Wizard of Jatte by Rowan Erlking (ereader ebook .TXT) 📖

first. “Do you mind if they remain with me?”

Daanee glanced from Ronen to Theissen. She then nodded, though her cheeks were flushed. “I can handle it.”

“It will entrust that you are coming back to us,” Dobbis said with a smirk.

To that, Theissen broke into a laugh, glancing at Theobold in he loft above. “Me? Sneak out on you? If I tried that Theobold would hunt me down and drag me back to the group. Besides, I made a promise.”

Several of the others chuckled. It was true. Theobold looked inclined to drag Theissen with them if he attempted to run away, though Theissen did not look likely to do so with each second they watched him.

“All right then,” Karo said, bowing to Theissen, shifting his slipping shirt back onto his shoulders. “We ought to get in one last good meal and pack up our food supplies.”

“I’ll watch the carts,” Theissen said, his eyes twinkling with a look toward Theobold. The birdman hid a grin. He took a flap to light off the loft then strolled out the barn doors.

 

It was late when the others had gone into the inn to celebrate their departure. Theobold had also gone in to the eating hall, ordering a round of drinks for the men and women, even starting a dance with the ladies. He didn’t hide his wings any, flapping them about every so often to remind all villagers there that he was a demon. As agreed, only Theissen remained behind in the barn stall, resting his back against the wood and whittling for a while. The shoe molds had been sanded to perfect form and were now resting on a cloth at his side. But he would not be sealing them with much more than a buffing wax.

Setting his tool back into his belt and covering the sharp point so that it would not jab him, Theissen closed his eyes for just a moment, folding his arms across his belly while he remained sitting in a relaxed slump inside the stall with the carts.

If he were awake, he would have heard rustling in the hay. If he were awake, he would have seen the men sneak into the stall, creaking open the gate. If he were awake, he would have jumped up and defended himself before the group of three pounced on him, clobbering his skull with a leather knot on the end of a riding crop. And if he were awake, that would not have knocked him out. But no one in the group could tell he was awake when they tied him, gagged him and tossed him under the musty hay in the other stall. They didn’t notice how Theissen gave a small sigh as he felt the lump on his head swell and his brain throb. The only thing these men in a group of five noticed was that when they lifted the cart flaps, all they found were heaps of empty gunnysacks in the bottoms. The rest of the carts were empty.

“Where are all the goods?”

One of the men tried to dislodge the cart from the ground, but the wheels stuck. “Get this. They’re sunk in the ground.”

Theissen chided himself for not raising them a little. Too late.

“But they were pushing them like they were full of gold!”

“I saw that too. And why watch empty carts?”

“Maybe those feathers they sold were—”

“No. Those they were carrying on their backs. They barely sold any of those you know.”

“Then where are those bags? We can take those.”

“And have that birdman on us? Those are his. I’m sure of it!”

“What do you think they were pushing empty carts for?”

“Maybe for the money they wanted to bring back for the feathers. They’re worth a lot in gold.”

“What about the carpenter?”

One of them looked over the stall wall.

“Maybe we ought to rough him up and leave him in a ditch.”

“But he had coppers, and he got lots of money from his work.”

“He spent it,” a man walking closer to Theissen said. “They bought food to last months. I heard they were going to Jattereen to open up a business.”

“They couldn’t have spent all he earned.”

“A lot of it.”

“The mercantile shop still owes him, and so do the shoemakers. We can take it then.”

“What about him now?”

“Untie him and sneak off. He won’t know what hit him. He’s out like a stump.”

“Well, I think—”

“Hey! What are you doing in there?” Teppan shouted. His voice echoed in from the barn doorway.

The fivesome scattered.

Ronen and Dobbin came in after Teppan. Several of the other former birdmen hurried in with them. Teppan moaned when he walked to the carts. Then he searched out for Theissen.

“I’m here,” Theissen said, rolling over with discomfort. “In the other stall.”

“You actually let them tie you up?” Dobbis chuckled as he and the others hurried over to untie him. “I just don’t get you.”

Rubbing his wrists as soon as he was free, Theissen sat up and smirked. “I hope they don’t get it either.”

Theissen winced as he touched his head. Yet with his touch, he reduced the swelling until there was no more pain at all. Once the throbbing stopped, he sighed and glanced over at the barn door where the others were coming in.

“They tried to rob us,” he said with a nod to Karo.

Karo nodded back then gestured to the others to surround their stall. One of them glanced at the empty cart. He shook his head, pulling the flap over to provide cover again.

“Do you think they’ll leave us alone on the road now?” an ex-moleman named Coi said to Karo. Theissen had learned his name that week, and this time it stuck in his memory. Coi was somewhat of a whiner, with rounded cheeks like a toddler’s.

“I hope so.” Karo watched Theissen extract the gold and jewels back from under ground where he had buried them. With a gesture, the items pulled through the bottoms of the carts and built up inside. Most of the carts were full when he could no longer heft the contents in through with magic. From there they had to finish the job by hand, but that was as simple as picking up fruit from under an overripe tree.

“That should be all,” Theissen said, stroking the ground once more to feel inside the earth just to make sure.

“Good.” Karo nodded to him. “We’ll keep watch from here. You go get something to eat.”

Smirking, Theissen staggered from the stall. He met Theobold as he was just coming in. Theobold patted him on the shoulder when they passed one another, the birdman handing off the coin pouch so Theissen wasn’t penniless when he went indoors.

As soon as he was outside Theissen took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. The speckled sky had an uncanny resemblance to the way he was feeling; too complicated to be real, and yet too simple and serene to want to forget. He looked up all the way towards the moon, his thoughts drifting like the flow of life and energy around him in everything—a flow that only he could see. It pulled like a current to the four quarters of the world in a melody only he could hear, calling and lulling his other senses. Its aroma was thick and rich like a soup of spices, meats, and savory flavors—a taste only he knew existed. And stroking his skin like an invisible wind that only he could feel. Within the flow, he could detect where Theobold was as a dissonant, sour, ruffling sensation in the current. The only other dissonance was the bitter ripple from the disappointed thieves, as hate and envy were palpable.

To the west he noticed snow clouds in the distance. The mountains were topped with white now. He half expected it to snow that day, breathing out puffs of barely existing clouds. Yet the world around the village did not want to give in to winter just yet, apparently. He continued on. Walking onto the front step to the doors of the inn, Theissen breathed another sigh, feeling the chill come. It was another reason he wanted to hurry on. Walking in winter was a bad idea.

As soon as he opened the inn doors and stepped inside, the atmosphere completely changed, as did the odors in the flow. The fire on the hearth blazed, keeping the tavern eating hall warm and even stuffy. Locals gathered to drink, laughing together along the bar where a man worked hard to keep their mugs full. At the tables, travelers had claimed their places. Lords usually rented rooms above and never came down among the locals, though their drivers and menservants were in the main hall chatting and eating with the rest of them. Usually Theissen felt he was in good company at the inn. But after being conked on the head and tied up, he half wondered how many here had done it. He didn’t exactly look at their faces when they had jumped him.

Finding a spot at a table, Theissen gestured for one of the waiters to hurry over. A young man of twenty-three came up, wiping his beer-stained apron with his hands.

“What will it be?”

Theissen nodded to what the others were eating. “Some dinner would be nice. Do you have ham?”

The waiter nodded. “Smoked and salted. Which do you like?”

“Smoked. And with some potatoes, if you have them baked,” Theissen said.

“They’re boiled tonight in broth. Do you want that?”

Nodding with a sigh, Theissen waved to him. “That’ll do. But I’d also like some cider to drink, if you got any.”

“Spiced? Or mulled?”

“Do you have any on the tap?” Theissen looked up, curious how many options this man was giving him.

“Yeah, but with the start of winter we usually serve spiced cider,” the waiter said. “Keeps you warm.”

“Spiced, but no liqueur if that is what you mean.” Theissen glanced at the drunk locals leaning on the bar.

“Your loss,” the waiter said with a shrug then walked back to the bar.

“Hey, Carpenter.”

Theissen turned his head. He recognized one of the Fruiters he had met in town. He had done a job for this man’s mother. He had made a new set of fruit boxes and a comfortable selling stool that had varnish that still needed to dry.

“You don’t eat with the freaks with your caravan?”

Feeling his cheeks go hot, Theissen narrowed his eyes at the man. This man was drunk and therefore spoke more loosely, so Theissen took that into account as he answered.

“Um,” Theissen rubbed his head to indicate that it still hurt, though it didn’t anymore. “That isn’t it. It’s just my turn to eat. They’re leaving early, and I’ll be staying late.”

“How did you end up with them anyway?” the fruiter asked, leaning over his beer mug.

Theissen grinned faintly, wondering about it himself. He nodded to the bowl of boiled potatoes and the slab of ham the waiter had just brought out. The waiter also set the spiced cider next to it with a smirk. Theissen slipped the man a copper without a word. He took up his flagon and said to the Fruiter, “I met them in the woods between the Jadoran and Dondit Mountains. They asked me to come along with them to Jattereen to help them out in markets there.”

The room hushed into silence. All eyes stared at him. Then, as if a chain of firecrackers, exclamations popped out of them.

“You met them in the forest?” “This time of year?” “They could all be demons!” “Are you insane?”

Theissen chuckled weakly then took a long drink of his cider. It was fresh, and the spice really did warm him up. The jabber of exclamations continued on until he finally said, “Only Theobold is a demon. As for the rest of it…I might be insane. Walking this time of year across Jatte will make things more difficult. I had hoped to be busy working in a town before now, but I was sidetracked.”

“Sidetracked?”

Nodding, Theissen smirked, thinking about the past year with both fondness and annoyance. “Yes,