The Sultan's Spy

Chapter 14: Magic

Tariq shrugged, following her into the kitchen, staying just close enough that she was aware of his soft breathing behind her. "Not much," he said. "Nothing that really helps us figure out where these slavers are holed up."

She frowned, moving so she could put the scarred kitchen table between them without being obvious about it. Eliska leaned forward on it, palms spread out. "Did you find anything useful out?"

"Depends on your definition of useful. One of the best calligraphers in the city was murdered, two boys were arrested for setting the fire in the grain market last week, someone's been drawing and distributing unflattering illustrations of the Sultan and his family," he said, stopping and look at her.

Eliska waved her hand. Her brother could handle a bit of criticism and as long as no one was trying to start a rebellion, could really care less what the drawings were. Paying it attention would just lend the whole thing validity and make Kasimer seem like a tyrant.

"There are rumours of possible pirate activity in the north seas, someone or someones broke into the biggest spice house in the city and cleaned them out of saffron, and the gold merchant Rachab's rivalry with the silver merchant Sippai is getting serious enough that they're both looking into mercenaries and assassins. Oh, and the youngest sister of the Sultan is apparently sick and confined to the palace or some such nonsense. So, again, I didn't find out much."

She nodded slowly, lips pursed as she did her best to keep it all organized in her head. It might not be useful now, but who knew what later investigations might show links between? And with what little progress they'd been making, she didn't want to discount anything, not until she was sure it was unrelated.

"What did you find out?"

Eliska thought about writing this down, passing the info along with her regular reports. The grain market fires and her "sickness" were already known to the family, but she didn't know how much of the rest of it was. She tapped a finger against the wood of the table, lost in thought.

"-sy. Lissy!"

She jerked her head up to stare at Tariq. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "What did you just call me?"

"Lissy. It's your name, isn't it?"

She shook her head, glowering. "No, it's not. It's a nickname only my family are allowed to use. The name I'm going by now is Varina. Use that."

"But that's not your real name. I'll call you Varina in public, but here..." he trailed off, studying her face for a moment before smiling, mischief playing across his face. "I'll call you Liss."

"You're not calling me Liss."

"I don't know how you're going to stop me."

"I can just not respond."

He smirked. "You just responded to Lissy while pretending to be Varina. You won't be able to help yourself."

She snorted. "Watch me."

"Do you want to make a bet?"

"No. I don't bet. I take calculated risks while working, but I never bet. That's a good way to get yourself in over your head."

Tariq raised his eyebrows. "So strict. You won't even take on little wager?"

"No. Wagers are a form of giving your word. I can't break any oath or vow I give, so I don't do it lightly."

"Strict training for the Sultan's little puppets?"

Eliska held his gaze, chin up. "Don't act like you know anything about me or the training I went through. You don't know anything real about the Sultan either, so you might want to at least make a token effort to hide your ignorance. As for my word binding me, that has nothing to do with my training, except that it affects my magic."

As soon as the words left her lips, she wanted to take them back. She'd let her mouth run away with her again. There was just something about Tariq that seemed to send cracks into her control, splintering her otherwise perfect mask and letting the real her out. Given the job she was doing, it was a liability. If it kept up, she might have to find some way to get him out of her way for a while, at least until she had everything sorted out.

"Heh," he said, stretching the word out. "So magic isn't all just the right symbols and words. How do you get your spells to work then? Or is it a secret you can't tell me?"

Eliska sighed. "It's not a secret. Anyone can learn magic if you know the right procedures for a spell. Every spell requires at least an initial ritual to prepare it, the stronger and more complicated the spell, the longer the ritual requires you to dedicate to it. Once you complete the ritual you must paint the correct symbols onto your skin and then say the right words. Once finished, you'll find the spell burned into your skin. If you make a mistake in any portion of it, you have to start over again. If the spell requires a continuous ritual and you break it, the spell and mark will disappear."

She didn't say if the spell had a continuous effect once laid, that it would be broken as well. Not when her oath-binding spell was that type. She might be cautious enough about when she gave her word, but that first year preparing the ritual had been rough, and she hadn't thought she'd be able to complete it. Eliska was glad she had though. It was arguably the most useful spell in her arsenal.

Tariq stared for several seconds before he frowned. "That doesn't sound as difficult as I thought it would be."

Eliska snorted. "It depends on the spell." She went through all the spells she and her family were aware of for one of the more harmless ones, just in case he got any ideas. "The firestarting spell requires you to start a fire every day for three months using only wood. Any use of flint, paper, oil, or anything other than wood and your own hands means the whole thing is null. And that's one of the easiest spells to learn. Most people aren't up to the dedication and time it takes to master a spell."

"I can imagine," he replied, voice darkly amused. "Most people want to avoid putting in anything but the barest of minimum of efforts. To those people, magic must seem like an unfair advantage."

She couldn't disagree and only nodded. For a moment neither of them spoke. Tariq broke the silence, eyes on hers again. "How many spells have you mastered then?"

Eliska couldn't resist the grin that spread across her face as she shoved back one sleeve revealing the seven bands on her one arm. "More than anyone else at home," she said, unable to resist the boast. Around family all the time, around those who went through the same thing if not harder for the specialized spells, it was hard to show off. But here, on a job and with someone bound by her spell, she let herself have the brief moment of pride.

His low appreciative whistle made the small amount of risk worth it. Whatever else he was, Tariq was intelligent and had a realistic view on the world. She thought he was also familiar with hard work and sacrifice, but that was more a feeling she had rather than anything concrete. Still, for an outsider, he wasn't half bad.

~*~Note~*~

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