D. Jackson - A Plunder of Souls

Another spell thrummed, and an image of Ramsey materialized before them, hanging in midair. “I’m on the Muirenn , Kaille,” the vision said. “Release him.”

Ethan nodded. To the two ghosts-Reg and the elder Ramsey-he said, “ Dimitto vos ambos .” I release you both. He watched the old captain, but the shade refused to return his gaze, even as he faded into the night.

Mariz finished the healing conjuring a short while after. He removed his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“My thanks,” Ethan said. “I assume that this squares things between us.”

“Squares things?” Mariz repeated with a frown. He replaced his spectacles.

“Makes us even. I saved your life last year, you saved mine tonight. You don’t owe me your friendship anymore.”

Mariz chuckled and shook his head. “Your mind works strangely, Kaille. Friendship is not owed, it is given. That is something that the senhora would have said. I thought you and she were most dissimilar; perhaps I was mistaken, and you are more alike than you seem.”

That stung.

“No,” Ethan said, “we’re not. Forgive me. It’s been a long and difficult night. I’m grateful to you, and I would like very much to go on being your friend.”

“Then you shall.” Mariz sheathed his knife. “But you are right: It has been a long night, and the senhora expects me to be at her home early in the morning. Good night.”

“Good night, Mariz. Again, I’m grateful to you.”

The man flashed a quick grin and descended the stairs. As the click of his boots on the cobblestone street receded, Ethan heard someone else call his name.

“Henry,” Ethan said under his breath. He went back into his room, threw on a shirt-one that was whole-and buttoned it as he hurried down the stairs.

Henry lived in a small, one-room house behind the cooperage. He stood in his doorway, peering out into the night and holding a candle in one hand and a hammer in the other. Shelly stood next to him, her ears pricked up. When she saw Ethan, she wagged her tail and bounded forward.

The cooper wore a loose nightshirt, and his hair stuck up at odd angles. Ethan assumed he had been asleep and would want an explanation. Ethan wasn’t sure what to tell him. He prided himself on being a good tenant; he usually paid his rent on time, he took good care of his room, and for the most part he made little noise. But he had been late with June’s rent, and tonight he had not only wakened Henry from a sound sleep, he had also broken his door and window. It didn’t matter that Ramsey was responsible for the actual damage; it was Ethan’s fault. And on top of everything else, he needed to explain what had happened without revealing to the cooper that he was a conjurer.

“I’m sorry to have woken you, Henry,” Ethan said, scratching Shelly behind the ears, not yet able to look the man in the eye.

“I’m not worried about that. Are you all right?”

Ethan stood and walked to where the cooper waited. “Aye, thank you. I’m fine.”

“It didn’t thound very good,” Henry said, lisping. He stared up at the broken window. “It sounded like a fight.”

“I’ll pay you for the window, Henry. And for the other damage, too.”

“What other damage?”

Ethan glanced down at Shelly, who had followed him and was nudging his hand with her snout. “The door is broken.”

The cooper’s eyebrows went up. “I put that door on there myself. It was solid. That must have been some strong magicking.”

Ethan was sure that his jaw dropped to the ground. He gaped at Henry, eyes so wide they hurt. The cooper couldn’t have surprised him more if he had cast a spell of his own. It occurred to him that Henry could have seen that floating image of Ramsey from this vantage point.

“Aye, it was,” Ethan said, trying to mask his astonishment. “This inquiry I’m working on now-there’s a … a witch who’s causing all sorts of mischief. As their kind always do.”

Henry chuckled at that, exposing the gap in his teeth. “‘As their kind do’? Come now, Ethan. I might not be as smart as some folk, but I’m not a fool.”

Ethan stared at him for another moment before starting to laugh himself. “No, Henry. You’re not a fool at all. You might be the smartest man I’ve ever met.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “How long have you known?”

“That you’re a speller?” He said it like “thpeller” and Ethan laughed again. “Oh, I guess I’ve known for six or seven years now.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

The cooper shrugged. “It wasn’t any of my business. And you always were trying to hide it from me, so I figured you were ashamed of it or something.”

“No. I was afraid you wouldn’t approve. A lot of people think conjurers are witches, and I figured you wouldn’t want me living here if you knew the truth.”

“You’re welcome to live here as long as you want, Ethan. I don’t care about the rest. I always figured it would be handy to have a speller around. I would have asked you to do stuff for me, if I hadn’t been sure that it would make you feel bad.”

“I’ll cast for you any time, Henry.” He chuckled and shook his head again. For years he had congratulated himself on keeping his secret from the cooper despite living over the man’s shop. Now it turned out that he had done a poor job of hiding his abilities, while Henry had been superb at keeping the truth from Ethan. “All right,” he said, still tickled, “I have to sleep. This has been quite a day.” He put out a hand, which Henry gripped. “Thank you, Henry.”

“For what?”

“For being a good friend. I’ll help you with the repairs, and I’ll pay you back for all the cost.”

“Sure, all right,” Henry said. “Just be careful, though. That speller who broke your door-he sounds dangerous.”

Ethan couldn’t argue.

If there was a bright side to having his window shattered and his door broken into pieces, it was that Ramsey had returned to Boston in midsummer, rather than in the dead of winter. With the breeze that flowed through his room, Ethan actually enjoyed the most comfortable night’s sleep he’d had in several weeks. The new day, however, brought complications. He didn’t wish to leave his room unattended with no door in place. He possessed few valuables, but with Ramsey loose in the city, and Sephira a constant menace, he preferred to know that what little he had was safe.

Henry had work to do and couldn’t watch his room all day, and though Shelly might have guarded his door for a time, Ethan feared that the first thief with a tasty piece of mutton or fowl would have little trouble slipping past her.

He had never cast a detection spell, but he had fallen victim to more than his share. He decided that the time had come to use one himself. After considering the matter for but a moment, he elected to cast two; he could easily imagine Diver or Pell coming to his room, seeing that the door had been destroyed, and rushing in out of concern for Ethan’s well-being. He didn’t wish to subject them to an incapacitating spell. Thus, his first casting would rely on an illusion spell, an image of himself that would warn away those who approached his door. A second conjuring would deal with anyone who ignored his warning and entered the room.

He didn’t know how to create a spell that he himself would not trigger, so he hoped that upon seeing the damaged doorway, he would remember to remove the conjuring. He also thought that he should warn Henry about the spells, lest the cooper take it upon himself to begin the repairs on his own.

These were difficult conjurings; each had to be constructed in two parts, one to create the detection web, and the second to set in place the spell that the breaking of the web would trigger. He worked on the spells for the better part of an hour, figuring out the exact wording and then casting the spells in the correct order. Even after he finished, he could not be entirely sure that the spells had worked.