I nodded.
Denna looked embarrassed as she asked, “What if someone told you they knew a type of magic that did more than that? A magic where you sort of wrote things down, and whatever you wrote became true?”
She looked down nervously, her fingers tracing patterns on the tabletop. “Then, if someone saw the writing, even if they couldn’t read it, it would be true for them. They’d think a certain thing, or act a certain way depending on what the writing said.” She looked up at us again, her expression a strange mix of curiosity, hope, and uncertainty.
The three of us looked at each other. Wilem shrugged.
“Sounds a damn sight easier than alchemy,” Simmon said. “I’d rather do that than spend all day unbinding principles.”
“Sounds like faerie-tale magic,” I said. “Storybook stuff that doesn’t really exist. I certainly never heard about anything like that at the University.”
Denna looked down at the tabletop where her fingers still traced patterns against the wood. Her mouth was pursed slightly, her eyes distant.
I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or simply thoughtful. “Why do you ask?”
Denna looked up at me and her expression quickly slid into a wry smile. She shrugged away the question. “It was just something I heard,” she said dismissively. “I thought it sounded too good to be true.”
She looked over her shoulder. “I seem to have outlasted my overenthusiastic suitor,” she said.
Wil held up the flat of his hand. “We had an arrangement,” he said. “There was drink involved, and a woman’s secret.”
“I’ll have a word with the barman before I leave,” Denna said, her eyes dancing with amusement. “As for the secret: There are two ladies sitting behind you. They’ve been making eyes at you for most of the evening. The one in green fancies Sim, while the one with short blond hair seems to have a thing for Cealdish men who focus on being pretty.”
“We have already made note of them,” Wilem said without turning to look. “Unfortunately, they are already in the company of a young Modegan gentleman.”
“The gentleman is not with them in any romantic sense,” Denna said. “While the ladies have been eyeing you, the gentleman has been making it abundantly clear that he prefers redheads.” She lay her hand on my arm possessively. “Unfortunately for him, I have already staked my claim.”
I fought the urge to look at the table. “Are you serious?” I asked.
“Don’t worry,” she said to Wil and Sim. “I’ll send Deoch over to distract the Modegan. That will leave the door open for the two of you.”
“What’s Deoch going to do?” Simmon said with a laugh. “Juggle?”
Denna gave him a frank look.
“What?” Simmon said. “Wh . . . Deoch isn’t sly.”
Denna blinked at him. “He and Stanchion own the Eolian together,” she said. “Didn’t you know that?”
“They own the place,” Sim said. “They’re not, you know, together.”
Denna laughed. “Of course they are.”
“But Deoch is up to his neck in women,” Simmon protested. “He . . . he can’t—”
Denna looked at him as if he were simple, then to Wil and myself. “The two of you knew, didn’t you?”
Wilem shrugged. “I hadn’t any knowledge of it. But small wonder he is a Basha. He is attractive enough.” Wil hesitated, frowned. “Basha. What is a word for that here? A man who is intimate with both women and men?”
“Lucky?” Denna suggested. “Tired? Ambidextrous?”
“Ambisextrous,” I corrected.
“That won’t do,” Denna chided me. “If we don’t have impressive sounding names for things, no one will take us seriously.”
Sim blinked at her, obviously unable to come to grips with the situation.
“You see,” Denna said slowly, as if explaining to a child. “It’s all just energy. And we can direct it in different ways.” She blossomed into a brilliant smile, as if realizing the perfect way to explain the situation to him. “It’s like when you do this.” She began to vigorously rub her hands up and down her thighs, mimicking his earlier motion. “It’s all just energy.”
By this point Wilem was hiding his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Simmon’s expression was still incredulous and confused, but now it was also a furious, blushing red.
I got to my feet and took Denna’s elbow. “Leave the poor boy alone,” I said as I steered her gently toward the door. “He’s from Atur. They’re laced a little tightly in those parts.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Gentlemen and Thieves
It was late when Denna and I left the Eolian, and the streets were empty. In the distance I heard fiddle music and the hollow clopping of a horse’s hooves on cobblestones.
“So what rock have you been hiding under?” she asked.
“The usual rock,” I said, then a thought occurred to me. “Did you come looking for me at the University? At the big square building that smells like coal smoke?”
Denna shook her head. “I wouldn’t begin to know where to find you there. It’s like a maze. If I can’t catch you playing at Anker’s, I know I’m out of luck.” She looked at me curiously. “Why?”
“Someone showed up asking for me,” I said with a dismissive gesture. “She said I’d sold her a charm. I thought it might be you.”
“I did come looking for you a while back,” she said. “But I never mentioned your abundant charm.”
The conversation lulled and silence swelled between us. I couldn’t help but think of her walking arm in arm with Ambrose. I didn’t want to know any more about it, but at the same time, it was the only thing in my head.
“I came to visit you at the Grey Man,” I said, just to fill the air between us. “But you’d already gone.”
She nodded. “Kellin and I had a bit of a falling out.”
“Nothing too bad, I hope.” I gestured to her throat. “I notice you still have the necklace.”
Denna touched the teardrop emerald absentmindedly. “No. Nothing terrible. You can say this for Kellin, he’s a traditionalist. When he gives a gift, he sticks to it. He said the color flattered me, and I should keep the earrings too.” She sighed. “I’d feel better if he hadn’t been so gracious. Still, they’re nice to have. A safety net of sorts. They’ll make my life easier if I don’t hear from my patron soon.”
“You’re still hoping to hear from him?” I asked. “After what happened in Trebon? After he’s been out of contact for more than a month with no word at all?”
Denna shrugged. “That’s just his way. I told you, he’s a secretive sort. It’s not odd for him to be gone for long stretches of time.”
“I have a friend who is trying to find me a patron,” I said. “I could have him look for you too.”
She looked up at me, her eyes unreadable. “It’s sweet that you think I deserve better, but I really don’t. I have a good voice, but that’s it. Who would hire a half-trained musician without even an instrument to her name?”
“Anyone with ears to hear you,” I said. “Anyone with eyes to see.”
Denna looked down, her hair falling around her face like a curtain. “You’re sweet,” she said quietly, making an odd fidgeting gesture with her hands.
“What ended up souring things with Kellin?” I asked, steering the conversation somewhere safer.
“I spent too much time entertaining gentlemen callers,” she said dryly.
“You should have explained to him that I’m nothing remotely resembling a gentleman,” I said. “That might have eased his mind.” But I knew I couldn’t have been the problem. I’d only managed to visit once. Had it been Ambrose that had come calling? I could picture him in the lavish sitting room all too easily. That damn hat of his hanging casually off the corner of a chair as he drank chocolate and told jokes.
Denna’s mouth quirked. “It was mostly Geoffrey he objected to,” she said. “Apparently I was supposed to sit quiet and alone in my little box until he came to call on me.”
“How is Geoffrey?” I asked to be polite. “Has he managed to get a second thought into his head yet?”