Jistan

As the two girls gave him incredulous looks, Shai with her familiar, beautiful eyes, Jistan still couldn’t believe this lucky turn of events. Not only had he found his old friend, but he’d found the solution to his problems. Part of a solution, anyway. He would still need to find more mancers to convince his father, but this was an excellent start.

“You want us to steal something,” Shai said in a tone that suggested she thought he was jesting.

“Yes,” he replied. “I’m head of the RDP now, so my job is to put a stop to the Crossover War, as it is becoming increasingly more violent. To help end the strife, I need to acquire an object known as the Obsidian Chest of Zanteos. It’s in the possession of Emperor Varo Matik, so I need a team of powerful mancers to travel with me to his palace in the north. Particularly, I need a mancer with the ability to break spells and wards.”

“An unmancer, like me.”

“Precisely. I was afraid it would take weeks to find one, yet here you are.”

“And what about me?” Qiara asked.

“You’d be part of my team too. I could use mancers with thieving experience.”

Qiara and Shai traded looks. Then Shai asked, “What’s inside the chest we have to steal?”

“That’s what we’ll find out when we get there.” He fiddled with the feathery tip of a quill on his desk.

Shai eyed him. “Your father wants you to go on this quest, doesn’t he? Did he even tell you what’s in this chest?”

He detected animosity in her tone when she mentioned the word ‘father’. She does still hate us. What if I can’t convince her to do this? That thought disappointed him; he didn’t want her to leave his life again, and not just because he wanted her for this quest. “He told me it will turn the Crossover War in our favor. That’s all we need to know.” It didn’t sit right with Jistan that he hadn’t been told exactly what they were retrieving. But he’d always done what his father said without question. The emperor’s orders were meant to be followed, or there could be dire consequences.

Shai crossed her arms. “I don’t want to do anything for that man.”

“It wouldn’t be for him. It would be for the benefit of Casland. I’m sure you’ve heard what’s happening at our borders, and you’ve seen the toll it takes on the families here when their loved ones have to leave and join the fight. Most of them never return. Wouldn’t you like to help put a stop to all that suffering?” Jistan cringed slightly as the words left his mouth. It felt wrong to guilt her into this, but he needed her.

She frowned. “Will the emperor approve of you recruiting members from a gang of bandits?”

“I believe he will. He’ll especially approve of your magic. Unmancers are rare, and not only that, you’re the most powerful one I’ve come across. If you were arrested three days ago, that means it only took you that amount of time to break all the wards around your dungeon cell. Those same wards took our top normancer two weeks to set up.”

Qiara raised an eyebrow, turning to Shai, who still looked skeptical.

“You would also get to come back here to live, you and your mother,” Jistan said, hoping to entice her further. “You will be treated like nobles, and you won’t have to work for The Cliq anymore. Both of you.”

Qiara perked up. “Now you’re speaking my language, Your Princelyness. Will we get a cut of the profit too?”

He’d almost forgotten he was speaking to criminals. “This isn’t a gang. There is no cut, and there’s no profit to be had from the treasure we’re going to steal. But you will be rewarded with more gold than your Madame Kalyssah has ever given you.”

“Interesting. I think we may have a deal.”

“Wait,” Shai spoke up, giving Qiara a look. “We can’t just say yes. You think Madame Kalyssah will let us leave The Cliq so easily?”

“She doesn’t own us,” Qiara retorted. “Besides, I’m sure the prince’s guards will protect us from her. The RDP has to be more powerful than The Cliq, right?”

Shai still looked concerned, and Jistan remembered rumors about people leaving The Cliq…but only in death.

“I was thinking,” he said, “you could tell your leader I’m enlisting you into the Royal Defense Patrol to pay for your crimes. That sounds believable enough, I presume? You’re both powerful mancers, after all.”

“That…could work,” Shai admitted.

“Excellent. So, talk to Madame Kalyssah and let me know what she says. I’m sure I can persuade her to release you, if necessary.” It shouldn’t be too hard to pay off a woman whose livelihood involved thievery, but he didn’t like that it would seem like buying Shai as if she were a prized horse.

Shai pursed her lips in thought, and he wondered what else could be holding her back. Surely she didn’t enjoy working for The Cliq, did she?

But then…she probably didn’t trust him. She especially didn’t trust his father.

“I know a way to prove to my father how much we need your skills.” He held up a finger to indicate they should wait, then he walked to the door to command one of his guards to fetch the Royal Treasurer. The guard saluted and hurried off.

Qiara and Shai talked together in low voices while they waited. Finally, a man with a bald, brown head wearing a sparkling ruby-colored doublet entered the room.

“You summoned, Your Highness?” he said, bowing low.

“Yes,” Jistan said. He motioned toward the girls. “This is Shai and Qiara. Shai is an unmancer and maybe soon-to-be my new RDP security advisor.” He winked at her. “So I’d like to show her our Royal Vault. I want to see if she can determine how secure the wards are around it.”

“Certainly, Your…Highness.” The Treasurer hesitated after regarding the shackles, filthy clothes, and unkempt hair of the girls. He also wrinkled his nose at their dungeon smell. “Um…if you’ll all follow me.” He darted the prince a wary glance, then proceeded out of the room.

Shai and Qiara reluctantly followed the man out after Jistan gestured for them to go before him. They all walked out of the room, and the guards fell in step with them, two on either side of the thieves.

She doesn’t seem like a dangerous criminal, Jistan thought, watching Shai as they went. How did she get into this way of life? He doubted it was her choice, the Shai he knew would never. It had to have been her mother’s. So he didn’t care who Shai used to be in the past. All that mattered was what she chose for her future.

They turned down several different corridors—the palace was like a maze if you’d never lived in it before. Even Jistan still didn’t know his way around the top floor, three stories above. He and Shai used to explore this bottom floor on a daily basis when they were little kids, so he knew this area like the back of his hand.

Looking at Shai, memories seemed to come back to her, and her eyes lit up when they passed certain rooms. Jistan smiled, wondering when the two of them would have a chance to reminisce. Assuming she wanted to. He frowned when he remembered her negative feelings toward his family.

The Treasurer finally stopped in front of a giant steel door that nearly took up the whole wall at the dead-end of one corridor. He moved aside so Shai could approach the vault, inspecting its surroundings.

Jistan came to her side. “I’ll give you a minute. Then I want to know what you think of our security. This is some of the Treasurer’s best work with magical wards.”

The Treasurer squared his shoulders, beaming. “Yes, my best work indeed.”

Shai paced in front of the vault, staring hard at it. Jistan could almost see the mental calculations going on in her head.

Finally, she stopped and turned back to them. “It is well done. It would probably take me a full eight hours to undo the wards.”

“Eight hours!” the Treasurer cried.

“Well…maybe seven and a half if I’m at full strength. This one’s protected better than the one in the Grand Treasury. That one took only minutes for me to crack.”

The Treasurer’s mouth hung open.

Jistan chuckled. “Shai, he’s not shocked because of how long it would take you. He’s shocked because he expected you to say you couldn’t get into the vault at all.”

“Oh.” She looked back at the vault, shaking her head. “The runes forming the wards are all wrong. They’re spaced too far apart. If you want it to be impossible for an unmancer to break in, you would have to make the runes overlap.”

The Treasurer’s dismayed look turned to one of consideration. “Hm, would that work? It would be very complex spellwork but…yes, yes, I see what you mean!”

Jistan turned to Shai. “See, you’re already proving to be a valuable member of the RDP.”

“I haven’t agreed to work for you yet,” Shai pointed out.

“You wouldn’t work for me. You would work with me. Like a partnership.”

Some of the guards around them stirred at this, and Shai held up her shackled hands. “Guess I don’t have a choice, do I? If I refuse to join your quest, you’re going to lock us up again.”

She must think I’m an evil person, Jistan thought. “No, I wouldn’t. Now that I know who you are, I’d still pardon you and Qiara even if you refused my request. However, I would highly advise against going back to work for The Cliq. I won’t be able to pardon any future crimes.”

Shai’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You would pardon us even if it wasn’t for your benefit?”

“We used to be friends. What type of person do you think I am?” To emphasize his words, he gestured to one of the guards, and the man stepped forward with a ring of keys, unlocking the shackles from first Shai’s wrists, then Qiara’s. Both girls massaged the area where the manacles had touched their skin.

“And here I thought you were a pompous jerk like the other royals,” Qiara told Jistan.

The Treasurer gasped, but the prince laughed. “I like you, Q. I would be glad to have such a feisty person on my team. So, girls, what is your decision?”

Qiara and Shai looked at each other. The former girl nodded, but the latter looked at Jistan and said, “You have to ensure that Emperor Akeil approves of this.”

“Fair enough.” He cleared his throat and turned to the Treasurer. “Tell my father what you witnessed today with Shaielle and her unmancing abilities.” The man nodded and walked away, while Jistan turned back to the girls. “If he approves, and I believe he will, I’ll make sure you both are under my protection at all times. And soon we’ll be away from the city, so you’ll be out of the reach of The Cliq.”

“I need to talk to my mother and Madame Kalyssah too,” Shai said, massaging her head as if she had a headache. She probably did from all the mana she’d used breaking out of the dungeon. “Then we’ll give you our answer.”

Jistan could hardly contain his glee as he smiled. At least it wasn’t an outright no. “I’m glad you’re considering it. Now, my guards will show you two to an upstairs room where you can wash up and change your clothes. I will also tell the kitchen to bring plates of food for both of you, since I know the dungeon meals aren’t very appetizing. Then you are dismissed from the palace. And I hope we can have a great partnership in the future, as well as renew our friendship.” He held Shai’s gaze, and an old emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time stirred deep inside him. Shai must’ve been feeling somewhat the same, because she quickly lowered her eyes.

At that moment, his greatest desire was to have her by his side again, no matter what he had to do to make it happen.