The White Spell (Nine Kingdoms #10)(85)

She had no idea, and he thought it best not to enlighten her. However dodgy the business of magic might have been, any business where it wasn’t involved was far more perilous. His lack of the same was something he was definitely going to have to remedy without fail and as quickly as possible.

Perhaps if he humored Hearn to a never-before-imagined level, the man might find a nag he was willing to part with. Two horses were better than one, he supposed, when one had a pressing quest before him and a great need of haste.

He would do what he could inside the gates, then be about solving what looked to be unpleasantness that was affecting more than just him and Léirsinn of Sàraichte.

What a great, whacking piece of do-gooding that would likely count for.

? ? ?

Several hours later, he was mucking out stalls he was fairly sure had been done at least twice already that day. He hadn’t dared protest. If it meant he could sleep somewhere save a pile of manure—he had heard more than one tale of that being the proffered accommodation—and perhaps buy him a bit of goodwill from the lord of the keep, he was willing to shovel all day.

He finished with the last stall, dragged his sleeve across his forehead, then realized Hearn was watching him.

“I’ve seen worse work,” Hearn remarked, peering over the stall door. “Not often, but now and then.”

Acair leaned on his pitchfork. “Give me another few months and I’ll be an expert.”

“I wouldn’t dare hope for that, but ’tis a better work than your usual business, I suppose.”

“I daresay.” He paused and looked at his reluctant host. “I suppose an apology to you might not be welcome.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Hearn said with a shrug. “Try it and see.”

Acair took a deep breath. “I apologize for breaking into your solar. If it makes it any better, I didn’t take anything. I’m not sure any practitioner of magic who aspires to true greatness could possibly overlook what comes from your stables and the attached rumors of your own vast, if not unusual and very desirable, magic. The temptation is absolutely irresistible.” He paused. “Put simply.”

“You talk too much.”

Acair, quite wisely to his mind, quickly chose silence.

Hearn shifted slightly. “If we’re being completely honest here, I can’t say I didn’t do my own bit of snooping when I was young.” He leveled a look at Acair. “You, however, have been snooping for far longer than you could possibly be considered young.”

“But there are so many secrets in the world,” Acair said. “I fear I won’t have time to discover them all.”

“Considering how old your father is, I’d say you had plenty of time to poke your nose in all manner of places where it shouldn’t go,” Hearn said. He opened the stall door. “You may live to regret it.”

Acair took advantage of the courtesy and didn’t curse when Hearn almost shut the door on his arse. The more he’d thought about it, the more convinced he’d become that he needed a horse for himself. He wasn’t about to ruin any chances for an Angesand steed with a few extracurricular talents, so to speak, by offending his host.

He handed the pitchfork off to a young lad, thanked him profusely, then put on his most pleasant smile for Angesand’s lord. “I appreciate the work.”

Hearn pursed his lips. “Flattery will not earn you a pony, so you may as well leave off with it. But you can tell me why you’re really here. You’ve given me a handful of reasons, but I’m still unconvinced. Are you come to sniff out my equine genealogies or something more sinister?”

Acair looked at him seriously. “It is as I said, my lord Hearn. I am on my way north, I have no ability to use my magic, and I genuinely wanted a safe harbor and not just for myself. Léirsinn is horse mad and I thought since she has no memory of any place save that hellhole of Sàraichte, I would at least bring her to your front gates and see if you might allow her to peek inside.”

“She does recognize a good horse.”

“Do you have any bad horses, my lord?”

Hearn lifted an eyebrow. “You might be surprised, my wee mageling. I don’t think your lady would be, though. She’s an excellent horsewoman.” He glanced at the spell loitering in the corner. “And that?”

“A spell of death that follows me courtesy of Prince Soilléir. I’m surprised it isn’t charged with turning me into a lawn ornament, but there you have it. Soilléir has a marked lack of good taste.”

“But a dab hand with a powerful spell,” Hearn said thoughtfully. “Interesting thing, that.” He considered a bit longer, then looked back at Acair. “What do you make of that spot of shadow?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet,” Acair said slowly, “but I will tell you that when I put my foot in one in Sàraichte just to see what it was about, it ripped off a piece of me somehow.”

“Flesh?”

Acair shook his head. “I would say it was part of my soul, but that seems too poetic, even for me.”

“Was it painful?”

“Excruciating.”

“Good,” Hearn said. “You deserve it.” He considered, then glanced at Acair. “You can leave her here, you know. If you can convince her to stay.”