Stolen Magic(6)

The high brunka looked up at the ceiling, seeming to calculate. “Are they, Masteress?”

“No.” Enh enh enh. “But His Lordship may be kind enough to fly and warn the mountainside. I could do it, but I will be otherwise engaged.”

“Would you, er, Your Lordship?”

Count Jonty Um favored High Brunka Marya with his smile. Elodie’s shoulders relaxed. At the least, the high brunka would see his beautiful flat—not pointy—white teeth. And she couldn’t miss the sweetness of his smile, the blaze of his goodness gleaming through.

High Brunka Marya blushed, which IT was unable to resist commenting on. “Madam, you do well to regret your defamatory assumptions about our friend.”

“I’ll fly as a Lepai yellow-feathered swift for speed,” (Lepai was the kingdom Lahnt belonged to.) “While Meenore and Elodie are seeking the Replica, will Nesspa be looked after?”

“Of course,” the high brunka said.

“Tell me where to go.”

She gave him directions to Zertrum Mountain. “The peak looks like the gaping mouth of a fish. The brunka house, which is made of stone blocks with a slate roof, is on the north slope. You’ll know it by the two chimneys.”

Poor farm cottages like Elodie’s parents’ had thatched roofs and only one chimney.

“A stable is attached as well. The brunka who lives there with four bees is Arnulf.” She opened her cloak—green wool like her cap, tight weave, excellent quality, though not as rich as His Lordship’s—to get at her purse.

“Don’t pay me!” Count Jonty Um boomed, sounding loudly horrified.

“If you show this”—she pulled out a gold medal on a brass chain. Stamped into the medal was an image of High Brunka Marya’s face—“Arnulf will believe you.”

“Wind it around my neck.”

The high brunka looked confused. The chain was much too short.

“The bird’s neck,” Elodie explained. “Your Lordship, can you fly in snow?”

They waited. He seemed to be consulting a bird who lived inside him. Finally he nodded. “When it’s just snow, not a blizzard.”

“Madam, we still have not resolved the matter of my fee for finding your Replica.”

“Masteress!” Saving lives should be free!

“Lodie, do not interfere.” ITs smoke reddened. “His Lordship will warn your brunka and will not accept payment. I lack his kind nature. I suppose you would like me to identify the thief as well.”


“Masteress . . .” High Brunka Marya tilted her head to look at IT. The worry lines smoothed out, and her face wore the usual calm brunka expression. She smiled the contented brunka smile.

IT coughed at the back of ITs throat. Coming from anyone else, Elodie would have thought the cough an uneasy sound. Folks usually felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny of that serene brunka gaze. But did IT?

“You suspect us,” IT said, “as well you may. You should trust no one. People are a perfidious lot. But especially do not trust now.”

IT was babbling! The high brunka had unnerved IT!

“Still, if my assistant and—”

“Your assistant? His Lordship?”

“Lodie is my assistant.”

She felt a burst of satisfaction.

“I see.” But the high brunka sounded as if she didn’t.

“If we put ourselves out, we will expect more than a mere fifteen tin coins.”

Elodie bit her cheek. How could IT haggle over this?

His Lordship took one step to the door, opened it, and looked out, his broad back to the others. “I’ll watch the snow. When the blizzard subsides, I’ll shape-shift.”

Talk of money was beneath a count.

“Masteress,” High Brunka Marya said, “you’re as clever as a ratcatcher. If you tell me now where the Replica is and who took it, I’ll give you three gold coins, and you, His Lordship, and Elodie won’t be imprisoned.”

Oh no! Elodie struggled to think of something that would prove their innocence.

“Madam, your suspicions are absurd.”

High Brunka Marya raised her eyebrows, still smiling.

“As soon as the blizzard retreats, nothing can stop a shape-shifting ogre from entering your Oase.”

The High Brunka’s smile faded.

“Mice find their way in when the weather turns cold, do they not? He can become a creature much smaller than a mouse. He can gain admission on your person as a louse.” Enh enh enh.

His Lordship turned his head. “Meenore—”

“Permit me to conduct this conversation, Your Lordship. Once inside, he becomes himself again, crouching if he must. You can imagine the rest: the thief fetches the Replica. No one dares interfere because of an ogre’s hulking presence.”

Count Jonty Um nodded. “I could do all that. Hypothetically.”

Elodie smiled at him for understanding. He winked, a slow, effortful wink.

Masteress Meenore went on. “His Lordship tears the door off its hinges and enlarges your entry. We fly away with Lodie and the thief on my back and His Lordship as the Lepai yellow-feathered swift. Lodie holds the Replica in her lap.”

The high brunka’s eyes went to Elodie, who mansioned her face to show nothing.

“High Brunka, if we are in league with the thief, you cannot stop us. In the event that we are not, you may as well engage us. If we find the Replica, a mountain will be saved. If we fail, then the villain is smarter than I . . .”