The Whitefire Crossing - By Courtney Schafer Page 0,45

smart not be wary of mages, even if he did suspect Kiran’s handicap.

Besides, if he failed, then as a last resort he could still go to Dev. Tell him the truth, weather Dev’s inevitable fury, and then beg, promise, threaten...whatever it took, to convince Dev to help him instead of betray him. By then, he’d have nothing to lose.

Dev was watching him thoughtfully. “Before he touched you, what questions did Pello ask?”

Back to dangerous territory. “He talked about the lake. Then he said I reminded him of someone he used to know, and asked about my family. I told him they were bookbinders.” An idea occurred. “Oh, and he talked about you.”

“Did he.” Dev bit off the words like he’d tasted something sour.

“He said you’d been sold as a child—is that true?” It wasn’t hard to let his curiosity take over.

“Pretty much.” Dev leaned back against the boulder, putting his face into shadow. “Did he bring that up before or after you said your parents were bookbinders?”

“Before,” Kiran said, slowly. “Why?” He wished he could see Dev’s expression.

“Helps me scout his thought pattern.”

Kiran devoutly hoped Dev wasn’t following Pello’s line of thought. “But, what he said...why were you sold?”

Dev’s head tilted, his green eyes glinting in the shadow. “You weren’t born in Ninavel, I take it.”

“Why does—oh!” The meaning of Pello’s reference to Dev as a talented boy suddenly came clear. “You were Tainted...” A thousand questions crowded Kiran’s mind. The cook’s boy had been Tainted, but only enough to rattle a cup from across the room, or inch pebbles around the courtyard without touching them. Kiran had been fascinated, regardless. When Mero moved a pebble, Kiran felt nothing, no matter how tightly he focused his inner senses. You feel nothing, Ruslan had said when asked, because there is no magic to feel. The great forces of the confluence are powerful enough within the city’s confines to affect the nathahlen in the womb, but the result is merely a crude, fleeting ability to manipulate objects solely on the physical plane, and only in proximity to the confluence. Magic is subject to no such limitations. Ruslan’s dismissal hadn’t lessened Kiran’s interest, but soon after, Mero had disappeared, and the other servants wouldn’t look at Kiran or Mikail, much less talk to them.

“What did the Taint feel like?” he asked Dev.

“I don’t remember,” Dev said flatly. He stood. “Unless you’d like to try rock hopping in the dark, we’d better get moving. Soon as the sun sets, it’s gonna get colder than a demon’s smile.” The last rays of the sun tinged the snow-laced cliffs above the lake with sullen fire.

Kiran fell silent, his relief at diverting Dev’s attention tinged with regret. The itch of his curiosity would have to go unsatisfied, for now. He levered himself to his feet, his thoughts circling back to Pello. For all Pello’s clever deductions, he couldn’t know if Kiran was working alone. If Kiran approached him, privately, and threatened magical retribution from a partner in Ninavel if Pello interfered in any way...it might be enough.

“One more thing,” Dev said, as he boosted Kiran up the face of a hulking boulder. “Whatever charms you choose to carry is your business. But I’m warning you now, you can’t wear any more powerful than household simples when we cross the border. Anything strong like that bane charm, you’ll need to hand over to me. I’ll stash it safe in the specially warded container I use to get Bren’s goods past the gate.”

Kiran paused mid-scramble, dismayed. He carried nothing but Lizaveta’s amulet, which he had no intention of removing. The amulet’s protections should hide its presence from even the most powerful of detection spells. But thanks to Pello’s story, now Kiran would have to come up with yet another convincing lie. “Fine,” he said shortly.

They made the trip back to the convoy in silence. Dev’s weather prediction proved accurate. As soon as the sun disappeared, the temperature plummeted. Kiran had never been so cold in his life. Even sitting as close to the fire ring as he could get, with a warm meal in his stomach and wearing every stitch of clothing Dev had provided for the trip, the chill seeped through to his bones.

The others seemed to feel it too. Even Jerik huddled close to the fire. Conversation during dinner was subdued, though perhaps more from the continued absence of Cara and Dev’s friendly banter than the freezing night air. Kiran suspected the strained friendship bothered Dev more