A Song of Snow and Ashes

this woman's personality. He was starting to lose his courage again, and feeling very silly indeed for thinking he could ask this woman for any kind of favor.

  "You are the new messenger, are you not?" she asked crisply.

  "Yes, Mistress."

  She looked him over thoroughly with her sharp eyes. "You're younger than I expected you to be."

  He shrugged, not quite knowing what to say.

  "Still, you fit the description Dwyer gave me, so I assume you are who you say you are. Sit."

  He took a chair.

  "What's your name, young man?"

  "Donnan."

  "And why are you here? I'm sure you've noticed I'm in the middle of a rather large social gathering."

  He was starting to feel rather small underneath her steady gaze. But again, the Dark power moved within him. He straightened his shoulders. "I need a favor."

  "What sort of favor?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

  "I want to get a guy thrown out of the guard."

  "That's all?"

  "Yeah," he replied. His answer seemed a bit lame, so he added, "For now."

  "Very well. Who is this guard and what gives you the idea that I have some power to influence those sorts of decisions?"

  "Dwyer sent me here."

  She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Of course he did. Again, who is this guard?"

  "His name is Reese."

  "Reese?" she interrupted. "Garron's son?" Seeing the blank look on his face she clarified with a faint sigh, “The Guard Commander’s son?”

  He nodded. “You know Reese?”

  “I have met the young man,” she replied, with distaste.

  “Where would you meet him?”

  She gave him a reproachful look. “At one of the many social gatherings I’m expected to attend. Garron brings him along occasionally.”

  “You don’t like him?”

  “Well, it’s not for me to speak ill of a peer’s children.” Then she gave him a cold smile. “But in my unofficial and frank opinion, the young man has not struck me as particularly clever or intelligent. He may have been able to enter the guard on his own merits, but I don’t think he has what he takes to advance very far without aid.”

  “Sounds about right to me,” he agreed bitterly.

  “Exactly how do you think I’m going to be able to help you get Reese removed from the guard?”

  “It’s real easy. He likes to get drunk and start fights. He just needs to start a fight with someone high-class and important enough his father can’t just ignore it.”

  “So you’re asking me to ask one of my employees to goad this young man into a fight without being directly responsible, and then formally press charges?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  She gave him another appraisal.

  He lowered his eyes, not in deference, but to look at her soul. There was more Darkness than Light, which he expected, but the Darkness didn’t seem that deep. It seemed as though the Darkness had set in as the Light receded. He wondered briefly about it, but turned his attention to other matters.

  To her credit, Adrie did not shiver or otherwise acknowledge what he was doing.

  “You want this guard removed because he’s started a fight with you, and you feel you don’t have enough status to press charges?” she guessed shrewdly.

  “Yeah,” he answered, squirming uncomfortably.

  “I see.” She leaned back in the chair and tapped the desk in impatient thought. After a few minutes she abruptly stood up and started to peruse her bookshelves. “Dwyer tells me you have ambition and power, and outlets for neither.”

  “Er, yeah.”

  “Do you know what’s in the messages you carry?”

  “I know that the investigators would be real interested in them,” he replied.

  She pulled a few books off the shelves, as though she expected a threat. “Of course. And no doubt Dwyer hasn’t given me all the information he has about you.” Then she turned around and set five books down on the table. “He says you’re mage. Do you know any mind magic?”

  “I’m learnin’,” he answered, looking confused.

  She sat back down in her chair. “Good. Here’s what I’m going to offer you. I’m a businesswoman, and I’ll use any means necessary to expand my business. Having a mage working for me could be very useful, especially one who can use mind magic. It would be most effective for me if you were available for certain meetings. However, I need a reason to have you around. Random guests tend to arouse suspicion. Read these books, learn something about the Guild, and get rid of that drawl as much as you can, and I’ll take you on as my personal secretary.”

  “And what do I have to do for you?”

  “You must keep secrets, and use your power to detect lies and persuade more reluctant clients to go along with my offers.”

  “You want me to join the Guild and enchant people,” he said bluntly.

  “It would behoove you to be more discreet in your words, but yes, that’s basically what I want. The better the Guild does, the more you personally will benefit. I also ask that you not tell Dwyer too much about our arrangement. Frankly, I don’t trust that man. As a token of my sincerity, I will arrange to have Reese thrown out of the guard as quickly as I can.”

  “You want me to work for you?”

  “That is the idea. Within a few months, you should be important enough that should you get into any more fights, your charges will be taken seriously. Of course, I don’t expect you’ll be getting in many fights once you have a full time job,” she replied. “Are you interested?”

  He thought it over quickly. “Sure, I’ll join your Guild.”

  She smiled. “I thought you would.” She held out her hand.

  He shook it carefully.

  “I’ll give you a week to look over the books, and I’ll see you at the Guild office in one week, bright and early.” Although she didn’t say it specifically, he knew that the interview was over, and he was dismissed.

  “Thank you, Mistress Adrie,” he said, standing up.

  “I expect hard work from you, Donnan. Don’t disappoint me.”

  There was only the vaguest threat in her voice, and he didn’t know how to respond. He opened the door, and almost instantly the head manservant was standing right next to him.

  “This way please.”

  Soon he was out of the house and on his way home with a lot to think about.

  With the support of the Order of Light in Renfrew, the Council put their plans into action. Eliora was not surprised when every young man who had given her a solstice gift volunteered to join the Hunters. Soon the city was nearly empty. Even a couple of the Council members had stepped up for spy work. The only men left in the city were Jomei, the rest of the Council members, Aidan, Davin, and a pair of brothers who were regarded as the finest hunters for several miles and needed to provide food for the winter. Aidan was kept on to continue Eliora's fight training, and Davin stayed because he did not join the Hunters. Aidan took advantage of the situation to be more openly flirtatious with Eliora, who still did her best to ignore the attention, although it was getting harder. He had clearly taken a liking to her after the first few rocky weeks, but she wasn't sure if that was due to her personality or her proximity. Davin, as usual, treated her as he had always done. She considered both of them her friends, albeit in different ways.

  "What's wrong?" Eliora asked Davin one night on the watchtower. He had not been at any meals and hadn't seemed to notice when she climbed up.

  "Today is my birthday," he said dully.

  "It is not part of the culture here to celebrate one's birthday?" she asked.

  "It usually is, but not for me," he replied with bitterness evident in his voice.

  "Do you want me to leave?"

  "You can stay if you like."

  She wasn't sure she was really welcome, but she was concerned, so she sat down next to him. "Do you want to tell me ab
out it?"

  He did not answer and they fell into silence for nearly an hour. Finally, he a low voice, he started to talk. "I shouldn't have lived to see another birthday. I should have died with the rest of my family, but I ran away and made my way here."

  "What happened?" she asked gently.

  "The people of the Charred Lands are loosely organized into clans that wander around looking for arable land. There is some, if you know where to look. The clans always fight with each other over that land. That's just how it is. Fighting is a way of survival. Sometimes survival means robbing the trade caravans, but that's only a last resort. Everyone does what they must to ensure the survival of the clan. But some clans aren't like that. They conquer other clans and rob the caravans because they want the goods, not because they need them. They wage war, not fight to survive."

  "Is that what happened to your family?"

  He nodded. "One of the worst clans lead by a man we called the Warlord attacked my clan. My father and brother were killed in the fight. I managed to escape in the confusion and my mother and sister were taken as prisoners. I followed them for days, trying to find a way to free the rest of my family and get revenge. But I was too late. The Warlord wanted to marry my sister but when she refused, he beat her so badly she died the next morning. That night, my mother killed herself. When I found out they were dead, I couldn't even force myself to do my duty and avenge their deaths or die honorably trying. I just ran away. So here I am. The last of my clan, a coward without honor who has lived to see another birthday while the man who killed my clan is free to murder and plunder without remorse or consequence." His voice was breaking with sorrow.

  Eliora