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

  None of us had the energy, Master Envermet explained, keeping the conversation between them. His lips twisted into a wry smile. Besides, you will see him soon enough.

  Marsh stifled a sigh. She might see him soon, but it would never be soon enough.

  The shadow captain groaned at her sentiment but didn’t comment. They’d reached a large hall, and several young men and women were waiting to take the mules.

  One took the reins from Master Envermet, holding the mule steady as the shadow captain moved around to its side. Before he could get there, Henri slid from his mount and hurried over to help Gerry from the saddle.

  “You really shouldn’t wake her,” the big man explained, indicating Aisha as Master Envermet lifted the little girl higher onto his shoulder. “I’ll get Gerry in.”

  The child wrinkled her face and grumbled in her sleep, and all three men froze.

  Marsh snickered, but Tamlin trotted quickly to Lioma. “Is there anywhere in particular you’d like us to sleep?” he asked. “I’ll get her bed ready.”

  “No bed,” Aisha mumbled, and Tamlin turned beseeching eyes to the Grotto warrior. Lioma glanced at the child and then back at her brother.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen three men held hostage by a little girl.” She smiled. “Come this way.”

  Marsh followed. “Dan?”

  The kat shook herself and cast a stern look at where Scruffknuckle and Perdemor hovered at the edge of the building. They were the epitome of impending mischief if Marsh had ever seen such a thing.

  “Come on, you two,” she called. “It’s time to sleep.”

  They exchanged glances, and Marsh took two steps toward them. Mordan gave a curious chirping call, and the pair exchanged another glance, before reluctantly complying.

  Marsh waited until they’d passed through the door in front of her. Mordan brushed by her too, and Marsh followed them inside. By then, Tamlin was halfway across the hall, and the cub and the kit were catching up.

  “We thought it best if you had one of the rooms at the back,” Lioma explained. She looked anxiously at Marsh. “There are only the four of you, right?”

  “Four?” Marsh wanted to know. There were her and the two children, but Roeglin was far away. As impossible as it was, she thought he might have come after her. Her heart skipped a beat, hoping for the impossible even as her mind quelled it.

  Lioma was quick to explain, and the hope faded.

  “Yes, four. You, the two children, and the shadow mistress.”

  Marsh relaxed. “That’s right.”

  Lioma gave her a relieved smile. “Good, then there is just enough room.”

  Tamlin unslung the pack he’d hooked over his chest and took out Aisha’s sleeping roll. He spread it on the lower of one set of bunks and put his on the bunk above.

  “You and Brigitte can have that one,” he explained. “Brigitte prefers the top.”

  Well, Marsh thought, that tells me, doesn’t it?

  The thought had barely crossed her mind than Mordan stalked past her and jumped onto the end of Aisha’s bunk. She growled when Perdemor and Scruffknuckle went to copy her, and Lioma jumped.

  The warrior’s smile vanished, replaced by a look of concern. “Where do the animals sleep?”

  Marsh shrugged. “Wherever they please.”

  Mordan’s tail twitched, and the kat bent to groom her paw.

  “But in the room with you?” Lioma iterated as though it was important.

  “Oh, yes,” Marsh reassured her, and Lioma relaxed. Marsh frowned at her. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because...” Her eyes traveled past Marsh to the doorway.

  “Because we have a lot to talk about,” Master Envermet explained, coming in and settling Aisha on the bunk holding Mordan, “but not until the morning, when we’ve all had some sleep. Please ask Mordan and the cubs to stay in your room tonight.”

  The kat quirked her ears, her tail stopping mid-twitch. She lifted her head from her paw and studied Master Envermet with an unblinking stare. He met it without flinching.

  “I mean it, kat. I need you to stay here tonight.” He glanced at where Perdemor and Scruffknuckle sat side by side. “You and your offspring, am I understood?”

  It was the first time Marsh had ever heard him use that phrase with the kat, but whether Mordan understood it remained to be seen. The kat huffed out a sigh and turned her gaze to the two younger animals.

  Glancing at Aisha, the kat fixed the kit and the pup with a steady gaze and mewed. It was if they’d been unchained. Perdemor leapt for the top bunk and clawed himself onto the end, sending Tamlin’s pack flying.

  The kit didn’t spare it a second glance but stalked forward a few steps to flop down beside the boy. Tamlin groaned. “Can someone grab my pack?”

  Master Envermet obliged, lifting the item back onto the boy’s bunk.

  “Merci,” Tamlin replied, taking it out of his hands and tucking it carefully in the corner where the bunk met the wall.

  Perdemor watched it being placed, and his tail twitched. His intent was easy to read, and Marsh had to smother a smile, even if she knew she’d be woken sometime in the night when the bag hit the floor.

  Scruffknuckle, meanwhile, bounded onto Aisha’s bed. Marsh was fairly sure the pup hadn’t intended to land on the kat, but he’d failed. She caught the look of mortification on his face as he got stuck halfway over Mordan’s back.

  It was hard not to laugh as he scrabbled to pull himself clear, harder still when she caught the look on the kat’s face. If ever Mordan pretended something wasn’t happening, this was it. In the end, she tipped slightly on her side, and Scruffknuckle slid clear.

  The pup wasted no time in scrambling to the other end of the bed and lying down beside Aisha.

  The little girl’s response was instantaneous. She rolled toward the pup and draped an arm over his shoulder. Marsh swore she heard the word “Scruffy” drift up from the blankets.

  Everyone in the room stilled, relaxing when the child wriggled closer to the pup and gave a contented sigh.

  Brigitte appeared at the door. Marsh pointed to the remaining top bunk. “We saved you one.”

  The shadow mistress smiled. “Merci.”

  Master Envermet took a step toward the door. “I’ll come and collect you in the morning,” he told them, and Marsh wondered if that was his way of telling them not to leave the room until he came back.

  His confirmation was adamant in her head. Yes.

  Marsh shrugged and sat on the edge of her bunk. “Okay.”

  “We’ll talk then,” he told her. “I promise.”

  13

  Revelations

  Marsh only woke once during the night when Perdemor dropped Tamlin’s pack off the bunk. It landed with a loud thump on the floor beside Aisha’s head, but the little girl didn’t stir.

  Marsh looked out from under her blankets and saw the kit’s curious face peering over the edge of the bunk. If she hadn’t known he’d done it, she’d have sworn he was wondering what had happened.

  “Go back to sleep,” she scolded him. “You know very well what you did.”

  “Aw, Perdy!” Tamlin had woken.

  No sooner had he spoken than the kit flopped down onto his stomach.

  “Oof.” Tamlin grumbled, “Do you mind, kat? You’re getting Deeps-be-damned heavy.”

  Marsh thought about scolding the boy for his language but decided against it. There were worse things he could be saying, and a forty-pound kat across the middle was a pretty good excuse.

  Perdemor didn’t move, so Tams shoved him. The kit’s only response was to roll onto his side and begin batting at the boy’s hand with his paw.

  “Get off me, you little monster,” Tamlin grumbled, and Marsh was startled to feel the air fizz.

  Staring at the top of the bunk, she caught the slight flicker of shadow lightning and wondered what the boy was up to. She didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  The lightning flickered, a
nd Perdemor gave a yowl of protest before leaping across the gap between the bunks and landing squarely on Brigitte.

  The shadow mistress woke with a screech, which sent the kit leaping back to Tamlin’s bunk, his fur bristling with alarm.

  “And stay off,” Brigitte exclaimed.

  The bunk rocked as though she’d flung herself back down, and Marsh stared up at the underside of Brigitte’s mattress. She caught sight of Perdemor’s wide eyes as the kit turned himself around to stare at where the shadow mistress lay.

  Marsh couldn’t blame him for being apprehensive. She wouldn’t want to have woken Brigitte either, especially not like that.

  It took her some time before she was able to go back to sleep, but when Brigitte didn’t stir again, Perdemor laid his head on his paws, and the room settled to stillness. The miracle of it was that Aisha had slept through it all.

  Marsh closed her eyes and didn’t wake again until Master Envermet knocked on the door.

  “It’s morning already?” she asked, wiping sleep from her eyes and blinking blearily at the world.

  Master Envermet cocked his head, and Marsh waited for him to say something sarcastic. Instead, the shadow master regarded her with a serious stare and nodded. “It is, and you are needed in the main hall.”

  Marsh rolled out of bed. “When are we leaving?”

  Master Envermet pressed his lips together. “That is one of the things we must talk about, but we are not leaving today.”

  Marsh’s heart plummeted, and worry formed an uncomfortable knot in her chest.

  Master Envermet stalled her question. “I’ll discuss it over breakfast. I have to fill the others in also.”

  He took a step outside the door. “I’ll wait out here.”

  Marsh nodded, not caring that he’d already pulled the door behind him and couldn’t see her. Slowly, she pulled herself out of bed and looked at where Aisha lay.

  Carefully approaching the child’s bed, she nudged the somnolent form beneath the blankets. “Hey, Aysh, you awake?”

  “No!” came from under the blankets. “Sleeping.”

  “Uh-huh.” Marsh decided to take a different tack. “You hungry?”

  “I’m not...” The top of the blanket came down, and Aisha looked out at her. “Cookies?”

  Snickers came from Brigitte’s bunk. Aisha’s eyes widened in hope and she sat up, pushing her blankets down. “Brij?”

  The snickers became a chuckle, and Brigitte swung her legs over the edge of her bunk. “Only as long as you don’t tell Master Envermet,” she warned, and Aisha’s eyes grew saucer-round.

  The little girl covered her mouth with both hands and nodded solemnly.

  Brigitte reached up and pulled down her pack.

  “She might not tell Master Envermet, but I might,” Tamlin whispered from the top bunk. He paused and then added, “But I could be bribed.”

  “That’s rude, Tams,” Aisha protested.

  “But it’s true,” Tamlin told his sister. “I might not be able to keep from telling him unless I get a cookie, too. I’m so hungry.”

  He had sat up and was slowly extricating himself out from under Perdemor. The kit was making it difficult by rolling over onto his back, trapping Tamlin’s legs and waving his paws at the boy’s head.

  Marsh shook her head. She’d missed this. What she didn’t expect was for the door to open behind her.

  “Master Envermet would like a cookie, too,” the shadow captain declared, his face solemn as he stepped into the room.

  It was so unexpected that Marsh couldn’t help laughing. She laughed harder at the look on Aisha’s face.

  Brigitte chuckled too and pulled a handful of cookies out of her pack. She handed the first to Master Envermet.

  “Thank you,” he said, and then declared. “You have saved an old man from starvation.”

  Marsh laughed out loud, and Aisha rolled her eyes. She bit her lower lip as though trying very hard not to say something that would get her into trouble.

  Master Envermet paused at the door. “Apprentice Danet,” he stated, giving her a solemn look. “I am not a drama queen.”

  Tamlin flopped back on his bunk, laughing. Marsh leaned against the wall until she was able to stop. Aisha stared open-mouthed at the shadow captain, and Master Envermet stepped with quiet dignity into the corridor and pulled the door shut behind him.

  Marsh and the others joined him a few moments later, having stowed their bedding in their packs. He took one look at the bags slung over their shoulders and shook his head.

  “You might as well leave them in your room,” he told them. “You’ll be sleeping there tonight.”

  Marsh sighed but turned around and did as he suggested. Tamlin, Aisha, and Brigitte followed her example a few moments later.

  “What did Roeglin say?” Marsh asked, guessing the shadow mage would have been less than impressed with the delay on her return.

  “He said to do what we had to, and that if you could survive a few more days without him, he could do the same.”

  Marsh blushed bright red, and Tamlin groaned. Brigitte coughed, and Aisha stamped her foot.

  “Don’t go there!” she scolded the shadow captain. “It’s rude.”

  “Uh-huh,” Marsh agreed and headed toward the smell of baking bread. “I need to eat.”

  If she was honest, eating was the last thing she wanted to do. Master Envermet’s news had left a lump in her throat and a heavy feeling in her gut. She wanted to go home, which was wherever Roeglin was, and she wanted to go there without delay.

  She joined the queue, taking a plate from the pile at the end of the counter. Master Envermet came and stood behind her.

  “I’m sorry, Marsh.”

  Marsh tried for a nonchalant shrug. She had been going to say it was all right, but it wasn’t, and she didn’t trust her voice. She hid her discomfort by reaching for a thick slice of bread.

  The shadow captain didn’t press her. Instead, he gathered his breakfast behind her and then led the way to a table where the other shadow guards were waiting.

  “I owe you all an explanation,” he told them, taking an empty seat.

  Izmay nodded and gestured for him to continue. Instead of speaking, Master Envermet searched the room for someone, then lifted his hand above his head.

  To Marsh’s surprise, she recognized the man who pushed away from one of the nearby walls to answer Master Envermet’s summons.

  “Rocko!”

  He glanced up at the sound of his name and looked at her for the first time. “You made it.”

  His eyes searched the table, and he turned to scan the room. “Did you find her?”

  Marsh frowned.

  The sister, Master Envermet prompted. He wants to know if you found Marius’ sister.

  Marsh paled. In the flurry of leaving the fortress, she hadn’t thought to check. “I know I called her.”

  “Did she answer?” The eagerness in Rocko’s voice was almost pitiful.

  Marsh turned to Master Envermet. “Do you know?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll have Lioma look for her.” He paused, frowning. “It seems strange that she hasn’t made herself known.”

  “Perhaps she is waiting for her brother?” Marsh wondered.

  “That’s what I have to talk to her about,” Rocko broke in. “I have to let her know he’s safe.”

  “Did he go with Liam?” Marsh asked, and Rocko nodded.

  “Yes,” he said, licking his lips. “They left the same day you did. We didn’t want to risk the raiders coming back and taking them or going after them and catching them on the road.”

  He paused, his eyes dark with worry. “Marius almost didn’t go. I promised him I’d send Joanna after him as soon as I could, and even then...”

  His voice faded to silence, and Master Envermet nodded

  “We understand. Lioma will find her if she is here.” He gestured to the shadow guards around the table. “Tell them about the raiders.”

  Marsh
stilled. There’d been more raiders?

  “They came two days after you’d gone after your man.” His eyes strayed to the ex-guards and ex-prisoners filing into the room.

  “Go on,” prompted Master Envermet.

  Rocko passed a hand over his face. “We didn’t tell them you’d passed through, and we hid the bodies well, but it was hard. They’d been raiding to the east.”

  “You recognized people?”

  Rocko nodded. “I was glad I’d convinced Marius and Liam to leave when they did. We might have gotten rid of one spy, but I wasn’t sure that was all.”

  He paused, his eyes haunted, and again Master Envermet gestured for him to continue. Rocko swallowed. “Yesterday, we had one of the local bounty hunters come through. He didn’t stop, and he said nothing to the locals, just went straight to the raiders’ camp and told them the fortress had fallen.”

  He gulped. “He said the raiders should kill their cargo and leave, that you weren’t far behind him, and that you’d slaughter them all.”

  Marsh felt the blood drain from her face. “And did they?” she asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

  Rocko shook his head. “No. One or two might have taken up the suggestion, but the argument was short. The man who took over from the raid leader apologized and took the time to hand me the keys.”

  He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked at the ceiling. “Said to tell you he and a few friends were going to take care of the fort across the river, and that he wasn’t going to apologize for doing what he needed to keep his family alive.”

  He paused. “That hit home. He didn’t expect forgiveness, either.”

  “Did he need help?”

  “I asked. He said it was his responsibility, like he’d had a choice that wasn’t bad.”

  Marsh looked around the table. The others were nodding. Their faces were stern and a little sad, but they understood.

  Master Envermet cleared his throat, drawing their attention. “Now tell them how many more we’ll be adding to the caravan.

  “They brought a hundred. Your healers are with them now.”

  Marsh’s eyes widened. “I thought you said they weren’t harmed?”