The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5) Read online

  Rsiran spotted Brusus coming through the kitchen door, carrying several pints of ale. He was here most nights now that owned the tavern. At first, Rsiran thought he’d bought it for nostalgic reasons, a way to remember the former owner and love of his life Lianna, but it served another purpose. Brusus had become legitimate with the purchase of the Barth, a shopkeeper who could call upon the constables.

  They took a table toward the back of the tavern. For Rsiran, that was habit as much as anything. In all the time that he’d been coming to the Barth, they always seemed to sit near the back of the tavern. It was quieter there for them, but there was an easier escape from here as well.

  Alyse looked around before sitting. In the brighter light of the tavern, Rsiran could more easily see the extent of her bruising. What he’d thought was a fresh bruise was purple and yellow, probably several days old. She sat gingerly, and he wondered what had happened to her, and why Alyse would put up with it. She had always been a proud woman, and he couldn’t imagine her letting anyone treat her like that.

  The door to the kitchen opened again and Brusus hurried out. When he saw them, he made his way to their table, stopping at others along the way, talking to everyone in the tavern. Rsiran couldn’t help but smile. He’d gone from thief to businessman.

  Brusus noticed Alyse immediately, and he nodded to her politely. “Welcome to the Barth,” he said. “Can I offer a mug of ale, or maybe a flagon of wine?”

  Alyse shook her head and placed her hands in her lap, not meeting Brusus’s eyes.

  “Rsiran,” he said. His tone suggested that he would have many questions for him later. Each night, Brusus had different questions for him, mostly trying to determine if he would manifest any different abilities. After learning that Rsiran was also descended from the Elvraeth, Brusus had treated him slightly differently.

  Then again, many of the people he’d been in contact with now treated him differently. Worst was Della. Since learning that he was related to her, she had become distant. She’d always kept secrets from him, but those had never seemed to impact him directly. She might not have known until Reading Rsiran’s mother, but she hadn’t made an effort to share when she’d discovered it, either. This time, her secret had impacted him directly.

  Brusus gave Jessa a quick nudge hello before heading off to engage with his other patrons. Once he’d left, she picked up the dice sitting in the middle of the table and started shaking them. She tossed them across the table where they came up a pair of ones. Watcher’s Eyes. Some considered the hand lucky, while others thought it unlucky.

  “You could have remained with the guild,” Rsiran said as he watched Brusus leave. “Instead you returned to Lower Town. They would have kept you safe. They would have ensured that you were unharmed.”

  “They wanted service as well,” Alyse said softly. “Maybe not the same as…” She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she did. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does matter. Why won’t you let me help you?”

  She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “You want to help? You can start by telling me what happened to Father. Since he left, everything has been different. Once he’s back, things can begin getting back to the way they were.”

  Rsiran watched her, wishing that she could understand that for him, there was nothing about the way things had been that he wanted to return to. Even with all the challenges he’d faced, and everything that he’d learned since leaving his childhood home, it was still better than what he had known before.

  “I thought you returned the master smiths?” she went on.

  Should he tell her what happened to their father? She still didn’t know that their father had been taken by Venass, or why. Rsiran still wasn’t sure that he knew why or what it meant, but he would have to find out, especially now that he had made himself a target by destroying most of the Forgotten, most importantly Evaelyn and her inner circle.

  “Most,” he said. The smiths had returned to Elaeavn, but were under close watch by the Alchemist Guild; the alchemists didn’t want to risk the blood of the smiths leaving Elaeavn again. He could imagine how the Smith Guild took that news.

  “But not Father?”

  “He was not with the others.”

  Alyse bit her lip as Brusus brought out two mugs of warm ale and a glass of blood red wine. He dropped onto one of the stools and glanced from Rsiran to Jessa, and then finally to Alyse.

  “Seems like I came in the middle of something.”

  “Not now, Brusus,” Rsiran said.

  Brusus frowned and pulled the dice toward him and flicked them across the table with a casual toss. They skittered to a stop with a pair of threes. Beggars. Not an unlucky hand, but not one that would win. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he grabbed the dice again.

  “Seems to me if she has questions, you should answer them, Rsiran.”

  Rsiran stared at Brusus, incredulous. “You’re the one to talk. Think of how little you’ve shared with us.”

  Brusus put on a hurt face. “Ah, Rsiran. That’s just not nice. I didn’t want to get you in any deeper than you needed to be. Besides, think of all I’ve shared with you over the last few months.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “Fine. If Alyse wants to know everything, then I’ll tell her everything.” He turned to his sister. “Some of it you might not want to know.”

  “What can you know that I wouldn’t want to know?”

  Jessa coughed and covered her mouth when Rsiran shot her a look.

  Everything that he could tell her he’d learned gradually, over months, allowing him to slowly become accustomed to it all. And now he would dump it on Alyse all at once. Knowing would not make her any happier, but that wasn’t his choice to make. How frustrated had he been when he discovered that Brusus had been keeping the secret of what he’d been working on from them? And then with Della, hiding what she knew of the crystals, and then what she knew of his birth?

  “Father is held in Thyr,” Rsiran started.

  “Thyr? How is it that Father is in Thyr?”

  “Because he went with me… Or more specifically, I took him there. I found him in Asador, abducted by the Forgotten. When Brusus was poisoned, I needed an antidote and was told to go to a place called the Tower of Scholars in Thyr. I learned that Father had been to Thyr, and I forced him to guide me there.” He watched Alyse and when she said nothing, he continued. “When we got there,”—Rsiran nodded inclusively toward Jessa—”they somehow captured us. They later released Jess and me, but they kept Father.”

  “I don’t understand. The Forgotten took Father? Why was he in Asador? How did you know? I thought you hated him? Why would you have helped him, and why would he have helped you?”

  Rsiran knew that it was a lot to take in. In hindsight, everything that had happened seemed impossible. When he’d found his father in Asador, he hadn’t been searching for him. He’d gone looking for Jessa, afraid of what Josun might do to her. Bringing his father back to the city with him had only been an act of necessity, not of kindness to their father.

  “It’s complicated,” was all Rsiran could say.

  “If you know where he is, why haven’t you saved him?” Alyse had an edge to her voice, as if she was on the verge of scolding him.

  “Because the scholars want me.”

  “Why would they want you?”

  “That’s also complicated.” And he wasn’t even sure he understood it himself. He had known that his abilities were unique, but now he understood why. He had the blood of the smiths as well as the blood of the Watcher. With that had come a combination of gifts that had been Seen, but had never manifested in anyone. As far as Rsiran knew, it was possible that Alyse shared those gifts, too, since she shared the same bloodline. “It has to do with Father and Mother.” Rsiran hesitated. “Have you seen her since… since the guild released you?”

  She hadn’t been a prisoner, not entirely, but she also hadn’t been allowed free to roam the city. That was why Rsiran hadn’
t found her, and why he hadn’t known that the guild had her, rather than the Forgotten, or even Venass as he had feared. Had he known it was the guild, would he have searched with the same intensity? He couldn’t say whether he would have. At least she was in the city. Safe. Everything he had gone through as he searched for her had put him in more danger. Not only him, but those few people whom he cared about.

  “Mother thinks it’s safest that she doesn’t see me,” Alyse answered.

  Rsiran glanced to Brusus who shook his head. “Can’t force that, Rsiran. She holds onto a different kind of anger.”

  “Anger? Why would you describe my mother as angry?”

  Rsiran sighed. This was what it came down to. This was how everything that had happened to his parents really came together. Secrets that they’d hidden from him, as well as his sister, their entire lives. Now that he knew, and knew more about what it meant, he still didn’t know how to react. There was anger, but he figured that was natural given what had been kept from him, and by those who knew how much he’d suffered.

  “Because that’s what she is. Angry,” Rsiran said. “Have… have they ever told you about their life before we were born? Anything about how they met?”

  She shook her head. “You know that Mother and Father aren’t sentimental like that.”

  He grunted. Describing them as not sentimental seemed an understatement. “You asked what happened to Father and why he was in Thyr. I told you that I’d learned he’d been there before, but I didn’t know why at first.” Rsiran paused, looking at his sister’s expectant face. “That’s where he met Mother.”

  The corners of Alyse’s mouth pulled up in what he recognized as an annoyed expression. He’d seen it countless times growing up. “That’s ridiculous, Rsiran. Mother and Father met in Elaeavn. If I know anything, I know that much.”

  “Mother couldn’t have been in Elaeavn.”

  “Fine. I’ll play along. Why?”

  “Because her father is—was—one of the Forgotten.”

  And Della’s brother, but that seemed less important to Alyse. For him, that piece was much more important.

  “That’s not possible.”

  “Why?” Rsiran asked. “We don’t know anything about their lives before we were born. You said so yourself. And I have seen Mother. She told me enough to figure out why Father had been in Thyr, and why the Forgotten wanted him. The rest… well, for the rest, I had help.”

  “It’s not possible because I’ve met our grandparents. I’ve met Mother’s parents.”

  Rsiran frowned. Alyse was only a few years older than he was. How would she have met their grandparents but he had not?

  “When?”

  Alyse bit her lip.

  “Alyse? This is more important than you realize.” Maybe more than he realized. “When did you meet them?”

  She let out a long sigh. “It’s been a few years. They came to the house when you were at the smithy with Father. They only stayed for the afternoon. Mother tried to get them to stay longer, but they wouldn’t. I don’t remember much, but there was an argument. That’s the only time I’ve ever heard Mother angry,” Alyse said.

  A few years made it recent enough that they could still be active with the Forgotten. When he had killed Evaelyn and the others who had stolen the techniques of Venass, most of the Forgotten had been destroyed. At least, they figured that most of the organized Forgotten had been destroyed. The Alchemist Guild thought that was all that needed to be done with the Forgotten, especially now that they had rescued the kidnapped smiths, but Rsiran wasn’t sure that was it. There had been too many exiled for too long for the Forgotten to be completely eliminated. Others still searched for the remnants of the Forgotten, those with the ability to Slide mostly, and some like Sarah with the ability to detect Sliding, but he didn’t know what they’d found.

  “Do you remember their names?” Brusus asked when Rsiran didn’t answer.

  Alyse bit her lip again and looked from Rsiran to Brusus. “Not their names. I don’t even know what they looked like. Mother wouldn’t let me meet them, but I… I wanted to listen. They were my grandparents. I had to know more about them.”

  Brusus nodded, though his face appeared troubled. He grabbed the dice and shook them, tossing them on the table. They came up a pair of ones. Watcher’s Eyes again. The furrow in his brow deepened. He took a deep breath and tapped the table. “Right,” he said. “Well, I have customers to attend to, and I think you have some drinking to do.” Brusus smiled, flashing warmth that spread to his pale green eyes. He leaned toward Alyse. “I know this might not appeal to you, but I seem to be short a waitress these days. If you’re interested… Well, the position comes with a room above the tavern as well. It’s not much, but it’s warm and clean, and I can promise there won’t be any of that.” He reached toward her bruised cheek before catching himself. With a shake of his head, he sighed. “Anyway, think on it.”

  Alyse glanced to Rsiran, and then Jessa, before craning her neck to peer around the tavern. The Barth had become Rsiran’s second home. It was a place of warmth, a place where his friends gathered. They had shared happiness here, and drowned their sorrows in ale. What did Alyse see when she looked around the tavern?

  “I think… I think I would like that,” she said.

  Brusus’s smile widened. “Good. You can start tomorrow. When you’re ready, I can show you to your room.”

  Before he left, Brusus squeezed Rsiran’s shoulder. Rsiran considered his friend, wondering what he intended by offering Alyse a job.

  Brusus leaned in and whispered to him. “This way, you won’t have to spend so much of your time chasing her. Trust me, Rsiran. This will be good for you too.”

  He looked over to his sister, bruised and beaten, a different person than she had been when they shared a house with their parents. She blamed him for much of it, but the fault was not on him. Brusus was right, though. This way, he knew that she would be safe, and he could focus on what else might come at them.

  Chapter 3

  In the light of day, Rsiran found the faint blood trail along the street more easily.

  He hated returning here without Jessa, but he wasn’t about to bring her to the place where his sister was attacked without knowing what he might have missed. Alyse claimed she’d been attacked regularly, but the man who had taken her had not seemed like a typical attacker in Elaeavn.

  Then again, there weren’t typical attackers in Elaeavn. The city had its share of minor crimes. Theft and other things that Rsiran had been a part of, but physical violence was uncommon. Partly because the constables—men and women he now knew to be guild members—kept the city under reasonable control, but partly because there was a certain code of conduct most in this part of the city lived by.

  An older couple pushed past him, weaving around where Rsiran knelt over the stones, eyeing the trail of blood. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any rain overnight to wash it away, but the heavy clouds overhead and the sticky humidity told him that wouldn’t last long.

  He followed the blood trail as it weaved through the street. After they’d escaped, Rsiran should have returned alone to find out what the man had wanted. It would have been easier to question him alone, when he didn’t have to worry about his sister or Jessa getting injured. Now all he had was the blood to follow.

  Maybe he should have asked Jessa to come along with him. At least with her, he’d have her Sight, and would be able to follow it more easily. Tracking it this way required him to almost crawl in certain places. It looked strange enough for him to be crouching on the street, but when he got down on his hands and knees to track, he looked even more ridiculous.

  When he lost the trail, Rsiran searched toward the docks. Going farther into Lower Town seemed the most likely. The man had the look of a seaman, and from there, he could have slipped onto one of the ships leaving port, and gone anywhere. Jessa had noted that he was not of Elaeavn. If he intended to abduct Alyse, going to sea would have been the easiest way o
ut of the city.

  He found nothing that indicated that he had gone this way.

  Up the street?

  Rsiran’s gaze turned toward the Floating Palace. In this part of Lower Town, the illusion didn’t hold quite as well as it did other places, but parts of the palace still seemed to float, stretching off the rock high above him. Blue lights glowed in a few windows. Once he would have been impressed by the lanterns there. Still was, he supposed. But now, he understood how the lanterns worked, and that it was heartstone generating the blue light. Strange that he’d broken into the palace twice, and now, working with the alchemists, he could move unfettered beneath the palace.

  He found the trail again and followed it up the street, as if toward the palace.

  That made no sense. Why would the man have been moving up the street and toward the palace? He wouldn’t have been able to leave the city from there, at least not easily, and not without passing through the Aisl Forest, taking a road that was considered one of the more dangerous ways from the city.

  The forest provided protection to Elaeavn, but also isolated the city. The Elvraeth never seemed to mind that isolation, but now, Rsiran wondered if that had more to do with the fact that some—likely the council and the guildlords—knew about the Forgotten and their organization, as well as Venass. Having the protection of the forest was another layer that prevented access to the city.

  He continued along the street, following the trail of blood. It began to space out, making it more difficult for him to follow, and he wondered if the man had paused long enough to bandage his wounds. Rsiran’s knives had cut him a few times, but apparently, not badly enough to stop him.

  “Why are you staring at the ground?”

  Rsiran looked up to see Sarah standing along the edge of the road. He hadn’t realized it, but he neared the middle section of the city, with Upper Town not far from him. The guild houses were in Upper Town, but he had grown up in this part of the city, and his father’s old smithy was still here, empty now.