The Salamander Prince Read online

  Also, and most importantly, they were staring at my salamander ‘necklace’ with quite a bit of intensity. Then the man leading their charge looked down at something in his hand and back at my neck again.

  Well, that’s not good. I was very familiar with the small device in the leader’s hand, but not due to my magical abilities. No, I’d seen my mother use such a thing on more than one occasion. She would steal a person’s hair or fingernails or blood and put it into the small stone box. At that point, she could find them no matter where they were. The boxes were horribly expensive, incredibly rare, obnoxiously heavy for their small size, and it appeared that someone was using it to track my husband.

  As the men drew closer, I began to prepare a spell, only to have my ear bitten by my husband. Fun fact: salamanders have teeth like snakes, small and very, very sharp.

  “No magic,” he hissed, making me grimace even more.

  This is why you avoid promises if you can. They come back to bite you, like salamander teeth to your earlobe.

  “Good evening, miss,” said the leader as he drew close. I could tell he was the leader, because just before he moved forward, he motioned the others to stay back. And none of them even thought of disobeying. “You seem to have something around your neck.”

  Rule seven of my mother’s guide to getting out of sticky situations: when backed into a corner, confuse the heck out of your opponent. At least you will die laughing at them.

  “Yes, I do. It’s called a necklace.”

  They blinked. Apparently it wasn’t the response they expected, but before they could clarify, I continued. Mother would be so proud.

  “I know what you’re thinking, why a salamander? Frankly, I wanted to make it a dragon, but those take a lot more detail work that I’m just not talented enough to pull off. I’ve never really been fond of snakes, which were another option, so those were off my list. Plus, they don’t match my personality much. Anything with fur would look too friendly, and–”

  “I’m sorry,” the leader cut in. “What are you talking about?”

  I fluttered my eyelashes innocently. “Why my necklace of course. I wanted to project an image, you see, but it’s very hard to do that without going overboard. I figured people would be more intimidated by a fire salamander than a regular one, so I put this little beauty together. It even blows smoke!”

  That had them really stumped. “You made a salamander shaped necklace… that blows smoke. Because you want to be intimidating?”

  “Exactly!” I beamed at him for a moment before frowning. “Only, I think that I might have accidently put something extra in it. I mean, the magic required a part of an actual animal, so I cut off the tip of a salamander’s tail and added it into the mix. But now, it’s a lot more lifelike than I’d intended. I don’t know, what do you think? Is this something I can be proud of or am I just another enchantress with a ridiculous pet project?”

  The poor men had no idea what to do. I had let my bubbly persona loose on them and now they couldn’t see me as a real danger. Adding to the mire of words I’d loosed on them was the tickle of an idea that had the ability to save us a lot of trouble. After all, if I had accidentally cut off part of the person they were seeking and used it in an enchantment, it was entirely possible that the box was picking up on that piece and not the greater whole.

  Mother had that happen to her once and ranted for a month straight. He’d been on the run from her and hit upon the brilliant idea that he should cut off some unnecessary bits to buy himself more time. She had to track down three fingers and two toes before finding the rest of the person. She then dismembered him the rest of the way. It wasn’t pretty.

  Lucky for me, those men were clever enough to pick up my clues but not clever enough to realize that the whole thing was a ruse.

  “Thank you for that… interesting story, miss. I hope you have a good day.” The leader nodded at me and continued with the rest of his group to the inn across the street.

  Just before they were out of range, I heard one of the other men ask, “What would she have used if she’d settled on a dragon?”

  Chapter 4: Like a Boat Over Troubled Rivers

  I giggled all the way back to the boat. It made me perversely happy that one of the thugs had listened so closely that he was left wondering over the idea of a dragon necklace. Sadly, no one even looked at me strangely while I laughed like a crazy person. It made me worry that the city had become jaded. Or, maybe they had just gotten used to my strange personality.

  On the bright side, we didn’t face much in the way of a crowd on the way there.

  “Is that a real thing?” Jeshu asked quietly when we had cast off and sailed out onto the sunset painted river.

  “What, the use of animal parts to imbue an object with similar attributes? Yes. But it is uncommon on the continent. Far beyond the Southern Plains, there is an entire country with enchanters that specialize in it. My friend Mallie told me about them. It is a rare specialty and there is a lot involved in the process. It will not, however, create lifelike necklace representations of said creature. That was just me messing with their heads.”

  “Well, it was effective.” He paused before saying, “Thank you for not using your powers and I’m sorry for hurting you.”

  I got the impression that he wasn’t used to issuing apologies, and not because of pride. He hadn’t sounded grudging or sheepish. Instead, it was almost like an afterthought, as if he hadn’t been expected to do it often and as a result was out of practice. It made me oddly happy.

  “I forgive you.” Simple was always best when dealing with those interacting in unusual circumstances. The more words you used, the more it sounded like a lie.

  Jeshu and I watched the sun sink lower and lower as we sailed down the river.

  “We’re in for a storm tonight. I hope you’re ready,” I said as my husband crawled down from his perch and prepared to change.

  “What makes you say that?” he asked as he dropped to the deck.

  I looked at him oddly. “I can feel it of course. I thought you were a mage. Don’t you know about the other disciplines?”

  The sun disappeared and it’s last ray struck the salamander, exploding in a puff of smoke and flame, only to leave a man with brown hair and a messy beard behind.

  I blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the afterimage clouding my vision. “Skies that was bright!”

  He laughed. “That it is. I think it’s gotten more dramatic, actually. Our powers may have combined more than I thought. If that’s the case, we’ll need to work together to make sure that nothing explodes randomly.”

  “Wait, when you said our magic was mixed, what exactly did you mean?” Something was going on and I was beginning to worry.

  “Basically, our magic mixes and splits to fill us both. If there is a discrepancy between the two, then the one with the greater power is used as the mean and whatever stray power surrounds them is pulled in to balance things out.”

  And things had just begun to look up. “Why didn’t you explain this earlier? I had dampeners at the cottage! Skies! This is a disaster!”

  Jeshu’s brows drew together. “Why?”

  I sighed. I couldn’t blame him for not knowing. Unless I found out later that he had purposefully remained ignorant.

  “Where do mages draw their power?”

  “From the elements and from their own reserves.”

  So he has been taught. Good. “Okay, now where do enchanters draw power?”

  He thought about it for a moment. “Nature, right? From plants and the like.”

  I nodded. “To an extent. We do gain most of our power from objects. Usually what we use to enchant as well as the spell components themselves give us the power for our spells. We also gain power from spells themselves, like witches do, but not much. We have higher innate power then most think too, meaning the power of our very bodies is enough to work some enchantments and spells. What you don’t seem to understand is that we have minor abilities w
ith the elements as well.”

  “Like mages do? How did I not know this?”

  “No idea, and no, not like mages. Mages specialize in one element. Enchanters can use all of them to some extent. My friend and I think it’s because the elements are the source of the magic I can draw from the plants and objects around me. It is taken in as food and processed into a form I can use more easily. Like cooking a potato. You can eat it raw, but you probably won’t.”

  He stood there, processing what I’d just told him. I couldn’t see the thoughts pass through his head, but I could see a wrinkle on his brow that hadn’t been there before.

  “Is that how you know a storm is coming? You can feel the change in the elements around us? In the wind and the water?”

  “Yes. Also, it’s why we should be worried. I doubt your family ever mixed two disciplines before. There is no way to know how things will turn out. What I do know is that I just had a giant surge in my fire-calling that is worrisome. I’m not just an enchanter anymore. I’m now half fire mage. Now, my next question needs an honest answer. How much power do you have?”

  He winced, the expression mostly hidden by his messy beard.

  Fantastic. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You said that if there was a discrepancy, raw magic would fill in the space? What about when you have two magicians with overlapping powers? Does it stay static or do they amplify each other?”

  He ran his hand through his shaggy brown hair. “I don’t know. The magic came from my mother’s side and the marriage ceremony is from my father’s. There’s no precedent.”

  I drew in a long, slow breath before letting it go in the same way. We had more important things to worry about than arguing conjectures that would probably prove pointless.

  I slapped the railing. “Well, on the bright side, we won’t have to worry about it if we die in this storm. Come on, let’s get things ready. It’s gaining speed.”

  ~

  Most people underestimate storms over rivers, but they could be brutal. That river in particular was known for rather fierce storms in the spring. The surface of the water gets churned up into waves most riverboats can’t deal with. Debris litter the water, banging into your boat, possibly damaging the hull, and could be anything from branches and pebbles to entire trees and large rocks. The mud washed down by the rain and the agitated water made it hard to spot submersed boulders or sand bars, making things even more dangerous.

  On the bright side, battening down the hatches went a lot quicker with help. I was used to sailing with my nieces and even that hadn’t happened in a while. I’m sure they would be more helpful than they were at 12 and 13, but not much. Luckily, I’d enchanted some very helpful tools designed to see us through safely. We just had to attach them.

  “How did you talk me into this?” Jeshu yelled as he hung from a rope over the side of the boat.

  “I told you I’d do it instead but you decided to prove your manliness by doing it yourself,” I replied with a grin. That made him laugh. He seemed to like my sassy side, which was a first. Most people thought it annoying and inconvenient. Of course, most people also didn’t understand my sense of humor. That stupid ball really knew how to pick ‘em! I needed to make one for my niece, Portia. She needed all the help she could get.

  “I wasn’t trying to prove manliness,” my husband retorted. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the storm as he attached the disk to the wood boards with a few nails. He had to pause when a huge wave lifted the ship and made his seat swing precariously. I pulled the ropes closer and worked to stabilize things until he was finished.

  “Done.” Which was right then.

  We both sighed when Jeshu’s boots touched the deck once more.

  “As I was saying before, it wasn’t to prove my manliness or superiority or anything like that. You are perfectly capable. I just don’t think you should have to risk life and limb if I’m around to do it for you.”

  That made me smile. “Aww, my chivalrous knight in well-patched work pants! Thank you.” And then I kissed his cheek. I hadn’t planned on doing such a thing, but now that it was done, I decided that it had been nice. And was stirring up a lot of odd feelings.

  Time to move on. Now is not the time to get soft.

  I shifted to check on the enchantments. After the storm that nearly destroyed my ship the year before, I had begun crafting special enchantments that would help mitigate the danger and damage incurred during such events. Basically they were energy converters. Whatever hit the ship was changed over into something that would strengthen it instead. That included sharp rocks. The force of the hit was reflected back without damaging my ship. I had placed all but one and the storm had hit before I could find it. As a result, we had become more banged up then I’d hoped, but it wasn’t too bad.

  “Looks like it’s working. Let’s head back inside,” I called.

  Jeshu nodded and moved toward the door. Once there, he opened the door and held his body so that it would block the wind as I entered. I watched him struggle with closing the door and shook my head.

  A knight indeed. He’s the most polite, genuine man I’ve ever met. Mother would be livid. My mother had always tried to push me to make ‘alliances’ with the most powerful and evil men of her acquaintance. I had refused all such advances, but it made me a bit wary when it came to men. When I got old enough to realize that most female enchanters didn’t have children or husbands, it did nothing but cement the fact that men weren’t worth my time or attention.

  Jeshu was different though. Plus, I was already married to him!

  I smiled and moved toward the kitchen, husband following in my wake.

  “Why do you always say, ‘on the bright side’?” he asked as I ladled soup into bowls for us.

  “Do I? I didn’t realize that.” I tried to keep my voice light so he wouldn’t dig too deep.

  “You do. Any particular reason? You don’t seem like an overly optimistic person, so it does seem a bit odd.”

  I paused then sat down, placing the bowls carefully in front of us both. “You remember what I said about my family?”

  “Yes. You said that you were basically raised by your sister and helped her in turn raise her two daughters.”

  I nodded and tried my soup. Too hot still. “I mentioned my mother was evil and that my sister was selfish because it was the only way to survive, yes? Well, I used another. Every time something terrible happened, either to or around me, I would think of all the ways that I was lucky. There was still light out. No blood got on my dress. No one had noticed me in the room. I was still breathing. I may die, but at least it would be with a clean room and a clean conscience.”

  Jeshu looked horrified. “You considered dying with a clean room better than what was going on around you?”

  “I was being threatened with death if I didn’t help torture a spy my mother found lurking around her organization.” My voice was sardonic, but I still felt cold thinking about it. “There’s a point in which you have to make choice. Choices about who you want to see when you look into the mirror. Sometimes those choices are easy, like stealing the piece of candy that you want but aren’t allowed to have. Others are choices between stealing bread so you and your siblings won’t starve and no one will give you the opportunity to earn it. That would almost be easier, because you did something wrong, but not as wrong as consigning your siblings to a slow death.

  “It is quite a conundrum when you are given the choice of killing in cold blood or being killed the same way. And she would have. She would have tortured me alongside the spy if someone hadn’t distracted her just then. And at that point, I had a new bright side to look at.”

  I was almost afraid to look at my husband, worried I’d see pity in his gaze. When I finally did, all I saw was compassion and understanding.

  “Sometimes,” he whispered. “Sometimes the only way to make it through the darkness is to find the place where it is just the tiniest bit lighter and cling to it for all you’re worth.�
�� He took my hand in his and squeezed it lightly. “I’m so glad that you looked for that. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be here today.”

  A huffed laugh escaped. “No, I would have been dead right there at five years old.”

  That seemed to send him spinning again. “Five? She was trying to teach you how to torture people at five? Why?”

  “Apparently the opportunity was enough of an incentive. Plus, she told me she used to dream about it as a little girl too. That was actually what scared me straight. I’d never dreamed of hurting anyone. At that point, I realized that despite not liking me or the form of magic took, she wanted to make me into a younger version of herself. I wanted nothing to do with her after that. When I escaped, I ran to my sister Deirdre and cried for an hour. We’d always tried to stay near each other before that, but after, we were inseparable. It was safer that way. Mother is easily distracted when it comes to arguing with family, so we could throw her off when she tried to get one of us to do something by picking a fight.”

  He squeezed my hand before releasing it so we could eat. Silence reigned, only broken by the utensils scraping against bowls and the storm outside.

  “My brother and I had to band together against the world as well,” Jeshu ventured. “I can’t explain all the circumstances, but suffice to say, everyone except my parents wanted to pit my brother and I against each other. They wanted us to hate one another, to compete for everything. And when we wouldn’t, they would try to manipulate us into doing it anyway.