This Rough Magic

'I know that it is an old place, once regarded as being of great power. I can feel no trace of any great power there now, myself, though. Yet my slave and the shaman are not succeeding in their quest there. They are being magically hampered, but I do not know by what or exactly how. It is like wrestling smoke! I need to find the source of this and know if it can be harnessed. This began as an exercise in attempting to flank the Holy Roman Empire. It has become a search for whatever it is that can even thwart the magic of the shaman. He is an adept of great strength.'

'I was coming to that, Grand Duke. Commensus' interviewees all agree: Power there requires a connection to the earth.'

'You mean I would have to physically go there?'

'At least in spirit, my lord.'

Mindaug held his breath, doing everything in his power to keep his mind blank. This was the moment for which he and Elizabeth Bartholdy had schemed for so long.

'Yes,' grunted Jagiellon. It was all Mindaug could do not to let his breath explode in a gust. There had not been a trace of suspicion in the sound.

'Yes,' Jagiellon. 'I think you're right. Risky, but—worth it, to shackle that power and bend it to my will.'

* * *

'It's infuriating, mistress,' snarled Bianca Casarini. 'And I don't have any choice—I have to hide Fianelli's men from the Venetians, even if it's in my own house.'

Elizabeth laughed. 'Having three louts lounging about your house would try the patience of a saint. Which you are certainly not.' The countess cocked her head sideways. 'I assume you've taken steps to bring them under control.'

The last words served to ease some of Casarini's foul temper. 'Oh, yes. One of them—Papeti's his name— has been lusting after me for some time. So now he thinks he's succeeded—and the one whom I did seduce is furious about it. The right two words from me, and they'll cut each other up.'

'And the third?'

Bianca shrugged. 'He's just a slug. Seems interested in nothing much beyond sleeping, drinking and eating. I haven't bothered with him, since I need to keep my magics to a minimum. I have to be careful here, mistress, sharing a small island with Eneko Lopez and his damned priests. They can't do much because they're afraid to work without their wards. But they're still accomplished adepts, especially Lopez.'

'Yes, I understand. Well, that should be enough. My plans look to be coming to fruition. For the moment, just stay out of sight.'

* * *

Before she'd even had time to finish erasing the traces of the ritual, Bianca heard a ruckus erupting in the rooms downstairs. A brief one, but very loud, ending in a cut-off scream.

'Those idiots,' she hissed, hurrying from her bedroom. 'They'll make the neighbors curious.'

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Bianca saw that her 'two words' wouldn't be necessary after all. Papeti's body was lying on the floor, bleeding all over the tiles. Saluzzo, red-faced, was crouched over the corpse cleaning his knife on Papeti's blouse.

He hadn't even heard Bianca arrive. The Florentine's eyes were fixed on Zanari, the third of Fianelli's thugs. Zanari was standing in a nearby archway, with a very nervous look on his face.

'She's my woman,' Saluzzo growled. 'Don't forget it, or—' Angrily, and despite having already cleaned the blade, Saluzzo drove the knife into Papeti's ribcage again. The corpse jerked under the impact.

Saluzzo spotted Bianca then. Leaving the knife stuck in the body, he rose and took two strides toward her.

'Paulo, what—'

Saluzzo was a powerful man. His slap sent her sprawling on the steps. The next slap, on the back of her head, dazed her.

Fortunately, perhaps, since the pain when he seized her by the hair and began dragging her up the stairs would have been considerably more agonizing otherwise.

'Bitch. I'll teach you!'

By the time they reached her bedroom and Saluzzo flung her onto the bed, Bianca had recovered her senses. Furiously, she began muttering the words that would destroy the man. Saluzzo didn't even hear them, he was so consumed with anger combined with lust.

Before she finished the incantation, though, Bianca had suppressed her anger. The situation, she realized, was ideal for a different use of magic. Someday, she might well have to flee her house in a hurry—a task that would be made considerably easier if Saluzzo remained behind to attack her pursuers with demonic fury.

That, of course, would require turning him into a demon—the shape of one, at least—which could be done, under the right circumstances.

These were the right circumstances. Rage and lust, combined, were the key raw ingredients.

'I'll teach you to fool around with anyone else,' Saluzzo snarled. He'd already hoisted her skirts and forced her legs apart. Now, he slapped her again and started untying his breeches.

'Paulo, please!'

Another slap. 'Time for your lesson, slut.'

* * *