She waited awhile, but there was still no answer. Nothing other than the pulsing that she put into the ring. She soon gave up—at least for now. She would have to go digging again. Eventually, she needed to get a hold of Ceran.
She held her hand up against the door, pressing a bit of power out into it, and felt a hint of resistance. There were protections built into the door now, solidified by her own magic, and designed to ensure that no one else could open it. She had keyed it to respond to specific people: herself, Eva, and Topher since he refused to leave. That was it.
Jayna pushed the door open and took a deep breath. The air was hot, the flame crackling brightly, and Eva sat next to the hearth, facing the fire. Jayna’s eyes darted toward the bottle resting at Eva’s feet, but she didn’t have a glass in hand. Either the bottle was empty—and given what she knew of Eva and her predilections, that was entirely possible—or she hadn’t started. That would be even more surprising.
“Are you going to close the door?”
Jayna glanced into the kitchen where Topher stood rolling dough along the countertop. He had a loopy smile on his face, and a bit of flour dusted his chest and smudged his cheek.
“Sorry about that,” Jayna said, stepping inside and closing the door again. She paused long enough to place a protective seal once more against the door, using her power to solidify that seal. When she did, the energy that burst into the door filled it, anchoring it for a moment, then she turned away. “Is everything all right?”
Topher nodded. “Why?”
Jayna patted her pocket. “You sent a summons to us. You haven’t felt the need to do that before.”
“I wasn’t meaning to. I was trying to send a comment through. Obviously, that didn’t work.”
“A comment?”
“Eva said it was vibrating so hard it nearly ripped her dress off.” Topher smirked at the idea. “I don’t know if it would do that, but I’m hopeful that if I can push a little more intention into my enchantment, I should be able to pass on a comment to you.”
“I see,” Jayna said.
“I’m sorry if you thought I was in trouble.”
“I wasn’t really sure what to make of it,” Jayna said. “I just thought something had happened.”
Topher turned back to rolling out dough on the counter. “I wanted to see if the two of you would be here to eat.”
“That’s it?”
“I’ve told you before, Jayna. Neither of you eat very well. I’m trying to do my best to be useful to you.”
Jayna pulled the satchel off her shoulder and set it on the back of the chair. “You have been useful.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “I don’t always feel like it.”
It amused her to see a man as tall as Topher working in the kitchen, but it wasn’t the first time. He had an affinity for it, which she was thankful for. Not that she wouldn’t eat if not for him, but she did appreciate his concern for her, and even though Eva never said so, she knew she appreciated his concern for her, as well.
“Eva said your friend was under attack. Is he safe?”
“It seems the city has decided to take a different approach to sorcerers.”
“The dular and the sorcerers have not always gotten on all that well. Especially not in Nelar. I’ve heard stories about what it was like before. The Society tries to influence too much.”
“It’s that way everywhere,” Jayna muttered.
She took a seat at the table, glancing over to Eva, but it looked as if she were asleep. Hopefully not passed out. Jayna hadn’t been gone that long. Maybe long enough for Eva to finish a bottle of wine though. She had escorted Char home, gone to the market, and uncovered a fallen sorcerer. She supposed that would have been long enough.
“The Society likes to view themselves as the arbiters of magical authority.” Jayna twisted the dragon stone ring, debating how much to share with Topher. He didn’t need to know all the dirt with the Society. “Can you dig into what’s going on with the dular?”
Topher looked back at her. “I can try. Too many people are starting to know me though.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged. “Well, they are starting to know I work with you.”
“I didn’t realize that was a problem.”
“It’s not a problem. It’s just that . . .” He turned back and flipped the dough, slamming it down on the counter, and started rolling again. “They know that since I work with you, I’m not quite as safe as some of the other dular.”
“Safe?”
He shrugged. “There’s a certain culture in the city. If you’re one of the traditional Nelar dular, they treat you differently. I’m not, so I can get into some of the information on the periphery, but I can’t get into everything.” He shrugged again. “I can keep looking though. If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”
Jayna nodded. “I’m worried. There’s too much activity around, and I’m particularly concerned that if they decide to target sorcerers—”
“Do you really think they’ll start targeting sorcerers?”
“Well, they targeted Char today. And then . . .” There were times when she wasn’t exactly sure what to share with Topher, mostly because she didn’t know whether he was somebody whom she could completely trust. He wasn’t necessarily untrustworthy, it was just that he still suffered from the dwaring attack, and it had changed him in a way he hadn’t yet fully recovered from. “I found another sorcerer who had been attacked.”
Eva opened her eyes and looked over to her. “What do you mean, you found one?”
It figured that Eva would take that moment to wake up and listen. Jayna got to her feet. “After I brought Char back to the outpost. I felt something. Dark magic.”
Eva sat forward, turning her attention briefly to the fire. It might be Jayna’s imagination, but it looked as if the flames danced a little brighter and harder for a moment before fading back.
“You found another?”
“They wore a marker for the Order of Norej. And used dark magic. I could feel it.”
She could still feel it, somewhat. The ring constricted every so often, which suggested that whoever was active in the city, and whatever power was being used, was not done yet.
“There are too many questions Ceran hasn’t answered. I think it’s time we find our own answers,” Jayna said.
She headed over to Eva, taking a seat across from her. The fire was almost too hot. It blasted at Jayna intensely, causing sweat to erupt as soon as she sat down. How could Eva tolerate it?
“You mean Sarenoth,” Eva said carefully.
Jayna nodded. “I asked Char to look into it.”
Eva arched a brow. “Is that safe?”
“It might not be,” Jayna agreed. “I didn’t know what to do. He has access to records that we don’t. And . . .”
“And what?”
“And I tried to reach out to Ceran, but he’s not answering. Again.” Jayna shook her head, letting out a brief sigh. “I figured that if I could ask him, I might find out something more. We have to have answers. We keep dealing with this uncertainty, and unfortunately, the uncertainty is only going to end with one of us getting hurt.”