The Ways of Mages: Two Worlds (14 page)

On the inside of the valley, Ainara felt tremors of power building along the magical weave. She paused and looked up at the valle
y’
s ridge. A flare of blue light that nearly blinded her shot high into the sky. And it was then when she saw
him
lunging toward her. She tried ducking away, but the red eyed man still raked her side with long claw like nail
s
…

The leaders of Thomas GrimHolde
n’
s army sat about the table and discussed the situation of Pershara city. The cruelty of King Raymond knew no bounds. As soon as the coward learned of the army outside his gates, he took all the food into the palace. The rest of the city was left to fend for itsel
f…
without food. Only those he perceived as loyal were fed. And those were nobles. The rest were left to fight amongst themselves.

“
That toad is not just a coward, but an idiot
.”
Perela muttered scathingly. If the despot king had heard her tone of voice he would have soiled himself.  Duncan thought.
 “
He is going to have riots in the streets
.”
Perela continued.

“
He does
n’
t care. He knows that he can survive years within the palace, especially now that he has all the food within its walls
.”
Stanton said bitterly
.“
H
e’
ll use the city and the food riots as a buffer between us and him. Maybe he even hopes that the people will see us and come and steal
our
food.

“
There has to be a way to help the people and ourselves
.”T’
Garen said thoughtfully.

“
What do you mean, old friend
?”
Stanton the Reed asked.

“
I mean, if we can give the people food we might be able to bring them over to our side
.
”

Trevor nodded
.“
It would serve the coward right. But how do we go about feeding untold thousands
?
”

“
We have a limited amount of supplies. As much as I want to help the civilians in the city, the reality is we ca
n’
t.  We do
n’
t have enough food to feed both them and our men
.”
Reed pointed out.  He turned toward Perela
,“
Unless, of course, you have some magic trick for endless food
?
”

“
Not in the time frame that we need it in
.”
The sorceress replied.

During the discussion, Duncan had been thinking. Suddenly he started chuckling. Perela gave him a quizzical look, her hand on his shoulder. Trevor McGill raised an eyebrow at the knight. The previous and current generals narrowed their eyes at him
.“
I fail to see how our situation warrants amusement
.”T’
Garon said sharply.

“
Sorry,
I’
m not laughing at the situation
.”
Duncan said raising his hands in a placating gesture
.“
I have an idea. Why do
n’
t we make the despot fulfill his duty to his people and feed them? Unknowingly, of course
.
”

Reed blinked
.“
And how would you propose doing that
?
”

Trevor smiled
.“
I think I know what our monastic knight is thinking. You want to be like a thief in the night
.
”

Dunca
n’
s smile broke into a full-fledged grin
.“
Exactly
.
”

“
And how are you thinking of stealing all that food
?”
Perela asked intrigued.

“
Who better to steal then a thief? We just need to figure out how to contact the thieve
s’
guild
.
”

Trevor rubbed his forehead
.“
Such a good idea I should have had it.
I’
ve been in the woods too long
.”
He muttered softly. He continued at his normal volume
.“
My men and I used to work with the Thieves Guild when we were causing King Raymond problems in the city
.”T’
Garon raised an eyebrow when he sai
d‘
causing problem
s’
. Trevor caught the look and flashed a quick smile
.“
And Kin
g’
s Guard too, I admit it. Anyway, Tommy gave me a revised list of contacts before he left with the others
.
”

“
But what if they changed
?”
Perela asked
.“
That was several months ago, after all
.
”

Trevor snorted. Why would they change them on their leader
?”
Silence met his response
.“
What
?”
He asked.

Perela and Duncan shared a look
.“
Are you saying that Tommy is the King of Thieves
?”
Duncan asked.

Eyes widened in surprise, McGil
l’
s gaze flickered between them
.“
You did
n’
t know? I thought you knew. After all, you were traveling with him
.
”

“
We knew he was a thief. We did not know
,”
Perela replied dril
y“
that we were traveling with pick pocket royalty.

“
Oh, he does
n’
t like being called th
e‘
King of Thieve
s’
. He prefers the title of Director of the Guild
.
”

“
He does
n’
t like being called the King of Thieves
?”
Duncan asked with a raised brow.

“
Good to know
.”
Perela smirked.

***

That evening, Duncan and Trevor slipped into the city of Pershara. The streets were in full panic since the Kin
g’
s Guard moved into the palace. The two men had their hands close to hidden weapons in case a riot broke out. Which felt imminent;  like fire springing from oil soaked straw. A stray spark would explode instantly into an inferno.

Seeing people, children, crying for food made Duncan furious. He wanted to storm the palac
e’
s storehouses with brute force. Only the knowledge of how futile such an attempt would be kept him pacing quietly beside Trevor.

They entered a seedier part of town. The atmosphere was strangely different here. Oh, people were still desperate. But then, they always had been desperate on these streets. Calculating looks told Duncan of the opportunities these people saw. The denizens of the upper city were in chaos. It was the perfect opportunity for the less fortunate but streetwise to take what they could and flee the city. Hopefully Duncan and his companion could convince the Guild to turn this behavior to the palace. To bring food back to the people.

They rounded a corner and Trevor tapped his leg. Seeing the signal, Duncan looked down the street and blinked several times
.“
She is our contact
?”
Duncan asked, his mouth going dry.

The other man nodded
.“
Chastity Baker
.
”

Chastity Baker was, as it turned out, definitely not a bake
r…
or even chaste. Chastity was a well-endowed woman. A fact she made hard for anyone to miss. Such endowment made her successful at her business.

“
Keep an eye on your purse. She tends to collect tax for just looking
.”
Trevor advised.

Duncan snorted. Well that was some creative reasoning on the prostitut
e’
s part. Duncan thought, glancing at her. She was a petite, curvaceous blond who apparently never heard of the wor
d‘
modest
y’
. She wore clothing only big enough to cover the barest minimum.
A man would have to be dead
not
to look.
Duncan thought. On the heels of that thought another, more worrisome thought, came to mind.
Perela is going to kill m
e
…

How is it going, Dearest?
Perel
a’
s voice caressed his mind at that moment.

Duncan stiffened slightly.
U
m
…
he thought brilliantly.
We found our contact.

Tha
t’
s goo
d…
Duncan, are you alright?
Perela sounded concerned.

U
m
…
Duncan desperately tried to think of a way to explain to the woman he loved a situation beyond his control. He was
n’
t interested in Chastity. He loved Perela. Perel
a’
s beauty and wit out shown Chastit
y’
s like the sun compared to a candle.  He knew that. He just did
n’
t want to hurt Perela because he could
n’
t help but look at this nearly naked woman in front of him. She was in front of him for heave
n’
s sake and he was
n’
t blind.

Perela sensed his thoughts. She was touched by his comparison. His thought that she did
n’
t trust him enough not to think he was straying, though, had to be fixed. 
Sweet lad, I know you love me and I love you. As to your contact, I do
n’
t think she can afford proper clothing.

Duncan chuckled mentally.
That is one way to look at it.
His mental voice was relieved.

Now be safe, dearest.
Perela paused a moment. She continued, because she could
n’
t resist teasing him.
We'll talk more about this when you get back
.

Talk???
Dunca
n’
s mental voice rose in near panic.

Love you, dear.
Perel
a’
s amused voice faded away, confident in the knowledge that she had rattled him.

Duncan sighed. He was relieved that she knew he loved her. But he was worried about what he
r‘
tal
k’
might be. Really worried. Women, especially sorceresses, were really scary sometimes.

By this time, Chastity noticed the two men. She swayed toward them. Her long, wavy blond hair giving tantalizing peeks at her minimally covered wares
.“
Good sirs
,”
she purre
d“
is there anything I can do fer ya
?”
She raised a brow suggestively at Duncan.

“
We have a message for the TG concerning the food shortage
.”
Trevor said, saving a very uncomfortable Duncan from Chastit
y’
s unwanted attentions.

Chastity raised an eyebrow
.“
And who are ya
?
”

“
Trevor McGill.
I’
m a friend of the Directo
r’
s
.
”

The woma
n’
s eyes widened. An expression flitted through her eyes too fast to name. Her violet eyes narrowed
.“
The guard is coming
.
”

“
Steal, so the guard has a purpose
.”
Trevor replied calmly.

Chastity eyed him a moment before turning on her heel
.“
Follow
.”
She commanded over her shoulder. They did. Duncan followed Trevor, keeping an eye out for trouble. Chastity led them through some very unsavory alleys. They cut through a brothel at one point. The women there came up to them and stroked their arms. Duncan and Trevor extracted themselves from the clutching hands as politely as they could. The women pouted, but eventually let them go.

Duncan caught some sly looks tossed between the women. He put his hand to where his small coin pouch was. Or had been. Duncan shook his head, relieved that he had split the balk of his coin between his boots. He could still feel them in their pouches. What little coin had been in the stolen purse he hoped was used to make the woma
n’
s life a little easier.