Thirty, he told her. Aisha and Tamlin’s people among them. Most of the rest belong to the ex-guards.
They need a new start, too, Marsh reminded him.
I’m not sure they deserve one.
What would you do to protect your family? she challenged, and he fell silent.
“Xavier says we can reach a camp by nightfall if we leave now,” Master Envermet called as they drew nearer. He turned to Roeglin. “I will contact you tonight.”
Roeglin gestured toward the top of the gate. “I’ll be on the wall.”
They’d decided that was the best place to minimize any potential interference from the buildings and rock formations between them.
“Did he say if there were any more towns nearby?” Marsh asked, and the ex-raider answered.
“There’s one—Claudette’s Corner. It’s two days’ march.”
Two days! The time hit Marsh like a hammer, and her heart sank some more. Xavier didn’t notice.
“Briar’s Ridge is a day and a half from there.”
“Briar’s Ridge?”
“The town we caught up to Aysh and Tamlin at,” Master Envermet explained. He glanced at the sun. “We think the Grotto entrance is another three or four days’ walk from there.”
Marsh didn’t remember it taking them that long, but they’d been on mules and had trotted most of the way.
“Don’t look so down, Leclerc. You get to ride the mules back. It should only take you four days. Less if you don’t stop to pick on remnant on the way back.”
This elicited a small laugh from the waiting caravan, and Marsh sighed. She slid a glance toward Roeglin and Henri laughed. “I don’t think she’ll be stopping for anything!”
Another laugh followed, and then Master Envermet raised his hand, his face sobering. “It’s time to go, and I need you to scan what lies ahead.”
Marsh nodded and turned toward Roeglin. He met her halfway, brushing her lips lightly with his own as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Come back safe,” he ordered as Izmay and Brigitte joined Gerry and Henri in the line.
I truly am sorry, Master Envermet told them, and Marsh shrugged.
Needs must, she replied, trying to hide her disappointment. It was almost impossible with him inside her head, but he didn’t comment on it.
At least the children will have Roeglin nearby while they get used to being with their family again, she thought.
She didn’t add that she wished she could be nearby, too, but she didn’t need to. Master Envermet could see the thought as clearly as he could see her sorrow at leaving Roeglin behind.
Roeglin could see it as well. He briefly tightened his hug, then released her so she could walk to where Master Envermet was waiting with a mule by his side. Marsh slowed when she saw it, thinking she would be leading it but not understanding why, given how hard that would make it for her to focus on scanning the path ahead.
“You’re riding it,” Master Envermet told her and she frowned, feeling embarrassed at being singled out.
Before she could protest, he went on to explain, “I can’t stop you tripping over your own feet and keep us on course, and I need you to—”
“Scan,” Marsh finished for him. Now the mule made sense. She could focus more effectively if she didn’t have to keep part of her mind on where she was going. “I understand.”
“Of course, you understand,” Henri grumbled. “You don’t have to walk like the rest of us.”
“I could always let you do the scan,” Marsh suggested sweetly, “or maybe I should just let the remnant creep up on you with no warning.”
“Any excuse.” He sneered, then winced as Izmay slapped him.
“Stop being an ass,” she told him, and the nearest settlers snickered.
Henri tried to glare at her, but the effect was spoilt as his lips curled into a smile. Master Envermet ignored them and looked back over the lines. The ex-slaves and raiders returned his gaze, waiting for his signal.
Marsh scrambled into the saddle and calmed her mind, reaching for the shadows hiding in the bright daylit air and stretching her senses to find the lives.
There was a disturbance at the gate and she let the shadow strands go, stopping her scan. Two small, familiar figures jogged out of the gates and around Obasi and the impi.
Marsh frowned and glanced at Roeglin. What were the children doing? They weren’t supposed to be accompanying the caravan.
Tamlin and Aisha trotted slowly closer, weighed down by the packs each carried. Their father strode quickly behind them. He looked concerned, but not like he was trying to stop them. Master Envermet frowned.
“Alain?” he asked, demanding an explanation with that single word.
Tamlin and Aisha came to a halt before him, both of them casting quick glances at Marsh. Tamlin reached up and tried to take the mule’s lead rope from Master Envermet’s hands.
After a brief hesitation, he released it and turned to face Alain more fully. The man came to stand beside his children, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders.
“They’re going with you,” he said.
“To the Monastery?” Master Envermet asked, and Alain shook his head.
“No. I mean, eventually, yes, but not this journey.”
“Then what? I don’t understand.”
Alain ran a hand over his head, combing his fingers through his hair.
“We were bringing Tamlin to the Monastery because of his magic,” he began.
Master Envermet gestured impatiently for him to continue. “Go on.”
“And we would have had to get permission for Aysh to attend, as well,” Alain added cautiously.
“Yes.” The strain of waiting showed in Master Envermet’s voice, and Marsh wondered why he didn’t just dip into the man’s head and take what he wanted.
Because it would be rude, Master Envermet told her as Alain went on.
“And they’re both apprentices now and shouldn’t be kept from their studies.”
It sounded flimsy to Marsh, especially as neither child had approached Brigitte, who was supposed to be their master. Master Envermet looked at the two children and then at Brigitte.
“Is this so, Shadow Mistress?” he asked, and Tamlin and Aisha looked anxiously at the mage.
Whatever their plans had been, they had clearly not included asking their instructor...or they hadn’t been able to catch up with her in time to ask. Brigitte caught their eyes, and their expressions turned pleading.
Marsh didn’t know how the shadow mistress kept a straight face as she answered, “That is so, Master Envermet.”
Marsh stifled a smirk as the children relaxed a fraction. Their father relaxed too until Master Envermet turned to him.
“You’ve only just gotten them back, Alain. Are you sure you want to let them go so soon? I’m sure we could accommod—”
“Oh, no, Master Envermet. We’re sure. It...it wouldn’t be right to disrupt their studies.” Alain almost tripped over his words to reassure the shadow captain it was all right. “It would be better if they continued their studies, even under these circumstances.”
Marsh wondered what the children had done to get him to agree, but she had neither the means nor the time to pry. She studied the three of them as they waited for Master Envermet to give them his reply.
“Isn’t that the tradition at the academy?” Alain ventured.
“It is normal for students to travel with their teachers,” Master Envermet admitted, and Alain huffed out a sigh of relief.
Marsh wondered what Aisha had threatened to bury if he made her stay...or Tamlin. What had that boy done to convince his father to let them go? She kept the question to herself and watched Master Envermet’s face.
“This is not going to be a safe journey,” Master Envermet finally answered, and Alain gave a short laugh.
“From what I understand, the journey here was not a safe one, either.”
“This is true.”
“And staying
has no guarantees,” the man added in serious tones.
“But you have the impi here,” Master Envermet pointed out. “Out there, it will only be the guards and us, and no walls.”
“Aisha tells me you will have a hoshkat and a pack of wolves,” Alain countered. “From what I understand, that evens the odds.”
Master Envermet sighed and momentarily hung his head. “That is also true.”
After a moment’s contemplation, he raised his head and met Alain’s gaze. “If you are sure this is what you want.”
That caught the man off-guard. He paused, then replied, “It’s not about what I want,” he admitted, “but what is best, and I believe they need to be with their instructors.”
It was clear he meant Marsh more than Brigitte, but his quick glance included them both. Again, the two children followed the conversation with anxious eyes. This time, they turned pleading expressions to Master Envermet.
The shadow captain held Alain’s gaze a moment longer, as though seeking the answer to an unspoken question. When the man nodded, Master Envermet sighed.
“Very well, they can come.” He scowled at the pair, “But they do as they’re told and learn the tasks involved in keeping a caravan on the trail.”
“Yes, Master Envermet,” they chorused, relief in their voices.
There was more movement by the gate, and Obasi and Xavier trotted around the caravan to join the small contingent that would be returning to Ariella’s Grotto. “We will be accompanying you.”
Master Envermet stared at them. One shrugged at his look of disbelief and responded to the question he hadn’t asked. “Xavier will work with Evan to show you the way, and I have promised to guard him—and to guide the Grotto’s reinforcements on a return journey.”
“Very well,” the shadow captain replied and waved them into the ranks of the settlers.
Marsh was startled by a tap on her leg. She looked down, catching Roeglin’s eye.
Looks like you’ll be in good company, he told her, and there was a smile in his mind, even if there was sadness, too.
Now that the situation was reversed and he was staying alone, Marsh could understand. He was happy for her but would miss them all.
Don’t let anything happen to them, he told her.
Marsh rolled her eyes. As if she could stop it! Although, to be fair, it was usually the children who happened to something else.
She leaned down from the saddle and curled her hand around his head, stooping so she could give him another fierce kiss.
Don’ let anything happen to you, she ordered, or I’ll have to kill you when I get back.
Roeglin drew away, laughing, and slapped the shoulder of her mule.
I’ll be fine.
Uh-huh. F.I.N.E. Marsh snapped back, and he snorted.
Speak for yourself.
3
A Fleeting Encounter
Under Xavier’s guidance, they headed away from the town. With Tamlin leading the mule, Marsh reached out to the shadows hidden in plain sight and asked them to show her where the dangers were.
Before she could use her druidic powers to scan for life, the shadows answered. There were dangers everywhere: that cliff to their right, that snake fleeing through the stones, those berries...
“Stop!” she cried, and Master Envermet signaled the caravan to an abrupt halt.
“What is it?”
Marsh blushed. “Nothing. I...”
He was in her head in an instant, and she remembered he hadn’t taught her how to block.
“Oh,” he said, smirking, and she stuck out a mental tongue. “Be more specific. The shadows can’t read your thoughts.”
“Unlike some,” she grumbled as he signaled the caravan forward.
Master Envermet chose not to dignify that with an answer, and Marsh settled into the saddle and tried again. This time she was more specific.
The shadows answered—or their invisible counterparts did, the ones she thought of as shadows that dwelt in sunlight and were not seen. Marsh understood how it worked now.
This time, they followed the road, and the ruins remained clear. She wondered where the remnant were, and if they were just remnant or being driven by bugs. And where did those come from, anyway?
The hairs on the back of her neck tingled and her back itched. It felt like she was being watched.
Where from? she asked the shadows, and, Who by?
None of the threads she touched replied, so she focused on the road ahead. Maybe she was just on edge because she was leaving Roeglin behind. Her heart lurched, and she pushed the feeling away.
Roeglin was big enough and bad enough to take care of himself, even without the children. She pushed that thought away, too, concentrating on the shadows and trying to sense the life forms surrounding the small caravan.
The ex-prisoners and once-raiders were easy to identify, and so were the shadow guards and the Grotto’s impi. Next were the wolves, and Marsh was relieved to see they formed a hollow arrow around the caravan.
Bristlebear, Silvermoth, and Mousekiller were at the tip, and the rest of the pack spread down the caravan’s sides. If anything lay hidden in their path, the wolves would let her know.
Mordan was next. The big kat was happy now that Perdemor was running by her side. Scruffknuckle came after, bounding around them. His lack of discipline annoyed the wolves, but they tolerated it because he kept running back to Aisha to see if she was all right.
She misses her mother, Master Envermet told Marsh, and feels guilty about you.
The news lifted Marsh’s spirits even as it threatened to break her heart. It made it hard for her to concentrate on the world around them.
Don’t, Master Envermet intervened, again. Keep your energy for schooling the children, and in case we are attacked. The wolves and the kat should be enough.
Marsh scowled. He couldn’t have told her that sooner?
I wasn’t sure how effective their presence would be. He paused. It is more than I hoped. Coupled with the impis, it is sufficient.
Marsh remembered the wolves showing her monsters in red. The color reminded her of the color on the mind bugs’ carapaces and she shivered. Maybe it would be better if...
No. Master Envermet was adamant. I don’t know what those things are, but if they appear, we’ll need you able to fight them.
You have others, Marsh pointed out.
I do, but only one of them can call lightning, and I don’t know if he can do that in daylight. You need to work with him.
What about Aisha?
She cannot speak to shadows. Brigitte and I will take care of her.
“It’s rude to talk about someone like that.” Aisha’s angry tones broke through their conversation and caused a lull in the conversations around them.
Marsh swiveled in the saddle and looked down at her. She also realized she didn’t need to be on the mule anymore.
“Since when can you read minds?”
One of the Grotto warriors snickered. “You mean, you didn’t know?”
Marsh shook her head, and Master Envermet frowned. “I wasn’t sure.”
He glared at Aisha. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She blushed but then opened her eyes wide and blinked as innocently as she could. “You was busy?”
Master Envermet’s scowl grew deeper. “I’m never that busy.”
Tamlin gave his sister a gentle shove. “I told you.”
She frowned at him. “You didn’t know, either!”
Tamlin rolled his eyes. “No, but I told you it was important to tell Brigitte when something new happened.”
“Wasn’t new,” Aisha argued. “Was old.”
“How old?”
“I always found you in Hide and Seek.”
“You little cheater!”
“But I couldn’t hear you.” Her forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. “I can hear you now.”
She gave Master Envermet a confused look. “Why is that?”
Master Envermet
gave the child a reassuring smile, and Marsh took advantage of the fact the caravan had slowed to a halt. She slid off the mule and took the reins from Tamlin.
“Now we have a spare,” she told him. “If I’m not scanning, I don’t need to ride.”
Master Envermet gave her an approving nod but kept his focus on Aisha. He held out his hand.
“Come walk with me,” he told her, “and we’ll see what training you might need.”
Marsh watched Aisha give a happy skip as she did as she was asked, but she was actually focused on Tamlin’s reaction to her coming to walk beside him. She was relieved when the boy didn’t immediately move away.
They traveled for most of the day, the fort vanishing from view as the path rounded the base of some ruins and dipped into a hollow.
“If there was ever a good place for an ambush,” Henri muttered, and the warriors grew tense. Some of the folk traveling with them looked around in alarm.
The crack of Izmay’s hand hitting the big man’s shoulder made them all jump, and it was followed by nervous laughter.
“Ow! Iz!”
“You mind your mouth,” she scolded, “and stop wishing us ill.”
“But I didn’t!” Henri was horrified. “I didn’t mean to. I was bored.”
Marsh saw Izmay’s head turn to survey the surrounding ruins. The black band of gauze covering her eyes did nothing to reduce her alertness, but Marsh didn’t want to think about what it did to her vision.
At least she can see, she thought, even if it is like looking through mist.
Gerry wore a similar band since his eyes didn’t adapt to sunlight either. Like most of those who lived in the Four Caverns, though, they could see perfectly well in the dark.
Marsh was one of the ones who could see the full spectrum. She’d thought it was normal until she’d seen the reactions of some of the shadow guards when they’d first encountered daylight. Now she knew it was not.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Tamlin’s soft question brought her attention back to him.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what are you going to do without Aisha and me?” he repeated, and nerves created an unhappy ripple through Marsh’s chest.
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 Page 142