The Whitefire Crossing - By Courtney Schafer Page 0,75

his consciousness. But for all her subtlety, he could feel her strength, ancient and powerful, equal to her mage-brother’s.

With her magic sinking roots throughout his mind and soul, she looked deep into his eyes and said softly, “Make the promise.”

He obeyed. The power flared as he spoke, searing the words into his heart. Satisfied, she withdrew. With their hands still clasped, she drew him forward into a kiss. He resisted, memories of Alisa rising to drown him. But she was patient, her mouth sweet as the lira berries she loved to eat, and long habit made him yield. After a timeless interval, she released him. He turned his hand over to find the cut vanished. She’d worked a restorative binding so smoothly he hadn’t even felt it.

She smiled at him, gently. “Ah, Kiranushka. I will miss you.” She rose. “Come to me in a day’s time. I can provide you with means to hide yourself from Ruslan, and I will give you the name of a man who can arrange passage for you out of the city.”

“Thank you.” Kiran hesitated. “Ruslan will be angry with you, if he discovers you helped me—”

She put a finger on his lips, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Angry will be an understatement, little one. But fear not. In the many long years we have known each other, Ruslan and I have been angry with each other countless times, and it has not destroyed us.” She sighed, her smile fading. “This is what you are too young to understand: that for the akheli, family is all.”

Kiran woke to Dev shaking him by the shoulder. A suspicious wetness lingered in his eyes. He rubbed a hand over them and hoped Dev wouldn’t notice. “What is it?”

“Storm’s over,” Dev said. “Time to pack up and go.” The tarp lay in a neat bundle beside the cave entrance. Snow caked Dev’s boots, and his cheeks were red with cold.

“Already?” Kiran peered at the darkness outside the crack. “I thought the storm would last longer.”

“It’s been a full day.”

Kiran blinked. He’d slept for an entire day? No wonder hunger pains cramped his stomach and his mouth felt dry as bone. He reached for his waterskin. The deep ache had gone from his body, though his muscles still felt sluggish and stiff.

Dev busied himself with his gear with sharp efficiency. Kiran’s worries returned at the sight of his impassive face. Dev would want to reach the border to escape Ruslan, but he might easily have lied about his intent to help Kiran cross.

“When we reach the border...you said before ‘there’s always a way,’ but what will you do to find one?” Specifics would be a good sign, but if Dev brushed the question aside with vague assurances, that would be a clear warning.

“While you were sleeping, I did some thinking.” Dev sat and strapped a set of small but wickedly sharp metal spikes to the instep of one boot. “When I bring Bren’s usual goods through, they’re in a box sealed with a special ward that damps down their magic, to a level so low it fools both the mage and the gate spells. The box goes in a hidden compartment, so the guards don’t see it in their search. Works every time. I figure a mage shouldn’t be far different. Hide you from the guards, find a way to suppress your magic same as Bren’s charms, and I can get you through.”

Kiran relaxed a fraction. “Suppress my magic...” He frowned, thoughtfully. The amulet worked by misdirection, not suppression. “May I see your ward?”

Dev extracted an oilskin bundle from his pack. Gently, he unwrapped layers of cloth to reveal a thin copper square inset with gleaming gold lines.

Kiran laid a hand on the copper and cocked his head in surprise. Rather than fiery swirls of cleanly contained energies, the ward contained a chaotic darkness unlike any magic he’d sensed before. “What kind of mage made this?”

Dev shrugged. “Dunno. Got it from Bren when I first started working his route. He called it a blackshroud ward.”

Kiran released the ward. Extend that dark void over a group of charms, and he could well believe them undetectable by ordinary methods. But his own aura dwarfed that of any charm. “I doubt this type of ward would be enough to conceal me.”

“I didn’t think it’d be so easy.” Dev rewrapped the ward. “I’ve got an idea, though. The Alathians aren’t much on magic, but you wouldn’t believe what they can do with herbs.