Chapter 23 #2
She stopped in the opening at the sight of the familiar handmade shirt and brown trousers with a missing pocket and uneven hem.
Conversation halted and everyone avoided Tal’s accusing glare except Sybil, who stuck her beaklike nose up in the air, a challenge.
Tal stepped into the room and ignored the man sitting in his usual seat, directly across from her own spot.
The basket of fresh food she had seen so often sat in the middle of the floor, and she spotted the jam cakes that she loved so much.
Her eyes flicked from the breakfast treat to the man whose lips twitched like he wanted to smile at her. With effort, Tal looked away.
Her friends were all in various stages of eating their meal. They’d been spoiled during the weeks Faron had supplied food for them, and Tal realized they couldn’t expect it to last forever. The king couldn’t continue to gift them food when she refused to accept any apology of his.
Her stomach protested loudly, and Tal decided she would stop at the baker’s before completing her errands.
“Oh, take the damn cake, you stubborn cow. No sense in letting delicious food go to waste because you don’t want to seem grateful.” Sybil rolled her eyes at Tal while everyone else stared.
Tal glared as Sybil shoved a powdered roll into her mouth.
Her stomach growled again, and her resolve evaporated.
She grabbed two of the jelly cakes, a piece of bread covered in different seeds, a block of white cheese, a boiled potato rolled in herbs, and a thick slice of salted hog meat.
Tal savored the cake first, taking great pains to keep the satisfaction off her face as the sugary treat blasted her taste buds.
She licked each finger thoroughly and washed it down with several gulps of goat’s milk.
Then she ravaged the remaining food, barely taking time to taste or chew anything and leaving a mess of crumbs and grease over her pants.
“It’s no wonder everyone stared at you at Faron’s masquerade. You eat like the baker’s sow—Hey! Don’t waste that!” Sybil ducked to avoid the bread Tal threw. She stuck her tongue out.
Tal focused on her food, ignoring the man across from her. She tried unsuccessfully to keep her thoughts from the masquerade that should have found Faron a bride. A bride! Yet, he entered their tunnels every night for over a month toying with her.
Her fury boiled in her chest, and she swallowed a particularly large bite of potato.
The thought of Faron wedding another woman and so many other images she never wanted to see had her grinding her teeth on a very well-mashed bite of cheese.
Her eyes sought him out only to find his own lit with silent laughter.
Her nostrils flared, and she pretended to find a spot on the potato particularly interesting.
Rain broke the silence. “The coins are spreading like hailfire. Someone paid the baker with one this morning, and the locksmith has received three in the last week.”
Tal frowned and bit her lip. “There’s no way Badger and Gully had that many.”
“We’re thinking it’s not just them this time,” Carrick said. He leaned against the tunnel wall near Tal, thick arms crossed over his chest. Despite his words yesterday, he still watched the king with barely concealed animosity.
“Wonderful.” Tal chuckled darkly. “So, the mages have recruited the whole of the docks to come after me, and now they’re taunting me by leaving breadcrumbs everywhere.”
Faron spoke for the first time that morning, “Actually, that may be my fault.” His sheepish grin did nothing to dispel Tal’s resentment. “I’ve been paying for Ed and Waylon’s food and drink while they’re in the docks. And I may have given them a few bags of my coin to spend at their leisure.”
Rain’s mouth hung open. Sybil stopped chewing the pastry she just bit into. Carrick pushed off the wall and stared in bewilderment.
“A few?!” Tal scoffed.
“How many coins in all?” Rain asked warily.
Faron shrugged. “Fifty? Maybe a hundred?”
Sybil choked. “Hundred?!”
“They’re hungry scoundrels who like to take advantage of me.” His attempt at humor had no effect on Tal, and his snicker died quickly.
Tal exhaled sharply. “So, this whole time Rain has been looking into the sudden appearance of this coin, and it’s been you behind our backs?”
Rain came to the king’s defense. “No, we’ve confirmed the mages are paying with their own counterfeits.
Though it does hinder the investigation.
” He approached Tal and handed her two coins.
“This is the one found in the rubble after the fires, and this is the one Faron brought himself.” Tal inspected the gold in the candlelight.
The fake version swallowed the light while Faron’s coin reflected bright honey-yellow across her clothing.
She took her own coin out of her pocket and noted the differences with the real one—the smaller willow, the lack of detail.
While the two daggers crossed on both, the detail on Faron’s showed the leather grip on the handle, and the blades protruded more from the surface.
“If we can figure out how to track only the counterfeit, we may be able to trace it to the mage or even who hired him.” Rain took the coins back from Tal.
“I’m still concerned at how many have been hired to look for you.
Even with Faron’s gold thrown into the mix, there is no denying the mage has paid others to find you. ”
Tal pocketed her coin. “It still doesn’t prove the palace’s innocence either.” She shot an accusing glare at the man she refused to mention by name. “The mages could have been given fake coins so as not to take from the kingdom’s coffers.”
Faron exhaled a frustrated sigh.
“Is Egan searching for more of the mage’s coin?” Tal noted his absence. “It’s not his watch tonight.”
Carrick’s voice held a note of unease when he said, “Faron sent him off to confirm the location of apparitions.”
“Daire and I intercepted a correspondence that alerted their presence in the kingdom,” said the royal.
Fury roared through Tal at the mention of the captain. Flame enveloped her empty hand.
Faron held up his own hands in surrender. “We were discussing the orphans.”
Skepticism coated Tal’s face.
“I’m looking for a few reputable individuals who would be willing to take the children under their care. They would be compensated, and I would provide everything the children should need. I was hoping Daire could gather that information for me.”
Tal rolled her flame around her palm. “You think we haven’t tried that already? Anyone willing to take in a child is either in no condition to do so or has the worst intentions.”
“It’s a problem that more than just money and resources can solve,” Rain added dejectedly.
“There has to be a way,” Faron said.
“Yes, burn everything and start over,” Tal added under her breath.
“There are more corrupt than honest people. If we still had Pochette’s businesses under our control, we may have been able to turn things around, but it all went to shit,” Carrick added.
In a tone that Tal considered gentle even for Sybil, the seer said, “It’s a problem for another day, highness. Tell us about that letter.”
Faron sighed. “A courier approached us looking for someone by the name of Sceleratus.”
“That sounds familiar,” Sybil mused.
“It’s the name you found on the palace ledger,” Rain offered.
“Right. The one noting the large sum of gold.” Sybil nodded to herself.
Faron ran a hand over his tired features.
“It appears even my ledgers need to be monitored. I’ll speak to someone on the council, but there isn’t anyone by that name under my command.
It’s likely an alias. Regardless, I took the letter, and it confirmed that apparitions would begin appearing within the docks. ”
The new development increased her focus and chipped away at Tal’s anger. When she spoke next, her voice lost its edge. “So, we find the courier and have him tell us where the letter came from.”
“It’s handled. I’ve located the mage’s hiding spot.”
“What?!” Tal jumped to her feet. “Why are we sitting around? Let’s get the bastard.” Tal snuffed her flame with a flick of her wrist.
Rain narrowed his gaze at the king. “How long have you known?”
“I came as soon as I had confirmation. He’s holed up at the incinerator, apparitions at every entrance—including the tunnels,” he added when Tal opened her mouth to speak.
Tal reached for her dagger. “Fine. So, we go in like last time. Use Sybil to guide us.”
“No.” “Absolutely not.” “Sounds like fun!” “Are you serious?”
The chorus of replies to Tal’s suggestion echoed around the room. Faron’s gravelly “No,” caught her attention. He had never before refused support for her decisions, and his change of heart did not go unnoticed.
“So many things could go wrong with that plan,” Rainier explained. “We don’t do things rashly, not now.”
“Have you forgotten that you were just beaten and bloodied by a pack of wolves not two days ago?” Carrick loved to remind Tal of how often danger found her.
She threw her hands up in frustration. “Then I don’t know what you want to do. Why are we discussing this if I’m not allowed to do anything about it?”
Hurried footsteps echoed through the tunnel, and Egan burst into the common area out of breath. “They know,” he panted. “They know you have fury!”
“What?!” Terror gripped Tal’s heart. Her fury pounded against its walls, frantic and warning.
Faron’s eyes grew wide with panic. Carrick pushed off the wall, fists clenched at his sides. Rainier’s back straightened, and Sybil rested her food on the ground.
“Badger received a letter.” Egan gasped, hands gripping a stitch in his side. “He knows why the mages are after you. Gully didn’t return home last night, and he’s spooked. He’s going to demand more payment or find someone who will pay him more.”
“Demon’s snare, what else will the gods throw at me?!” Tal gritted her teeth against the fire threatening to overpower her.