Fire Study (18 page)

you take one of my statues along and test your theory?”

“On one condition.”

“Anything!”

“That you let me pay for it so I can keep it.”

“You don’t have—”

I put my hand up, stopping her. “You said anything.”

She laughed. “Okay, but I’ll charge you the wholesale price. I know just the piece

to give you, too. It’s in the factory.”

Opal dashed down the steps and flew out the door. The cold rush of night air

reminded me that we needed to get back to the inn. I thanked Opal’s parents for the

meal. They told me Leif had gone with Mara to the factory.

I found Opal there. She handed me a package. Wrapped with layers of cloth to

protect the glass, the fist-size parcel fit neatly in my hand.

“Open it later,” she said. “I had another one in mind for you, but this

one…called. Crazy. I know.”

“I’ve heard stranger things. I’ll write you a letter when I get back to the Keep and

let you know how the experiment went.” I gently placed Opal’s package in my

backpack, slung the straps back over my shoulders then paid her for the statue. “Do

you know where Leif is?” I asked.

She blushed. “I think he’s sweet on Mara. They’re in the back in the mixing

room. She’s supposed to be measuring sand.”

I wove my way through the kilns, workbenches and barrels of supplies. The hot

air baked into my skin. Light gray smoke rose from the burning coals and flowed

through the chimneys to vent outside. Opal’s family used a special white coal mined

from the Emerald Mountains to heat their kilns. Cleaner than the black variety, the

white coals burned hot enough to reach the two thousand degrees needed to melt the

sand ingredients.

In the back room, a table filled with mixing bowls lined the far wall. Leif and Mara

leaned over a deep bowl, but they were looking at each other instead of the

concoction. The cloth masks used to prevent them from breathing in the fine

particles hung around their necks.

I paused before interrupting them. Mara’s hands were coated with sand, and

granules peppered Leif’s hair. He looked younger and his face shone with delight. It

was a side of Leif I hadn’t seen before, and I wondered if he had someone he cared

about back at the Keep. I realized I knew nothing about certain parts of Leif’s life.

Taking a few steps backward, I moved from their sight. I called Leif’s name loud

enough for them to hear me over the noise of the kilns. He now stood away from

Mara when I came into view, the sand gone from his hair.

“It’s getting late. We need to get back.”

Leif nodded but didn’t move. I understood the hint and left.

Outside the factory, a strong breeze hustled the clouds overhead. Shafts of

moonlight poured from the sky between the breaks. When Leif joined me, we

headed back to the inn. He was quiet.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

“No.”

After several steps, he asked, “Did you learn anything about the Vermin from

Jaymes?”

“The city is worried about them, but there is no information on where they might

be if they’re even here at all.” I told him about Opal’s glass animals, and he seemed

intrigued by the magical element.

“Did you tell Mara about Ferde’s escape?” I asked.

“No. I just told her to be extremely careful.”

We walked for a while in silence. The air bit through my shirt and I wished I had

my cloak. Booruby resided on the edge of the temperate zone with warm afternoons

followed by cold nights.

“I like her,” Leif said, breaking the quiet. “I haven’t liked anyone before. Too

busy and too worried about you to care for another. I couldn’t keep you safe. I

didn’t lift a finger to help you. Finding you became more important than living my

own life.”

“Leif, you were eight years old and would have been killed if you had tried to

stop Mogkan from kidnapping me. You did the right thing.”

“Getting killed would have been easier. No guilt. No worries. No fear. Caring for

someone is terrible and wonderful. I don’t know if I have the strength to do it for

another. How do you deal with it?”

“I focus on the wonderful parts and suffer through the terrible parts, knowing it

will end eventually.”

“Did you like Valek as soon as you saw him?”

“No. In the beginning our relationship was purely business.” The first time I had

met Valek he had offered me the choice of going to the noose or becoming the next

food taster. My family knew I had been the Commander’s food taster, but not why.

Someday I would tell them about Reyad’s torture.

“When did your feelings change?”

That was a harder question. “I guess the first time he saved my life.” I told Leif

about the Ixian fire festival and how Irys had hired four goons to kill me because my

uncontrolled magic could flame out and ruin the power source.

“So the first time you met Master Jewelrose, she tried to kill you? And you told

me before Valek had wanted to kill you twice. Gee, Yelena, you’re not a people

person, are you?”

“There were other circumstances,” I said in my defense.

“It all sounds too complicated. I shouldn’t get involved with Mara.”

“That would be taking the easy road. Safe yet dull. Why do you like her?”

“She smells like the jungle on a perfect day. It’s a light whiff of the Ylang-Ylang

flower combined with the sweet aroma of living green and a touch of the nutty earthy

essence. It’s a scent you can wrap around yourself and feel at peace. Only those dry

and sunny days will produce that smell, and they are as rare as a solid-white valmur.”

Leif took a deep breath. “She has a soothing, contented soul.”

“Sounds like she might be worth the effort. There might be plenty of rainy days,

but those perfect ones will make all the memories of rain disappear.”

“Is this from experience?”

“Yes.”

We reached the Three Ghosts Inn and entered the building. Moon Man and

Tauno sat at one of the tables in the common area. Customers filled the room.

Tauno held a bloody cloth to his temple and his split lower lip bled.

“What happened?” I asked when we joined our friends. “Where’s Marrok?”

Tauno’s face was glum. He glanced at Moon Man as if seeking the Story

Weaver’s permission.

“We found the Vermin,” Tauno said. He winced. “Or I should say they found us.

A group of five soldiers with the Soulstealer and Cahil. They surrounded us,

dragged us into a building and threatened to kill us. Cahil drew Marrok away and

they had a private discussion. They laughed and left together, seeming the best of

friends.” Tauno put a hand to his ribs and cringed with pain. “The others descended

on me and I have no memory except waking in the empty building.”

“When did this happen?” I asked.

“This morning.”

“I am glad he is alive, but I wonder why they did not kill him,” Moon Man said.

Contemplating the situation, I said, “Taking a captive through crowded streets

would be difficult. If they wait until nightfall to perform Kirakawa on him they risk

being discovered.”

“So why not just kill him?” Moon Man asked.

“Because they want us to know they have Marrok,” Leif said.

“As a hostage?” Moon Man asked.

“No. Marrok left with Cahil. They’re flaunting the fact that Marrok is now with

them,” I said. “And they know everything he knows. Including our present location.”

“DO YOU THINK THEY WILL attack us here?” Leif asked.

I glanced at the fire warming the inn’s common room. Would the Fire Warper

risk being seen by the other guests?

“They could watch the building and follow us, waiting until we get to a secluded

spot to attack,” Moon Man said.

“That’s a happy thought,” Leif muttered.

I reached out to Kiki. She dozed in the stable but roused at my light mental

contact. If Vermin skulked around the inn, she and the other horses would be upset.

Smell? I asked.

Night. Straw. Sweet hay, she said.

All good for now.

Kiki help? Watch. Listen. Smell for you.

What if you get tired?

Rusalka. Garnet. Take turns.

Good idea. I’ll come and open the doors.

Lavender Lady stay. Kiki do.

I smiled, remembering how she had unlatched her stall door in the Keep’s stable

when Goel had attacked me. One of Cahil’s men who held a grudge, Goel hadn’t

seen her. Probably hadn’t known what hit him until he regained consciousness

among the broken boards of the pasture’s fence.

“…Yelena? Hello?” Leif poked my arm.

“I’m here.”

“What are we going to do?” Leif asked me.

“It’s too late to go anywhere else. Kiki and the horses will watch the outside of

the building and alert me if anyone approaches.”

“Ooh, guard horses. How quaint.” Leif pointed to the hearth. “What if Mr. Fire

Warper decides to jump out of the fire? I don’t think Mrs. Floranne will be serving

him a bowl of her stew.”

“Can we douse the fire?” I asked.

“No,” Leif said. “The inn will get too cold and Mrs. Floranne won’t have hot

coals for breakfast.”

“Leif, do you always think with your stomach?” I asked.

“Is there any other way?”

I sighed. “We’ll post a watch inside. Moon Man, how many entrances to this

building?”

“Two. The main one leading to the street, and one in the back through the

kitchen.”

“How about upstairs? Is there another staircase in the kitchen?”

“Yes, but we can secure the door into our hallway.”

“Good. We’ll each take a two-hour watch. I need to rest after I heal Tauno’s

injuries so I won’t take the first shift. Moon Man can start, followed by Leif, me and

Tauno.”

We left Moon Man in the common room. I helped Tauno to his room. Stiff and

sore, he moved with care. When he was comfortable on the bed, I pulled a string of

power and examined the damage. Aside from two broken ribs, his other wounds

were minor. Staring at his injuries until they transferred to me, I hunched over with

the pain and then pushed it away.

Tauno squeezed my hand in thanks before falling asleep. I trudged to my bed,

not as exhausted as I had been in the past. Perhaps my healing skills improved with

practice. Or had I grown used to relying on my magic?

“Yelena, wake up.” Leif shook my shoulder.

I peered at him through heavy eyes. He placed the lantern on the table.

“You’re the one who set the schedule. Come on.” He pulled the blanket off me.

“Most commanders don’t take a turn guarding the troops. They get a good night’s

sleep so they can make the right decisions in the morning.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. “I’m not a commander and we’re

not a troop.”

“I disagree. You’ve been leading the way. You’re the one who knows what

you’re doing.”

“I—”

Leif put his fingers on my lips. “Don’t say it. I like—no—need to believe that

you know what you’re doing. Makes it so much easier to follow your instructions,

especially when I’m acting as bait for a fifty-foot-long snake.”

“Fine. I have things well in hand. I don’t need much sleep because I have all the

steps we need to take already planned out. Happy now?”

“Yes.” Leif stretched out on his bed.

I picked up the lantern. “Sweet dreams.”

“They will be now.”

The hallway of the inn was dark and quiet. I checked the door leading to the

kitchen stairs. It remained locked tight. Good. Descending into the common area, I

thought about Leif’s comments. I might be the one making the decisions, but I

didn’t believe I had enough knowledge to be a commander. Gut instinct still

propelled my actions.

Valek had taught me about strategy and clandestine operations, and my Ixian

friends, Ari and Janco, had taught me to fight. Late-night sessions with Janco were

the reason I could pick locks. However, my magical training with Irys had been

interrupted by Ferde’s quest for power.

There could be a magical way to find Ferde and counter a Fire Warper, but since

I hadn’t read all those books about magic and history, and I hadn’t explored my

powers to find their limits, he was the test I hadn’t studied for, the quiz I was bound

to fail. Out of my depth.

The empty common room echoed with my footsteps. I made a circuit of the area

to check for intruders before I set the lantern down and went outside to visit the

horses. The cold air stabbed through my cloak.

Kiki stood in the alley next to the inn. Her dark coat blended with the shadows,

but the white blaze down her face reflected the moonlight.