Ruyo dismissed Tulia and hurried to deliver the repaired letters. Except that she arranged for water damage to ruin a few lines of the coded letter once more. The papers still had signs of having been wet, so it was easy to apologize and explain more-or-less what had happened.

A butler at the nobleman's estate scowled at the explanation. "At least it arrived. These blasted soldiers are obnoxious enough to our own citizens, so you're lucky you got off with just being harassed."

"What do they want, anyway?" Ruyo said, glad to change the subject.

"No one's said what, or when we'll be rid of them."

Ruyo excused herself and moved on. Once the letters were done with, she dropped in at the tall brick office of Felix the Jay. The craftsman's walls and counters were lined with musical instruments and animal pelts. Several workmen were carving and cleaning.

Felix was a burly man with a magnificent hat lined with blue feathers. "Did you fetch it?" he said.

Ruyo handed over a brown bottle with both hands. Felix took it with one, sniffed, and pumped his fist in the air. "That's the stuff!" One of his workers played a triumphant ditty on a brand new fiddle.

The aroma of exotic earthy lacquer filled the room already, like a forest. "I'm lucky the cork held," she said, and repeated the story of being dunked.

"Ha! They'd pick on a lady? That's reason number eight to kick them out. Funny, though."

"A little."

"So you learned water magic? When did you find the time to study?"

"I had a strange trip."

He stood with his arms folded, looking down and appraising her. "Some kinda mystical encounter? Never thought you'd be talking with spirits or something, unless it's to dicker with them." He'd guessed closer to the truth than he knew. He asked, "You didn't sell your soul, did you?"

"Hardly. I got into this by accident." At least, Ruyo didn't want to think of her new commitment as signing herself away. She was in charge of her life.

"Can you make more top-notch lacquer for my stuff?"

He gestured to the wall, where an especially nice lute hung ready to be glazed. Felix was an artist when he sat down to work. Several of the pieces in progress were unfinished wood, and one looked like it had been dyed with blood.

"Making a special liquid? That's actually a good idea. Not yet, but I'll look into it."

"Well, don't go telling the Khyber people you can do spell stuff. They'll kidnap you."

Ruyo swore.

He said, "Was that a request, or...?"

She blushed. "I've got other things on my mind. Are they really grabbing people?"

"That's what I heard, anyway. Hiring local magic people, or making them go away."

"Great. And I barely know any spells yet."

"Then maybe your next trick should be how to vanish." He stood up straighter. "Wanna hide in a wagon heading south?"

"There's a horse I need to return, and I need to go west. If you have reason to go that way, there's something I'd like to show you there."

"Sorry, miss. I've got lots of work."

"Thanks anyway. When's that wagon leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning. If you're scared, I can have somebody bring your horse around and slip you out past any goons."

"You'd do that? It's nice of you, sir."

He beamed. "For a discount on the lacquer. And a kiss."

Ruyo had made it this far in life without being nailed down. But Felix was going out of his way to help. With less reluctance than she expected, she stood tiptoe to reach him -- and got swept into a bear hug she didn't much mind. When Felix got his payment and set her down again, she was wobbly and blushing.

"Fair price!" he said.

#

Ruyo had some other trade items to sell off, and risked a trip to the markets. The biggest was in the Council Oak district, interspersed with tiny parks and a tall central tree. Wind rustled through the leaves, filtering the smoke from grilled fish. The city stood on a river and had decent access to the eastern coast.

She pondered what to buy, and scanned the prices and the mood. She compared what she saw to the latest gossip from Tulia and the westlands she'd recently come from. Then she frowned at her own limited supply of goods on hand. It was rare for Ruyo to sell her wares without buying more items to keep her trades going; it was like a farmer not saving seeds. Well, she took it as a challenge to make a profit today.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She visited a clothier offering plain linen tunics. "Those look lovely," she said with some generosity.

The woman running the stall smiled. "You look like a traveler. See the stitching here? It'll hold together for ages. And there are pockets!" Few people had that newfangled style but Ruyo much appreciated it.

Ruyo patted her own still-damp pockets. "I don't have much room to carry spare clothes. Would you take what I'm wearing? It's Starshore make."

"And decorated by hard wear, I can see. But maybe."

"I also need something that won't be ruined by water. I've been soaked several times lately."

Ruyo put her old tunic in trade toward a replacement, which would make her harder to identify. She stepped behind a curtain, squirmed into the comfortable, snug brown outfit, and emerged. "Deal. Now, I have some excellent dyes that might interest you..."

She got back a tidy sum for a bottle of red powder. When business was done, she asked, "What's news around here? I heard something about occupying troops, and kidnappings?"

The clothier grew quieter. "There are wicked people here as there are anywhere, and sometimes people vanish. But recently, a son of Vissio disappeared from this very market. Do you see the men with the stripes?" She nodded toward a pair of tough fellows with swords and black, white-striped uniforms. "Vissio's other sons. They say they're investigating, but they're getting more aggressive, going from questions to threats and shoving. Pushing the city Council to do something to find the boy."

"Was this boy a mage?"

"Oh yes, and only twelve years old! A prodigy."

"That's terrible! Nobody knows what happened though? I heard something about the Khyber men trying to recruit mages by any means."

The clothier waved dismissively. "It'd be war if they stole our people away, especially a noble's son. I think it's a simple ransom." Another customer arrived and waved for attention. "Thank you, miss; have a good day!"

Ruyo thanked her too. The threat to mages seemed more real now, and it seemed callous for someone in her position to walk right past a problem like this when children were involved. She did what she did best: studying the market and its people. But now with a new eye for what might be terribly wrong here.

#

One feature of the market was that it pressed against the city wall. The fact that Felix the Jay had cheerfully offered to smuggle her out of the city had her wondering how much experience he had at such things. The wall relied on both ordinary masonry and magic, but a criminal operation might use spellcraft to tunnel beneath it. A stroll along the "wall street" didn't show anything obvious, but of course it wouldn't.

Someone was singing drunkenly outside a gambling den. It was a hymn from the town of Brotherhood, with much bawdier lyrics. Another man came by, cuffed him, and harangued him for impiety. That wasn't the first Brotherhood figure she'd seen walking around Averell. In her dealings with Brotherhood she'd found the people quiet and usually honest, but they were a distrusted minority here in the lands of the Steadfast Church. And they were against magic, said to even mystically weaken mages within their domain. Still, that wasn't a motive for kidnapping.

Ruyo felt out of her depth, as an outsider playing at being able to solve real problems. Did she bring anything useful to the table? She could barely even sense the presence of magic. Although, that was useful in itself.

She practiced that by browsing a store that sold magical goods. Protective talismans, a stone-shaping chisel, a purifying canteen; all under glass.

The wizened shopkeeper stroked his beard and said, "See anything you like?"

"These each have a different flavor of sorts," Ruyo said, discovering it for the first time. The chisel was a practical tool that could cut stone faster than it had any right to -- Quintus owned three -- and it had a tang of magic very different from anything she'd noticed in the shrine. The canteen was a little like her own water spell. The talismans of a stylized tower were mostly inert, useless, but there was a subtle familiarity to a pair in one corner with a crude design. Ruyo pointed those out, saying, "Are these different?"

He beamed. "My niece made them."

"And if any of them really protect you, I'd bet on those two. Can you sense anything from them, yourself?"

"The magic of the Church is a subtle thing. My niece certainly believes. I can't guarantee the power of such things, but they're on offer along with tools I can demonstrate directly."

Was the power of belief and gods different from ordinary magic, then? The fact that Ruyo could notice anything about the amulets gave her new respect for the Steadfast Church as more than a convenient unifying faith. She knew a little of their general prayers for safety and productive labor but wasn't much of a believer.

Ruyo said, "I've learned magic recently, just very basic things, and I'm worried about the rumors. Am I in danger here? And what's this about a son of Vissio disappearing?"

The old man frowned. "I don't think you are, because it's the Council -- not just individual mages -- that the Khyber men are bothering. Whatever their game is, it doesn't concern us directly. May I ask what you do?"

Ruyo took out her canteen and demonstrated.

"Ah, interesting for a beginner! There's something odd about your style. I can't place it. It must be exciting to find out you have the talent after thinking you lost the cosmic lottery."

"I've only been taught, barely, by an old hermit," Ruyo said. "But yes, it's nice."

"Keep at it. I only really have skill at some humble enchantments. But if you buy something we might talk for a moment about your technique."

Ruyo was worried about her budget. She asked to examine the canteen, but ended up buying one of the truly enchanted Steadfast Church tower pendants. The stone tingled unpleasantly against her palm, something like a scratchy thornbush. "May it protect you," the shopkeeper said.

She kept it in one pocket, hoping to show it to Nusina later. She talked with the seller about practical spellcraft, and then she turned the topic back to the missing boy. "What was he doing in the market, anyway? And what powers does he have?"

"I don't know if he was alone, or when it happened; I hear conflicting stories. Supposedly he was showing off with stoneworking magic, making rocks roll along with him like puppies at his heels."

"A basic trick like mine, then?"

"Hmm. Now you've got me interested in the puzzle. If I had to guess... Have you heard rumors about people finding strange magic in ruins?"

Ruyo felt sweat in her armpits. "A little." Every so often there was talk that an adventurer had found a magic trinket, usually replicating a known spell and barely functional. Or revealing a stunt that wasn't already known; some of modern magic had been discovered that way.

"Well, what if the boy found something or just invented an unusual spell on his own? People would want to know what and how, and be the ones to control the secret."

"Bold of them to kidnap a noble's son, if so."

Ruyo began to get an idea, possibly a terrible one. But it was at least worth butting in to ask if her help would be welcome. She thanked the shopkeeper and headed out.