Heroes at Odds (17 page)

The riders had been walking around us while we were helpless. They could have done anything to us.

Which was the message they were attempting to convey, I supposed.

The riders were nowhere to be seen.

“What was the point of all that?” one of the young men, introduced as Groom Jonat Miyoung, asked. “What were they trying to do?”

“Scare us,” Mitloehner answered.

“Scare us from what?”

“That might be something we have to discover.”

“None of you recognized any of them?” I asked.

Everyone shook their head or muttered no.

“So you’ve got strangers who know about your circle.”

Some nodded grimly, some looked surprised.

“Shield Mallorough,” Mitloehner said stiffly. “Did you talk to anyone about our circle?”

“You just said I exercised discretion,” I reminded him.

“That’s not a no.”

“No.”

“Not even to your Source?”

“Not even to my Source.” My own answer surprised me. I hadn’t even thought of telling Taro. And now he had no idea where I was. That was not only stupid, but thoughtless. I hadn’t expected to be gone so long. He might be worried.

“Have any of you been speaking to people you shouldn’t?” Mitloehner asked in a manner guaranteed to put everyone on the defensive.

And it did. “You have no need to be an insulting ass,” one woman snapped, while one man gasped, “How dare you accuse us of this? We know how important secrecy is. Just as much as you.”

“Shut up, everyone!” Browne shouted. “It was obviously Olson Hopkins, Matt India and Cowell Woodcock. The Kent casters,” she informed me in an aside.

“I can’t believe any of them would contribute to anything like this,” said a very young woman, barely past adolescence. “They’re good people. Olson was hilarious.”

Not that I was qualified to judge any of the Kent casters—I hadn’t met any of them—but it was possible to be both funny and a bastard.

“I’m not saying they knew about this,” said Browne. “But it’s possible, and likely, that they told Kent about us.”

“So what if they did?” a woman asked. “Are you claiming Kent sent these people out to do this to us? Why would he?”

No one answered. I had no doubt they all knew Kent wanted the Westsea estate, but couldn’t understand why he would choose to order a relatively harmless attack. What would that accomplish?

A warning to Fiona that no one under her authority was safe, not even casters? A warning purely for the casters, that they shouldn’t—I didn’t know what—that they shouldn’t interfere in Kent’s plans?

That would depend on what his plans were.

I was tempted to stomp over to Kent to demand what he thought he was doing, which was a stupid idea. He wouldn’t tell me.

My headache was preventing me from thinking clearly.

“We need to tell Her Grace,” said Browne.

“About the attack?”

“About everything.”

“About the circle?”

“She doesn’t know?” I demanded incredulously.

“We thought it best that she didn’t,” Browne told me. “We don’t want news of our work to become common knowledge. It might create unfortunate complications.”

Like the fact that everyone would want to know what they were doing. The people of Westsea had already demonstrated their willingness to shield their spell casters from the persecution of outsiders, but maybe the idea of a group of casters working together would appear more sinister to them. If Fiona didn’t know about the casters, she couldn’t be accused of harboring dangerous people.

On the other hand, if Fiona didn’t know something odd was happening on her land, right under her nose, it might be seen as further evidence that she was incompetent.

“We have no proof that Kent had anything to do with this,” Mitloehner objected.

“That doesn’t matter,” Browne responded. “Someone knows about us. Strangers. And they used a cast I’ve never seen or even read about before. They came on this land and attacked us. Her Grace has to be told.”

I agreed. It was only sensible.

“This is something we must decide as a group,” Mitloehner announced. “Shield Mallorough, will you be bound by the resolution of this group?”

“I will.” I supposed. I thought they’d be idiotic if they didn’t tell Fiona, but maybe they really didn’t know just how accepting of spell casters she was.

And if they did decide to reveal themselves to Fiona, Fiona might decide to tell them about the spell on the dead fish. The circle might be able to determine the exact nature of the spell, maybe even who cast it.

Though I was becoming convinced that Kent was behind it all. If the riders were under his direction, he had people who knew spells Browne’s circle did not. These people might have been working on such spells for weeks or months or longer, which meant Browne’s casters were suffering from a severe disadvantage.

“Then please leave us. Healer Browne will contact you with our decision.”

I nodded and got to my feet. “It was a pleasure meeting you,” I lied, because, really, I felt awful. And I hated walking when I was nauseous. The constant threat of vomiting was just nasty.

It was late afternoon. I couldn’t believe we’d all spent so much time sleeping. And that no one from Snow’s family had come looking for us. Or maybe he hadn’t any family. But how could a man run a farm without family and without workers?

Maybe Taro hadn’t started worrying about me. It wasn’t as though I never went off on my own without telling him, or that he didn’t do the same. I was tempted to try hunting him down, but it would get ridiculous, both of us going from place to place looking for each other. So I told Bailey I was back and that I would be in my suite.

I was desperate for a bath, and anxious to look through Fiona’s books for a spell resembling the one used on the casters’ circle. A spell that could put almost twenty people to sleep that quickly for that long scared the hell out of me.

The walk to the manor had given me enough time to change my mind about complying with the circle’s decision about whether to tell Fiona about the attack. I was thinking that it was too stupid not to tell Fiona of that kind of weapon, and I’d have to go against the wishes of the circle if they chose to keep Fiona in the dark. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.

My mother was in our suite, in the sitting room, sipping tea and reading a novel. She put it aside as I entered. “Where have you been?”

I had been gone for hours without telling anyone where I was. It was expected that someone would want to know where I had been. Yet I was annoyed to be asked by my mother. How illogical was that? “I was visiting with a friend.”

“Which friend?”

“Healer Nab Browne.”

“Are you ill?”

“No, not at all.”

Her gaze was noticeable as it dropped down to my stomach, and I resisted the urge to place my hand over it. I knew exactly what she suspected.

And I did not want to discuss anything even approaching pregnancy with my mother. I wouldn’t even if I actually were pregnant. I would expect her to keep her mouth shut until I presented her with the infant. “I didn’t need her in a professional capacity. She’s a friend.”

Mother sighed. “You went on a social call dressed like that?”

Lords. “It’s a bit of a walk, Mother. Perhaps you need to recognize that I am a very practical person and leave it at that.”

Not that I really expected her to do so. I just had to try.

To my surprise, my mother didn’t chastise me. “Could you sit down? There are a few things I wish to discuss.”

On the other hand, maybe I’d prefer that she continue to harangue me about my clothes. It was probably one of the least irksome subjects of the ones she might choose to inflict on me. I sat and waited for what I expected to be an uncomfortable conversation.

“I’ve heard things,” she said. “Things about you and Shintaro.”

I had no doubt she had, being the mother of Lord Shintaro Karish’s Shield. Possibly people were speaking of how well we performed our duties, but I was sure there were also less complimentary stories about us as well. “I see.”

“I’d dismissed a lot of them, people can believe the most ridiculous things, but then I come here and see that you and Shintaro—that you—well—”

Were sleeping together. I really didn’t need her to go any further. “I understand,” I said quickly.

She nodded gratefully. “I had no idea until I was told by mere acquaintances, instead of you. That disturbs me.”

It was true. I hadn’t written to them about the change in the relationship between Taro and me. But how was I supposed to do that? Mother, Father, your little girl is sleeping with her Source. Isn’t that grand?

“And there is that year you won’t tell us anything about.”

I said nothing. I wasn’t going to get into that discussion.

“It makes me wonder what else you’re not telling me.”

What was I supposed to do, tell them every single thing that happened to me? They had no idea how long that would take. And it would make them worry, needlessly.

While it would have been nice to get their advice regarding Fines and his crazy group, there hadn’t been time for a letter to reach them and for an answer to get back to me during the course of my association with them. That really was the issue. By the time any news reached them, the events would have been over. They would have been concerned for no reason.

“It makes me feel that all of those rumors I’ve heard about you might possibly be true,” she continued.

“Despite knowing me.”

“But I don’t know you that well, do I?”

That wasn’t entirely inaccurate. “So what are these rumors?” I could just imagine, and I didn’t want to hear, but I supposed I must. “Perhaps I can put your mind at ease.” Though a petty part of me didn’t want to bother, wanted to just let her believe whatever she believed, if she were that way inclined.

“They really aren’t fit for polite company.”

Oh, aye, this sounded wonderful. “We’re not company. We’re family.” Why was I pushing this so hard? It wasn’t as though I would enjoy hearing any of this.

My mother took a deep breath. “There are stories about Shintaro leading you into drinking excessively and using medicines that create hallucinations.”

All right. Not wonderful, not something I wanted my parents to hear, but not nearly as bad as I had thought. “I rarely drink to excess.” I couldn’t claim to have never gotten drunk. I hadn’t really put any limits on myself when I was off duty in High Scape. “And I have never used hallucinogenic medication.” That stuff could do permanent damage to a person’s mind. I’d be useless as a Shield, which would mean that Taro would be useless as a Source.

My mother didn’t look like she believed me. That was annoying.

She flushed; rather uncharacteristic of her, I thought. “There is talk that you and Shintaro have engaged in . . . engaged in . . .”

I couldn’t help her out this time as I didn’t know where she was going.

“That you, with more than one man, and more than one woman . . .” She made a gesture, obviously hoping she needn’t go any further. I really wanted to smile, enjoying her discomfort. I instead raised my eyebrows in inquiry. “Intercourse . . . in . . . with several . . . participants.”

Ah. I almost laughed. “No. There’s been none of that.” Not that I had a problem with it, as long as everyone was a consenting adult, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Taro had engaged in that sort of thing in the past, but such group activities didn’t interest me.

My mother cleared her throat. “We have been hearing stories about High Scape, about people trying to use spells.” For a moment, her mouth quirked into a smile. “I have to admit that I’m astonished that there are people who actually believe in such things.”

I should have told her that spells were real, but I felt she had more rumors to relay, and I didn’t want to prompt her into a tangent. She would learn that soon enough. She couldn’t help learning, staying in Flown Raven.

The amusement faded from her face. “Some say that you . . . got with child and then . . . expelled the child . . . for use in a spell.”

My mouth dropped open. “That’s disgusting!” I exclaimed. Then another thought hit me. “And you thought that could possibly be true?”

“Of course not!”

But she didn’t sound as certain as I would have liked. I didn’t know what to do. “That’s appalling! You just believe everything anyone tells you about me?” How could she?

“We do not!” she snapped. “But it is bad enough that people are saying such things at all. You’re a merchant’s daughter. Something like that could destroy your family.”

What worried her more, my reputation or that of the family? Had she been this hard when she’d visited me in High Scape? She had nagged me about my clothes, and had tried to create a romantic relationship between myself and a man I’d had no interest in, but I’d never doubted she genuinely cared about me. This time, though, she seemed concerned about me only as far as I was a member of the family. I didn’t understand this. What had changed? Or perhaps this contract and the Prides were putting her under unusual strain. “There’s nothing to be done about it. I can’t control other people’s tongues.”

“You could act to avoid such rumors from ever starting.”

“And how does one do that?” I demanded.

“By doing the things a normal person does.”

“Normal? You mean to behave in a way a regular would?”

“A regular,” she huffed. “Are you unaware how offensive that term is?”

It appeared I could do nothing right that day. “How can it be offensive?” I asked with genuine bewilderment. “No one has ever said so to me before.”

She opened her mouth to say something that I had no doubt I wouldn’t like, but she was halted by a thud from out in the corridor. This was followed by loud laughter. Then the door flew open so forcefully I feared for the wall it slammed against.