“Mara—”
“Besides family members.”
I sorted through the people I knew. “I trust you and Janco.”
“A rather short list.”
“Here’s a longer list for you. Alea, Pazia, Tricky, Tal, Devlen, Ulrick, Gressa, Councilor Moon and Zitora.”
“And they are...?”
“All the people who either lied, tricked or used me.”
He remained quiet. Probably thinking of a counterpoint, but I didn’t want to discuss it anymore. Kade was here. With me. Yet I still grasped his arm as if I clung to a rock while waves tried to knock me off. I relaxed my grip and wrapped my arms about his torso.
“You lost weight. Didn’t they feed you in Ixia?” I asked.
“The Commander was very generous, but I ate most of my meals with Yelena. Seeing her pick through her food as if everything contained poison, I lost my appetite. Plus, I was worried about you.”
Before he could change the subject back to me, I asked him, “What did the Commander decide about the blizzards? Is he going to let you dance in them?”
“The Commander is rather stubborn about magic. I had planned to stay on the ice sheet to calm the storms until the warming season, but Janco’s partner, Ari, arrested me and escorted me to the Commander’s castle.”
“But a cell can’t hold you!”
“If it’s strong enough it can, but, even though Ari is built like a tank with curly hair, he couldn’t hold me without a null shield. I could have escaped at any time. But I cooperated with him. No sense angering the Commander. And I was treated like a guest when I arrived at his castle.” He poked the fire. “He’s intelligent and adamant. I wasn’t able to convince him to allow a group of Stormdancers to harvest the blizzards next cold season, but he did agree to watch a demonstration.”
“Did you impress him with your superior skills?”
Kade laughed. “I don’t think Commander Ambrose is impressed by much. I didn’t get a chance to show him. By the time he agreed to the demonstration, I needed to leave if I wanted to spend time with you before the heating season’s storms.”
“Getting the Commander’s approval is more important than me,” I said.
“I see your sense of self-worth hasn’t changed.”
I straightened, pulling away. “Those blizzards kill people every year. Saving people’s lives versus spending time with me? Even if I was the Queen of Sitia, the choice is obvious.”
“That’s why I’m going to be on the northern ice sheet with the Commander during the first blizzard of the next cold season. It will be a more effective display than taming a warm-season thunderstorm. Also Commander Ambrose grew up in Military District 3 and knows by experience just how much damage they can do.”
“Oh.”
“See how you shouldn’t jump to conclusions?” Smugness oozed from him.
“It wasn’t a jump. More of a leap. No. A skip. Definitely a skip. No jumping involved.”
“Really?” He doubted me.
“Yes. You don’t know what a jump is.”
“I don’t?” Confusion replaced his dubiousness.
“Yes.”
“Care to tell me?”
“No. I’ll show you.” I pounced on him, dragging him to the floor. Smothering his squawk with my lips, I pinned him under me. When I had regained my breath I said, “That’s a jump.”
“I’m still a little fuzzy on the definition.” He snaked his arms around me. “Please continue your demonstration.”
I pressed my body against him, but a nagging thought hovered. I wouldn’t have been this bold before. Dismissing the notion, I turned my full attention to the man below me, certain he would agree that change, in this case, was for the better.
* * *
Sometime during the night we transferred to my narrow bed. I woke with Kade curled around me as the morning sun’s rays shot through the cracks in the shutters. Groaning, I peeled the covers back and yanked at Kade’s anchoring arm on my hip. But he wouldn’t move.
“Blow it off,” he muttered, half-asleep.
“I can’t. I’m in training. I’ll skip my afternoon classes. Hell, I’ll even skip lunch for you, but training is too important.”
He lifted his arm. “Are you worried about being attacked?”
“Not at this moment, but I need to be able to defend myself just in case.” I slipped out of bed. The cold air raised the hair on my arms and I quickly dressed in my training uniform—loose, comfortable gray pants and a white sleeveless tunic. The day would warm in a hurry. I brushed my hair, pulling it back into a ponytail.
Leaning on one elbow, Kade watched me. His tousled hair shone in the sunlight and his amber-colored gaze beckoned.
Tempted, I looked away. “Besides, the activity helps me burn off my frustration.”
“There are other ways to...exercise.”
I smiled over his word choice. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Thunder and lightning, girl! How much frustration do you have? I would think after last night...”
“It helped, but ignoring the snide remarks and slights from my fellow students, and suffering through the delicate and cautious way my teachers treat me every day, I need to punch something. I ruined one training bag already imagining Skippy’s face on the black leather.”
“That bad?”
“Imagine Raiden convinced you a storm was coming and you ran and told all the other Stormdancers to prepare for a big nasty blow. But they don’t believe you. When Raiden shows up, he tells everyone he lied to you and you fell for it. Fell for it so hard you still think a big nasty is coming despite being told otherwise. How would the others treat you when you try to warn them? How would you feel, knowing you’re right but unable to prove it?” I gripped my arms, to stop from saying more.
This past season had been wasted time. Devlen and Ulrick could be anywhere by now, teaching blood magic to anyone. When the Council finally believed me, they might have a whole army of Warpers to deal with instead of a few.
“You have a good point.” Kade threw back the rest of the blankets. “While you’re busy, I’ll go submit my official request to the Masters.”
“Request?”
He paused on the edge of the bed. “I guess I should ask you first. You might want to stay here and train.” He teased.
“Kade.” A mock warning rumbled through my voice.
“We have about thirty days left until the next round of storms. Although they’re milder than the cooling season’s, the heating season has produced a few rogue nasties in the past. We don’t have any orbs and we need to teach the new glassmakers how to make them all in the next month.”
I understood. “And only one person knows the sand recipe for the orbs.”
“You never told Zitora?”
“Didn’t have time and now she avoids me.”
“Then tell me. Not knowing worked when that group held me up on the ice sheet, but there is no reason to stay ignorant,” Kade said.
“Forty percent—”
“Whisper it.” He tapped his ear. “Just in case Skippy’s nearby.”
“Nice try, but I know you’ll just grab me.”
He feigned innocence, but I ignored him.
“Am I that predictable?” he asked.
“Like a hot-season thunderstorm.”
Groaning, he flopped back on the bed. “It’s too early in the morning for a weather analogy. Go.” He shooed. “Tell me later when I’m awake enough to remember it.”
I left my quarters, and when Skippy fell into step behind me, I didn’t care. My thoughts dwelled on Kade and the possibility of leaving the Keep.
* * *
My opponent lunged, shot through my defenses and jabbed me in the solar plexus. I expelle
d all the air in my lungs in one harsh whoosh.
“You’re dead. Third time today.” Captain Marrok leaned on his wooden practice sword as if it were a cane.
Doubled over, I struggled to breathe. My sais grew heavier in my hands with every gasp.
“What’s going on? You’re better than this.” He pointed at me with his sword. “Since I’ve been the Weapons Master, I haven’t had a student work as hard as you or improve so much.”
“Sorry...” I puffed. “I’m...distracted.”
“Then get undistracted. You’re not going to get a second chance in a real fight. Treat every practice bout as the real thing.” He tossed the weapon down. “Go work with Sarn on self-defense tactics. Maybe that’ll help you refocus.”
I suppressed my groan. Sarn outweighed me by a hundred pounds. Thick barrels of muscle bulged from his arms, legs and chest. He was easy to outrun, but, if he clamped his oversize hands on me, my chances of winning went from slim to none. He wouldn’t let go unless forced and he felt no pain. Muscles even covered his fingers. Who had muscular fingers? The man was a mutant.
The one sliver of brightness in working with Sarn was, if I broke free from him, I could get away from anyone. No success so far, but not for lack of trying.
“Hiya, Opal! You back for another session?” Sarn asked.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
Unfazed by my grumbled reply, he grinned. “Great! What do you want to start with? Stranglehold? Choke hold? Ground pin? Armlock? Leg lock?”
“Such choices. You really know how to spoil a girl.”
“You know me, the King of Smooth. There! I made you smile.” He beamed as if he’d just passed a final exam.
Mutant he might be, but he was the nicest mutant I knew. However, all kind thoughts vanished when he wrapped his hands around my throat. My own fingers instinctively pulled at his before I remembered it would be a waste of time. With my hands free, a number of other moves remained.
I tried a palm strike to his chin. No effect. I used hammer fists down on the crook of his arms and then slammed my forearms up into his elbows. Nothing. My vision buzzed with white-and-black spots. Time almost up. I needed a weak spot within reach.
Without thought, I pressed my fingers and thumb into his right wrist. He dropped to his knees with a cry of pain. Confused at first, I stared at him as he yelled for me to stop.
Understanding what I had done, I let go and knelt next to him. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”
“Whoa. That was intense.” He rubbed his wrist.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”
“Don’t apologize. I don’t say sorry when I choke you.” Sarn inspected his arm. “Wow, what a move. No bruising or anything. Can you teach me it?”
“No. I don’t...” I stood. Bad enough that I had found one of Devlen’s pressure points and used it to inflict pain, but the thought of teaching it to another sickened me. Horrified, I bolted to my quarters.
13
Curled up in bed, I shook under the covers. Who was the mutant now? Me. All that time Devlen had tortured me to get his way, I had been learning, remembering the locations of all those horrid spots on the body. I instinctively knew where steady pressure would cause relentless pain. Pain so bad, I had agreed to do terrible things. And I’d used it on Sarn.
By the time Kade arrived, I had decided to stay under the blanket. Safe. No students. No teachers. No babysitters. No Devlen. No Ulrick. No Council. The list was quite long.
The bed creaked under his weight. “I’m guessing your training session didn’t go well.” He pulled at the blanket, but I held it. “Opal, talk to me. What happened?”
When I wouldn’t let him remove the cover, he crawled underneath, worming his way next to me. His warmth seeped into my skin, calming the tremors. He said nothing for a while.
“I talked to Master Bloodgood,” he said.
I tensed.
“Relax. I asked for permission to borrow you for a few weeks.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
Encouraged by my reply, Kade wrapped an arm around my waist. “He said he would query the Council and the other Masters.”
“Good luck with that. By the time they come to a decision the storm season will be over.” Bitter and jaded. Who, me?
“I did stress the importance of a quick answer. Master Bloodgood seemed to think they would let you come with me. With concessions of course.”
“Let me guess. Skippy has to come along and I have to make a hundred glass messengers before I can go.”
“You’re right.” Surprise laced his voice. “How did you know?”
“Because I’m starting to think like them. I’m beginning to agree with them. I’m too dangerous. I can’t be trusted. They should lock me up where I can’t hurt anyone.”
“Opal, what happened?”
“If I tell you, you’ll be disgusted and leave.”
“If your self-pitying behavior and being suffocated by the blanket hasn’t driven me away, I doubt anything else would.”
“I’m not indulging in self-pity.” I scooted away and bumped against the wall.
“Then what are you doing?”
“Being realistic.”
“I see. Well...actually, no, I don’t. It’s too dark under here to see.”
“I know too much.” I sighed. How best to explain? “Right now I can tell you the location of all those hidden glass prisons. I can find a pressure point on your body and cause you pain. And if I held an empty orb, I can drain you of all your powers. I can’t...unknow all this. Can’t turn it off. And when forced into a desperate situation, I’m going to use this knowledge automatically and hurt someone.”
“The trail of bodies in your wake is concerning,” Kade said.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. All right, so you know the locations of the prisons. Why aren’t you going around collecting them? Selling them off to the highest Daviian bidder? Don’t answer. Just listen,” Kade said. “You know where the pressure points are. Why aren’t you using them on Skippy, threatening him with them? And why aren’t you going around draining magicians of all their power? You’d be the richest person in Sitia with all those diamonds.”
“Can I talk now?” I asked.
“No. I’m not done. You haven’t done all those things because you know they’re wrong. And yes, when forced into a desperate situation, you will defend yourself with the weapons available to you. Think about it. The reason your back’s against the wall is due to someone attacking you. Not the other way around. Unless you’ve been picking fights?”
“I did grump at a dining-room server for spilling hot water on me.”
“Did you knock her out with one of your sais? Clamp down on one of her pressure spots?”
“Point taken.”
“Good. Can we pull the blanket off now? I’m dying under here.”
I pushed the cover off and squinted in the bright light. Kade’s hair clung to the sides of his sweaty face and hung in his eyes. Smoothing the loose strands behind his ear, I remembered when he had lectured me before.
We had been standing on The Cliffs and he encouraged me to have more self-confidence. At the time, saying I was an all-powerful glass magician had been a joke. Now, it seemed like a nightmare.
“Where did you go?” Kade asked.
“Back to The Cliffs when you said I was too young to understand.”
He laughed, and I marveled at the way the gold flecks in his eyes sparked.
“I remember the situation being rather dire and here comes this...this twelve-year-old to save us. She looked as if a stiff breeze could knock her over. I thought we were sunk.” He slapped his hand on his thigh. “Then I have to fish the girl from the sea. You resembled a drowned puppy.”
“I’m twenty, and Nodin didn’t warn me about the slippery rocks or the monster waves,” I said.
He shook his head. “All hope was gone until you held Kaya’s orb. Then you transformed before my eyes. When you have glass in your hands, you are confident and powerful. I knew then you would solve our problems.”
“Is that when...let me see if I remember it right...I ‘arrived in your life like an unwelcome hot-season squall’?” I asked.
“That line is golden. And you didn’t melt.” He tsked.
“Golden?”
“I’m a Stormdancer. The weather controls my life.”
Before he could launch into more weather analogies, I said, “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I can’t pinpoint an exact time, but when I heard you had been kidnapped by the traitor and his gang, I realized how much I cared for you.”
“I thought you came to the inn because you were worried about your Stormdancers.”
“I was. Tal had betrayed us. But the real reason was so I could see for myself that you were all right.”
My thoughts returned to that night. After dinner I had gone to the stable to check on Quartz. Kade followed me. We were alone, and his actions seemed as if he wanted to say something important, but we had talked about grief over our dead sisters. If he had confessed his feelings, I wouldn’t have gone with Ulrick, and Devlen wouldn’t have used Ulrick to get to me.
A useless train of thought. Devlen would have gotten to me regardless. His addiction to the blood magic would have driven him to find another way.
“How about you?” Kade ran his fingers along my arm.
“When you handed me Kaya’s orb.”
“I thought you were overcome by the orb’s song.”
“I was, but when you knelt next to me in concern... There was an energy... A spark.”
“Ah, yes.” He inched closer. “Drove me crazy.”
“Drove you away.”
“Not anymore.” He pulled me against him.
* * *
When Kade and I finally emerged from my rooms, the sun hovered above the horizon. I had missed my afternoon classes.
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