Somewhere in between, p.28
Of Mischief and Magic, page 28
Of Mischief & Magic
Previously published as
A Touch of Gypsy Fire
SHILOH WALKER
Copyright
Originally published as A Touch of Gypsy Fire
Copyright © 2004 Shiloh Walker
Revised 2020
Edited by Pamela Campbell
Electronic book publication April 2004
Cover Designed by Shiloh Walker
Images
© Vladimirs Poplavskis | Dreamstime.com
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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Dedication
To my editor Pam, the Wondrous One.
To my kids, Diva, Guitar Kid & Brat—my world revolves around you two. I love you.
And to my husband, my real life fantasy…I love you.
Author Note
This book was originally titled Touch of Gypsy Fire. In 2004, when this book released, I was unaware of the negative connotations associated with the term ‘gypsy’. Since then, I have become more aware of such matters.
While I love this story, I don’t want insult a marginalized population that has already suffered far too much harm, so I decided upon another name for the race in this world previously called Gypsies and I’ve retitled the book.
The story has also been heavily revised with 20k worth of new material added.
Tyriel’s World
High Barrow
Large province that separates elvish Eivisa from most of the human-populated provinces Zhalia, Nenu and Orn.
Wildlings
Nomadic people of the High Barrow Plains
Averne
The elvish kingdom inside Eivisia, ruled by Tyriel’s father, Prince Lorne.
Eivisia
The High Kingdoms of the People, consists of four separate kingdoms, each ruled by a king or queen who are all distantly related, as the High Kingdoms were founded by a family of four, three brothers and a sister. The sister and youngest brother were twins. The younger brother Dyn and sister Ryn took over the northern and western kingdoms, with Ryn ruling the north because she had magic that blended well in cold provinces (ice, wind) and Dyn taking the western kingdom that would become Averne.
Estate of Hyra
Isolated keep along borderlands between Barrow and Eivisia. Tyriel lived there from the time she was eight until she left when she was thirty.
Nhui
Banshee-like creatures, they prey on the vulnerable. Existing in the twilight world, they manifest easiest in dusk and dawn, but can do so at other times to feed. They siphon off a being’s will to live. They love preying on the fey because their energy is so powerful, but the fae are harder to catch, and know how to fight nhui so they generally wander around small villages, caravans or in areas where there is plague or war. Not common in larger towns. Spectral creatures, they are tall and thin, with spidery fingers they use to wrap around their victim’s head as they feed.
Jiupsu
Early race of humans who settled in the plains of ancient High Barrow when wild magic still dominated much of the land. A nomadic warrior race, they were the progenitors of the Wildlings now seen in the world.
Prologue
A thin haze of smoke hung in the air, rich with the scent of tobacco and ale.
A sad-faced harpist played away by the campfire, his gaze distant. Voices were solemn, hushed, while outside the rain fell in a heavy downpour.
In one corner, behind a curtain hung solely for that purpose, a serving wench was servicing a handsome lieutenant from the city guard. She had considered herself lucky when he had smiled at her. He was clean, he had always tipped well, and he had kind eyes. When he had whispered in her ear, several other girls had given her very evil looks and as he took her hand and led her to the back of the room, she had merrily waggled her fingers at them behind her back. Occasionally, his grunts and moans could be heard out in the main room.
In another corners, one of the guard and his wench didn’t bother with the curtain; he merely jerked her skirt up and pulled her down on his rigid cock, grunting and groaning his way to a record finish while the girl faked her way along. Neither of them were particularly clean or choosy. He wanted sex. She wanted money.
Ah, the ambience.
In yet another corner, two men sat, backs to the wall, facing the small crowd that lingered, waiting for the rain to let up. A mug of ale sat untouched in front of the swordsman. Though he slouched in his chair, his entire body was tensed, ready. His face, one unusually pretty considering his trade, was grim. Pale blond hair was secured at his nape, revealing one pierced earlobe, a single blue stud glinting there.
He had a thin upper lip, a full, sensual lower one. His long legs were sprawled out and covered from waist to ankle in supple, worn fighting leathers that allowed freedom of movement and light protection.
Across from him sat a gaily-dressed Wildling, his bright shirt the color of the sun the town hadn’t seen in nearly a month. His breeches were red, cut full from the waist down to the knee, where they were tucked into high riding boots.
“Old Lita wanted us to pass the word along. She’d like to see Tyriel, while she’s able. The lady doesn’t have much time left, I fear.” His black eyes—Wildling’s eyes—were somber, sad. Very unusual for a Wildling.
Aryn had been hoping the Wildling had a message from Tyriel, a message, a plea for help, that she had landed her fine ass in trouble, something…but he barely had time to acknowledge the disappointment. His mouth went grim and tight as he closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were dark with concern, fear and rage as he straightened in his chair. Firelight glinted off the deep blue stone in his ear as he leaned forward.
“Kellen, I haven’t seen or heard from Tyriel in nearly a year. We parted ways last winter,” Aryn said, a frown darkening his fair face. His voice was low and rough, with the frustration he still felt over their abrupt parting. In the pit of his stomach, that gnawing doubt that something was very, wrong grew even larger. It had been troubling him for some time and now, he had concrete proof. Tyriel wouldn’t have avoided her family this long. “She had plans to meet up with the family in Bentyl Faire.”
Concern entered Kellen’s eyes as Aryn spoke. Staring at the swordsman, the Wildling shook his head, frowning.
Aryn closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers, suddenly feeling unbelievably weary. “She never showed at Bentyl, or any of the other faires, did she?”
“We haven’t seen Tyriel in nearly two years, Aryn, since we saw you both together at the faire in Kenton. Why did you break apart? Everything seemed to be going so well for the both of you.”
With a restless shrug, Aryn said, “That’s what I thought. We had a solid partnership; people asked for us by name, looked for us.” He paused, glancing at his blade, an enchanted sword that had once been such a burden. “It’s…complicated.”
“Complicated,” Kellen said slowly, the look in his eyes saying he wasn’t buying the horseshit Aryn was selling. Nor should he—Wildlings were excellent purveyors of horseshit and Aryn was barely adequate.
Annoyed, Aryn snapped, “Aye. Complicated. I never planned on either of us going our own way. We worked well together. We suited each other.”
At least until the last day, he thought darkly, grimly remembering that day. She had left one morning after saying things the night before that had knocked him flat off his feet, storming out of the room before he could take it in. And that night—a night that was mostly list to him.
He had Irian to thank for that, he had no doubt. He cursed silently at the sword, a sword that had remained all but silent for many months.
Bloody hunk of enchanted metal, I ought to throw you in the fires of Itherri Bogs.
Not only had his best friend up and left him, the Soul inside the enchanted sword that had become a companion who had all but ceased talking to him.
If there wasn’t a job that needed doing, Irian was nothing more than a brooding silent presence in the back of Aryn’s mind.
As if summoned by Aryn’s thoughts, the enchanter stirred, a low, husky chuckle escaping him.
It was the most Aryn had heard from Irian in months outside of their work.
“So she just left? Didn’t say anything other than she’d meet up with us in Bentyl?” Kel raised and lowered his ale without drinking, his black eyes serious and concerned. “If Tyriel had said she was going to meet up with us, she would. Something must have happened.”
“I know. That’s my fear, too. Tyriel being who she is, only the Lost Gods only know what sort of trouble she found—or what trouble found her,” Aryn said dryly, using humor to cover his very real fear. “Why don’t you spread the word through the caravan? I’ll ask around and
we can meet up in Bentyl. Somebody surely has seen her.”
When they met at the Bentyl Faire some weeks later, it was with grim faces. Nobody had seen or heard from Tyriel in months.
Word came winging in from Wildling clans scattered far and wide. Tyriel seemed to have dropped off the face of the world.
If a Wildling hadn’t seen her, then she wasn’t around to be seen.
Clad in somber browns, his fair hair secured in a queue at the nape of his neck, Aryn listened as Kel finished talking. Absently shifting the sword harness he wore, Aryn rose to pace the confines of the small tent.
“Now what?” he asked.
“You don’t need to concern yourself, Aryn. We’re her family and—”
“Don’t.” He turned on his heel and advanced on the shorter man, backing him up against the wall. In a low threatening growl, he repeated, “Don’t. We were partners for six years; we shed blood together, nearly died saving the other countless times. Anything that concerns Tyriel concerns me. Everything that concerns her concerns me.”
Not bothering to hide his small, pleased smile, Kel relaxed. “I’d hoped you would say that. Something tells me Tyriel is going to need all the help she can get.” Rising, Kel wandered over and picked up his harp, absently strumming a somber tune. “The best thing to do is go back to where you two were when you split, since that seems to be the last time anybody saw her. That would be the first place we ought to try.”
“The first thing we need to do is contact her father,” Aryn contradicted, turning to face the suddenly still Wildling.
“Her father.”
“Can you think of a person better equipped to find her?” he asked dryly.
“Her father.” The forced laughter didn’t quite hide the nerves in his eyes as he ran a hand through his short cap of black curls. He offered, “We could just send him a message through the courier guild.”
“Since when did Wildlings trust the guild?” Aryn asked. “Send one of your own.”
“Right.” Rubbing his sweaty hands down the sides of his saffron trews, Kel tried to figure out if any of his kin would look upon it as an adventure. How many Wildlings got to see the enchanted kingdom?
Thousands, probably, he thought, sighing dramatically. And none lived to tell the tale.
“And maybe we will be lucky. Maybe Tyriel has been with him all this time,” Aryn offered, trying to cheer up the younger man.
Not likely though. The elvish kingdoms would drive her mad within a month. Be her father a prince of the elves or no.
Aryn tossed restlessly, tangled in the rough linen sheets. He’d gone to bed wearing his leathers, ready to leave at a moment’s notice, save for his boots. It was a muggy, humid night and the summer air coming in through the open window barely stirred the air. The sheets clung to him, twining around him like ropes as he fought the scenes playing out inside his head.
Trapped in dreams, he flung his arm out. “Tyriel.”
Irian, the Soul within his enchanted blade, surged to violent wakefulness with Aryn’s fingers brushed the hilt.
Their souls merged and Irian reached out, pulling on the powerful magic that had let him bind himself to the sword.
“Come,” Irian said, taking control of the dream and dragging Aryn along with him as he flung himself into the dreamscape.
In a blink, they were somewhere else.
They were with Tyriel.
He could see her.
They could see her.
Gods, what’s happened to her? Aryn thought, hardly able to believe the slumped still figure was the bright laughing woman he had spent six years with.
“She is a prisoner,” Irian said, his voice echoing inside Aryn’s mind. “Someone has taken her and holds her in this hole.”
Aryn didn’t snarl at the arrogant prick for pointing out the obvious. He was too enraged to form words.
A sob shimmered in the air, coming from the woman standing across from them, near the wall of the small cell. She turned toward them, eyes skating dully across the space where they stood without stopping. Her lovely features were covered in bruises, her eyes sunken and dull.
There was no dancing, vivid light in her eyes.
The sharp blades of her cheekbones, once so stunning, now looked almost violent, as if they’d cut through her skin. The hopelessness that hung around her filled him with impotent rage that only worsened when Irian said, “She’s been raped. Beaten. Likely often.”
Aryn didn’t want to look, but he refused to avoid the horror, wouldn’t turn away from it and forced himself to memorize dried blood, and bruises in varying stages of healing on her thighs, torso, breasts and wrists. Scars showed on her belly and legs.
The rage exploded into a wildfire when she went to move and collapsed, her too-thin legs not supporting her.
Forgetting he was here on in a dream, he lunged.
And several feet from her, he was slammed into a wall, unable to reach her.
“We can’t help her from within a dream, Aryn,” Irian said from behind her. “Wake, Aryn. You must wake.”
Furious even though he knew the enchanter spoke the truth, Aryn shouted out her name.
It was his own voice that woke him.
Hair, face and torso soaked with sweat, Aryn sat up in the bed, his breath sawing in and out as he scrubbed his gritty eyes. A misty form shimmered into view and a large brooding figure started to pace, his eyes glowing red with rage, echoing the red that still shimmered around the blade.
This was Irian, a long-dead warrior of the plains, a nomadic race that had been the progenitors of the Wildlings, thousands of years gone from the land.
“Tyriel, what happened?” Aryn muttered, shaking his head as Irian prowled the room, swearing in a language no longer spoken.
“Does it matter? We never should have let her leave. I warned you.” Irian continued to pace as Aryn brooded.
“What did you want me to do? Hold her prisoner?” Aryn snapped. The second he said those words, he wanted to yank them back.
Irian whirled to face him. In a blur of speed that made it seem if he disappeared, the warrior crossed to him and caught Aryn by the throat. “You see what’s happened to her now that you didn’t listen to me. Arrogant pup.”
Although Irian’s form looked misty and insubstantial, the hand on Aryn’s throat felt all too real—and the pressure definitely was. But Aryn had fought with this warrior inside his skin. Freeing himself with a violence that spoke of temper, he said, “If you want to waste time fighting, that’s fine with me, you useless hunk of metal. Or we could be smart and start looking for her.”
Irian looked as he wanted to give into the violence he felt. Long dead he might be, but his soul was bound to the blade Aryn carried and he felt the same emotions he’d once felt, emotions familiar to Aryn.
“We find her.” He gave a sharp nod and began to pace, his form flickering in and out as he brooded.
Aryn dropped down on the bed and stared at the floor.
What in the world could have happened between the four weeks between her leaving Ifteril and the Bentyl Faire?
Where could she be? And would he find her in time.
“We will find her, Aryn,” Irian said, his voice fading. The primitive power in the enchanter was vast, but he had to hold it in check or it could overwhelm his bearer. Doing so for a long period, Irian had said, could be taxing.
“We?” Aryn asked, tossing the enchanter a look. “Or you, after taking me over?”
“We. Tyriel is yours, not mine,” Irian said. But his voice was no longer the steady cadence it had been, rather an insubstantial whisper. “After all, my body is long dead.”
Sadness filled the man’s eyes, and grief.
Irian faded from view, and then a door shut inside Aryn’s mind.
The swordsman knew Irian would respond to nothing else.
Even Aryn’s response that Tyriel didn’t belong to Aryn.
* * * * *
The pain, nauseating as it was, no longer kept her awake. Lost in a tumbling maze of dreams, the pain lashed at her out of the darkness. Flinching, she shrieked and tried to pull away from it, to hide.
