Rogue Gift

Book #5 in the Robin of Larkspur Series

Next Book: Curse Breaker Enchanted

Synopsis

As a newly minted prison guard, Robin uncovers something in the oubliette that pits her against Jerlo in a high-stakes game of chess. One wrong step could land her in a cell after she’s accused of murder and crimes against a mage she’s grown quite fond of. If she can’t clear her name, then her daughter might grow up without her.

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Rogue Gift

By Melinda Kucsera

First Day At The Prison

Robin sloshed through a puddle. Where did that come from? Water dripped on her head as she glanced up at the stalactite. It glistened in the light of the lumir crystal pinned to her blue Guards’ uniform jacket. Stone walls surrounded her, but they did that everywhere under this mountain, so she ignored them. Ahead somewhere, cells imprisoned those who broke the laws. And I’m supposed to guard them.

Keys jangled as a man strode toward her, wearing the same uniform as her. A pendant hung around his neck, and its bluish white glow lit his face from below. He was at least five years her senior and quite handsome. 

“You must be Robin.” The man extended his hand. 

“Yes, and I’m reporting for duty as ordered.” Robin clasped his hand and shook it. He had a firm grip, but he didn’t crush her hand. He just shook it once, then let go.

“Welcome to the Prison Guards. I’m Nulthir, and I’m in charge of this unit. I’ll show you around.” Nulthir turned back the way he came. “Have you ever visited the prison before?” 

“No, I didn’t realize Mount Eredren had one until today.” She had no reason to think about where those caught breaking the law went after sentencing. It probably didn’t make financial sense to send them on the ferry to Racine or one of the other large settlements when Mount Eredren had plenty of space to house its own criminals. But knowing they slept a few levels below her didn’t make Robin feel safe. 

“Unfortunately, we have one, and it needs guarding because the inmates don’t want to be there. But they must stay until their sentence is complete.” Nulthir led her through another tunnel into a cavern lined with cells.

 Bars formed three walls for each cell, with the stone wall making up the fourth wall. Thankfully, these cells were empty. Thin blankets lay folded on the cot in each cell and dried grass covered the floor. All the cells had a door made of metal rods, and an open padlock dangled from each one. A large lumir crystal embedded in the ceiling provided some light for the gloomy cell block. 

“This is your basic cell block, but the others will be filled and locked, of course. Since they all have the same layout, you should familiarize yourself with this one.” Nulthir picked up a ledger hanging from a nail in the wall at the entrance to the cavern. “This is the log for this cell block where you’ll mark when you inspected it and anything you found. At the start of every shift, you’ll check the log and at the end of every shift, you’ll make sure it’s updated for the next shift. Is that clear?” 

“So I just make a note of anything I find, and that’s it?” Robin took the ledger from him and paged through it. Since this block was empty, she expected the ledger to be too, but it wasn’t. Two pages back, it was full of notes and dates. Interesting. 

“No, you’ll head back to the main office and request whatever you need from additional Guards to break up a fight or a healer to check on a sick inmate. Do you know where the office is?” Nulthir took the ledger from her and hung it back on the nail.

“Yes, I saw it on my way in.” And she thought it looked spooky. The office was near the drawbridge over the moat that surrounded the underground prison. It might even be in the same room with the controls for it. If she had time, she’d check that out. 

“That’s close enough. Do you have any other questions?” Nulthir strode through the empty cell block when she shook her head. “Good, then let’s keep moving.” 

Robin plunged into the darkness after him. “Why are there no lumir crystals in the tunnels that connect the cell blocks?” 

“To stop jailbreaks. Only we know those tunnels well enough to travel them in the dark.” Nulthir said that like he didn’t believe it, but he was supposed to say it, anyway. He traced the curves of his glowing pendant, but it was metal, not a lumir crystal, and that meant magic lit it. 

Magic made the lumir crystals glow too, but once lit, they glowed forever, unlike Nulthir’s pendant. That metal thing probably needed a recharge more often than once in a lifetime. Actually, she never heard of a lumir crystal ever going out. It must happen eventually though because nothing could glow forever, not even the sun. But thinking about the faraway sun dying depressed her as the darkness oppressed her. 

“But we’re not in the dark.” Robin pointed at the lumir crystal pinned to her uniform tunic. It lit a three-foot space around her. Now probably wasn’t the time to ask about his pendant. Since magic was illegal here, it might be a sensitive topic. 

“We can close off those tunnels too. There are doors recessed into the walls.” Nulthir turned and hurried to exit the dark tunnel.

Not wanting to spend a moment more there herself, Robin followed Nulthir and almost collided with him when he stopped. 

“There you are. You need to go. That historian guy’s back again, and he wants to see the oubliette. This time, he’s got permission from the Lord of the Mountain himself if that paper he’s waving around is legit. But that’s just a guess since he won’t let me see it,” a guardswoman said as she strode toward them. She’d braided her thick black hair into tiny braids, then braided those braids into a larger braid that hung down her back. Three crosses hung around her neck, and they gleamed in the lumir crystal light, but they were all different designs. 

“Why did he have to come back today?” Nulthir slumped his shoulders and groaned like this news wounded him mortally. 

“I don’t know. I could throw him in the moat again, but if he really does have permission, then I might get into trouble for that. If you’ll bail me out, I’ll toss him in any way, and we can see if he’s learned to swim.” The guardswoman rubbed her hands together as if she anticipated doing just that. 

“No, don’t do it. I don’t want to explain this to a magistrate.” Nulthir ran a hand through his dark hair. It was cut a little longer than Sarn’s hair. But the Guards only had one rule for hairstyles, and it went for men and women. Hair must be away from the eyes and off the face. How one achieved that was up to the individual Guard. 

Why am I thinking about him? He’s not talking to me anymore. But thoughts of Sarn wouldn’t go away even though there was a handsome man standing in front of her that was a more age-appropriate crush. 

Nulthir wasn’t as lean as Sarn, probably because of the training sessions every Guard was required to attend three times a week either before their shift or after it. Such sessions included lifting heavy objects, grappling, stick fighting, sparring, and, hopefully, soon, practice swords. The activities varied by the instructor and the time slot, and she’d attend as many as she could to get back into fighting trim. 

“I’ll go see what he wants now. Can you take over showing Robin around? She’s a new recruit, and she’ll be working with us for the foreseeable future.” Nulthir waved in her direction.

“Sure. I’ll show her the ropes. You go deal with that ‘gentleman historian’ fool.” The guardswoman crooked her fingers and rolled her eyes as she said ‘gentleman historian’ like she didn’t believe that was a real thing. It sounded made up. 

“All right. I’m sorry I must leave, but you’ll be in excellent hands with Iraine.” Nulthir trudged back to the empty cell block like he headed to an execution. 

“So where did he leave off?” Iraine studied her. She had dark eyes and darker skin and a mischievous tilt to her bright smile. “Did he tell you to keep your hands out of the cells and to stay away from the bars? If not, then consider yourself warned. The inhabitants of the cells sometimes get handsy, but if you’re careful and give them a wide berth, you’ll be fine. And if you’re not, a quick rap on their knuckles puts them in their places real fast.” Iraine rested her hand on the nightstick attached to her utility belt. 

“I’ll keep that in mind. What’s an oubliette?” Robin never heard of that, but it sounded like a terrible place. 

“It’s a holdover from ancient times, and lucky for us, it’s not used anymore. Come on.” Iraine led her into a dark tunnel, and she vanished. 

“Iraine?” Robin couldn’t see the glow of any lumir crystals except her own, but Iraine must have one. 

“I’m right here.” Iraine tapped her shoulder and then opened her hand to reveal a lumir crystal. “Sorry, we do that to all the new recruits. It’s just too easy not to, and more importantly, it keeps you on your toes. Never assume the tunnels between cell blocks are empty or that anyone you meet in them is a Guard. Verify that first.”

“How do I do that?” It was sound advice though, and despite herself, Robin was intrigued. I thought guard duty would be boring and include a lot of standing around. But so far, it wasn’t like that at all. 

“I’ll teach you the proper challenges and their answers, but not here, where the inmates can overhear us. Sound carries down here. Remember that. If you need to hold a private conference, do it outside.” Iraine splashed through puddles as she led on. 

“What is an oubliette?” That seemed like a safe topic, and Robin wanted to know more. 

“It’s where you put people you want to forget until long after they’re dead and dusted. There’s no escape from the oubliette and no parole.” Iraine strode through another cell block and nodded to the gray-haired, hard-eyed guardswoman writing notes in the ledger before continuing on. 

“Where are we going?” Robin was glad she purchased sturdy boots for this job. At the time, she didn’t know it would require so much walking. 

“To find out if that popinjay convinced our commanding officer to take him to the oubliette.” Iraine grinned at her over her shoulder, then broke into a run. 

“Does Mount Eredren have an oubliette?” Robin chased after her.

“If it does, I’ve never found it. But if he’s got an official letter, then it must exist somewhere. After all, no one has explored all the caverns under the city.” Iraine maintained her lead as they splashed through puddles. 

“Do you think Nulthir knows where it is?”

“No, if he knew, he’d tell me about it, and we’d have already explored it.” Iraine glanced at her over her shoulder, but she didn’t slow down.

“Do you think that letter includes its location?” Robin hoped it did. This was an interesting turn to her first day as a Guard. 

“Exactly. That lordling fool will need an armed escort, and that’s where we come in.” Iraine waved to them.

It was a sound plan. Robin followed her through the dark tunnels of Mount Eredren’s prison. If nothing else, this would make a fine story to tell Strella and Kat later. I hope Strella had an interesting day too.

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