Fire Study (41 page)

control.”

“We, love? I thought you could handle this by yourself.”

Dealing with the Fire Warper was my task, but, for the rest, I required assistance.

“I was wrong.”

Valek heated water and filled the cast-iron tub. He removed my pile of burnt

clothes. By the time I finished bathing, he had brought me a clean outfit.

“What’s this?” He held Opal’s glass bat.

I told him about my visit with Opal. “As a fellow artist, what do you think of the

construction?”

Valek examined the statue, turning it this way and that. “It’s an accurate

reproduction. The coloring matches one of the smaller jungle bat species. It’s sticky

with magic. I feel it, but can’t see it. Can you?”

“The inside glows as if molten fire has been captured by ice.”

“That would be something to see, then.”

Thinking about what the Fire Warper had done to show me his world, I touched

Valek’s shoulder and opened myself to him, letting him see the bat through me.

“Ahh…spectacular. Can everyone see this?”

“Only magicians.” And the Commander, I thought.

“Good. That lays that debate to rest. I am not a magician.”

“Then what are you? You’re not a regular person either.”

Valek pretended to be mortified.

“Come on,” I said. “Your skills as a fighter have an almost magical air. Your

ability to move without sound and blend in with shadows and people seem

extraordinary. You can communicate with me over vast distances, but I can’t

contact you.”

“An anti-magician?”

“I suppose, but I’d bet Bain could find it in one of his books.” I told Valek about

the tunnel and about the Councilors’ families, describing the pond to him.

He considered. “That sounds like Diamond Lake in the Jewelrose lands. It’s near

the Bloodgood border. The Jewelrose Clan had built a series of lakes that resemble

shapes of jewels and the water reflects the colors.”

“Why red?”

“Because the Jewelrose Clan is famous for cutting rubies into diamond shapes.

The Commander even has a six-carat ruby on a ring, but he had stopped wearing it

after the takeover. I wonder…” Again, Valek’s gaze grew distant.

“What?”

He looked at me as if deciding whether to tell me something important. “Have

you shown your bat to the Commander?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

I hesitated. I had promised the Commander to keep what he called “his mutation”

a secret. Would telling Valek about the bat break that confidence? “I know about the

Commander, love. How could you believe that I spent the last twenty-one years with

him and not know?”

“I…”

“After all.” Valek made a scary face. “I am the anti-magician!”

I laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For the same reason you didn’t.” He wrapped my bat and placed it back into

my pack.

“The Commander saw the glow. I think his body contains two souls, but I have

no idea how or why it’s magical. And if he does have magic, why didn’t he flame

out after puberty?”

“Two? Ambrose’s mother died during his birth and there was some confusion.

The midwife insisted a boy had been born, but later his father held a baby girl. They

searched for evidence of a second child but found nothing. They chalked it up to the

midwife being upset about losing her patient. Ambrose used to blame this invisible

twin whenever he was in trouble, which from his stories was quite often. His family

indulged him when he began wearing boy’s clothes and calling himself Ambrose. It

seemed mild in comparison to a few of his other antics.”

“Was his mother a magician?”

“She was considered to be a healer, but I don’t know if she healed with magic or

with mundane remedies.”

Valek drained the tub while I attempted to do something with my ruined hair.

Some sections remained long, while others had been burnt to stubble.

“Let me, love.” Valek removed the brush from my hands. He rummaged around

the bath area until he found his razor. “Sorry, nothing else will work.”

“How did you get so good with hair?”

“Spent a season working undercover as Queen Jewel’s personal groomer. She

had beautiful, thick hair.”

“Wait, I thought all the Queen’s servants had to be women.”

“Good thing no one thought to look up my skirt.” Valek grinned with impish

delight as he cut my hair. Large chunks floated to the ground. I stared at them, trying

to convince myself losing my hair didn’t matter. Especially not when I considered I

wouldn’t need it in the fire world.

After he finished, Valek said, “This will help with your disguise.”

“My disguise?”

“Everyone’s looking for you. If I disguise you as a man, you’ll be much harder

to find. Although…” He studied my face. “I’ll use a little makeup. Being a man

won’t draw unwanted attention unless they notice you don’t have any eyebrows.”

I touched the ridge above my eyes with my fingertips, feeling smooth skin. I

wondered if they would grow back. Again, I dismissed the notion. It wouldn’t matter

in the end.

“What should we do first? Try to find the tunnel to the Keep, if it even exists. Or

go and rescue the Councilors’ families?” I asked.

“We should—” Valek sniffed the air as if he smelled a dangerous scent.

“Someone’s coming.”

HE SIGNALED ME TO WAIT and left without a sound. I grabbed my

switchblade and crept through the living room. A murmur of voices filtered in from

the kitchen. The door flew open as soon as I reached it. I brandished my knife at the

hulking figure in the doorway.

“What happened to your hair?” Ari demanded. “Are you all right?”

Janco followed him in. “Look what happens when you sneak off without us!”

“I’d hardly call being captured and taken to Sitia inside a box sneaking off,” I

said.

Janco cocked his head this way and that. “Aha! You look just like a prickle bush

in MD-4. If we buried you up to your neck, we could—”

“Janco.” Ari growled.

“If you gentlemen are finished, I’d like to know why you disobeyed my orders,”

Valek said.

Janco smiled one of his predatory grins as if he had anticipated this question and

already composed an answer. “We did not disobey any of your orders. You said to

keep an eye on Yelena’s brother, the scary-looking big guy and the others. So we

did.”

Valek crossed his arms and waited.

“But you didn’t specify what we should do if our charges came to Sitia,” Ari

said.

“How could they possibly escape the castle and get through the borders?” The

expression on Valek’s face showed his extreme annoyance.

Glee lit Janco’s eyes. “That’s a very good question. Ari, please tell our

industrious leader how the Sitians escaped.”

Ari shot his partner a nasty look, which didn’t affect Janco’s mood in the least.

“They had some help,” Ari said.

Again, Valek said nothing.

Ari began to fidget, and I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. The big man

resembled a ten-year-old boy who knew he was about to get into a lot of trouble.

“We helped them.”

“We?” Janco asked.

“I did.” Ari sounded miserable. “Happy now?”

“Yes.” Janco rubbed his hands together. “This is going to be good. Go on, Ari.

Tell him why—although, I think they magiked him.” He waggled his fingers.

“They didn’t use magic. They used common sense and logic.”

Valek raised an eyebrow.

“There’re strange things going on here,” Ari said. “If we don’t put it right, then

it’ll spread like a disease and kill us all.”

“Who told you this?” I asked.

“Moon Man.”

“Where are they now?” Valek asked.

“Camped about a mile north of here,” Ari said.

The drumming of horses reached us before Valek could comment. Through the

window, I saw Kiki followed by Topaz, Garnet and Rusalka.

“How did they find us?” Icy daggers hung from Valek’s voice.

Janco seemed surprised. “They didn’t know where we were going. I told them to

wait for us.”

“Isn’t it frustrating when no one obeys your orders?” Valek asked.

We went outside. Tauno rode on Kiki and she came straight to me. She bumped

my chest with her nose. I opened my mind to her.

Don’t go into fire again, she said.

I didn’t reply. Instead, I scratched behind her ears as Tauno slid off her back. He

greeted me with a cold look and returned to the others. Leif, Moon Man and Marrok

lingered near their horses while they talked to Ari and Janco.

From Leif’s various frowns and Tauno’s scorn, I knew they remained angry with

me. I couldn’t blame them—I had acted badly. Liveliness lit Marrok’s face and I

hoped Moon Man had been able to weave his mind back into a coherent whole.

Everyone went inside, but I stayed behind, taking care of the horses as best as I

could with half-burnt brushes and scorched hay. Part of the pasture’s fence had

caught fire and collapsed. I stared at the gap, knowing the well-bred Sandseed

horses didn’t need a fence and Onyx and Topaz would stay with them. However, I

attempted to fix the broken section. And kept at it while the sun set and the night air

turned frosty. Kept working even when the horses decided it was too cold in the

open and left the pasture to find warmth under a copse of trees nearby.

Valek arrived. I pounded on a post with a heavy rock. He halted my swing and

removed the rock from my hand.

“Come inside, love. We have plans to discuss.”

Reluctance pulled at my feet as if I walked through thick, sticky mud.

The living-room conversation died the moment I entered. Moon Man looked at

me with sadness in his eyes and I wondered if he knew about my deal with the Fire

Warper or if he was disappointed by my actions.

A fire had been lit. I sat down next to it, warming my frozen and bleeding fingers,

no longer afraid of the flames. The trapped souls within the fire twisted. Their pain

and presence were clear and I wondered how I had been able to ignore them before.

I averted my gaze. Everyone stared at me. Ari and Janco had gained their feet and

held their bodies as if ready to spring into action.

“Did I pass your test?” I asked. “By not diving into the flames.”

“That’s not it,” Janco said. “You have a rather ugly bat clinging to your arm.”

Sure enough, a hand-size bat peered at me from my upper left arm. His eyes

glowed with intelligence; his claws dug into my sleeve. I offered a perch and he

transferred his weight to the edge of my right hand. Carrying him outside, my efforts

to release him failed. He didn’t want to leave. Settling on my shoulder, he seemed

content so I returned inside.

No one commented on my new friend. In fact, Leif regarded the bat with an

intensely thoughtful expression.

The others waited. A moment passed until I realized they waited for me to begin.

To make the decisions. To set events into motion. Even after leaving them as

prisoners of the Commander, they still looked to me. And this time, instead of

backing down and pushing them away, I accepted the responsibility. Accepted the

fact that they might be hurt or killed, and understood my life would be given in

exchange for keeping the Fire Warper from returning.

“Leif,” I said.

He jumped as if bitten.

“I want you and Moon Man to get into the Council Hall’s library and find

everything you can about a tunnel into the Keep.” I explained Bain’s comments.

“Moon Man can disguise himself as a Vermin and hopefully you won’t be caught.

Do not use magic at all from now on. It will only draw them to you.”

Moon Man and Leif nodded.

“Marrok?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you able to fight?”

“Ready, willing and able, sir.”

I paused, swallowing a sudden knot in my throat. By their determined

expressions, I knew they were all willing. At least Valek’s smug smile was better than

hearing him say, I told you so.

“Good. Marrok and Tauno will accompany Valek and me. We’ll go south to

rescue the hostages.”

Ari cleared his throat as if he wanted to protest.

“I haven’t forgotten about you two. I need you to go into the Citadel and help

organize the resistance.”

“Resistance?” Valek asked. “I hadn’t heard.”

“I put an idea into a merchant’s head, and, I think if Ari and Janco disguised

themselves as traders, they could move about the Citadel. Ari will have to dye his

hair. Oh, and find a boy named Fisk. Tell him you’re my friend and he’ll help you

make contacts.”

“And when and where, Oh mighty Yelena, do we resist?” Janco asked.

“At the Keep’s gates. As for when, I don’t know, but something will happen and