Entering the city was another argument I had to win. Kestral wanted to go himself and buy the hair dye. First, I had to convince him that every cut-purse, beggar and street rat would mark him as a soldier and try to kill him, rob him or both. Then I told him the shopkeeper I knew wouldn’t sell to an outsider. There were ways to buy and trade in Giltner and, by fate, I knew them all. He knew I was telling the truth, but he still didn’t want me going in alone. But there’s always one place a person can go, and that’s home.
I landed in the shadow of the shop and shifted human. I had borrowed a cowl from Kila and wore it beneath my cloak, pulled low over my face to hide my eyes. Affecting the confident stride of any long-term resident of Giltner, I shoved the shop’s door open and stepped inside.
The person at the counter was not the one I was expecting, but of course the shop owner would have changed over the years. The shop had not changed—wigs like great, dusty spider webs blocked out light from the windows, hiding alchemical vials dotting the walls. Weapons gleamed behind the counter and in the hands of the shopkeeper as she eyed me.
“Who’s this?” the scraggly-haired woman hissed. “I don’t know you. Get ye gone.”
“Sorry, Grandmother. I’ve been away for a time.” I rolled my wrist, showing her the old hand signal of a thief. She continued to eye me suspiciously as I approached the counter, but she didn’t throw her knife at me, which I took as a good sign.
“What are you looking for?” She leaned forward, trying to peer beneath my hood. I turned my head, keeping my face shadowed. “Lookin’ for a job? The Roost is always looking for a pretty face.”
“Believe me, I know.” I bit the words off a little harsher than I’d meant to. I reached inside a belt pouch and laid my knife bracers on the counter, turning a corner inside out to show her the shop’s mark inside. “I need new knives, Grandmother. And some hair dye.”
The woman inspected the insignia on the bracers intently before grumbling and grabbing two wrapped packages from behind the counter. She followed this with a tiny jar of powder. I frowned. She set a second jar on the counter. I nodded. She quoted a price and I laughed.
“Grandmother, is that how you treat all your children? Why should we bother visiting at all?”
“If I don’t know your name, you’re not one of mine,” the woman spat. “The price is the price.”
“I think you’ll remember me, Greta.” I reached up and lowered my hood just a fraction, letting her see my eyes.
The woman dropped her knife in shock. “Reshi!”
I pulled my hood back up. “Will you give me trouble, Greta? I promise I can make more than a little trouble for you in return.”
“You always did, didn’t you?” She chuckled. “I’ll never forget how, when the peace keepers came to town, you snuck into their barracks at night and switched all their coin purses. Tied to their belts as they slept, no less! And then—”
“I’m not here for memories, Greta.” I rapped my knuckles on the counter. “What happened to the orphanage? How did you end up taking over Coran’s shop?”
“Ah, well, Giltner always had too many orphanages, didn’t it, little Resh?” She shook her head. “A rival of mine burned it down. Lost half my kids. Sold the others at a steal. Coran died, right about the same time so I bought the shop.”
I doubted Coran had died pleasantly by the way she said it. Maybe even ol’ Greta had helped him pass on. But it wasn’t my business any more.
“I always thought you’d end up a belted whore in a hen house,” Greta said mildly.
“I know. I’m sure I’m a disappointment on that count.” I pointed to the counter again. “How much?”
“Wait, I have something special for you.” Greta started to turn. I lunged across the counter, grabbing her arm. Stars, the woman had grown frail over the years! She used to knock kids twice her size across the yard.
“Easy, Greta.” I held Kestral’s small crossbow on her. “No tricks.”
“I’d be a fool, wouldn’t I? Now that you’re one of the dangerous mage-born.” She cackled to herself, shaking her head and pulling away from me. “Who would have guessed it?” She rummaged behind the counter a moment before coming up with a small alchemical vial. “Eye drops.”
“For?”
“Eyes. You never were bright, were you, Resh? Except for your eyes.” She gazed up at me for a moment. “I’ll let you have the lot for a quick tumble.”
I shuddered. “No. Not ever. Not for anything. What do the eye drops do?”
“They darken your eyes, turn ‘em brown.” Greta batted her eyelashes at me. “Just like mine. If you’re looking to hide, which . . .” She picked up the hair darkener and raised an eyebrow. She had to know it wasn’t for me.
“No questions, Grandmother.” I slipped a few coins onto the counter. “Call it even?”
She shoved the coins back at me. “Not by half, you cheap child.”
I leaned across the counter, meeting her eyes. “Call it even for how you sold me.” I swept the vials off the counter and into a belt purse before grabbing the bundles of knives. I turned my back on her, striding from the shop.
“Can’t blame me,” the old woman called. “You were such a pretty child.”
A knife tumbled into my trembling hand. I clenched my teeth, adjusted my hood and shoved my way out of the shop. My past was behind me. So far behind me I could only see it when I bathed. Dark reminders of dark days. That woman wasn’t even worth killing. Even if she did rat me out, which I fully expected her to do, no one believed anything that came out of Giltner.
The bigger problem was that now I had my knives, I couldn’t fly out of the town. I’d have to hoof it. In the shadows of the shop, I pulled my bracers on over my sleeves, slipping each knife into a sheath. The knives were readily visible as my cloak fluttered around me. I wanted them to be seen. Head low, shoulders back, I walked through the town as if I owned it. I remembered that strut from when I’d watched assassins from the rooftops, dreaming of one day when I could apprentice to one. I was sold before that day came.
Probably a good thing, too. I would bet good gold that Kestral would have marked me as an assassin from day one. I chuckled, silently thanking Greta for making the choice that had scarred me for life.
I got a little lost on my way back to the campsite. Everything looked different from a crow’s perspective. Darkness was setting in and I didn’t want Kestral to worry, so I reached out with my magic until I found Shan. Using him as an anchor, I wended my way back to the campsite.
“Is that dinner?” I asked, startling both Kila and Kestral. The warriors glared at me darkly as I crouched down to eat a cold meal of cheese and jerky. They weren’t risking a fire so close to Giltner. Kestral watched me curiously. I tried to act as natural as possible, as if I hadn’t spent the last few months avoiding talking about my home town.
“I see you found your knives,” Kila said, grabbing hold of my wrist. “What about the hair dye?”
“That, and one more little goodie.” I held out the vials of dye and the eye drops. “Supposedly the drops turn your eyes brown. No idea if they’ve been tested on mage eyes.”
“Did anyone recognize you?” Kestral asked.
“Yeah. I don’t think we have to panic or anything, but maybe we should try to push on tonight.” I met Kestral’s eyes and held them. I knew he wanted to ask more, but there wasn’t any more I was willing to share. Not without opening old wounds.
Kestral nodded. He seemed to have expected this. The bags were still packed except for the food satchel. He repacked it, nearly grabbing the food from my hands. He had to wrestle a wineskin away from me in order to finish packing.
“How are we going to move at night?” Kila asked, eyeing the jar of hair dye doubtfully. “The horses can’t see properly.”
I recalled the owl I had met at one of the inns. If there was ever a time to try new magic, this was it. “I think I have a spell that can turn the horses’ eyes into cat’s eyes. It shoul
d help them see in the dark.”
Kestral’s mouth twisted. “You’ve used a lot of magic today. Are you sure you’re up to working a new spell all night?”
I shrugged. “As long as I get to sleep all through tomorrow, I should be fine.”
Kestral nodded. “Let’s go.”
I shifted to my cat form and leapt into Kestral’s lap, working my magic to help the horses see. On to Emlenton.
Chapter 9
“That has got to be the tallest tower I have ever seen,” I said, staring out over the river surrounding one of the greatest centers of learning in the entire kingdom. The windows were all made of pure, transparent glass, the stones a uniform shade of gray. The surrounding grass was clipped short and cultivated flowers decorated the base of the tower as well as many windows. Ivy scaled the walls in the shade. We had walked a wide circle around it, crossing bridges over the river. As we walked, I felt a tug of familiarity. Not to the tower itself, but something inside it. Kestral seemed to believe we had located the first child of Laurana.
“Should we go in and say hello?” Kila asked. It had taken me quite awhile to get used to seeing her as a brown-eyed brunette. She still wore her hair tucked into the lace net at the back of her neck, making her look fairly elegant. Today was the first day I had used the eye drops, and Kestral kept giving me strange looks. If I had to guess, I’d say he wasn’t very fond of my new look.
“She might know you’re here,” Kestral reminded us. “Take caution. We don’t know what kind of magic she has.”
Kestral took a step onto the bridge leading to the main entrance. Kila and I halted before our feet could reach the stones. He was halfway across before he looked back at us. “What are you doing?”
“Oh,” Kila startled. “I don’t know.” She tried taking a step, but somehow put her foot back down in the same place. She frowned at the bridge, seeming perplexed.
“I think it’s spelled, Kestral.” I tried tripping forward to fall onto the bridge. I ended up falling backwards, landing on my hands and backside.
Kila gritted her teeth, as if she would charge the bridge, but Kestral held a hand out and had us back up.
“It’s probably bloodline magic,” he explained, glancing back at the tower. “You’re all full-blooded siblings; it would be an easy spell for most mages to manage. I could go in.”
“How would you know who to look for?” I asked, reaching up a hand to him.
Kestral gripped my arm and pulled me to me feet. He nodded in agreement.
“We can circle the tower and see if it has any weak points,” Kila suggested.
Kestral shook his head. “Unlikely. This type of barrier usually only works on towers because the caster sets the spell at the very top, dropping the spell down like a dome.”
“So then what—” Kila started, but I hissed her into silence. “Reshi, what in the rust—"
“Ssh, just stop talking.” Something about the tower was not right. I walked a few paces away, dimly aware that Kestral was fighting to get something small and metal out of Kila’s hands before she could throw it at me. “There aren’t any crows here.”
“So?” Kila pouted, crossing her arms petulantly. Kestral tucked a throwing dagger into a pouch, waiting for me to continue.
“There’s all kinds of birds, see? In the flower pots and on the grass, birds everywhere, but no crows.” I closed my eyes, reaching out further with my magic. “I’m not too surprised that there aren’t any snakes, but no cats? There are dogs, kept as pets, mostly. But not a single cat.” The final absence made me dizzy, knocking me out of my concentration while I staggered to stay upright. Kestral’s hands were on my shoulders, steadying me.
“What is it?” Kestral asked.
“It’s—” I shook my head. It was simply unnatural. “There aren’t any rats at all in that building.”
“That’s impossible,” Kila scoffed. “Haven’t mages been looking for an extermination spell like that forever?”
“Are you sure, Reshi?” Kestral glanced back at the tower. “None of your forms are in that tower?”
I grinned up at him, drawing his eyes back to mine. “I didn’t exactly say that, did I?”
Kestral looked confused, but only for a second. Then he shuddered and shoved me away.
“What?” Kila asked, looking from me to Kestral. “What is it?”
“Not here.” Kestral held a hand up to his mouth, indicating silence. “It seems that Reina has been preparing for your arrival. We need to plan this out.”
Emlenton was a true city—crowded, loud and expensive. On the starry side, that meant as long as I colored my eyes, Kestral didn’t mind that I walked around as a human. On the dusty side, Kila’s gold was finally beginning to bottom out so we were staying in a pretty rough inn. We left most of our belongings inside Shan’s stall rather than our rooms, for security reasons. On returning, Kestral collected a few satchels and carried them up to our rooms. One of the kitchen servers caught my eye with a wink and a smirk. I replied with a coquettish head tilt and side-eye glance. Stars, it was nice to be seen again. Maybe I could even squeeze in a little dancing tonight.
Kila followed us into the room Kestral and I would be sharing for the night, letting her hair loose from its net. It seemed braiding and unbraiding was a nervous habit of hers. Or perhaps, she just didn’t like sitting still. She and I had a fight the first time she tried braiding my hair. She’d argued it wouldn’t get wind-tossed in a braid. I told her that if she were willing to wear a dress I picked out for her, she would be welcome to braid my hair. After I described the dress, she backed off. She wasn’t against wearing tight clothing, but apparently baring skin was something that made Kila the Fierce blush.
“I think our best approach will be tonight,” Kestral said, getting down to business. “It’s likely that Reina already knows the two of you are here from your attempts to cross the barrier. So tonight—”
A knock at the door made us all freeze in place. Who would be knocking? My breath caught in my throat; a shortsword appeared in Kila’s hand and I honestly couldn’t say where it came from. Kestral made a quelling gesture at the two of us and crossed the room, loosening the sword at his belt. He cracked the door open. And the last thing I expected happened.
Kestral laughed, embraced a person I couldn’t see, then stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him.
“What the rust was that?” Kila asked, still holding her sword.
“No idea.” I went to the door, pressing my ear against it. I heard boots on stairs and distant voices that faded as they reached the ground floor. “Hey, Sis, spot me some coins.”
Kila narrowed her eyes at me. “You know I’m down to my last silvers, don’t you?”
“I know.” I grinned at her. “I’m going to turn them all into bright, shiny stars.”
Kila hesitated, shaking the coins in her purse. “All right. But before Kestral kills you for eavesdropping and gambling, have a washbasin sent up to my room.”
“Sure thing.” Kila tossed me the pouch and I tied it to my belt before striding confidently down to the bar below. I stopped at the counter and slid over a coin, requesting Kila’s bath. As the innkeeper turned to find a runner, I leaned back against the bar and surveyed the room.
Kestral had spotted me and was leveling a glare so cold it gave me chills. He sat at a table with a tall, dark-skinned man whose black curls obscured his eyes as he turned to see what Kestral was glaring at. The stranger was either a soldier or a mage hunter, based on his military-issue boots. He didn’t wear a sword. In fact, I couldn’t see a single weapon on him. I felt him studying me as I studied him. Finally, I smiled at them both and gave them a lazy wave. Spying on Kestral wasn’t my first priority, after all.
Even though the hour was early, the bar had a handful of patrons. There was a table of sailors drinking loudly and harassing the serving wench, a few patrons sitting by themselves and a pretty little hen sitting at the far end of the bar from me. She tried to cat
ch my eye, but I ignored her. I never paid for my pleasure.
The wench bustled past me in a huff, clearly agitated by the sailors’ advances. I caught her attention with a coin and a tilt of my head. She glared at me warily until I whispered what I was after. She smiled and nodded, agreeing to play along. By the time the sailors ran their drinks dry and started looking for the wench, she was leaning over the bar, topping off my drink and laughing at something incredibly clever I had said. Or at least that was what it looked like. She had even scrunched down the front of her dress and let a curl fall loose from her scarf. I’d chosen correctly; the girl really knew how to sell the act.
First, the sailors tried slamming their empty mugs against the table for attention, then they tried hollering for her. With a scowl, the wench ducked into the kitchen and sent a different server to their table, while she continued flirting with me at the bar. Finally, the biggest sailor from the table stood up and swaggered up to me. I had my back to him, so it was the wench who tipped me off to his approach.
“Hey, kid!” The sailor grabbed my shoulder, turning me around. “You’re netting up our wench over here! Be a good kid and let her get back to her job.”
Across the bar, Kestral stood up, hand on his hilt. Discreetly, I shook my head at him. He paused, apparently trying to decide whether he would ignore me or not.
“You let him go!” the wench cried, swatting the sailor’s hand with a bar rag. “Remi is one of our regulars, you can’t just go manhandling him!”
“Ah, well, he’s probably right,” I agreed amenably, rolling my shoulder free of the sailor’s grip. “Sorry for taking up your time, stardust. Looks like I’m wasting my time here anyway.” I shook my fist, letting the objects inside rattle.
“You a dicer?” the sailor said, suddenly interested. “How many blocks?”
“Hmm.” I shrugged casually. “Usually three. Four, on a good day. But I’d be a fool to play with sailors. Knowing the stars is your livelihood, isn’t it?”
Sorcerous Rivalry (The Mage-Born Chronicles Book 1) Page 30