Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more

by C. M. Simpson

  Roeglin followed her in and opened the stone meat-safe set in the back wall. He grunted at the weight of the lid and hauled out two small haunches.

  “Think this will be enough for Dan?” he asked, holding one up.

  Marsh nodded, staring at the unfamiliar array of vegetables, and Roeglin came to stand beside her.

  “That one, that one, that one…and…ooh, that one,” he suggested, and she wondered how he had any idea.

  “Rock mages,” he replied as he carried the meat into the kitchen. “They like their food.”

  Thinking of the Beast Master, Marsh could see how. She grabbed the vegetables Roeglin had indicated and carried them out. Henri and Roeglin were standing by the pot, which now hung over the fire, but the rest of the team were seated at the table and looking very uncomfortable at not having anything to do.

  Fortunately, their hostess had a solution for that too. She smiled when she saw Marsh’s selection and pointed to the table.

  “Set them there,” she ordered and took cutting boards, bowls, and knives from a nearby shelf, distributing them to those at the table. She settled herself into a spare seat and divided up the vegetables. “We can talk while we work.”

  It was as if she’d given a signal. Gustav breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the first lot of vegetables to land on his cutting board. The woman ignored him and introduced herself.

  “I am Felicity Bisset, and the young lady under the table is my daughter Claudette. And you are?”

  She waited for them to introduce themselves and then asked, “Why are you here, and clearly looking for my daughter and me?”

  “Ines—”

  At the mention of the councilor’s name, Felicity gave a short bark of laughter and then finished the surname in chorus with Gustav.

  “Asselin-Labat. Of course.”

  That last was said with a twist of bitterness and Gustav looked puzzled.

  “Is she not a friend?”

  Felicity blushed and looked down at her lap.

  “She is. I was just hoping Louis…”

  Marsh got it.

  “He tried,” she said. “The council wouldn’t let him.”

  “Then how did Ines come to ask you? She’s on the council too. Wedded to it, I thought.”

  Marsh looked at Gustav, and the emissary picked up the story.

  “Perhaps, but more concerned for your brother. She’s afraid the raiders are trying to pressure him by using threats against you.”

  Felicity’s eyes widened.

  “Oh, but he wouldn’t let them. He…” Her voice faltered. “That must be killing him.”

  Gustav’s voice was gentle as he replied, and he didn’t stop working through the vegetables as he spoke.

  “The councilor thinks so, and she cares enough for him that she doesn’t want him to have to live with that choice.”

  “Why? She could always pick up the pieces afterward.” Felicity’s voice was bitter once more.

  Marsh wondered what the councilor had done to earn the woman’s anger, but Gustav was already answering.

  “I think she loves him,” he said.

  Felicity started to debate it, then stopped. After a moment’s silence, she sighed, then lifted the cut vegetables from in front of the Protector captain and carried them to the pot.

  “I suppose she must, then,” she said. “I just thought she found him useful, another tool to keep her in power. It would be nice if that’s not the case.”

  She dropped the vegetables in and gave Henri a stern glare.

  “Stir, and don’t let them burn.”

  She went and collected the meat from where Gerry had been cutting one of the haunches into small cubes, and she added that too.

  “How about some kaffee while we wait?” she asked, lifting a large kettle from a cupboard beside the stove.

  “Thank you,” Gustav said, and let the silence stretch a little before continuing, “Do you and your daughter live here on your own?”

  His question caused a brief storm of emotion to play across Felicity’s face, but she set the pot on the stove, checked the stew, and started to set the table. As she worked and the kaffee brewed, Felicity began. “No, but my husband drew the raiders’ attention long enough for Claudette and me to get away. We haven’t seen him since.”

  “And the raiders?”

  “Oh, them. We’ve seen them plenty, but we avoid them every time.”

  “How?”

  Felicity gave a small, small smile, casting a proud look at where her daughter sat beneath the table, her hand tangled in Mordan’s fur.

  “Magic.”

  18

  Party Crashers

  Felicity explained how Claudette could call the shadows to hide them and how the girl could draw them both into the very stones of the cavern, which was what they did every time the raiders arrived.

  “How do you know they are coming in time to hide?” Gustav asked, and Felicity grew sober as she served the kaffee and added herbs to the stew.

  “It’s hard to explain,” she said. “After that first attack, I thought about going to the Ledge for help, but I always hoped…” Her breath caught, and she momentarily closed her eyes before gathering herself to continue. “I hoped…that Claude would come back, and then the longer I left it, the more I realized we were trapped out here. That the raiders were everywhere and we had no hope of reaching town.”

  “I found myself listening all the time, trying to pick up the slightest sound of movement, the barest whisper. I used to imagine I could hear them thinking…and then, one day, I wasn’t imagining it. I could hear them thinking, and I knew they were coming and hoped to catch Claudie and me as we came in from the fields. Well, I panicked.

  “I’d left Claudie alone at home to tidy the house and pickle some of the shrooms before they spoiled. Who knew how long it would be before her father came back, and we didn’t want to run out. And she never did like it when we hunted, so I started to run for the house, thinking if I only ran fast enough I would get there in time, and knowing there was no way.”

  “It was like she was shouting.” Claudie’s voice interrupted, making them all start with fright. “Only I couldn’t hear a thing. Just inside my head. The raiders were coming. They were almost here. I took the pickles off the fire and went to find her. Someone knocked as I left, and I’m sure I heard voices in the yard outside, but I didn’t stop. If Mama hadn’t warned me, I might have. Instead, I ran as fast as I could to get away from them.”

  She paused, and Felicity took up the tale.

  “I met her above the house, and she towed me off the path to Stroker’s Stack. It’s a big pile of boulders that looks like it’s trying to be a chimney or the corner of a building or something. Who knows what it used to be, but it stands where part of the cavern has fallen in and is perfect for hiding in. We could hear them coming up the trail behind us, so Claudie just pulled me into the rock. I was so cross!”

  Claudette giggled.

  “She was. It made it very hard to keep her inside the rock until the raiders arrived, and then it was all ‘how are you doing this, Claudie?’ ‘Claudie, we’ve got to run,’ ‘Claudie, stay still,’ ‘Claudie!’”

  That last was said with such exasperation that Felicity laughed.

  “You’re lucky you’re under that table, young lady.”

  “Yeah, or you’d what?” the girl teased, but she didn’t move from Mordan’s side.

  Felicity sighed.

  “She’s learned to give her skin the consistency of stone,” she said. “Giving her a good smack has absolutely no effect.”

  Another giggle sounded from under the table.

  “Except on your hand.”

  Felicity glared.

  “I’m still your mother.”

  Silence greeted that remark, and then Claudette sighed.

  “I’m sorry, Mama. I shouldn’t tease you.” She was quiet for a moment, and then she asked, “Are we going with them to see Uncle Louis?”

&
nbsp; The plea in her voice said she really wanted to leave but she wasn’t going to beg, and Felicity’s expression softened.

  “Yes, petit chou, we’re going to go live with Uncle Louis for a while. He needs us.”

  “To protect him from the Hellkat?”

  Felicity blushed and rolled her eyes, and Marsh guessed they’d never been meant to learn that particular phrase for Councilor Ines.

  “No, chou, to help him win the Hellkat’s heart.”

  An inarticulate squeal of delight met this and Mordan rumbled a protest, drawing a string of apologies from the girl. Felicity turned to her guests.

  “When do we leave?” she asked, testing the stew and serving it into bowls that she set Henri to deliver.

  “In the morning,” Gustav told her, “as early as you’re able.”

  He was about to continue, but Felicity smiled and handed Henri the last bowl.

  “Thank you,” she told him, cutting across Gustav. “Now, go sit with the rest. I appreciate your help.”

  The big man was blushing as he joined the other guards at the table, but he didn’t argue. He blushed even harder when Felicity placed a large shroom roll in front of his plate before setting a stack of bread-and-butter plates and a loaf of bread in the center of the table for everyone else.

  “Welcome to my house,” she said before seating herself on a stool by the fire. “Come out and eat, Claudette. Our guests deserve your company, and the company deserves some peace.”

  With a reluctant sigh, the girl did as her mother ordered, washing her hands at the basin by the door without having to be told and then moving to sit by her mother. They both looked surprised when Gustav and the other guards moved their chairs to sit near them, but not too surprised for Felicity to remember that she’d broken across what Gustav had wanted to say next.

  She accepted the bread he offered her and dipped it into her stew, taking a bite before turning back to him.

  “What were you going to say about the journey?”

  She watched as he swallowed his mouthful and washed it down with a gulp of water.

  “We won’t be returning directly to Kerrenin’s Ledge,” he told her and kept going as she took another mouthful of stew. “We have an errand to run for the council over in Mika’s Outlet.”

  “Oh, that poor girl!” Felicity exclaimed. “I’m glad you’re going to help. Don’t you believe a word of the wickedness those folks are saying. Netti is the sweetest child you could ever meet.”

  Gustav’s mouth had dropped open in surprise and he closed it as she finished, hastily gathering his thoughts.

  “You know her?” he asked, taking another spoonful of stew.

  “Yes, of course, I know her. We are neighbors, after all.”

  Marsh watched as the emissary almost choked on his food and saw him focus on the necessary information as he finished what he was chewing.

  “Neighbors?”

  Felicity ate some more stew before answering.

  “Oh, yes. They’re a half-day out of the Outlet and a half-day from here if you know the shortcut. She and Claudie used to play together all the time. The little scamps would meet halfway, as if their mamas didn’t know.”

  This last was said with a sly dig in Claudia’s ribs and the girl blushed, clearly surprised by her mama’s knowledge. Still, she had to go one better.

  “I bet you didn’t know it was Netti who taught me to play in the shadows though, did you, Mama?”

  From the way the guards opposite almost choked on their stew, the look on Felicity’s face said it all. Claudette continued on, oblivious.

  “And I taught her to play with the rock. It wasn’t fair when the others threw stones at her.”

  “They what?” Marsh watched Gustav’s knuckles turn white around his spoon and the others paused, their eyes turned to him as though they expected orders to leave immediately.

  Felicity laid a hand on his arm.

  “That was weeks ago,” she said. “I was going to have Claudie ask the girl to come and stay with us, but then the raiders came.”

  She stopped, her expression troubled, and she hastily dug into her stew.

  “She’ll be okay for another night.”

  Marsh thought she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else, but none of the guards argued otherwise. Not even Gustav, and he seemed just as unconvinced. She was about to suggest they go anyway when Mordan growled softly and lifted her head.

  “Marsh?” Gustav asked as Claudie looked at Felicity.

  “Mum?”

  Felicity’s spoon stopped halfway to her mouth and then she rose hastily from her stool, setting her bowl on a sideboard and taking her daughter’s hand.

  “We have to…” she began and froze. “They’re already here.”

  Her terrified whisper echoed through the kitchen and the guards set themselves around the pair, with Marsh reaching the back door just as the handle turned. She threw herself against it, but she was too slow and too light and was thrown back as the door burst open.

  Roeglin acted swiftly, pulling a dart from the shadow and hurling it at the large surface-worlder pushing his way into the room. The man swayed to one side, and the dart flew harmlessly past. He straightened, sidestepping to keep the wall at his back as he took in the number of people in the room.

  “They’ve got—”

  His shout of warning died in a blood-soaked gurgle as a second dart flew from between the tightly-grouped guards. Picking herself up off the floor, Marsh saw Claudie pull a second one from the shadows.

  The girl was a quick study!

  Lucky for us, Roeglin commented. I can sense another ten out back, and fifteen out front.

  “Lightning?” Marsh asked, trying to divide her gaze between him and Gustav.

  “Lightning.” The captain’s voice was quiet and sure. “Close the door, shadow mage.”

  Roeglin moved to do as he was ordered, but Marsh laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “Wait,” she said. “It’s easier if I can touch the shadow outside.”

  “They’ll come in,” Gustav said as Gerry and Izmay moved forward to stand with Roeglin.

  Zeb moved to face the corridor.

  “Not if she’s fast,” he said and Marsh closed her eyes, thinking of the shadows cloaking the cavern’s ceiling. She touched them, felt them at peace, and tried to remember how she’d called them before. At the prospector’s, she’d wanted to destroy every single shadow monster trying to get into the cabin, and outside Madame Monetti’s, she’d been angry at being ambushed by shadow raiders, and then there had been the dining hall at Mid-Point.

  Yeah. She wanted that.

  She wanted to rain destruction on every single asshole outside this cottage. She wanted the shadows to protect her, sure, but she wanted them to protect Felicity and Claudette more. She channeled her anger at them being attacked and her outrage at Netti’s treatment by her own—By. Her. Own!— into lightning and spears. Sound roared outside the cottage, as though a fierce wind blew through the cavern. Marsh didn’t care; she wanted craters. She wanted…

  “I think the shadows heard you, Marsh,” Roeglin said, “and I’m pretty sure you can tell them to stop now. I don’t think there’s anyone left alive out there.”

  Marsh blinked, and the roaring that had filled her ears stopped. Purple static crackled, its savage gleam drawing her eye to the open back door. There were bodies piled up high enough to almost block it. The raiders had died in terror, trying to reach the safety of the kitchen, and not a one of them would move again. Marsh felt herself grow calm.

  “They’re all dead.” Claudette had come to stand beside her and was staring at the flickering darkness outside, her voice soft with amazement. “How did you do that?”

  “I’ll show you later,” Marsh muttered, her eyes drawn once more to the bodies outside. “First I have to calm the storm, thank the shadows for their protection, and ask them to return to their homes.”

  “Yeah, but how?” Claudette was not
hing if not persistent.

  Marsh felt herself smile even as she focused on the roiling dark.

  “Like this,” she said, thinking of safety and demanding calm, focusing on soothing the shadows’ agitation and returning them to the way they’d been. Only when the shadows had become still and calm did she turn to the child.

  “How old are you, Claudette?”

  The girl regarded her with a solemn azure gaze.

  “Twelve,” she said, and her mother nodded behind her.

  “Twelve,” Felicity confirmed, her face pale, “and far too young for killing like this.”

  “I stopped him, though, didn’t I?” Claudette demanded, jabbing a finger toward the first raider through the door. Marsh remembered the second dart, the one that had pierced the man’s throat.

  Roeglin turned to her.

  “That was you?”

  Claudette lifted her chin, looking unrepentant and proud, but Roeglin wasn’t finished.

  “And who taught you that trick?”

  The smile that flitted across the girl’s face was pure mischief.

  “You did.”

  Marsh watched Roeglin’s jaw drop and was glad he’d taken the child’s attention. The magic had left her feeling weak at the knees and slightly light-headed. Given that the last time she’d conjured up a storm like that, she’d been told she’d slept for close to two days, it really wasn’t surprising. Marsh really hoped that wasn’t going to happen now.

  She sagged, reaching out behind her to find the wall and then leaning quietly against it. From the look on his face, Gustav remembered the last time she’d expended that much energy, and he wasn’t pleased. He didn’t argue though, just picked up a chair and set it down beside her.

  “You going to be okay?” he asked, and of course, Claudette overheard and was as curious as the Deeps.

  “What do you mean, is she all right?”

  Felicity came to stand alongside her daughter, the same questions riding through her expression. Gustav gestured toward Roeglin.