Sands of Memory Read online

  “No idea,” Joanna said. “We only know it’s not a permanent effect. And that it seems to draw not only from the five spell languages, but from divine power as well. That is, the few effects the ancients recorded either duplicate a wizard’s spell or priest’s blessing, or do something related to those.”

  “I know priests can invoke blessings to enhance memory,” Sienne said, recalling that Perrin had done something like that for Alaric once.

  “Exactly,” Vincentius said. “There’s an implication, too, that the shuffling—randomizing the deck, as it were—allows God the opportunity to choose something most helpful to the wielder of the deck at that time. I don’t know if I believe it, but it’s an interesting theory.”

  “Wait,” Sienne said. “You said five spell languages.”

  “All five,” Joanna said. “Including charm. Another reason to be careful with it. It doesn’t contain actual spells, so it’s not banned, but you should take care how you use it.”

  Sienne nodded, torn between nervousness at handling such a powerful artifact and excitement at the possibilities. Charm…it was devastating, as she knew from personal experience, and she had no desire to cast dominate on anyone, but suppose the deck let her put enemies to sleep? Or frighten them away? Surely even the most rules-bound wizard could see the benefit to that.

  Vincentius opened a desk drawer and dug around in it for a bit, coming up with a palm-sized notebook. “I’ve written down the effects I was able to uncover in my research. You can add to the list as things come up. It might not matter, since you can’t invoke an effect by searching the deck for the card you want, but you might be able to see a pattern and decide if the odds are in your favor.”

  Sienne opened the book. Vincentius had remarkably neat handwriting for someone whose office looked like the aftermath of an earthquake.

  Five of coins—creates small gem. Records say it doesn’t disappear.

  The Seer—record of talking sword, giving advice about the future

  King of swords—companion appears to fight for invoker—impossible?

  “None of these seem bad,” she said.

  “I couldn’t find specific evidence of cards that had a negative effect, true,” Vincentius said, “but there’s plenty of records of people referring to these decks as cursed, or of destroying them out of fear of what they might do. You should be careful.”

  “I will.” Sienne put the cards into their box and tucked it away in her pack. “Thanks for everything.”

  “Don’t forget about your will,” Joanna said. “You scrappers all think you’re immortal, but death takes us all, in the end.”

  “Don’t frighten the girl, shrew,” Vincentius said.

  “Don’t call me a shrew, you worthless excuse for a man!”

  “Vixen!”

  “Louse!”

  “We can go now,” Mistress Givvani murmured. Sienne was grateful to make her escape.

  They walked together as far as the rotunda, where Mistress Givvani said, “Good luck to you. And feel free to return any time you have an artifact you need identified.”

  “I will. Thanks again. I don’t know that the hazard deck will be useful to us, but we never turn down magical assistance.”

  She bade Mistress Givvani farewell and strolled across the courtyard to the gate. Unlike the halls, the courtyard was virtually empty at this early hour, and the sound of Sienne’s footsteps on the cobbles echoed off the walls of the surrounding buildings. Their cold, forbidding façades made her grateful she wasn’t a student at the university, constantly watched over by the marble bas-reliefs carved into every conceivable surface.

  Now she looked around for a quiet place to jaunt home from. Maybe it was an indulgence because being able to jaunt amid distractions was more useful to her team, and she ought to look for opportunities to practice, but jaunt took long enough to cast she didn’t like being stared at while she did so. The portico of the library was empty; that would do as well as anywhere.

  She tucked herself away in a corner of the broad, imposing portico and opened her spellbook. Transport spells were all long and cut her mouth to ribbons, which was why she rarely used them. Today, she was in a hurry.

  She began reading the spell and immediately tasted blood. Swallowing, she read on. A quivering tension began in her stomach, radiating gradually outward until she felt something was gently pulling on her in every direction. The tension grew more intense until, spitting out the final syllable, she released it all at once and found herself in her own bedroom, breathing heavily. She swallowed more blood and closed her eyes as she recovered—another indulgence, since if she had to do this under pressure, she wouldn’t have time to recover. Then she dropped her pack on the bed and headed downstairs to the sitting room.

  The normally peaceful sitting room, rented from their landlord at a better than reasonable price, overflowed with backpacks and canvas bags. Dianthe sat on the sofa and studied the contents of one of them. “We have to reduce,” she said. “This will cost far too much to ship.”

  “I thought we had enough money not to worry about that anymore,” Sienne said, taking a seat next to her.

  “No reason we can’t still be frugal, as I believe you pointed out. And we still have to carry this lot.” Dianthe leaned back and blew out her breath. “And we’ll buy supplies for the actual journey in Chirantan, so you can multiply what you see here by five.”

  Three sets of footsteps sounded in the hall. “You’re back,” Alaric said. “Did they know what the hazard deck was?”

  “Yes. It’s exciting. Random, but exciting. I don’t know how useful it will be.”

  “I prefer stability, myself,” Perrin said, pushing his long hair back from his face. “Uncertainty may be the spice of life, though I am not certain that is the saying, but how much better to know one’s path.”

  “You don’t like surprises?” Dianthe said.

  “Not at all.”

  “I agree,” Kalanath said. “Surprises can be not pleasant.”

  “Or they can be exciting!” Sienne exclaimed. “I had no idea you two were so stodgy.”

  “It is not stodgy when surprise means, ‘hello, I am here to kill you,’” Kalanath said.

  “That almost never happens.”

  Distantly, she heard a knock at the back door. “Are we expecting company?” Alaric asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Dianthe said. “I hope it isn’t someone looking to hire us. I hate having to turn people down.”

  Kalanath turned and disappeared down the hall. Perrin entered the room and sat on the chair across from Dianthe. Alaric went to Sienne’s side and leaned down for a kiss. “So, can you be more specific about the deck?”

  “Well, each card—”

  Kalanath returned, his eyes wide. “Perrin,” he said, “it is a surprise for you.”

  Perrin looked up, startled.

  “Papa!” two small voices shrieked.

  Delphine and Noel Delucco dashed into the room and flung themselves at their father. Perrin’s arms reflexively went around them, surprise deepening to stunned amazement.

  “Children,” he said, “what are you—”

  Another figure entered, more sedately. One look at Cressida Delucco’s face, though, told Sienne she was anything but serene. “I’m sorry, Perrin,” she said in her husky alto, “but we had nowhere else to go.”

  Perrin rose awkwardly, hampered by the two children clinging to him. “Why should you need to go anywhere?”

  “Because your father intends to take our children away from me,” Cressida said.

  2

  “Children, quiet,” Perrin said. Delphine and Noel subsided, though their radiant faces said they, at least, thought this surprise the most wonderful thing ever. “What do you mean, take the children away?”

  Cressida’s hands were clasped tightly in front of her as if they might otherwise fly away. “He discovered what I was doing,” she said, “having the children pray to Averran nightly on your behalf.
He…was most displeased.” She didn’t seem aware that she was crying.

  Perrin took a step toward her, then subsided. “Did he strike you?”

  “Father Delucco never sullies himself with physical violence,” Cressida said with a bitter smile. “Words were quite enough. After explaining in some detail why I am an unfit mother, he declared that he would take steps to have my parental rights invalidated, on the grounds that I was corrupting his grandchildren.”

  “He can’t do that,” Sienne exclaimed. “I don’t care if he’s the patriarch of the family, there’s no room in the law to allow that.”

  “The law is much crueler than you believe,” Cressida said. “Things are changing, yes. Family heads no longer have the power they once did. But there are still corrupt judges, and venal law-speakers, and he needs only find those and convince them it is in their best financial interests to declare the worship of a particular avatar detrimental to the well-being of the family. I had no choice. I took the children and walked out of the house an hour ago.”

  “And you came to me.” Perrin pinched the bridge of his nose as if his head ached. “Cressida, what can I do? I have no parental rights to our children. I cannot bring action against my father because he is within his authority.”

  Cressida held her head high. “You are their father,” she said, “and you care more for their well-being than Lysander Delucco, who sees them only as dynastic spoils. You know he is a tyrant. If you ever loved me, if you care at all for their needs, help me escape him.”

  No one spoke. Perrin stood still, his face frozen in astonishment. Dianthe finally stood, clearing her throat. “Why don’t you sit,” she told Cressida. “You look as if you’re about to fall down.”

  Cressida did look exhausted, her eyes hollow and bruised-looking, her mouth quivering as if she were close to shedding more tears. She let Dianthe guide her to the sofa, though her eyes never left Perrin’s. Kalanath said, “Should we go?”

  “No,” Alaric said. Perrin jerked and turned to look at him. “I know, this is a personal thing, or should be,” Alaric went on, “but I think you’ll need our help.”

  “I cannot involve you in this,” Perrin said. “My father is powerful and vindictive. I will…” He stroked Noel’s hair without appearing to realize his hand had moved. “I will not be able to accompany you to Omeira.”

  “You’re going to Omeira?” Cressida said.

  “Not anymore.” Perrin turned back to Alaric. “I am truly sorry, but if I am to take my—Cressida and the children to safety, I cannot simply give them money and hope for the best.”

  “Then we’ll all go,” Sienne said. “Omeira can wait.”

  “Stop a moment and think,” Dianthe said. “We don’t have the resources to hide the Deluccos indefinitely, and it would have to be indefinitely because I doubt Lysander Delucco will give up on searching for them when it turns out they’ve disappeared. And—no offense, Cressida, but I doubt you’re equipped to support yourself and your children. You’ll need protecting.”

  Cressida’s lips quivered harder. “You are correct,” she said. “I apologize. I should not have imposed on you.” She rose from her seat.

  “I didn’t mean we wouldn’t help,” Dianthe said in some exasperation. “Just that it’s not as simple as taking you to a safe house, or even to another dukedom. We need a permanent solution, one that legally frees you from Master Delucco’s grasp.”

  “Legal,” Sienne said. “We need a law-speaker willing to find a way around an unjust law. And we need a place where they’ll be safe and protected while that happens.” The beginnings of an idea took shape in her mind. If they could be persuaded…it would be a risk, but not nearly as big a risk as it would be for Sienne and her friends…

  “But you have plans—I’ve interrupted—I didn’t think this through. I didn’t stop for anything this morning, I just ran. We have nothing but what we’re wearing.” Cressida sank into her seat, this time as if her legs wouldn’t support her. Dianthe put an arm around her shoulders.

  “We will help,” Kalanath said. “You should not cry. We do not like Lysander Delucco at all. He is…it is what you say when someone enjoys hurting others.”

  “A rat bastard,” Perrin said. “Cressida, I will not allow him to take the children away, do you understand? My friends and I have resolved worse problems.”

  “We just need to find someplace far enough away, and protected enough, that he won’t be able to follow you,” Alaric said.

  “And I think I know the place,” Sienne said.

  Number four, Plaza of Sighs, was in an uproar. Sienne was used to the chaos her large family necessarily traveled in, but it still surprised her that any family could need quite so many trunks. She waited for a footman to carry one of those trunks to the waiting line of carriages, then ducked inside the house.

  Stacks of luggage waiting to be loaded made the oversized entry chamber feel cramped. She could still smell the remains of breakfast, sausage and eggs and ham, making her stomach quiver—rich food too early in the day nauseated her. Someone was having a loud argument deeper in the house, probably her sisters by the high-pitched voices. That wasn’t something she missed about her family.

  She climbed the stairs and went in search of her parents. At this point in the process, her mother would have succumbed to the blinding headache she always got, and her father would be off rousting her brothers to make sure they hadn’t left anything behind. Another thing she didn’t miss. So much nicer to be part of a scrapper team, able to drop everything and go at a moment’s notice. Well. Except for their current trip to Omeira. But even that had been accomplished with less fuss than it took to get eight people and their belongings from Fioretti to Beneddo. Add to that ten days on the road in a closed carriage with her sisters…no, even walking through the wilderness was better than that.

  All the doors on the second floor were open. She entered the only one from which no light emerged. Her mother lay on the four-poster bed with her eyes closed. Green light shone behind her eyelids as Lorne Macchari, her mother’s personal priest of Kitane, completed an invocation to his avatar. Sienne waited silently by the door for them to notice her. Lorne looked her way first. He was short and compact, with an elegant face and long black hair he wore tied back at the temples. “Clarie,” he said in his quiet voice, “Sienne is here.”

  Mother made an abrupt movement to sit, then subsided. “My head still aches,” she whispered. “Come here, Sienne.”

  Sienne moved to sit on the bed and take her mother’s hand. “Did you come to say goodbye?” Mother said. “I’m afraid everything’s in chaos at the moment.”

  “I did, but I had another reason, too,” Sienne said. “I have a favor to ask.”

  “Oh?”

  “It’s…a big favor. But you could save three lives.”

  Her mother’s eyes remained closed, but her eyebrows went up. “Dramatic.”

  “It’s a dramatic problem. You know about Lysander Delucco, yes?”

  Mother frowned. “He disinherited his son, didn’t he? Your companion Perrin?”

  “Yes. Perrin’s wife—former wife—has challenged his authority, and he’s threatened to take her children away from her.”

  Mother’s eyes flew open. “He can’t do that.”

  “Cressida thinks he can. At the very least, he can make her life miserable. She came to Perrin for help.”

  “And by extension the rest of you. Is there anything you can do to help? They can’t stay in the city.”

  “I know.” Sienne took a deep breath. “I was hoping there was something you could do to help.”

  “I see.” Mother smiled. “You want us to give them sanctuary in Beneddo.”

  “Lysander Delucco is powerful and wealthy, but he’s not noble. There’s no way he could get at Cressida and the children if they were under your protection, yours and Papa’s.”

  “By law, the children still belong to him.” Mother’s face tightened in a scowl. “If he brings sui
t against us, we’d have to give them back.”

  “I have faith that you’d be able to stall him while Alcander works out a counter-challenge.”

  “Alcander? He’s still a student, not a full law-speaker.”

  “True, but he has a thirst for justice, and he’s smart. I don’t doubt he’d enlist some of his teachers in solving the problem. Everyone knows taking children from their mother is wrong—the law just needs to reflect that.”

  Mother was silent. “Please, Mother, help them,” Sienne said. “You didn’t see Perrin when they showed up on our doorstep. He’s devastated to be so powerless. I think he still loves his wife, and he’s devoted to his children. You can’t let a rat bastard like Lysander—”

  “Language, Sienne.” Mother sighed. “Though I agree he is a rat bastard. Very well. Let me speak to your father. This is something he’ll need to agree to.”

  “But you’ll convince him, yes?”

  “Sienne, a strong marriage means two people working in accord toward the same goals. It isn’t one spouse manipulating the other. Though I’m not above couching my arguments in the most…convincing way possible. Why don’t you find Alcander and put your proposal to him?”

  Sienne ran Alcander to ground in the mansion’s library, a small, boxy room that smelled of lavender. Its contents ran to job lots the mansion’s owners had bought because the spines all matched. Alcander was reading a book whose leather binding was shiny with age, one Sienne recognized as belonging to him. “Sienne!” he exclaimed, setting the book down on its face. “Come to see us off?”

  “You’ll break the spine if you do that, heathen.”

  “It’s already broken. Sit, and tell me what the king is like. I can’t believe neither of us has to rule Beneddo someday. I would have sworn the king changed his mind for no one.”

  “He’s intense and clever, and very intelligent. Driven, maybe. Not kind, but that’s probably not an important characteristic for a king. I thought I hated him, but now I’m not sure.” Sienne shook her head. “That’s not why I’m here. How would you like to make legal history before you’re twenty-two?”