Deathspell

by Peter Dawes

  I raised an eyebrow, nudging away from her hand and offering her a cautionary look. “Dead, or to be made an example of,” I said. “I know what happened in that room and it wasn’t defending your honor.”

  “Oh, just because I know how to spin a tale to my parents doesn’t mean I’ve started believing them.” Jane’s hand lowered to her side. If my inching away from her touch had made her angry, she gave no indication of it. She simply glanced away and led us further into town. “Just the same, I’m not lying. He did intend to harm me that night.”

  “I know. Believe it or not, I was concerned for your welfare.”

  Looking back at me, she quirked an eyebrow. “The moment before you had deigned to kill me?”

  I shrugged. “You were a witness. And I had not yet decided that.”

  “It would’ve been a merciful death. Far better than Lawrence would’ve offered me and for much better reason. I’m hardly put off by reality, rogue.”

  My chest filled with air, in some effort to quell my nerves. “I rarely kill anyone I’m not paid to, milady. You would’ve been a victim of circumstance, nothing more.”

  “As such, I pray your forgiveness for running. But I wasn’t ready to die yet.” Her lips quirked before returning to her previous expression. Jane glanced around at the town surrounding us, the gesture pensive and yet, idle. “Why did you want Lawrence’s book?”

  I hesitated before providing an answer. “Is it unusual to be curious about such foreign words?” I asked.

  Jane laughed. “That you know any words at all is a wonder. Most of your kind aren’t literate.” After gravitating closer, she lowered her voice. “Was that truly the first time you had wielded magic?” she asked.

  My words matched the volume of hers. “You say that as though I cast a spell on him. As I recall, he was the one trying to do that to me.”

  “Yes, he was, which is what piqued my interest. He should’ve been successful.” As I glanced at her, she raised an eyebrow at me. “It takes magic to break magic, and I’ve the suspicion you are only now learning this about yourself. You have a natural gift, and I would like to help you cultivate it.”

  Try as I did to suppress the urge to chuckle, one slipped through the cracks just the same. I paused my steps, turning to face her as I shook my head. “From where does this offer come? Your family? Wouldn’t the church adore knowing they support witchcraft?”

  Her smile slowly vanished. “Not from my family, no.”

  “Then from this group of people Lawrence mentioned. The Luminaries.”

  “Yes, you seemed to have heard of them. I was going to ask you about that.” Jane regarded me from head to foot, as though sizing me up. “You know something more than you’re letting on if you’ve seen their red cloaks before. You mentioned that to Lawrence. I haven’t forgotten it.”

  “I’ve seen quite a few things in my line of work. Their sigil in the homes of noblemen, for one.”

  “Powerful people do flock to them especially in these uncertain times. All the same, if they were spoken of by the men you’ve killed, you did your victims a favor in ending their lives. Talbot wouldn’t have been nearly so kind.”

  “Now, his is a name I hadn’t come upon before Lawrence spoke it.”

  “It would’ve been the last thing he said if you hadn’t driven a sword through him.” Jane stole a glance around us again and directed her attention back to me. I held still during her examination, swallowing back a lump forming in my throat while wondering what had put it there in the first place. She drifted a step closer. “Have you opened the book?” she asked.

  I watched her eyes dance with mischief and steeled myself. People passed us on the street, but not one of them paused, as if they knew they were better not listening in on our affairs. For a moment, I wished for an excuse to break this line of discussion while seeing none presented to me. “I did, yes,” I said. “Latin. I confess I don’t know much of it, considering how few times I find myself reading holy books.”

  “Mmm. Not quite aptly named, rogue.” Jane tilted her head. “You feel it in your blood, don’t you? It’s been running through your limbs and into your gut ever since you broke his spell, whispering a secret to you that you’re desperate to figure out.” She glanced at the satchel, nodding toward it. “If I wasn’t a lady, I would gamble Lawrence’s book is in that bag of yours.”

  “And I would not take your wager.” I smirked. “Peddling the Devil’s fruit are we?”

  “As though I would have to entice you. You plucked the apple long before you walked into that inn.” Her posture straightened, an air of defiance settling over her. “Tell me the thought of learning more doesn’t hold even the slightest bit of temptation.”

  She regarded me in silence, the look on her face offering a challenge I could not counter. I huffed, the sound full of derision, and glanced away. “From what I’ve heard of your people, it’s better not to get dragged into their affairs.”

  “The Luminaries are hardly my people. I’ve been an accessory to them, but nothing more.” The way she sighed prompted my eyes back to her, almost despite myself. “Knowing them has benefitted my family a great deal. In a time when many men would love to have our heads on pikes, they have sworn us their protection.”

  “Then what use do you have for mine?”

  “I want more than just a shadow.” She spared a glance at our silent companion, who stood far away enough not to be privy to the hushed tones of our discussion. Jane’s eyes returned to mine. “I was once in the position of trying to learn without a teacher. It might have gotten me entrenched with that scoundrel, Lawrence, but it opened up another world to me.”

  When I failed to respond, she lifted a hand. This time when she touched my cheek, I remained still, feeling her fingers slide into my hair and trace the shell of my ear. Jane smiled while my eyes shifted from one local face to another, not certain how to dissuade her without drawing more attention to us. “Lie to me, Christian,” she murmured. “Tell me there is nothing I can give you that you desire.”

  I took a deep breath and met her gaze again. “Do you think me that base of a creature?”

  Her grin broadened. “I think there are many things a man can desire.”

  “And I think you hardly know me.” At the same time, I found myself weighing her statement with a touch of seriousness. Nothing she could grant me, I attempted to say, but then I recalled those moments of second guessing before I chased Paolo down into the main hall. Certainly, I had the desire to uncover the secret portions of my soul, and here it lay before me. What the sixteen year old me craved when he donned a cloak and first slit a man’s throat for money. One day I would have a blade pointed at my father’s killer.

  Jane chuckled. Her fingertip slid down my cheek and to my throat before her arm lowered to her side. “No, you are right,” she said. “I don’t know you.” The grin still painted on her lips defied the way she turned on her heels, pointing toward her guard. Her words were directed toward the other man. “I suppose I have nothing to offer Master Christian. Would you secure us lodgings, Leonard, so we can be on our way in the morning?”

  Leonard bowed and turned to depart. I sighed, watching them stride forward a few paces before finally capturing the bait laid out before me. “Wait,” I said, calling out the word while not shouting it. Both the guard and Lady Cavendish turned to face me again, regarding me as I walked within earshot of more hushed words. I held up a hand to stop Jane. “You say you know the contents of that book, and how to instruct another on how to use it?”

  She arched an eyebrow at me, considering me for a brief moment before responding. “Each man’s book is personal to them somehow, but all of them contain the same basic spells,” she said. “I can teach you, but your ability to use it depends on you.”

  “That is hardly a promise.”

  “No, it isn’t, but I will say I’m confident enough to offer you the chance.”

  “On what basis?”

  “Matters we can disc
uss if you agree to come along?” A grin spread across her lips once more.

  The groan I produced might have been inspired by her, but it was directed more inward than outward. Folding my arms across my chest, I studied her in silence before finally allowing my thoughts to birth themselves in the form of speech. “I will agree to your arrangement on one condition. I determine when I leave. If this means returning money to your family, then so be it.”

  “I demand a fortnight, rogue. After that, we’ll see just how eager you are to part ways.” She nodded once, the gesture slow with her eyes set upon me through the entire motion. “We leave for Plymouth in the morning, then. Gather your things and be waiting for us at the stables come sunrise. I will return to the inn with Leonard and finish my business with your employer.”

  Nodding, I offered her that as my parting response and nothing more. Jane lingered in assessment of me, weighing something before turning to consummate her departure. As I watched her lead her servant back toward the inn, I caught sight of the stables in my periphery and shifted my focus back toward it. Another grumble threatened its way past my lips. How the bloody hell was I going to explain this to Paolo, I wondered.

  Gritting my teeth, I trudged back to the doorway I had just exited a few minutes ago. Paolo had his back to me, a brush in hand he used to groom Diavolo in soft and steady strokes. I saw Tempest back in her stall, still saddled, but secured into place. “I don’t need to see it to know it’s there,” he said, tilting his head to place me in the corner of his eye. “That look you get when you want to tell me something I’m not going to like.”

  I winced. Stepping closer, I paused by one of the empty stalls and leaned my weight against a post. “Perhaps because I’m not bounding to you saying we must be on our way,” I said. A heavy sigh passed through my lips. “If I meet her terms, she won’t pursue me any further. I’m apt to take her offer.”

  Paolo huffed. “It sounds like she filled your head with a lot of cazzata. What was her offer?”

  “That I’m to spend a fortnight with her. After that, I’m free to leave.”

  “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid, Christian. What was her offer?”

  Swallowing hard, I looked away. “She saw me break the spell and she wants to teach me more about the book I stole. I was… inclined… to see what she knew about it.”

  “I see.” Paolo shook his head and tossed away the brush. As he turned, his gaze failed to meet mine, set instead on the ground while he started a quick pace away from his horse. “I knew you needed to be protected from yourself. I never realized how much.”

  He motioned as if to walk past, on his way to the door. I caught him by the arm, though, and stopped him, forcing us to face each other. “Paolo, don’t do this.”

  “Figlio di puttana.” Paolo tugged his arm out of my grip and finally looked at me, anger dancing in his eyes. I opened my mouth to respond, but he held up a hand to stop me. “I could say the same to you, but it never works, because you don’t think with your brain. You think with your…” He gestured at my crotch before his arm fell to his side. “You want to take her offer. For what? Per il bene di tuo uccello stupido.”

  I recoiled against the verbal slap, staring at Paolo while he clenched his jaw. “Do you think that is what this is all about?” Somehow, I held back the amount of vitriol with which I desired to issue the question. “My cock?”

  “I prefer thinking that to the truth.”

  “What…” I trailed off when I saw tears dancing in his eyes. Touching his shoulder, I tried not to be offended when he shrugged off my hand, but it did what I had intended it to do. He looked at me again and the expression on his face made my heart sink into my stomach. “What truth, amico mio?” I asked.

  Paolo issued a long, drawn out sigh. Both hands lifted, the heels of which rubbing at his eyes before his fingers slid up to tangle with the locks of his hair. He didn’t speak until lowering his arms once more. “That you think, even for a moment, that this is a good idea. So, she knows spell books and witchcraft? She isn’t the only person in the world who does.”

  “It isn’t about her knowledge, Paolo.”

  “No.” He took a deep breath, holding onto it until he summoned whatever strength it took for him to put words to his thoughts. “She knows the men who killed your father.”

  “Yes, she does.” I stole a glance around, as if there might be spies hiding in the rafters, and lowered my voice. “Paolo, this is as close as I’ve ever gotten to them. Yes, we could flee and attempt to find them, better prepared, or they could continue to chase us like they did my father until they capture us. If we leave, I might never find them again or they might discover us when we least expect it. But if I go with her, I could end this now.”

  “You could end it now or die trying.”

  “I told her a fortnight. If I haven’t found my father’s killer by then, I will leave.” My eyes settled on Paolo, fixed with his in a severe manner. “You know what this means to me. I have craved this chance since I first started wearing this cloak. If they’re so willing to teach me, then why shouldn’t it become their fatal folly?”

  My friend and lover clenched his eyes shut, his shoulders slumping by a fraction while he took a deep breath. When he lifted his lids again, he looked exasperated and resigned. “I would be a hypocrite to tell you not to want this,” he said, punctuating the words with a frown. Paolo placed a hand on the beam against which I stood, leaning into his hold. “It won’t make the demons leave, though, amico mio. That much I know from experience. In the end, even when we get our revenge, you are still an orphan, and I am still an exile from my homeland.”

  “If I am to be an orphan, then I want them to bleed for it,” I responded. Reaching out for him, I rested my palm above his heart and drifted closer. While I knew the stablemaster could enter at any moment – or any of the host of people whose beasts were tied up in the other pens – I allowed everything around me to fade. Within my thoughts, I envisioned the first time I had kissed him, seeing the inebriated young man I had been surge toward his friend here in these very stables before he could lose his nerve. “Please forgive me,” I whispered, not needing the aid of liquor any longer to brush my lips against his. “I will return to you when I’m finished.”

  “Leave if it gets too dangerous. Promise me this,” he said, failing to retreat. “Tell me where to find you and I’ll let you go.”

  “Plymouth. She told me this is where we are headed.” My eyes drifted shut. “I promise I will leave if the situation becomes more than I can handle. Is that a good enough vow for me to make?”

  “Do you give me any other choice?” Paolo sank against me, a hand tentatively resting on my arm as even the sparse amount of space between us disappeared. The rest of the world ceased to exist while we kissed, his scent and taste overwhelming me until we pulled away. Even then, we opened our eyes to regard each other almost at the same moment.

  “Te amo,” he said, his palm lifting to touch the side of my face. While the hold was tentative, and the feel of his skin against mine far too fleeting, I experienced a moment of serenity unlike any which had crossed my path beforehand. He didn’t need to translate what he had said to me. I understood it perfectly. A shaky breath preceded him collecting his composure. “If we aren’t running off together, then I have duties to attend.”

  “No wrath more severe than Roland’s when he fails to collect a wage.” The ache returned to my heart despite the levity of the moment. “I find myself wanting to ask you to be careful,” I said, punctuating the comment with a laugh.

  Paolo raised an eyebrow at me, his lips curling with amusement. “As though I’m ever the one who needs to do that.”

  “Look at the company you take up with. I might be a poor influence on you.”

  “Take your concern for me and direct it toward yourself, amico mio. Maybe then I won’t worry so much.” The quip bore a playful amount of teasing to it, masking the heaviness still apparent in the way he held himself. Patting
my shoulder, Paolo turned his attention back to Diavolo, nodding in the direction of my mare while adjusting his gelding’s saddle. “You should put away her things and go upstairs to sleep. The ride to Plymouth will wear you both out.”

  My smile broadened as I walked up behind him. My thoughts entertained the notion of sliding my arms around his waist, a temptation I managed to resist. Instead, I kissed his hair and retreated a pace afterward, turning my focus toward Tempest and ridding her of her bit and bridle. Even when she had been locked within her stall and settled into place, I lingered until Paolo rode off.

  A yawn crested past my lips as I watched him depart, my disposition turning both solemn and fatigued. I considered it a mercy when the journey back to the room spared me the sight of either Lady Cavendish or Roland, and collapsed into bed with no will left to fight the onslaught of sleep. My eyes failed to open until dawn crested the horizon and even then, I felt refreshed enough only to trudge down to the main hall for a meal. Aches afflicted me from head to toe that barely had the chance to dissipate by the time I wandered into the stables.

  She caught up to me as I finished grooming Tempest. The cryptic smile danced across Jane’s lips again while her attendants separated to prepare her party’s horses. “Are you ready to leave,” she asked.

  “As much so as I am ever going to be,” I conceded. Once I had Tempest readied, I mounted the steed, gripping her reins tight. “The lead is yours once you are ready, Lady Cavendish.”

  She nodded with approval. Within minutes, we had begun a slow ride toward the crossroads leading out of town. As we pointed our horses southward, all but Leonard headed in the direction of Exeter, nudging their horses into a full gallop. My eyes lingered on them, until I felt the weight of Jane’s stare directing my focus back to her.

  Her lips curled, expression laden with amusement. I did my best to remain impassive. Settling myself deeper into the groove of my saddle, I glanced straight ahead while she assumed a place by my side. Something about the gesture unnerved me, providing my first hint that this might be as poor of an idea as Paolo warned it might be. All the same, I refused to reconsider it. My eyes remained set on the horizon, nodding in the direction of Plymouth.