head, trying to hide her concern. “I have no interest in ruling. All I’ve been trying to do is help the city.”
“By destroying things?”
“I didn’t destroy anything. If nothing else, I protected the city.”
“What makes you think that?” Telluminder asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I prevented a dangerous attack in the city.” Twice, she didn’t add, but didn’t think she needed to justify herself, and certainly not to a man like Telluminder. Perhaps she should have sent Eva looking for the information without her. It might’ve been easier.
Still, she remembered what Telluminder had known when she had been here before. He did have access to knowledge and information she couldn’t get anywhere else. She had to think that if anybody knew anything useful about the twelve followers along with Sarenoth, it would have to be him, but at the same time, he was also quirky, something Jayna had far too much experience with.
There were others who might be useful as well, but Jayna was less inclined to go to Master Raollet, though it might give her a chance to ask about whether he had hired other thugs to come after her.
“You stopped it?” Telluminder asked, cocking his head and glancing from her to Eva. “That’s not what everybody says.”
“Then everybody is wrong,” Jayna said. “We stopped it.”
He left the shield, hopped back around the counter, climbed up on his tall stool, and leaned forward. Now that he was at a height more equal to hers, she was forced to look in his eyes.
“What are you here for?” he asked.
“I was here to ask a few questions, but apparently I came to the wrong place.”
“You said you were here to spend money.”
“I can spend money,” Jayna said, “but I need to make sure that it’s money well spent.” She wasn’t above buying information, especially if it helped guide her. “How do I know you’re worth it?”
Telluminder leaned forward and flashed his yellowed teeth at her. “Who else would put up with you?” He shook his head. “It’s because of you that the dular are less inclined to work with me. They blame you for what happened in the city.”
Was that the reason for his irritation? “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t tell anybody not to work with you.”
“You don’t have to tell them,” Telluminder said. “They make their own choices, much like I have made my own choice. When I offered you help before, I apparently chose sides.” He glanced over to Eva before turning his attention back to Jayna. “And in the eyes of those within the city, it has turned me into someone who cannot be trusted.”
Jayna turned away from him, and she found a sculpture with a long feather trailing out of its side resting up against the wall. She didn’t touch it, knowing how Telluminder might react, but she could see the pattern-work along its surface. Another enchantment.
How many of the items within the shop were enchanted?
Better yet, what was the purpose of some of these items?
“You have quite a few weapons here.”
“Of course I do.”
Jayna started to laugh, turning. “You say that as if it should be unsurprising.”
“What else does an enchantment offer than an opportunity to attack?” Telluminder asked.
“Most people within the city claim the enchantments are simply designed to offer protection, not act as offensive weapons.”
And not all enchantments worked in those ways either. There were some that offered better hearing or sight, assistance that was beneficial to people as they grew older. Some offered a hint of strength, valuable for those who had become feeble. There were enchantments that could be used for nefarious purposes as well. Speed. Strength, in the wrong setting. Even hearing and sight could be misused.
And then there were other enchantments, like the ones Jayna now had in her pouch, the ones the little girl had given her. There was not much else those enchantments could be used for besides attacking.
There were other ways of creating enchantments, linking magic in very specific manners, but too many people thought to use violence in their creation.
“As you have seen, the type of enchantments I have acquired are older.”
“Do you even know what they’ll do?” she asked, pausing in front of a spear.
“I know what most of them do,” he said.
Jayna turned away from studying the spear and grinned at him. “Most?”
“Not all are quite as obvious as others,” he said. “Some of the purposes of the items have been lost to time.” He nodded toward the