Unguilded Read Free

around her shoulders. She shouldn’t have given the girl her jewelry, she realized. That had been a mistake. Now she had to make sure the girl had time to get far enough away that she— her body —was never found.
    “Arabella.”
    “Secundus.” Arabella inclined her head. “Have you made a decision about the girl?”
    It hadn’t mattered to her who the Mage Secundus decided to breed the girl to. Until she saw the way he’d looked at Kara Fonti. She could not let him have her.
    When she’d arrived on Mage Guild Island all those years ago, others her age had been Journeymen or full Mages. But she’d had a formidable talent as well as beauty and charm, which she’d used to secure the best mentors she could. She’d never had a mentor as powerful and connected as Valerio Valendi, though, so she’d told the girl to flee. She would not allow a talentless girl to interfere with her plans.
    “It seems she has disappeared,” Valerio Valendi said. “What did the two of you discuss?”
    “Our shared disappointment,” Arabella said. “And the consequences—for both of us.”
    “Ah yes, you will need to find another Mage for the villa. Unless you plan to return?”
    “I already have someone in mind,” she replied. Since the child she left behind had no magic, Guild Law demanded she find a replacement. “A minor talent, but enough to make him Villa Secundus.”
    “I see.” Valerio’s voice held amusement. “A position that is currently filled by your husband.”
    “Yes.” She lifted her chin and met his steady gaze.
    “And the girl, you do not know where she went?”
    “No.” Arabella dropped her eyes. “She said she was going downstairs. I assumed to rejoin all of you.”
    “Which she did not do,” Valerio said. “I have searched the house magically, and she is not here. Come and sit. We must discuss our options.”
    Arabella followed the Secundus into the small living room. He had taken her at her word—or at least he hadn’t challenged her. He’d even been amused.
    Arabella’s current position within the guild was already precarious. Now that it was certain Kara Fonti had no talent, she needed both a political alliance and to bear a child with potential. Valerio Valendi was a powerful Mage—ambitious and ruthless—which made him very dangerous. But he was a man. And, she thought, not immune to her charms. A child of theirs must inherit power. But if it didn’t she would still have years before it was known, years in which—with Valerio’s support—she could establish and strengthen her position within Mage Guild.
     
    KARA MADE HER way down through the villa. Down steep rock stairs hacked out of the mountain, worn smooth by torrential rains and decades of use. Down winding, narrow alleys where she hugged walls and hid in shadows. Down past the high square where the weekly market was held and Merchants sold goods that had been dragged uphill by stocky burros, cousins to the animals that roamed free on the mountain. Down through the lower villa, where the wooden doors were set two steps above the cobbled lane to safeguard against flooding. And finally, down to the lower square that was enclosed by warehouses on two sides and stables on a third.
    The cobbles ended. The dirt road that stretched out into the valley had been hardened by animals and wagons over long years of use. This road would take Kara out of the villa she’d spent her whole life in, out of the only life she’d known. As her mother suggested, she would leave the country. But she’d have to get to Rillidi, the port city, in order to do that.
    Firelight lit the handful of people still in the square—probably Merchant Guild delivering goods for trade. They huddled in chairs that ringed a small table, and hushed laughter drifted her way.
    Kara glanced up at the shining white walls and dark roofs of Villa Larona. She clenched her hands, trying to slow her breathing and push away her apprehension about walking out of the villa and