The door to the tavern opened and a blast of cool air burst in with it. The weather had changed, leaving Reva cooler than when they had first come. It was a temperate place along the coast most of the time, one that rarely knew snow, but the rains had been cold enough for Carth to have needed to break out her heavy cloak.
Three men entered the tavern and took a position in a corner booth. Carth watched them with interest. They had a dark glint to their eyes. They were the kind of men she had known all too well during her activities of the last year, the kind of men who came to taverns searching for company, thinking they were entitled to it.
When one of the serving girls—a younger lady by the name of Hallie—made her way over to them, the nearest man grabbed the back of her thigh as she stood in front of them. Hallie casually swatted it away, only causing the man’s smile to grow.
Dara started to stand, but Carth grabbed her arm. “They need to learn how to handle situations on their own. We won’t always be here to protect them.”
“But, Carth—”
“If we’ve trained them well, they won’t need us. That’s the whole point of us coming here, isn’t it? That’s how you’ll get back home.”
Dara nodded slowly and sank back into her chair.
The man tried grabbing at Hallie’s leg once more, and she swatted it away again. She shot him a playful look, one that was both warning and threatening. It was a look that Dara of all people had taught them.
Hallie finished taking their order and made her way towards Carth and Dara. Carth looked up at her, a question in her eyes.
Hallie shook her head. “I think I might slip a little ferrace leaf into their drinks.”
Carth fought back the urge to smile. They had been working with the women here, teaching them about the powers of the leaves and spices and berries, lessons that Carth knew a little about from her time training with her mother as an herbalist. The lessons Hoga had taught had been able to supplement these.
Hallie smiled again. “If nothing else, it will make them more compliant.”
Carth met Dara’s eyes as Hallie slipped back into the kitchen. “It seems as if they learned quite a bit. Maybe they’re strong enough now to manage on their own.”
“It can’t stop. If we don’t continue training, they could lose what they’ve learned. What you’ve done here is important work.”
“What we’ve done here. This wasn’t just me. The more places like this we visit, the easier it will be for us to keep ahead of whatever the Hjan intend.”
Dara met her eyes. “I will stay here. I can help work with these women. They know me. They trust me—”
“Dara. You were just telling me that you wanted to return home.”
“And I still do. But I also recognize how important this is. I recognize how important the work they do here is.”
Carth rested her elbows on the table. She looked her friend in the eyes and saw the certainty in them. “We don’t have to do this for long. Only until we feel confident it can be self-sustaining.”
It was Dara’s turn to force a smile. “You move on, stop in the next city you intend to establish, and from there we can continue to build your network. Like you said, this is important work. When it’s done, we can return to the north together.”
Carth shook her head. “The north isn’t home to me, Dara. There is no home for me, other than the hold of the ship. The Spald has been the best home I’ve ever had, the closest thing I’ve had to a real home, since… well, since as long as I can remember.”
“Then you take the Spald south. Continue establishing this network.”
“Not south. Not yet. I need to return to Asador and check in with Lindy,” Carth said.
“She’ll be fine. You know she will.”
“I know she will, but I need to check in with Lindy.”
They’d been gone long enough and Carth wanted to see her friend, but there was another reason. Word out of Asador was troubling. While the women in Reva might be safe, the same wasn’t true in Asador. Carth had thought her absence wouldn’t matter—not with Lindy in place—but it had.
As Hallie came back out from the kitchen, there was a certain confident swagger to the way she made her way towards the table. She set three steaming mugs of ale in front of them, dancing back away from their attempts to grab her. She didn’t bother to swat at their hands this time, and the man with the sword no longer had the same anger in his eyes. They each took long sips from their mugs, and Carth counted to ten, watching as the leaves took effect and waves of relaxation washed through them.
These women would be safe here, and having Dara here would ensure that safety. It would also provide her with the point of contact—both of which were reasons for her to do this.
Carth dragged her gaze away from Hallie and nodded. “Keep in contact with Asador. It’ll be easier for me to get word from there.”
2
Carth wandered the streets of Asador, much more comfortable now than she had been the first time she had come to the city. Troubled thoughts plagued her, leaving her feeling alone… and lonely.
The first time she’d been here, there had almost been a sense of desperation. They had docked, looking for help for Dara, who had been poisoned along the way by Guya. It had taken Carth’s capture and subsequent freedom before she had been able to help her friend, and during that time, she had helped many others.
That had been the start of her forming a network of women, one where she was determined to see that no others were harmed the way Dara had been and to make sure that no others were captured and sold into slavery the way the women of Asador had been. The way Carth had almost been.
Now she wandered through Asador on her own, much like months ago. It was strange that she should find herself isolated like this once more. Would she always be alone like this?
Time like this made her reflective as she made her way to Lindy and the others in Asador. It wasn’t that she disliked being alone, but she had thought she would begin making connections by now, forging a home for herself. After her parents had first disappeared, she had made friends on the street, but those friends had not stayed with her once she began developing her shadow abilities. Abandoning Kel and Etan and Vera and Hal had been for the best.
When she had gone to train with the A’ras, she had thought that her burgeoning friendship with Alison would create a connection, but when it appeared Carth had sided with the Reshian, Alison had abandoned her as well. Even Samis, the young man she had grown close to, even allowing herself to begin thinking something more might happen between them, had betrayed her.
Perhaps that was to be her fate. Perhaps she would help others find their place in the world, making sure they were safe, and then be forced to move on.
She passed a row of buildings, all different shops than she had seen in Asador before. Signs were painted in faded colors, the street in this part of town more run-down. On a night like tonight, with the way her mind had been, that was as she wanted it. It was better to be unnoticed, left alone, rather than drawing attention.
Carth found the door with the faded orange paint on it and knocked three times in a specific pattern before pushing open the door.
The other side of the door led into a narrow entrance. There were two women here, both of whom would notice her presence, though she couldn’t see them. Neither said anything. That was as it was supposed to be. She made her way down the hallway, not needing the light of the two lanterns on either end that both glowed with the very faint light.
Carth drew upon the shadows, sinking into them as she made her way down the hallway, and that allowed her to see more clearly in the dark. Drawing on the shadows in the way she did, she was able to detect other pressures upon the shadows, and she mixed an edge of her Lashasn power, that which the A’ras called the flame. Between her two conjoined abilities, she noted the presence of the various people in the room she approached.
Carth stopped at another doorway. She hesitated only a moment befo
re passing inside.
Unlike the other side of the doorway, this room was well lit. Nearly a dozen lanterns glowed with bright light, each placed to dispel the shadows. The air had an antiseptic quality to it, one that was a mixture of different spices that created a certain bite to the air. Two rows of cots filled the middle of the room, a total of ten in all. All were made up neatly except for one, and on that one rested an older woman with a bandage up her entire arm.
Evie approached. She was an older woman, heavyset, and wore a white dress that was practically the color of the bandages and the sheets. She had flat gray eyes with heavy wrinkles in the corners, but there was a warmth to them as well.
“Ms. Rel. You’ve returned. How long has it been?”
Carth offered a smile. She found it interesting that these healers would choose to refer to her by the same title Invar had chosen. “Long enough. It was time for me to return to Asador.” Evie nodded as if there were nothing more to say about that, watching Carth with an otherwise unreadable expression. “I wanted to see if there were any needs.”
Evie shook her head. “You made certain we have everything we need.”
Carth looked around. She hadn’t made sure they had everything they needed, but she was trying to support them as much as possible. Lindy provided support to the healers while Carth was out of the city, and Carth had been more than happy to leave Lindy in charge of the city. Someone had been needed. Without support, this place of healing would fail.
It was unique in the city of Asador, likely unique other places as well. Carth hated that it was necessary, but places like this were necessary in every city she’d ever visited. Establishing a place of safety had been the first thing she knew needed to be done. She had to make certain that women who lived in the city, women who had been abused, had a place to turn, even if they didn’t know it.
That was the first step in getting them to safety. It wouldn’t be real safety unless they could recover. Carth knew that, which was why she had sought out women like Evie, women who had particular gifts with healing.
It had been Hoga—her penance for what she’d done and how she’d used women. Now Hoga had disappeared. She would see the woman back under her control before she did anything else that harmed others.
“Do you have everything you need?” Carth asked Evie.
Evie stopped in front of the woman lying on the cot. She unwrapped the dressing, and Carth noted extensive burns up and down her arm. It was a measure of either the woman’s injury, or the sedation Evie used, that she didn’t moan or cry out.
“We have almost everything we need. You made certain we have access to supply of herbs and powders, and we have plenty of funds. It’s unfortunate there is still such a need for these services.”
Carth nodded. She hadn’t yet told Evie about the next step in her plans, one that would require even more of their intervention. If Carth had her way, they would continue to develop connections, and that ran the risk of additional injuries. If it resulted in information, Carth thought that would be worth it. She hoped those who worked with her thought the same.
“What happened to her?”
Evie finished wrapping the bandage along the woman’s arms. “This one? She worked in a place where her master seemed to think he could punish her by shoving her arm into a vat of hot oil.”
Anger surged into Carth. It was the sort of thing she had hoped to curtail. Would remaining in the shadows allow that to happen, even if women knew there were places of safety? Carth wasn’t sure she was ready to reveal herself. When she did, she placed a target on her back—on the backs of all who worked with her. Was that what she wanted?
Safety. That was what she wanted for these women. For that, she would have to reveal herself.
But she still hadn’t revealed to the C’than how she’d claimed them. Likely Ras already knew. It wouldn’t surprise her if word had gotten to the Tsatsun master.
There had to come a time when she would announce herself, even if it was only to say that she offered protection. She had done the same with the Hjan. She had announced her protection of the Reshian and the A’ras. Was it not the same for Asador?
For that matter, she hadn’t seen any Hjan in months. There had been rumors, but little more than that. She had discovered they were based out of a tower in a place called Thyr, and she had learned there was more to them than what she had known. The Hjan were an arm of assassins, but only part of a larger organization. The rest considered themselves scholars. Carth had little doubt about what they studied; they traded in knowledge of death and power.
“I’ll do what I can to keep them safe in the city,” she said to Evie.
Evie shook her head. “I know you will, Ms. Rel. All of us who work with you appreciate the fact that you use your abilities to protect us. Without you… most of us would be subjected to something much worse.”
“But you worked as an herbalist before I found you.”
Evie hugged herself, then ran her hands up and down her arms, the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes deepening. “Yes. I worked as an herbalist. But even then, there was a certain level of violence. Men would come, demanding treatments, expecting that I would provide them. Most would pay… but it was the ones who didn’t who really worried me. Worse were the men who came seeking salves, thinking that they could force someone to do their bidding.”
Carth started to smile, but she realized Evie was telling the truth. “What kind of salves are we talking about here?”
“The most innocuous were those who thought to make love potions.” Evie smiled and shook her head. “It’s not all that difficult to mix a cocktail that will put a man’s heart at ease, no more difficult than making him think that it worked. Like I said, those are the easy ones. The ones who were a real challenge were those who thought they were owed something. They were the ones who thought they could use my knowledge in ways it was never meant to be used.”
Evie’s smiled never reached her eyes. “Those are the reasons I’m thankful for you, Ms. Rel. Without you, I would be forced to continue putting up with them. The local police had no interest in stopping them, and the alternatives…”
Carth knew of the alternatives. In Asador, there were guilds, but they were guilds of the thieves or assassins or even what claimed to be guilds of protection. Those were comprised of men—and they were always men—who collected their fee in exchange for safety. It would be one thing if they were simply hired muscle, but that really wasn’t what they did, and few saw themselves as much more than money collectors.
Carth had dealt with several of them in the time since she’d come to Asador, and it had been necessary for her to take a more active role. Even though she had done that, she had maintained a certain anonymity. There were rumors in the city of someone like her, rumors that claimed she was attempting to consolidate power, that she intended to push out the thievers guild and the others as well.
Carth knew those to be dangerous rumors, but there was no way to avoid them. In some respects, having those rumors out there about her created another layer of protection. If people believed Carth was consolidating power, they might hesitate to move too quickly. By that time, she hoped to have a better-connected network. And then she could consolidate power, but only if it was necessary.
“Where is the other girl who’s usually with you?” Evie asked.
“Dara stayed in Reva. She plans to make sure that what we’ve set up there holds. You should be pleased to note the women took to your lessons quickly.” They were more Hoga’s lessons, but she wouldn’t tell Evie that. The healer had been helpful and had made certain Carth had the supplies she needed as she trained the women.
Evie nodded. “Doesn’t take much to learn how to mix a few powders. The key is knowing the right combination, and the right time. Such knowledge can be dangerous.”
Carth smiled, thinking of how Hallie had slipped the leaves into the men’s ale to calm them. That was the kind of protection those women had never had. That was the
kind of confidence they’d never possessed prior to Carth and Dara coming to the city.
“They’re thankful for what you taught.”
“Well, it’s good to teach as much as we can. I just hope this lasts.”
“What do you mean?”
Evie shrugged. “Only that when you’re gone, we’re likely to lose whatever protection we have, won’t we?”
“Not if I have anything to say about it. Even without me, I want to make sure that everyone’s established well enough they don’t need me, that they can be safe without my presence, and without my abilities.”
“How do you intend to do that? Not all of us have powers like you, Ms. Rel. And when you’re gone, who’s going to keep us safe from the Hjan?”
Carth didn’t say it, fearing to admit it even to Evie, but she was hopeful that when she was gone, the Hjan would be as well. More than anything, that was her goal.
3
Carth reached the rooftop near the shore. She crouched there, overlooking the water, watching the waves as they crashed along the shore. Ships moved in and out of the docks, even at night. Some, especially the smaller ones with the sharp-pointed bows and the narrow waterline, she knew to belong to smugglers who worked along the coast.
There were plenty of smugglers here, enough that in her time in Asador, Carth had begun making connections with the various captains. She had been surprised to learn that Guya had not been as well regarded as she had initially thought. It troubled her that she had misread him so badly. Then again, how long had he been playing her? Possibly from the very beginning. That troubled her as well. Wasn’t she the master of Tsatsun?
It was another lesson. Even when she thought herself in control, and even when she thought she knew what was taking place around her, she needed to question and make certain she knew all the possible moves, even the unexpected ones. Perhaps those most of all.
Other ships out in the sea had the wider bodies of longer voyagers. There were nearly as many of those, but most of them were anchored and didn’t bother trying to sail at night, certainly not into the rocky coast of Asador.
Shadow Found (The Shadow Accords Book 6) Page 2