A Practical Guide to Sorcery (Book 3)

Chapter 92 - She Who Brings the Night (Part 2)

Thaddeus frowned, the name sparking a connection that he couldn't quite remember. He repeated it aloud. "Raz Kalvidasan," then again, with a slight accent. "Raaz Kalvidasan. He was a foreigner? Not one of the People?"

Ennis's eyebrows rose. "Yeah. 'e adopted my wife when she was young. 'ow did you know?"

Thaddeus turned to Kuchen. "The grandfather's name literally means 'secretive learned one,' or something like that. I was never fluent, and it has been years. You will want someone to look into him." It was interesting that a foreigner had held the bloodline of the People in such high regard. He turned back to Naught. "Tell me about the circumstances of this Raaz Kalvidasan's death."

"Oh, it was bad. Everyone in the village died. The Red Guard came in, I 'eard. Of course, I wasn't there at the time. I only got word of it later, and that's when I came back for Siobhan. The village was gone. Couldn't find the girl for weeks, maybe months."

Well, that was rather interesting.

Kuchen flipped through the papers on his clipboard. "You didn't tell us this! We have it that a plague wiped out the village where she lived as a child."

"I didna' say it was a plague. I said everyone died, and your interrogator didna' seem so interested," the man said, his brogue growing stronger with spite.

"You should have realized we would be interested in this! It could be valuable information." Kuchen's voice broke under the strain of his outrage, and he was reduced to yet another fit of wet coughing.

Did the coppers not pay the man enough to see a healer? Thaddeus dropped the light spell long enough to cast a cleansing spell through the air. He did not want to catch whatever the investigator had, being confined in a small area with all his germs.

Naught seemed temporarily cowed by the flicker of the light and the feel of sterilization magic rushing past him, but recovered quickly. "I've told you plenty I didn't 'ave to, and look where all that cooperation's gotten me." Naught turned his head and spat on the floor.

Disgusting.

Kuchen was coughing too hard to retort, but he sent his best glare over the top of his handkerchief.

"Continue with what you were saying," Thaddeus said, motioning impatiently at Naught.

"Hmph. Well, I finally picked Siobhan up in a village a couple days over. She was in the local gaol for stealing and beating the baker's son. Almost tied a knot in my tongue talking 'er out of that little fix. She was...different, for a long while. A real burden, truth be told, but she was too young to marry off, and who would 'ave a girl like that, even if she was pretty? Wouldna' talk, wouldna' practice magic, couldna' sleep."

Thaddeus leaned forward with interest.

Naught continued, his gaze going soft and vacant with memory. "I'm no monster, to just abandon my own daughter, so I took 'er around, looking for someone who could fix 'er. Took maybe two years. Drove me to poverty. She didn't start acting normal again until she learned there was a spell that could ward off nightmares. And just like that, she was back talking and running around, practicing all those little magic tricks until I had to beg 'er to stop. After that, though, she made 'erself useful wherever we went. Saved my bacon a couple times, truth be told. The girl never talks about those times, and I kinda got in the 'abit of avoiding those memories, too. But I'll tell you right now, the Raven Queen didna' replace my daughter when she was thirteen. I lived with the girl for six years after that. I watched 'er grow up. I would've noticed."

Thaddeus leaned forward with fascination. "Do you know any more about the reason the Red Guard was called in at that time? Was it an Aberrant?"

"No idea. The whole thing was cleared by the time I arrived. Village was empty. Only 'eard rumors from the surrounding villages, and of course the Red Guard was no 'elp. Told me my daughter was probably dead and burned. But I wouldna' believe them. And I was right. Took me a while, but I found 'er. Little scrapper, she was," Naught said with sudden fondness.