Disclaimer: I do not own the circle of magic, nor the circle opens. I wish I did, but I don't. Ah well. All I own is a couple of measly copies of them.
A/N: This is after Street Magic and they're still in Chammur, but Briar doesn't have Evvy. I'm just in the mood for a fight scene. With plants. And butt kicking. Have to have read COM and TCO, at least to Street Magic. Hopefully you've read all of them, but if you're like SOME of my friends... I still need to shove these books under their noses and make them read them. Enjoy.
PS. Yes, I have just the slightest crush on Briar, but who doesn't? Especially all those girls he sleeps with... I'm happy to say no fluffykins in this story, all hard core ass kicking.
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Briar woke up to sunlight streaming through his window. He rubbed his eyes of sleep and tossed off the covers. He stretched, loosening aching muscles from the day before. It was early summer, and that meant weeding, wedding, weeding. Briar didn't complain though, he loved spending time with the plants, even if he was hurting them.
He walked over to the open window and touched his shakkan, his miniature tree. The shakkan always calmed him, filled with magic as it was. He said hello to it, then started picking off the new buds it had dared to grow in the night.
The smells of cooking always brought Briar down from his room, and today was no different. Rosethorn placed a steaming plate of pastries in front of him and he wolfed them down, trying to remember his manners. It had been months now since he had felt the sting of starvation, but he could still remember it. Rosethorn glared at him and began to inspect the vines she had growing in their kitchen. They were leaving in a couple of weeks and Briar could tell she was getting ready early. She hated leaving her plants, but knew it had to be done. She was spending as much time with them as possible.
Briar finished his pastries and drank his juice down in one gulp. "I'm off to the market today, I'm gonna try to finish selling the rest of my shakkans." Rosethorn stopped inspecting the vines and reached for a slate and some chalk. "I need some ingredients for my cold medicine, the blithering idiots at the Water Temple want to have some since they don't have enough wits to make it themselves. Get some clothes for our journey to Yanjing, you're going to need a couple of new sets of breeches after we're done with all the weeding that's ahead of us. I swear, the Earth Temple gardens haven't been weeded since the last emperor lived. Here."
She handed him the slate with a scowl. Rosethorn was in one of her moods, but Briar knew she'd feel better after talking with her plants. They were the only thing other than Briar who could be around her when she was like this. He grabbed the slate and stuffed some extra pastries in his pockets. Just as he was about to head out the door, Rosethorn called, "And Briar? Don't get into trouble." Briar just grinned and slid out the door.
The guards at the souk noticed Briar and waved. He nodded hello at them, leading the donkey that held his precious miniature trees. Shakkans were priced high above what regular magical goods were. They were grown so meticulously in different shapes and styles to promote healing or other such ideas. It took people years of grooming and dedication to produce these beautiful works of art. To make the price go even higher, shakkans were renowned in their ability to conserve magic.
In truth, Briar himself relied on his own tree to give him strength in times of need. Needless to say, the shakkans Briar brought to market were only going to be bought by those who could afford it and those whom Briar was sure could take care of it. He wasn't about to let some random person buy one off of him if it meant sending the little tree to no water and little sunlight.
He led the donkey over to his stall, set up in the plant section of the souk. The day was warm and hazy, and many mages were running about the market buying ingredients for some spell or potion. Briar set up, placing the trees gently on their shelves. He tied the donkey and waited, munching on the pastries from breakfast. Some promising buyers came to his stall through the morning, one rich mage who said he had a well set up garden offered to let Briar come by his house later that day. Some others told him tomorrow would be a good appointment and he copied down their requests and addresses on a piece of paper.
When midday came, Briar packed up his things and shut down his stall. He walked around the market, bought some warm turnovers, and browsed the goods. Passing a booksellers, he thought of Tris who would have loved the variety of books. He stopped to look at the ornamental designs on a copper bowl for Daja, but politely declined when the shopkeeper asked him if he wanted to purchase it. Wandering through the cloth area, his mind drifted to Sandry. What were his friends doing at this very moment? They were too far away for him to try to mind-speak with them. He shook his head to clear it and reminded himself they would be back together soon.
He bought some travel breeches at a well put together clothes shop and dropped them off at his cart before he continued on to the mages section. Here things got interesting. Charms, potions, spells, incantations, all sorts of things could be found here. Briar tried to look at things directly because he kept seeing things sparkle out of the corner of his eyes.
When Niko, Tris's teacher, had spelled her glasses, the three of them had begun to see little hints of magic too. Their magic's had gotten spooled together when Sandry had woven them during an earthquake to keep them safe. She had unwoven them some time after that, but the seeing magic remained. It was alright with Briar, he didn't mind it and sometimes it helped him.
He looked over some wares of a traveling mage, but soon got bored with the useless trinkets. These people didn't know what real magic was all about. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a young girl, about his age, staring at him. When he looked directly at her, she looked away hurriedly, as if she didn't want him to know she was watching him. She was fairly pretty with golden hair that was tied up in a red kerchief and a sash of red around her waist, but she looked like she hadn't gotten a good meal in a while.
Briar sauntered over to her and she turned to look at him. "Hey mage-boy." She said, keeping her eyes on his. "How would you like to come with me? I can show you a better time than this." Briar stiffened. He had heard about girls who couldn't eat so their families sold them on the streets to men who looked rich.
Briar looked down at his clothes. He was wearing a good-looking shirt, but his pants were ratty and his boots weren't in the best shape. The only reason his shirt wasn't covered in a thin layer of dust was because Sandry had spelled them against it. He looked back at the girl, deciding to play along. He could at least see where she lived and get her a decent meal. "Sure. Where's your hideout?" He said, resorting to the street slang he had grown up with. The girl grinned and walked out of the souk, passed the guards who waved goodbye to Briar.
He followed her a ways, down streets and alleys, until they came to a dead end. Briar could see her watching him closely and felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle. He knew this scenario all too well. He had even participated in a couple. The 'bird' would lead the target to a secluded place where the rest of the gang would jump him. Obviously this girl was the bird and he was the target.
Briar reached for two of the many knives he kept hidden in the folds of his clothes and pulled them out. He saw a look of fear indecision flash across the girl's face, but it was soon replaced by smugness. Briar turned, looking for an escape route, when he came face to face with six young boys, all around his age, leaning against the edge of the building and grinning at one another. They were all wearing a red sash around their waist, a gang symbol.
Why Briar didn't recognize it before was beyond him. All he was thinking about right now was a way out. One of the boys, the tesku, or leader, stepped out of the group and drew out a blackjack, a long weapon with a knob on either end. It was an expensive weapon, this gang must have a takamer, or rich person, to sponsor them. The boy raised it and began to spin it lazily. "So, pahan, how is it that we find you so far away from your home turf and way out in ours?" He had cropped brown hair and olive skin, his tanned face stretching into a jeering smile. Briar relaxed his body, but kept his senses aware and ready.
"I might have to say I got lost, but that wouldn't be the truth. If you could let me pass, I have some work to do." The tesku laughed, a low grating laugh that echoed along the empty alleyway. "Sorry pahan, but we have some business to do with you first. Jaima, get over here." The girl walked far around Briar, as far as the alley permitted, and pushed behind the boys. "Nices tats by the way, you do those yourself?" He motioned to the flower tattoos on Briar's hand. Briar shoved his hands into his shirtsleeves. The tesku leaned on his baton. "Now, how about that purse of yours. Let's see what's in it, shall we?"
"What purse? I think you kids got the wrong pahan. I'm but a poor shopkeeper's assistant. I work for my food." The tesku spat on the ground in front of him. "Liar!" He snarled. "We saw you unloading your little trees, talking to importants like you was chatting over a loaf of bread. If that doesn't show me a magic-worker I don't know what does."
Briar couldn't see anyway out except through the boys. He could play it cool, but he knew it would turn dirty any minute. He had seen it enough back in the slums of Sotat. The thief-lord didn't like to leave anyone undamaged, he had told the boys they deserved it for being so pompous and rich. Briar saw the look in the tesku's eyes. He wasn't about to let Briar go without some blood. He held his knives in his hands, wishing he had some other weapon or at least a better plan.
He kept his eyes on the gang, reaching out with his mind to find anything. Deep in the soil, he found seeds. Climbing vines, the spiked ones, had been planted there years ago but had never grown, probably from drought. Briar pushed some life into them and felt them growing beneath him. He fed them with energy, thinking of sunlight and cool rain rushing into thirsty roots and warming dry petals. Briar looked back at the gang, mercy in his eyes. They weren't going to like what he was about to do to them.
With a sudden yell, he flung himself onto the boys, stabbing the tesku in the arm before whipping around and kicking another in the gut. Another boy went down thanks to a backhand move he learned from Daja before the rest drew their weapons and started advancing on him. He backed up and called the vines into life. They burst out of the ground, twining around two of the boys' legs. The third jumped back to avoid them, then launched himself on Briar. He managed to catch him in the leg before Briar moved aside and the boy stumbled. He dropped his long weapon and swung around blindly, catching Briar upside the head. Briar dropped his remaining knife and grabbed the boy's arm, twisting it behind him.
The boy yelled in pain, but moved underneath Briar, untwisting his arm and hitting Briar in the back. Calling the vines towards him, Briar grabbed the boy's foot and pulled towards him, throwing him off balance. The vines wrapped around his body, holding the boy in place. Briar stood, dusting off his hands and picking his knives off the ground. "I'll see you boys later, it was a lovely tumble." He picked his way around the caught bodies and the unconscious boys on the street, hidden by the think vines. They parted to let him through. "Oh and boys? The next time you think of attacking a pahan, make sure the tattoos on his hands don't move." He held out his hands to show them the flowers on his hands, squirming and writhing, blossoming in the sunlight. "Vegetable dyes and plant magic don't work well together, don't ya think?"
Briar arrived home later that day, his donkey's load lessened as he had inspected and sold the rest of his shakkans that afternoon. Rosethorn came out of the house and glared at him. "I thought I told you not to get into trouble? I could hear that street fight from across the city, I didn't need the guard to tell me what happened." Briar pushed past her and entered the kitchen, grabbing an apple and crunching down on it. "It was just a tumble, they wanted some gold and I taught them not to play with mages." Rosethorn shook her head. "Some never learn..." She muttered. "Oh, did you get those things for me?" She asked.
Briar froze. "Uh..." He felt something creeping up his legs and grabbed onto the counter. Roses were sneaking up on him, tightening his body to the wooden counter and more plants were sprouting from it. Rosethorn twisted her hand and the plants wound around him, locking him in his position. "I suggest next time you come back with my ingredients. I need to go out now, so when the plants decide to let you go you can get dinner yourself. That is, if they do decide to."
She smiled evilly at him and walked out the door. Briar could hear his stomach rumbling and tried to cajole the plants into letting him go but it was no use. They liked Rosethorn too much. Briar grumbled and stood, feeling his stomach turning in on itself. If only he was back in Winding Circle, in Gorse's kitchen. He fell asleep dreaming about hot turnovers...