Fire Study (33 page)

me with the story of their battle against Valek. Every time Ari shook his head, I knew

Janco had exaggerated a detail.

“What is it like being second in command of Ixia’s intelligence network?” I

asked.

“I don’t like all this sneaking around,” Ari said. “There’s a lot more going on in

Ixia than I thought. And there’s so much to do. Valek is the king of delegating.”

“I’m getting to use my lock-picking skills.” Janco grinned. Pure mischievousness

danced in his eyes. “And the information we’ve discovered. Did you know General

Dinno has—”

“Janco,” Ari warned. “We enjoy the work. It’s just not what we had expected.”

“Nothing is,” I said.

My bones ached with fatigue. I waved goodbye to Ari and Janco and headed

toward the baths. Before joining my friends in the training yard, I had retrieved my

pack and stashed it in the changing room. After a long soak, I dried and dressed in

my adviser’s uniform in preparation for the meeting with Porter. I rationalized I

would draw less attention wearing a uniform than my Sitian clothes.

I cut a hole in the pant’s pocket and strapped my switchblade to my right thigh.

Not wanting to show up armed with my bow, I felt it prudent to have a knife on me

just in case. Braiding my hair into one long braid, I let it hang between my shoulder

blades.

Although my stomach grumbled with hunger, Porter had instructed me to come

during dinner. His timing made sense, as most of the castle’s inhabitants would be

busy either serving dinner or eating it. And Castletown should be relatively quiet.

I stopped beside the pasture on my way out, checking to see if anyone followed

me. A few servants hustled between buildings, but no one paid me any attention. The

cold hung in the air as if waiting for a breeze. I fed Kiki and the other horses some

apples.

Smells? I asked Kiki.

Big snow.

When?

Half moon.

Three days. Valek and I would need to leave sooner than planned.

Kiki come?

Of course, and Garnet, too.

She sighed with contentment as I scratched behind her ears. When I felt certain

no one watched me, I headed toward the south gate. I joined in with a group of town

residents returning home for dinner. With my Ixian wool cloak covering my

adviser’s uniform, I blended right in. My group hurried over the grass field

surrounding the walls. The Commander had ordered all buildings within a quarter

mile of the castle be destroyed when he had gained power. He also renamed

Jewels-town, named in honor of the former Queen Jewel to the rather unoriginal

Castletown.

Once we reached the edge of town, the group dispersed as the others headed for

their homes. The symmetry of the town with its neat rows of wooden buildings

conflicted with the asymmetrical style of the castle complex. The logical array of

businesses interspersed among residences made navigating the town easier. Each

district had a name matching the merchandise sold there. Peach Alley would be

located in the Garden District.

A few townspeople bustled about, all intent on some errand. I walked as if I had

a purpose so I didn’t attract unwanted attention from the town’s guards, who

watched the streets.

The colors of the buildings thinned toward gray as the sun set. My perceptions

shifted, and I felt as if I had entered into a colorless shadow world. The buildings

transformed into a watery representation of a town populated with ghosts.

I stumbled over some unseen curb and snapped back to the real world.

Dismissing the strange spell, I rationalized hunger as the culprit. I picked up my

pace, determined to find the right address before the lamplighters came out. Peach

Lane seemed devoid of life, and only when I went around to the back alley did I see

signs of habitation.

A glow of firelight came from number forty-three. Keeping to the shadows, I

approached the back door. I pulled a thread of magic and scanned the area. Inside

the house I felt Porter waiting with two young girls. They were nervous about being

found, but I didn’t sense any duplicity.

I paused as the realization of how much I depended on my magic dawned on me.

Not only with searching for attackers, but with Kiki, too. Could I completely stop

using my magic? It would be much harder than I thought.

The door opened right after my light tap, as if Porter had been hovering near it.

He pulled me into the room and closed it behind me.

“Did anyone see you?” he asked.

“No.” I looked around the room. Small and tidy, the sitting area had a couch, a

chair and three dogs getting nervous attention from the girls. The girls perched on

the edge of the couch with their backs straight. They wore students’ uniforms, which

consisted of a simple jumper made of red linen. White-faced, their gazes jumped

between Porter and me.

“You said I could help you?” I asked.

“We’re taking a big chance trusting you.” Porter picked up a half-chewed roll of

rawhide from the floor. He clutched the dog’s treat in his hands as he stared at me.

“You must promise not to tell Valek or anyone else about all this.”

“I can’t promise until I hear what ‘all this’ is.”

The rawhide popped and cracked in Porter’s hands. He glanced at the girls and

sighed. His wide shoulders drooped with the release of his tension, and he gestured

to the empty chair. “Have a seat. This is going to take a while.”

As soon as I sat down, one of the dogs came over and put his head in my lap.

Peering at me from between his gray shaggy hairs, he pleaded for attention. I stroked

his smooth head and scratched behind his ears. The dog’s tail thumped on the floor.

The smell of wet dog and wood smoke mixed into a stuffy odor.

Porter tapped the roll on his leg as he talked. “I’ve set up a network of people

throughout Ixia to help me in smuggling children out of the country.”

I leaned forward in alarm, thinking about Mogkan’s kidnapping ring and how he

had taken children from Sitia to Ixia to abuse them for his own purposes.

“Children?”

“They seem like children to me.” Porter gave the two girls a grandfatherly smile.

“Adolescents who have just discovered their magical powers.” He pointed to the

couch. “Young people like Liv and Kieran. I’ve been helping them to escape to Sitia

before their powers are known to others. But I believe something has gone wrong.”

“What?” I prompted when Porter appeared to be lost in his own thoughts.

“I was in MD-7 last month. General Rasmussen has a nice wolfhound I wanted to

breed with my bitch. While there, one of my contacts who works in the general’s

stables told me the last person I sent through the network never arrived. And two

others he had sent on never made it to the border contact. They have all

disappeared.”

My stomach twisted around my heart. “Do you think Valek has killed them?”

“I don’t know and I can’t risk asking around. If my network has been

compromised then I won’t be able to send Liv and Kieran. Eventually they’ll get

reported.”

I hadn’t thought it possible, but the girls’ faces turned whiter. Considering

Porter’s story, I said, “Tell me how your network operates.”

“I have four contacts from here to the border. A few people know about my

underground efforts and they’ll send their son or daughter to me as an apprentice.

The Commander gives me complete management of his kennel and no one pays too

much attention to my students. They come and go as part of their animal husbandry

training. It’s risky, being this close to Valek, but then I usually know where he is and

can send my charges when he’s gone on business.” Porter paced. “It’s too risky to

have a guide with them, so I instruct the person how to find the first contact and then

he sends them on until they get to the border contact, who takes them into Sitia.

They have transfer papers with them if they’re stopped by the guards. If they had

gotten caught, I would have been arrested by now.” His erratic movements showed

his frustration.

“How can I help?”

He stopped. “I wanted you to go along with Liv, and maybe find out what’s

happening to my charges. With that adviser’s uniform you can go anywhere in Ixia

without permission.”

“No. Too dangerous for Liv. The best thing to do would be for me to disguise

myself as a student and go through your network alone.”

Porter’s eyebrows spiked up in surprise. “You would do that for us?”

“Yes. Unfortunately though, it will have to wait.”

The ability to connect with the power source began at the onset of puberty. A

person typically had a year before anyone else noticed and reported them, and

another three to four years to learn how to harness their power. A fledgling

magician’s power, when uncontrolled, could flame out and warp the blanket of

power that covers the world, causing trouble for magicians everywhere. And the

stronger the magician, the bigger the flameout. One-trick power similar to Opal’s

ability to capture magic in molten glass tended to be unconscious and didn’t require

formal training.

“How long do the girls have?” I asked.

“A year at most for Liv. Kieran is younger so she could last up to two years, but

I’d rather they both be gone as soon as possible. I can hide them here if we’re

desperate. I’ve had some refugees who didn’t have time to work in the kennel,”

Porter said.

“Give me a couple months. Sitia’s not the best place to be sending anyone right

now. Once I settle another matter, I’ll come back and help you. For now, I can teach

the girls how to tame their powers enough so they don’t give themselves away.”

Relief shone on Liv and Kieran’s young faces. I worked with them for the next

hour. Irys would be proud over how much I remembered from her guidance. A

finger of dread stabbed my guts with the thought of Irys. I hoped she was still alive.

After my session, the girls left Porter’s together while I waited for them to be well

away before I left. The need to begin my journey back to Sitia pressed on my mind

as I worried about Irys and Bain locked in the Keep’s cells.

I made a quick sweep of the area outside Porter’s door with my magic. The

activity around the houses seemed muted as everyone finished their daily tasks. No

one lurked in the alley.

With a wave goodbye, I exited Porter’s. I stood outside and let my eyes adjust to

the darkness. When the shadows grew less black, I strode toward the street.

About halfway there I felt a presence behind me. I spun, grabbing for my

switchblade. Something jabbed me in the neck and I saw Star lower a thin pipe.

I yanked the dart out of my throat. “How?”

“Some great magician you are,” Star said. “Missing my own tiny talent.”

My world spun and I stumbled. Star caught me, but I had no energy to fight her

off. “What?”

She cradled me in her arms. “Valek’s goo-goo juice. Relax, Yelena. Star’s going

to take good care of you.”

My last coherent thought focused on how her sinister expression didn’t match

her soothing words.

THE WORLD STIRRED. MY thoughts scattered and failed to connect. Warm

hands guided me. Whenever the hands pulled away, the ground swelled and I

tumbled off my feet.

I thought about the lack of fear for only a moment before the air spun around my

head. Lying down felt best. I sensed movement and smelled horses.

Inside my chicken crate, I wondered what I was supposed to be doing. Important

things? My mind chased the thought until the sunlight lit the dust motes. I studied the

flecks floating above me. The flecks transformed into daggers. I wanted to knock

them away. My hands stayed glued to my back. A leather strap lodged in my teeth.

The problem disappeared with the sun.

Time ebbed and flowed. My crate opened. It closed. Faces peered. Mouths

talked. Words chimed in my ears. Some like eat, drink and sleep I understood.

Others resembled a baby’s babble. Goo-goo. Goo-goo. A prick on my arm or neck

or back. The air filled with colors. My crate bobbed on an invisible sea.

A small lucid part of me wanted action. Freedom. Majority ruled and I let the

world slide by me content in my crate. My crate. My crate. I giggled.

The fire woke me. A finger of flame poked. I jerked away, no longer inside my