The Scofflaw Magician (The Artifactor Book 3) (5 page)

Xald cleared
his throat. “My King, permission to speak?”

Firuz waved him
on.

“Perhaps an old
fashioned way, a nonmagical way, would be helpful?” Xald said this as if he
knew exactly what to do. “Artifactor Warran is stuck on why and how this
happened. But we know when, and I think if we know who, it would give us more
to work with.”

Sevana’s head
came up as this possibility registered. Grydon hadn’t been able to find her,
he’d just run in circles, picking up her scent in all of the usual places.
Sevana had discounted ‘who’ after that, but Xald was right. If they could
figure out who, she’d have a better grasp of
how
and that would be
immensely helpful at this stage. “You think you can do that?”

“Before being a
bodyguard, I was a thief catcher,” Xald explained. “Princess Amas had limited
access to people. I made note of anyone that was new. If we go through these
people, one by one, couldn’t you tell if they were the ones responsible?”

“Yes,” Sevana
answered, not even having to think about it. “It would take a very strong
magician to pull this off. You can’t tell with normal eyes, but I certainly
can. Firuz, I need Xald.”

“You have him,”
the king granted instantly. “You have anything you need. Xald, aid her in all
respects.”

“Yes, my King.
Artifactor, we should start with a list of who was around her,” Xald suggested.
“We are less likely to overlook anyone that way. I think we should consult the
guards as well, as I was not always with the princess.”

Good thinking.
Finding new energy, Sevana pushed to her feet. “Let’s get to it, then.”

Xald cleared
his throat in that deferential way again. “Before we leave, we must make some,
ah, adjustments to your appearance.”

Adjustments?
What in sweet mercy was he blathering about—oh. It abruptly hit her that an
unmarried woman walking around with a bare head was a huge taboo in Sa Kaon
culture. The only reason Sevana had been allowed to wander around as she had so
far was that she was an obviously foreign guest and she hadn’t left the palace.
But Xald was right, if she left the palace like this, no one would talk to her
outside. They’d either shy away, embarrassed for her sake of being so ‘naked’
or the more zealous would pick up the nearest stone and throw it at her.

Grumbling, she
forced herself to slow down and think. Those full wrap turbans with the veil
around her throat would be hot and suffocating. “Will a hat suffice?”

Xald seemed
relieved he wouldn’t have to cajole her into this. “Yes, Artifactor, that would
be perfectly acceptable.”

Double
checking, she turned to Firuz. “I don’t need to switch into a skirt?”

“If this was a
social event, you would. However, I have made changes to custom over the past
decade so that a woman working is allowed to wear pants.”

Thank all mercy
for small favors. Sevana hadn’t brought any skirts, having not thought about
her wardrobe before climbing through the clock, and didn’t want to go back to
Big just for a change of clothes. “Give me a moment.” She used the table’s edge
to push herself to her feet—that cushion had almost swallowed her whole—and
retreated back to her temporary workroom. Once there, she dug around in one of
her magical pouches, looking for her favorite working hat.

Sevana had put
more renewing spells on the black top hat than she had on any other possession.
It was the perfect size—a difficult find for her small head—and it had a
wonderful brim that let her balance things on it. While working, she could put
wands, pencils, small tools, and things of that nature up there. It helped her
keep track of things as she had discovered that putting anything on the ground
quickly led to lost tools.

 Putting it on,
she took a moment to grab a few more things she thought might come in handy
with this investigation before stepping back out into the hallway. Xald was
waiting for her there, and when he saw the hat, he nodded in approval.
“Different from what women here wear, but it properly covers your head. It will
do.”

“Good, because
I don’t have anything else, and I’d rather not go back to Big again today.
Alright, Xald, where do we start?”

He gestured for
her to fall into step with him, which she did, and answered as they made their
way down to the main level. “The staff of the palace are thoroughly checked
every three months as a matter of routine security measures. I think we can
safely skip them…?” he trailed off, waiting for her nod of agreement, before
continuing. “The guards as well. In that case, I think we should start with any
visiting guests. The guard captain will have a complete list for us.”

“How long is
this list likely to be?”

“How far back
do you wish to go?” Xald countered.

Sevana stopped
and thought about it. A spell that was complex enough, and sneaky enough, to
get through all of the magical protections of a princess was not something that
could be cast on the fly. It would take time to execute. Even Bel’s attacker
had needed several days to study his protections and hours to craft the spell
before releasing it. “A week before she disappeared. To be on the safe side.”

“Then the list
will be quite long.” Xald’s nose scrunched up in a frustrated way. “Is there
any aspects of this magician that will help us narrow it down?”

That’s what
Sevana would like to know. “If you’re talking about age, or occupation, or
anything like that? Then no. We’re looking for a person that no one would
suspect. The kind of person that no one would take notice of. It would take
that level of skill in order to get in, get out, and leave no one the wiser
that it was them that did the deed.” Reconsidering this, she added, “I think
we’re looking for the person that
isn’t
here. After doing this, he would
hardly stick around. I think he’d leave as soon as possible.”

Xald brightened
slightly. “A good point. That will help to narrow the list significantly.”

Sevana
certainly hoped so.

Showing a
complete ease with the palace, Xald went confidently down multiple stairs and
hallways until he came into the back section of the palace. Here there were fewer
gilded doorways and pretty fountains; instead, it was sparsely decorated. The
place screamed function over prestige and Sevana relaxed as they left all the
bling behind. This was much easier on her eyes.

“Ho, Kamran!”
Xald hailed.

A man in his
late fifties stepped out, dark beard streaked with grey and some impressive
crow’s feet at his eyes. He looked solid, and dependable, like a stone wall. On
reflection, most guard captains she had met were like this. Was it a job
requirement to look unmovable, as if not even a typhoon would rock them on
their heels? She had to wonder.

“Ho, Xald,” Kamran
returned the greeting, the nuance as if greeting a friend rather than his
superior. His eyes were taking in Sevana from head to toe, noting not only her
blond hair but her foreign dress as well. He gave a slow blink and she knew in
that moment he’d put together who she must be. “Greetings, Artifactor.”

Sevana grinned
at him. She adored the mentally competent. “Greetings, Captain. I take it that
not much goes on in this palace without you knowing about it.”

He grimaced. “I
would have agreed, three weeks ago. Now?”

Yes, it was a
sore point now. “I still believe you know more than you think. We need a list
of everyone that had access to the princess a week before she went missing.”

Kamran went
taut, becoming more alert. “You think you can track down the man that did
this?”

“Or the woman.
I have no way of knowing whether we’re up against a man or woman at this point.
But I take your meaning. I hope to track them down. I haven’t been able to
track the princess magically.” Sevana’s mouth twisted up as she said that. Gah,
but those words were rotten in her mouth. It was worse than taking a bite out
of decaying fish. “If I know
who
maybe I can figure out
what
.”

“I understand.”
Kamran wasted no time ducking back into his claustrophobic office before coming
back out. In his hands was a leather-bound log that had seen better days. He
flipped through the pages rapidly before handing it over to her. “Start from
this page. It goes on for three more.”

Four pages?!
What sin had she committed to have to wade through all of this?

Tapping a
finger against the pages, Xald asked, “Which of these people are still here?”

Kamran clapped
his hands together in recognition. “Of course. The culprit would have fled
after doing his evil. Here.” He snatched the log back from Sevana and ducked
back into his office again, bringing out a second one and a pencil that had
been chewed half to death. Flipping to the right page, he juggled them so that
he could hold them side by side. “I’ll compare these two. This list is from
three days ago, which was the last time I tracked down our guests. Before
that…well, it became so hectic, it was hard to keep track of anyone’s
movements.”

Yes, Sevana
understood that precisely. They were likely scrambling an army together and sending
it off to battle the Fae about that point. Sevana stepped to his side to help
him compare, Kamran quickly scratching off the ones that were still here.
Thankfully Kamran had kept the lists in alphabetical order, so it was simple to
do. If they’d been out of order, it would have taken her a good hour to make
her way through eight pages. Whittled down, there were precisely thirteen names
left.

Thirteen was a
much better number than before. “Make me a clean list of these names, and if
you have an idea of where they might be, note that down too.”

Happy to have
something constructive to do in regaining the princess, Kamran immediately
obeyed. His handwriting was sloppier because of his haste, but nothing could
compare to the chicken scratch that Master produced. Even better, with most of
the names he jotted down a location, or someone who would know them. It gave
her more of a place to start. Sevana was in desperate need of information right
now, so much so that any scrap of it helped.

Armed with a
list of potential suspects, she gave Kamran a bow of the head in thanks.
“You’ve saved me hours, if not days of work. My thanks.”

“Please, keep
me updated?” Kamran requested, mouth tugging downwards. “The little princess is
a favorite of the guards. We feel we should have looked out for her better.”

“This was not a
lapse on your part,” Xald objected. “It was the court magicians that should
have caught this danger.”

Truly. What had
they been doing, polishing their wands? But that did spark an idea. Non-magical
people had no way of knowing magic was nearby unless something obvious
happened. But what if she could create something that would set off an alert,
so that people like these guardsmen would be aware that a magician was present?
If that happened, they had a better chance of at least notifying a court
magician, if nothing else. Sevana made a mental note to follow up on that. It
was a narrow market, but she now knew of at least two kings that would pay a
pretty penny to have his guards thus armed.

Setting the
idea aside, she rolled up the list and lightly smacked Xald on the arm with it.
“Let’s get to it.”

The first was a
man named Bijay, supposedly a semi-regular tradesman that came into the palace
twice a year to pay business taxes and trade a few select goods with the palace
staff. No one, not even Xald, thought him suspicious, but Sevana had hopes of
him having noticed something. He was, after all, in the courtyard that day.

Xald knew where
his shop was located and they went directly there. Sevana had her eyes on
Xald’s back, trying not to lose him as he weaved his way through the thick
traffic on the streets, so it took her a while to notice.

Everyone was
staring at her.

It wasn’t a
covert thing—they were openly doing so, sometimes even following behind her for
a while and talking to someone else in a tone easily overheard. It was beyond
disconcerting and yet Xald didn’t react to it at all. She knew he’d noticed it—she
saw him turn his head now and again to take a quick peek over his shoulder—and
yet he didn’t say a word to any of them.

From the lack
of reaction on his part, she assumed this was normal, and strove to ignore it.

“When we find
him, you must offer a greeting before asking any questions,” Xald coached. “A
blessing on his health, or his business, or his family. It doesn’t have to be
elaborate. Then introduce yourself. After that, he responds, then you can ask.”

Sevana made
note of that and nodded.

“Don’t be
surprised if he’ll ask you questions in return,” Xald tacked on. A general hand
wave in her direction indicated her appearance as a whole. “It’s not often that
we get people here who are so obviously foreign. He’ll be very curious about
you and ask you just as many questions as you ask him.”

Now that was
strange. They didn’t get a lot of foreign traffic through Windamere either, but
Sevana had never felt the urge to stop a stranger and ask them a slew of
questions. Was this a cultural quirk of Sa Kao? Must be.

Xald stopped
abruptly. “Here’s his shop.” As he stepped through the door, he called out,
“Bijay! A blessing upon your house and kin!”

Oh? That’s all
he meant by a blessing as a greeting? Well even she could do that.

It took a
second for her eyes to adjust. The interior of any building in this country was
always much dimmer than the outside just because the sun was brutal here. The
place felt blessedly cool and smelled spicy. It also smelled strangely of
beeswax. As her sight cleared, she found that the walls were filled with
different types of cleaning supplies, all in clear glass bottles with labels
glued to them. There was a counter that ran the length of the building on the
right side where he obviously took in orders, but the rest of the shop had
nothing but shelves of products. There was a refreshing scent and she took in a
lungful, enjoying it.

From a back
room, a man entered that looked as if he had been left to dry in the sun too
long. His skin was almost black, it was that dark, eyes a golden brown in the
darkness of his skin. He was in the traditional dress of his people with a
white turban wrapped around his head and a light khaki shirt wrapped tightly at
the waist. He greeted Xald with a polite, “Blessings on you, Master Xald.”

Remembering the
instructions from earlier, she stepped up and gave him her best business
expression. “Blessings on your house, Master Bijay. My name is Sevana Warran
and I am an Artifactor.”

Bijay
gravitated to her like he was steel and she a lodestone. “An Artifactor? Isn’t
that the type of magician that makes the tools for all of the other magicians?”

“Well, yes,
that’s one way of putting it.”

“Where are you
from? What town?”

Xald hadn’t
been kidding that he would ask a lot of questions, had he? “I’m from a
mountain, actually. In Windamere. Master Bijay, I came to ask—”

Bijay ran right
over her. “A mountain? Is it a magical mountain? Do your parents live there
with you? Are you married?”

Sevana stared
at him, nonplussed. Why did the man even care? She glanced at Xald, seeing if
she really had to answer all of this to be polite, and he gave a nod of
encouragement. Really had to, huh. Puffing out a breath, she answered, “Yes it
is, no they don’t, and no I’m not.”

“Is it strange
that your parents don’t live with you, or is that common in your culture? And I
would think a woman of your age would be married. Do you have a suitor? How old
are you? You look to be of an age with my daughter.”

Was he really
keeping track of these questions he was asking? Just to test it, she didn’t
elaborate but gave simple answers. “Yes, no, nineteen.”

“No suitor is
very strange at your age. Do you have siblings? Is it common to be an
Artifactor at such a young age? Were you not allowed to get married while you
were training?”

Sevana levelled
a look at Xald. She had no intention of standing here answering question after
question until this man’s curiosity was satisfied. It was ridiculous, the
amount of personal questions he was asking. And what was the point? It wasn’t
like he could do anything with the information later.

Xald read her
face very well and cleared his throat, doing a sidestep to force Bijay to take
a step back. “Master Bijay, we can’t stay long. We’re searching for the
princess.”

The man blinked
at him, reacting as if it had just occurred to him that they were of course out
on official business and didn’t have hours to stand around and chat. “Oh, oh of
course. My apologies. What do you wish to know?”

Really, what
was wrong with these people…. Clearing her throat, she went through the mental
questions she had prepared. “Master Bijay, you were in the small court on the
day of the princess’s disappearance. Did you see her in the courtyard?”

“Playing in the
fountain,” he confirmed with a bob of the head. “She and several of her
playmates. They were singing and splashing and making everyone watching laugh.”

“Did you see
her disappear?”

“No, I was only
in the court for about twenty minutes. She was still splashing around when I
entered the palace.” Bijay’s head canted to the side. “There was someone that
came out with a packed lunch for all of the children, I passed them going in.”

Sevana caught
Xald’s eye and he gave a single nod. So, he’d known that already. In that case,
this man’s information was largely useless as he had obviously been there in
the morning, and the princess had disappeared in the afternoon. It tossed out
most of her questions and left just one. “One final question. Was there anyone
there in the courtyard that you didn’t recognize?”

“A few—other
tradesmen like myself, a few artists vying for the open court position, but
most of them I knew.”

“Can you
describe any of them?”

Bijay splayed
his hands helplessly. “I didn’t pay them much attention.”

It had been a
waste of time in more ways than one, but Sevana didn’t let that show on her
face. “Thank you for your time.”

Xald gracefully
got them out of there before Bijay thought of more questions to ask. Sevana
waited until they were several feet away from the business before levelling a
look at him. “Some questions, eh?”

“Curiosity is
part of our culture,” he said with a blasé shrug. “You’ll get used to it. Next
time, answer his questions fully, as it’s rude not to.”

Sevana really
wanted to explain that asking a complete stranger what her age was and why
wasn’t she married was more rude. But she had a feeling that in Sa Kao, it
wasn’t, and it was she that was out of line. It was probably for the best that
Morgan was the one that did all business with Sa Kao. She’d be tempted to whack
people within a day. It was taking considerable restraint just to do this
investigation. Maybe she should rethink her line of approach on this.

“Xald, on the
list, who is it that we’re just asking for information and who do we suspect?”

“There’s a mix
of the two.” He paused and stepped to the side of the street, allowing people
to freely pass by him so that he could pull out their list and check through
it. “I would say, seven people are going to be simply informants. The others
are potential suspects.”

“Let’s track
down the suspects first,” she suggested. “We’ll potentially save time that
way.”

“Agreed.”
Flicking his eyes back over the list, he suggested, “Gautum next, then.”

“Why him?”

“I haven’t yet
proved that he’s a thief.”

That was an
interesting answer. A smile took over Sevana’s face. “Yet, eh? I doubt a thief would’ve
been able to pull anything like this off.”

“No, but a
thief notices more things than the regular man. He has to. His life depends on
his observation skills. So I think we should talk to him first. He might narrow
the list for us even further.”

The logic was
sound on that. Although Sevana had this feeling that what he really wanted was
to catch the man at something so he could finally get his thieving hands off
the streets. Either way, she didn’t have a problem trying him next. “So where
do you find a not-yet-convicted-thief?”

“He’s in one of
two places at this time of day. He’s either at a certain bar I know, getting
other people drunk and pumping them for information, or he’s skulking around
the main market looking for purses to lift.”

Sevana studied
him from the corner of her eye as they moved off. “If you know that much, then
why…?”

“I’ve helped to
track him down a few times,” Xald’s mouth twisted up in a bitter grimace, “but
every time he was clean. There wasn’t anything on him.”

“So you know
he’s a thief because things suspiciously disappear when he’s in the area?”

“That’s it.”
Xald cracked his knuckles into one hand. “It would be nice if today I can catch
him.”

One of those
grievances, eh? Well, she didn’t mind doing double duty.

Xald led her
through several streets and into the seedier section of town. Sevana started
keeping a better watch on her pockets as she was absolutely sure that there
were pickpockets around every corner. It was that sort of area. Fortunately
they didn’t stay on the streets for long and entered a dim bar that had
definitely seen better days. The walls were peeling, the wooden beams inside
looked black with smoke and age, and the place smelled distinctly of that
strange beer they drank in this country.

Xald paused,
blinked to let his eyes adjust, then scanned the area with a quick sweep of his
head. A silence descended immediately upon his entrance as every man there
recognized him. If it wasn’t for the traffic on the street pouring through the
open doorway, it would have been a graveyard silence.

Xald pointed an
imperative finger. “Gautum.”

A thin looking
man in his forties leapt to his feet and bolted for the back. Swearing, Xald
took off in high pursuit. Sevana, startled by this immediate scene of chase,
was two beats behind. Unfortunately it put her at a severe disadvantage as both
men were faster runners than she was and it proved impossible to catch up. By
the time she slapped through the back door and into the alley, they were at the
mouth of the alley and turning into the street.

Well, if Xald
thought that she would just run after him all day thief catching, he could
think again. He might want her to think like a thief-catcher, but she was an
Artifactor, and if there was no reason to do things the hard way, she wouldn’t.
Pulling out a wand, she cast a levitation spell on herself and floated up above
the rooftops. From that vantage, she could easily see where the men were
running, and she flew their direction, looking about for a good place to land.
Levitation spells were taxing and she didn’t want to do it for long.

Ah, there. That
rooftop was nice and flat. She landed without even a bump and ended the spell.
In the next moment, she cast it again, neatly ensnaring the thief who was
running vigorously for the bridge. His feet lifted into the air, but he kept
moving arms and legs, windmilling in place as if sheer effort could propel him
forward.

“They always do
that,” she noted to herself, amused. “I wonder why.”

Below the
building, Xald skidded to a halt, eyes bugging out of his head to see his
quarry hovering in mid-air. Then he must have realized who was responsible as
his head came around, searching for her.

“Up here!” she
called down to him.

Xald’s head
jerked up, following the sound of her voice. “Artifactor! You’re doing this?”

That was rather
obvious, so she ignored the question. “Get a firm grip on him. I’ll release the
spell after you do.”

Flicking a hand
up in acknowledgement, Xald moved forward and grabbed both of Gautam’s arms.
Secured, Sevana let the spell end and watched as Xald promptly threw the man
onto the ground and wrenched his arms behind his back, ensuring he couldn’t
somehow wiggle free.

Sevana cast the
levitation spell on herself again just long enough to get her feet back on the
street. Then she strolled casually to the two men. “For your information, I do
not run after criminals.”