Broken Throne Complete Boxed Set Page 10

  Artos hung up the phone then turned to look Winnie over. She tried not to fidget under his stern stare. Finally, he spoke.

  “I’m pleased you agreed to meet with me, Winnie. You show great promise, especially in the face of this brave new world we seem to have found ourselves in.”

  Artos smiled, but Winnie was unsure of her response.

  He stood from his tall leather chair and gestured for her to follow. “I hope you don’t mind, but I arranged to meet with you over an early dinner. I have another engagement later this evening and find it tiresome to meet with certain individuals on an empty stomach.”

  She followed Artos over to the table. He pulled out a chair and waited for her to sit before he sat down on the opposite side. Winnie felt out of her element in such upscale surroundings. She hoped it didn’t show and kept her eyes on Artos for any clues as to what she should do next.

  He tugged the white linen napkin from its silver ring then settled it into his lap. Winnie did the same. Artos reached out and lifted a small silver bell on a carved wooden handle. The bell rang then the double doors opened. Two waiters entered and set large trays down on folding stands: covered plates, wine and water glasses, a pitcher of water, and a bottle of wine. There were also crystal salt and pepper shakers, set on the table between them next to the candles.

  One waiter pulled out a lighter and lit the two candles. The other set the covered plates in front of Winnie and Artos. When all was prepared, the waiters nodded to each other then removed the covers, revealing thick slices of meat in a brown gravy, roasted potatoes, and the longest spears of asparagus she’d ever seen. The meat was probably beef, but she wasn’t sure, since she’d only tasted it a few times before.

  The waiters stood by as Artos eyed the plates. He smiled then dismissed them with a wave. Then they left, taking their silver trays and folding stands with them. Winnie waited for Artos to pick up his utensils before following suit, trying to imitate the way he handled his silverware. She cut a piece from one of the thick slices of beef and put it in her mouth.

  The sensation was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. The seasoning was perfect, not too salty, and the meat was so tender it practically melted in her mouth before she’d chewed the first bite.

  Without even meaning to, Winnie breathed a seemingly bottomless, satisfied sigh.

  Artos laughed aloud and pointed to her plate with his knife. “It’s good, isn’t it? I take it you’ve never had roast prime rib.”

  She swallowed before answering. “I had heard of it, but never had it myself. It is quite good. Um … thank you for sharing your meal with me.”

  “Think nothing of it. Really. I eat alone too often. Food is meant to be eaten in the company of others. It is one of the things that makes us human.” He took another bite and continued talking. “So, what do you have to show me? Have you perfected that technique to … what did you say it was … invert the flows?”

  “Um-hm,” Winnie said, trying to talk around the food in her mouth. “The technique is time-consuming because you have to kind of work with your eyes closed. So you can’t see exactly what you’re doing. I guess you’d say it’s mostly done by feel.”

  “Show me.”

  Winnie looked around then selected the crystal salt shaker, using one of the common charms she used to sell in the shop. The charm would make it so that when you shook the salt shaker, food would be perfectly seasoned for the person holding it. She focused, turning the shaker in one hand while using the other to manipulate the flows.

  Once the basic spell was in place, the difficult part started as she turned the spell inside-out. Artos watched her work. It took about five minutes, but once it was finished, only the slightest shimmer betrayed that there was a charm on the setting at all. It was probably invisible to anyone else. Artos reached out his hand, and Winnie handed him the shaker.

  Artos peered at the shaker, holding it up to the light, looking at the refraction through the crystal. He stared for a few minutes, turning it in his hand, then set it back on the table and gave Winnie a broad grin.

  “My dear, you have come up with quite a trick. I couldn’t see how you did it, even after you explained the theory. I’m not sure there are many chanters who can duplicate it, even with you there to teach them.”

  “Thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from someone as accomplished as yourself.”

  “The trick is to see if it can fool those who are actually looking for it. How confident are you in this new weave?”

  “I think it speaks for itself, Mr. Merrilyn. I have to wonder how much it’s worth to you?”

  “It is worth nothing until proven effective at avoiding all detection.” He picked up the shaker. “Can you do this with any charm you cast? Can you affect a spell cast by someone else, without altering the original spell?”

  Winnie nodded. “I used the technique on Mrs. Adams’s clock. Anyone who examines it now will assume it’s mundane even though its abilities are intact.”

  “Excellent. That is exactly what I wanted to hear.” Artos leaned forward and rang the small bell again. This time, Mr. Gunderson entered, carrying a small wooden box, about six inches long by three inches wide and three inches tall. He handed the box to Artos, then stood by his side as his boss set the box down and opened it.

  Winnie craned her neck to see inside. The box was lined with red velvet and contained a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. She murmured a viewing spell and saw that the glasses were magically enhanced in some way, though she didn’t recognize the spell.

  “These glasses were purchased by a very rich man here in the city. He requires them in order to tell whether those with whom he speaks are lying. That was the gentleman I was conversing with when you arrived. My question, Miss Durham: can you invert the spell on these glasses?”

  Winnie held out a hand and Artos handed the glasses to her. She inspected them, turning the lenses in her hands. It was the most complex casting she’d ever seen, easily four times more complicated than the clock. But she didn’t have to do any repairs, merely invert the flows so the spell was invisible to detection.

  Winnie looked up at her host and nodded. “I think so. I’m not familiar with the spell work here, but that’s irrelevant to the twisting required to invert it.”

  “How long will it take you?”

  “You want me to do it now?”

  “Yes. My client is insistent that he have his glasses delivered tonight. I’ll ask you again: How long will it take you?”

  Winnie looked at the glasses again, appraising the spell’s many knots. “I can do it in an hour, I think. I’m getting better every time. It just depends on whether or not I run into any unseen blocks in the flows.”

  “Fine,” Artos said, pushing back from the table and standing. “You may work uninterrupted in here. Ring the bell when you’re done and Mr. Gunderson will see you out. I’m off to my next engagement. We must meet up again, soon. We will have much to discuss after tonight. By all means, finish your dinner before getting started. I hate working on an empty stomach.”

  Artos departed, leaving Mr. Gunderson standing by the far side of the table. He nodded at Winnie. “I will be just outside. Ring the bell when you are ready to leave.”

  The dapper assistant left and pulled the doors closed behind him. Winnie hadn’t even had time to bring up Joey’s situation or bargain for anything. Artos Merrilyn had controlled — no, he had steered the conversation from the moment she entered. She looked around the room, alone with her thoughts. Well, her thoughts and a fabulous dinner, maybe the best of her life. She’d deal with Joey’s problems later.

  She dove back into her meal, savoring every bite as she nearly licked her plate clean.

  Chapter 15

  Winnie wiped the sweat from her brow and returned the glasses to the wooden box’s velvet-lined interior. It had taken a full hour to invert the flows. There was a significant amount of magic laid upon the wire-rimmed lenses. Some of the charms were unknown to her; others w
ere common. Their combination in this object made it possibly the most powerful charmed item she’d ever seen in person.

  Closing the lid, she picked up the small silver bell and shook it. The doors behind her opened and Mr. Gunderson entered the room.

  “Is the task completed?”

  “It is. The glasses are in the box.”

  “Very well. There is one more thing Mr. Merrilyn wishes before your debt to him is paid.”

  “He didn’t say anything about another task. He said I only had to change the magical charm on the glasses.” Winnie shifted on her feet. This was getting to be more than she’d bargained for.

  “Mr. Merrilyn was quite adamant. You are to take the box and deliver it to its owner. Once safe delivery is complete, your obligation will be repaid.” The assistant held out a slip of paper. “Here is the address.”

  “I’m no charm runner. Why would he ever think I would do this?”

  “I do not ask Mr. Merrilyn why he gives his instructions. I find it best to do as he asks.”

  Winnie shook her head then reached out and took the paper, glancing down before looking up in alarm. “This is all the way across town. I’ll be out of the Enclave past curfew. Does he have a pass?”

  “Not to my knowledge, but the man on the other end will provide transportation back to your home once you deliver the box if you desire it. That is part of his arrangement with Mr. Merrilyn.”

  Winnie looked at the box then back at Mr. Gunderson. She could take the item to its destination, but she would definitely stand out like a weed in a clean brick path in a neighborhood like that. She didn’t have the clothing required to pull this off. She would surely be stopped by police, or worse, Red Legs. Winnie needed some way to be sure that she’d get by without losing the package in the process.

  “Mr. Gunderson, I need your glasses.” Winnie held out her hand. After a brief pause, the assistant removed his glasses and set them in her hand. A quick viewing spell told her that that they were mundane, free of any charms — perfect for what she had in mind.

  Winnie picked up the box and followed the older man to the lobby. Once there, she flipped up the hoodie and started walking to the bus stop. She could use public transportation to get close, but would have to walk the final ten blocks or so once she reached the right part of town.

  Focused on her task, Winnie didn’t see the strange man step away from where he was leaning against the wall, nor did she see him follow her out of the building.

  The bus stop was a block away in the cold rain. Winnie pulled her hoodie closer, tightening her grip on the box tucked under her arm. This was a terrible idea: Artos had tricked her. He had fooled her into magically altering an item with dark Sable magic. That made her feel dirty enough. During her manipulation of the glasses to invert the flows, she discovered that they not only revealed the truth or lies of the people viewed through the glasses, they also gave some limited control over anyone who lied to the wearer. Not exactly mind control, more like the planting of a light post-hypnotic suggestion, but it was there.

  Artos had imagined that Winnie would feel beholden, and want to discharge that obligation enough to deliver the glasses. In doing so, he’d turned her into a Sable trader like himself. She was angry at him for getting her to agree, and at herself for falling for his scheme. The longer she waited, the angrier she got. She had arrived seeking to find a solution to Joey’s problems and left with a whole set of new problems of her own.

  When the bus arrived, Winnie was thinking of ways to get back at Artos. She climbed on board, paid the fare, and walked all the way to the rear where she could see the other occupants. She didn’t trust any of them. Each of them had the potential to be a Red Legs informant.

  Winnie scanned the other passengers as the bus pulled away from the curb. Most were service employees working in the upscale businesses and offices in this part of town. None looked threatening, and a few appeared downright pitiful. This disparity between the people on the bus — like her — and people like Artos angered Winnie even more.

  By the time she reached her stop, Winnie was so absorbed by her anger that she didn’t hear the car behind the bus pull over and park, or notice the man in the overcoat and wide-brimmed hat get out and watch her start a ten-block walk through the rain.

  The streets here were broad and Winnie supposed the tree-lined avenues were beautiful during the day. Now they represented all she didn’t have. Residents of this place forced chanters to live in the Enclave “for their protection.” People like this stood on the Assembly, passing laws that restricted her livelihood and kept her Mom from getting her medicine.

  Winnie was so wrapped up in her thoughts as she headed to the address on the paper that she barely noticed the heavy rain slow to a sprinkle, the footsteps approaching from behind, or the voice calling her name until it was too late.

  Someone grabbed her arm and spun her around.

  Winnie cried out, and was about to strike out with magic that should never be used by anyone when she recognized the face in before her.

  She relaxed her spell, seeing who it was. “Are you crazy, sneaking up on a girl in the dark like that?”

  Danny Barber let go of her arm and fell a step back. “Hey, I didn’t sneak up on you. I called out your name, but you just kept going. The way you were walking and the look on your face made me think you were in some sort of trouble. I was concerned for you.”

  She looked at his face, saw nothing duplicitous in his expression, and relaxed. “I’m sorry. I had a late delivery to make and I was angry at having to come here this late in the evening. What are you doing out here on a dreary night like this?”

  “I live a few blocks away. I was walking back from a friend’s house. We were playing video games and it got too late so I had to leave.”

  Winnie looked around, seeing the expensive homes and apartments lining the street. She’d figured him for a rich kid, but now that she had seen his neighborhood in person, he was better off than she had thought.

  He looked at the box under her arm. “If you tell me where you’re going, I could walk you there. It’s risky for an attractive girl like you to be out walking at this hour alone, even in this part of town.”

  Winnie considered his offer for a moment before digging the paper from her pocket and handing it over. Danny looked at the name and address, then pursed his lips in a silent whistle.

  “The senator, huh?” He looked up at Winnie with a raised eyebrow.

  She hadn’t known who it was until Danny added the title. “Do you know where this address is or not?”

  “I know. He’s a neighbor. He lives just down the street from me. Come on, I’ll show you. It’s only a few more blocks.”

  Winnie nodded and together the two of them started off down the street together. Danny occasionally pointed out a home and told her which famous, rich, or powerful person lived there. This neighborhood was full of the most influential people in the city, or in some cases, the entire United Americas.

  The two of them were about half a block from their destination when a car rounded the corner ahead. Red and blue lights on the dashboard strobed on and off and a side-mounted spotlight served to blind her. Two men in overcoats got out, telling them both to hold still and not make any sudden moves.

  Winnie froze, afraid to do anything that might antagonize the Red Legs, for that was who it had to be. She shivered, panicked. A familiar voice spoke from a shadowy form she could barely see, still blinded by the lights.

  “Miss Durham, I’m alarmed to see you out so late after curfew in this neighborhood.” Victor Holmes stepped forward, blocking the dashboard lights. His grin was ugly and cruel. “I can think of only a few reasons you’d be skulking around in this neighborhood so late at night. None of them are legal.”

  Danny raised a hand in protest but the other officer punched him in the gut with the butt of his baton. The boy doubled over, groaning.

  Winnie looked to Danny in alarm then back at the constable. She wa
s frightened for herself, but he’d done nothing more than offer to walk with her in his own neighborhood. She forgot her panic in lieu of her rage.

  “I was making a delivery for Mr. Barber here. He was good enough to agree to accompany me since it was after dark. I know it’s late and after curfew, but I wanted to make sure the senator got his glasses.”

  “Glasses, huh?” Victor held out his hand, pointing to the wooden box tucked under her arm. “Show me the case.”

  Winnie handed over the wooden box then watched the constable open it to inspect the plain, black-framed glasses inside. He snapped his fingers and held out his other hand. The other Red Leg pulled out one of the hand-held video scanners she’d seen used in her shop. He keyed the screen and aimed the camera at the glasses. The screen lit the constable’s face in an azure glow. His brows furrowed. He turned the camera on Winnie, scanning her from head to toe before turning back to reexamine the box and glasses.

  With an angry, muttered curse, Constable Holmes looked from Winnie to Danny to the box.

  “I’m afraid your story doesn’t make much sense to me, Miss Durham. I’m going to have to take you down to the station and do some digging until I get to the bottom of this.”

  Danny had regained some of his composure, though he was still bent at the waist, hands resting on his knees. “I think that’s an excellent idea, Constable. I want to call my father from the station and explain why a pair of Red Legs assaulted me so close to home, detaining me and my friend for walking down the street.” Danny straightened with a groan and continued. “He’ll be most interested, especially since the mayor and his wife are over for dinner this evening. It is Constable Holmes, right? I want to make sure I get the name right.”

  “I don’t see any reason to detain you, Mr. Barber. I apologize for the actions of my officer here. You are free to go.” The constable gestured to the other officer, who released Danny’s arm.

  “And my friend?” Danny stepped forward and stood next to Winnie.