A Shadow Thief's Magic Read online

  He’d always been proud of the fact he’d never killed anyone before, he was a thief, not a murderer, but he knew in a second he wouldn’t be able to say that anymore. Erin was in trouble and he wasn’t going to hesitate. But he would damn well demand to know the score once this was settled.

  The soldiers cried out when they were blinded, and he went after the guard on the right, while Erin did the same thing on her side taking the other guard. He remembered his lessons and was economical in his movements, only the first five or six inches of his sword slid into the soldiers back and tore into his heart.

  After all, there was no point running him all the way through, when that got the job done just fine.

  Erin took the other guy down just as fast, blinded they didn’t have a chance. He checked over Erin quickly but she didn’t even have a scratch. She did have beautiful breasts, and sexy curves, but he hardly noticed in his concern and anger in that moment.

  He said shortly, “Go get dressed, and then you two are going to tell me what’s going on. Those aren’t bandits, they look like professional soldiers to me. I want to know what you’re hiding up here from, so I know how to act in the future.”

  Erin shook her head, “Not now. They know where we are, we need to pack up and get on the road. I promise we’ll tell you at our camp tonight. It’s three days to the closest town, and we’ve put this off long enough. I’m done training you, we can do a quick spar in the mornings to keep our edges, and you can keep working on magic when we camp each night. We’re looking at almost twenty days on the road, and whatever time we spend in villages before we get to where were going, so plenty of time to get better as well as plan.”

  He opened his mouth to argue, but he saw the pleading look on Katy’s face and knew it was a lost cause. He couldn’t argue with those pretty green eyes.

  He growled, “Fine, let’s get on the fucking trail then.”

  He was a damned fool…

  Chapter 6

  -Katherine

  Katherine rode on the horse double with Erin, they only had two horses until they could pick another up in town.

  She glanced sideways at Daniel. He looked intimidating with his intense eyes scanning the forest around them. They had three days of small trails before they hit the first village of Wildeholt. After that there’d be better roads. She blushed and turned away, when she wished she was riding behind him instead of Erin. She loved his defined and muscular chest and she could imagine her hands roaming it as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, her breasts pushed up… She shook her head and cleared her thoughts, it was impossible.

  The last month had been a little hard on her. There were so many reasons why she shouldn’t think of him that way, he was a thief, had a foul mouth, flirted with her like she was a barmaid, and while he had a lot of magic he was limited to two spheres. A grand sorcerer or sorceress had never married a sorcerer of such low rank in known history, and she had… other considerations as well. She wasn’t just a grand sorceress after all.

  But then, his eyes cut right through her, she liked the way he made her feel when he looked at her with heat in his eyes. He made her feel beautiful, treasured, and safe, not to mention made her knees weak. No man had dared look at her that way before… and that was the problem. Would he still look at her like that after he found out the truth? Or would he lower his eyes.

  She thought she would cry if he did, she felt like a real person when they talked. Despite the bluster and curses, he was a good man. Beyond that she’d seen the fear in his eyes when the soldiers came, not for himself, but for her. He was brilliant, confident, handsome, and… he flirted with her like a barmaid.

  She blushed at admitting that to herself, the last one was both a positive and negative.

  She always knew she had to preserve her innocence for marriage, but that fact hadn’t ever bothered her as much as it did now. There were good reasons for that, although she wasn’t entirely convinced of it anymore. She was a little jealous of the fact that Erin got to sleep with him, not terribly so because her fate was unique, she’d made peace with that. There was no reason for her guardian and closest confidant to suffer as she did. But… she’d had to take things into her own hands.

  She wondered what he would think if he knew she thought of him when she took her morning bath, while he was sparring with Erin. If he knew the things she did to herself, to relieve the stress of their intense sexual tension. When he’d joked about watching her in the bath, she’d blushed remembering what she’d done just that morning, and there was a small part of her that had wished in that moment that he’d watched her as she played with herself to thoughts of him.

  That he’d watched her arch her back and close her eyes as she came on her fingertips, as his whispered name fell from her slightly parted lips.

  She squirmed on the saddle a little, bit her lip, and suppressed a moan. She needed to stop thinking about it, she was getting wet again. She may have to save her innocence for marriage, but she wasn’t ashamed of what she’d been doing, she knew she’d go insane if she couldn’t find any relief.

  She’d spoken to Erin about her feelings. Erin had told her she was just focusing on him because he was the only man available to talk to, the only one there, and because he was the one they summoned to help them. Erin insisted that it was just a natural reaction to have a crush. Easy for Erin to say, she’d been fucking him for days.

  She shook her head, she shouldn’t be cursing, not even in her thoughts.

  Katherine didn’t think so at all though, she didn’t buy that explanation, because what she felt for Daniel was deeper than that. She’d had crushes before as a teen girl a few years ago, she knew the difference. But the whole thing was impossible anyway, even if she could somehow be allowed to marry him, he didn’t seem to want anything like that. And she was scared right now, she didn’t want him to treat her differently, and in just a few hours, or less, he would find out the truth, all of it.

  Gods, what a mess…

  -Lianeth

  Lianeth scowled at the soldier, “Why didn’t they wait for a sorcerer!”

  The soldier cowered, “I do not know sire, perhaps they thought their presence was noticed, so they did the best they could to apprehend the pretender.”

  Lianeth frowned, “Perhaps, either way they have paid for their mistake with their lives.”

  The soldier stayed silent for a moment, and then continued his report, “When the sorcerer arrived, the rest of the unit moved in with him, but the cottage was deserted, and we found no trails. He can confirm however that there was a third person with them at the cottage.”

  Lianeth considered that for a moment, and them finding no trails wasn’t really a surprise. His… the pretender was more than capable of that small trick with her nature magic.

  He growled, “I want troops moved to Wildeholt right away, it’s likely they will need supplies, at least another horse for the person that is with them. Tell the sorcerer if she slips through his fingers again, he’ll regret it.”

  The soldier got up and he allowed him to leave despite his impulse to kill him for bringing such bad news. The truth was the soldier was weak, and only had access to summoning, but it was a useful skill to send and retrieve messages. He was too useful to kill in a fit of pique, no matter how much better it would have made him feel.

  Mal, Lianeth’s trusted advisor and war sorcerer said, “Sire, wouldn’t it be wiser to have her killed on sight?”

  Lianeth sighed, “It would simplify things, but no. We need to proceed carefully. If they kill her there is a chance they will realize the truth, and I can’t afford that. It’s safe enough my friend, she doesn’t have a chance. Any word of the elves?”

  Mal responded, “Sire, the elves are testing the southern border. But I don’t think they are prepared to attack yet, they’re being cautious. We do have some time left to resolve the problem of the pretender.”

  Lianeth was impressed, he’d called her the pretender without even a
hint of guile in his voice.

  -Daniel

  Daniel’s ass was sore. Fucking horses. Where’s a car when you need one anyway? If there’d been some save the Earth bastard talking about how horses were better for the environment he’d punch them in the face. The damn things stink, and their shit is a damn bio-hazard.

  Okay, it wasn’t all that bad, but it would take him time to get used to it, especially his posterior. He considered asking Kat to heal his ass, but thought better of it, he still had his pride. Although, if she had to touch it… never mind.

  Another thing that bugged him was the way they were dressed, he needed to get that fixed fast, hopefully at the first town, or maybe an illusion? He could probably cast a powerful enough one to last a day or so now, and he knew Kat herself could cast one that lasted a week. Otherwise they might as well have knights riding in front blowing horns to announce their coming. Kat may be an amazing sorceress, and Erin might kick ass with a sword, but they have no clue at all how to hide or be sneaky.

  It was probably why some god nabbed him from Earth, so he supposed he shouldn’t complain. It hadn’t been easy here so far, but he’d take this place, and the ladies he travelled with, over a jail cell any day. He was both impatient and nervous about finally finding out the score about what was going on here. Kat was as nervous and jumpy as a turkey around thanksgiving, and that couldn’t bode well for what he was about to find out.

  Erin was building a fire and getting things ready to cook, he was taking the saddles off their transportation, and he supposed he’d set up the tents too. He could tell Kat was really nervous, because she was collecting firewood and completely ignoring him. She was also fidgeting.

  It didn’t take him all that long to put up the tents, and he felt a surge of magic from Kat. He couldn’t tell what she did, so it must not have been shadow or illusion magic. He caught movement in the woods and pulled his sword.

  Katy said quickly, “Wait! It’s on our side. I summoned a guard of sorts, it will watch the camp so we won’t have to, and warn us if anything gets close.”

  He sheathed the sword in a smooth movement and looked her way with narrowed eyes.

  “I’d appreciate it if you told me about these things when you’re doing something new. I’ll recognize it though, if you do that again.”

  She nodded meekly and turned away, which really bothered him for some reason. It didn’t take long for the food to be cooked and they ate in silence. Kat was acting like someone had died, and Erin was grim faced, he wasn’t sure if Erin was upset about what Kat seemed to be going through, or if she dreaded the truth as well.

  He sighed in exasperation, “Enough, someone spit it out already, it can’t possibly be that bad. It’s been more awkward tonight than our first dinner together after you had me tied up, and that’s just wrong somehow.”

  Katy shrugged, “Alright, but I don’t want you treating me differently.”

  By the incredulous look on Erin’s face, that wasn’t going to be easy apparently.

  Katy waved to Erin and Erin said in a formal voice he’d never heard out of her mouth before, “This is Katherine Alaina Lendaran, princess and queen apparent of the throne of Lendaran.”

  Well… that explained a few things, but the people back where he came from weren’t all that impressed with royalty, that was a European thing back on Earth. He doubted he’d treat her differently.

  He frowned, “Queen apparent?”

  Katy answered, “It’s what the heir apparent becomes if the king or queen dies before their age of majority. I became the queen when I was eleven, but I was never crowned. The kingdom is led by a regent until my time of majority, which was my uncle Lianeth. He apparently decided I wasn’t the right person to lead, and took steps. To explain that I’ll need to go over some history.”

  He gave her a charming smile to try and set her at ease, “Lay it on me Kat.”

  Kat smiled at him, and then was thoughtful for a minute, as if composing it in her mind.

  “A little over three hundred years ago, Lendaran wasn’t one kingdom, it was three. We were having major problems with the elves of the south. Constant raids, they would take humans as slaves and weren’t very kind with them. After all, they could always get more. The kingdoms joined together in a treaty and fought back viciously, but elves are powerful and their magic is different. We were still losing. So Lendaran, a king of one of the three kingdoms, closeted himself for two years to work on one extremely complex spell, he carved it into a royal scepter and then came out to announce his achievement.

  “They elves had done a lot of damage those two years, and the three kingdoms were desperate enough to listen and agree to Lendaran’s plan. The scepter’s spell had all seven spheres worked into it, including death. The life spell would link all sorcerers who’d sworn fealty to the wielder of the scepter, tying their magic directly to the sovereign. This was the main purpose, it gave the wielder incredible power, enough power to push back the elves.

  “The second spell was nature, and it would ensure the scepter could only be used defensively, it could read the wielder’s intentions. This meant, the king or queen could use it to kick the elves out, but not become a monster to their subjects, or even invade the elves, just so it could stop the war.

  “The third spell inscribed was death. This would ensure only a true heir of Lendaran could wield it. It would also know when the previous king died so it would yield to its successor. It’s also the reason the royal family of Lendaran will only sleep with their wives or husbands. If a bastard was created, the spell wouldn’t know the difference, which would complicate things. The succession is too closely tied up with our kingdom’s defense to mess around with it.

  “The fourth and fifth spell was a mix of shadow and destruction. The scepter will literally search out every elf on Lendaran soil through the shadows, and destroy them. Because of this an elf hasn’t ventured on our soil in fifteen generations since the end of the war.

  “The sixth spell was illusion, if the heir holds the scepter, the intricate and extremely complicated illusion of Lendaran’s fighting the elves will run. It’s… proof of sorts, and the key of my troubles.

  “The seventh spell was summoning, if any but the heir touches the scepter, it will be transported back to the kingdom’s treasure vault.”

  She stopped talking for a minute, and took a long drink. Her eyes seemed far away, and he wanted to go comfort her, but he didn’t think she’d accept it.

  “So what did your uncle do?”

  She frowned and he saw tears in her eyes.

  Erin took up the story with a bleak tone, “She turned eighteen a little over a year ago. Her uncle must have worked on his plan for a long time, because he made a forgery of the scepter. Katherine had never held it before, not since she was a baby as is custom, so she didn’t remember what it actually felt like, or looked like.

  “When she touched it, it summoned itself away. Katherine looked up at her uncle in shock, but the guards and other nobles all cried she was an imposter, and her uncle put her away in a cell. She’d been too stunned and confused to fight back at the time.

  “He had the real scepter, and it accepted his touch, but he was the heir only if Katherine died, the death spell keeps track somehow, but don’t ask me because I don’t understand it. Kendaran was a genius with magic the like we haven’t seen again in centuries.”

  Kat touched her arm and Erin gave her an apologetic look.

  “I’ll get back to the point. So Lianeth was still the regent in charge, but couldn’t be crowned king until Katherine was dead and the scepter accepted him. The problem he had though, was the people thought Katy was the imposter, and the real Katy was alive out there. But if he put the imposter to death, and suddenly the scepter worked for him, people would smell a rat.

  “So he launched a plan. Mal, his advisor, is so far up Lianeth’s ass he has to have sunlight crated up and shipped to him. He’s the only one we know for sure knows, although it’s likely…
Nevermind. The point is, Mal went out to look for a princess lookalike. Once they found her, they’d smuggle her in somehow, execute the poor girl as an imposter. You follow so far?”

  Daniel nodded, “I think so. So what happened then?”

  “Well, after he’d killed the poor girl, he’d hold the scepter and make a speech about how their princess must still be alive and kidnapped by the imposter, else the scepter would work for them. Then in about two weeks, he could kill Katy safely, and then put on a sad face that she must have died during the search and he’d reluctantly accept the kingdom.”

  Daniel frowned, “That’s a lot to go wrong, but I can see where he needed the extra steps, to make it airtight. Still… that’s fucked up. How do you know what his plans were though?”

  Katy nodded looking a little better, “It did go wrong, before they could find someone that looked enough like me to fool anyone, Erin here broke me out. We travelled around trying to gain support to take the castle, but no one would believe I was who I said I was, or was too afraid of my uncle to join me. It was… a hard year of hiding and failing and we almost got caught once. That’s when we decided to head for the cottage that I believed was only known by my parents, I hadn’t been there since I was seven, but we found it.

  “I’m afraid I was feeling rather desperate when I cast that spell, and that’s what brought you to us.”

  Erin added, “As for how I figured out their plans, there were small clues and it was the only thing that made sense and tied it all together.”

  Daniel shook his head, “So you need me to steal the scepter from the crown city, inside a castle, inside a treasury, inside the royal treasure room, does that about sum it up?”

  That was… crazy. He almost couldn’t wait.

  “I’ll need to know the layouts of everything, all you know about the castle including waste, water and any other tunnels or the like.”