The Core

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But as ever, the dice raised more questions than they answered.

—She will know him by his scent.—

‘You will slip out in the hubbub as the Majah prepare to leave,’ Inevera said. ‘Asome won’t expect me to send you away. Make for Everam’s Reservoir. Jayan’s defeat has left many widowed mothers there. Another will not draw scrutiny, and no one will recognize you or Kaji outside the capital.’

‘And once there?’ Ashia asked. ‘How will I find the khaffit?’

‘Seek out Qeran,’ Inevera instructed. ‘The drillmaster commands the town now, and his privateers dominate the waters, at least until spring. If any can aid you in finding his lost master, it is he. I will cast daily and update you if I have any more information. It should be days before the hora stone in your earring is out of range. After that, you will be on your own.’

‘And this lost cousin?’ Ashia asked.

Inevera shrugged. ‘You will know him by his scent.’

‘That is little to go on,’ Ashia said.

‘We must trust in Everam,’ Inevera said. ‘The dice were clear. You must find them, if you are to do your part in Sharak Ka.’

Ashia touched her forehead to the floor. ‘As you command, Damajah.’ She rose and left to say her goodbyes to her spear sisters waiting silently outside. They knew she would be leaving, but none save the two of them would know where, or for what purpose.

‘Niece,’ Inevera said, pulling Ashia up short. She turned to meet Inevera’s eyes.

‘Know that I could not be prouder of you if you were my own daughter. ‘If any shoulders can bear this burden Everam has set, they are yours.’ Inevera held her arms open, and Ashia, stunned, fell into them for the first time in her adult life.

12 (#ulink_0ecc51d6-f5a3-591b-8c93-690dda80e71f)

Drained (#ulink_0ecc51d6-f5a3-591b-8c93-690dda80e71f)

334 AR

‘Bekka’s got ’em in her sights.’ Wonda’s head was tilted, listening to the broken piece of demon bone resonating in her helmet. ‘Stela and Keet, skulkin’ down the road toward Smitt’s storehouse.’

Leesha nodded. They always came when the storehouse was restocked, even if Smitt changed the schedule. Someone was feeding them information.

She pulled on her cloak and gloves. ‘Let’s go. Tell Bekka and the others to stay on the rooftops and keep fingers off their triggers. I see a stray bolt and someone’s out of a job.’

‘Ay, mistress,’ Wonda said. ‘But they make a move at ya an’ I’ll feather ’em myself. Not takin’ any chances with yur safety.’

Leesha gave her hora pouch a reassuring squeeze. ‘Neither am I.’

Bruna had taught her it was undignified to run, but Leesha had long legs and put them to use, setting a brisk pace. The Painted Children could move swiftly at night.

Wonda touched her helmet again. ‘Ay, got it.’ She turned to Leesha. ‘Ent in a hurry. Strollin’ like they own the whole town.’

Leesha pursed her lips, seeing Smitt standing in front of the heavy storehouse doors with his arms crossed. They were warded now, reinforced with unbreakable glass.

‘Try not to provoke them,’ she said, coming to stand beside him.

‘Them?!’ Smitt asked. ‘My son and granddaughter rob me every fortnight, but you worry I’ll provoke them?’

‘Man’s got a point,’ Wonda said.

‘Ay,’ Leesha agreed. ‘But they’re drunk on magic, and we don’t want a fight. Just here to talk.’

‘Hope they feel the same way,’ Wonda said.

Just then, Stela and her uncle rounded the corner, pulling up short as they spotted the trio waiting for them. Both of them shone with power, but Stela was brighter. Not as bright as Renna Bales, but brighter than anyone else Leesha had seen, short of Arlen and Jardir. All this, in half a year.

And it’s my doing, she admonished herself. Arlen warned me. Begged me. But I was so sure I knew better.

Keet at least had the decency to look chagrinned. Stela only sniggered.

‘Think this is funny?’ Smitt demanded. ‘I put a roof over your head and food in your bellies your whole lives, and you pay me back by robbing me?’

‘Oh, come off it, Pappy,’ Stela said. ‘Creator knows you can afford it. We’re out bleeding in the night while you get fatter every day.’

‘Lot of folk out bleeding in the night,’ Wonda said. ‘Ent no excuse to turn bandit.’

‘Never hurt anyone,’ Keet said. ‘Just a few sacks and kegs. You rather we go hungry?’

‘Used to earn your keep,’ Smitt said.

‘Still do!’ Stela argued. ‘Now more than ever! Keepin’ folk safe.’

‘Demonshit,’ Smitt said. ‘You’re not out there for anyone but yourself.’

‘Your grandfather has a point,’ Leesha said. ‘I didn’t ward your skin so you could get magic-drunk and stick each other out in my wood.’

‘No, you just gave us a taste, then abandoned us!’ Stela snapped. ‘Arlen Bales said we were all Deliverers, but you just want to keep the power all to yourself!’

‘Ay, don’t you talk to Mistress Leesha like that,’ Wonda growled.

‘C’mon, Stel. Let’s just go,’ Keet said.

Stela ignored him, crossing her arms and setting her feet as she met Wonda’s eyes. ‘Or what?’

There was a creak of armour as Wonda clenched her fists. ‘Or I’ll give you a spankin’, ya little pissant.’

An image flashed over Stela, Wonda putting her on the ground in training. The girl was eager for a rematch. ‘Try it, you ugly skink. Think you’re so special because you’re Leesha’s attack dog. Time someone put you back in your kennel.’

Wonda’s aura was blazing as well. Leesha laid a hand on her arm, calming her. ‘I didn’t abandon you,’ she told Stela. ‘The duke commanded I go to Angiers. What was I to do? Rules are what keep us civilized. Something you seem to have forgotten.’

‘Ay, rules,’ Stela said. ‘Like you’ve ever let that stop you doing whatever you like.’

‘Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for Hollow County,’ Leesha said.

‘Ay?’ Stela countered. ‘That why you got the demon of the desert’s baby up in your keep?’

Wonda growled, and Leesha had to put a hand on her chest to hold her back. ‘Yes, even that. Would you have preferred his army came through the Hollow like they did Rizon and Lakton?’

Stela laughed. ‘Tellin’ me you didn’t like it a bit, playin’ the bad girl? Didn’t curl your toes while you were at it?’

‘I don’t have to explain myself to you,’ Leesha said.

‘Course not,’ Stela said. ‘Leesha rippin’ Paper doesn’t need to explain herself to anyone. Leaves town for seven years and comes back orderin’ folk around like someone made her duchess.’

‘Enough,’ Leesha said. ‘There were conditions when I warded your skin and gave your people weapons. You have broken them, and the laws of Hollow County. You will be taken into custody to answer to the magistrate for your crimes.’

Stela barked a laugh. ‘By what army?’

Leesha pointed, and the two looked back to see Cutters blocking egress from the alley. They had kept their distance as Leesha instructed, but there was no way out for the pair.

Stela had a wry smile as she turned back. ‘Ent enough. Not by a long sight.’ She leapt, easily clearing the thirty feet between them.

But as fast as she was, Wonda Cutter was faster. She stepped in front of Leesha, immovable as a rock demon, and struck Stela an open-handed blow to the chest that stopped her short, blowing the wind out of her and knocking her to the ground.

The wards tattooed all over Stela’s skin flared to match the anger in her aura. She put her hands under her, not seriously injured.

Wonda gave her no time to recover, kicking her onto her stomach and torquing back one of her arms. Stela screamed, but it was short-lived as Keet stepped in, cracking Wonda across the head with the shaft of his hora spear so hard the strap broke and her wooden helm was sent tumbling away.

‘Let’s go!’ Keet shouted, pulling Stela to her feet as the Cutters charged.

Stela threw off his arm. ‘Not until I put this ugly skink on the ground!’ Wonda was stumbling to her feet as Stela came in, impact wards flaring on her fist as she punched Wonda square in the jaw.

Had Wonda been a normal person, even a Cutter, the blow would likely have killed her. But Wonda’s flesh was warded as well, and her wooden armour was infused with hora. Even so, Leesha heard the crack of bone.

Leesha pulled her wand, but Wonda wasn’t down yet. She sidestepped the next blow, catching Stela’s wrist and using her own momentum to pull her into a body blow that cracked ribs.

Keet had seemed unwilling to fight, but now that it was upon them, his aura flared nearly as hot as Stela’s. He push-kicked one of the charging Cutters into the woman next to him, cracking a third across the face. A year ago he had been a harmless boy, innocent and a bit simple, but now he moved like a predator, striking where his foes were weakest, never losing track of them as they tried to surround him.

Stela had been right. They hadn’t brought enough warriors.

Stela and Wonda fought like demons, exchanging heavy blows. In the thick of battle, much of the artistry fell from sharusahk, leaving only a brutal melee of kicks, punches, and twists. Wonda put them on the ground, wrestling her way toward a hold, but Stela put an elbow into her, impact ward flaring. Wonda was knocked back and Stela tried to reverse the hold, but Wonda got a foot between them, kicking her off.

‘Enough!’ Leesha shouted, lifting her wand. Stela turned to her, eyes like a coreling, and started to move her way.

Leesha wrote a practised series of wards in the air as easily as she might sign her name. She could have used the magic to strike at Stela, but this wasn’t the girl’s fault – at least, not entirely. Instead Leesha formed a Draw.

Stela screamed as the magic was torn from her. Her wards dimmed as the wand grew warm in Leesha’s hands. Wonda reached for her, then shouted and pulled her hand back as she was caught in the Draw.

‘Stop Keet!’ Leesha shouted. ‘I have this!’

But it didn’t seem like she had it. Stela found her feet, stalking in, eyes ablaze. Smitt took a step back as his granddaughter drew close.

The wand was hot now, but Leesha gritted her teeth and stood fast, even as she felt the feedback passing through her specially warded gloves and up her arm. It made her strong, but only increased her anger and frustration.

‘How dare you!’ Leesha shouted. ‘You were nothing! A mouse scurrying in my hospit! I gave you power to stand up in the night and this is what you do with it? This is how you repay me?!’ She wrote more wards in the air, increasing the pull.

And then, suddenly, Stela’s aura winked out, snuffed like a candle. She collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

‘Night!’ The sight brought Leesha back to herself. She stopped the Draw and ran to the girl, panic screaming through her as the magic heightened that as well. She had not meant to drain so much. Not meant to kill her.

Stela was still warm, but she wasn’t breathing, her heart still and her aura dark. The wand was still hot in Leesha’s hand, and she touched it to the keyward on Stela’s breast, giving back a touch of what she had taken.

Leesha saw as the ward greedily drank the magic, sending a spark through the net, racing throughout Stela’s body. She girl jolted, eyes wide as she pulled in a gasping breath, then fell back, panting. Her aura was dim, but Leesha could see her heart beating again, and knew she would survive.

By then Wonda and the Cutters had Keet pinned, stripping him of weapons and armour. Wonda looked to be healing, but her jaw was crooked. Leesha might need to break it again to set it properly.

‘Keet and Stela Inn, you are under arrest,’ Leesha said. ‘I’d hoped never to use the dungeons Count Thamos built, but you leave me no choice.’

Stela coughed, spitting blood, but she was smiling. ‘Not for long. Pack’s gonna hear about this. They’ll come for us.’

‘Then they’ll share your cells.’ But if the rest of the Painted Children were eating demon meat, Leesha knew it wouldn’t be so simple.

Things would get worse before they got better.

‘Don’t see the need for all this, mistress,’ Darsy said as she and Leesha sipped tea, watching Hollow Soldiers march onto Gatherers’ Academy grounds.

They were in what was once Leesha’s cottage, now the seat of Headmistress Darsy’s administration. It was odd, being a visitor in her old home.

‘I pray there isn’t one,’ Leesha said, ‘but the Painted Children’s camp is only a few miles away, and it’s only a matter of time before they realize we have Stela and Keet locked away. With magic amplifying their emotions, they may want to strike back, and not be picky about where.’

Darsy gave her a knowing look. ‘Ent your fault, Leesha. You didn’t know what would happen.’

‘Didn’t I?’ Leesha asked. ‘Arlen told me not to ward flesh. Night, he begged me not to! He knew what it did to folk’s minds. I told myself he wasn’t giving us enough credit, but I think now I wasn’t giving enough to him. The will to resist power like that … what kind of person does it take?’

Darsy blew out a breath. ‘Thought Renna was bad at first, but she came out the other side, didn’t she?’

‘I suppose, but she had Arlen Bales with her, day and night. Children just have each other.’ Leesha sipped her tea.

Melny came out of the kitchen with a tray. ‘Biscuit, mistress?’

‘Thank you dear.’ Leesha took a biscuit. ‘They smell delicious.’

Melny’s smile lit her face. She was a beautiful young woman, swollen bosom and belly barely contained by her homespun dress, but seeing her tending Darsy’s house, no one would ever guess she was the Duchess of Angiers, snuck out of the city with Leesha’s apprentices when her husband was killed in a Krasian attack.