All the Paths of Shadow by Frank Tuttle Read Free Book Online

away from the vertical by that much.” She pointed to the scribbles on the floor with the tip of her boot.
    “And since I know the exact distance from the center of the Tower to the Society marker, and since I know the length of the chain and the angle of deflection, I can calculate the exact height of a point just below the ceiling of the Wizard’s Flat.”
    “As you say, ma’am,” said Tervis. Then he grinned. “Magic!”
    Meralda folded her ruler. “Magic,” she said, putting away her gear.
    The half-open door to the stair beckoned. Meralda dropped her bag and tied it shut.
    “Time to go, gentlemen,” she said. Tervis mopped his brow. Kervis, who had been dashing from window to window, trotted back to join Meralda and Tervis before the door.
    “It’s downhill, this time,” Kervis said. “Shall I go first again, ma’am?”
    Meralda lit her magelamp with a word and motioned Kervis toward the door.
    “Last one down is a Vonat,” he said, before slipping out into the dark.
    Meralda followed. Tervis came after, and though his hand shook when Meralda handed him the key he managed to lock the door without fumbling.
    Meralda pocketed the key, bade Kervis to wait until she set the magelamp’s twin beams wider and brighter, and then brushed back her hair.
    A line from a Phendelit play crept whispering into Meralda’s mind. “We climb now the walls of the cold dark night,” said the hero, at the base of the stair that wound down to the Pale Gate. “No sun now to warm us, no light for our feet. Just darkness and silence and down to defeat.”
    Meralda sighed at the memory, then realized both Bellringers were eyeing her expectantly. “Well, gentlemen,” she said, forcing a smile. “It is downhill, as you said.”
    Kervis groaned. “If old what’s-his-name had been any kind of real wizard, he’d have put in a lift.”
    Tervis took in his breath with a sudden hiss. “Don’t say things like that,” he said. “It’s disrespectful to speak ill of the, um, ones that aren’t here anymore.”
    Kervis rolled his eyes and turned away.
    Meralda increased her magelamp’s brightness with a whispered word and set a brisk pace for the foot of the Tower.
     
     
    Between midday traffic and the extra crowds milling about the palace, Meralda was nearly late for court.
    Ordinarily, she’d simply not go, since Yvin preferred absence to tardiness. And, ordinarily, her absence would have been noted, but nothing more. Thaumaturges were almost expected to ignore the routine functions of the court.
    Ordinarily.
    The Accords, however, were only held every five years. And of the fifth-year Accords, only one in five was hosted by any given realm, including Tirlin. So nothing, reflected a breathless Meralda, was ordinary anymore.
    She’d leapt from the traffic-locked cab at the corner of Kemp and Striddle, intending to walk the five blocks to the trolley stand at Fleethorse. The Bellringers, still sweat-streaked and flushed from the morning’s long climb, cleared a wide path through the busy sidewalks. Even with the twins clearing the way, though, Meralda could only watch as the Fleethorse trolley pulled away from the stand, filled to capacity and gone before Meralda could attempt to claim court preference and gain a hand-stand on the shuddering red hulk.
    And as for hailing a cab, I might as well shout down the moon, she thought. Traffic was at a near standstill from Kemp to Roard. Worse, there wasn’t a cab to be seen, much less hailed and ridden.
    And so, another brisk walk. Meralda’s calves ached. Her heels were bruised and tender. Her hair hung limp and damp. She caught a brief glimpse of herself reflected in a clockmaker’s window and looked quickly away. I’m a sight, she thought. A sight, and bound for court.
    A street minstrel dared the Bellringers, but Kervis sent him scampering with a growl and a pat of his sword hilt.
    Eight blocks to the palace, and still the roads were clogged. Seven blocks, and Meralda’s