The woman flushed crimson, but she raised her head defiantly as she gave her reply. “We were trying to leave.”
“And leave your man behind?”
“It was what we agreed if we were ever found by a larger force. One of us would buy the others time by appearing to cooperate.” She glared at Abner. “We were never going to agree to offers of hospitality.”
“This one comes with shelter for the winter, food, and blankets and clothing for each of us,” Abner told her, and she paused.
“They what?” Neela looked at Roeglin and Marsh.
“Is this true?”
Roeglin bobbed his head. “Yes. If you wish to winter with us, we can offer you quarters.”
There was a gasp, and the young woman piped up, “Rooms of our own?”
“An entire room to yourself,” Roeglin told her, beginning to smile, “and a cottage, if you wish to stay longer.”
“Now, Lissa,” Abner warned, but the girl reached out and touched the young man closest.
“Do you hear that, Idron? We could have a place of our own…in a town where we’d be allowed to use our magic.”
“Is that true?” Idron asked.
He had dark eyes and thick, dark hair drawn back in a ponytail. He might have been handsome, but his face was pinched with worry.
Roeglin nodded. “Yes. You would, eventually, have a place of your own, and you’d definitely be allowed to use your magic to benefit the community.”
“It sounds too good to be true,” Abner noted. “How do we know we can trust you?”
“Winter is coming,” Roeglin told him shortly, “and I think you’ve seen enough of us to be able to make up your own minds. We can provide you shelter for the winter and see you on your way in spring, or we’d welcome you as part of our community if you wanted to help us build it.”
“Either one?” The first young man sounded like he hardly dared believe it.
“Either one,” Roeglin confirmed.
“And these?” Abner demanded, gesturing at the three bugs arrayed around the room.
“They are our allies,” Roeglin told him. “We believe we have a common foe.”
“Yet I did not see any within your walls,” Abner noted.
“That is about to change,” Roeglin admitted. “Our alliance is new, and we are about to negotiate closer relations.”
“What can they offer?”
Allow me, Tok intervened and cast his mental voice wide enough for all to hear.
The Arcadians gasped, crowding uneasily together.
By all means, Roeglin invited, letting the strangers see the change in his eyes as he too projected his voice.
We grow the shrooms you acquired this morning, Tok began, and we are skilled mind mages, as you can see. We offer our skill at arms, our weapons, and the knowledge of how to use them, and we offer instruction in mental magic.
He bowed his head, adding humbly, We hope that is enough.
“It will be,” Roeglin told him. “Will your people be ready to negotiate a final agreement two days from now?”
Yes. It would be our honor.
“You can’t be serious!” Abner’s mouth was open. “You really think you can trust them?”
“Why not?” Roeglin asked and pointed to the shroom crates. “You did.”
Abner stared at the crates in disbelief. “They came from the bugs?”
The mantids shifted restlessly, and Roeglin intervened.
“They’re not bugs. The closest I can come to the name they use for themselves is ‘mantid,’ and that is how we will be referring to them. Understood?”
“Whether we are winter guests or decide to stay longer?” Abner demanded.
“Regardless of what you choose, you will refer to our allies as mantids,” Roeglin confirmed, then added, “There is worse out there.”
Abner’s eyebrows shot up. “There is?”
Marsh, you need to inspect them for extra passengers, Roeglin reminded her.
I’ll do that now. Marsh backed up to the door and focused on the life forces in the room.
The humans and the mantids were easy to dismiss. They glowed a bright, healthy gold…mostly. The mantids’ life forces were touched with scarlet, and the Arcadians were more a dull yellow than gold, but they were there.
It was the muddy red and orange life force attached, limpetlike to Abner’s spine that drew her attention. Marsh studied it, then walked carefully around the edge of the room, focusing on the strangers in the center.
It was a relief to discover Abner was the only one carrying an unwanted passenger.
Understood, Roeglin told her and turned to the Arcadians with a beaming smile. “We’ll go as soon as you’re ready. I believe the kitchens are expecting you, and it’s nearly noon. They won’t like it if we’re late.”
Idron picked up his pack and reached a hand down to Lissa.
“We’d better hurry then,” he announced, keeping a careful eye on Abner. “Being late for lunch is not the kind of first impression I want to make.”
His comment made the other youngsters laugh, even as he hauled Lissa to her feet.
Abner managed a chuckle, and picked up his pack, reaching for Neela’s and handing it to her. She looped her hand through his arm.
“All right, dear. Let’s see if you’ve finally managed to find us a home.”
To Marsh, it sounded like she was desperately not saying “or something worse,” but she kept the thought to herself. If the Arcadians stayed, the mantids would be the least of their problems.
There was something lurking in the Deeps below the Library, and come winter, she, Roeglin, and anyone they could spare were going to deal with it.
7
New Faces
Keeping that thought firmly to herself, Marsh led the way out of the ruin. Roeglin stopped long enough to thank Tok and his people and then followed—and Gustav kept a close eye on the Arcadians.
The newcomers remained silent as they followed Marsh out of the building. They glanced nervously at the mantids as the bugs exited behind them and then took a different path into the ruins.
“How did you end up making friends with them?” Abner asked when the last of the mantids had moved out of sight.
“They helped us when we were being attacked by remnant,” Marsh answered shortly.
“And we helped them,” Roeglin added.
“I’m not sure I follow,” Abner said.
“It’s a long story,” Marsh told him, not sure she wanted to reveal all of it.
Neela laid a hand on her husband’s arm. “Does it matter? They’re not going to hurt us.”
“But they speak,” Abner protested, “and that big one has mental magic. I’m not sure that’s safe.”
“We’ve encountered humans who are worse,” she reminded him tartly.
Abner heaved a sigh. “I guess you’re right.”
“If you’re still not happy with them when spring comes, we’ll leave,” Neela assured him, and he nodded.
“Fair enough.”
Lissa drew a breath as though she was about to say something, then glanced at Idron. The look that passed between them was unreadable, and she fell silent. They reached the town gates, and Marsh didn’t miss the ripple of unease that ran through the group as they entered.
The four women and six men glanced nervously at the walls and the sturdy stone gates, and one of them looked back.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” she whispered, clutching the hand of one of the other girls.
Marsh noted the similarity in their looks and assumed they were sisters. Both were fair-haired, with deep-brown eyes and honey-brown skin. Their faces were gaunt from the hardships they’d faced on the road, but they were still pretty.
“It’s going to be all right,” she said, trying to reassure them.
They cast her dubious looks, and she tried a smile. The doubt remained, and Marsh sighed. She didn’t really blame them. Abner had said they’d been avoiding towns since the first one
they’d stayed at in the ruins. There probably wasn’t anything she could say to help them. They were just going to have to decide for themselves.
“The guard station is on your left,” Roeglin declared, gesturing toward the structure. “If you encounter any trouble, that’s where to go for help.”
He gestured to the right, where the closest cabins could be seen. “Over there is where we’re building the settlement. Some of the cabins were there when we arrived, but there’s room for more.”
“What happens when you run out of room inside the walls?” Lissa asked, and Marsh noticed she leaned into Idron as she said it.
If the two of them weren’t partnered, Marsh thought, they soon would be. She wondered how Abner and Neela felt about it.
Judging from the small smile on the woman’s face, Neela was happy for the pair. Abner’s expression was unreadable, but he also seemed more interested in the way the settlement was laid out than anything his daughter and her boyfriend were up to.
Odd, she thought, not expecting Roeglin’s reply.
And we know why. Out loud, he answered Lissa’s question.
“That’s when we’ll ask the rock mages to extend the walls and look to expanding the wall patrols.”
“Wall patrols?” Abner was quick to pounce on that, or the bug was, although Marsh wasn’t sure why a parasitic insect would want to know.
Don’t you remember the remnant? Roeglin asked, and Marsh shivered.
They hadn’t encountered any remnant since the small horde that had attacked them on their return to the Library, and every single one of those had had a parasite attached.
They weren’t attacking in a big group like that because they’d suddenly discovered cooperation, he observed.
Marsh thought of the larger group that had attacked them when they were escorting the refugees to Ariella’s Grotto. They’d been well-coordinated, too.
Right up until you and Tamlin doused them in lightning, Roeglin reminded her.
Speaking of her apprentice… Marsh looked around, realizing she hadn’t seen the boy since she’d taken Aisha from him in the ruins. The thought made her glance back through the gates in alarm.
He’s with his father, Roeglin informed her. We have a good administrator there.
So, not just a mage, then.
No. Who knows what the boy will be?
It was a good question and reminded Marsh that the future wasn’t fixed, and that not all their paths were guaranteed.
We’re here.
“Fine, keep your secrets,” Abner grumbled. “It’s not like we won’t be able to see it for ourselves.”
“Exactly,” Roeglin confirmed, giving him a smile. “In the meantime, we’d like to work out your accommodation. Not all of these folk are family, are they?”
At the mage’s question, Abner flushed.
“No,” he admitted, and his gaze crossed Lissa and Idron, “and some of them are looking to start families of their own once they get somewhere safe.”
Whether that last was meant to be information for Roeglin or a reminder to his daughter wasn’t clear, so Roeglin took it at surface value.
“I’ll abide by your and her wishes,” he informed them and was rewarded by a smile from Neela.
“We want our daughter to be happy,” the woman told him, “and if things had been different, she and Idron would have been joined long before now.”
Lissa gave a small gasp at her mother’s words, and she and Idron blushed.
“We can formalize the relationship if that’s what you want,” Roeglin told them. “We don’t have priests, but we have mages.”
“It’s something we can discuss later,” Abner replied gruffly. “For now, our daughter stays with us, and the boy needs separate quarters.”
Roeglin inclined his head and turned to the others. At the end of the discussion, they’d worked out that the two blondes were sisters and needed their own accommodation, and that the five younger men, including Idron, were all officially single.
“You’ll be given your own rooms in the barracks,” Evan informed them when Roeglin explained the situation, “along with our young folks.”
He looked at Lissa. “It’s an option for you, too,” he added, “if you wish to move out of your parents’ home and live independently.”
Neela drew a sharp breath, and Abner scowled. Lissa gave Evan a beatific smile.
“Thank you. I’d like that.” She caught the look on Abner’s face. “Don’t you frown like that, Papa. You know I was planning on moving out before everything happened back home.”
From the look on Abner’s face, it was true, and he wasn’t happy about the reminder.
Evan beamed at them. “Good, that’s settled then.”
He took them through the process of registering for a room and collecting the necessities that had been assigned to them.
“But…” Neela began to protest, just as her husband had.
“We can’t,” one of the others added.
“I… It’s too much…” one of the blondes, Yelen, started.
Evan waved them all to silence.
“This is the standard living package,” he told them. “Most of our people came to us with nothing, so we make sure everyone has the basics. If you need something else, come see Alain or me.”
That silenced them until Lissa gathered up her equipment and found her voice.
“What do you mean, they came to you with nothing?”
“I mean that many of them were slaves taken by the raiders. When we rescued them, they had nothing, so we gave them a start.” He gave it a minute, and Marsh watched the information sink in.
Abner turned to Roeglin. “So, when you say your people have forgiven worse than folk stealing so they don’t starve, you mean some of your people used to be raiders?”
It made Marsh hope they could get the bug off him without causing any damage.
Aisha, I need you here.
I’m with Terrence. We are waiting, the little girl informed her.
Stay there, then. We’ll be over shortly. Roeglin’s voice broke in, calm and authoritative. Marsh, I need you here.
Marsh blinked and surfaced. She found herself the center of attention.
“Who were you talking to?” Abner’s voice was suspicious.
“Aisha,” Marsh told him. “I’m supposed to check in with her at lunch.”
“Speaking of which,” Evan interrupted. “You all need to stow your gear in your rooms soon if you want to make the mess hall on time.”
“Mess hall?” Abner asked. “That’s soldiers’ talk.”
Evan put his hand on his hip and cocked his head. “Yes, I’m one of the raiders they forgave,” he told them.
“And we had very good reason to,” Alain said, moving past the man. “Evan saved as many lives as he could while trying to keep his family alive. There’s not many of us who would have done the same.”
“Very few of the raiders volunteered,” Roeglin added. “Those who didn’t feel sorry for what they’d done didn’t live to do anything more.”
Abner stared at them. His gaze shifted from Evan to Alain to Roeglin and back to Alain.
“And you were?”
“I was one of those taken,” Alain replied, daring him to argue. He looked at Marsh. “She rescued my children, and they came looking—and I’m very grateful.”
Idron frowned. “But you’re working with…”
He gestured at Evan. Alain nodded.
“I stopped the others from killing him, and then I showed them why.”
“You showed them?”
“Like this.” There was an edge of impatience to Roeglin’s voice.
He reached over and touched Alain’s forehead, then stepped back to give himself room.
“These are memories,” he explained, drawing shadow into the white mist that formed beneath his hands.
The Arcadians watched spellbound as he played the memory of Evan diverting another raider’s attention as a family slippe
d through the gates and vanished into the ruins.
“And they got away?”
Alain’s face turned bleak. “No. Their absence was discovered and reported by another guard, and they were brought back.”
“But he tried,” Idron pointed out.
“And sometimes he was successful,” Alain explained. “He kept us as safe as he could without sacrificing his family, and none of us would have asked him to do that.”
Abner regarded both men with dark eyes, and Marsh imagined she caught a flash of red in their depths. If Alain, returning his gaze, saw it, he didn’t show it.
Instead, he gestured toward the stairs. “Your rooms are on the second floor.”
It was as good a dismissal as any, and they left Stores to do as he suggested. Roeglin and Marsh waited on the ground floor until they returned. Some things needed privacy, and Lissa’s request for a place of her own was one of them.
When Abner and Neela returned, they were holding hands, as were Lissa and Idron, who descended the stairs behind them. The others followed without comment, their faces somber as they contemplated the choice before them.
Marsh figured winter would be long enough for them to work it out, and the community at the Library would accept their decision regardless.
“The mess hall is over there,” Roeglin told them but turned away from it, “and this is the medical center. If you’re ever not feeling well, this is where you need to come. I’ll introduce you to the staff before we go to lunch.”
They followed him, the Arcadians quiet as they looked at the settlement around them. Roeglin stepped up onto the stone porch before the door and turned the handle.
“This way,” he instructed and headed inside.
The Arcadians followed, and Marsh was happy to see Terrence standing in front of the counter, and a couple of other healers drifting past the door at the rear of the room. There was no sign of Aisha, and for that, Marsh was glad. What they had to next was—
Now!
She pivoted on her heel and swept her foot through Abner’s legs. Roeglin grabbed Neela and pulled her away as Gustav came through a door at the side of the room and pinned Abner to the floor.
Marsh sat on the man’s legs, aware of hands grabbing for her shoulders. They were swiftly pulled away as healers came into the room from the back and two side doors.
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 171