Shadow and Storm by Juliet Kemp

Author:Juliet Kemp [Kemp, Juliet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC009020 FICTION / Fantasy / Epic, FIC009050 FICTION / Fantasy / Paranormal, FIC068000 FICTION / LGBT / General, FM Fantasy
ISBN: 9781911409595
Publisher: Elsewhen Press
Published: 2019-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Marcia had been looking forward to seeing Reb all day. It had been more than a full enough day: the bank, the barracks, and the conversation with Ilana; the expected tediousness of the Council opening interrupted with Selene’s weird speech; and then that conversation with Cato, which she was still turning over in her mind.

She took the ferry across the river to the foot of the dock at the Old Market. At this time of day it wasn’t that busy; mostly day-servants from houses and shops on Marekhill who lived over in the small terraced houses and flats clustered around the Old Market, and who were paid well enough for the ferry-fare to be worth the saving on their feet compared to walking around by the bridge. The ferry moved so slowly that Marcia had to slap away the mosquitos that caught up with it. As she disembarked and walked across the Old Market, the last stallholders were putting away their barrows, and apprentices were hauling water from the well in the corner to sluice across the cobbles into the gutters, from which a faint smell of rotting vegetables wafted. A couple of children carried a bucket of water between them in front of Marcia up past Reb’s house, squabbling about whose turn it was to help their father with the dinner.

Marcia reached Reb’s house with a sigh of relief. For now, she could just forget all of this, and ignore Cato’s weird ideas. She could spend a pleasant evening with Reb, and relax a bit. She rapped on the door, and smiled when Reb opened it to her, taking in the sight of the taller woman. There were a couple of smudges on the brown skin of Reb’s cheek, and her short dark curls looked, as usual, like she’d been running her hands through them.

“Hello you,” Reb said, with an answering smile of her own. “Come on in. It’s good to see you.”

For Reb, that was unusually expressive, and Marcia basked in the warmth of it as she stepped into the house. Once she was indoors and the door had shut behind her, Reb opened her arms, and they embraced. Apparently, Reb felt that it was beneath the dignity of a sorcerer to engage in public displays of affection. To be fair, Marcia wasn’t sure how she’d behave if she was over her side of the river, where there was more likelihood of being seen by someone who might report back to her mother. She was gloomily aware that as Fereno-Heir, she shouldn’t really be consorting with a sorcerer, even if she wasn’t involving herself in any actual sorcery.

Well. There was no point in wasting her time and energy thinking about that right now. Things were what they were, and there was no point in borrowing trouble.

Reb let go of her, and nodded over at the stove.

“I’ve pan-dumplings cooking, if you want some?”

“That would be lovely,” Marcia said. “Can I help?”

“I doubt it,” Reb said. “Go and sit down. Or, no, choose an infusion.

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