Passion Play (River of Souls 1)

Loud hoofbeats made her jump and clutch her shirt together. One of the outriders, she told herself. Then a man called out, “Ho, caravan master!”

It was Váná Gersi, her father’s senior runner.

Therez ducked behind a screen of bushes. Gersi. Here. Within a day of her escape. He must be checking with all the caravans, she thought, as she rebuttoned her shirt with fumbling hands. I have to hide. Run away. Before Brandt tells him about me.

She scanned the wilderness of trees and bracken and scrub extending away from camp. Now that her first panic had passed, it registered that she had no food and no shelter other than her blanket. What if she hid until the caravan left? She could follow the highway to the next village and find lodging there.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and turned around.

Volker stood just a few feet behind her. He was holding a pair of empty water buckets, and he was grinning. “Ilse. What’re you doing?”

Therez bit her lip. “I was thirsty.”

He continued to stare at her so pointedly that she glanced down. Half her shirt was unbuttoned; the other half was crooked. She flushed and turned to fix the buttons. Taking a quick step closer, Volker caught her hand. “Can I help?”

He kissed her on the lips, his other hand going to her breast. Therez pushed him away. “No.”

Volker wiped his mouth, no longer smiling. “You mean, not yet.”

He snatched up the buckets and stalked to the stream. Keeping his back to Therez, he refilled the buckets. When he swung around, she shied away, but he only muttered a warning not to be late and marched back to camp.

Therez let out a breath.

“Hey, girl.”

Alarik Brandt stood in the shadow of an oak tree. His smile was a bright flash against his dark face.

“Teasing my boys?” he asked. “Or didn’t he offer enough?”

She gulped down a breath. “I … I was thirsty.”

“As you say.” He nodded back at the camp. “Business with that rider is over. We’re heading out, with you or not. Coming?”

Still smiling, he tilted his hand, palm upward. It was an ambiguous gesture, one that might be equal parts invitation and demand. Her pulse gave an uncomfortable leap. Had he guessed that she was the reason for Váná Gersi’s search? He doesn’t know, Therez told herself. He won’t unless I betray myself. With her pulse still beating far too fast for comfort, she dropped her gaze to the ground and headed back toward camp. As she passed Brandt, she heard his soft laughter, felt his warm breath graze her neck. It took all her control not to run.

CHAPTER FOUR

GRADUALLY THEREZ RELAXED into the pattern of her new life. She rose early and ate breakfast alone. She learned to do without warm water and regular bathing. She borrowed rags from Ulf, the cook, and hiding behind his wagon, she washed herself bit by bit. She learned how to scrub her clothes with sand and cold water, hanging them near the fire at night to dry.

Volker soon forgave her, as he put it, and joined her for supper, along with Brenn. The two brothers had made friends with the tumbler girls, and by the second week, they all spent their evenings together, trading stories while Therez listened. The girls did know magic, she discovered, and often delighted the caravan crew with their tricks. They traced silvery lines in the air. They called up brightly colore

d globes from nothing and sent them flying aloft, like soap bubbles. They made Volker’s hair stand on end, much to Brenn’s delight.

“I know about magic,” Volker told them afterward.

Lena, the older girl, laughed. “What kind of magic?”

He grinned. “Tricks. I could show you later.”

She shook her head, her eyes bright with glee. “No, thank you. I know your kind of tricks.”

Brenn rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Therez. “The only tricks Volker knows are ones that get him into trouble. Now me, I wish I knew real magic, the kind mages study in Duenne. Like the magic they use to fight wars, or see into the past.”

“Then do it,” said a man’s voice. “Leave the road and find a teacher.”

It was the scholar Therez had seen the first day. Until now, the man had kept apart from the other passengers, reading his books. On the longer stops he sometimes walked beyond the camp perimeter, returning only after the campfires were banked.

“Do you know magic?” she asked.