Footsteps approached, boot heels clicking a quiet, steady cadence on the polished floor and someone whistled a cheerful melody. Enari smiled but didn’t look up from the book spread open across her knees. She knew it was Jex before she saw him; his walk was as self-assured as the rest of him.
“Nani?”
His shadow fell over the pages and she finally glanced up, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and leaving a small smear of ink on her cheek in the process. Jex, dressed in a tunic of striped green and black, fitted green trousers, and a black doublet, leaned a hip against the wall next to her. Sitting in the wide window ledge as she was, they were almost eye-to-eye. Faintly, she could smell the scent that was uniquely him; part cedar and sandalwood from the soap he liked and part clean male. Between that and his damp hair, she assumed he’d just come from a bath.
“You’ve got ink on your face, Bookworm,” he observed. Licking his thumb, he reached out and rubbed at the smudge.
Enari wrinkled her nose and pushed his hand away, fighting a smile. She swiped a sleeve across her cheek and then tilted her head for his inspection.
“Better.” Jex kissed the spot, then plucked the tome from her lap and turned it spine up. “Treatise Maldicta?” He raised his eyebrows and whistled. “Pretty dark material, love.”
Enari rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, reaching out to reclaim her book and sticking a piece of string between the pages to mark her place. She was almost finished, having spent a great deal of her time in the library lately.
It had been three weeks since their encounter with Rhazlanakad and Jex had awakened the following morning claiming he felt completely himself. In another day, he’d begun the rest of the work he’d agreed to before leaving for Tesriel. Their time together was much curtailed as a result.
His afternoons were still consumed with teaching Kylan, which Enari happily assisted with, much to the relief of both parties. It turned out that someone was needed to mediate when patience and tempers began to wear thin. The youngest torina was making strides in her ability to write the symbols correctly and could sometimes decipher them, but she was still struggling with the language as a whole. Jex confided to Enari in secret that he wasn’t overly confident she would master it, and the best he was hoping for now was basic proficiency.
Sarene still made the occasional appearance and seemed to take great pleasure in badgering him about his ‘lover’ or ‘whoever you sneak off to at night’. She made sure Enari was within earshot, as if hoping to wound her with the talk. Jex endured it all in silence, for which she was grateful, but the torina never seemed to tire of her game. She continued to go out of her way to be as cruel to Enari as possible, but only when no one was looking.
Evenings were still her favorite times and they were most often spent in the servants’ common room with Gaylan and Babirye. Enari would sit snuggled against Jex’s side, sharing a tankard of ale or a glass of wine with him while the two men tried to outdo the other with jests and stories. Babirye taught her embroidery, an art to which she took quickly after all her lessons with Vasi over the years, and Jex surprised them all by demonstrating his own skill with a needle. It earned him a bit of teasing, but he bore it cheerfully enough.
Afterwards, they retreated to his rooms or sometimes to the gardens if the night proved particularly fair. They’d returned to the little pond in the secluded clearing several times and lay in the grass, watching the stars wheel overhead. He told her of his life at Turris Arcana and the friends he had there. Enari treasured the quiet togetherness of those times.
A handful of nights, he’d disappeared into the city at dusk and not come back until just before daybreak. He refused to tell her where or why he’d gone, only that it wasn’t to drink or wench as she first feared. Upon returning, he’d sneak into bed with her, his clothing smelling of smoke and metal, apparently unconcerned that Vasi was just on the other side of the wall.
When she tried to touch him, he would gently push her hands away and simply hold her, raining fierce, insistent kisses across her skin as if it might be his last opportunity to touch her. Somehow he was always able to slip out before they could be caught together.
Pleasant and quiet as the days had become, mornings were now an entirely different matter. Those belonged to Tora Aelani, and she was proving to be rather a demanding mistress. Intelligent and enlightening, but demanding.
Mornings were also proving to be the most troublesome for Enari.
Jex had brought her with him at first, and while the tora herself had been nothing but kind, once she and Jex disappeared behind the closed door of her study, Enari felt completely out of place. She grew tired of the strange looks the ladies gave her and the unsubtle whispers from behind their hands. So she had begun to slip out of her room long before Jex came looking for her, seeking solitude and a place where others wouldn’t stare. He stopped trying to coax her into returning after Anya pulled him aside for a private word.
That’s how she’d ended up in the library, with the Treatise spread across her lap. Although the Greater, and thus the source of Jex’s illness, had been dealt with, she felt compelled to read to the end.
Jex cleared his throat and she blinked owlishly at him. For a moment, she’d forgotten he was there.
“Aelani dismissed me early and Kylan is off with Torina Anya. We’ve the rest of the day to ourselves,” he informed her, eyes sparkling with promise.
Enari returned the look, gazing up at him through lowered lashes. Her cheeks started to color under his knowing smile and he could hear her breathing quicken. They hadn’t made love since that one feverish night, and the tension building inexorably between them ever since was nearing the breaking point.
The picture she made, sitting in the sunlight with her cheeks flushed and eyes shining, was too much to resist. He stepped closer and Enari’s knees parted to make room for him.
He kissed her slowly, but deeply. Parting her lips with his tongue and coaxing hers to his mouth, he hummed in contented pleasure. Her arms went around his neck and she leaned eagerly into the kiss.
His mouth left hers after a time and began moving down her neck, warm and firm, and by now he knew well where and how his touch was wanted and he took full advantage of that knowledge. When he nosed aside the neck of her tunic to nip at the swell of her breast, she sighed and pushed at his shoulder.
“Not here. Someone might see.”
”We’re alone. Most people are too lazy to climb that many stairs.” He rocked forward so she could feel his desire, before dropping to his knees and beginning to press little kisses up the inside of her calf. It felt wonderful and Goddess, she didn’t want to stop him, but—
“Jex.”
“Oh, alright.” He rose reluctantly, trailing a hand between her thighs as if by accident. “I was planning a little jaunt out of the palace in any case and thought that, seeing as Vasi isn’t here to run me off, you’d like to come along. Rowan is a beautiful city, and I know you’ve seen very little of it since, well, you’ve been stuck inside with me all summer.”
Enari’s eyes lit up at the prospect. She had long wanted to explore the city, but hadn’t yet found the courage to venture out alone. Even if she’d dared, she had no idea where to go and would likely have become lost in moments. Thus, she had settled for finding places in the Imperial palace from which to view the various districts. Now, to have someone actually offer to take her out into them was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
“I’ll wait here while you go and, ah, change your clothes. Take the book with you, if you like. I’m sure Coran won’t mind if you have it.”
Enari looked down at herself and was horrified. The simple, and unladylike, tunic and trousers she wore were rumpled and covered in dust from her climb into the window. She noticed a snag in one sleeve she hadn’t seen before and grimaced. There was nothing nearby that was reflective enough for her to see her hair and face, and for that, she was thankful.
Jex offered his hand in a courtly manner and she took it, hopping down from the ledge. He looked like he wanted to pull her into his arms and continue seducing her, so, clasping her book to her chest and stealing one last kiss, she raced towards the main doors.
“Treatise Maldicta,” Jex murmured to himself as he watched her go. “What could she possibly want with that?”
“The young lady is an avid reader, Battlemage Xander,” a low voice spoke from behind him, “and that best be all the two of you are doing in my library.”
Jex turned to find Coran Lucrisen emerging from a shadowy row to his left, pushing back the deep cowl of his robe. The man still moved like a phantom, Jex noted, which had always seemed somehow appropriate for a master librarian.
“I believe it. But I thought girls her age read about romance, handsome torins, and unicorns. The Treatise is a little…dry, isn’t it?”
Coran folded his arms. “You read it when you were younger than she, during your first visit to Rowan.”
“How could you possibly remember that?”
“I remember a great many things that transpire in my domain, boy. You spent nearly as much time amongst the shelves as the girl does now.”
And he had. Jex had passed many an afternoon in the cool dimness of the library, his mind caught up in tales of adventure and mystery. Like Enari, he had scorned the overstuffed chairs and scattered tables for the broad window ledges. He’d read many things in this place, including the Treatise and its companions.
That last made him frown; those books had been on an uppermost shelf when he was here last—one that, even now, he needed a stool to reach. How had she gotten it down?
“Have you reorganized the tomes in your boredom, old man?” he asked, the obvious affection in his voice negating any insult.
“I have not.”
“Then how did Enari get that book? The shelf is at least ten feet off the floor.”
Lips quirking into a small smile, Coran gestured for Jex to follow him.
Halting in front of the case that had, until recently, housed the volume in question, Coran pointed at a short stool and then at a shelf midway up from the floor. On it, standing out clearly in the dust, were two small bootprints.
Jex began to laugh. “Clever girl. I’m relieved she didn’t bring the whole thing down on herself, though.”
“She would have to weigh three times as much as you to manage that. A breeze through the open window would carry her off.”
“Best to keep the windows closed, then, if she’s going to be sitting around in ledges,” Jex advised, “I wouldn’t envy you the job of telling Vasi de’Curande that her apprentice had been swept away by the errant wind.”
“If I were you, I’d be more worried about her finding out what you get up to with her apprentice in said ledges, boy.”
* * *
Enari returned quickly, having hastily combed and braided her hair and changed into a clean dress. It was a simple gown dyed the color of ripe plums and the gold-and-cream belt she wore had been woven by Torina Anya herself for her last birthday. She had a few coins in the leather purse tied at her hip and they clinked softly as she moved.
She found Jex chatting amiably with the Master Librarian, the two men discussing the merits of a certain poet. Coran asserted that the writer was a foolish blow-hard, and Enari tended to agree. She’d read a few of the poems and found them ridiculous and insipid. Jex simply smirked and said that he often found the lines useful when speaking with women. She just bet he did.
Seeing her standing in the doorway, Jex unfolded his arms and pushed himself away from the wall. He looked her over and smiled in approval.
“I like the purple. It’s very fetching on you.”
Enari blushed and glanced down, shuffling her feet in pleased embarrassment.
“If I see Kvinna de’Curande, I take it I am not to tell her you’ve absconded with her novice?” the blonde Tesian teased.
“I’d view it as a favor and be much obliged,” Jex said dryly. He took Enari’s hand in one of his and caught up his staff in the other. She felt a moment of apprehension to see him carrying it, but quickly pushed the feeling aside. They started toward the door, his steps paced so she could easily keep up.
The sound of rich laughter followed them into the hall.
* * *
They left the palace grounds through a small and seldom-used gate in the western wall and headed into the city. The flagstone streets grew more crowded the further they went from the white stone walls. Enari gazed around in open fascination, making sure to stay close to Jex as she’d been instructed a half dozen times already.
As they walked, he began to tell her about the city.
They were in The Loom now but would soon cross over into Trigon Market. This part of Rowan was street after street of weavers, spinners, tailors, seamstresses, dye shops, and all manner of other craftsmen. She saw display windows with dressmaker’s dummies modeling gowns, trousers, and tunics in every imaginable fabric and color. They passed walled courtyards and through many an open gate she saw men and women sweating over steaming cauldrons, stirring the contents with thick paddles. The air was fragrant with the astringent scent of lye soap and other, but not unpleasant, things. When they started to pass a yard full of chattering Zyrite women using long dowels to remove lengths of fabric from coloring vats, Enari stopped to watch. One of the workers looked up, saw her standing in the open archway, and nudged her companion.
“Would you like to see, mina?” the second woman called out, “Come in, come in and look!”
Enari glanced up at Jex uncertainly, but he shooed her on with a negligent wave of one hand.
“Go ahead. If you’d like to see what they’re doing, I’m happy to wait.”
She approached the women and was drawn into their midst. The one who’d first called to her explained the dyeing process, showed her the many colors in the metal tubs, and took her to see the finished product drying on lines in the sun.
“I only wish I could mix a dye to match your hair, my love,” she said, touching Enari’s head in awe. “We wouldn’t be able to keep it in stock and I’d be a very rich woman.” The others laughed and returned to their work. Ducking her head in thanks, Enari returned to where Jex was lounging.
“Satisfied?”
She nodded and they continued on, leaving The Loom at the end of the broad avenue and turning left into the market.
Trigon Market started out clean and organized, the street they traversed lined with tidy, well-kept shops and colorful stalls shaded by fluttering awnings. Here the scent of flowers filled the warm air, with the occasional waft of cooking meat or baked goods drifting out of open doorways. Ripe fruits and vegetables filled some displays, beautiful jewelry of gold and silver studded with precious stones caught the sunlight on others. The people perusing the wares, and the merchants themselves, were finely dressed and coin exchanged hands with regularity.
But, as they headed south and closer to The Wall, the booths became increasingly more shabby, the colors more faded, and the produce less fresh. Enari could smell refuse from the mouths of alleys they passed and a few dark, dingy taverns appeared. The people in this part of the market seemed less relaxed as well, hurrying from one place to another. Shifty-eyed men lounged in groups of three or four on the corners and ragged children chased one another through the dusty street. Enari reflexively covered her nose when the overpowering stench of hot tar and dead fish assailed her.
“We’re not far from River Row,” Jex explained, “Breathe through your mouth until we’re past it, and it won’t be quite so bad.” His pace quickened a little and he kept her hand firmly in his.
In another hundred yards, the lane opened into a large square filled with rows of huddled booths and milling people. Jex started into it without hesitation and Enari followed, dropping his hand as she looked around with interest.
Halfway across the square, a glimmer caught her eye. She stopped to examine the bauble, picking it up and gently wiping away a bit of grime with her thumb. Unaware of her sudden halt, Jex continued to walk through the crowded square toward the far end where it emptied into the entrance of a large passageway.
Enari turned the object over in her fingers, peering closely. It was a thin silver ring with the image of a flowering vine engraved around the band. It was cool to the touch, despite having lain in the direct sunlight for most of the afternoon.
Hard, wiry fingers grasped her arm, pinching the skin, and a wheezy voice cackled behind her. “Pretty little maid, can thee spare a coin?”
Startled, she dropped the ring and it fell into the dirt at her feet. A hand groped at her belt and she struggled to break free. The voice tittered again, putrid breath washing past her ear. Enari jerked her head aside in disgust.
“Just one coin, lovely. Or a kiss perhaps?” Something greasy slid across her cheek and she felt bile rise in her throat. “A kiss from one so pretty could make a man forget his troubles…”
“Hands to yourself, friend.”
The grip on her arm was suddenly gone and she whirled around, stumbling back against the table. She was barely aware of the woman who scrambled around the counter, snatched up the dropped ring, and scurried back into the relative safety of her booth.
The creature who’d accosted her was old and looked brittle as a dry stick, long unkempt hair draggled into his wasted yellow face. Half-healed scabs and at least one open sore spotted his sunken cheeks and he licked his flaking lips continuously, revealing a tongue spotted with lichen-like scales. The greasy thing that touched her had been that tongue and Enari felt the urge to vomit as she scrubbed furiously at her cheek with one sleeve. The man’s filmy eyes bulged like a toad’s and his wide slash of a mouth was hanging open in fear. As far as she could see, the wretch didn’t have a single tooth in his head.
Jex leaned over him, one fist bunched in the neck of the man’s filthy tunic. The would-be thief groveled shamelessly; he was sorry, good master; he hadn’t meant to frighten the little flower. But he was so hungry and just wished to know, could she spare a coin for an old veteran down on his luck?
“So you can scuttle down to the tavern and drink?” Jex demanded, releasing the man with a scowl. “Or trade it to the Dust dealer around the corner? That’s more likely from the looks of you. Neither the ‘little flower’ nor I have coin for that. Now be gone.” And he turned his back.
The man’s toady eyes flared with rage and he withdrew a wickedly sharp dirk from somewhere beneath his rags. He leapt at Jex’s back, blade raised.
As if anticipating the act, Jex whirled on him and brought his staff to bear. He caught the man a blow to the stomach with the butt end that dropped him, gagging and breathless, into the dirt. Twirling the staff again, he swung it down on the back of the man’s skull and he collapsed like a dead fish.
Jex bent and turned him over, checking at his throat for a pulse. Satisfied that his adversary was unconscious rather than deceased, he straightened, wiping his hand on his trousers.
“They get stupid in their old age,” he muttered, “I’m surprised she let him get this bad.”
The market had gone completely still and people were staring. The closest took several steps away from the angry mage and his downed opponent. Ignoring them all, Jex turned to Enari.
“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
She nodded then shook her head, expression clearly revealing her distress.
“I told you to stay close, Nani.” He looked exasperated now. “I don’t even want to imagine the things Vasi would do to me if I let anything happen to you. She seems the type to come up with some inventive punishments, and I think you and I would both mourn the loss of my manly parts.”
“Good master, don’t be angry. The lass only stopped to look at a sweet on my table. Tweren’t her fault old Yeema is such a Dust-addled lout.”
It was the woman who had retrieved the ring. She smiled winningly up at Jex, the folds of her stout face redistributing themselves as she did so. Jex glanced down at Enari for confirmation.
“Which one?”
Enari shook her head and glanced away, refusing to hold his gaze in her shame. People were still staring at them and she took a step closer to Jex, wanting to disappear. She hadn’t meant to cause so much trouble.
The woman behind the table was happy to answer the question for her, however. She may have been old and half-blind, but there was no mistaking the affection in the man’s face as he looked at the attractive young woman. Smelling a sure sale for what it was, she produced the little ring from a pocket, giving it a swift polish on the way, and held it out for his scrutiny.
“This be it, master. Pure silver it is and crafted by the finest smith in Vandt.”
Jex grunted his disbelief. “I doubt that, but you say she fancied it?”
“Aye.”
“How much?” He reached to his belt, opening his coin purse. Enari caught his wrist and shook her head vehemently. If she blushed any harder, she was certain she would catch fire. He ignored her.
“One gold, good master.”
“You’re joking. Woman, I may look like an idiot but I assure you I am not. That trifle is worth, at the very most, five coppers.”
She folded her flabby arms. “Add a silver to that and it’s hers.”
“Seven coppers.”
She shook her head. Shrugging, Jex took Enari’s hand and began to walk away.
“A silver for the silver!” the woman exclaimed, “And I’ll take no less for it!”
Turning back with a triumphant grin, Jex flipped a silver coin onto the table and she snatched it up before it stopped spinning. She placed the ring into his waiting palm.
Chuckling, she flung out one parting shot at their retreating backs,
“Careful which finger you put it on, good master. That pretty lass of yours might get the wrong idea, otherwise!” Laughter erupted from the closest booths.
“I’m sure it’ll turn your finger green before we reach the other side of the square and if it falls off after that, you’re on your own,” Jex teased, raising Enari’s right hand. He looked at the ring and at each of her fingers before slipping it onto the middle finger of that hand. Enari was surprised to find that it fit perfectly.
* * *
“They call this Tor’s Alley, if you can believe it.”
They’d walked another hour after leaving the market square and Enari was staring to get hot and thirsty. She looked at him skeptically.
“By my honor as a mage, I swear it’s the truth.”
She simply rolled her eyes and shook her head, lips turning up in an of-course-I-believe-you smile.
Jex chuckled softly, but the humor stopped short of his eyes. There was something dark and hard in them that she found more than a bit disconcerting.
“I don’t know why it’s called that. Royalty wouldn’t be caught dead here.”
They continued down the deserted street in silence. Enari noticed that, even though it had to be only mid-afternoon, the area was already in a shadowy twilight. She could see the outer wall over the roofs of the houses, standing like a dower sentinel less than a mile away.
“This is it,” Jex said solemnly, halting before a drab little hovel that looked much the same as those around it. The structure was one of many crammed together and leaning against one another tiredly on this narrow dirt track. The only things that set it apart from its shabby neighbors were the immaculately clean windows and the unchipped blue of the front door. He led her onto the tiny porch and she held her breath, more than half expecting the creaking boards to collapse beneath their combined weight. Jex hesitated with his hand on the door, then took a deep breath before pushing it inward. He stepped into the dim space and she had no choice but to follow him.
“Ama?” he called loudly, closing the door behind them. “Raela? Kara se hazid?”
“Sema? Dela se?”
They could hear movement from the next room and then a figure appeared in the doorway. When it stepped forward into the wan light, Enari could see ‘it’ was actually a very pretty woman of middle years. Her auburn hair was swept up into a neat topknot and the dress she wore was plain but clean and covered by a fresh gray apron. She was thin, more slender than spare, and her hands had the look of one who labored for a living.
Brown eyes shining with tears, she held out her arms and hurried forward. Jex embraced her fiercely, allowing her to draw his head down to rest on her shoulder a moment before releasing her and stepping back. The bright smile she favored him with revealed two rows of slightly crooked, but white, teeth. The expression faltered and her brows creased in a worried frown when she finally noticed her second visitor.
Jex took Enari’s hand and tugged her forward..“Ama, hau da Enari, ze—”
“Egali will do, Jex. I can see your girl does not understand our words.”
The woman had a strange, hard-edged accent, though Enari recognized it as the one that crept into Jex’s voice when he was teaching Torina Kylan, but more pronounced.
Clearing his throat, he began again. “Ama, this is Enari. She’s a…friend. Enari, this is my mother, Zaya.”
She dropped a half curtsey without raising her head. In her simple purple dress, she felt plain beside the woman and wished her hair was loose so she could let it fall to hide her burning cheeks.
Zaya smiled down at her, the uncertainty melting from her kind face. “I am glad to be meeting you, Enari. A friend of my boy’s is always a welcome guest in my home.”
Enari favored her with a shy smile but her eyes darted up to Jex and she shifted a little closer to his side, relaxing a bit when she felt his hand at her back. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Zaya and she gave the pair an appraising look.
“‘Friend’ indeed,” she thought.
“She doesn’t talk, Ama,” he explained before the ensuing silence could become awkward. “It’s…sort of complicated, actually.”
Zaya Xander threw back her head and laughed, the sound ringing and deep as monastery bells.
“How fortunate for you, my son! You talk enough for two already. I do hope she has a way to tell you when she has had enough of your prattle. Poor uma.”
“She’s an excellent and polite listener,” Jex responded with a sniff. He looked around the front room. “Where’s Raela?”
“At work, or with that boy of hers. I am never sure which. But come, come. The time is nearing for tea and Goddess knows how long my son is dragging you through the streets.” She pointed at Jex. “You should be carrying her back. Such short legs and little feets will tire from so much walking.”
“I’ll carry her back if she wants me to,” Jex said defensively. “I do try to be a gentleman most of the time, Ama.”
“At least some of my lessons did not fly from that head of yours. That is good.”
She led them into her kitchen, a small but tidy room with a cheery fire crackling in the hearth. She directed Enari to a chair but stopped Jex as he made to sit beside her.
“Ah, ah. This one is a guest, but you, Sema, can be helping me with tea things.” Zaya looked as if she were used to giving orders and having them obeyed without objection and to Enari’s utter shock, Jex did as he was told without a single complaint or mouthy remark.
“Well that’s a switch.”
Jex followed his mother into a small adjoining pantry and there was a faint rattling of crockery from within.
“She is very nice-looking, Sema, but young, yes? And such hair, like autumn in the Fengals!”
Zaya kept her voice low, but Enari could still hear their conversation. She felt her blush returning.
“Nineteen this coming Janua, and—” There was a solid-sounding thump. “Ouch! Ama!”
“Jex, for shame!” Zaya scolded, “You are a man grown and she is but an uma! Doesn’t this Tower of yours have zenis your age? I know the palace does, and the city. So how far along is she?”
“Of course, but—oh. Ama, no. No, no, no. It’s not like that at all!” Jex sounded mortified and Enari almost covered her ears. “Enari is, she’s the apprentice of the kvinna who was called to attend the tora. Vasi—ow!”
“This Vasi is a kvinna of the Cyrilan Temple. I know I taught you to speak with more respect than that.”
“Yes, yes. Kvinna Vasi is an old acquaintance of Sura Eryk’s and I was sent to escort them to Rowan. I met Nani then.”
Zaya snorted indelicately. “Nani, is it? Well, certainly she seems to be a lovely little butterfly. But I see how she looks at you. Eighteen is young…though not so young for her not to be wondering. Don’t you go and hurt her heart. I taught you better than that, too, and she seems very sweet. You’re telling me the trut