Die on Your Feet

by S. G. Wong

  “Hey, when do I ever say no to lunch?” replied Lola, forcing herself to answer lightly.

  “Well, I’m grateful, even if you’re not being gracious about it,” chided Betta.

  Their food arrived. The waiter set down a steaming bowl of noodles, topped with pieces of barbequed duck, their juices sliding down to mingle with the soup. Another bowl contained wonton and noodles in clear broth. A plate of shiny green vegetables followed suit. Both women attacked their meals. By mutual and silent assent, the first mouthfuls were taken without interruption.

  Lola waited until Betta had eaten half her meal before she spoke. “All right. That oughta take the edge off. So? What did your new informant have to tell you?”

  “I’m pleasantly surprised you waited so long,” Betta said, teasing. “Well, my friend painted quite a picture of your Amber Jade Stoudamire.” Betta picked up a spear of gai-lan and delicately bit into it. Lola followed suit, relishing the snap of the slender green stem.

  “What about her mentor, the one who died. What was his specialty? How did he die?”

  Betta swallowed and took a sip of steaming tea. She considered Lola for a moment. “The feeling I had from my friend is that your Amber Jade was a phenomenon unto herself. Her mentor requested her. That was unheard of. He had exacting standards and high expectations of all his pupils. And that was when they begged to apprentice him.”

  “Did you know him personally?” interrupted Lola.

  After a brief hesitation, Betta nodded. “I studied with him for my final year.”

  “He was a Healer?”

  “No,” answered Betta slowly. “He was a Spell Caster, a powerful one.”

  Lola cocked her head. “You studied to be a Conjurer?”

  Betta shook her head. “No, I studied with him. I was never an apprentice. He occasionally taught seminar groups of three or four students. We had to interview with him to be accepted. It was a way for the Temple to force their tenured professors to expand their focus now and again.” She ate a wonton. “Let’s get back to your original topic. You asked about the mentor. He died in his sleep. It was a peaceful end. My friend was actually there. She saw nothing but an old man in an armchair by the fire. Of course, the grapevine was rife with the worst kinds of speculation.” Betta paused. “Apparently, he’d been reading an old tattered Spellsbook. It laid on the floor where he’d dropped it when he passed. Mah’s, Fourth Edition.” At Lola’s blank look, Betta explained, “Sorry, it’s the classic text on higher consciousness among humans who are gifted with Conjury talents from birth. Like your Amber Jade.”

  Lola nodded. “Why was your friend there? Did she find him then?”

  There was the slightest hesitation before Betta nodded. “She was his weekend housecleaner, paying her way through school.”

  Lola chewed thoughtfully. “What were the rumours, then? About his death. Reading that book when he died. Having such a gifted apprentice. My experience with Amber Jade was she didn’t make friends. Sycophants aplenty, but no friends.”

  “As a matter of fact,” said Betta, nodding, “even I heard plenty about his mysterious death being some sort of plot against the Temple. He’d been teaching at the Temple for decades. He was still active in Temple politics. Some saw it as a blow to the old guard, but truly, my friend is adamant there was nothing foul about his death. She’s a powerful Conjurer now and was talented from birth as well. She’d have known something was amiss.” Betta leaned back. “Of course, there were jealous students, jealous teachers even. Something like that is bound to bring out the worst in some people. But there was no police inquiry into his death.”

  “So his star pupil leaves the Temple shortly afterward and then swears off Conjury forever?”

  “It was actually solstice break when he died. She simply didn’t return to the Temple.” Betta shrugged. “I imagine they had a close relationship. Perhaps your friend, in her youthful arrogance, believed no one else capable of guiding her studies.”

  Lola nodded slowly, taking an absent-minded bite of food. Betta waited her out. Finally, Lola said, “If you were a wildly talented Conjurer-in-training, what could you do other than be a Conjurer?”

  Betta’s reply was immediate. “Nothing.”

  “That’s your expert opinion? Not supposition?”

  “There’s nothing else out there for people like us. We have a natural gift for communicating with Ghosts. The Temple teaches us Spells and Wards. We become Spell Casters or Healers or Catchers.” She paused. “Oh, I suppose monks and nuns, too. Although their specialty is really quite limited to funereal ceremonies.”

  “Let’s talk about Spell Casters then.”

  “Not my area of expertise—”

  “—but you’ll bear with me.”

  Betta nodded, sighing. Lola continued.

  “Is it possible that Amber Jade continued to study Spells and Wards away from the Temple? That she became something other than a hired magic-slinger?”

  “Cute,” said Betta with a half laugh.

  “Surely these spells taught at the Temple exist in books? Books that people can copy or steal?”

  Betta nodded. “Books, yes, but the Temple guards them closely. I’ve never heard of a theft there. Never, in their entire history.”

  “Well, I don’t imagine that’s something they’d advertise.”

  Betta’s attention slid away then. Lola checked quickly over her shoulder, but saw nothing of alarm. She looked closely at Betta then and realized the other woman’s gaze was directed inward. Lola waited, impatient but all but biting her tongue in order to stay quiet.

  Finally, Betta spoke, her voice hushed and thoughtful. “Mayor taught himself to cast Spells and Wards.” She grinned mildly at Lola’s expression. “Don’t look so shocked. I’d’ve thought you’d figured him capable of all sorts of nefarious deeds.”

  Lola ignored the jab. Instead, she said, “If the Temple guards their Spellsbooks closely, then how did Mayor get his hands on them?”

  “The Temple must have given him permission,” replied Betta. “He wouldn’t have stolen them.” At Lola’s look, Betta explained, “There are multiple copies of normal Spellsbooks, the ones used in the normal curriculum. They’re readily available. Most every student buys her own copy. It’s just easiest that way. But if you want to borrow one of those, you’re still required to sign them out, so that the Librarian can keep track.” Betta paused to take a sip of tea. “But the Spells that Mayor learned in order to become what he is now, those aren’t in regular circulation. They’re extremely powerful and dangerous to a student who isn’t ready for them.”

  “Does anyone know if the Temple did loan him those books? He wasn’t enrolled as a student, was he?”

  Betta shook her head. “Not that I’ve ever heard. Here or elsewhere. I’m sure it would have made some headlines, if he had. And I’ve never heard of those particular kinds of Spellsbooks being loaned out from the Temple.”

  “It might have happened covertly,” said Lola, thinking aloud.

  “I suppose,” Betta said, but she sounded dubious.

  “So we’re left with two options,” said Lola. “Mayor may have had the sanction of the Temple, which loaned out those dangerous Spellsbooks to him.”

  Betta shook her head. “That would set a precedent, I think, possibly a dangerous one. Who would decide on access? What would the criteria be for assessing those deemed worthy?”

  “Those in power don’t necessarily require an ethical code,” said Lola, her tone dry. “If someone has started a lending program, so to speak, it doesn’t mean they’re concerned with rules.” Lola paused, gauging Betta’s reaction.

  She continued when the older woman didn’t object. “Or, option two. Mayor found a way without the Temple’s sanction to learn Spell Casting.”

  “Which sets another precedent,
equally dangerous,” said Betta. “The Temple teaches more than simply how to use magic. It teaches ethics, responsibility, morals. Casting a Spell requires more than saying some words and tapping the Ether. That sort of clumsy work’s what we call ‘slinging muck.’”

  “Three options then,” said Aubrey. “It could be another school entirely. The Temple may be the best in the world, but other schools would have dangerous Spells as well. Mayor could simply have gone elsewhere to buy his education.”

  “His European background.” Betta considered it. “Perhaps he found schools in Europe willing to teach him, secretly.”

  Lola said, “Ria didn’t find evidence of Amber Jade Stoudamire enrolled anywhere else in the world, but she may’ve simply used a false name. So Copenhagen could also very well be a Spell Caster.” At Betta’s confused look, Lola explained Amber Jade’s current identity.

  “But why are you investigating her?” asked Betta. “And what is the connection to Mayor?”

  “I’m not certain,” admitted Lola reluctantly. “All I seem to have now is the possibility that they’re both self-taught Spell Casters. I don’t know if they’re enemies or allies—”

  “—or weekly mah-jongg partners,” finished Aubrey.

  “There’s something else,” added Lola. She lowered her voice. “What can you tell me about a Dispersal Spell for Mayor, specifically?”

  Betta’s eyes widened and she pulled back abruptly. “Where did you hear about that?”

  “From Mayor.”

  Betta looked horrified. “Mayor told you? Why?”

  Lola explained the previous night’s events. “I’m somewhat less than a threat to him,” she finished.

  Betta replied, “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. You’ve got Aubrey, and any Ghost at close proximity is a threat.”

  Lola thought about that for a minute. Realization came slowly: “You mean, someone else could cast the Spell.”

  Betta nodded. “They would simply need Aubrey to be in close proximity to Mayor. Perhaps just in the same room.”

  “I thought Spells couldn’t be cast through walls.”

  “They can’t. Not the ones I know of, and that would include this Dispersal.”

  Lola remained silent. She asked finally, “How do you know about this Spell? It can’t be common knowledge.”

  Betta poured them both more tea. “I have to get back,” she said. She gathered her purse and hat, then murmured, “Let’s pretend we never spoke about this.” Betta looked intently into Lola’s eyes, reminding Lola abruptly that Betta Ha was the most powerful Healer in the City for a very good reason. The strength of her will was startlingly clear in that look.

  “Lola,” said Aubrey, his voice heavy, “I think you’d best agree.”

  After a tense pause, Lola nodded once, curtly.

  They exited the restaurant the way they’d come. In the alley once again, Lola walked ahead of Betta a few paces. She took the time and space to calm herself down. She could hear murmuring behind her but made out nothing of sense. She looked back, once, to find Betta scowling at the air. So Lola wasn’t the only one whom her Ghost rubbed the wrong way. When the older woman caught her watching, Betta’s features smoothed out and she made a shooing motion with her hands. Lola turned back around and kept going.

  Betta used her keys, and they were back inside her storefront. “Tell me one last thing” Lola said.

  Betta became motionless where she stood at the front door. She held the Open/Closed sign in her left hand. She looked out as a teenaged couple walked past, holding hands, oblivious to the two women just on the other side of the door. After a pause, Betta turned to face Lola.

  “If I can,” she replied.

  “Given what you were told about Amber Jade, do you think she could—”

  “Mayor is an Adept, Lola. He would have extremely powerful Wards around himself. I can’t say I understand the significance of Aubrey’s sensing that poor dead man. But even so, I would guess Mayor and his Conjurers would know if something happened to weaken his ceremony last night.” Betta stopped, a thoughtful expression once more on her beautiful face. “Even if she were as talented as everyone at the Temple believes, she would still need help to learn her Spells. And if she were to best Mayor, then she would require rigourous training and some very powerful Spells indeed.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “It’s an ‘I don’t know,’” replied Betta. “Don’t tempt Fate, Lola. Stay away from the lot of them.”

  “Fate,” repeated Lola. “Right.”

  * * *

  In the car, she got right to the point. “What did you talk to Betta about?”

  “Something I can’t discuss with you.” Aubrey’s voice held no rancour, nor surprise.

  “About this case?”

  “Lola,” he said, “I have no choice in this matter. There are certain things we are forbidden to discuss with our Hosts.”

  “Ah, even Ghosts are entitled to their little secrets, I take it.”

  “It’s for your protection, Lola. Trust me.”

  “What choice do I have?” she replied. Aubrey remained silent.

  On the way up to the office, Lola shared the elevator with two pretty girls wearing dark glasses and red lipstick. Their dresses were strictly last Spring, but snug-fitting and flattering. Neither spoke to her. When the lift stopped, the girls, holding hands, headed straight for the surgeon’s suites at the opposite end of the floor. Lola hoped the studio was paying for the work.

  There was no one waiting for her in the anteroom. She swept up her mail and opened her windows.

  Aubrey spoke into the silence. “So we think she’s a murderer and magical saboteur. To what purpose?”

  “Mayor’s Dispersal still seems the best play,” replied Lola. “She wants him gone.” She sifted absently through the envelopes as she sat. The entire pile went into the trash. She made a rude noise. “We don’t even have any proof she knows about the damned Spell.”

  “He’s well-known to be a strong Spell Caster,” mused Aubrey. “She’d need some immense firepower to best him. Ghosts are just better attenuated to the Ether. It gives Ghost Spell Casters, like Mayor, an extreme advantage.” Silence for a while, then he said, “There’s got to be something in this Conjurer background of hers. She left the Temple two years before she joined the City corps.”

  “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.” She kicked at the trash bin. It toppled with a clang that reverberated around the room. “We’ve got nothing but conjecture. Just a big fat hunch that there’s some connection between her and Mayor.”

  “With you squarely in the middle,” retorted Aubrey. “If that doesn’t constitute your business, I don’t know what would.”

  Lola righted the bin, collected a few pieces of mail that had scattered. She slapped the unopened letters against her palm a few times. Coming to a decision, she tossed them into the bin. “I didn’t say I was packing up my tent.” Lola picked up her telephone.

  “Monteverdi, City Desk” came the clipped answer on the other end.

  “Me again. I’m coming in fifteen.”

  “Bring me some lunch and you can have me for an hour.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “Not so fast: Finklestein and Chang. Mustard duck on rice.”

  Lola made it in less than half an hour, carrying a medium-sized bamboo steamer basket. Ria grabbed her lunch and spun around on her heel. She was already carrying a pair of pale chopsticks. Lola followed her to a small meeting room. A round table and three chairs sat in the middle of the room. A single window was shaded against the harsh afternoon sun. Ria had the steamer lid off and was chewing on a sliver of duck by the time Lola entered. Lola turned on the small fan and pulled out a chair opposite. She pointed.

  “Eat fast. You have to take me down to
see Loverboy again.”

  “Ah, that imperious tone. The girl is jake once more.” Ria scooped up some rice. She spoke as she chewed. “Still buzzing around Copenhagen?”

  “Bzzz.”

  “Give me five minutes.”

  Ten minutes later, the women were downstairs in the Herald archives, and Dinwoodie Kwong was rummaging through the vast catalogue of the venerable newspaper. He directed Lola to the reading tables and started piling up past issues and bound books. Lola picked the earliest date and started skimming.

  Ria slumped into a neighbouring chair and grunted. “You sure this is the right trail?”

  Lola shook her head. “No clue. Just sniffing out an idea.”

  “Give, chum.”

  Lola barely paused long enough to glare. “If Mayor can teach himself Spells, who says someone else can’t do the same? I’ve got a feeling Amber Jade used those two missing years for some very serious studying. She must have had some help. Betta thinks the Temple actually loaned their High Magic books to Mayor.”

  Ria’s eyes widened. “But they hate him.”

  “So why’d they do it? Did someone put the screws to ’em? Did he have something on them?” Lola shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  Ria’s eye roamed over the growing pile of papers and books. “So, did our little classmate have the same leverage?”

  “Wait a minute.” Lola sat back. “She wouldn’t have needed it. Not the same way, I mean.” She turned to Ria. “Listen, everyone there loved her. According to them, she was the best thing since jasmine rice.”

  Ria considered Lola’s theory. “Did she have that much clout?”

  Lola shrugged. “She had a great sob story. Picture this: our intrepid Conjurer, poised to become the most powerful Spell Caster in history, is forced to leave the Temple because of Daddy’s political ambitions for her. How can she leave the one thing she’s truly meant for?”

  Ria picked up the tale. “She doesn’t. She continues her studies in secret, with the best mentors and all the books of the Temple at her disposal.” Ria sat up straight. “To what purpose? Why would the Temple groom her if she has to keep her skill a secret? Surely, the greatest Conjurer in the Temple’s history would be someone they’d want to celebrate. At the very least, they’d parade her everywhere they could. Enter her in international competitions. Flout their success in training her.”