Thief’s Magic (40 page)

A few streets from the artisans’ courtyard they parted, Izare taking advantage of the quiet, narrow streets they had taken to give her a brief but firm kiss. Smiling and enjoying the lingering sensation of his lips on hers, she headed towards Jonare’s home.

Her thoughts went immediately to the conversation they’d had that morning. It was wonderful to hear him say he didn’t want them to be apart, and she didn’t want to be either, but surely he could see that in the long term it would be better if they were on good terms with her family. There could be benefits for him, and not all of them financial.

She began to consider how she might persuade him, but her thoughts scattered and her blood went cold as a familiar grey-robed man stepped out of a doorway to block her path.

“Ais Lazuli,” he said, falling into his habit of staring somewhere below her chin and above her waist.

“Sa-Gest,” she replied. A buzz of apprehension came as thoughts of magic arose, but she pushed them aside. “What brings you into this part of the city?”

“Well,” he said, then paused. “I was looking … looking for you.”

“Me?” The uneasiness grew stronger. Did he know? Had he found the Stain? But he hadn’t been back to the courtyard since … her stomach twisted as the awful memory of his visit crashed over her.
Since he stole the painting. The nude.

“You’re … you’re very beautiful, Rielle,” he said, edging closer. His hand extended towards her face.

“Thank you,” she replied stiffly. She leaned backwards to avoid his hand, but it snaked down to grip her arm.

“Don’t go,” he said. He pulled her closer. “I could help you, Rielle. A word here, a word there, and I could make your life a lot easier if you did some things for me.” His gaze shifted higher and stopped at her mouth. Fingers moved towards her face again and she flinched away.

“What are you doing?” she asked loudly, pitching her tone between puzzlement and outrage.

He paused and looked around, but didn’t let her go. The narrow street was still empty.
It won’t be for long
, she told herself.
If I delay, or can get loose …
Sa-Gest was thin but his grip was strong. He might be able to hold her if she struggled, but would probably let go if she hit him.
But I can’t hit a priest!

“Only suggesting,” he said, his gaze returning to her mouth. He grabbed her chin. “Just making an offer. You can refuse it, of course, but I wouldn’t if I were you. I could be very
un
helpful as well.”

He leaned towards her and she realised that he intended to kiss her. Revulsion rose up and she yanked her arm away. He overbalanced and stepped towards her. Dodging his outstretched arms, she twisted around and ran.

No footsteps sounded behind her. She heard a humourless laugh.

“I’ll give you time to think about it,” he called after her.

A few turns and crossroads later, she emerged onto a wider thoroughfare. Heart racing more from alarm than exertion, she stopped and looked back. She’d heard no sound of pursuit. It didn’t surprise her. A running priest was an unusual and alarming sight. People would definitely gossip if they saw a priest chasing a young woman. And she couldn’t imagine him going to the effort.

No, he expects his threats will bring me to him.

Her stomach plummeted. What would he do when they didn’t? How much more trouble could he cause for her and Izare? She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Whatever he planned they would have to endure. The idea of letting him kiss or touch her … or worse … was unthinkable.

She shuddered and continued on her way. Her heart was still beating quickly when she arrived at Jonare’s home. The yells of children spilled over her as the door opened. Shadows circled Jonare’s eyes, but she smiled.

“Come in. I’ve been up half the night nursing Perri. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

Jonare frowned. “You don’t look fine.” She waved Rielle inside. “What happened?”

“We … I … Sa-Gest stopped me on the way here and…” Rielle stopped and shook her head, not sure if she wanted anybody to know about the encounter. Nothing had happened and perhaps this sort of thing occurred all the time. After all, she hadn’t known about the searches and bribes. “It’s probably nothing. Is Perri ill?”

Jonare led her over to her small kitchen setup. “Oh, he’ll be fine. The fever broke this morning and, as you can see, he’s back to his old self.” She looked back at Rielle and frowned. “But it’s clearly not nothing.” She waved at a chair, then sat down on a stool. “Tell me.”

Rielle sat down and sighed. “I don’t know if it’s bad or normal. Sa-Gest tried to … to kiss me and threatened to make our lives difficult if I … if I didn’t do
things
for him.” Her face warmed and she hoped she wouldn’t have to elaborate.

“Ah,” Jonare said, looking away as her niece came over to ask for something. She replied to the girl in a quiet voice, then turned back to Rielle. “If this is the priest I’ve heard about, he has a reputation for harassing women. Mostly whores. He thinks those robes he wears give him the right to take what he wants without payment.” Her mouth twisted in a humourless smile. “He’s aiming a bit higher this time. Quite a bit. But I suppose he figures your family won’t or can’t do anything, or that nobody will believe you, or you’ll want to avoid further trouble.”

“What should I do?”

Jonare shrugged. “Go home. Or do as he asks.”

Anger and indignation rose at Jonare’s blunt advice, but Rielle pushed it away. The woman was being honest, which was better than vague reassurances.

“Surely there’s something else I can do.”

Jonare shook her head. “The priests hold the power in this city. You might think it was the families, but they’d have nothing without the priests’ support.” She looked thoughtful. “It could be that the priest is doing this for your family’s sake, to frighten you into leaving Izare. They might have guessed you’ll only leave him for his benefit.”

Rielle’s heart skipped. “So it’s a bluff?”

“Might be. Can you take the risk that it’s not?”

“If it is, it’s a strange move to make. I met with my mother and aunt not so long ago. They said if I came home they might let me marry Izare. Why would they say that, if they meant to scare me into leaving him?”

“What did Izare say?”

“He doesn’t want me to leave, even temporarily.”

“And you?”

“If there’s a way we can be on good terms with my family, it would be better for everyone. Especially in the long term.” Rielle tapped on the seat of her chair. “Perhaps I should tell my family that the priests are trying to scare me into coming home and see what they say.”

Jonare pursed her lips as she considered. “That’s a risk, too. If the priest’s motives are purely selfish he will act on his threat, and if your parents won’t believe that a priest could do something like that they will think less of you for making up such a thing.”

“They probably won’t believe me. I could tell Sa-Baro.” Rielle decided against it even as she said the words. “No, he’d be as unlikely to trust me.”

“Well, whatever you decide, there’s one thing you can’t do,” Jonare told her.

“What is that?”

“Tell Izare.” The woman’s gaze was direct and full of warning. “He will do something foolish that will get him in trouble with the priests, and that will make everything worse. For him, for you
and
for your family.”

Not tell Izare?!
How could she keep something like this from him? And whether she returned to her family or defied Sa-Gest and endured the consequences, he would need to know the reason. Rielle stared at Jonare, but though she opened her mouth to protest no words came out because she realised that if she took the third option – inconceivable as it was – she definitely couldn’t tell Izare.

It’s not going to come to that
, she told herself. Standing up, she looked at the kitchen bench on which vegetables, grains and other foods were arrayed.

“So, what are you going to teach me to cook?”

A
familiar ache drew Rielle out of sleep. She sighed. Sometimes she thought the Angels must have a cruel sense of humour, to inflict regular discomfort and weakness on women. Her aunt had always reasoned that it was their way of telling a woman she wasn’t pregnant.

Not pregnant.

The thought jolted her into full waking. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. In a few days she would be meeting Narmah and her parents. Izare would be coming with her. She had hoped to convince all of them that she and Izare should marry as soon as possible. The news she was carrying a child would guarantee everyone’s agreement.

She grimaced. Maybe they would still agree to it. Maybe it wasn’t too much to hope that she could be with the man she loved, be on good terms with her family and salvage some of her integrity without bearing children so soon.

But will I ever be able to have them?
The question frightened her. If only she could see inside herself and know whether the pathways the corrupter had severed had been repaired. The woman had said it would happen spontaneously.

Unless … unless she knew I wouldn’t be able to do it. Unless she meant to force me to go back to her and pay to have her fix me.

She shuddered. Going back to the corrupter was not an option. She had risked too much the first time. If the other choice was to seek that woman’s help, then perhaps she would have to accept that childlessness was her punishment for using magic.

But Izare …

He wanted children. Lots of children. How could she deny him that? Her heart constricted. Why should he be punished for her mistake?

Don’t panic yet
, she told herself.
This might be normal. Not every woman conceives in the first cycle.

Thinking back, Rielle recalled how the corrupter had made her
see
the change she’d made. If she could remember how to do that, she would at least know if her healing had worked. She had not needed to use magic to do it.

Closing her eyes, she laid her hands low on her belly. She slowed her breathing and concentrated on the area below her hands. A thrill of hope went through her as she found she could sense … but what was she sensing? Pulsing, shifting, twisted things that she did not understand. A confusion of areas that were
her
mixed with those that were not. The cramping distracted her, demanding she pay attention to it. Concentrating on it did ease the pain. Then she felt a far more familiar sensation.

She was up a moment later and seeking to stem the flow with her store of clean rags. Izare remained asleep, to her relief. She was not used to any man being near when she had to deal with this and he preferred to be absent when she did. Looking at the bed, she mouthed a silent curse as she saw the red stain on the bed sheet. Then her whole body went cold.

Floating above the stain was a
disturbance
.

Stain. She must have used magic when looking inside herself. For all that it had gained her. She stood paralysed. “
The worst places you can use magic are those you and others frequent
,” the corrupter had said. It was a tiny blot, though. It would soon fade away. But what to do in the meantime? It was in full sight, too high above the bed for the bedding to cover it.

A loud knock on the main door made her heart nearly jump out of her chest. Izare started awake. He glanced around the room, blinked at her, then his gaze moved to the door of the lower room. He cursed.

“Famire. She’s early. Or we slept late.”

Rielle found her voice somehow. “Probably a little of both. You’d better get dressed and answer the door.”

He turned back to the bed and her heart froze as his gaze settled on the stain. But he only grimaced in sympathy and began to pull on his trousers from the night before.

“Let Old Tam take care of it. I’ll get some water and send Famire upstairs.” He grabbed the pitcher and slipped out of the room shirtless. Rielle winced as she heard a young woman’s voice. While she was relieved it was Famire, she knew the girl would either be scandalised or enjoy the sight of his bare chest a little too much.

Looking back at the Stain and the red blotch below it, she had a flash of inspiration. If it was washday, then she had a way to cover both. Grabbing everything that needed cleaning, she piled it on top of the bed. She could still sense the Stain if she searched for it, but if she hadn’t known it was there she’d have never noticed it. Hopefully it would have faded in a few hours, when she took the washing to Tam.

Izare returned with the pitcher, put on a shirt, then headed upstairs. Rielle took her time cleaning and dressing, then started preparing a simple meal of bread, salted preserves and sliced melon. They both needed to eat, but it was rude to do so in front of a guest without inviting them to join in. She ate the ends of the bread and melon as she worked. By the time she was done her sense of calm was almost completely restored. Only when she saw the pile of washing did she feel anxiety rising, so she avoided looking at it.

Using an unfinished, long-ago-rejected painting as a tray, she carried the food upstairs. Famire was already in position, her clothes artfully dishevelled. The girl’s eyes snapped to Rielle.

“Oh, it’s the woman herself. Ais Lazuli. Talk of the temple.”

“Ais Famire,” Rielle replied. “How are you? How are the girls?”

Famire shrugged and the shoulder of her tunic slipped even lower. Izare made a low noise of annoyance and she hoisted it up again.

“They’re the same as always. You gave them something truly exciting to talk about for a while there. Ooh, is that for me? I’m starving!” She was peering at the food. Izare sighed and put down his brush, but when he looked at Rielle his expression was grateful. He gestured towards the chairs.

“I’m afraid you caught us before we’d eaten,” he said. “But you’re welcome to join us.”

Famire hoisted her tunic up but didn’t retighten the ties. As Rielle and Izare sat down she flopped into a chair.

“This posing is harder than it looks,” she said. Not waiting for a response, she leaned forward and plucked some bread from the plates and began piling preserves on top. “I had a morning meal, but I’m already hungry again.”