agata was glancing between us, sipping a cup of tea Barrett had prepared and enjoying the show. “Ah, so I wasn’t your first choice. Cort Magali would have done a fine job.”

  I shot Kesyn a look. He had described Magali the same way.

  “I didn’t tell her about Cort,” Kesyn said.

  “He didn’t have to,” Agata said. “Cort was anticipating your visit, even though he did not know the reason for it. The thought of going to Aquas would have terrified him—and the thought of going to Aquas with you would have terrified him even more.”

  “Even he realized you were trouble with feet,” Imala muttered.

  “That wasn’t what I meant, Imala,” Agata said. “Well, at least not entirely. Cort Magali is deathly afraid of being out of sight of land. Then there’s the seasickness. Cort would have been quite worthless to Chancellor Nathrach.”

  I realized something. “You ladies are on a first-name basis. Magus Azul said she knew you—”

  “Imala is one of my best clients,” Agata said. “I’ve kept the palace in sentry gems for the past year.”

  That gave me pause. “Impressive work. They’re the best I’ve ever seen.”

  The gem mage inclined her head. “Thank you. My clients expect the best, and that is precisely what I give them.”

  “Agata is not only one of the best gem mages in the Seven Kingdoms,” Imala said, “but better still, she is eminently sensible for one so young.” Imala quirked a smile. “Which would be a highly desirable—and needed—addition to your expedition.”