Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 20: Deceived By Chestnuts

"What did you find out?" Suthe asked as soon as she saw Ulsper leave Saer Lon's room upstairs. She had been pacing between the tables below for the past half hour, at least.

The spy spared her a glance and descended the staircase.

"That we're as safe as we can hope to be here," Ulsper said. "For now."

Suthe wrung her hands nervously. "And anything about the swords?"

"Only a theory. I'll ask Nem Koel to look into it."

Suthe watched as Ulsper walked over to the shelf by the door and took one of the ceramic bottles she had seen Saer Lon with earlier. He uncapped the lid and sniffed the contents, then resealed the bottle and put it back on the shelf.

"Those are the illegal drinks Saer Lon trades?" Suthe asked. Ulsper looked up at her.

"They're illegal for a reason, Suthe," he warned. "Don't get any ideas of sampling one."

"It's just a drink," Suthe defended, curiosity now piqued.

Ulsper left the shelf and headed to one of the long tables in the middle of the room. "Shouldn't you be practicing your meditation?" he suggested.

"I already did earlier, with Nem Koel!" she defended, only for her statement to be met with a sigh.

"I'd hardly call that practice, seeing as how distracted you were," Ulsper replied, sitting down and beckoning her over. "Let me show you."

Suthe looked around, but there were no distractions—no way to change the topic and move on to something else. She felt a sudden surge of frustration. The meditation hadn't helped, and she had a feeling that it wouldn't, ever. Why did this man keep having to drag her attention back to her worries and the possibilities of what could go wrong if her magic acted up at the wrong time? She knew the consequences, and she was already trying hard to be careful! Couldn't he see that?

"Suthe?" Ulsper prompted when he got no response.

She huffed and stalked over to the other side of the table, flouncing down on the hard bench.

"It's not going to work," she snapped. "It never does." Memories of times spent sequestered in her room above the bakery, summer heat dampening her brow as she tried to command her magic, sprung unbidden to her mind. All she had gotten out of her efforts were a few headaches and accidentally ending up downstairs once. Thankfully it had been after hours when the bakery was closed, otherwise it would have been quite difficult to have tried explaining her sudden appearance in front of the pastry display case.

"Don't think about that," Ulsper said, gently taking Suthe's fidgeting hands in a move that sent her already-strained nerves tangling in her chest. He kept their hands in the middle of the table, unmoving. "Close your eyes."

"I already tried this," Suthe protested, but grudgingly did so anyway. She let the nothingness in her vision reign for a few seconds before adding "It's not working."

"Give it time," Ulsper muttered, his voice a few octaves softer than before. "Tune in to your surroundings."

Tune into your surroundings, Suthe mentally repeated in a mocking tone. What nonsense. But since Nem Koel still hadn't returned with breakfast, she had no other choice but to continue sitting with her eyes closed.

A moment of discontent slowly passed, and as Suthe became accustomed to the darkness behind her closed lids, she gradually began to take notice of her other senses. The callouses of Ulsper's thumbs brushed against the back of her hands as they lay on the table. His grip was warm and steady, but perhaps it was the size of his hands, combined with Suthe's knowledge of the spy's profession, that made her think of all the deadly strength and force they were capable of.