Fire Study (29 page)

and racketeering ring before Valek uncovered her operation.

Star stared daggers at me. Her goon’s unsuccessful attempt on my life had led to

her capture. Already warned about Valek’s setup, Star could have disappeared into

her own underground network. Instead, she had let petty vengeance rule her and now

she tasted food for the Commander.

“At least you survived the training,” I said to her.

She looked away. The long red curls of her hair had been tied into a sloppy knot,

and her prominent nose led the way as she walked. Putting the tray onto the

Commander’s desk, she performed a fast taste and left. Even though two lunches

had been set on the tray, she tested only the one.

I eyed my food. Star seemed surprised at my presence, but that could have been

an act. She could still be nursing her desire for revenge. The Commander handed me

a plate. Not to appear rude, I took a tentative bite of the meat pie, chewing slowly

and rolling the food around my tongue. The beef was flavored with rosemary and

ginger and lacked poisons. At least, I couldn’t taste the poisons I remembered. I lost

my appetite when I remembered Moon Man’s comment about learning by doing and

how easy it was to forget dictated information.

We talked about minor things while eating. When I complimented his new chef on

the lemon-wedge dessert, he told me Sammy now held the position.

“Rand’s fetch boy?” I asked. He was thirteen years old.

“He worked with Rand for four years and it became evident only he knew all the

ingredients in Rand’s secret recipes.”

“But he’s so young.” The kitchen during meal times had been a cacophony of

ordered chaos guided by Rand’s firm hand.

“I gave him a week to prove he could do it. He’s still there.”

I had forgotten age didn’t matter to the Commander. He could have forced

Sammy to divulge the recipes, but he respected ability over experience or gender.

My young friend, Fisk the beggar boy turned entrepreneur, would have flourished in

Ixia.

When we finished lunch, the Commander moved the tray aside and repositioned

his snow cat statue. Glints of silver sparked from the black stone. The single piece

of decoration in the room, the cat was one of Valek’s carvings. Killing a snow cat

was considered impossible. The citizens of Ixia avoided the lethal creatures living on

the northern ice pack. The cat’s preternatural ability to escape death made it feared.

Commander Ambrose was the only person to successfully hunt and kill one, and

in doing so, he proved to himself that despite his mutation he could infiltrate a man’s

world just as he had lived among the snow cat’s world. He believed his female body

had just been a disguise for his soul. Only the Commander and I knew about his

hunt and dual personalities. He had sworn me to secrecy when I had rescued him

from Mogkan’s mind control.

“Before Star came in with lunch you mentioned getting more information about

the Sitian Council. Now that you’re a wanted criminal, how do you plan to achieve

that?” the Commander asked.

“I had hoped to infiltrate the Citadel and talk to one of the Councilors. But I fear

the Master Magician’s magic would discover me, so now I want to borrow Valek

and a few of his men. They could assist us in contacting the Councilor.”

“Which one?”

“Bavol Cacao Zaltana, my clan’s Councilman. He has been my strongest

supporter and if you see by his signature…” I picked the Sitian letter up and pointed

to his name. “He didn’t include his family name, Cacao, in his signature, so it’s not

an official inscription. I believe it’s a message to me that he can be approached.”

The Commander stared across the room as if considering my words. After a

while, he brought his attention back to me. “You want me to risk my chief of

security to help you gain information. All the while I’m to do nothing and hope the

Sitians don’t attack before you discover what’s going on?”

“Yes.” Although, the way the Commander said it made the situation sound

terrible. There was no sense sugarcoating it. And the last thing I wanted was to put

Valek or anyone else at risk. But it had to be done.

The Commander rested his chin on his folded hands. “The information isn’t

worth the risk. I could wait to see what develops with the Council and then decide

how to handle it.”

“But—”

A warning flashed in his eyes. “Yelena, why would you care what happens to the

Council? They have turned their backs on you. You can’t go back to Sitia. You

would provide the most help here with me as my adviser.”

An unexpected offer. I considered. “What about my companions?”

“Magicians?” A small crease of distaste pinched his forehead.

“Two.”

“They could be part of your staff if you want. But they can not use their magic

against any Ixians without my permission.”

“What about my magic? Would you place the same restrictions on me?”

The Commander’s gaze didn’t waver. “No. I trust you.”

I froze for a moment in shock. His trust was an honor, and, considering the

recent reaction from the Sitian Council about me, the temptation to become his

adviser warred with my emotions. It would probably be easier to stay and help

defeat Cahil from this side of the border.

“Don’t answer right away. Talk to your companions. I should have news from

Valek soon. We’ll meet again then. In the meantime, do you need anything?”

I thought about our dwindling supplies. If we left, we would need more

provisions. “Could you exchange Sitian coins for Ixian?” I rummaged in my pack,

placing various loose objects on his desk to get them out of my way.

“Give them to Adviser Watts. You remember my accountant?”

“Yes.” The covering on Opal’s bat had come undone and was all over the

bottom of my pack. I removed the glass animal and freed it from the wrapping. The

Commander gasped.

His focus was riveted on the statue in my hand; his fingers poised as if to snatch

the bat.

“May I see?” he asked.

“Sure.”

With a snap of motion, he plucked the statue from my palm. He spun the bat,

examining it from every possible angle. “Who made this?”

“My friend, Opal. She’s a glass artist in Sitia.”

“It glows like there is molten fire on the inside. How did she make it?”

Trying to comprehend his words, I stared. He saw the inner glow. Impossible.

Only magicians could see the light.

The Commander had magical powers.

THE GLASS BAT GLOWED for the Commander. I had theorized only

magicians could see the inner light. But I could be wrong. Maybe I hadn’t tested the

bat on enough people. If the Commander had magical power, his magic would have

raged uncontrolled and flamed out by now, killing him. The Masters in Sitia would

have felt him long ago. Irys would have sensed it when she stood next to him.

Shaking those ridiculous thoughts out of my mind, I answered the Commander’s

questions about glassmaking.

“But what causes it to glow?”

I knew if I said magic, he would drop it as if burned. Instead, I told him the

internal workings were a family secret.

He passed the glass bat to me. “Extraordinary. Next time you see your friend,

please ask her to make one for me.”

I found the coins I had been searching for, and repacked my bag. Only when I

had slung my pack onto my shoulders did I realize I forgot to rewrap the bat.

The Commander picked up the coins, walked to his office door and opened it.

Summoning Adviser Watts, he asked him to exchange my money and to show me to

the guest area.

Dismissed, I followed Watts into the throne room, holding the bat in my hand.

The adviser noticed the creature when handing me the Ixian coins.

“Sitian art?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Not a bad likeness, but rather dull. I thought the Sitians had more imagination

than that.”

I mulled over the Commander and Adviser Watts’s comments as I followed

Watts through the castle. Still unable to bend my mind around the Commander’s

ability to see the glow, I had to postpone further ruminations when I entered the

guest suite.

Leif peppered me with a million questions the moment I stepped through the

door. The guest quarters were rather lavish by Ixian standards. The main room

contained a comfortable sofa and soft chairs as well as a number of desks and

tables. A faint odor of disinfectant scented the air. Four bedrooms branched off

from the living area, two on each side. Sunlight streamed in through the circle of

windows in the back wall, warming the empty room.

I stopped Leif’s questions with a look. “Where are the others?”

He pointed to the second door on the right. “They’re all resting. Moon Man and

Marrok are in the big room next to Tauno’s.”

Double doors marked the entrance to Moon Man’s room.

“Which one is mine?”

“Second door on the left, next to me.”

I went into my room. Leif trailed along like a lost puppy. A simple layout of a

bed, armoire, desk and night table all made of oak decorated the small interior. The

bedding looked fresh and inviting. I stroked the soft quilt. The air smelled of pine.

The lack of dust made me remember Valek’s housekeeper, Margg. She had plagued

my existence when I first became the food taster, refusing to clean my room and

writing nasty messages in the dust. I hoped I wouldn’t run into her during this trip.

Leif’s questions began again, and I filled him in on what had happened in the

Commander’s office, neglecting to mention his ability to see the bat’s glow. I wasn’t

convinced that the Commander had magic, and certainly wouldn’t try to persuade

Leif or anyone else.

“Black and red really aren’t my colors. Which Military District has green? Maybe

I can open my shop there,” Leif said.

Leif’s joke wasn’t as funny now. “MD-5 is green and black. General Brazell used

to govern the district, but now he’s in the Commander’s dungeon.” I wonder who

was promoted.

“What are we going to do next?”

“I don’t know.”

Leif pretended to be shocked. “But you’re our fearless leader. You have it all

planned out. Right?”

I shrugged. “I’m going to take a long hot bath. How’s that?”

“Sounds good. Can I come?”

“As long as you promise not to spend all day in there.” I gathered some clean

clothes.

“Why would I?”

“You thought the feather mattress was a luxury. Wait until you see the

Commander’s baths.”

The hot water soaked my aches away.

Leif joined me in the corridor with a contented smile on his face. “I won’t have

any trouble adjusting to life in Ixia. Those pools and the overhead duct, pouring

water…amazing. Does every town have a similar bathhouse?”

“No. Only the Commander’s castle has such luxury. It’s a holdover from the

King’s regime. The Commander usually disdains the extravagance, yet it remains.”

During my soak, I had thought long and hard about our situation and the

Commander’s offer. The temptation to stay tried to overpower my logic, but I knew

we needed to return to Sitia. The Sandseed clan had already been destroyed by the

Vermin, and Cahil and the Fire Warper remained a problem.

How I would deal with them continued to be a mystery. Not being able to trust

Moon Man, Tauno or Marrok, left Valek, Leif and me against the Daviians, the Fire

Warper, Cahil and his army.

And what would happen if I revealed Cahil’s involvement with the Vermin? The

Council trusted him. I would need to convince them of his deceit. I would need hard

evidence to gain their trust. Evidence I lacked.

In fact, the more I thought about the whole situation, the less confident I felt

about my ability to find a solution.

When Leif and I returned to the guest suite, Moon Man and Tauno waited for us

in the living room.

“How’s Marrok?” I asked Moon Man.

“Better.”

“Can he talk?”

“Not yet.”

“Soon?”

“Perhaps.”

I stared at him. He answered in typical Story Weaver fashion. Refraining from

shaking information out of him, I asked, “Have you learned anything while working

with Marrok?”

“I have seen bits and pieces. Marrok’s feelings of betrayal are making it difficult

for me to get through to him. He does not trust me.” Moon Man’s eyes met mine

and I could see his unspoken words.