Free Heroes at Odds by Moira J. Moore

behave in front of the Dowager. And what the Dowager would say to them. Insults dripped off her lips like grease, and those insults were often well aimed. My brothers would no doubt respond with insults of their own, and the tension in the room would escalate into something unbearable.
    “Your Grace, Linder, these are my brothers, Traders Dias and Mika Mallorough. Dias and Mika, this is Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess of Westsea, and Linder Hart.” Did Linder have a title?
    The Dowager favored them with a cool nod. Linder grinned. “I wasn’t aware Pairs were allowed to keep their family with them,” he said.
    “These are special circumstances,” I told them. “My brothers are merely visiting.”
    Dias and Mika pulled two chairs into the conversational circle. “Shame on you, Lee,” Mika scolded me. “I’m sure I told you to bring any handsome men to me.” He winked at Linder.
    Zaire, that was ridiculous.
    Linder didn’t seem to think so. Mika was another recipient of one of Linder’s pretty smiles.
    And I developed a brilliant idea. “Mika, Dias, Linder is new to the area and has few acquaintances. Perhaps you can keep him entertained.”
    “We wouldn’t dream of imposing on your time,” the Dowager said quickly.
    Ha! Scuppered that plan, didn’t I?
    “Not at all,” said Mika with a broad smile. “The more the merrier.”
    Linder smiled a lot, but there seemed to be a particular warmth to the smile he gave to Mika right then. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
    He sounded sincere. I still didn’t know what to think of him. But the Dowager Duchess looked irritated and sour. I was prepared to like him just for that.

Chapter Five
    My brothers, Taro, and Linder immersed themselves in a discussion about gambling. Apparently my brothers were avid gamblers. I thought Linder was insane to engage in the activity that had caused his mother to lose his home, but no one was paying attention to me.
    No one was paying attention to the Dowager, either. She scowled. I bit back laughter.
    This was fun.
    Hester returned to the room with a message from Nab Browne. The healer wanted to see me. I was a little irritated with being summoned, and I’d been enjoying the show the boys had been putting on, but I let myself be pulled away. Whatever Browne wanted, it was probably important. I made my way to Browne’s cottage with a quick pace.
    I knocked on Browne’s door. I heard footsteps within the small cottage. Browne had a habit of dragging me in once she opened the door. No matter how quickly I stepped in, it wasn’t quick enough. So, as usual, she grabbed my sleeve and pulled me in. And, as usual, she had all the curtains tightly tied together. It couldn’t be because she was trying to hide the fact that I was there. I was certain everyone knew I visited her fairly often. It could only be to make sure people couldn’t see exactly what we were doing. She sold her services as a spell caster. It wouldn’t help her business if people could watch her through her windows and figure out how to cast spells on their own.
    Nab Browne was younger than I would have expected a healer to be, slightly taller than I, with blond hair usually worn in a long braid. She was levelheaded and intelligent. It wasn’t long ago that the Imperial Guards had tried to have her flogged, yet here she was, continuing to use spells as though none of it had happened.
    “Please, have a seat,” she said. “I want to talk to you about a few things.”
    I sat at the table and accepted a mug of tea.
    “There are a group of casters in the area,” Browne explained. “All within a half-day’s ride. We meet once a month in the early morning. Our next meeting is in three days, at dawn. I think you should come to the meeting.”
    “Why?” Was it a good idea for casters to meet on a regular basis? I had no doubt that at some point, Imperial Guards would be coming back to hunt for spell casters. The ones who had already been here had no doubt spells