Page 14 of Pawns of Fate

SYZMAN

S yzman watched from the shadows as Rose entered a shop selling blue silks and Nicholas stumbled after her like a lovesick puppy dog.

He’d served the Sharps for years and never known Nicholas to lose his head over a woman.

He was supposed to be the rational, logical brother.

But as Syzman watched the young nobleman order enough silk to make four dresses for his fiancée, he knew it was only a matter of time until Nicholas fell head over heels in love, if he hadn’t already.

“Idiot,” Syzman mumbled under his breath. He’d never be vulnerable like that. No woman in the world could make him lose his rationality.

“Syzman,” Lyla’s sweet voice tugged on his mind.

Well, maybe there was one woman. But it wasn’t love , he thought. He and Lyla just had a long history. That was all. Even a shadow mage could develop a bond with their comrades if they went on enough missions together.

“Watch the shadows.” Lyla’s voice wound through his mind.

“I have been. You need to focus on Ava and York. I wasn’t even supposed to tag along on this outing. Jo?o has this hand—” He saw it — the unnatural flicker of darkness. It was only an instant. An untrained eye wouldn’t have caught it. He wouldn’t have caught it if Lyla hadn’t warned him.

“I told you.”

“Get here. Quick. Maybe we can catch them.” Even as he gave the order, he knew it would be next to impossible to catch anyone among the restless crowd of shoppers and billowing swaths of silk.

Nicholas and Rose left the blue silk store and meandered into one selling green swaths.

Frustration radiated through Syzman’s consciousness.

He needed to be able to chase, hunt, and cast spells.

He couldn’t do that from the shadows. Syzman slid behind a large red silk and let his body materialize, stepping out of the shadows and fully onto the physical plane.

That was all it took. The unnatural darkness tailing Rose and Nicholas rapidly changed course and skittered into an alleyway. Syzman gave chase, but he knew he’d be too late. There was too much shade between the buildings. His quarry could have gone anywhere .

“You lost them,” Lyla said, voice dripping with disappointment as she jumped down from the roof of one of the shops and into the dark alleyway.

“I’d gotten used to seeing you in your maid’s uniform. This is a nice change of pace,” Syzman replied coolly, letting his eyes linger on the black leather armor that highlighted Lyla’s curves.

Lyla snapped, “Take this seriously. There’s a shadow mage tailing the Sharps. A powerful one.”

“Tailing Nicholas and Rose,” Syzman corrected. “We’ve learned a lot here today, even if we didn’t catch them.”

“No, we didn’t. What on earth would someone from the mage tower want with those two?” Lyla frowned and shot a glare at him. It was the look she always wore when working out a problem in her head. It intimidated a lot of people. It made Syzman want to tease her.

He shrugged. Lyla’s frown deepened further.

“Perhaps they’re not from the mage tower.”

Now, Syzman frowned. Lyla’s words rattled around in his mind, forcing their way to the forefront.

He thought about the incident with the twiddletoads, especially the fang marks on the little monster’s corpse.

He thought about the very short list of mages with the mana flow required to travel through shadow.

It was quite the quandary. Syzman initially thought someone was after Nicholas.

Kidnapping the heir to a marquess would, at the very least, guarantee a hefty ransom.

And the Sharps had their fair share of rivals.

The motivations could be political. Someone could have hired a mage from a tower that didn’t have any contracts with the Sharps.

But as he turned the problem over and over and over again, Syzman began to wonder about the possibility of all this connecting to Rose.

ROSE

Rose spent most of the next day preparing for the banquet.

It would be her formal introduction to everyone at the castle, so she wanted to look her best. Betty washed, combed, and styled her hair for hours.

It took another hour to do her makeup. Then, both Betty and Lyla had to help dress her in the stiff gold and white gown the Sharps had selected.

“You look like you’ve stepped out of a fairy tale, my lady!” Betty exclaimed when she tied the last ribbon. Rose held her chin high.

“You look lovely,” Lyla, who had only spoken to Rose a handful of times over the past few days, offered up as she fussed with one of the ruffles on Rose’s skirt. “It’s a bit impractical, but a lovely outfit nonetheless.”

Rose looked in the mirror. Her dress had a tight bodice, creating a tiny waist and the illusion of a well-endowed chest. The skirts were extremely full, certainly the fullest she’d ever worn.

Rose was glad that her etiquette tutors had forced her to practice walking and moving in restrictive dresses.

She’d thought it silly at the time, as she usually opted for more comfortable clothing.

However, it would have been the height of rudeness for her not to wear this dress, and she had to admit, it looked stunning.

A soft knock sounded at the door. Betty checked it, then gave a small curtsy upon seeing Nicholas.

Her betrothed entered the room. Rose watched his gaze sweep the space until it landed on her.

His eyes trailed over her, taking in every detail.

The attention brought warmth to Rose’s cheeks as she stood up.

“You look beautiful, Rose,” Nicholas said softly as he drew closer. He took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back.

Rose blushed and hoped that her makeup hid her feelings better than she could.

Keeping her hopes for Nicholas low was hard when he treated her like this—like she actually meant something to him.

She offered a delighted grin and noticed his outfit matched her dress.

The white tunic and gold jacket gave him an aristocratic air.

“Are you ready? I’ve come to escort you to the banquet,” Nicholas said as he offered his arm.

“I am,” she replied, fighting a giddy smile.

They linked arms and walked to the banquet hall together..

Rose had seen the banquet hall empty on her first day.

It had looked intimidatingly large then—massive, even.

Now? Full of people, food, and song, it somehow appeared larger still, as if its spirit grew with every feast held there.

The sight frayed Rose’s nerves a little bit.

She’d been around large groups of people before, but never the center of their attention.

Nicholas guided her to the head of the banquet hall, where the marquess, York, and Ava were seated at the table of honor. Two heavy, wooden chairs waited for Nicholas and Rose.

After they were seated, Marquess Sharp waved one of the mages over. The man cast a small rune onto Matthew’s throat.

“Good people of Onanish! Loyal servants of Castle Sharp!” Matthew’s voice boomed, louder than thunder in the crowded room.

Every head turned to the marquess. “Tonight, I introduce Nicholas’s fiancée, my soon-to-be daughter-in-law: Lady Rose Robson.

” He stood up, and Rose did the same. “A few of you have already met Rose and enjoyed her delightful company.” He gingerly placed a hand on Rose’s shoulder, and his face split into an approving smile.

“She is going to make a fine lady of House Sharp. I trust all of you to continue welcoming and serving her with the same honor and respect you have granted my boys and Ava. Our family has grown today!”

The crowd of retainers, knights, mages, and servants cheered at the marquess’s words. Rose curtseyed toward them. The cheering grew even louder. Nicholas smiled. Rose found her runaway heart hoping that she was making him proud. She hadn’t missed a step so far.

Matthew’s voice boomed through the hall again, “Now, let’s eat!

” The mage who had cast the spell stepped forward and waved his wand while saying a few words that Rose couldn’t make out over the noise of the hungry crowd.

Still, she couldn’t hide her curiosity when the glowing rune on Matthew’s throat disappeared.

“The trickiest part is removing the spell,” Matthew said, noticing Rose’s curious glances.

“Even though the runes are small and simple, they can cause a small explosion if actuated incorrectly. This spell has to be applied directly to the throat.” Matthew scratched his neck. “You can see the elevated risk.”

“I’d never thought of that,” Rose replied after sipping some wine.

“Aural magic like yours is more gentle by nature,” Nicholas interjected, “There are a lot of rules to follow with spellcasting, and the more complicated the spell, the more rules there are.”

Her future father-in-law nodded in agreement. “There’s also a higher chance that mana flow is disrupted and everything explodes with a complicated spell. Pure elemental magic is simpler and less risky in that sense.”

York scoffed as he waved a half-eaten turkey leg around. “I’ve burned down a few trees that would disagree with you.”

“True, but that isn’t the same as losing control of a spell. Those trees still burned down because of a lightning strike. Losing control of a spell, especially one that uses elements for which you don’t have an affinity, warps the magic entirely.”

Rose was fascinated by the conversation of the three men. She’d tried to get her cousin Hermes to discuss his magic studies a few times, but he’d brushed her off. She’d read multiple books about elemental magic and spells, but hearing the information firsthand was much more interesting.

“I thought that elemental mages didn’t always use spells?” she asked Nicholas as she scooped some mashed potatoes onto her spoon.

Nicholas sipped his wine, then answered, “They do for more powerful magic.”