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  The Book of Maladies

  Books 1-3

  D.K. Holmberg

  Copyright © 2020 by D.K. Holmberg

  Cover art by Damonza

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  Contents

  Wasting

  1. A Job Offer

  2. Finding the Prize

  3. The Master Thief

  4. A Second Chance

  5. Captured and Escape

  6. The Hysterical Money Lender

  7. The Fallen Thief

  8. A Deeper Colorant

  9. The Thief Awakens

  10. A Return to Caster

  11. Searching For Supplies

  12. The Value of Paper

  13. Beginning to Plan

  14. A Job for Tray

  15. A Father’s Secret

  16. A Visit to the University

  17. A Purpose For the Paper

  18. The Thelns Attack

  19. Reunion

  20. Smoke Inhalation

  21. Finding the Princess

  22. The Magic in Paper

  23. The First Augmentations

  24. Saving the Princess

  25. An Awakening

  26. The Inside of a Cell

  27. Answers

  28. Searching for a Friend

  29. Another Augmentation

  30. Search For a Page From the Book

  31. An Attack in Ashes

  32. Unexpected Help

  33. Finding a Page From the Book

  Broken

  1. A Giant Augmentation

  2. Searching for Answers in Caster

  3. The Unexpected Visitor

  4. A Job Offer

  5. An Offer at Work

  6. The Warehouse Job

  7. An Attack on the Tavern

  8. The Aftermath

  9. Testing

  10. Returning Home

  11. Balan Day

  12. Pursuit

  13. A Brother’s Conversation

  14. Meeting with Marin

  15. Difficult Discussions

  16. An Answer

  17. Another Job

  18. The Warehouse

  19. An Apprenticeship

  20. First Days

  21. An Incurable Patient

  22. Search for Antivenom

  23. Lessons

  24. An Attack

  25. Visit to the Library

  26. A Friend in Need

  27. Opportunity to Impress

  28. A Surprise and a Fall

  29. A Painful Awakening

  30. A Summons

  31. A Dangerous Journey

  32. A Healing

  33. Awake and a Plan

  34. To the Palace

  35. Answers Sought

  Epilogue

  Poisoned

  1. Staff Training

  2. Therapy

  3. Making a Visit

  4. Study Partners

  5. A Library Session

  6. The Master Physicker

  7. A Merchant Caravan

  8. Where We Differ

  9. Following the Kaver

  10. A Study Group

  11. Neither Alive Nor Dead

  12. Understanding the Past

  13. The Training Continues

  14. Foxglove Toxicity

  15. In the Apothecary

  16. The Test

  17. Into the Morgue

  18. Searching for Marin

  19. Rescuing a Kaver

  20. The Easar Paper

  21. Surgery

  22. A Summons

  23. Protections on the City

  24. First Visits

  25. A Meeting

  26. The Dangerous Plan

  27. Search for Answers

  28. Bastan’s Man

  29. Kavers Fight

  30. How to Save a Friend

  31. The Tavern Destroyed

  32. Another Scribe

  33. The Next Step

  34. Appeal to the Masters

  35. At the Canals

  36. The Plan

  37. A Kaver Attacks

  Epilogue

  Names and Terms

  Author’s Note

  Series by D.K. Holmberg

  Wasting

  1

  A Job Offer

  Sam hovered in the shadows, her cloak wrapped around her, shielding her from sight. She had no intention of getting caught, but if anyone were to suspect she was here, it would be Marin. The woman was too well connected, almost as if she knew Sam’s plans even before Sam herself.

  At least Tray watched from a nearby rooftop. If she didn’t make it out, he’d know and would come in for her. Her brother had a unique relationship with Marin, and he trusted her much more than Sam ever could.

  “Is this the map?” she heard Marin whisper across to another, though she remained in shadow.

  The woman was compact, only a few inches taller than five feet, but still taller than Sam. She hated how small she was, hated the way it limited where she could sneak, but it wasn’t like she could choose her height. She’d been born small, and supposedly took after her mother, though Sam barely remembered her. All she knew was that others who had known her mother said she took after her. Even Marin had mentioned it when they’d first met.

  “This is the map. You know what they would do if they knew I shared this with you?” the man said. He stood along one of the dozens of canals that ran through the city, close enough that he could probably feel the spray off the water from the eels swirling beneath the surface. “I’m only doing this to repay the debt. After this…”

  Sam couldn’t make out who the man was, nor did she recognize his voice. There seemed to be an accent to his words, but in the city, there were nearly as many accents as there were sections to the city. People came to Verdholm for safety.

  “We’re even, I know,” Marin said. She remained near one of the buildings lining the canal, enough distance from the man that she could move quickly if needed. It was a good position. Marin tapped her canal staff on the hard stone path that ran along the canal, almost a warning to keep the man away.

  “You understand that it’s not usable in its current form, even for you?”

  Marin cut him off with a wave of her hand. “I understand that we haven’t had anything like it in the city in many years.” Her voice had trailed off as she spoke. “I don’t know why they would risk it now, but it’s to my benefit they do.”

  Marin took something from the man—a scrap of paper or a bundle?—and slipped it into her pocket.

  “And the payment?”

  “The same place I promised before,” Marin said.

  Sam knew Marin traded in information, but thought that was it—that she traded, not bought what she needed.

  “If this is inaccurate, you know what will happen.” Marin’s threat held menace, enough that Sam almost took a step back, but she was shielded in the shadows. Wearing her cloak—one she’d borrowed from Marin long ago—no one could see her.

  “It’s real enough. You won’t have much time.”

  Sam shifted her position. The moon was high overhead, gleaming along the rundown buildings in this section of the city. They were far enough removed from
the central part of town that she didn’t fear getting caught by the guards. Marin catching her might not have nearly the same consequences, but there would be consequences.

  What was she thinking following her here? Just because she found work as a thief—and good work, most of the time—didn’t mean she needed to risk that by opposing Marin.

  She turned her attention back to the conversation. What had she missed?

  “You plan to go after it today?”

  Marin nodded. “There won’t be much time before it’s transported beyond my reach. The rest of the preparations are in place. If I don’t make my move now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to. What of you?”

  “I have to return. Otherwise, all of this will have been in vain.”

  They said something else, but too softly, so Sam couldn’t hear it. She knew not to move. Movement now would disrupt the silence, and with Marin, she didn’t want to risk that exposure. The woman would not be forgiving.

  The man moved away from Marin, leaving her standing alone.

  She remained motionless for long moments before turning in Sam’s direction, as if she knew she was there. “You can come out of the shadows, Samara.”

  Kyza! How had Marin detected her?

  Sam stepped forward. “You knew?”

  “I think I’d recognized my own cloak,” she said, eyeing Sam up and down before her gaze settled on her in full. She had hard eyes, and they looked at her in a way that demanded she do as instructed. Sam suspected that any who fell victim to that gaze would do the same. “How much did you hear?”

  Sam shrugged. There was no use denying that she’d overheard everything. “Enough. What sort of prize are you going after?”

  She smiled, but Marin’s eyes never changed. “I’m not going after any prize.”

  “But I heard you say that time was important. I heard you tell him you needed to act—”

  Marin gave a single shake of her head. “I’m not the best person to reach this target.”

  Sam’s heart fluttered even before Marin said anything else. She didn’t need her to say anything more to know what she intended.

  “Since you seem to have heard everything, I think you’ll be a good fit to go after this.”

  “I don’t work for you, Marin.” She didn’t want to work for anyone, though Bastan had the best claim on her, as much as she wanted to get away from him. Sam didn’t want to spend all her days thieving. There would be something else for her, even if there were times it seemed that she would never find it. Thieving was a means to something else—someplace better—and Sam was determined to find it.

  “No, but you have, and you will again. Now.”

  “Give me a reason why I should?”

  She eyed Sam strangely, almost appraising her. “How much do you need to pay off Bastan?”

  “There is no paying off Bastan,” Sam said. Even if she had enough money to pay him off, she doubted she could completely separate from him. Once her mother died, Sam had taken all the jobs she could to keep her and her brother safe. It just so happened that most of them were tied to Bastan, and he took his cut. Each job she took drew her deeper into his web, and she was tied to him more and more. In some ways, Marin was still worse. At least with Bastan, you knew what he wanted and where you stood. With Marin, there was always a sort of uncertainty.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. For the right job, you could get your independence back, and no longer be dependent on him for jobs. What do you think about that? Would you like to be able to take only those jobs you choose? Would you like to not pay a cut on everything you pull?”

  It was as if Marin knew all the annoyances she felt. There was only so much she’d managed to do to keep both her and Tray safe. Bastan helped, but he had a price, and she gladly paid, to ensure her brother’s safety. Other than in dreams, she’d given up thinking she could ever get away from it.

  “Why give up a job like that?” she asked. “If what you have is so valuable, why not do it yourself?”

  Marin tipped her head. “I could. But I think I’d prefer to have you do it.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “That won’t happen, so I won’t bother telling you what could happen if you don’t do this for me. Why should I describe the way Tray would suffer, or the way your jobs would suddenly become more difficult?” Marin offered a false smile.

  Sam was stuck. She didn’t want to work with Marin—she already had one person who pushed her hard enough—but she feared that if she didn’t, Marin would do all the things she promised. Her brother needed her help. Sam needed to keep him safe. She couldn’t do that without money, and without the support of someone like Bastan—or Marin.

  “What’s the task?”

  Marin fished something out of her pocket and passed it to Sam. She unfolded the slip of frayed paper, revealing a hand-drawn map. It was the diagram for a building, and from the way it was depicted, Sam could tell it was a highborn house.

  “No.”

  “You don’t know the job.”

  “I know it well enough. I’m not breaking into some highborn fortress.”

  “Fortress? That seems a bit strong, even for you, Samara. This is a house, and what you’re after is incredibly valuable. Enough that when you manage to acquire it, I’ll see any debt you owe to Bastan wiped clean. How does that sound?”

  She hated to admit it, but that sounded great, and if there was anyone who would be able to afford to pay what Bastan would require to wipe away her debt, it would be Marin.

  Worry tickled at her. Why would Marin offer her this opportunity? It wasn’t that Marin was any slouch when it came to sneaking around. She was as good or better than Sam. She was the person who’d taught Sam most of what she knew, back before Sam understood the way Marin worked, and the expectations she would have for that knowledge.

  If she did what Marin asked, she’d be trading one sort of service for another. And even then, she wasn’t sure she’d be completely free of Bastan. He appreciated her skills far too much to let her go easily.

  Marin watched her, and her eyes hardened. “No strings on this one, Samara. You do this, and you’re free. Not only of Bastan, but of me. I won’t require additional service of you.”

  Sam sighed. She wasn’t sure she believed her, but that wasn’t the point, was it? The point was to tempt her, to coax her into helping, regardless of whether she wanted to or not.

  “I’ll think about it.” She handed the map back to Marin, but she didn’t take it.

  “Keep it. If you decide to do this for me, you’ll need it.”

  “When do I have to decide?”

  Marin quirked a smile. “You’ll have until tomorrow night. After that… then the offer disappears and will be made to another.”

  Damn her. First the temptation, then the time limitation.

  She knew what Tray would say. He already liked Marin well enough that he took her jobs without Sam. There weren’t many jobs Tray could do, not on his own—with his size, he didn’t have the same quiet to his steps or the same understanding of silence—but by using her brother, Marin bound him ever more to her, and in turn, risked binding Sam to her, as well.

  “I do this, and you leave Tray alone.”

  Marin actually smiled at that. “Your brother can make his own decisions, can’t he?”

  “My brother doesn’t see what you are, but I do. If I do this, you leave him alone. This pays for both of our freedom.”

  Marin chuckled. “So dramatic. It’s not as if I intend to use your brother in some nefarious way, Samara. He does the occasional odd job for me, nothing more.”

  “And those will be over.” She tried to say it as fiercely as possible, but wasn’t sure if it came out as she intended or if she only sounded amusing.

  “You’ll have to be the one to tell Trayson what you’ve told me, but I will agree.”

  Sam should have questioned more. Marin agreed far too easily, but the idea of not having Bastan on her ass all the time and not worr
ying about Marin harassing her brother was too much for her. The appeal was too great.

  “What is it? What are you after?”

  Marin shook her head. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

  “That’s not how I work.”

  Marin shrugged. “Know that it’s valuable to those in the palace, which is why I must have it.”

  “That still doesn’t help.”

  “If you choose not to do this, I can’t have you knowing what I’m after, but if you do, then know that there won’t be anything else of value in the room marked on the map.”

  “Like gems?” Everyone knew about the collection of gems the Anders family had in the palace. The famed gem collection kept the royals in power, mined from deep beneath the city in flood tunnels. They did more than that, though. They bought protection to others in the city.