Illusion's Child (The Mindbender's Rise Book 1) Page 11

  Viper groaned inwardly, but kept his face still. “What’s that?”

  “You’ll serve me for one year.”

  He’d have to hold his breath every minute he was near her. A dreizhn dead bahtdor smelled better than this old lard lizard.

  “That bone isn’t worth a year. One day is double its value.” If he could talk Trevor into letting him off for a full day. Faye would be able to; she could talk a nercat into giving her its den.

  “Five lunars, and you travel wherever I travel, and do whatever I tell you.”

  He’d sworn he’d pay anything to get the blasted thing, but he didn’t have torture in mind. Besides the trader’s stench, both Trevor and Lorel would nag at him forever. “Three days, and I stay in Zedista. I don’t want it enough to leave.”

  “Five days. And you’ll do whatever I say.”

  Sandblast her. She had plans she knew he’d object to. Possibly a long trip in a slaver’s caravan. “That depends on what you have in mind.”

  “Don’t play coy with me, boy. Are you willing?”

  Now that scared him. Her position dropped too much and too fast. The woman had trouble in mind. What did she want with him? Could he trick her back? “My time is worth more than one old bone. Let me pick out five.”

  “Three. That’s final.”

  Time to take a chance and trust his luck. Viper leaned back and stared at her though his lashes. “Treble bones.”

  The fat woman frowned. “What?”

  “Let’s play treble bones.” He took a deep breath, and wished he hadn’t. He forced his gagging into a cough. “If I win, you give me three bones. If you win, I’ll be your servant for fifteen days.”

  The Kerovi inspected his face before grinning. “Done.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a trio of white cubes marked with silver slashes. “They’re made of Hreshith bone.”

  Viper whistled, but held his breath as he accepted the cubes. “Only the best.” He pretended to inspect the cubes for tampering the way his mother did, even though he wasn’t sure what to look for. The edges seemed sharp enough, and the slashes were clearly marked on each of the six sides. “You must be an incredibly rich woman.”

  The trader smiled. “Roll.”

  Thunderer, I beg you, look with favor on me. He shook the cubes and tossed them. And groaned. “Four, three, and three.” Only ten slashes. He was doomed.

  “Ten is a flaming low total,” the fat trader drawled. “It’s not too late to accept my last offer. Five days with me for one bone.”

  “Roll.” Viper crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to tremble. This whole bargain may have been a mistake.

  Mounds of flesh quivered with silent laughter. The trader shook the cubes slowly and leered at him.

  The look on her face sent a whole army of spiders skittering across his skin.

  She tossed out one cube. “Five. You can still take my deal. Better something than nothing.”

  He fought down another groan. “Roll.” He stared at the cubes and begged the Thunderer for a low number.

  The trader grinned and tossed the second cube. “Three. I now have eight. The offer is still open.”

  What had he done to himself? Did he want to be a slave? If she rolled two slashes, he might be able to talk her down to five days. Probably ten, though. Trevor would disown him. Lorel would laugh at him. Faye would never talk to him again.

  If she rolled three slashes… He’d be her slave for fifteen days. If she ever let him go. If she didn’t sell him to slavers, ones who’d take him back to Setoya. Where they’d feed him to the bahtdor.

  “Well, boy?”

  “Roll.” All that would save him was one slash. A single silver slash.

  If the trader sold him, he’d never see his friends again. He’d prove to everyone he had no sense, no value. No name.

  He wasn’t nameless. He’d chosen a new name. He wouldn’t give it up.

  Viper glared at the cube perched in the trader’s pudgy hand and demanded its obedience. He pictured the bone in his mind, a single slash uppermost, concentrated with all his heart, and begged the Wind Dancer for mercy.

  She dropped the third cube onto the table. It rolled, wobbled, hesitated on one edge.

  He held his breath.

  The bone fell toward him. One silver slash shimmered in the dim light.

  “One!” Viper yelled. “I won!”

  The trader wobbled to her feet. “You cheated.”

  “You know I couldn’t.” He laughed, his mind almost blank with pure relief. “They’re your cubes. I’ll take the longest bone, and the shoulder blade, and that big vertebra.” His head itched so much he wondered if he’d picked up lice. Not possible. He hadn’t gone that close to her, even if lice survived the pepper oil in her hair.

  “I get some recompense.” The trader slapped the table. “The law demands it.”

  Was that true? He had no idea, but he’d planned to pay her anyway. No one had the right to accuse him of being a thief. He reached into his pocket for his savings and dropped three coppers on the table.

  The trader reached across the table and grabbed his wrist with all the strength of a snapping turtle.

  Hey! What was she doing? “Let go!”

  She waddled around the table and dragged him into her arms. Mounds of soft flesh enveloped him. Hot sweat suffocated him.

  His knees collapsed from the stench.

  Her hand tangled in his hair. She yanked his face to hers and planted a full Erchan kiss on his mouth. Her teeth locked against his, forcing his mouth open, and her tongue reached halfway down his throat. Kerovi pepper burned the inside of his mouth.

  He’d never, ever, be able to enjoy a pepper again!

  Chapter 14.

  The next morning was cold, but dry. Perfect weather for a celebration, even if he was enveloped in Trevor’s scruffy old coat. Viper sprinted down to the corner where he always met with Faye and Lorel.

  “I’ve got it,” he shouted across the road. His words steamed lavish frosty clouds in the cold air. His mouth still tasted of peppers, but the burn was finally beginning to fade. “I found it. I told you I would.”

  “Quiet down.” Faye planted her hands on her hips. Her red cloak flared out like cardinal wings. “You’ll wake up the whole block.”

  “I don’t care.” He bounced on his toes, fighting down the desire to dance. “I’ve got it!” He hadn’t failed. He’d been embarrassed and suffocated, but that didn’t count.

  “What did you get, noodle brain?” Lorel kicked a loose cobblestone across the street.

  Viper peered up and down the road, pretending to search for eaves­droppers. “The bahtdor bone,” he whispered.

  “You’re kidding.” Lorel stopped glaring at the road and stared at him like she’d never seen him before. “You ain’t never.”

  “I did.” Viper laughed and whirled in circles around both girls. “I found it.” Who cared if he looked like a dervish dancer? He’d won all his bets.

  Lorel grabbed him and swung him in a wide arc. His feet brushed Faye’s skirt, and she backed away from them.

  Viper laughed and wriggled free of her hands. He wanted to dance all the way to the market and back again, even if he had to carry a dozen bundles of lowly turnips both ways.

  Faye walked away and crossed her arms.

  “You’re in for it now, kid,” Lorel whispered. “That says the boss means business.”

  “What’s wrong, Faye?” He’d done what he’d promised, hadn’t he?

  “I want the truth.” Faye walked back and planted her fists on her hips again. “How much did you have to pay?”

  Lorel’s shoulders drooped at the word ‘pay’. “It ain’t costing me nothing, kid. Dad’s giving me everything. You shouldn’t be spending money on me.”

  “It didn’t cost me anything.” Viper glanced down at the cobblestones. “I won a bet with a trader and she gave me three old bones. She didn’t even know how much they were worth, only that I wanted them.
I told her I fancied them because they reminded me of home.” She’d even given him back his three coppers, though the pitying look when she’d done that still made him want to throw them in her face. He wasn’t that poor.

  Lorel perked up, but Faye glared at him until he was ready to give up and confess. What he’d confess to, he didn’t know, but he couldn’t bear to make her unhappy.

  Faye shrugged and turned away. “Come on, let’s get to the market,” she said stiffly. “I’m not sure I believe you, but I hate to think you would lie to me.”

  It wasn’t lying, exactly. Just stretching the story a bit. Or, rather, shrinking it. A lot. He jogged to her side and whispered, “If I told Lorel I spent a single copper she’d try to pay me back. And I bet her father pays her less than Trevor pays me, if he pays her at all.” He hoped she couldn’t smell Kerovi peppers on his breath.

  “Why, you darling child. You are truly a kind person.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

  Fire spread from his cheek across his face, down his neck, through his chest.

  “What’re you love birds up to?” Lorel chuckled and swatted him on the back. “Hey, kid, when are you going to start carving?”

  He wheeled his arms to catch his balance, but he was too happy to even glare at her. “As soon as I can get a good carving knife and a chisel. Can I borrow those from you? Trevor doesn’t have a knife worthy of the name and I don’t own a carving knife.”

  “I think so.” Lorel’s steps slowed. “I’ll show up at your place this afternoon if I can pull something off. It won’t be nothing fancy, though.”

  “I don’t want fancy, but I do need sharp. If everything goes right, I’ll make a short sword and a knife to match the long sword.” He tugged on Faye’s cloak. “Are you going to come and watch?”

  “No.” Faye waved at a passing vendor. The scent of winter apples drifted from his cart. “I have commitments this afternoon.”

  “Oh.” He knew he’d do better work if she were there. But he couldn’t expect her to spend all day with him. She had family. Real family.

  Viper lengthened his stride. “I suppose we’d better hurry if we want to find the good stuff.”

  ˜™

  Hours later, he led the way across Trevor’s yard. “Watch how you walk. These steps are treacherous.” The staircase swayed under his weight, but it held steady when Lorel trudged behind him. How did she do that? Did the steps have something against him personally?

  Viper opened the front door, waved her into the parlor, and closed the door behind them as quietly as he could. He shrugged out of Trevor’s old coat and stood on his toe tips to hang it on the rack beside the door. When he reached out to take Lorel’s gray cloak, she ignored him. Wasn’t the house warm enough for her?

  As she peered around the room, her eyes widened. “How can anybody live in this firetrap?”

  Late afternoon sunlight sparkled though the parlor’s front windows. It highlighted the moth-eaten sofa and accentuated every warped floorboard and crack in the walls.

  He’d forgotten the room looked so bad. At least he’d gotten rid of all the dust and cobwebs. He’d even swept, just to impress her.

  She glanced down at him and grinned. “If this place don’t fall down on your ears, that twisty staircase is gonna fall over and break your fraying neck.”

  “You should have seen it when I moved in.” He rolled his eyes and squeezed his nose. “I’m not sure where he is, so let’s go out back.”

  “You think old Trevor will care?”

  “He’ll have to notice us first, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “When’s he gonna name you apprentice, kid?”

  Viper glared over his shoulder. He’d only lived with Trevor for a lunar. The old man hadn’t even gotten used to seeing him in the house. He was so tired of seeing that ‘Where did you come from?’ look. “I told you, he made it perfectly clear he doesn’t want an apprentice.” Or any housemate. The old man had obviously forgotten about their tutoring deal; he hadn’t asked about Setoya after the first few days.

  Lorel nudged his arm to keep him from running into the doorjamb. “But you wanna? Why don’t you just ask?”

  Why didn’t she keep her nosy nose to herself? His hunger to learn magic was none of her business, especially when there weren’t enough prayer candles in the world to change the old man’s mind.

  He led her through the kitchen, into the back garden. “When was the last time you got a straight answer out of Trevor?”

  “I don’t never talk to him. Oh, I get it. He don’t make no sense. What on the Loom?” Lorel spread her arms wide, indicating the greenery surrounding them. “We’ve had a bunch of freezes. Why ain’t all this stuff dead?”

  “Magic, I guess. Or something Trevor does. He hasn’t told me.” And it hadn’t occurred to him to ask. Except for a little digging, the yard hadn’t changed since he’d moved in.

  Lorel backed toward the kitchen door. “Magic?”

  “I told you, turybird. He’s a sorcerer.” Didn’t she ever listen to him?

  “Oh. Yeah. Maybe I shouldn’t be here?”

  “Come on, bahtdor bait. Don’t you want to see them?”

  Greed and uncertainty warred on Lorel’s face. Greed won. She jumped down the steps as if she’d seen a rotted log wriggling with tasty grubs.

  No grubs in sight, unfortunately. The scents of mint and basil drifted to his nose while he led Lorel down a path along the back of the house. He should spend more time out here. Some of Trevor’s herbs even smelled edible, now that he knew what they were.

  “Hey, kid, what’s that?”

  The long, pitted-wood box with an ill-fitting lid rested next to the house, in the only space somewhat free of herbal growth. He’d used most of the afternoon to create the ugly thing, scavenging boards and hunting inside the backyard sheds for bronze nails. It seemed only fitting that his hard-won bahtdor bones make a dramatic first appearance.

  He led Lorel to the treasure chest, slid aside the lid, and reverently lifted out the longest bone. He bowed to her and held it out between them.

  “This is the final test.” Did she have any idea how important each step of the ceremony was? “I want you to take this uncarved sword and hold it just below the knob. Swing it down slowly until it is parallel with your leg.”

  “What’s that supposed to do? I don’t wanna play no games.”

  “It’s not a game!” Blast. Trevor would catch them if he didn’t lower his voice. The old man would care if he realized they were creating a sword. “Listen to me. If it doesn’t touch the ground when you point it down, it’s too short. That means the best I can make is a short sword.”

  “Weaver’s blood.” Lorel accepted the yellowed bone, took a firm grip below the knobby end, and slowly pointed the other end toward her feet.

  It scraped the ground eighteen inches in front of her toes. How amazing. She wasn’t nearly as tall as he thought she was.

  “It’s too long!” she wailed.

  “No, it’s perfect.” He jumped to rescue the ancient bone and eased it back into the box. With his luck, she’d manage to break it. “It’s impossible to make it longer but it’s easy to make it shorter.” Besides, thirteen wasn’t very old. He’d wager she had another growth spell coming. If only he had that kind of luck. “We’ll split it today and I’ll start carving tomorrow. You brought the knife, didn’t you?”

  “Sure, I got Dad’s tools here.” Lorel reached under her cloak, but froze as a cheerful voice called out from above.

  “Hey, look,” the voice sang. “Hot Stuff has a girlfriend. How’s it going, Hot Stuff?”

  Oh, no, not them. Not now.

  “What on the Loom?” Lorel thrust the leather toolkit deeper under her cloak.

  “Wind-blasted busybody neighbors.” Viper kicked at the treasure chest, taking care to miss it. Could he crawl inside it and hide? “The wicked sandcrabs even peep through my window, and I caught them, too. Thunderer put their eyes out.”<
br />
  “What d’you do to make them watch you so much?”

  “Nothing, I swear. Nothing!”

  Lorel laughed aloud.

  “Oi, oi, Hot Stuff,” cried a second voice. “Hey, are you sure that’s a girl?”

  A third voice giggled. “I know her. Is he any good, Lorel?”

  The box was too big. Maybe he should crawl inside a flowerpot?

  “I won’t find out if we don’t get no peace,” Lorel shouted. “Disappear, will you?”

  No, under the flowerpot. Below the earthworm castings.

  A chorus of whistles echoed between the buildings. At least six girls cheered her on, and Lorel seemed to enjoy bantering with them. She would, the turybird. He needed to put a stop to this conversation, or the vulgar females would tell the world about every time he’d neglected to close the sandblasted shutters.

  Grabbing the edge of Lorel’s cloak, he backed closer to the house. “Where’s your sense of honor?” he whispered. “You shouldn’t be talking like a leather-chewing slave. Get rid of these carrion flies and help me carry this box inside. We need privacy if we’re going to get any farther.”

  Lorel sighed and looked up at her audience. “Sorry girls. I’ve gotta get my friend out of the sun. See you later.”

  “It’s not sunny down there. Stay around where we can watch.”

  The other girls cheered and laughed, but Lorel simply waved and lifted the box to her shoulder.

  Viper followed her into the kitchen, certain that steam boiled from his ears. How dare she humiliate him?

  Trevor would come looking if he yelled as loud as he wanted to. He caught a deep breath and tried to speak calmly. “That wasn’t what I had in mind.”

  Lorel chuckled. “I know. But now they’ll never guess what we’re really up to. They’d rat on us for sure. Just get used to it and play the game. Besides, it’s good for both our reputations, even if nobody believes a word of it.”

  Good for his reputation.? What kind of mushrooms was she chewing? It was still too cold for blue mantles, but he’d seen slaves chewing blue mantle mushrooms who made more sense.