Before Kade could defend his clan’s actions, Zitora launched into another round of questions. I struggled to produce possible answers to how and why a factory owner would try to procure Stormdance orbs.
When fatigue slowed my responses, we stopped for the night. Zitora headed to our room, but I needed to retrieve a few things from my saddlebags.
Kade followed me to the stables outside. “You should never be alone. Sir and his gang are still at large. And don’t forget about Blue Eyes.”
“I found out his name is Devlen, and I won’t forget about him.” I shuddered, remembering his possessive hunger. “At least your Stormdancers are safe.”
I found Quartz’s stall and hunted through my bags, turning my back on Kade to hide my spider-filled orb. I was so engrossed in my task, Kade’s quiet voice surprised me.
“I didn’t travel all this way just because I was concerned for my Stormdancers,” he said.
Afraid to meet his gaze, I kept sorting through my bag even though I no longer remembered what I had been searching for. “You didn’t?”
“No. I…”
I waited.
“I…wanted to ask you about your sister Tula.” His voice changed back into his normal tone.
Closing my bags, I wondered what he had really wanted to say. I stood and faced him. “What about her?”
“How long did it take before you could think of her without…” He tapped his chest.
“The burning pain?”
“Yes.”
“Two to three years. But don’t go by me. Everyone grieves in different ways. For some, it could take longer or shorter. I do know it never disappears. An ember still smolders inside me. Most days, I don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it’ll flare to life.”
The air around me pressed against my skin as if charged with magic. I stepped closer to Kade, seeking to connect with him, ease his pain.
He jerked back, and the energy dissipated. “Then I should avoid getting burned again.”
I masked my disappointment as he escorted me to my room. His distant demeanor returned and he remained business-like and brisk.
“Please inform me if there’re any new developments with Sir and Blue…Devlen. Have a safe journey home.”
“You, too.”
He nodded and left before Zitora opened the door.
Since there was nothing more to do in Thunder Valley, Zitora and I set out for the Citadel the next morning. Even though she acted normal and knew information only Zitora knew, I still checked her shadow on occasion. Each time the black shape matched her figure, I released a breath I hadn’t known I held.
Helping the Stormdancers had gotten me into more trouble than I cared for. I convinced myself that staying far away would be for the best. I stroked Quartz’s neck, content to leave Thunder Valley behind. The sunshine warmed my new cloak and the cool air held a crisp scent of earthy pine. For once, I looked forward to returning to the Magician’s Keep.
The day passed without incident. When the light faded to gray, Zitora scanned the surrounding area, and decided to make camp off the main east-west road, which led straight to the Citadel. An abandoned quarry was on the other side, and a thin wood occupied our side.
“Gather wood for a fire, and I’ll take care of the horses,” she said.
I picked up enough dead branches from the edge of the wood to get a fire started, but would need more for the rest of the night. Before searching deeper into the forest, I hesitated. Reluctance pulled. Every time I had been alone, something bad happened.
Determined not to let my fears rule me, I pushed through the underbrush and collected a few bigger logs. Every sound caused my heart to jump and sweat dampened my shirt, but I persisted until my arms were full.
Zitora lit the fire and cooked us a pot of beef stew. The yellow glow from the flames cast shadows along the ground and in the woods. Multiple times I sought the familiar black shape behind Zitora as if I was a child checking the presence of my mother.
I wondered if Yelena’s time as the Commander’s food taster made her instinctively test each meal for poisons before she ate or if she avoided hugging people because they might prick her with Curare. Thinking back to the first time I had seen Yelena after I had tricked her, I remembered being so happy to see her I hugged her without thought. She hadn’t recoiled. In fact, she hugged me back.
Her advice about not letting the past ruin the future proved impossible to follow. How could I stop checking Zitora’s shadow? Wasn’t I supposed to learn from my past mistakes? How did Yelena do it? How could she relax by a fire without worrying about a Fire Warper jumping from the flames and burning her?
Magic, of course. She was a powerful Soulfinder. If a person approached her with Curare, she would sense the intention and counter with ease. In my case, I don’t think an attacker would wait while I fired up the kiln and gathered a ball of hot glass.
Zitora retrieved our bedrolls from the saddles. I stared at the flickering flames, wishing I could do more with my magic.
“What’s this?” Zitora asked. Instead of our rolls, she held the spider-filled glass orb.
“One of the orbs Ash made. I grabbed it when I escaped.”
She arched an eyebrow, but remained quiet.
The silence drove the story from me. I told her about Tricky’s magical attacks, and how I countered the second one. “I really haven’t had the time to wonder where the glass spiders came from. Filling the orb with magic, I can understand. But for the magic to convert into actual glass is beyond my ability to explain.”
“Or mine,” Zitora said. “Magical illusions are really just visions in your mind. A magician will send you images that cause your body to have a physical reaction, like feeling the beetles’ bite and eat your flesh. Once the magician stops, the vision disappears and so does the magic. I’ve never heard of a magician able to turn magic into an object. Perhaps Bain would know more.”
She tipped the ball and shook one of the spiders into her palm. “Are these the creatures that attacked you?” She handed me the piece.
Spider-shaped and fingernail-sized, the clear glass encased a single brown spider. The glass felt thin and brittle as if I could crush it between my fingers. “Yes, but they were bigger.” My skin crawled with imaginary legs. I resisted the urge to swipe my arms.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
I searched for the right words, but no matter how I phrased it, it would sound strange. “The spiders want to stay with me.”
“They do?”
“Yes, and I was afraid the authorities would confiscate them. And we really haven’t had time to discuss it yet.”
“So you planned to tell me?”
“Of course.”
Her dubious expression turned into a smile. She shook a handful of spiders from the orb. “There must be hundreds of them.” Concentrating on the ones in her palm, Zitora hunched over them. “There’s magic inside, but I can’t use it to communicate or to do anything else. Perhaps you funneled Tricky’s magic into the orb and trapped it.”
I considered. If I could do it again, I would have a potential defense against a magical attack. Many questions circled my mind. Would I need to use the exact same type of orb? Or could I use any glass container?
“Very interesting.” She poured them back into the ball. “I can’t wait to get back to the Keep and try a few experiments.”
“Experiments?”
“Yes. Don’t you want to explore this new power?”
“I do, but I’ll have classes.” And tests to fail. Classmates to injure.
Zitora waved her hand. “Your curriculum so far has been geared for a standard magician. Since Yelena’s arrival, we have realized that not all students match the standard. When we get back, I want to change your focus.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course. Especially since you’ll be my student.”
I blinked.
“Don’t look so surprised,” she said. “Your
powers have always intrigued me and I think it’s about time I mentor a student. Although—” Zitora frowned “—since you’ve been ambushed, attacked, incarcerated and kidnapped while in my company, perhaps you’ll want another teacher.”
I rushed to assure her of my honor in being chosen.
She gave me a rueful smile. “My first mission without guards and I made a mess of it. The Sitian Council will never let me go alone again.”
At least she didn’t run home to her father. My first mission wasn’t a success, either. I thought about Kade’s instructions to be confident when I left the coast. Despite my boast of being an all-powerful glass magician, now I could think of another who might have done the same thing with the glass orbs and magic. Ulrick.
I counted how many days it has been since we left him in Booruby. Twenty days. My body ached as if seasons had passed.
But my mood lightened. Twenty days meant Ulrick should be waiting for us at the Keep. A potential friend and a potential colleague. I could be working closely with Zitora and Ulrick. My desire to return to the Keep increased threefold.
The sight of the white marble walls surrounding the Citadel made me whoop with joy. After three days on the road, I was more than ready for a warm bath, a hot meal and a soft bed.
Zitora shared my enthusiasm and we raced our horses to the Citadel’s west gate. The guards at the entrance gestured for us to slow down, but otherwise waved us through. We maneuvered around the crowded streets and were soon inside the Magician’s Keep located in the northeast quadrant of the Citadel.
At the stables, I rubbed down Quartz and fed her a bucket of grain. The other horses had whinnied greetings when we arrived. The Stable Master inspected her from tip to tail and declared her healthy. She sucked down two milk oats from his palm. Most of the horses in the stable would do just about anything for a couple of the Stable Master’s special treats.
I returned to my quarters in the apprentice wing. Even though my residence consisted of two small rooms—a bedroom and sitting area—I had them all to myself. After sharing a room with my sisters, being crammed into the Keep’s barracks for three years and one year living with four others in the seniors’ quarters, I had my very own space.
Dust coated the furniture and a musty odor floated in the cold air. I had been gone for a total of thirty-six days, over half the cooling season. I threw my pack and sais onto the table. Assembling a bunch of kindling, I started a fire to warm the room while I hurried to the bathhouse to bathe.
Ordered to report to the Masters’ meeting room right after breakfast tomorrow, I had the rest of the evening to myself. I decided to grab a late dinner. On my way to the dining room, I passed many of my fellow students. No one stopped to ask where I had been. No one called hello. A few scowled and a couple of girls sniggered after I walked past. The usual reaction.
I wondered how the other students would feel once the news of my apprenticeship to Zitora leaked out. I imaged their stunned and jealous faces. Even better would be when they saw Ulrick by my side, as I gave him a tour of the campus. His gorgeous green eyes staring at me with rapt attention.
My little fantasy lasted until I entered the dining hall. Ulrick sat at the head of a large table filled with students. The group of mostly girls laughed and flirted with him. He was the center of their attention.
Only here a few days at most, Ulrick had managed to do what I couldn’t accomplish in four years.
My appetite gone, I fled the hall.
15
I KNEW I shouldn’t care Ulrick had already made friends. Most of my life had been lived in my sister Mara’s shadow. She had all the friends and attention from every young man in the Cowan lands. I had Tula.
When Tula had been alive, I didn’t need anyone else. We were inseparable. Until the night Ferde stole her. She’d sent me to bed early. I was supposed to help her keep the kilns hot, but I was sick with a fever. She dragged me to bed, tucked me in, and the next morning she had been gone.
Dark memories threatened to push up from the depths of my mind. I squashed them down. No reason to suffer the heart-shredding guilt again. No relief in playing the “I should have” game.
I glanced around my empty living area as I crossed to my bedroom. The glass owl Tula had made for me on my fourteenth birthday rested on my nightstand. The statue fit neatly in the palm of my hand. I examined the exquisite detail of each feather and the perfect shape of the talons. She had a finer hand with the molten glass. The tweezers in her expert fingers would blur in motion, resulting in a lifelike animal.
My hopes of finding a true friend like Tula at the Keep hadn’t lasted long. With my involvement in imprisoning the Fire Warper and his partners, the other students either were jealous of my “fame” or afraid. And my propensity for classroom accidents didn’t help my popularity.
Our classes were small—three to five students and an instructor. I remembered a session with Professor Greenblade, learning the history of Rodknee Bloodgood, the first magician to use magic to move objects. After the lecture, I had been paired with Pazia to recreate Rodknee’s original experiment. Pazia had no trouble moving the lead weight off the table and high into the air with her magic. All my efforts resulted in nothing. I couldn’t move the weight past the mark on the table, let alone off the surface. When the professor leaned on the table to check his mark, it collapsed under him.
Professor Greenblade laughed it off and continued his lesson, but Pazia and the others had spread rumors that I was a jinx to all magicians.
A knock pulled me from my musings. Going into the other room, I peered through the window. Ulrick.
Surprised, I opened the door.
“I thought I saw you in the dining hall,” he said. “Welcome back.”
I sputtered for a moment before words formed. “Come in.” Moving back, I berated myself for my bumbling. If Ulrick noticed, he didn’t say anything.
He walked around the room. On the left side, there was a couch in front of the hearth. Table and chairs occupied the right side, and a desk rested along the back wall and next to my bedroom door.
“This is nice. They have me in the guest quarters for now, but if they see any potential I might get a more permanent spot.” Ulrick peeked into my bedroom.
“How long have you been here?”
“Two days. I already met with Master Bloodgood, but he thought we should wait for you and Master Cowan before doing more formal testing.” He scanned the papers on my desk, and fiddled with my quill.
“I saw you already made friends.” I tried to keep my voice even as if commenting on the weather.
He shrugged. “The kids are sweet and they’ve been very helpful in showing me the Keep.” Moving over to my table, he picked up one of my sais. He hefted the weapon and jabbed the air with the shaft.
“You’re bored.”
He stopped in midsweep. “Is it that obvious?”
“You’re fighting an invisible opponent.”
Ulrick laughed and set the sais back down. “I was on the road for six days and here for two. I’m used to working in the factory every day. I need…” He made a vague gesture with his hands.
“I know what you need.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I need it, too. Follow me.”
“Where’ve you been?” Aydan demanded. Never one to waste time on pleasantries, he went straight to the point.
I smiled at the old glassmaker. “I’ve been on a mission for the Masters.”
“Mission?” He glanced at Ulrick.
I introduced him to Aydan. “Another glass magician?”
“Maybe,” Ulrick amended before shaking Aydan’s hand.
The glassmaker snorted. “Another with confidence problems. At least Opal admits she’s a magician.” He handed me a blowpipe. “Gather me a slug.”
I scanned the small shop. No signs of an assistant. Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Aydan.
“I can’t find anybody good. They’re all lazy. All whine about the heat a
nd noise.”
I exchanged a smile with Ulrick. We were probably the only two people in the Citadel who would seek out the glass shop for comfort. “Perhaps you need to hire someone from Booruby.”
“Pah. I don’t have the time. Besides, I can do it myself.”
Why did men get so stubborn when they grew older? I sighed. “If I find you an assistant from Booruby, will you let them stay?”
He gave me a grudging nod. My thoughts turned to my sister, Mara. If she came here to work with Aydan, she would be closer to her beau, Leif. And to me. Selfish, I knew, but I would send her a message.
“Good. In the mean time, I’ll help you.” I hefted the iron rod.
Ulrick pulled the pipe from my hands. “We’ll help.”
Aydan chuckled. “Now we’re talking. Gather me a two-inch slug, boy.” He settled on his bench and arranged his tools. “Opal, make me a domed punty and tell me about this mission.”
The two of us worked together as Aydan crafted a variety of vases and bowls. I filled them in on what I had been doing for the Stormdancers, skipping a few details. Uncertain about my ability to channel another magician’s magic into glass, I decided not to divulge my role in helping Kade or mention the spider incident. I also failed to tell them about Devlen’s attack in Thunder Valley, although I didn’t know why.
At one point Ulrick interrupted. “They made a glass studio out of wood? That’s idiotic.”
“It’s cheaper and faster to build,” Aydan said.
“And it worked to my advantage.” I continued the story of my escape.
“Damn. All that equipment burned.” The glassmaker clucked his tongue.
Ulrick, though, appeared horrified. “How can you say that when Opal could have been killed?”
“She’s here, ain’t she? Shovel more coal into the kiln, will ya.”
Muttering under his breath, Ulrick grabbed a shovel.
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