The Study Series Bundle

by Maria V. Snyder

  Cahil smiled broadly when he saw me in the light.

  “Don’t laugh,” I warned.

  “I never laugh at a beautiful woman. I’d much rather laugh and dance with her.”

  “False flattery won’t work on me.”

  “I meant every word.” Cahil offered his arm. “Shall we?”

  After a slight hesitation, I linked my arm in his.

  “Don’t worry. I’m only your escort tonight. I would offer to protect you from the drunken attentions of the other men, but I know all too well that you’re quite capable of holding your own. You’re probably armed. Right?”

  “Always.”

  We walked in companionable silence. Groups of students and other couples headed in the same direction soon joined us. Lively music pulsed through the air, becoming louder as we approached.

  The dining room had been converted into a ballroom. Orange, red and yellow velvet streamers twisted along the ceiling and draped the walls. Laughter and conversation competed with the music as some people drank and ate, while others danced on the wooden dance floor. Everyone appeared to be wearing their finest clothes. The room sparkled with jewelry in the candlelight.

  Our arrival went unnoticed. But as Cahil pulled me through the crowd toward the back of the room, a couple of surprised glances marked our passing.

  A jolt snapped through me as we cleared the crowd and I spotted Leif. I hadn’t seen him since Irys had left, and I had assumed since he had graduated from the Keep he was no longer involved with the students or classes. But there he stood, next to Roze and Bain. Cahil aimed for them.

  I almost fainted when Leif smiled at me as we approached, but when he recognized me it turned into a scowl. I wondered what I would have to do to get a true smile from Leif. Dismissing the thought, I didn’t want to earn his goodwill, and I certainly didn’t need it. Now, if I could keep saying that over and over in my mind, I might just start to believe it.

  When we joined the group, Bain complimented my hairstyle, while Roze ignored me. Our group only truly came alive when Zitora joined us.

  “Perfect! Absolutely perfect!” Zitora exclaimed over my outfit.

  The talk soon turned to Council business and Cahil pressed Roze to get him on the agenda. Having no interest in discussing politics, my attention wandered as I scanned the crowd. I saw only a few of Cahil’s men. They wore dress uniforms and stood awkwardly to the side as if on duty instead of being there for pleasure. Perhaps they were.

  I watched the dancers for a while. They circled the floor in pairs. After eight beats, they stopped and then took four steps into the center, then four steps back and continued around the circle. The pattern was then repeated. Similar to some of my self-defense katas, the dance resembled a prescribed set of moves.

  Dax and Gelsi appeared. Bain’s students greeted the three Master Magicians with a stiff formality. Gelsi wore a soft green gown that shimmered in the lantern light. The gown’s color matched her big eyes. Studded with gold buttons, Dax’s red shirt had a mandarin collar. Gold piping lined the outside seam of his black pants.

  “Hey, we match,” Dax said to me. I could just hear him over the music. “Would you like to dance?”

  I glanced at Cahil, debating with Leif. “Sure.”

  Dax smiled and pulled me into an opening on the dance floor. Watching had been easier than doing, but with Dax’s steady guidance, I soon caught the rhythm.

  As we circled the floor, Dax said, “Remember when I said you had three points against you?”

  I nodded.

  “Now there are five.”

  “What now?” I asked in exasperation. It was hard to believe I’d had time to make anyone else mad.

  “You came to the feast on Cahil’s arm. Everyone will assume two things. One. That you’re his girlfriend. And two. That you’re an Ixian sympathizer, which is the greater of the two evils.”

  “Well, they would be wrong. Who comes up with all these points and assumptions?” I demanded.

  “Not me, that’s for sure,” Dax said. “If I were in charge, we’d have more desserts at dinner, more feasts and much more dancing.”

  We danced for a while in silence. I mulled over the implications and decided not to waste my time worrying about what everyone else thought, or to bother attempting to change their perceptions. My time at the Keep was just a stopover. Let them wonder. My nervousness about the evening dissipated with my decision. I smiled at Dax.

  “You have a mischievous glint. What are you planning?”

  “Only five points against me?” I narrowed my eyes in mock concern. “Such a small number. I say we try for eight or ten.”

  A wolfish grin spread across Dax’s face. “My lady, you are far too modest. You’re more than capable of handling fifteen or twenty.”

  I laughed with genuine pleasure. Dax and I twirled around the dance floor for a few more songs before rejoining the group. Cahil met our return with a sour look. Before he could say anything or go back to debating with Leif, I grabbed Cahil’s hand and pulled him toward the dancers.

  “Tonight is not for business,” I said as we followed Dax and Gelsi around the floor. “Tonight is for fun. Dancing instead of fighting.”

  He laughed. “You’re right.”

  The evening flew by as I danced with Cahil, Dax and Bain. Even the Stable Master swung me around for a rowdy foot-stomping song. If Cahil hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t have stopped to eat.

  Irys’s arrival should have made the evening perfect, but I could see exhaustion etched in her face. Wearing a simple light blue gown instead of traveling clothes, she must have taken the time to bathe and to decorate her regal bun with rubies and diamonds before coming to the feast.

  “Is everything okay? Did you find Tula’s sister?” I asked.

  Irys nodded. “Her sister, Opal, is with Tula now.” She gave me an odd look.

  “Should we try to help Tula tonight?”

  Irys shook her head. “Let Opal spend some time with her sister. It’s the first she’s seen her since Tula was kidnapped.” Again, Irys flashed me that strange look.

  “What then? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  “I warned Opal of Tula’s condition—both mental and physical.” Irys rubbed a hand along her cheek. “But when we arrived, it seemed a miracle had occurred.” Irys peered with a deep intensity into my eyes.

  “Is Tula awake?” I asked in confusion. Irys’s news contradicted her body language.

  “No, her soul is still in hiding, but her body is completely healed.”

  16

  “HOW?” I ASKED IRYS. Hayes had said he could only heal a few bones at a time. Perhaps another healer had come to help him with Tula.

  “You tell me,” Irys demanded. “What did you do that day? Hayes has been in a state ever since. He’s terrified of you.”

  “Me?”

  Bain came to my temporary rescue. “Perhaps you ladies would like to go outside.”

  I looked around. Several people had stopped talking and gawked at us.

  “I forget myself,” Irys apologized to Bain. “Now is not the time to discuss this.”

  She headed toward the buffet. Everyone returned to their conversations. But she wasn’t finished with me.

  Yelena, she said in my mind. Please tell me what happened with Tula.

  Sudden dread churned in my stomach. Was Irys upset because I had lost control of my magic and had accidentally healed Tula, or because I could have jeopardized Tula’s life? With reluctance, I told her everything that had happened that day in Tula’s room.

  You were in pain and you pushed the pain away from yourself? Irys asked.

  Yes. Did I do something wrong?

  No. You did something impossible. I thought you tried to heal her, which would have been dangerous, but it sounds as if you assumed her injuries and then healed yourself.

  I stared at Irys with pure amazement. She sat across the room, eating her dinner.

  Could you do it again? she asked.<
br />
  I don’t know. It must have been an instinctive reaction.

  There is only one way to find out. I felt Irys’s weary sigh. For now, I want you to get a good night’s rest. Meet me in Tula’s room tomorrow afternoon. Irys broke her magical connection to me.

  Confusion creased Cahil’s face, and I realized he had been watching me. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Shouldn’t Fourth Magician be pleased that you healed that girl? That would mean…Oh, my sword!” He gaped.

  Before I could press him for details, the music stopped.

  “Midnight,” Bain declared. “Time to go. The students have a full day tomorrow.” His delighted anticipation of a full day of learning caused a ripple of smiles around him.

  Obediently, everyone streamed out into the darkness, heading off to dorms and apartments. As he passed, Dax caught my eye. He grinned and held up seven fingers. I looked forward to hearing from him about my additional two points of gossip-inspiring behavior.

  Cahil walked me to my rooms. He was unusually quiet.

  Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Oh, my sword what?” I demanded.

  “I realized something,” he said, trying to shrug me off.

  Not content with his vague answer, I prompted, “Which was…”

  “If I told you, you would be angry. I don’t want to end the evening with a fight.”

  “And if I promised not to get upset?”

  “You would anyway.”

  “Tomorrow, then?”

  “Ask me the next time we’re fighting.”

  “What if we don’t fight?”

  Cahil laughed. “With you, there is always a next time.”

  Then with a speed that surprised me, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in for a quick kiss on the cheek before releasing me.

  “Till tomorrow,” he said over his shoulder as he strode away.

  It was only after watching him disappear into the darkness that I realized I stood with my switchblade clutched in my right hand. But I hadn’t triggered the blade. The south was making me soft. First curls, now this. Shaking my head, I opened my door.

  At Tula’s room the next afternoon, I had to squeeze my way in. Tula’s bed occupied the center. Leif and Hayes stood on the right side of her bed, and Irys and a young girl stood on the left. Tula’s guard, one of Cahil’s men, looked uncomfortable wedged in a corner.

  Hayes paled when I looked at him. Irys introduced me to Opal, Tula’s sister. Opal’s long brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her red-rimmed eyes looked swollen from crying.

  I hadn’t expected an audience. “Irys,” I said. “I need to spend some time with Opal before I can try to bring Tula back.”

  Leif muttered something about grandstanding on his way out, and Hayes just aimed for the door.

  “Do you need me?” Irys asked.

  “No.”

  “We don’t have much time,” Irys warned as she left the room.

  She didn’t need to remind me that Tula’s attacker still roamed free, possibly hunting for another victim. However, I knew in my heart that if I rushed this, I wouldn’t succeed.

  I asked Opal to tell me about her sister. In halting sentences, the young girl told me only a couple stories of their childhood.

  “Tula once made me a large glass tiger to protect me from nightmares.” Opal smiled at the memory. “It worked and the tiger looked so lifelike that Tula started making other glass animals.” She glanced from her sister’s still form to the guard in the corner.

  Opal seemed hesitant and distracted by her sister’s condition. So I changed the subject and asked about her trip to the Citadel.

  Her dark brown eyes widened. “Fourth Magician woke us all up in the dead of night.”

  At the word dead, the young girl glanced with dread at Tula.

  “I was barely awake. Before I knew it, I was on the magician’s horse, riding flat out for the Keep.” Opal clutched her arms to herself. “When Tula was found, the healers rushed her to the Citadel. My parents had to find people to work the kilns and take care of us before they could follow her. They’re on the road somewhere.” Opal began to ramble. “We didn’t pass them. They don’t know I’m here. It’s my first trip away from home, and we stopped only to eat. I slept in the saddle.”

  That would explain Irys’s exhaustion. Even today she had dark circles under her eyes. That also explained why Opal seemed so distressed. I switched tactics and invited Opal to take a walk. She appeared reluctant to leave her sister until I assured her that Tula would be fine.

  I showed her the campus. The air temperature felt comfortable. With warm afternoons and chilly evenings, the weather during the cooling season was my favorite.

  Eventually, we wandered out into the Citadel. I guided Opal toward the market. Fisk appeared with a ready smile and led us to a dress shop. I bought Opal a change of clothes and Fisk played tour guide for her.

  When Opal seemed more relaxed, my questions about Tula grew more specific. As she remembered more stories, I pulled a thread of magic and linked my mind with Opal’s, witnessing her memories as she spoke. I smelled the hot furnace of their family’s glass factory, and felt the coarse sand in my hands.

  “Tula and I used to hide from Mara, our older sister. We had found the perfect spot. Mara still doesn’t know where it is,” Opal said, smiling.

  The image of an awning of tree limbs and sun-dappled grass filled Opal’s mind as the cool scent of moist earth reached my nose.

  “That’s it.” I grabbed Opal’s arm. “Hold that place in your mind. Concentrate on it.”

  She did as I asked. I closed my eyes and put myself into the memory. Blades of grass brushed my arms as I lay in the small hollow behind a row of overgrown bushes. The smell of sweet honeysuckles hung heavy in the fresh air. Dewdrops sparkled in the morning sunlight. Instinctively, I knew this place hid Tula’s soul.

  “Come on.” I pulled Opal toward the Keep, waving goodbye to Fisk. A guard stood outside Tula’s door. He nodded to us as we went inside.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for Fourth Magician and the others?” Opal asked.

  “No time. I don’t want to lose the image.” I took one of Tula’s hands and held my other out to Opal. “Take my hand. Now, I want you to imagine yourself in your hiding spot with Tula. Close your eyes and really concentrate. Can you do that?”

  Opal nodded, her pale face drawn.

  I linked with Tula. The ghosts of her horrors still floated in the emptiness, but they seemed less tangible than before. Connecting with Opal, I followed the smell of honeysuckles and dew through Tula’s mind.

  The ghosts thickened with a sudden fury, flying at me, blocking my passage. The air pressed and clung like molasses. I pushed past them only to be ensnared in a row of thorn bushes. My clothing snagged on branches and the barbs dug into my skin.

  “Go away,” Tula called. “I don’t want to come back.”

  “Your family misses you,” I said.

  Vines began to wrap around my arms and waist, anchoring me.

  “Go away!”

  I showed her Opal’s memories of what her family suffered when Tula had disappeared.

  The thorny bushes thinned a bit. Through their branches I spotted Tula curled up in her childhood hiding spot.

  “I can’t face them,” Tula said.

  “Your family?”

  “Yes. I’ve done…things. Terrible things so he wouldn’t hurt me.” Tula shuddered. “But he hurt me anyway.”

  The vines climbed up my arms and circled my neck.

  “Your family still loves you.”

  “They won’t. He’ll tell them what I did. They’ll be disgusted. I was his slave, but I didn’t try hard enough for him. I couldn’t get anything right. I didn’t even die for him.”

  I controlled my anger; my desire to slaughter the beast would have to wait. “Tula, he is the disgusting one. He is the one who should die. Your family knows what he did to your body. They only want you back.”

  S
he drew her body into a tighter ball. “What do you know? You know nothing about what I went through. Go away.”

  “You assume too much,” I choked out as the vines around my throat squeezed tight. I struggled to breathe. Could I face my own horrors again? To find this monster, I would. I opened my mind to hers and showed her Reyad. His delight in torturing me. My willingness to make him happy so he wouldn’t harm me. And the night I slit his throat after he had raped me.

  Tula peeked at me through her arms. The vines lessened the pressure. “You killed your torturer. Mine is still out there, waiting.”

  I tried again. “Then he is free to make someone else his slave. What if Opal is his next victim?”

  Tula jumped up in horror. “No!” she screamed.

  I linked Opal’s mind with ours. For a moment, Opal stood stunned, blinking in surprise. Then she ran to Tula and hugged her. Together they wept. The vines withdrew, and the bushes died away.

  But this was just the beginning. The grassy hollow soon faded and Tula’s ghosts hovered around us.

  “There are too many,” Tula said in defeat. “I will never be rid of them.”

  I drew my bow from its holder on my back and broke it into three pieces. Handing one to Tula and the other to Opal, I said, “You’re not alone. We’ll fight together.”

  The ghosts attacked. They were tenacious and quick. I swung at them over and over until my arms felt like lead. A few of Tula’s horrors disappeared, others shrank, but some seemed to grow as they fought.

  My energy drained at an alarming pace. I felt my bow become stuck inside one of the ghosts. The spirit expanded and consumed me. I screamed as the pain of being whipped racked my body.

  “You’re weak. Tell me you’ll obey and I’ll stop,” a voice whispered in my ear.

  “No.” Near panic I reached out for help. A powerful presence formed and handed me a full-size bow that pulsed with energy. Strength returned to me and I beat at the horror until it fled.

  We had repelled the attack, but I could see that Tula’s ghosts prepared for another.