Rebel Mage Page 4

  “There’s no need to force it,” Keren said. “Nobody thinks you knew.”

  Leah grimaced. “Better I learn now rather than after marriage and a kid.”

  “You’ll get through. I know now isn’t the time to say this, but you’ll have other suitors.” With another sympathetic look that made Leah want to get violent, Keren disappeared. Leah hated it when she was on the receiving end of pity.

  She refused to feel sorry for herself. It was a useless emotion.

  Much to her chagrin, Leah wasn’t able to break away from the crowd until after she’d been forced close enough to the bonfire that she could feel the heat. Somebody elbowed her and she turned to see Luen. He handed her a log. His lips were thin, but she could still see hope behind the man’s foolish eyes.

  “We’re forming a chain.” Luen let go of the wood and she was forced to grab the log to keep it from hitting her foot.

  She’d come here, planning to do this very thing, but now the moment was upon her, it was difficult to accept what she had to do.

  Multo’s mother! Leah thought. She held the piece of wood out to a man who stood in front of her. He passed it forward.

  Luen licked his lips as he passed another. At least Luen had the decency not to gloat. She wasn’t certain she could have survived that without hurting him. Despite her words earlier, he didn’t look dissuaded in the least. He might have been nursing a scowl, but the fool man still believed he could convince her.

  Do I have to bash him over the head with a shovel to make the message sink in? She shook her head while scowling. Couldn’t the man get it through his thick skull? He handed her another log. It was long but not as thick as the others. Aspen, perhaps, it was difficult to tell in the low light. She wanted to take the wood and smack Luen in the face until he figured it out.

  The mage and lucent wolves arrived in front of the gong. One moment there was nothing, the next, they were there, standing as if they’d been there all along. It wasn’t her first time seeing a mage appear, so it didn’t take her by surprise. Most in the crowd were familiar with how it worked, but the young man she’d been handing a branch to gasped. He wasn’t the only one, but those who did were in the minority.

  Everybody else had seen it before.

  The mage was tall, with a hooked nose, and dressed all in black. His dark hair was slicked back with grease. A look of annoyance swept across his face when Mayor Jannek Furgah stepped forward. One of the wolves sniffed the air and looked around. Leah froze when she noticed the wolf looking in her direction.

  Had the wolf’s eyes stopped on her for longer than the others, or had that just been her imagination? It wasn’t looking her way any longer. She inhaled as she nudged the man in front of her with a log and was glad when he took it from her hands so she no longer felt the urge to assault Luen with it.

  The mayor held out an article of clothing for the lucent wolves to sniff. It was Kaor’s good winter coat! The only way Mayor Furgah would have that would be if Kaor’s Uncle Ferk gave it to him.

  Luen touched Leah on the shoulder, prompting her to take the next piece of wood. As she passed it on, she scanned the crowd for Ferk.

  How could he do this to Kaor?

  She at last spotted the man staring into the fire with an unreadable look on his face. The flames glinted off his eyes. He made no move to help the others gather the wood. Several who must have known who he was stared at him with suspicious eyes.

  Ferk glanced up and his eyes made contact with Leah’s. They narrowed when he saw she held a piece of wood. She glared back at him and nodded to the mayor. Ferk snarled, but his shoulders slumped.

  At least the man wants to be here no more than I do. We’re both forced to give aid or we’ll be strung up too. Leah helped pass the wood for several more minutes before she faked a coughing fit and used that as an excuse to step out of line. Luen stepped forward to close the gap while asking if she was okay.

  She nodded but continued to cough until she found herself on the outskirts of the crowd. After checking to make sure nobody was looking her way, she ducked into an alley and sauntered off.

  She growled as she glanced behind to make sure nobody had followed her from the town square. Was the whole town barking mad? She had never before seen so much joviality at a hunt.

  A little voice in the back of her head said it must have always been this way, but the full weight of it had never sunk in until today.

  She couldn’t be too careful on a night like tonight after so many had witnessed her with Kaor right after he was discovered.

  I’m lucky I’ve made it as far as I have, she thought. The bonfire was already quite large, and she could see the reflection of its light on the walls of the alley as she crept along. The roar from the crowd—despite the lateness of the hour—made her stomach churn.

  She’d seen similar gatherings more times than she wanted to count. She couldn’t be the only one that saw these things for what they were, could she? The cruelty and barbarity of it all were enough to drive a woman insane.

  The very thought of Kaor thinking she’d want to join them made her wring her hands. If the fool had listened to her months ago, this whole thing could have been avoided. They could have been clean away, forging a new life. Perhaps they might have one day found themselves as merchants, traveling from town to town, hawking wares and making deals. A dangerous life to be sure, but far less risky than allowing Kaor’s true powers to be discovered.

  “I don’t mind if you help,” Leah muttered to herself, wanting to throw the words back in Kaor’s face with a fist. He had said the words sincerely, and that made it all the worse.

  “How can he doubt me after all we’ve been through?” The sound of her own voice surprised her. She looked about to make sure nobody had heard her as her heartbeat seemed to thunder in her ears. Another misstep like that when somebody was around and the game would be up. Then she’d be in the exact same position as Kaor.

  Just the thought of his face was enough to make her temper flare again. She really was liable to hurt him when she caught up to him.

  If anybody found her, she was prepared to claim she was sick. If pressed, she’d force herself to throw up by turning her head and jamming a finger down her throat. That would earn a look of sympathy from the women and panic from the men.

  She made good time and soon arrived at an alley that came out on her street. She paused, checking to see if the way was clear. The only people she’d seen since leaving the town square had been at a distance, and she was beginning to hope she could grab her packed satchel and be off into the woods herself.

  She’d been afraid at every corner she’d find Franni waiting with a club and a knife, but so far, the way had been clear.

  A flash of lightning crashed through the falling snow, making her jump.

  Multo’s mother. She gasped for breath. Half a moment later, it was followed by thunder. The mage had started his work.

  Every mage was a little different. Some would rely on the lucent wolves, others would take an active part in the physical chase, but most would use the light generated by the townspeople to scare and disorient the poor rebel. Lightning was a usual tactic, but she’d seen balls of fire and dark monsters that had made everybody in town quiver in fear, glad it wasn’t coming for them. Panic flowed into her, and she dashed into the street towards her home.

  A shovel came from nowhere and struck her in the chest, knocking her into the dusting of snow that had gathered on the dirt road.

  “I had a feeling about you,” Jules said, stepping out of the shadows. “Running off to help him, no doubt.”

  6

  The wind was vigorous, blowing the increasing snow in a swirl around Leah as she lay on the ground looking up into Jules’s malevolent face. As Leah stared, a wave of uncertainty washed over Jules, but it disappeared, reminding Leah very much of a woman who was trying to mentally justify her actions.

  The shovel had knocked the wind out of Leah. Her pulse raced and pressure formed in her chest. She took in a breath with a loud heave. She followed it with another.

  I can use that uncertainty, Leah thought, wishing she could get past the throbbing pain where the shovel had made contact so she could think more clearly. Kaor is in trouble. The fool will die before the night is out if I don’t find him.

  Jules held the shovel with the point pressed into the snow-covered dirt, her hands wrapped around the handle as if expecting to use it again. Snowflakes landed on Leah’s forehead as she let out a low groan, part in act, part in pain.

  I must play to her doubt, let her feel guilt for what she has done.

  “What did you do that for?” Leah asked while easing up off the ground, rubbing a hand on her chest. “That really hurt! I’m going to have a bruise for some time.” She looked at Jules. “Didn’t you say something about me going to help him? Multo’s mother, woman. I just came from the bonfire. These hands of mine threw wood into the bonfire for the mage!”

  She coughed, gasping for breath as rolling thunder was greeted by additional strikes of lightning. Leah wasn’t certain she had read the situation correctly until she noticed the woman’s hands shaking, causing the shovel to quiver.

  Perhaps she is grasping it so tight because she is afraid. She acted on instinct and is now regretting it.

  Snowflakes melted against Leah’s warm skin and the water trickled down her face. The lightning came again, this time flashing off Jules’s eyes and lighting her in green. The wind picked up snow as the thunder rolled.

  Green lightning? Leah wondered.

  It was a distant thought. She belatedly realized that the previous lightning strike had been green as well.

  “You were with him all the time,” Jules sputtered. “You two went everywhere together. If you didn’t know, you’re a fool.”

  “He deceived us all,” Leah growled, “me most of all.” She rubbed the back of her head as if it hurt too, carefully watching to see how Jules reacted. Her eyes followed Leah’s hand and she swallowed. Leah hid a smile. “Are you so desperate for a new life you have to ruin mine to get it? How many times do I have to tell you I’m as surprised as anyone.” She shook a fist at Jules. “Put down the shovel. Let’s have a fair fight, you and I.”

  “An innocent woman wouldn’t run.” Jules pointed the shovel at Leah like a spear. Her hands quivered. “Why were you running if you weren’t going to help him?”

  “I can’t run to get out of the snow?” Leah got to her feet quickly, daring the woman to strike again. The shovel wavered, but she made no move to attack. “Did it occur to you I might be sick to my stomach with this whole thing? That I want to get out of the storm before I’m soaked through?”

  “Sick with guilt, maybe,” Jules said with a tremor in her voice that was just noticeable. She used one hand to wipe snow from her eyes. “He wouldn’t have kept a secret like that from you.”

  “You’d know about that, wouldn’t you?” Leah was done playing nice.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jules frowned, her hands looking like she was trying to choke the shovel.

  “It’s a pity Stan has no eyes for you. Otherwise, you might have given him a child, and you’d know what it feels like to love someone more than yourself. You cowardly—”

  Jules swung the shovel, but it was slow and easy for Leah to dodge. It threw Jules off balance and she almost lost her hold on it. The blade slid in the snow-covered dirt.

  “Stan’s a good man—”

  “Who can’t keep his hands off other women, even those who don’t want his affection. If you had half the sense of a headless chicken, you’d kick—”

  Leah broke off as she charged, intending to sweep Jules’s feet out from underneath her, but she wasn’t fast enough. Jules smashed the shovel handle into the side of Leah’s head. It was a slow blow, but it still hurt. Screaming, Leah grabbed the handle and ripped the shovel away from Jules, surprising even herself at how easy it was to do.

  “You think it’s a secret nobody knows.” Leah spat blood. “It’s the worst kept secret in town. They’re all laughing at you. Every single last one of them. Did you know that? Mothers keep their daughters away from him. Haven’t you thought it strange that women avoid Stan when they can? Have you never wondered why they avoid you?” Leah’s voice had increased in volume and she was shouting by the end of it. “Your husband is an evil man! This whole time you’ve known and done nothing.”

  “Rebel! You’re one yourself.” Jules’s voice was barely audible. She took a deep breath and screamed. “Rebel!” Neither of them moved in the silence that followed. Leah was surprised they hadn’t drawn attention from anybody else. Tears streamed down Jules’s red face. “You know nothing girl. One day I hope you find yourself trapped in a loveless marriage with a beast of a man that’s always pawing at other women.” She sneered. “Then, only then, can you pass judgment on me.”

  Leah felt her cheeks redden but refused to apologize. The woman had dug her own pit. Was it Leah’s job to help her out of it? A distant part of her brain realized Jules was a victim too, but the rest of her refused to acknowledge it.

  She hit me with a shovel. I owe her nothing but a large bruise on her chest and a lump on her head.

  “You’re a sad woman.” Leah shook the shovel at her. “I’m keeping this. Follow me and you’ll regret you ever hit me.” She backed away as Jules snarled something she couldn’t understand.

  Gratefully, Jules made no move to follow. Leah didn’t want to be slowed any more than she already had.

  She left at a brisk walk, checking every so often to make certain Jules hadn’t decided to follow. When she arrived at her home, she checked one last time and found herself alone on the street. During the short period since she’d left the alleyway, there must have been thirty lightning strikes. The road was almost covered with snow.

  She looked at the place where she’d been attacked.

  I should have done to her what she did to me, she thought. The blood was no longer pounding in her ears and she was beginning to regret her words.

  Of course, Jules was just as much a victim as anybody else, but she had chosen to stay with the man. As far as Leah was concerned, that made her complicit in everything Stan had done. It bothered her that the only man who’d stood up for her was the type mothers guarded their daughters from. She suspected he had ulterior motives.

  She hesitated at the door to her home, wondering what she should do with the shovel. If she took it into the house her mother would ask questions. Leah left it at the side of the door, not caring if Jules took it back or not. Leah doubted the woman would attack her again. If she did, Leah would make sure she was armed with her dagger when she left the house. Let Jules come at her and she would feel the sting of a blade instead of harsh words.

  The image of Jules’s red face, anxious about what her husband had been saying to Leah came to mind. Leah pushed it away, refusing to let it touch her.

  She hit me with a shovel. I owe her no sympathy.

  Leah found her mother, Tilda, sitting in her rocking chair. The fire had been recently stoked and burned bright, the flickering flames giving their front room light. A candle on the dining table added some but not enough to chase away the shadows. It was good to be inside, out of the snow, but she wished her mother would use the oil lamps more often, they were brighter.

  Tilda had the beginnings of a sweater on her lap, knitting needles too, but her hands were idle. Even with the curtains pulled shut against the night, the flashes from the green lightning still made it into the room, giving it an even more garish look.

  “Who is it this time?” Tilda asked without looking at her daughter.

  Leah swallowed. “I didn’t catch the name, some boy from the south of town. He ran off before the hunters could get him.”

  “Multo. The poor boy.” She rocked back and forth, the needles on her lap coming close to falling off. “His poor parents. The lightning is from the mage?”

  “Yep, it’s green too. Have you ever seen anything like it?”

  Tilda shook her head. “Why didn’t you come home sooner?” Her mother’s mouth formed a thin line. “I’ve been worried.”

  The unspoken fear hung like a cloud over her face.

  She thought it was me, Leah realized, making her feel uncomfortable about lying to her mother.

  “I was caught up in the mob.” Leah licked her lips. She could tell her explanation hadn’t been enough for her mother. She hated to do it, but she needed to give her mother something more. “Luen was with them. He wouldn’t let up, insisting I should be with him.”

  Tilda looked at her, finally. “Would that be such a bad thing? I know you like Kaor and he’s a fine boy, but Luen has more to offer.”

  “He can’t offer me love.”

  “He’s been smitten with you for years.”

  “But it’s never been returned. It never will be.” She struggled to keep the heat from her voice, but a little broke through.

  Leah left the room before her mother could ask any more questions. It had been a long time since she’d lied to her mother, and she didn’t think she’d be able to keep a straight face for much longer. Bringing Luen into the conversation, even though she’d pay for it later, had been the best way to divert attention from the lie.

  I’m leaving tonight, she thought. She won’t ever bother me about Luen again. Tears formed in her eyes, and she blinked them back as she entered her bedroom.

  It had been foolish, Leah was well aware, but she’d written a note weeks ago and hidden it in the straw of her mattress. It explained everything, so her mother wouldn’t wonder where she had gone. She let out a low sigh as she fished it out and put it on her bed.

  She picked up her satchel from the corner of the room, strapping a dagger to her belt afterward. It wasn’t much, really. Just enough to get them as far as Hinter, where Leah hoped to convince her aunt to take them in for a time. She’d asked her mother in the note not to follow for a month or two so nobody would think anything of her departure. Leah feared she might never come.