Authors: Charlotte Abel
The fact that she was talking to him instead of screaming obscenities was a huge improvement. “Do you know who I am?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re that bicycle racer that Channie’s been drooling over.”
“I’m her husband.”
Magic charged the air, but it didn’t feel threatening. Prudence grabbed the bars of her cage and pressed her face between them. “Where’s Channie? I want to see my baby girl.”
Josh didn’t want to remind her that she planned to kill Channie. “She’s not here.”
“Where’s Abby?”
“She’s…not here either.” Did she really not remember murdering her daughter? Maybe Wisdom’s treatment plan involved memory suppression. “Do you know why you’re here?”
“I’m sick.” Prudence smoothed her hands over her wispy, white hair. “But I’m getting better. Wisdom says I have to stay here until I’m healed.”
Josh smiled at her as relief washed over him. Tears of gratitude blurred his vision. He wouldn’t have to kill her after all. “Just keep listening to Wisdom and do everything she says. Okay?”
“Will you come see me again?” Prudence reached for Josh through the bars of her cage. “I’m so lonely.”
“Sure.” He took her hand in both of his and was surprised by how fragile it felt. Her skin was as dry and thin as paper. It was hard to believe this was the same person that had flung herself against the bars of her cage just a few days ago, trying to kill him.
“Bring Channie and Abby with you when you come back. I miss my girls.”
Josh turned away, unable to meet her gaze. He hurried down the trail and nodded at the guards as he passed. He was glad that Prudence was better and even happier that he wouldn’t need to kill her, but he’d never be able to trust her, even if she released Channie from the death pledge. What if she relapsed? Channie would never be safe as long as her mother was alive. Panic squeezed Josh’s chest. He picked up the pace and broke into a jog, then took off at a dead run. He skirted the main camp and ran around the lake.
He missed his bike, but running was the next best thing for stress relief. By the time he made it back to camp, his sides heaved. Sweat ran down the indentation of his spine and pooled beneath his arms. His clothes clung to his body. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair then cast a cleansing spell on himself. He was as clean as if he’d just showered, but the spell didn’t revive him the way soap and hot water would have. He was no longer sleep deprived, but he was exhausted. What he needed was a couple of hours alone in his tent, connected to Channie through their heart-bond. But when he rounded the corner, there was at least thirty people crowded around the front of his tent.
What the hell?
“Mr. Veyjivik! Mr. Veyjivik!”
Josh sprinted to his tent. “What’s wrong?”
A middle-aged man spit a stream of tobacco juice onto the ground. “You’re late.”
Josh ran through the day’s schedule in his mind, but came up blank. “Late for what?”
“Arbitration.”
“Huh?”
“We been waiting for you to get settled in, but it’s been nigh onto three weeks now and some of us is tired of waiting.” The man’s mouthful of chewing tobacco, coupled with his strong accent, made it difficult to understand him.
“Okay…” Josh searched the crowd for a familiar face. He recognized a couple of people as Black Mountain refugees, but he didn’t even know their names. “What can I do for you?”
The crowd surrounded him, shouting at him and each other, vying for his attention.
“Hey!” Josh held up both hands, palms out. “Settle down. I can’t understand any of you. One at a time.”
They paused for a moment then shouted even louder as they jostled and shoved each other, trying to get to the head of the line.
Josh put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.
Everyone froze.
“That’s better.”
Tim seemed to appear out of nowhere. Quite a feat, considering the man’s size. “Need any help, Valor?”
“Can you organize these people?” Josh ran a hand through his hair. “Apparently, I have office hours.”
Tim nodded and lifted the flap of Josh’s tent. “Ms. Wisdom keeps the Book of judgments in a box under the cot. Go ahead get set up. I’ll send the first whiner inside whenever you’re ready.”
Josh was relieved to find the “Book of judgments” was a simple, non-magical journal. He stacked two crates together to make a desk and sat on the end of his cot. It didn’t exactly put him in a “power position” but he didn’t feel like standing. He found a pen and entered the date at the top of a new page.
“Okay, Tim, I’m ready.”
At first it was entertaining. One man was upset because another man’s dog had gotten his coon hound pregnant. The accused was upset because the other guy refused to give him the pick of the litter as a stud fee.
“How do you even know which dog got yours pregnant?”
“On account of them pups being the ugliest dang things I ever seen.”
“Spot might be ugly, but he’s got the best nose of any dog here.”
“Why do either of you even have dogs? Food is in short supply.”
The one with the litter said, “If it weren’t for our huntin’ dogs, we’d a starved months ago.”
Josh rubbed the stubble under his chin. He’d neglected to ‘shave’ when he’d used the cleansing spell. “Are these pups valuable?”
“Not yet. But they will be once I train ‘em.”
“I should punish you both for not keeping your dogs confined.”
“What!” Both men’s mouths fell open.
“We don’t have the resources to support a breeding program.”
The man with the litter sighed. “all right. I’ll go drown the pups.”
“No!” Josh didn’t want to add dead puppies to his already overburdened conscience. “I’m not going to fine you, but I’m not going to reward you either. When the puppies are old enough to wean, we’ll hold a drawing for anyone that wants one…with the understanding that they have to feed them out of their own rations.”
Neither man looked happy, but they both nodded then shook hands and left. The hours passed quickly.
Josh was feeling rather pleased with himself for solving all the different disputes brought before him, if not to everyone’s satisfaction, at least to their mutual displeasure. Dad would be so proud of him. But Josh’s glow of self-confidence faded when Tim ushered in a couple of teenagers and a very angry father.
“This here punk knocked up my daughter.”
Oh crap.
Josh studied the young couple, the girl looked to be about sixteen. If she was pregnant, she wasn’t very far along. There was no hint of a baby bump under her skin-tight t-shirt.
The young man’s face was so battered it was impossible to guess how old he was. “Is that true?”
The girl shook her head and whispered, “No.”
The boy raised his chin and declared, “Yes.”
“Well, which is it?”
The boy stepped forward and met Josh’s gaze without blinking. He pointed to the girl’s flat stomach. “That’s my bun in her oven and I intend to marry her.”
The man curled his upper lip, wrinkling his nose. “No daughter of mine is getting hitched to an Appalachia mage.”
Josh ignored the man and spoke directly to the boy. “How old are you?”
“I’m almost seventeen and she’s eighteen.”
“Sixteen is awful young to get married.” A twinge of guilt pinched Josh’s conscience at his hypocrisy. He and Channie were the same age as this couple.
“It ain’t that young and I can support her and our young uns.”
Josh’s eyebrows arched. “Is that right?”
“My power-name’s Carver and I can make just about anything out of wood. Folks come from miles around to buy my furniture. Even empties.”
“What do your parents think about all this?”
Carver blinked then swallowed, bobbing his prominent Adam’s apple. “My folks is dead. But they’d want me to do the right thing.”
“Getting married because a baby’s on the way isn’t necessarily the right thing. Do you love her?”
“Yes, sir. With all my heart.”
Josh turned his attention to the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Kindness, but folks call me Ness.”
“Well, Ness, what do you want?”
“I want Daddy to give you his solemn promise that he won’t hurt Carver no more.”
“No one is going to hurt Carver anymore.” Josh narrowed his eyes at the man. “Right?”
The man gave one curt nod then stared at the ground. His chest heaved as he obviously tried to control his temper.
“Do you love Carver?”
Her eyes glistened as she nodded.
“You’re eighteen. And that’s old enough to make your own decisions.”
Ness clasped her hands in front of her chest and whispered, “Thank you,” then flung herself into Carver’s arms.
The man’s energy field pulsed with rage. His knuckles blanched as he tightened his already fisted hands.
“You two may go.” Josh smiled at Carver and Ness. But when the man turned to follow the young couple outside, Josh clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Not so fast. I’m not done with you.”
The man whirled around and glared at Josh. “You had no right to give my daughter to that Appalachia mage.”
Magic heated Josh’s blood and reinforced his words. “If I hear of you ever laying so much as one hand on Carver, or anyone else for that matter, you’ll answer to me. Is that clear?”
The man’s eyes widened. He licked his lips and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now get out of my tent.”
Tim lifted the flap and stuck his head inside. “It’s quittin’ time.
“Are there any more people waiting to see me?”
“You have to set limits. If you don’t, you’ll never get a moment’s peace.”
“You’re right.” Josh laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back, stretching the kinks out of his shoulders. “How often did Wisdom do this arbitration thing?”
“Six days a week.”
“Damn.”
“You’re in charge now. You can set your own schedule.”
“What I’d like to do is delegate this chore to someone else.”
“You could do that.”
Josh grinned. “Go find Wisdom and tell her I have a job for her.”
~***~
Wisdom readily accepted Josh’s request that she resume her role as camp arbitrator. Josh handed her the Book of judgments and heaved a sigh of relief. “Just don’t overturn any of the decisions I made today, okay?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She ran her finger down the page as she read the day’s rulings. She chuckled and looked up. “So, it looks like you’re going to get to perform your first binding ceremony.”
“Huh?”
“You gave Carver and Ness permission to marry against her father’s wishes. It’s your duty to bind them.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “I have no idea how to do that.”
“All you have to do is tap into their magic and let it inspire you.”
“But…don’t the words have to rhyme? I’m no poet.”
“You’re a mage. The words will come.”
“How soon do you think they’re going to want to do this?” Josh wanted a little time to prepare. Maybe Hunter could give him an idea of what he should say.
“You need to do it after supper. Ness shouldn’t spend another night in her father’s tent.”
Josh groaned then scrubbed his face with his palms.
Wisdom laughed, then turned serious. “I hear you visited Prudence this morning.”
“I did.” Josh refused to feel guilty about not telling her his plans.
“She’s made a lot of progress, don’t you think?”
“She’s much better than she was the last time I saw her, but she doesn’t seem to remember what she did to Abby. Or what she’d planned to do to Channie.”
“I used a remember-not spell on her and it really helped. I believe the weight of her sins was too great of a burden to bear. Her insanity was protecting her from the guilt.”
“What happens when she remembers?”
“I don’t plan to let her ever remember.”
“She asked me to bring Channie and Abby with me tomorrow when I come for another visit.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t tell her anything. I just left.”
“Good. I don’t think she’d believe the truth if you told her, but I’d rather not take the chance.”
“What about Channie’s death pledge? If she can’t remember making her take it, is it still in effect?”
Wisdom lowered her gaze and sighed. “Once Prudence is stable, I’ll take her to Channie and guide her through the process of undoing the curse.”
“Is that safe?”
“As long as I keep her sedated, I can handle Prudence.”
“You had her sedated the last time I saw her and she still tried to kill me.”
“You brought the Book of the Dead with you and undid months of therapy.”
“Sorry about that.” Josh grimaced. “When you think Prudence is well enough to release Channie from the death pledge, I want to go with you.”
“As long as you keep the Book of the Dead away from Prudence.”
“I learned my lesson.”
Less than a minute after Wisdom left Josh’s tent, Diego ducked inside. Something even darker than rage radiated off his body and clouded his energy field.
Hatred.
Josh stood up. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? What’s
wrong
?” Diego’s pupils were so dilated, his eyes looked black. “I can’t believe you’re letting her live.”
“That was a private conversation. Some people might interpret your eavesdropping as spying.” Josh had no intention of accusing Diego of such a serious crime, but other mages in camp, including Wisdom, wouldn’t be so generous.
“That crazy bitch murdered Abby. She almost killed my boys. She wants to kill Channie.”
“She’s sick, Diego. She doesn’t remember killing anyone. She asked me to bring Channie and Abby to see her.”
That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Diego roared like an angry bear and swung at Josh. Luckily, it was a haymaker and gave him plenty of time to dodge the punch.
Josh cast a calming spell on Diego then caught him and guided him to his cot.