by Viola Grace
She looked at the tower and the small smears of blood she had left behind. With a focus on increasing her speed, she muttered the spell, jumped to stick herself to the wall and hauled herself as fast as she could. When she was down, he applauded slowly. “Excellent, but still twenty minutes.”
She whirled and climbed the wall for the fourth time, this time without the sticking spell.
She slipped a few times, but it made her faster. She climbed up twenty feet and then lowered herself back down again with careful dexterity.
Hyl grinned and applauded. “Excellent. This time, you are dead on five minutes. Now, let’s go and get some food. Adrea is waiting.”
Her limbs told her that she had been climbing for days, but Mr. E’s perky face when they made it back to the gardens told her that it had barely been any time at all.
He ran up to her and waited until she had shucked the pack off her shoulders before he jumped up and rubbed against her sweaty face with his fuzzy one.
I had a marvellous time. When do we come back?
She looked to Hyl. “When is our second class?”
“Tomorrow will be too soon, but Thursday should be fine.”
She scowled. “I don’t want to interfere with your work.”
Adrea waved that off. “He is assigned as my bodyguard, and he only leaves when I authorize it. I am willing to hang onto him as long as you need him.”
Hyl grinned and handed Imara a platter full of sandwiches. “Eat. You need it.”
She dropped into her chair with a thud.
Adrea gave her a commiserating look. “Hard, huh?”
“Yeah. Thanks for that tea. I was wondering if I could buy some when you get up and running. A friend is helping me, but the material she is working with is tearing up her skin something awful. I think that tea would be just the thing.”
Adrea got to her feet and walked into the house.
Imara blinked at Hyl. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, just wait.”
Adrea came out with a large muslin bag. “Here. I have divided it into doses. Have her drink one when you see her and then another one twelve hours later. You need to do the same, or tomorrow, you won’t be able to move.”
Imara was eating as if had been days and not hours since she last had a meal.
She cleared her mouth. “Day after tomorrow. Same time as today.”
Hyle grinned. “Deal. Just so you can prepare yourself, the tower is getting higher.”
She smiled and nodded. “I figured. Well, at least I can practice the spell and work on my technique at the hall.”
A half-hour of polite chitchat later, Adrea sent her home.
“Now that I know where your portal is, you can come through anytime. I am opening it so you can get a clear run home.”
She confirmed with Hyl, “I leave the books?”
“You leave the books. These are for Ritual Space use only.”
She nodded, grabbed the bag she hadn’t used, and ran for the open portal with her familiar on her shoulder. She stumbled into her bedroom. Shower. The shower was her first port of call.
Once she was no longer covered with blood and sweat, she grabbed the muslin bag and took it down to Bara. Without asking her, she made a pot of tea and poured her a cup. “Drink this.”
Bara leaned back, suspicious. “Why?”
“Because it will heal you and help toughen your hands without losing dexterity. It is a gift from the owner of Ritual Space.”
That was all it took. Bara finished the whole pot, and she sat there shivering and flushing as the effects were all seen in her body. The moment her hands cleared up, she sighed in relief.
“What is that stuff?”
Imara settled at the table. “Herbs from Ritual Space. It’s a gift from the owner.”
Bara looked at her cup as if she wanted to bronze it. “Have you been there?”
“Yeah, it is where I am training. That is what the portal was for.”
Bara looked at her with a wistful look. “When you are done training, can I come, too?”
“I will ask. I think it will be fine.”
Bara grinned. “That is definitely something to look forward to.”
Imara nodded, gathered the rest of the herb packs, and handed one to Bara. “Drink this in twelve hours. According to Adrea, that should do it.”
“I feel so much better; I don’t know what another dose could do.”
“She’s an herbalist, so if she says to drink it, drink it.”
Bara took her phone and set the alarm. “There, that should bring me out of my weaving stupor.”
Imara chuckled.
“So, what are you doing tonight?”
“I am applying to the Death Keeper Guild for a dozen empty soul stones. I need to keep a promise to Adrea about dealing with the rock I found the other day.”
Bara nodded. “Right, well, I feel so much better, I am heading back to the loom.”
“Enjoy. Don’t forget your phone.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Imara sighed and looked around. There was no sign of Reegar, which was odd. He was always around.
She reached out with magic and located him. Blushing furiously, she withdrew. Liirick was in town, and they were engaged in a private moment.
Mr. E hopped up onto the table and stretched. I could have told you that.
She scratched his chin. “Did you have fun with the bunnies?”
We told jokes for the first six hours, and then, they brought me to Adrea for a snack. She kept me busy for an hour, and then, we went to play again.
She frowned. “What? We weren’t there that long.”
Well, I am a cat, my observation of the time period could have been skewed.
I hope so. She checked the time and date on her phone and sighed in relief. She was right where and when she was supposed to be, but she didn’t put it past Ritual Space to knock time around... again.
With nothing do to and no one to talk to, she sent the email to the Death Keepers, and then, she went to look for spells that might be useful while she was breaking into a magical building full of people. Some kind of bladder control might be in order.
Hyl was peeling an apple with a knife. “Do the warm-up.”
She nodded and scaled the six stories of smooth brick, and then, she worked her way back down. They were in week three of her six weeks of training, and this was now an experience she was used to.
When she was standing at the base of the tower again, she caught her breath. “Now what?”
He smiled. “Inside the building, I have hidden a valuable object. Once you retrieve it, you will have to find your way out of the building again. It will not be easy. Go.”
She nodded and used the door-opening spell that she had already practiced. So far, he had left her chocolate, a glass of water, and a happy kitten on a post-it note.
Imara moved through the rooms as quickly as she could until she found the valuable object. She scooped Mr. E up from the basket where he had been sleeping, and she turned to the doorway she had entered by. The wall sealed, and there was no trace of a doorway.
She winced. She had been afraid that this was that spell. She held the still-sleeping Mr. E tight to her chest, and she cast the pass-through spell. She stepped through the one wall, and all other walls were solid again.
She turned and looked around her, orienting herself to the tower she was in. She approached her chosen wall and passed through it, waiting until she was on the other side before she gasped. The air was fresh, and the green grass stroked her ankles.
Hyl applauded as he approached her. “Well done. The shortest distance was through the outer wall. The only problem lies in if you are on an upper floor, so that is where we will practice next.”
Mr. E disappeared from her arms, and she ran around to the point where she could sense him, and she climbed the wall before entering via the window. She grabbed him
and was planning to go back out the window, but it had paved itself over.
His sleep wasn’t normal, so she made an executive decision. She stepped to the wall, placed them within it and used the molecular resistance to drop them to the main floor. When she felt solid ground beneath her feet, she forged forward along the line of the wall until she was outside.
Hyl nodded. “Right. Enough of that for today. Time for lunch.”
She smiled and breathed deeply. “In a moment. Emotion and spell casting don’t mix.”
Mr. E started to squirm in her arms, and Hyl nodded. “Right. Sorry, but it was necessary to see how you would do with a living being.”
She nodded. “I understand. It is also why I have the weight on my back the whole time.”
He shook his head. “You will see what a difference that makes when you are done with your training. If it makes you feel better, there are only two exercises left, and they can both be combined. Drawing shadows and hiding traces of your presence. After what you have been doing, they are mainly mental exercises. Once those are mastered, you can continue to come here to practice, but you won’t need me anymore.”
“Can I practice now? It is only two weeks to my exam.”
“Well, you are filthy, sweaty, exhausted, and reeking of magic. If you can walk back to the garden without being besieged by bunnies, I will consider you graduated.”
Imara looked at the sleepy kitten in her arms, and she nodded. “You are on.”
Chapter Six
Running the two spells together was difficult, and it meant she had to move slowly through the woods, careful to measure her steps. She might be in shadow with no scent of man or magic, but her footsteps still made noise.
Hyl was sitting with Adrea in the middle of a pool of light. Imara whispered for help to the space, and the lanterns dimmed. She stepped to the side and approached the chair she normally sat in, facing the herb gardens and the rioting rabbits. The moment she touched the chair, the spells dissipated.
Adrea laughed at Hyl’s expression. “Hooray! You spooked him. How did you get the lamps to dim enough to give you cover?”
“I asked. You have told me enough about Ritual Space over the last few weeks to know that as long as what I wanted wouldn’t affect you, it might just help me.”
Hyl poured her a cup of tea. “I consider you a very successful student. Well done, Imara.”
Adrea raised her cup. “Well done, Imara.”
She blushed and looked down at her grubby hands. “Thanks. I still need to practice.”
“And I am glad of the company.”
Hyl chortled. “I am sure that Argus will be happy if you can spend a few more days with him.”
Imara waved her hand through the air. “He knows what I am focused on. While he is right for me, I might not be right for him. If he changes his inclination, I won’t hold it against him.”
Adrea quirked her lips. “That is why you have kept it to a friendship.”
“Until I can afford for it to be more, yes.”
Hyl whistled. “You really do have a plan.”
“Yes, and I am very lucky to meet the right people at the right time.” She cupped her teacup in her hands, and she sipped slowly. For once, she wasn’t served from a separate pot.
Adrea looked at Hyl, and her expression softened. “To meeting the right people at the right time.”
They all toasted with their teacups over the table. Mr. E snorted into consciousness and stretched.
The talked softly of friends and families and how it was a great thing that you could at least choose one.
She scratched under Mr. E’s chin as they entered her room. She glanced back at the portal a moment before it closed. “I am guessing I won’t have it much longer.”
I would not be so sure about that.
“Technically, it would be dangerous for them to leave those stones with me.”
True, but it is Adrea’s choice. Her space, her choices.
She put him on the bed and grabbed her clothing for after her shower. “How do you think I did?”
I think that I only learned of your actions through your mind. You did very well. Hyl is a good teacher. He got the physical into your muscle memory and then moved on to the strategy.
“I know. I got lucky.”
His chuckle was in her mind while she headed for her shower.
Kitty was waiting in the common room when Imara came down. “Ready for coffee and gossip?”
Imara checked her watch and blinked in surprise. The sky was still light, though she felt like she had been at Ritual Space most of the day. “Of course. Sorry. I lost track of time.”
“You look exhausted. Even Mr. E looks sleepy.”
“I will get some coffee and be right as rain. Are we walking?”
“Yes. It’s a wonderful night.”
“Great.” Imara smiled. “I need some fresh, normal air.”
“I can’t guarantee normal, but it is definitely fresh. Get a coat.”
Imara patted herself down to make sure she had her wallet, beckoned to her familiar, and then slipped on a loose poncho. Mr. E popped his head out the neck hole, and he got comfy.
“Okay, ready.”
Kitty smiled and linked arms with her, hauling her out of the hall and down the street.
The restaurant was busy, but ordering quickly meant that they had time to chat while they waited for their food. Mr. E had his usual fans, so he sat at the edge of the table and let people stroke his chin.
“Okay, Imara, what have you been up to?”
Imara shrugged. “Working out, getting ready for the class exam. How about you?”
“My apiary is twelve feet tall, and I don’t have the nerve to harvest the honey for testing.” Kitty looked abashed.
Imara looked at her. “Do you need help? We could do it tonight.”
Kitty looked at her with adoration. “Really? That would be wonderful.”
“Sure. Let’s just fortify ourselves first and then get the boxes for the frames and a ladder. We will get the honey out of the hive tonight... before they know what has happened.”
Kitty sighed. “I have missed hanging out with you.”
“Yeah, I am getting that a lot, but this course load is heavy. It is one class, but it takes all my time.”
“I know. It just sucks. I only found you a few months ago. It is just that I want to hang out more.”
Imara nodded. “I feel the same. So, tonight, we will make up for lost time.”
“You still look exhausted.”
“I can sleep in tomorrow.” She toasted Kitty with a cup of coffee and took a swig of the hot brew. Their night was set.
Kitty spent the rest of the dinner explaining the technique for harvesting the honey with minimal interference with the bees.
They paid for dinner and Mr. E’s dessert and headed over to the agricultural centre.
It felt just like the days that Imara had spent with the Deegle family. With the equipment and protective gear, they crept out to the apiary, and Kitty had not been kidding. The stack of boxes was actually twelve feet high, so Imara made sure that she had a box to catch the first rounds of frames with honey.
Imara was going to remove the frames and lower them one by one to Kitigan’s gloved hands.
Imara removed the lid of the hive and pried off the inner cover. There were next to no bees near her as they were down keeping the brood warm, or so Kitty had promised.
She pried up the edges of the box and lifted it. The weight wasn’t bad at all, considering her recent training, so she tucked it on one hip and moved down the ladder.
Kitty was staring. “How can you lift it so easily?”
“I told you, I have been working out.”
She went back up the ladder and took down the next box the same way, shaking out a few bees and going down the ladder again.
The next level was the final one that she needed the ladde
r for, and the trolley that Kitty had grabbed took the hive boxes easily.
“How many more until I get to the excluder?”
“Just two.”
Each level had more bees on it, but she shook off the slightly more agitated inhabitants and kept working her way down to the excluder.
The stack of brood boxes was chest high when she finished robbing them. Several bees were cruising around, but they didn’t move far from the original hive.
Kitty handed her the empties, and Imara set them in place, evening out the frame spacing before putting the next on top. The cover and lid went in place, making the entire tower nine feet tall and ridiculous.
Imara descended the ladder and shook her head. “You are going to have to do this yourself, you know.”
“I know. I am just afraid of getting stung. These little bastards pack a punch.”
“Please, they are ladies.” Imara laughed and carried the ladder to the equipment shed.
Kitty trundled the boxes into the lab, and Imara followed when the single-use gear was stowed.
In the lab, they prepped the equipment, removed their protective gear and began harvesting two hundred sixty pounds of honey with magical properties.
“What are you going to do with all this?” Imara stared at the settling vat that contained it all.
“Study it, try different enchantments, that sort of thing.”
Imara didn’t want to ask, but something made her. “Can I have a litre of it?”
“Sure. Let me get you a jar. What do you want it for?”
Imara rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know yet. I just feel that I need it.”
“Good enough.”
The jar of honey was produced; Kitty made her notes on her records’ chart, and Imara started yawning.
Kitty looked around and saw the clock. “Good lord, I have kept you all night.”
Mr. E was snoring softly against her neck. Nothing woke him.
“It’s fine. It was fun. What are you going to do with the extra bees?”
“They are nearing the end of their life cycle. Why? Do you have an idea?”