Ember couldn’t help herself. She leaned forward, put her arms around her uncle, and squeezed him tight. Shad wrapped his big bear arms around her and hugged back. Their embrace lasted only a moment, but she thought it probably did both of their hearts good.
“Now, if I can only avoid Mum while I’m myself, I might be able to get through this in one piece.” Ember chuckled and wiped away the beaded sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt.“Some days, it seemed like she’d stop me from becoming a mage at all costs, that she’d do anything to keep me her slave.”
“She has her reasons, Ember, and I am sure that to her, they’re good ones. But you’re right to pursue this dream of yours. You’re meant to be a mage, though of what kind, I’m not yet sure. Your magic is like none I’ve ever seen.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “I thought you said I had the shapeshifting ability like my father and yourself.”
“You do, lass,” he answered, taking her hand, “but you don’t use the land magic alone to make your shift. Your color of magic is like a pallet of paint that’s been mixed and swirled together, and it’s all faded pastels, not the vivid color magic usually gives.”
“I’m not sure I understand, Uncle. Doesn’t all magic show green?” she asked, puzzled.
He shook his head. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Well, so far that’s the only color I’ve seen. Aldarin had green around his hand, and I saw green around the plants, so I just figured magic was green.”
Shad chuckled. “You also saw the golden yellow of DeMunth’s breastplate, remember? No, Ember, there are actually seven colors of magic, each reflecting a color of the rainbow. Let me give it to you in short, though you will learn more once you reach the mage academy. You have heard the stories of S’Kotos and Mahal, and the breaking of Rasann?”
“No,” she answered, leaning forward eagerly.
Shad rolled his eyes at her, but said nothing derogatory and began his tale.
“Long ago, there were a hundred Guardians who watched over Rasann, but there were two who were the greatest. They were twins—Mahal, and one who became known as S’Kotos, the Destroyer. Mahal and S’Kotos battled on Rasann and nearly destroyed our world. There were great cracks in the earth. Water rushed in to drown whole cities, mountains covered entire nations, and still other places were covered with ash and lava. It was Helar on earth, child, and when it was over, ninety-four of those Guardians were so distraught, they left the heavens to walk among the people of our world, healing it as they could, and joining the peoples of those they could not.
“Only six Guardians remained in the heavens, and their father stood with them. They held Rasann together, netted with magic, until one could be found from among mankind to heal her again. Mahal was afraid that if he stepped upon Rasann, she would rise up in rebellion against him and destroy herself entirely, so injured was she. And so the seven remaining Guardians stood in the heavens and divided the white magic among them.” He seemed to be reciting to her, but then the far-off look left his eyes and he met hers again.
“Have you ever seen a prism, Ember?”
“Huh?”
“A prism,” he stated again. “Cut glass that reflects light into a rainbow of color.”
Ember understood then. “Yes.”
“Magic is like that prism. Once, it was all together—white and pure—but the Guardians divided it into its individual colors to better bind Rasann. Each of the Guardians took charge of one color, until only Mahal remained. He was to take the red, the color of fire and heat, but S’Kotos stole it from him. All that was left was a small bit of the white, and so Mahal took charge of the binding of colors again. It is He who will lead the Chosen One to heal our world. It is He who will bring forth the next white mage.“
“Wow,” Ember sighed, enthralled with the story. “I’ve never heard of a white mage, and never understood what a green or red mage was, until now. They each focus on something different, then? Are there people who can do more than one kind of magic?” She leaned back on the bed and tucked her knees beneath her chin.
Shad hesitated. “Yes, but they all tend to be best at one type. To have three colors of magic is considered phenomenal. A white mage has all.”
“Wow,” she said again, unable to find a better word to express her awe. “How many white magi are there?”
Shad met her eyes, all seriousness. “None, Ember. Not for three thousand years. There are no binders to weave the magic of our world. I only hope we can find one soon, for we need a white mage before it is too late for all of us—before the magic completely unravels and Rasann is destroyed.”
“Rasann destroyed?” she whispered in shock.
Shad nodded, all sadness now. “Why do you think our world is rising against us—Devil’s Mount spewing all that ash and lava, the spells coming unraveled? You may not have heard of it, but there have been disasters among the water folk as well—entire cities consumed by great waves, denizens of the deep thrust from their home to perish on dry land.” He shook his head. “Rasann has never been healed, only temporarily patched and mended—but those patches are a little threadbare after thousands of years of use and abuse.
“But this is a conversation that can be continued later. If you are going to bathe before your trial, young lady, you’d better go now. I’ll escort you to the women’s quarters, but from there you’re on your own. Take your stuff with you, just in case they call while you bathe.”
Ember gathered her bag and a change of clothes, and took his arm. “More than ready, Uncle.”
“Whew, you can say that again.” He twinkled at her, waving away the not-so-imaginary stink once more. Ember didn’t bother shoving him again. She was grateful for his solution, and it just felt too good to be in her own skin. One last thought occurred to her.
“But what about Mum?”
Shad shook his head. “Think about it, Ember. You changed into a boy. Don’t you think you could shift your face enough to be unrecognizable?”
Ember felt stupid. She should have thought of that. She covered her face with her hands as Shad took her arm, and they walked together out the door.
The bath was amazingly wonderful. Ember sat beneath the waterfall on one of several boulders apparently placed there for that very purpose and let the falls pound away the tension in her neck and head while rinsing the soap from her hair. She’d never bathed in a warm waterfall before. They were usually ice cold.
“Marvelous, isn’t it?” a familiar voice asked. Ember started, then looked to her right to see her mother standing under the falls, washing her hair just as Ember had done. She immediately buried her hands in her hair to hide the tattooed bracelets, then, remembering her pendant, pulled her hair forward to cover it. She was tempted to slip off the boulder and bury herself in the water, but feared it would appear too obvious.
Marda continued as if Ember’s behavior was perfectly normal. “I’d never admit it to my husband, but the falls are the one thing worth coming to Javak for. Or they would be if I weren’t here for more pressing reasons.” Marda’s eyes clouded for a moment as she sat on the adjacent boulder. “I need the water massage after the week I’ve had.”
Ember felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t dare speak, as she was afraid her voice would give her away.
“You look familiar. Have we met?”
Ember groaned inwardly, her heart speeding up in preparation for the lie she was about to tell. “Sorry, no.” The pain in her mother’s face was raw. Ember turned away, unable to face it.
“You look so much like my daughter, it makes me miss her.” Marda wiped at her eye. It wasn’t just water she swept away, Ember was sure of it. Her stomach clenched at her mother’s pain. She almost told her everything then.
“Are you . . . all right?” Ember asked, hands behind her back, still hiding them, but not able to face the hurt she knew she had etched in her mother’s face overnight.
Marda gave a forced chuckle. “Oh, I’m fine. That d
aughter of mine ran off to the trials, and I haven’t seen her in two days. I’m sure she’s all right.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
Unable to stand the guilt any longer, Ember opened her mouth to admit the truth, but before she could say anything, Marda changed the subject.
“Did you know the magi created these falls? They redirected the flow of a hot spring to cascade over the cliff. It’s beautiful and very nice on sore muscles, but it’s as fake as a lead coin.”
“Really? I never knew.” An uncomfortable moment came between them, though Marda didn’t seem to notice. After several quiet minutes Ember excused herself. “It was nice meeting you, ma’am. I’ve got to go now. My number will be coming up soon.”
Marda opened her eyes. “You just be careful, child. The magi talk pretty, but they don’t always live up to their promises. Watch yourself.”
Ember didn’t know what to say for a long moment. How would her mother know that? She seemed to speak from experience she’d never had, so far as Ember knew. Instead of answering, Ember nodded once and slipped into the water, feeling Marda’s eyes on her as she swam to the far end of the pool and pulled herself up onto the side. Ember took two towels, wrapped one around her, and stepped into a small dressing area.
Ember looked around. The baths were near empty. She smiled and made a note to remember to come here about this time each day.
She was toweling her hair dry when she felt a hand touch her own. She stopped the brisk rubbing and peeked from beneath the confines of the oversized towel to meet the dark eyes of a bath servant.
“Are you Ketahean?” she asked in a light whisper.
Ember shook her head, puzzled.
The women reached tentatively for Ember’s hand and drew it in front of her, inspecting the embedded color and weave of the bracelet and ring Ezeker had given her just two days before. The woman traced the lines across the back of Ember’s hand, rather wistfully, Ember thought.
“I have not seen marks like these since I was a child. I know of no other people who mark themselves this way.” The woman looked at Ember questioningly.
“It was a gift,” she stated, she hoped without emotion.
“Ahhh,” the woman answered as if that made all the sense in the world.
Ember retrieved her hand and continued to towel her hair. Nothing more was said about it. She moved into a curtained stall, took her clothes from the girl, which had been washed and dried while she bathed, and dressed herself in the nice things DeMunth had brought her. She gathered her bag and turned to go.
“Was that also a gift?” the woman asked.
Ember sighed and turned back to answer. “What, this?” she asked, pointing to the wolf charm embedded in her neck.
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
The bathgirl quirked her head and reached for the tattoo. “May I?” she asked just before she touched it. Ember hesitated only a moment before nodding.
Her fingers were light, and the wolf eyes pulsed spring green at her touch. The girl gasped and moved in for a closer look.
“It is excellent, miss. I would guess from the Bendanatu. It holds great power. My father once sold pendants with markings such as this, but no more. Still . . .” she tilted her head further and blew once upon the charm. The girl’s warm breath tickle Ember’s skin. “I do not know much, miss, but this has a similar feel to a protection charm my father once sold.”
A cold chill traveled down Ember’s spine. She knew very well from whom it protected her.
The girl took a step back, put her hands together, and bowed slowly to Ember. “Thank you for allowing me the familiarity, miss. It is good to see pieces of home now and again.”
Ember glanced at her wrists. She understood what the girl meant. Gaining the bracelets had given her a piece of history she hadn’t known was missing. Even with the trouble it caused, she wouldn’t trade the gift of the bracelets or the necklace for the wealth of the world. She was indebted to the girl for the information. Ember tied her hair back, then fingered the pendant tattoo. A piece of her life’s puzzle clicked into place. She had learned more about her past in two days than she had during her previous sixteen years.
Ember nodded and smiled at the girl, receiving a shy smile in return. She then left the facility, crossing the narrow bridge that passed over the lake waters. There was a copse of trees where Uncle Shad had said he would meet her, and sure enough, he stood as she neared the center of the grove.
“Well, it took you long enough. I didn’t think you were that dirty,” he said.
Her crystal chose that moment to chime at her.
“Looks like your turn for trial.” He folded his arms and leaned against a tree as she frantically dug in the pouch for the small clear stone she had been given earlier that afternoon. She found it on the bottom and looked into its depths. It glowed with faint light, much like moonlight, and the words written there were thrown at her and magnified clear as day.
"Orientation and first trial scheduled for seven hours after noon in the central auditorium. Twelve minutes remaining."
The stone glared at her and died, now that it had delivered its message.
“Twelve minutes? What do you mean, twelve minutes?” Ember shouted at the stone. She shoved it in her pocked and looked at Shad. “Uncle, how can I have only twelve minutes? I thought they’d give me at least an hour.”
“They probably did, but you were drowning yourself and didn’t hear. Well, there’s nothing to be done about it now. You’re going to have to make this shapeshift a quick one, because it’s going to take you a good five minutes to get to the auditorium from here.”
Ember panicked for a moment, her stomach jumping with nausea, then took a deep breath. Panic would solve nothing. She took another breath to steady herself, then instead of sending the image just of her nose as she had before, she decided to try something new and sent the image of her entire male face, attempting to merge it with the old. She could feel the ache settling into her bones again and would have known it was working even if she hadn’t felt the shift beneath her fingertips. Finally finished, she let go of the breath she held and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Very good, Ember. Oh, marvelously done,” Shad applauded. Ember moved on to the rest of her body. She divided the change into three sections: torso, chest, and limbs. When finished, she glanced at the stone once more, its light reflecting on her face.
“Four minutes left, Uncle. What should we do?”
“That’s easy. We run.“ With that, he shot out of the trees, and it was all Ember could do to follow him. They twisted and turned among the buildings and tents, first right, then left, then straight on to the very center of the city. Ember thought she was going to pass out long before she arrived, but just as she thought she could go no further, Shad stopped, and, with barely a gasp, said, “There it is. Just head through the big double doors and check in with the guard, find a seat, and let the fun start.” He winked and turned to go.
“Wait!” she gasped. “Where do I find you?”
“You won’t. I’ll find you. Trust me, Ember,” he said, and loped away.
Ember was alone.
She stumbled forward, her legs rubbery after the long run, and headed for the large double doors that fronted the round building. There was a young guard just stepping out to close them. Ember found the strength somewhere within her and bolted for the door just as it was pulling closed. She slid through the narrow opening and grinned at the guard, then stopped when she realized who it was, not sure whether to back up or keep going.
It was Aldarin, and he wasn’t alone. He and Tiva stood arguing just inside the door, the other guard looking on without a smile.
“I’m telling you, Aldarin, Ember’s here somewhere, and if Marda would relax a bit, she would show up. Marda needs to focus on Da right now, not her daughter.”
Aldarin let his breath out in a rush. Ember knew that sound. It meant he was holding onto his temper by a slive
r. “I know, Tiva, but you aren’t going to convince her. Drop it. We know where to look. She’ll show up sooner or later. Just do your job and shut your mouth.”
Ember stood still as a mouse, staring at the two of them as they argued. Aldarin looked over Tiva’s shoulder and met her eyes, a look of puzzled recollection crossing his face. “You’re the boy I cut in front of at registration, right?”
Ember nodded, her eyes darting to the door behind him. She had to get in there. The alarm was going off in her bag.
Aldarin’s eyes followed the noise, then met hers as it stopped. He smiled at the panic on her face, but what he did not know was that her panic was two-fold: one, that she would miss the trials, and two, that he’d recognize her—though how that was possible, she didn’t know. “It’s okay, boy, you’re not in trouble. They haven’t started yet, though you’d better find a seat or you’ll miss the best part. Give the guard over there your name, and he’ll find you a place.”
Ember didn’t trust herself to speak, so only nodded at the one person she had ever really trusted until yesterday. Now she had Uncle Shad and DeMunth to add to that small list. She smiled and turned to the young guard, whispering her real name since she’d so stupidly given it to the guard when she’d registered for the trials. He checked his list and marked her off.
“Right through there, boy. Find an empty seat and listen. Good luck!” he said with a lot more enthusiasm than she felt. Ember turned and darted through the doors.
There were not as many people as she had anticipated. She’d figured on hundreds showing up for a trial like this, but there were maybe thirty or forty people between the ages of eight and fifteen. everyone was clumped together at the front. She spotted a seat in the middle section on the far right side and turned to make her way along the back row, but ran smack into somebody who stood in the shadows.
The Sapphire Flute Page 24