At the Queen_s command

"Mr. Burns, you are charging Captain Strake more because he wears the red coat-and you just praised him for his defense of our nation. You would charge no Mystrian so dearly."

The bookseller blushed, then looked at his paper again. "Yes, of course, Miss, I added incorrectly. A crown and four. The pens, you see, are consigned. I cannot bargain."

Owen gave the man a gold crown and four copper pence. "Thank you, sir."

"My pleasure, sir." Burns bowed his head. "And good day to you, Miss Frost."

"Mister Burns." Bethany preceded Owen from the shop and moved quickly down Scrivener Street.

Owen caught up to her with a couple long strides. "His price-I would have paid as much in Launston."

"But we are not in Launston." She pointed back toward the shop. "His family comes from charcoal burners. His children go round to homes and shops and public houses offering to clean lamps for the black, which is what he uses to make his ink."

"Enterprising."

"It is, and he's a sharp man with his figuring. His prices are the best for his wares, which is why he has our custom." She shook her head. "But to prey upon someone like you."

Owen smiled. "Soldiers are used to having merchants take advantage."

"That hardly makes it right." Bethany shook her head. "He was willing to overcharge you because you are a stranger. You, a Queen's officer, a stranger. Too many men get to thinking like that, and the men of Norisle will be strangers. And then, Captain, a bill will be delivered that can only be paid in blood."

Chapter Eleven

April 29, 1763

Temperance

Temperance Bay, Mystria

H aving successfully conducted the tasks he needed to complete, Owen Strake accompanied Bethany Frost on her errands. He suspected that some of them were contrived so they could spend more time together. He imagined she hoped he could remember more about Ira Hill. Regardless, he enjoyed the time spent in her company. Her laughter warmed his heart, and the way she faced the bookseller down appealed to him.

Catherine never would have done that. Instead she would have paid the asking price, then engineered an effort by other wives to utterly ruin the bookseller. The difference in approach was clearly a difference between the two women. It also marked a difference between the societies on either side of the ocean. Mystrians tended toward being direct and open. Though alien to Owen, he found himself warming to this approach.

Owen carried a basket as Bethany picked through bunches of radishes and early carrots. "If you would not mind, Miss Frost, I was wondering what the prevailing attitude about the cursed is within the colonies."

She laughed easily. "You should not let Mr. Burns' attitude concern you, Captain. People are quite accepting here. The vast majority of the colonists came from the cursed classes. Having the curse made life here much easier those first years."

That made perfect sense. Magick remained largely benign because users could only effect what they could touch, and because iron and steel were proofed against it. Any warrior armed with an iron weapon could slay a sorcerer with relative impunity. Magick use remained largely hidden down through the years. Anyone suspected of being powerful was either ostracized or destroyed.

It wasn't until brimstone's introduction from the Orient, and the spells that made firestones functional, that magick became important. The nobility bred the curse back into their bloodlines-though common were the rumors that they just revealed what they had hidden for many generations-and the cursed underclasses became valued for their ability to fight wars.

And yet, anyone who appears too adept will quickly earn a perilous assignment.

Bethany placed two bunches of radishes in the basket. "The curse helped not only because hunting staved off starvation, but the Twilight People respect magick. They did not know of brimstone or firestones, or iron, for that matter, but learned very quickly. In return, they shared some of their knowledge of Mystria. Had we neither guns nor magick, I think they would have wiped us out."

Owen frowned as they moved on toward another stall. "Your father said there are some who hate the Twilight People."

"Hate and fear." Bethany nodded. "They want their lands, not to live on, but to hold and sell to others. Speculators. Greed drives them. It's said the Twilight People use the same word for greed as for insanity. I do not think they are far wrong."

" Are the Twilight People a threat?"