Heroes Return (7 page)

Maybe that would make the people like Fiona more.

Of course, we had only the Dowager’s word that the people disliked Fiona. That wasn’t worth anything.

“It is the duty of all of you to cooperate with us,” the Guard continued, pitching his voice over the rustle of whispering that was rising up. “I expect you to turn yourself in if you have attempted to cast spells.”

Well, he was an idiot.

“I expect you to come to me with information about others who you know are attempting to cast spells.”

What a dirty little plan, expecting people to spy on each other.

“If I learn that you have been aware of attempts to cast spells and have failed to report it to one of us, you will face the same sanctions as the perpetrator. These sanctions are public floggings and constitute the following: a single lash for any item purported to be used for the casting of spells, a single lash for each book of spells, five lashes for performing any alleged spell or ritual for the purpose of casting, an additional lash if it’s a love spell, an additional ten if the attempt to cast harms another person, another fifteen if it damages someone’s property, twenty lashes for each instance of collecting, possessing, selling or consuming human ashes.”

The whispering got louder. I thought of the carriage driver and his alleged spell to stop the hail. Was he still about? I hoped not. He was harmless and didn’t deserve to be flogged.

According to the First Lieutenant, I had a duty to tell him about the carriage driver. I wouldn’t tell him, though. I wasn’t going to tell him about anyone. It was disgusting of him to ask.

And when the First Lieutenant found out about what I wasn’t telling him, would he really have me flogged? As a rule, Shields and Sources were spared sanctions for criminal behavior. We were considered too valuable to be locked up or executed or otherwise rendered unable to channel. But Taro and I were out in the middle of nowhere, the only Pair about. There was nothing stopping them from having us flogged and asking for forgiveness after.

People died when they were flogged. If I died, Taro would die with me. That wasn’t fair.

I still wasn’t going to tell them anything.

The First Lieutenant pulled a folded parchment from his purse and held it out to Fiona. “These are orders from the Emperor stating that you and your people are to assist us, and that you personally are to provide us with bed and board.”

Fiona’s expression was blank as she accepted the parchment. I would bet everything I owned that she was actually fuming. My guess was supported by the fact that she didn’t just take the Guard at his word but insisted on reading the missive. “Understood,” she eventually said. Nothing about cooperating, just that she understood. Interesting. “Cekina, please find the Guards suitable accommodation. Please stay with them until their every need is seen to.”

Fiona’s housekeeper strode out of the crowd and approached the Guards. She said a few words to the First Lieutenant, who nodded. The four Guards bowed briefly to Fiona and then followed Cekina out of the ballroom.

The whispering of the crowd rose into loud objections, and Fiona had to clap a few times to get their attention. “I know you all have concerns,” she said. “I will be in my office shortly. I ask you all to bring”—heavy emphasis on the word “bring”—“your concerns to me as quickly as possible. You are all relieved of your duties for a short while so you can do this. Off with you. Source Karish, Shield Mallorough, I ask you to remain behind.”

It was weird seeing so many people curtsy and bow all at once, practically simultaneously. Then they quietly drained out of the room. Taro and I joined Fiona and her family at the head of the room.

“Daris and Tarce, you can go if you want,” Fiona said to her siblings.

“Ooh, you have secrets we’re not important enough to hear, is that it?” Daris drawled.

“Not at all,” said Fiona. “You can stay if you like.”

“I’d rather see what those louts are up to,” said Tarce, heading for the nearest door. “Obnoxious nest of twits, aren’t they?”

Daris crossed her arms. “So talk,” she ordered in a tone of challenge.

“Shintaro, Dunleavy,” said Fiona. “I felt tremors. Were they signs of an earthquake?”

“Aye,” Taro answered.

“Why did we feel them? Are we supposed to?”

“No, we’re just adjusting to a new post.”

“Does what you do to prevent earthquakes or whatever involve the casting of spells?”

“Certainly not,” said Taro.

“Are there any books about it?”

“There are books that try to explain it,” I told her. “But they don’t tell anyone how to do it. There’s no learning how to do it. You have to be born able to do it, and at the academies we only learn how to control what we can do.” And ethics, and laws, and how to read and write and figure.

“Are there any tools you use, or any little rituals?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Shintaro, please tell me exactly what you do when you do . . . whatever it is you do.”

Looking a little baffled, Taro described what he did when he channeled, going back over details when Fiona asked him to, answering questions that first got very precise, then went a little strange and irrelevant. After Taro had been questioned for quite some time, Fiona turned to me.

Daris huffed and left.

As soon as the door was closed again, having driven her sister away with trivial questions, Fiona stepped closer to us and whispered, “I have an important and dangerous favor to ask of you.”

“All right,” said Taro.

“There are spell books in the library,” said Fiona. “Some of them have been in the family for generations. I don’t want them lost.” She didn’t mention the fact that she could be flogged for having them. Or could she? It was a difficult thing to punish an aristocrat. “And I know some of the staff have little trinkets that might be considered tools for casting. I am sure the Guards plan to search the manor and I don’t want to see any of my people flogged.”

“Of course not,” said Taro. “This is all nonsense.”

“While Cekina is keeping the Guards busy, I would like to have everything transferred to your suite while the Guards are here.”

That was a lot to ask. A whole lot to ask.

“You can’t be punished for being in possession of these things.”

“We can’t be sure of that,” I objected.

“But I can be sure that anyone else caught with these things will be punished. If they do find it in your room, I will insist the Triple S council be contacted before any punishment can be meted out. There are only four of them. They can’t do anything if we stand against them.”

“That won’t win you any favor with the Emperor,” Taro warned her.

“He doesn’t have any favor for me now anyway. Will you do it?”

Taro and I looked at each other. I hated the idea. I really did. “But when they search our rooms . . .”

“Your rooms were used by a former duchess,” said Fiona. “She had a lot of secrets. There are places to hide everything. It’s highly unlikely the Guards will be able to find anything.”

“But not certain.”

“No, not certain. Look, I may not be able to protect my people if any of them are caught. I know I can protect you two because of your position. Please.”

It was a horrible idea, but I couldn’t bear the thought of people getting flogged just because I wanted to be a coward. “It’s fine with me.”

Taro nodded.

Fiona grinned. “Thank you.” Then she shocked the hell out of us both by giving each of us a hug. “Go up to your suite. We’ll bring everything to you.”

Feeling unnerved, I followed Taro back up to our suite. We waited a short while, and then there was a knock. Only it wasn’t a knock on our door. We looked around for a few moments, and then I heard something in the bedchamber. I stepped into it to see a wall made of bookshelves swing open. Fiona and Dane stepped in, Fiona carrying two cloth sacks and Dane burdened with arms full of books.

A secret passage. It was like something out of a book. I hadn’t thought anyone actually had them.

“We got this just in time,” Fiona said. “They’ve already started searching the servants’ quarters.”

This was such a bad idea. “Where can we hide them?”

“Watch me.” She headed straight to the fireplace. “Come see what I’m doing.” Taro and I stood next to her. I watched her grab hold of a small iron cube set into the back of the overmantel. She pulled it out, revealing it to be an iron bar about a hand in length. She put it on the floor, and then she pulled off the front of the overmantel, revealing that it was hollow.

That was kind of interesting.

Dane started packing the books within the overmantel. Fiona began pulling items out of the bags. Black candles, slim knives with white or black handles, sticks of incense, lengths of bone, the kitchen guardian, one really disgusting bundle of black hair. Once everything was packed in, the front of the overmantel was locked back into place.

Looking at the overmantel from the front or the sides, it didn’t look like it could come apart. At least, not to me, but I wasn’t an expert. Maybe criminals hid things in such a way all the time.

“Thank you again,” Fiona whispered, and she and Dane disappeared back behind the wall.

“Did you know about the secret passages?” I asked Taro.

He shook his head.

I sat in a settee close to the door to the corridor. Taro paced. We waited for the Guards to show up.

The heavy knock on the door sounded just under an hour later. I jumped to my feet and stood beside Taro when he opened the door.

“You’re not coming in here,” he told the Guards.

“Stand aside,” the First Lieutenant ordered.

“No.”

“We are under the orders of the Emperor.”

They were Imperial Guards. They were always under the orders of the Emperor.

“Once we moved in here,” said Taro, “these rooms came under the control of the Triple S. The Emperor has no jurisdiction here.”

“You can’t just take a room and treat it as a separate property.”

“Watch me.”

“Stand aside. Now.”

Taro crossed his arms. “You’re going to have to move us.”

I didn’t think daring them to lay hands on us was the greatest idea, but the Guards were clearly reluctant to do so. That was interesting.

“Are you in possession of paraphernalia related to the attempt to cast spells?”

“Of course not!” Taro sounded thoroughly scandalized. He really was a good actor.

“Then why don’t you want us to look?”

“Because you have no right to, and this whole incident is offensive.”

“Stand aside.”

“I will not.”

There was a heavy silence as Taro and the First Lieutenant settled into a staring contest. I had no doubt who would win. Taro had faced much scarier people than an Imperial Guard. I looked at the other three Guards, a woman and two men. The woman and one of the men were watching expressionlessly. The other man seemed to find his own feet more interesting.

“The Emperor will hear of this,” the First Lieutenant threatened.

“Send him my regards,” Taro answered lightly before closing the door in the Lieutenant’s face.

I took a deep breath. That had been tense. And it wasn’t over yet. The Guards hadn’t said how long they would stay. What if someone told them everything had been hidden in our rooms?

We’d have to deal with that if and when it happened. In the meantime, I wouldn’t be able to relax until they were gone. Not the best state to be in at a new post.

Chapter Five

The next morning, Taro and I enjoyed our breakfast in the main-floor sitting room. It consisted of fruit, bread, fish and an amazing egg mixture that included cheese and herbs. Fiona clearly had an excellent cook. I was embarrassed by how much I ate, but not so embarrassed that I didn’t eat as much as I could.

The whole house seemed very tense. Lila had been silent as she built the fires in our suite. I wondered if she had a clue what was hiding in the overmantel she stood before. The maids laying the food in the sitting room barely looked at each other. Did either of them use spells? Did the staff know who had the tools of casting? Would anyone tell the Guards? So far, it appeared that no one had admitted to anything yet.

Fiona, Dane and Tarce were in the room with us. Tarce was sipping coffee and staring out the window. Fiona and Dane were pushing their food around their plates without eating anything.

“Dunleavy, Shintaro,” Dane said suddenly. “After you’ve finished eating, I’ll show you the shoreline. It’s important you know how dangerous it is, and you won’t know until you see it.”

“We’ve been to waterfront areas before,” I said.

“No waterfront like this, I’d wager.”

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go with you,” said Fiona. “The Guards, having found nothing of interest in the manor, have decided to violate the privacy of all our tenants. I think it best that I go with them.”

“But there are hundreds of tenants,” said Taro.

“I know. All of my footmen had to visit every single one of them to, ah, let them know the Guards would be coming.”

“I’ll accompany you on your little jaunt, Dane,” Tarce announced.

“That bored, are you?” Dane asked wryly.

“The air in the manor has grown foul.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

We left after breakfast by a rear entrance of the house. We crossed a large expanse of dark green grass, and I was entertained by the wide berth Dane gave the dowager house. I hadn’t heard him speak of Taro’s mother, but obviously she had made an impression on him.

The ground grew rocky, and it sharply rose up into the range of hills. We weren’t to climb over it, thank the gods. I had neither the will nor the boots for that. Dane led us to a small path that pierced through the range at the base, a strangely twisted little path through the rock, doubling back on itself a half dozen times, the walls of it worn smooth and showing hundreds of layers of multicolored rock.