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“A Damaris?” Verve added, still musing. “They’re supposed to be more powerful than most moon-bloods. And you say weather… What sort?” Please not tornadoes, she added silently.
“Lightning,” Danya said, and Verve nearly grimaced before she caught herself. Danya went to the map she’d tacked upon the wall to one side of her desk, and gestured to a murky green area towards the center of the Aredian continent. “An agent of mine reported a sighting of Marea Damaris in Greenhill Province. They were last seen holed up in some backwater village. Lotis.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Apparently, it’s little more than a shantytown in the swamp,” Danya replied, sniffing. “But I’ve gotten reports of other mages meeting there. Rumor has it that Damaris is building support among their fellow mages, assembling a force for some nefarious purpose.”
Verve’s skin prickled. “Warring with another mage clan?”
“Only the mighty Atal knows what evil lurks in mages’ hearts,” Danya said. “But we cannot allow the mages to organize. The only thing keeping us safe from their vile magic is their desire to war with one another. If Damaris is truly trying to build an…army, I dare say we’ll all be in a world of trouble.”
“So I’m to eliminate this Damaris person?”
Danya looked over her spectacles at Verve. “No, you must capture and return them to me.”
Capture missions were the most annoying, but—as she’d proven—manageable. There was no use complaining, so Verve nodded, her mind whirring with plans.
“I fear tracking Damaris down will be difficult,” Danya went on. “My sources say they don’t stay in one place for long, but keep on the move. Your best bet is to start in Lotis and comb the area. Discreetly.”
“I’m the soul of discretion,” Verve said, keeping her voice deadpan.
“This is not a joke, Vervaine,” Danya said at last. “This mage—all mages—are evil and destructive. They crave nothing but power. They are an anathema to the order Atal wishes His followers to maintain. They tore this country apart and will not stop until every one of us is dead by their hands.”
Verve’s blood pounded in her ears, but she kept her voice calm. “I know, serla.”
“I took you in as a child, trained you to defend yourself and others against magic’s treachery,” Danya went on. “As I am doing with Usko and the other Chosen. No one else in this world will look after you the way I have. You and I and all the Chosen, we must stand together against the chaos of magic.”
The older woman’s gaze went distant. “I can still smell the smoke, hear the roar of mage-fire. Even now, I sometimes still wake in the middle of the night, thinking I’m back home, when the moon-bloods struck. But as I reach for my son and husband, I remember…” Her eyes landed on Verve. “It’s the same for you, I know.”
It was. Too well could Verve recall the choking, black smoke of her burning home, engulfed in mage-made flames. The wail of her mother echoed in her ears, a memory she would never be rid of. It was harder this time to fight back her tears, but she’d had a lot of practice. “We’ve both lost much to the mages, serla.”
“Indeed.” Danya squared her shoulders, lifted her chin. “But with Atal’s blessing, His Chosen will stop their reign of destruction, and Aredia will know peace once again.”
The mention of the mighty god, Atal, made sweat prick at Verve’s palms beneath her gloves. Atal’s blessing. Surely a blessing of any sort was impossible. The warmongering, vengeful god that had usurped worship of the rest of the Aredian pantheon after the Sundering was not known for His compassion.
Not like the One god, the oldest god, whom the nomadic Sufani tribes had once worshipped — until Legion sentinel-soldiers had tried to eradicate them from the face of the world.
Don’t think about that, Verve scolded herself. Surely the One god did not care for her any longer, especially not here in Freehold living as one of Atal’s Chosen.
So she only said smoothly, “Yes, serla.”
Danya went back to her desk, her white and black priest robe fluttering with her quick movements. “I’ll expect regular reports, as usual. Since this will be a more complex task than you’re used to, you have three full cycles of the first moon to complete it.”
“There’s not usually a time limit on these jobs.” Even as the words left Verve’s mouth, her guts twisted. There was only one entity that would commission such a job from Danya’s mage-killers. She shoved away her misgivings and added, “You made a contract with someone outside of Freehold?”
Please don’t answer. Ignorance was bliss, after all.
Danya’s attention was back on her ledger. “Atal is full. Three cycles from now, you must have Damaris in your custody.”
“And if the mission takes longer?” Verve could not help but ask.
The Circle priest did not look up. “Failure is not an option. You are dismissed.”
Verve bowed and turned to leave. But when she reached the threshold, Danya called, “And Vervaine?”
Verve paused without looking back. “Yes, serla?”
“You’re going to need a boat.”
