Unguilded (38 page)

With a blast and a flash of light, the Mage was blown out of the alley. Reo landed where the Mage had last stood, and Kara collapsed in a heap. Reo ran down the alley. Mage lights illuminated him as he lifted the knife over the black mass that was slumped at the alley’s edge. His knife hand dropped to his side, and one foot toed the lump. He trotted back to her.

“He’s dead,” he said when he reached her. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Neither did I.”

She was so exhausted she simply let Reo pull her to her feet and usher her down the alley. He tried to shield the body from her view, but she shook him off. She’d killed a man, she should know what it looked like.

She held her breath against the stench of charred flesh, and leaned over the mass of black, and searched for a hood, a head, anything that would tell her that this blackened lump used to be a man. She touched what she thought was a cloak and recoiled, pulling her hand away.

“He’s melted,” she said in horror. The stench hit her again, and she staggered away and retched.

Reo followed and gently helped her to her feet.

“It’s what he was trying to do to us,” he said quietly.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her down the street.

“I know,” Kara said. “It doesn’t make me like it.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Reo replied. “That’s a good thing.”

Was it? Was it a good thing?
To know that you’ve escaped by dealing your enemy the horrible death he was trying to give you? She’d killed her mother’s lover, the father of her unborn half sibling. She felt hysterical laughter bubbling up from her chest, but she clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t give way to her feelings now, not until they were safe. She glanced at Reo, who sensed her looking at him and squeezed her shoulder. He’d killed for her tonight, more than once. And it had changed things between them. Now she’d killed for him. And that changed things again.

ARABELLA STAGGERED AND
almost fell as a burst of energy flowed through her
. What happened?

“Where’s Valerio?” She grabbed Rorik’s arm and spun him around. “Where is he?”

“He doubled back away from the shoreline,” Rorik said. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”
Everything
. Arabella let her hands slip from Rorik’s arm and fell in behind him. They were bookended by guards—two ahead and two behind—as they searched the streets and alleys near the southern tip of the island for the fugitives.

She felt energized—more so than she had all during her pregnancy—which meant only one thing. Valerio was no longer drawing power from her. Had the girl somehow severed the connection? Or was Valerio injured—or dead? She followed Rorik down an alley. The waters of the sea glinted at the far end, where the road ended.

Should she make Rorik turn back to find Valerio? Though not healers, she and Rorik were powerful enough to cure any injury short of death, if they arrived in time. But then the girl and the Assassin would escape.

If Valerio was injured and survived, he would have no reason to suspect she would have known he was in trouble—not without admitting that he was stealing her power. He would never admit that, not even to her—especially not to her. That would give her a measure of influence over him—some control—and he would never live with that.

And if he was dead? She rolled the thought around in her mind. If he was dead, then trying to find him would allow the girl to escape—and that
she
could not live with. And really, it might be better for her if he
was
dead. She stared at Rorik’s back. He’d chosen Valerio as Secundus—could she convince Rorik to choose her? He had few friends on council—Valerio had seen to that—and she had been cultivating him as a mentor for months. Who else would he choose?

“Primus!”

The guards behind her drew their swords and spread out in front her. They relaxed as another guard ran into view.

“Primus! The fugitives, they’ve killed the Secundus. You must come!”

The new guard’s clothes were blackened, and he was out of breath.

“Are you certain?” Arabella asked.

“I saw it myself,” the guard replied. “And the body afterwards.”

Rorik drew up beside her, and she gripped his arm. “Gyda!” she said. “This is terrible.” She forced a few tears from her eyes and smiled when Rorik patted her arm.

“I must go,” the Primus said. “I must see for myself.”

“I . . .” she trailed off, and Rorik patted her arm again.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I know how close you were. There is no need for you to see him this way.”

“Thank you, Rorik.” She bowed her head. “I will continue with these three guards. It’s even more important that we stop these fugitives.”

“If you’re up to it, my dear.”

She lifted her head to meet his eyes. She blinked, and a tear trailed down her cheek. “I will not let them get away with this. I will avenge Valerio!”

“Yes, of course.” Rorik turned to the guards. “Nothing can happen to her—or you will answer to me.”

They nodded, and with one last look, Rorik strode down the alley.

Arabella ducked her head and smiled. Some of the other councilors had been fawning over Valerio for years with the assumption that Rorik would die first and Valerio would choose one of them as Secundus when he became Primus. She would dearly love to see their reactions when they learned that Valerio was dead and
Rorik
would choose another Secundus. She must make sure he chose her.

JUST AFTER DAWN
, the bells started ringing. The lightening sky illuminated the rundown neighbourhood Kara and Reo were walking through. Drowsy people came out of the dilapidated huts and shacks, thin robes clutched to even thinner bodies. A few glanced at her and Reo as they crowded together.

“Who’s it this time?” a woman asked her neighbour. “The Primus ain’t old enough for a natural death.”

“It’s for the Secundus,” Reo whispered in her ear. “Just keep walking.”

“Like any of them die a natural death,” another woman replied. She spit on the roadway. “Gyda help us, we don’t need another fight amongst the Council.”

Reo kept them at a steady pace as they moved through the streets. They passed throngs of people heading in the opposite direction, towards the centre of the island. One or two eyed them, but no one stopped them or asked who they were. Guild symbols were sewn onto rough woolen tunics and mended cloaks—the faces above were gaunt and haggard.

These were not prosperous Guildsmen, these people who lived on the southern edge of the island. Kara wondered if they would even care that she was the one who’d killed the Mage Guild Secundus. Yes, she decided, but only because it meant they had to start their day earlier than usual.

SOON THE CROWDS
were behind them. The roads were more like footpaths, and the structures—she couldn’t really think of them as houses—were more dilapidated and run down. She smiled when she saw an overturned boat, much like the one she’d lived in at the docks, a line of drying clothes strung up beside it. Her smile faltered when she realized that
Guildsmen
lived this way. Mage Guild was the richest in all of Tregella—why did its people live like this?

“We’re almost there, Kara,” Reo said. “Just a few more streets.” He turned to her and smiled, the first genuine smile she’d seen on his face for a very long time. Then he grunted and stumbled into her.

“Get off the path.” He pulled her down into the dirt beside a crumbling fence. Reo covered her head with his arms, and something thudded into the wood above their heads.

“I’m grateful that Mages have terrible aim,” Reo said. He grimaced and looked over her shoulder.

Kara craned her head and saw two armed guards trotting down the path towards them, crossbows pointing their way. Beyond them purple mage mist swirled.

“My mother’s here,” she said.

“She must know how the Secundus died,” Reo said. “That’s why they aren’t using magic.” He peered at the guards for a moment. “Keep your head down and her magic away from me.”

Before she could protest, Reo was gone. She sucked in her breath when she saw the pool of blood beside her. A short arrow stuck out of the back of his thigh, and he limped as he ran, but he was still fast enough to reach the guards before they could react.

Reo grabbed the first guard’s crossbow and shoved the man off balance. A crossbow bolt burrowed into the ground while the guard struggled to stay on his feet. Reo’s left hand snapped out, and the second guard grunted. Another punch caught him in the throat, and the guard gasped for breath as he dropped to the ground, his crossbow falling from his hands.

Reo wrestled with the first guard, pulling him down on top of him. A ball of purple sped down the lane, and Kara stood up and
willed
it away. It hit the fence, and the wood splintered. Reo glanced over at her before he twisted and rolled, pulling the guard with him. When he came up, he was straddling the guard. Reo flattened his hand and slammed it into the guard’s nose. Bone crunched sickeningly, and the guard went still. Reo looked over at the other guard, who had finally found his breath and his feet.

“Kill him,” Arabella shouted from down the lane.

Another ball of purple hurtled towards them, and Kara waved a hand, sending it crashing into the fence. The fence exploded, and the guard, wide-eyed, stared past her and Reo towards her mother. A third guard hulked in the entrance to the laneway.

“Come on,” Reo said. He grabbed Kara’s hand, and they ran back the way they’d come.

She looked over her shoulder. The last guard had joined the first one. Instead of crossbows, now they both wielded swords. Her mother was nowhere to be seen.

They rounded the corner at a dead run, and Kara stepped on the hem of her long skirt. She would have fallen if Reo hadn’t grabbed her arm, keeping her on her feet. They passed two more lanes before they ducked into the mouth of an alley. Reo stopped, and she collapsed against him, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Reo peered around the corner.

“I don’t see them,” he said. “Do you?”

She peered past his shoulder. A wave of purple mage mist roiled down the lane.

“My mother has sent a spell,” she said. “It’s about thirty paces behind us.”

“The guards won’t be far behind it,” Reo said. He eyed her. “That skirt is slowing us down—we need to find you something else to wear.”

“What about you?” She gestured to the arrow that was still sticking out of his thigh. “Should we do anything?”

“I’ll be fine,” Reo assured her. “I’ll cut the shaft when I get a chance.”

Taking her arm, he guided her down the alley, south, towards the shoreline. Despite his limp, Reo kept them moving at a steady pace.

He steered them through dusty yards and empty lanes. One narrow alley ended at the door of a small weathered shed and instead of going around it, Reo led them inside.

No one was in the single room, but there was a patched pair of trousers on a hook by the bed. Reo gestured to her, and she removed her skirt and pulled on the trousers. They were stained and dirty, but at least they wouldn’t trip her up. She tucked her blouse into the waistband and tied a rough rope around her waist.

She turned to find Reo sitting on the floor, his left leg raised in the air. The fabric of his trousers was wet with blood. He held the arrow in his left hand, and with his right, he sawed at the wooden shaft with a knife. The arrow fell to the floor, and he sighed and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you all right?” Kara asked.

“I’ll do,” Reo said. He opened his eyes, gingerly rolled over, and stood up. He stepped down on his left leg and winced. “Let’s go.”

Reo studied the squalid yard through the one small window before he eased himself through it. She scrambled after him, thankful for the trousers. A scrubby bush spanned the back of the yard, and Reo plunged into it, wrestling the branches aside so that Kara could push through. With the addition of a few scratches, she was in another yard. This one was slightly better tended, with a few rows of vegetables lined up along the back wall of a shack.

They crept around the side of the structure and paused for a few seconds while Reo scanned the front yard. Finally, he grabbed her, and they trotted forward.

The blue expanse of the sea stretched before them, surprising her. She’d smelled it for blocks, but she’d expected to hear the sounds of the surf. Then she remembered that Mage Guild Island floated
above
the water—there was no shoreline for waves to crash against.

“Let’s see if we can find a dock,” Reo said. He walked to the edge of the island and peered over.

Kara took a hesitant step towards the edge as well.

Fifty feet below her, the waters of the bay flowed out of sight beneath the island. The white sails of ships were visible further south, out on the water. The closest one flew the blue and green flag of Seyoya. She searched island’s edge, but didn’t see anything that resembled a dock.