Page 73 of The Eyes of Tamburah
“He can’t do anything while he’s in the Water Prince’s black cells.”
“We’re aware. We have a plan to rescue him, but we need your help.”
“Mine?” The comment swirled around her mind. What could she possibility offer— “You want me to show you how to get underneath the prince’s special rooms.”
“No. We will share our plan only when you have joined us by pledging your loyalty.”
Pledging your loyaltywas exactly what the Monks of Parzival had asked her to do. It meant giving up on her dreams. At least then she had a future. Now…not so much.
“What’s required of a member of the Invisible Sword?” she asked.
“We have many levels of our organization,” Payatt said. “Those at the lowest level are not tested for magic because they do not have the ability. For them, it is a small commitment: passing along vital information, hiding a member for a few jumps, or donating resources. They go about their lives as if nothing has changed. The next level has people with magic. They play a more active part, living in the fringes with the vagrants, and being a part of various…missions, for lack of a better word, when needed. For you…”
His heavy tone suggested this wouldn’t be good.
“You would need to be among the truly invisible.” Payatt gestured to Ximen and Bazia. “Like us.”
“You want me to go around doing that crazy chanting thing so no one can see me?”
Bazia cocked her hip. “If she doesn’t believe, then she’ll never be able to wield the magic.”
“Wow. You’re still mad she got the drop on you, Bazia,” Ximen said. “Shyla already learned how to tap into the power, the rest is easy.”
“How do you know to test someone or not?” she asked.
“We’re able to sense magic locked inside a person. However, only the person can unlock it.”
Another vague answer. “What exactly does it mean to be truly invisible?” she asked Payatt.
“As far as Zirdai is concerned, you don’t exist. You move through the city unseen.”
Not much different than her prior existence.
“You don’t have a room, or pay taxes, or a tithe. You’ll no longer have clients and do research. All your efforts will be to help us restore balance.”
“Can you give me an example of that?”
“A few small things that we’ve done are ensuring the vagrants get clean water and stopping a quartet of deacons from killing a man.”
“Is it dangerous?” she asked.
“Of course.” He gestured to the chain. “Those at our level need to have special skills. Those you demonstrated by escaping our trap.”
No matter how much she wished it otherwise, her old life was over. Again. Shyla thought joining them sounded better than living with the monks, but there were two problems. They believed in magic and they killed Rendor. And then another thought hit her so hard, she almost stepped back.
“What happens if I refuse to join?” she asked.
“I’d think either the Water Prince’s guards or the Heliacal Priestess’s deacons would capture you eventually.”
“Five coins on the guards getting her first,” Ximen said to Bazia.
Bazia ignored him.
Smart girl. Even Shyla would bet on the guards. They were probably upset over their captain’s death and blamed her. “And when they torture me for information…”
“You’ll have no memory of this encounter,” Payatt said.
“But I thought I was resistant to your…magic.”
