Trading into Shadow (The Magic Beneath Paris Book 1)

by C. M. Simpson

  Marsh closed her eyes, thinking of what it was like to communicate with the big beast and wishing she could. She recalled what it was like to fall through her eyes and felt the same brief sensation, landing on her feet in the kat’s domain. The kat turned its attention to her, even though she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the cavern beyond.

  Why was she here?

  To ask you to get off me. I need to breathe, Marsh told the kat, sharing the difficulty she was having pulling air into her lungs.

  Recognition of her difficulty was swiftly followed by the sudden absence of pressure on her chest and a growl that resulted in instant relief from the other two weights bearing down on her as the kits removed their paws. She wasn’t quite ready to find herself rolled beneath the arch of their bodies and then behind them, and her concentration broke as she was pushed closer to the fire.

  Coming back to her own mind happened in much the same way as before—with the sensation of having dropped from a small height. This time, though, Marsh landed on her feet. She gasped and sat up, suddenly aware of the fatigue making her limbs heavy and weak. Surely she wasn’t still sick?

  No, but you are still recovering from shadow fever, and you have just expended a lot of energy. Not the timing I would have chosen for your first lesson.

  Her first lesson? What in the Deep did Roeglin mean?

  With Master Dureau.

  “I thought I was to have lessons with the Master of Stone?” Marsh took a sharp breath and covered her mouth with her hands. She looked at the Master of Beasts. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” the mage replied, “but what made you think you would need tuition from the Master of Stone? Have you ever spoken with the rocks?”

  Now that she thought about it…

  Marsh shook her head, but fortunately, the master was in the mood to explain. It was pretty much what the Master of Shadows had said.

  “They call us rock mages because that is what they call on us to assist with—working with stone—but we encompass so much more.” He gestured to the fungal forest around them. “In other lands, we would be called druids and our stoneworkers would not be welcome among them. Down here, though, where the stone is as much a part of our environment as the shrooms and mosses…”

  He paused, staring out into the cavern, his gaze following the blue-sparked flight of a dragonfly pack, and then expanded on what he’d said.

  “It is only natural for all of those working with the environment to come together. We have masters who work with plants and animals as well as those who work with stone, but those skills have been overshadowed during the time of building. It is something that is starting to change as more mages emerge.”

  He nodded to where Aisha had kicked her blankets aside and was crossing the campsite toward them. Marsh followed his gaze, not complaining when the little girl sidled over to them and wormed her way onto Marsh’s lap. The master studied the child as she settled and then spoke.

  “Why are you here?”

  “I was cold,” Aisha told him, snuggling closer to Marsh.

  “And what is your magic?”

  Aisha frowned.

  “I don’t do magic. I just talk to the rocks.”

  He managed a smile for her.

  “That’s magic,” he said, “and you talk to the animals, too. Just like me.”

  “Like you?” Aisha was all interest. “Are you a rock mage?”

  And Master Dureau’s smile grew wider.

  “I am a rock mage and a beast speaker,” he told her. “Are you going to have lessons with me?”

  Aisha twisted around in Marsh’s lap so she could look up into her face.

  “Am I?”

  Marsh looked down at the girl’s expectant little face.

  “Maybe,” she said. “The Master of Shadow wanted you to have lessons from a rock mage so you can learn how to do more magic with rocks and with animals.”

  “What kind of magic?” Aisha’s face took on a suspicious look.

  “Whatever kind of magic you could dream up.”

  The little girl’s eyes went wide.

  “Really?” she asked, her voice breathless with excitement. “Because I had a dream….”

  Marsh caught Master Dureau’s eye and smiled.

  “Time I helped with breakfast,” she said, standing up, and placing the avidly chattering Aisha on the rock in her place. “No doubt we’ll meet again.”

  24

  Meeting the Master of Stone

  Roeglin had breakfast well in hand, but he sat Marsh down on a stone beside him and handed her a cup of chocolate.

  “You trying to fall over again?”

  Marsh didn’t bother answering. She knew what he was referring to. Magic took energy from the user, and it had to be replenished—and she was still feeling shaky from reaching out into the cavern to see if she could find what lived there. She let her mind play with that for a bit, surprised because she’d succeeded and surprised because she didn’t feel as tired as she thought she should. She’d have to ask him about that later. After all, he was supposed to be one of her teachers.

  As she sipped the strong, sweet beverage he’d given her, Marsh wondered how long it would take to get the trade routes back up and running—because this kind of chocolate, like kaffee, came from the Grotto and supplies wouldn’t last forever.

  So you’d better learn fast, Roeglin's voice said in her mind, starting with how to recover quickly from using your gift.

  Roeglin handed her a cookie.

  Brigitte, he added when he saw the look on her face. She keeps me well supplied.

  Oh, she did, did she? Marsh said nothing, biting into her cookie before Aisha realized there were any to be had. The cookie and the breakfast that followed went a long way toward restoring her energy, but she was still tired when they broke camp and began the final short leg to the rock mages’ stronghold.

  To her surprise, the hoshkat and her kits walked beside her, apparently not bothered by being surrounded by a group of humans and one bouncy krypthund pup. Mordanlenoowar also had no objection to one of the kits walking with Aisha, and Marsh rolled her eyes.

  As if the puppy wasn’t more than enough!

  Roeglin caught her thought and looked at the little girl.

  “You are kidding me…”

  “Nope. Her master had better be able to cope.”

  “At least her big brother has his head around it.”

  Marsh took another look in time to see Tamlin reach down and ruffle Scruffknuckle’s fur. The boy didn’t seem at all bothered by the pup walking between them, and Aisha gave her brother a happy smile, indicating the kit.

  “Scruffknuckle has a friend!” she exclaimed happily, and Marsh suppressed a groan.

  The pup wasn’t the only one to have a friend. She glanced back to where Master Dureau trailed them. The man didn’t seem at all perturbed by having so many predators among them. When she thought about it, Marsh wasn’t too bothered by it either. At least these predators had morals, something the raiders seemed to lack.

  They arrived at a side tunnel and walked down the short passage to another cavern. This one wasn’t as large as the one they’d just left and consisted mostly of bare stone from which large rock formations ascended to the ceiling. Glows were interspersed by clusters of luminescent mosses and shrooms, and Marsh blinked at the brightness.

  “Our gardens need the light,” one of the rock mages explained and Marsh looked around, trying to see the gardens he referred to.

  It wasn’t until they’d rounded a particularly large outcropping of rock that it became clear.

  The light brightened and Marsh gasped, stunned by the sight of small trees growing around a communal square. Blockish mushrooms spread out just beyond them, hedged by grey-leaved shrubs crowned by spikes of purple flowers. Ditch mint trailed between them, forming a bright green carpet, and smaller lighter-leaved plants peered shyly from between the plantings.

  “Come, the Master of Stone is waiting,” Durea
u said. Marsh realized they’d all come to a halt just inside the square, the rock mages watching them with amusement as she, the children, Brigitte, and the caravan guards stared in wonder.

  “Are those oranges?” the apprentice journeyman asked. She swallowed. “And lemons? Real lemons?”

  “Why?” Roeglin teased, touching her lightly on the shoulder. “You going to bake us some orange and lemon snaps?”

  Brigitte glared at him.

  “I might,” she countered, and her glare melted into a grin, “but only if you ask nicely!”

  “Pretty, pretty please?” came Aisha’s childish plea that had more than one of them laughing.

  Master Dureau’s stern voice ended the laughter.

  “When you’re quite ready!”

  Marsh turned to make sure Aisha and Tamlin were behaving. When she turned back, an imposing figure was making its way down the center of the square. Marsh couldn’t recall ever seeing a woman so tall and still so graceful. All her people were lightly built, the tallest of them not topping five and a half feet.

  Some said it was because they were blessed by shadow, others that it was years of living beneath the ground and hiding in the dark from the Madness of the surface world. Marsh didn’t care. Tall was rare in her world, and this woman was at least six feet. Dureau hurried over to her.

  “Master of Stone!”

  He glanced nervously past her to where the square opened into a short passage leading back into the rest of the cavern, relaxing only when he saw a silent squad of guards armored in bronze and green standing before it. Marsh followed his gaze and frowned; she should have heard some sound of their passage. Beside her, the hoshkat tilted her head to look at her, grumbling softly.

  Apparently, she hadn’t been the only one caught off-guard. Marsh rested a hand on the kat’s shoulder, switching her attention back to the Master of Stone—who was clearly female and misnamed in her office. Roeglin and Brigitte approached her, each giving a shallow bow as they came to a halt.

  Her height and shimmering bronze robes were a strong contrast to their builds and dark garb.

  “Master of Stone,” Roeglin began, “the Master of Shadows sends his greetings.”

  The woman cast her gaze over the gathered guards as well as Marsh and the children.

  “What is it he requests?”

  “Please, Master, he asks that you meet with him in the name of the Guardians, and for your assistance in training.”

  Roeglin stopped, and Marsh could not blame him. The Master of Stone’s face had gone from curious to solemn at the mention of the Guardians.

  “How urgent is his business?”

  Roeglin cast a swift glance toward Marsh and then answered.

  “It is urgent, Master.”

  She snorted.

  “Of course it is. He has sent you.” Her eyes turned toward the kat and the Master of Beasts. “I take it there is a good explanation for that being with you?”

  Roeglin shifted uncomfortably, answering in the Beast Master’s place.

  “If we could adjourn inside, I will explain.”

  The Master of Stone cast him a dubious look.

  “I doubt it. If the Master’s business is urgent enough to both send you and invoke the name of the Guardians, there is no time for pleasantries. Perhaps you could explain while my people gather what we need for the journey.”

  At this, several of the bronze-garbed mages behind her hurried into nearby buildings.

  Marsh stepped forward. “I will explain,” she said, trying not to quail under the Master’s fierce gaze.

  “And you are?”

  “I am Marchant Marie Leclerc.”

  The woman arched her brows.

  “Oh? And what makes you think your explanation will suffice?”

  “Because the kat came to me for help,” she said, moving forward, all too aware of the kat moving forward at her side, one of her kits coming with her, the other standing beside Aisha.

  Marsh glanced at Roeglin, and he gestured for her to continue.

  “She came to me looking for help in retrieving her kits from the raiders.” She glanced toward the kat and back at the master. “I promised I would help, and she is staying with me until that happens.”

  What would happen afterward, Marsh did not know, but she would cross that bridge when they reached it. Up until that time nothing was more important than her promise to the kat, her promise to Tamlin, and her promise to Fabrice—that she would find out if their loved ones still lived and bring them back if she could.

  “After you have secured the Ruins Hall cavern complex and restored the trade routes,” the Master of Stone added, and Marsh stared.

  It was as though the woman was reading her mind!

  Roeglin snickered, and Marsh saw the white fading from his eyes. Okay, so maybe the Mistress of Stone had been reading her mind since it looked like she’d had the help she needed to do so. Marsh shrugged.

  “At least you know why the kat is here.”

  “And she’s staying with you, I take it?” the master asked, and Marsh felt herself tense.

  Surely the woman wasn’t going to suggest she try leaving the kat behind?

  “Yes, Master.”

  The master turned to Roeglin and Brigitte.

  “What are the Master of Shadows’ training requirements?”

  Roeglin indicated Aisha and Marsh.

  “Both speak with animals, and Aisha speaks to rock. These are skills outside the shadow monastery’s expertise.”

  “Just as raiders are outside ours. I trust the Master of Shadows has news on that?”

  “Yes, Master.” Roeglin glanced around. “But perhaps that is a discussion for later.”

  She pursed her lips.

  “Indeed.”

  As she answered, the mages that had obeyed her instruction to pack for a journey returned and a second wave headed into the buildings.

  Well, one thing’s for sure, Marsh thought. They’re not very friendly.

  The Master of Stone accepted a pack from one of the mages.

  “We can make the mid-point if we leave now,” she said, sliding the pack over her shoulders. “We’ll eat as we move. You do have trail rations, I take it?”

  Again that arched eyebrow, but the master didn’t wait for an answer; she started walking toward them, and the guards and mages stepped to one side as she approached. Marsh watched as she passed, holding her breath as the mage dropped a hand to the hoshkat’s head. She was surprised to see the master’s eyes burn green and the kat lean into her palm.

  They exchanged nothing more and the master continued, leaving the kat beside Marsh before coming to a stop in front of the rock mages they had rescued on the way in.

  “Make your report to Master Voclain. She will lead while I am away.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  She turned to Roeglin, her gaze falling on him and then on the Master of Beasts.

  “You will accompany me,” she said, then added, “You did not tell me there was an attack.”

  For a moment Marsh held her breath waiting for Roeglin to tell her that she hadn’t asked, but the shadow mage was more diplomatic than that.

  “We have only just arrived.”

  “True, and now you are just leaving. You will brief me on the way. Master of Beasts, I take it you are coming?”

  It was more an instruction than a question, but Master Dureau answered it anyway.

  “You have already gathered my people, and I am thankful.”

  Whether it was thanks or reproach, Marsh couldn’t be sure, but the master was already accepting a pack from one of the green-garbed guards and coming to stand alongside the kat. They did not stand still for long. Once the rock mages they had rescued vanished into one of the buildings to make their report and the others returned with supplies for the journey, the Master of Stone led them back the way they had come.

  Marsh sighed and turned, and the children followed her example. She waited for one or the other of them to say
that they were tired but neither uttered a word, even though Tamlin cast an anxious glance toward his sister. Aisha ignored him, glowering after the Master of Stone with the intensity of a thunderstorm.

  Looks like trouble. Roeglin murmured in her mind, and Marsh saw him nod toward the child.

  Could be interesting, Marsh thought back, but she watched the youngster as they moved out of the rock mages’ home cavern and back onto the trail.

  None of them said much after that, not even when they passed the camp they’d broken that morning and the Master of Stone pushed them forward. She did not stop for the evening meal and did not rest. Marsh had thought the plan was for them to overnight between the two mage settlements, but if it had been, the Master of Stone gave no sign.

  Marsh nudged Roeglin.

  Can’t you see what’s on her mind? she thought and gasped as Roeglin nudged her in the ribs in return—a good deal harder than she’d done to him. He answered her out loud.

  “No.”

  She wanted to ask him why, but he was clearly not in the mood.

  The master was setting a hard pace, her long legs eating up the distance as the rest of them stepped double-time to keep up. They walked in silence, the caravan guards forming the corners of a rough square around Marsh, the children, and the two shadow mages. Beyond them, the green-and-bronze-armored mages kept a tight perimeter.

  What’s going on? Marsh wondered and plucked at the shadow threads around her, thinking one of them had the answer. Were there others in the cavern around them? Did the threads touching her touch them, too? She got no answer, the threads sliding through her fingers as though they didn’t want her to handle them.

  Marsh wanted to ask what that was about but she couldn’t. Roeglin and Brigitte were moving slightly ahead of her, and the mages wouldn’t have a clue what she was asking. Marsh looked at Tamlin, but the boy seemed to be focused solely on staying on his feet and not falling behind. That, and making sure his sister was all right.

  For her part, Aisha had a firm grip on both the kit and Scruffknuckle. Her small face was pale and she occasionally stumbled, but she was still glaring at the Master of Stone. Marsh had to wonder what the child was going to do when the woman finally called a halt. Something told her she should worry, or better yet, make sure she had the girl well in hand when they did finally stop.