With a huff, Bonner nodded. “You’re right. I’ll fix two more. Then tomorrow when the rest of the smiths start working, I’ll correct each gun as needed once it’s made. That way, it’ll look like the smiths are managing to do it on their own.”
“Good plan, but keep the diamond hidden. If any magists spy it, they’ll wonder what it’s for. Raith says the spell is unsanctioned.”
“I’ll be careful.” Bonner patted the front of his tunic where the diamond lay hidden beneath it. “You were wrong, though.”
Kate frowned. “About what?”
“I couldn’t leave Norgard now any more than you. My father wouldn’t survive the trip.”
“I don’t understand. He’s doing so much better.” They’d had supper together only yesterday, Thomas warm and welcoming like always. It was true that he remained too thin, his appetite small as a bird’s, but his spirits were high. He’d even teased Bonner about finally finding a wife and settling down. “Someone as beautiful and kind as our Kate here,” he’d said, winking. “I think you mean fierce, Pa,” Bonner had replied, and they’d all laughed.
Bonner didn’t meet her gaze now. “Yes, he is, but it’s conditional. I spoke to the greens about it just this morning.” He glanced up, far too much emotion in his face. “They can’t cure what’s wrong with him. All they can do is keep the sickness at bay with magestones. His body is burning through two a day at least. But if he stops wearing them, he’ll regress back to how he was before, and eventually . . . he’ll die. I could never afford so many magestones without this position.”
Love is a cage, too, Kate thought, miserable for her friend, one that has caught us both. She slid her arms around his massive frame. It was like hugging a boulder. “Then let’s make sure you succeed in giving Corwin his revolvers.”
Raith returned an hour later. He brought a second diamond magestone with him and gave it to Kate. “You’re going to need this.”
Kate accepted it and put it around her neck. “Does everyone in the Rising wear these?”
Raith snorted a laugh. “We could only dream of such fortune. But no. Just like the rest of Rime, we can only buy or steal such precious gems. Most of the wilders have to settle for lesser stones that have the power to prevent them from being discovered if a gold tests them for magic like they do when someone is arrested by the Inquisition. But it doesn’t enable them to use their gifts at will without fear.” He pointed a blackened finger at Kate, then at Bonner. “Don’t either of you lose them and don’t let anyone take them. A thief would do almost anything to steal one.”
Nodding, Kate said, “What now?”
Raith put his hands on his hips and fixed a determined gaze on her. “Now we teach you how to attune your gift to humans, and let’s pray to Noralah that you’re a quicker study than your father.”
“You taught my father how to do this?”
Raith walked over to the nearest chair and sat down, motioning for Kate to take the one opposite. “Taught is not the right word for it. There is no teaching someone with wilder magic, not like the study magists are put through at the League Academy. All you can do is learn through trial and error. I assisted your father by volunteering to be the subject of his attempts. I’ll do the same for you now. Your first task will be to glean a single image from my mind. I’m going to focus on the image with all my concentration. That should make it easier.”
Kate doubted it. She didn’t have the faintest idea how to adapt her magic for a human, much less what precision was needed to read a mind, but she sat down across from the magist anyway. “Okay, where do I start?”
Raith scratched the stubble on his chin. “Just do whatever it is you do when you listen to animals, but try to attune it to me.”
“That’s somewhat less than helpful, but I’ll give it a go.” Kate closed her eyes and reached out with her magic same as she would if she were searching for wild animals in the forest.
In moments she began to detect the various animals in the castle, several cats and an alarming number of mice. She even sensed Lir in Dal’s rooms, the falcon anxious in response to her master’s dark mood. Finding these animal minds was easy, but when she tried to home in on Raith’s thoughts, nothing happened. She might as well be trying to teach horses to fly for all the good it did.
She opened her eyes and glared at Raith. “This isn’t going to work. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Raith leaned back in the chair, regarding her with a narrowed gaze. “How did it work on those thieves that night?”
“I don’t know. I was scared and angry. I did it without meaning to.”
Raith nodded. “An emotional trigger. It’s not uncommon. But how can we re-create one now?”
Kate shook her head. At the moment all she felt was tired and uncertain, utterly spent from the last few days.
“I have an idea.” Bonner set down the gun he’d been cleaning and approached them.
Kate looked up in time to see him make a grab for her, one arm pinning her while he started tickling her sides with his free hand. With a shriek, she struggled to get herself free, but she couldn’t keep herself from laughing.
“Stop!” she tried to shout, unable to draw a full breath.
Bonner only tickled her harder, relentless.
“Stop!” she said again, starting to panic at the ache in her stomach. It soon sparked into anger. “Stop, I said!” This time, she put the force of her magic behind it, and Bonner stumbled backward, releasing her at once.
“That was . . . unsettling.” Bonner touched his forehead. “It was like I felt you inside here.”
Kate glared at him. “Now is hardly the time for tickling, Tom Bonner.”
Raith waved at her. “Never mind that. Channel the emotion, Kate. Try to glean my thoughts.”
Still angry, Kate closed her eyes and reached out again. Moments later she sensed two separate thoughts—the first an image of a gleaming red apple. The second was: Gods, I’m going to pay for that later.
Kate opened her eyes, gaping. “It worked, I think.” She pointed at Raith. “You’re thinking about a red apple. And you”—she swung her finger at Bonner, wielding it like a dagger—“are worried about what I’m going to do to pay you back for that.”
Bonner let out a nervous laugh. “That’s . . . a little frightening, knowing you heard what I’m thinking.”
Kate’s stomach did a flip. It was frightening. And wrong. She cut her eyes to Raith, who was nodding his approval. “If I learn to do this, will it happen all the time? Will I start hearing everyone’s thoughts, whether I want to or not?”
“I don’t believe so. Your father never spoke of such at least.” Raith cocked his head, expression curious. “Do you sense the thoughts of animals all the time without meaning to?”
Kate considered the question before answering. “No, not unless their emotions are strong, like the horses that night in Jade Forest during the fire.”
“There you have it, then.” Raith clapped his hands once. “There’s no reason why humans would be any different, I wouldn’t think. If you don’t want to listen in, then you don’t have to.”
Kate nodded, swearing silently that she would never listen in on someone’s thoughts unless absolutely necessary. “So what’s the point here? When we head to Thornewall, I’m supposed to listen for whoever is in hiding or something? So we can catch them?”
“You should do more if you can,” Raith replied. “Their thoughts might reveal all manner of important information, and once they’re caught, we can’t be certain they won’t kill themselves like Ralph Marcel at the Gregors’ house.”
Kate shook her head, unable to imagine what could make a person desperate enough to willingly walk into death.
We must uncover the reason, she realized, remembering Dal’s heartbroken expression at his brother’s death. Whoever is doing this must be stopped. It was up to her. She took a deep breath, wishing the gods had laid a different task at her feet. Why couldn’t she have to win a horse race, or some mounted trial? Anything other than stealing into someone’s mind.