Page 7 of Shardless

Calo studied Taly as she leaned against the cart, his fingers worrying a small red crystal that he passed from hand to hand.

A fire mage,she thought, refusing to look away when his eyes found hers.Fantastic.

“You’re pretty… for a human.” Calo tugged at the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. Taly tightened her grip, but he held fast, managing to wrench the makeshift coat away from her.

His eyes slid up and down her body, and she had to resist the urge to cover her chest. Even though she wore a white camisole beneath her stained, sleeveless tunic, she was soaked to the bone, and her clothing clung to her body, leaving very little to the imagination. She had leaned out considerably over the past year, and the lines of her ribs were as visible as the peaks of her breasts beneath the wet fabric. Nevertheless, she supposed she could still be considered beautiful. Maybe even desirable. She had often been told that her features were almost fey-like in their delicacy, despite the human roundness of her ears.

“How much?” the sullen boy demanded.

“Not for sale,” Taly bit out. Her shoulders shook as a violent shiver racked her slender frame.

Calo scoffed. “You should be honored I even offered to pay before bending you over, you little beast. How much?”

Taly met his eyes defiantly, and her hand moved to the pistol holstered at her waist. “Not. For. Sale.”

Calo sneered, but before he could reach for her, he pitched forward.

“What the hell, boy?!” Syn cuffed the shorter man on the back of the head. The blow nearly sent the fire mage face-first into the dirt. Throwing the crate he’d retrieved into the back of the wagon, he said, “Shards, you’ve become a right prick since the last time I saw you. That’s it—I’m fed up with your bullshit. You’re walking the rest of the way.”

Calo balked. “You’re going to make me walk so you can ferry some shardless back into town? Just wait until I tell my father, old man.”

A low, inhuman snarl ripped out of Syn’s throat. “My brother will probably thank me for saving your sorry ass. How you treat people aside, do you have any idea what would happen to you if you hurt Marquess Castaro’s ward? No? Well, let me tell you then. I’d give it an hour before you had two incensed shadow mages banging down your door. You’d be lucky if they left you alive and in one piece.”

Calo visibly paled, and he turned to Taly, his eyes wide and fearful.Thatgot his attention. Even though shadow mages couldn’t cast spells in the traditional sense, their magic allowed them to control and manipulate aether. Everything in the fey world, even a mage’s health and well-being,was connected to aether in some way. As a result, there was nothing more fearsome than an angry shadow mage.

Taly snatched the blanket off the ground and stalked over to the driver’s seat. “I’m not the Marquess’ ward anymore,” she grumbled, taking Syn’s proffered hand as he boosted her up. She saw Calo’s head whip around at that, but his expression remained pale and frightened.

Syn laughed as he settled in beside her. “Keep telling yourself that.” Tapping the reins, he called back, “And Calo, don’t stray outside the wards on the road. There’s a wyvern prowling around close by. I hear they love fire mages.”

The young man was strangely silent as they began to pull away. Taly glanced back, and when she was sure they were out of earshot, she said, “That wasn’t necessary, Syn.”

“Sure it was,” Syn replied, chuckling softly. “My brother sent me that boy ‘cause he was afraid that all them highborn nobles on the mainland were rubbing off the wrong way. A walk back into town isn’t going to hurt him one bit.”

Taly shook her head but decided that she was too tired to argue. They both lapsed into silence as the mare trudged along at a pace that was barely better than walking.

Staring off into the trees, Taly let her thoughts wander as she gingerly fingered the pink quartz pendant that hung around her neck—the only evidence that she had lived a life prior to being found 15 years ago cowering in a pile of ash. She was only six years old when she lost her family, and despite the number of healers and menders that had looked at her over the years, no one knew why she couldn’t remember anythingfrom before the fire. Usually, that wouldn’t bother her, but her birthday always had a way of making her feel strangely nostalgic.

They weren’t far outside the city now, and Taly could already see the hedges that flanked the entrance to the private drive that led to Harbor Manor. Often referred to as the crown jewel of Ryme, Harbor Manor was a palatial estate that had belonged to Lord Ivain Castaro, the Marquess of Tempris, and his family for just over seven centuries now. It sat just south of town on a sprawling piece of land that took at least half a day to fully traverse from end-to-end on foot, and as the trees began to thin, Taly could just see the chimneys stretching towards the sky. By some stroke of luck, she had spent most of her life living at the manor, taken in after the Marquess’ young apprentice dug her out of the rubble of what she could only assume used to be her childhood home. The fire that claimed her family and most of her village had left a wake of devastation that spanned the entire western coast.

“Well, what do we have here?” Syn chuckled when they rounded a bend in the road. He jerked his chin, a wide grin splitting his face. “Care to say hello?”

Taly followed his gaze, and her heart leapt into her throat when she saw two familiar figures emerge from the drive. The woman wore a long blue dress that perfectly complemented her fair skin and auburn hair, and Taly could tell that the man was lanky and fit even beneath the heavy fabric of his greatcoat.

“Shit,” Taly cursed, pulling herself into the back of the cart and underneath the relative safety of the tarp. It was a tight fit between one of thecrates and the outer wall, but she somehow managed. “Pretend that I’m not here, Syn!”

Syn glanced back at her, confusion evident in his expression. “Taly, that boy’s a shadow mage. He’s likely already scented you.”

“I don’t care,” she hissed in reply. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Shards,” the old salvager grumbled. “What kind of human nonsense is this?”

Taly held her breath as they passed. A thin sliver of light penetrated the darkness, and she caught a flash of a navy-and-gold sleeve as the man tapped the side of the wagon.

“Synna,” he greeted. Taly hadn’t heard his voice in such a long time, and it made her heart clench. Like hers, his accent was cool and cultured, not a trace of the relaxed islander drawl that she had become so accustomed to hearing over the past year. “What are you doing so far north?”

Syn laughed as he pulled on the reins. “Lord Emrys, Lady Castaro,” he greeted, bowing his head in deference to the two highborn nobles. “Funny you ask that. I’m transporting a load of scrap to trade at the Swap.” He glanced behind him. “And between you and me, I just picked up some very interesting cargo down at Lake Reginea.”

Taly clapped a hand over her mouth. Just what did that old salvager think he was doing?

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