Tane abruptly extinguished her traitorous light.
Fuck, I mouthed into the shadows and took off up the stairs as quietly as I could.It was tight and circular, and I’d just managed to make the second round before the door opened and voices echoed up towards me.The scuff of my boots seemed so, so loud.
I met a small landing, again with a door, teetering on the edge of panic.Even if the door was unlocked, if I lifted the twisted iron latch the sound would betray me—already the rampant thunder of my heart and the thin wheeze of my breath were too loud.Nor was there time for Tane to scout the room beyond, not when her light would give us away.
We stepped into the Dark Water, panted my four breaths, and rematerialized beyond the door.I found myself in a long, empty passageway, completely dark.The voices still approached, distorted by the stairs and barely muffled by the ancient, iron-banded door.
I hastened down the hall, chased by the too-loud echoes of my feet.
I turned a corner and came to an abrupt halt.The chamber before me was circular and small, nestled within a small tower.There was no other door—clearly for security, because this was some kind of treasury.Or armory?
I felt the presence of magic at the same time as Tane.She manifested fully, and we turned back-to-back.
Teal ghisten light flooded the space, glinting off rows of coins hanging from pegs—coins on chains.Mereish talismans.Racks of muskets and long Usti rifles were next to shelves of pistol boxes and buckets of lead shot.I counted ten sideswords lined up on a table, neatly wound with their weapons belts.Even rows of breastplates with central ridges for deflecting bullets decorated another wall— their style out of date, though the armor was obviously well-maintained, free of rust and warmed by recent oiling.
For every weapon present, the same number were missing— empty racks, empty tables.Everything save the muskets, rifles, pistols and swords felt vaguely sorcerous.Most of them, in any case.The room was so full of strange, latent power that I struggled to identify its exact sources.
My internal clock ticked meaningfully.We couldn’t linger here.But nor could I simply walk away from whateverthesewere.
I quickly made up my mind.I started snatching up talismans and shoving them into my pockets.My skin tingled as I touched them, both unsettling and gratifying.I grabbed a random assortment of lead balls too, marked with different colored dots and humming with the same power I felt in the talismans.I cinched a sidesword at my waist and gathered a dagger and two pistols, the latter of which went into a brace across my chest.
Feeling much better prepared—and delightfully like an overarmed renegade—I beckoned to Tane.Let’s go.
SIXTEEN
The Other Brother
MARY
The mages were kept upstairs, along echoing corridors and through what might once have been some lord’s feasting hall.Now the tables were rough, the benches too narrow, and the colors of the tall stained-glass windows barely illuminated by the lights atop the curtain walls.
I opened yet another door, and another, Tane preceding me whenever her light had least chance of betraying us.She mapped the way ahead and slipped images into my mind as if her eyes were my own, and occasionally swept into control when we needed to duck through a door or wall in haste.
The fear that someone would happen across us—at any moment, from any shadow—harried me, and my stomach was a cramping mess.But the fluidity with which Tane and I worked was a balm.My steps were steady, and my hands did not quake.
I sensed the door to the mage cells before I saw it.It was wood and banded iron, and I could hear the voices of the guards beyond.
There’s a ghisting, Tane told me.
The creature manifested before I could even contemplate hiding.
Spectral light flooded the passageway and coalesced into the shape of a man—a soldier—in a conical helm and antique armor, with a breastplate similar to the ones I’d seen in the armory.His eyes were sea-glass and devoid of life.
A chill skittered down my spine.Tane slipped forward, partially manifesting between the specter and me.
Child.Tane’s silent voice twisted through the air.Do not betray me.
Mother, the ghisten soldier’s voice was distant, half-awake, but deeply deferential.I live to serve.What do you seek?
We seek one of the prisoners.Go back to your rest, child.
The ghisten man tilted his head to one side and surveyed me through Tane.For an instant, I was sure his eyes would fill with malice and he would raise the alarm.
Of course,Mother of mine, he said and faded back into the wood.
Well that was convenient, I murmured to Tane.Thank you.
Indeed, she replied, sounding pleased with herself.
