Exile. A Jan’Tep family wandering the world with no allies, no clan and no access to the oasis. Over the years even my father’s magic would weaken. It was nothing less than a death sentence for all of us.
Mer’esan looked at me for a moment, an expression of sympathy on her face that made me feel even worse. ‘We are a people of magic,’ she said quietly. ‘We cannot afford a mages’ war between houses. Better one quick and brutal injustice than decades, perhaps even centuries, of blood feuds fought with spells and murder and mayhem.’ She reached out and closed my hand over the tiny gold disc. ‘I suggest you find your magic quickly, son of Ke.’
10
The Spy
It was late into the night by the time I left Mer’esan’s little cottage. I still had Ferius’s deck in my pocket, along with the gold disc. I felt weighed down by these tools that were being used to manipulate me. I thought back to all the jokes Ferius had made about Jan’Tep magic. She made my desire for it sound petty and childish. Except that the dowager magus tells me it’s the only thing that will keep my family safe.
I didn’t know who to believe. I knew exactly what my family would think. A Jan’Tep must be strong, my father would tell me. My mother would just look at me, and make that little gesture of hers, drawing a finger around my left eye, assuring me that life was unfolding as it must. Shalla would do what she always did: tell me it was all my fault and I just needed to try harder. For once I just wanted to talk to someone who wasn’t going to judge me or make fun of me.
Nephenia.
Shalla had told me she’d come looking for me. I wondered what she’d looked like, knocking at our door, asking after me. Had her eyes been full of concern and maybe, just maybe, something more? Had she cried when my parents had refused to let her see me?
It was a childish fantasy of course, as was my sudden desire to try to find her. It was late, and for all I knew the dowager magus might have one of her guards following me to see where I went. Besides, I was fairly sure that in the morning Shalla would put on a big show in front of my father, asking whether I’d returned the deck of cards to the ‘Daroman woman’, which was the only justification for not returning the instant my meeting with the dowager had ended. So finding Ferius had to come before any hopes of romance with Nephenia.
Ours isn’t a very big city – it’s barely five miles in diameter with about three thousand inhabitants – but trying to find one person among all those souls would have been almost impossible had I not been fairly sure where to look.
My people drink wine and beer along with an older, more traditional spirit made from apricots and pomegranate called djazil; for the most part, these are imbibed in the home, with family, in a quiet, dignified manner. Since that in no way described Ferius, I headed towards the city’s guest houses. There were only five specifically intended for foreigners, and of those I was fairly sure only three served strong drink.
‘She’s not here,’ the thin-lipped Sha’Tep man behind the counter said, ignoring me while he shifted a pair of small oak barrels onto the deep shelf behind him.
‘But you’re sure you saw her?’
The little belly awkwardly attached to his otherwise bony frame shook as he laughed. ‘A red-haired Daroman woman in a frontiersman hat? How many of those do you think we get around here?’
‘So when did she leave?’
He looked annoyed, or thoughtful. I couldn’t quite tell which. ‘Must have been about two hours ago. She said my beer tasted like cow’s piss and went off in search of something better.’ He pointed towards the door. ‘Try the Night’s Calling. It’s in Veda Square, about a quarter-mile down the street.’
‘Why not the Falcon’s Pride? It’s closer.’
‘She said she’d already been there. Said their beer tasted like cat’s urine, which, evidently, Her Ladyship considers even worse than cow piss.’
I left the guest house and over the next half-hour made the trip through the slums down to Veda Square. I don’t know whether Ferius had been inside the Night’s Calling, nor what particular type of urine she would have compared their house beer to, because by the time I found her, she had more pressing concerns.
The entrance to the square was blocked by the white-shirted backs of a dozen initiates, a few from my own class, making it impossible for me to see inside. It wasn’t hard to tell Ferius was there though.
‘Back off, you sap-faced little rat, before I clip your whiskers and use them to pick my teeth!’ Her shouts were slightly slurred. I don’t think I’d ever heard someone that drunk.
I recognised Panahsi’s tubby frame nearby and yanked him around. ‘What’s going on in there?’
When he recognised me he ushered me back further from the square. ‘Kellen! What are you doing here?’
‘Looking for Ferius Parfax,’ I said, shaking off his arm. ‘Now tell me what’s going on.’
‘Go home, Kellen. You shouldn’t be here.’
I was about to press him further when a couple of older initiates, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, looked back and took notice of us. ‘Hey, fatty, you’re supposed to keep lookout.’
‘It’s all right,’ Panahsi called to them. He turned to me and spoke in hushed tones. ‘Go home, Kellen. You don’t want Tennat and his brothers seeing you right now.’
I grabbed him by the shirt, which would have been a mistake if Panahsi’s inclination for violence was even remotely in proportion to his potential to deliver it. ‘She saved my life, Panahsi.’
Panahsi’s eyes went straight to the ground. ‘It’s … Don’t worry. They’re not going to hurt her. Not really.’
‘You’re lying, Panahsi. Or you’re stupid.’ I shoved him out of the way and ran towards the entrance. The other initiates had their backs to me, their attention focused on the action inside the square. I spotted a small gap between two of them and made for it, pushing through them before anyone noticed me.
‘Hey!’ one of them shouted, making a failed grab for my arm.
I glanced back, expecting to see the initiates coming for me, but none of them, not even Panahsi, crossed the line into the square. They must have been ordered to stay outside.
‘Kellen, wait!’ Panahsi shouted to me. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing. She’s a spy!’
I ignored him and ran the hundred yards to the other end of the square where three figures were standing in front of Ferius. She caught sight of me and called out. ‘Hey, kid. You probably shouldn’t be running around like that, what with nearly dying and all.’
The three in front of her turned. I recognised Tennat first. His face shone with excitement mixed with a kind of hunger that made my stomach turn. Next to him stood Ra’fan, his brother, wearing the grey-and-blue silk shirt and loose linen trousers that are the ceremonial garb of chaincasters.
Ra’dir was on the other side of him, bigger and taller than his brothers; he wore the blood-red shirt and black trousers of a war mage.
Why are they all wearing their ceremonial garb? That was when I noticed the four braziers set around the square, each one burning with a different-colour fire. ‘You’re holding a trial?’
‘She’s a spy,’ Tennat replied, his smile as ugly as anything I’d ever seen. ‘My father says so.’
‘Your father’s an idiot,’ Ferius said. ‘No offence.’
‘Shut your mouth, Daroman!’ Ra’fan shouted.
I’d expected him to be deep in concentration, holding Ferius in a binding spell, but there was no way he could maintain focus while shouting like that. Why are you just standing there, Ferius? Why aren’t you making a break for it?
I looked down at the ground where she stood and found the answer. A rough circle had been scratched into the gravel and dirt, barely visible to the eye, but I was sure there was a thin line of copper wire buried just underneath. Ra’fan was the chaincaster of the group – he must have imbued the wire with a trapping spell while Ferius was inside the guest house and then triggered it the second she walked out the door and
into the circle. From outside it would be a simple matter to break the wire, but anyone inside was bound until Ra’fan released the spell.
‘You can’t hold a trial,’ I said, trying my best to channel my father’s voice. ‘None of you has rank to attend court, never mind run one. When the masters find out—’
‘Who’s going to tell them?’ Ra’dir asked, taking a step towards me. He pointed to the initiates guarding the square. ‘Everyone here is a loyal Jan’Tep mage. Everyone here knows we have to protect our people from spies.’ To me he said, ‘Besides, Ra’fan’s found a mind-chain spell that’ll bind her from ever revealing what happened here. She’ll remember all of it, but she’ll never be able to say it or write about it or do anything that would let anyone know. Ra’meth will—’
‘Shut up,’ Ra’fan said. He came over and put a hand on my shoulder as if he’d suddenly decided to be my big brother. ‘Just wait over there with the others, Kellen. Nobody wants to hurt you. You might be Sha’Tep, but you’re still one of our people. It’s our job as Jan’Tep to protect you, don’t you understand?’
Merciful ancestors, he actually thinks I’m dumb enough to fall for that.
Ra’meth couldn’t come after our family now that the election had begun, so instead he had sent his sons after Ferius. Not only could he get revenge for her interference last night, he could also show everyone that allies of the House of Ke weren’t safe. Of course, pointing that out wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
I gave a laugh which I hoped didn’t sound as fake to everyone else’s ears as it did to mine. ‘You think Ferius Parfax is a spy? She’s no spy. A card-playing swindler, maybe, but nothing as grand as a spy.’
‘Oh really?’ Ra’fan said, removing his hand from my shoulder so he could push me with it. ‘A card player who just happens to show up at an initiates’ duel? Who just happens to save your life and then spends the night at your father’s house?’ He pushed me a second time. ‘Who attacked a lord magus under cover of darkness?’
My heart was starting to beat too fast for my chest. Meanwhile, my mouth was as troublesome as ever. ‘Really? That’s what you’re going with?’
Ra’fan pushed me again, sending me stumbling backwards. ‘Wouldn’t it just serve that fat Daroman king perfectly if he could keep our clan weak by preventing a true, strong prince from rising up?’ He turned to the initiates standing guard at the entrance. ‘They fear us, those Daroman cowards. Even with all their military might and all their war machines, they fear our magic! That’s why their spy threatened Ra’meth’s life yesterday.’
I turned to the initiates at the entrance, hoping that at least some of them had figured out how ridiculous this was. All I saw in their faces was a mixture of gullibility, foolish pride and perverse excitement. They’d all convinced themselves this was some kind of noble defence of the Jan’Tep people. Even Panahsi, when I caught his eye, said, ‘Fair’s fair, Kellen. The Daroman shouldn’t be interfering in clan business.’
‘It’s time,’ Ra’fan said.
I turned and saw them lining up in front of the circle holding Ferius.
‘Wait, what are you doing? If this is a trial you have to—’
Tennat laughed. ‘We already held the trial, Kellen, before you got here. We found her guilty of conspiring against the Jan’Tep people. Now it’s time for her punishment.’
‘It’s okay, kid,’ Ferius said. ‘Go on home.’
At first I thought she wanted me to go for help. The problem was, that wouldn’t do any good: I’d never find anyone in time, and even if I did, I doubted they’d care. Nobody was going to stick their neck out for some Daroman gambler or Argosi wanderer or whatever she was at the risk of angering the family of the man who might be the next clan prince. I looked back at Ferius, trying to signal that going for help wasn’t going to work, but then saw the uncertainty in her eyes, which I hadn’t noticed before were a deep green. When she said, ‘Go on, I can take these three,’ I knew she was lying.
‘Go home, Kellen,’ Ra’dir said. He held up his hands and they started smouldering with a red-and-black glow. Even without his casting a spell, his will was strong enough for me to feel the heat. ‘I promise, if you keep your mouth shut about what you saw here, nothing bad will happen to you.’
Nothing bad will happen to you. Sure, except that just about every bad thing that could happen to me already had.
‘It’s time,’ Ra’fan said.
Ra’dir smiled. ‘Come on, Kellen. Let’s be friends about this. Our houses don’t have to quarrel. What do you say?’
There was something ironic about the fact that, if I was going to find some way to recover my magic, it was probably going to require the use of forbidden spells and rituals. I would need people to help me – people willing to do dark and terrible deeds for their friends. People like Ra’dir.
Which was a shame, because the one bad thing that hadn’t happened to me so far was my own death, and that was thanks to Ferius.
‘I say … you’re just about the biggest, dumbest oaf I’ve ever met, Ra’dir, and if you want to get to Ferius Parfax, you’re going to have to go through me first.’
His eyes went wide right before he made a grab for me. I ducked under his arms and raced forward, pushing past Ra’fan and diving towards the circle holding Ferius. If I could break the spell, she’d be free. I didn’t have a knife or anything else with me so I just dug my hands as hard as I could into the dirt and gravel and felt for the copper wire. I felt someone kick me in the side just as my fingers found it. The wind got knocked out of me, but I managed to break the wire, and as it came apart, so did the spell it held.
I scrambled awkwardly back up to my feet to see Ra’dir and his brothers spread out a few feet away from me, looking unsure of what to do next, or, more likely, choosing which spells to use against us.
‘Thanks, kid,’ Ferius said. ‘That whole binding thing was starting to bug me.’
‘Nothing’s changed,’ Ra’fan called out. ‘It’s three mages against two magic-less fools. We’re ready for your dirty smoke trick this time.’
Ferius ignored him. She turned to me and said, ‘Don’t suppose you brought a weapon?’
I pulled her deck of cards out of my pocket. ‘Just these.’
‘Keep ’em,’ she said. ‘I’ve got my own.’ She slid a hand into her waistcoat and when it came back out she was holding another deck of cards. She fanned them out. ‘Here, kid, pick a card, any card.’
Not knowing what else to do, I took one from the middle. That was when I felt the cool metal surface and discovered that these cards weren’t anything like the pack I was holding.
‘Four of clubs?’ she said, looking down at the card in my hand. ‘That’s the best you can do?’
‘You said any card,’ I replied, my eyes glued to the strange weapon in my hand.
‘Ah, I guess it’s okay,’ she said, and turned back to the others. ‘Always wanted to try my hand at a Jan’Tep duel.’ She fanned out the deck in front of her so everyone could see the razor-sharp edges of the thin metal cards gleaming under the soft light of the moon. ‘So, who wants it first?’
11
The Deck
The red glow coming from Ra’dir’s hands reflected menacingly off the surface of the fanned-out deck Ferius was holding. ‘You think you can fight a war mage with a deck of cards?’ he scoffed. His fingers were bunched together, pressing against each thumb, the somatic form that would unleash a ball of wildfire once he spread them apart and said the spell.
‘For you I just need one,’ Ferius replied, and a single card slid up from the fanned deck, which she took and held between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand. ‘In case you’re wondering, this isn’t your lucky card.’
Ra’dir began the spell, but even as he spoke the first syllable, Ferius flung the card. It spun through the air like an arrow and lodged itself in his open mouth. He started choking and his spell came apart before he could even cast it.
‘That was the dul
l end I gave you there, boy. Next time you get the sharp.’
I prayed to our ancestors to put a stop to this – for Panahsi or the other initiates to realise this had gone too far and step in, but none of them moved. This was a duel now, and duels are sacred to my people. Even so, if it had just been Tennat facing us, or maybe even Tennat and Ra’fan, fear of facing an armed opponent might have put an end to the insanity then and there. But Ra’dir was a war mage and they’re trained for the chaos of battle. He spat out the card, a thin line of blood sliding from the edges of his mouth down his chin. ‘She can’t take us all. Attack together,’ he said. ‘Now!’
I heard both Tennat and Ra’fan uttering spells. I knew Tennat would go for the gut sword – the same spell he’d used on me the day before and one of the few forms of offensive magic an initiate learns. But it was Ra’fan I was worried about. A chain mage has all sorts of binding spells, and in seconds he could paralyse Ferius and that would be the end of the fight. As he spoke the first word, Kaneth, I threw the deck of regular cards into his face. The painted surfaces filled the air with colour for an instant, momentarily breaking his line of sight to Ferius. He swatted the cards out of the way and began forming the somatic shapes for the spell again.
I heard a grunt from Ferius. Tennat had chosen to attack her rather than me. Of course he did. He’s stupid but not that stupid. ‘It’s the gut sword!’ I shouted to Ferius. ‘His will is inside you.’
‘Just … a … little … sting …’ she said, doubled over in pain.
Tennat was grinning wildly, so excited at being able to exert his will over Ferius that he forgot she had no shield spell of her own. ‘She’s mine,’ he told the others. The idiot was going to rip out her intestines.
Instinctively I formed the somatic shapes for a spell to break Tennat’s concentration. Silk spells are hard to envision – you have to slither into the mind of your enemy. But I’ve always been good at the basic elements of magic, so my fingers were tracing the somatic forms even as I spoke the first syllables of the incantation and tried to channel my will into the tattooed band for silk magic on my left arm. I thought that maybe here, in a moment of crisis, a moment where I was trying to do the right thing and protect someone else, the magic would come to me.
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