by Jasmine Walt
“I see.” Pillick looked a little disappointed, but I wasn’t about to feel relieved. Janta had done well, steering Pillick away from the idea that Iannis had been teaching Fenris magic, which wasn’t true anyway. But knowing that Fenris had already been studying magic for decades might push Pillick and Garrett toward the truth—that Fenris and Polar were one and the same. I was banking on the knowledge that such a concept would be completely outlandish to them; that would hopefully keep them from going down that path for as long as possible.
Pillick attempted to pry more details about Fenris’s former life out of Janta, but she deflected his questions easily by saying that Fenris was a very private person. As we carried our stacks of magazines back to the common area so we could sit them on one of the tables and begin sorting through them, I noticed Tinari was still in the corner, her nose buried in that same leather-bound tome she’d hidden behind earlier.
“The books keep her company,” Janta said quietly, sounding a little sad. “I wish I could send her to school, so that she could be around children her own age, but for the present, I must keep her with me constantly in case she suffers a magical outburst. She is of the appropriate age—it could happen any day now.”
“That’s too bad.” I frowned, studying the little girl. “Is she really reading those huge tomes?”
“Oh, yes,” Janta said proudly. “Tinari is quite the reader. She might well become a librarian herself someday.”
Tinari made a face, and I bit back a laugh—I hadn’t realized she’d been listening. “Why don’t I take her off your hands for a little bit?” I suggested. “There’s another little girl in the kitchens who is about Tinari’s age who could use some company, too. And besides, it doesn’t look like I’m needed much here,” I added, gesturing at Pillick. He was already busy going through the magazines, marking appropriate articles with pieces of paper and setting them aside, while discarding others that were useless. He didn’t seem to want to share the task, and I got the feeling that he didn’t trust me—he wanted to scour each piece with his own two eyes.
“Yes, I think that’s an excellent idea,” Janta agreed. “Tinari, why don’t you accompany Miss Baine for a little bit? You can come back to your books later.” I’ll keep an eye on Mr. Pillick, she mouthed, and I smiled in gratitude.
Tinari held my hand as we walked to the kitchens, practically skipping in excitement—despite her love of books, she must have been awfully bored being confined to the library all the time. I knew I would be. She chattered a mile a minute as we walked, asking me about my travels to Garai and telling me about the new things she was learning every day with Janta. She might not have many friends yet, but Tinari was well cared for, and it did my heart good to see her that way.
As we descended the stairs to the kitchens, the heavenly scent of baked apple pies wafted up to greet us, and my stomach growled in anticipation. We entered the kitchen to see Mrs. Tandry barking orders to the rest of her kitchen staff, who seemed to be baking up a storm. There were sweet and savory pies, breads, rolls, huge roasts of ham and beef, and more.
“Oooooh,” Tinari exclaimed, her eyes going starry as she beheld a stack of chocolate tarts. “What are these for?” She reached for one with her small hand.
“They’re being sent to Shiftertown and Maintown, for the volunteers assisting with the rebuilding,” Mrs. Tandry said, swatting Tinari’s hand away before she could grab a tart. Her dark hair was secured beneath a white cap, her rounded cheeks were ruddy from the heat of the ovens, and her apron was coated with flour. “Got to keep those men and women well fed if we want them to continue working at full strength.”
“I agree,” I said, looking around at the piles of food with astonishment. I noticed several of the kitchen staff were already wrapping the food and packing it in boxes. “Did you come up with this on your own, Mrs. Tandry?”
“I sent a letter to Lord Iannis with the suggestion, and he seemed to think it was a good idea,” Mrs. Tandry said proudly. “He allocated us enough gold to allow us to provide food to the volunteers for several weeks.”
Liu chose that moment to pop out from behind one of the islands, and I grinned at the sight of her. She looked adorable in her apron-covered frock with flour smudged over her cheek. Her long dark hair was secured beneath a white cap, leaving her thin face unframed. “Miss Baine!” she cried, rushing over for a hug. “Have you come to visit me?”
“I have,” I said with a chuckle as I returned the embrace. “And I’ve brought you a new friend, too.”
Liu pulled back to inspect Tinari. The two girls stared at each other for a few seconds, assessing. “I’m Tinari,” Tinari spoke first, sticking her small hand out for Liu to shake. “I live with Janta, the librarian.”
“I’m Liu.” Liu looked confused about the hand for a moment, and it occurred to me that Garaians always bowed. But she figured it out quickly, then shook Tinari’s hand. “I work here in the kitchens with Mrs. Tandry.”
“Do you really get to stay here and make cookies all day?” Tinari asked, her eyes wide with wonder.
“Yes,” Liu said proudly, grinning. “I even get to eat them sometimes.” She grabbed a tart off the plate before Mrs. Tandry could stop her, then broke it, offering half to Tinari. “Here. I know you want one.”
Mrs. Tandry rolled her eyes, but a smile twitched at her lips as the girls instantly began chattering away. “You’d think she’d be the size of Hawk Hill by now, with the way Liu eats,” she said, turning to me. “I’m not sure where she puts it all.”
“I’m glad to see she’s filled out a little,” I observed, smiling. “You’ve taken good care of her.” When Iannis and I had bought Liu from her father, a poor Garaian farmer, she’d been little but skin and bones, dressed in rags and dirt. Now she was clean and well-fed, her skin glowing with health and her eyes shining.
“It’s no trouble at all,” Mrs. Tandry said, blushing a little. “She’s a joy to have in the kitchens, and whip smart. In fact, she’s quite gifted as a cook, and I suspect she’ll be giving me a run for my money in a few years.” She let out a little sigh.
“But?” I asked, suspecting there was a downside here.
“Well, it’s just that Liu doesn’t know how to read, and it’s an important skill to have as a cook.” Mrs. Tandry brushed some flour off her apron, spraying my leathers with a fine cloud of the stuff. Oh well, it wasn’t as though Liu hadn’t already gotten it on me. “I would teach her myself, but I don’t have the time. She has an excellent memory, so once she learns a recipe, she doesn’t need to refer to it again, but she needs someone to read everything aloud the first time.”
“Hmm.” I stared at the two little girls for a moment, and a lightbulb went off in my head. “Tinari, what do you think about teaching Liu how to read? I know you’ve got a lot of time on your hands in the library.”
“I’ve never taught someone how to read before,” Tinari said, biting her lip. But Liu’s eyes were shining with hope, and she relented. “But I could probably do it, and Janta can help me if I we get stuck.”
“I would love that,” Liu said, bouncing up and down with excitement. “You can teach me to read in the library, and I can teach you how to cook here in the kitchens. Then you can make your own chocolate tarts at home, every day!”
I couldn’t help it—I grinned at their twin expressions of enthusiasm.
“I don’t know that Miss Tinari will need to learn how to cook,” Mrs. Tandry said dubiously. “Mages tend to hire help for that—they certainly never lack the gold for servants.”
“Perhaps,” I allowed, “but cooking is a good skill for anyone to have, mage or not. If we hadn’t found Liu, Lord Iannis and I might have starved during our trip to Garai.”
“Yes, and besides, I can spend more time with my new friend!” Tinari grabbed Liu by the hand, and the two began dancing around the room together. Mrs. Tandry shrieked when two cast iron pans unhooked themselves from the ceiling rack and began dancing along with them…to the
same tempo, I noticed in shocked amusement.
“Magic!” Tinari shrieked, her eyes going wide, and a set of plates launched themselves from the drying rack and began spinning about the room.
It took a few minutes for me to get everything under control. Mrs. Tandry worked on calming Tinari down, while I used my own magic to return the dishes to their rightful places. Luckily, Tinari only managed to break two of them, which Mrs. Tandry assured me was nothing—she’d seen much worse. She promised to send Liu up to the library after lunch tomorrow, for her first lesson, and the two girls hugged and made their goodbyes.
“I can’t believe it,” Tinari gushed as I brought her back to the library. “I did magic!”
“You sure did.” Smiling at her enthusiasm, I squeezed her hand. She chattered excitedly about Liu, and how much she was looking forward to her cooking lessons, right up until we got to the library again.
After briefly explaining what had happened to Janta—who was disappointed at having missed the episode, but relieved it had been relatively harmless—I went off to find Garrett. Pillick was still hogging the magazines, and if Iannis was interrogating Father Calmias, I wanted to catch the tail end of it.
A quick check-in with Dira, the Mages Guild receptionist, confirmed that Iannis was in his office with Garrett. I knocked briefly on the door, then let myself in. Iannis and Garrett were seated at his desk, in deep discussion, while Fenris was curled up in wolf form on the floor by Iannis’s feet, well away from Garrett’s keen gaze.
“Miss Baine,” Garrett said, sounding a little surprised as he twisted in his chair to face me. “Did you and Mr. Pillick already finish up at the library?”
“Mr. Pillick is still going through the magazines,” I said, settling into the visitor’s chair next to him. “He seemed unwilling to share the task, so I thought I would come here and see what you two were up to.” I turned to face Iannis with a smile. “How did your interrogation with Father Calmias go?”
“Not as well as I’d hoped,” Iannis admitted. “Time on Prison Isle has not dulled his will or his wit—he has a very clever tongue, and no matter what line of questioning I took, I was unable to prove any direct complicity between him and Thorgana. His combination of stubbornness and charisma is very dangerous—he will not renounce his beliefs, and his followers will continue to champion him.”
“Pity we can’t just kill him,” Garrett noted dispassionately. “But that would only make him a martyr.”
“Indeed,” Iannis said, “and that is the last thing I want. We must find a way to break him, and the hold he has over his followers. I have him under guard in one of the guest rooms, and I will tackle him again tomorrow.” He glanced toward the clock. “For now, I have a disaster-planning class in the ballroom that’s about to start any minute.” He stood up.
“Let me know if you need anything,” I said, rising from my chair as well. I caught him by the hand before he could leave, then pressed a kiss to his lips, heedless of Garrett and Fenris’s presence. Truthfully, I was hoping to annoy Garrett a little with the display of affection—mages disapproved of that sort of thing. Catching on, Iannis slipped an arm around my waist and kissed me back, brief but hard. I could taste his frustration. Looking up at him questioningly, I silently inquired as to what was bothering him.
“Later,” he promised in mindspeak, letting go of me. “Good luck today,” he told Garrett over his shoulder before sweeping out of the room, Fenris on his heels.
Garrett watched them both go, his eyes glittering with some undefinable emotion. “I suppose we should head out,” he finally said, sounding disgruntled. “I’d like to get something done before lunchtime, and Pillick will no doubt be busy for hours with the magazines.”
“Sure thing,” I said, my mind dancing with other ways to annoy or unbalance Garrett throughout the day. “What do you say we go for a ride?”
10
I shot out of the Palace grounds on my steambike, Garrett clinging to my waist. I’d left Rylan at the Palace, much to his disappointment, because there wasn’t really any need to bring him with Garrett accompanying me. Besides, if the three of us went, we’d have to take a steamcar, which I wasn’t keen on. It was a lot faster to get around Solantha’s narrow, winding streets by bike.
To my surprise and annoyance, Garrett adapted to the steambike far better than Fenris had when I’d first ridden with him. After learning that Fenris had spent the bulk of his life as a mage, I’d assumed all mages would be uncomfortable riding this way. But though Garrett pressed his body closer against mine than I would have liked, he seemed otherwise completely at ease astride my shiny, steam-belching beast. In fact, I strongly suspected he was enjoying the ride.
“You were correct,” Garrett said, pulling off his helmet once we’d come to a complete stop. “Your steambike is a most efficient means of transportation.” He eyed the bike with no small amount of admiration gleaming in his eyes. “If it were suitable for an official of my status, I would be tempted to get one for myself.”
I bristled at that. “Always so tactful,” I said, turning my attention toward Thorgana’s mansion and changing the subject before he could respond. “Looks like the new owners have wasted no time starting construction.”
“I can’t blame them,” Garrett said as we watched huge, steam-powered machines with broad shovels dig dirt out of the ground. The large, elegant mansion where I’d stumbled into a trap and nearly died only a few months earlier was completely demolished, the manicured gardens buried beneath piles of dirt as the land was dug up. “This is prime real estate, what with that nice ocean view.”
A quick chat with the foreman told us that the new owners were building a luxury-apartment complex. I took down the name of the company, but didn’t think I’d be digging much further—Thorgana was obviously not hiding out back here. With this possibility crossed off our list, we got back on the bike and headed to the Enforcers Guild.
“There is a new captain in charge, correct?” Garrett said as we prepared to go inside. He craned his neck a bit, studying the dingy grey facade, and I wasn’t surprised that he looked thoroughly unimpressed. The building was well past its glory days, and it should have been renovated a few decades ago. Recalling it had been on Kardanor’s list, I frowned. I’d have to make sure it got bumped up on the priority list—schools and hospitals were important, but the Guild needed to continue to function no matter what, or there would be no one around to help maintain order during a calamity.
“Yes, the former captain has just retired.” I lowered my voice as we walked in through the entrance. “This one is the acting captain, technically speaking, but unless he seriously screws up, I’m sure his position will become permanent soon enough.”
I walked up to the sergeant’s desk and asked one of the trainees manning it to inform Acting Captain Skonel that we were here to see him. The trainee, a stocky male human who looked like he’d just turned twenty, took in Garrett’s seal of office, worn on the front of his burgundy robes, then snatched up the phone and made the call. My sharp ears picked up Skonel’s voice easily, as well as the annoyance in it, but despite his clear reluctance to interrupt whatever he’d been doing, he told the trainee to send us up.
We rode the elevator to the fourth floor in silence, and while Garrett seemed at ease, my stomach tightened with nerves. Captain Galling could be stubborn and unreasonable at times, but my years of experience with him had taught me which buttons to push. I had no such knowledge when it came to Wellmore Skonel. He had a good reputation as a solid enforcer who respected and upheld the law, but I knew better than most that reputations didn’t always reflect a person’s true character.
“Captain Skonel will be with you in a moment,” the receptionist said when we stepped into the modest waiting area. She gestured to the beat-up leather waiting chairs. “Please make yourself comfortable. Would you like anything to drink?”
I was going to decline, but Garrett asked for a cup of black tea with cream, so I got one for myself
too. It was a good thing, because Captain Skonel kept us waiting far longer than necessary. My nose and ears didn’t pick out another person behind his office door, so either he was truly buried in paperwork, or he was deliberately letting us stew.
Finally, after a good ten minutes, the door opened. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” Skonel said briskly as he strode out to greet us. “I was on an important call.”
I narrowed my eyes at the lie. Once upon a time, I would have called him on it, but we needed Skonel to talk to us, and catching him out would only put him on the defensive. I caught Garrett’s hazel eyes, and could see he didn’t buy the excuse either, but he shook the captain’s hand anyway.
“You’ve come a long way, Director Toring,” Captain Skonel said once we’d settled into the office. I immediately noticed that Captain Galling’s photographs were gone, and that the shelves had been militantly organized. The cot in the corner was also gone, replaced by a comfortable-looking chaise. “What brings you out to our fair city?”
“My office has received intelligence that Thorgana Mills, the Benefactor, may be lying low in Solantha,” Garrett said.
“Is that so?” Skonel sat up straighter, his brow furrowing. “Why hasn’t the Enforcer’s Guild been notified? My office has the right to know if a notorious terrorist is hiding out in our city.”
“I’m informing you right now,” Garrett said coolly, and I had to hide a grin. For once, it was nice to see his snooty behavior directed at someone other than me. “I didn’t want to send any information over regular channels, in case it was intercepted. The last thing I need is for Thorgana to discover we are hunting her.”
“Understood,” Skonel said with a stiff nod. He turned his glittering gaze on me, and it was clear he wasn’t happy I’d been genned in on this before him. “I assume you will be working with us now, to apprehend her?”