Surprisingly the flute did exactly that. The boiling slowed to a simmer, and Kayla’s mind returned to her surroundings. She collapsed on the spot, sitting hard on the sandy floor in the middle of the kitchen.
Of course everyone was at her side in a moment, wondering what had happened, but no one knew how close they had come to perishing when the hotpot erupted. No one but her.
Niefusu picked her up again, looking at her strangely, and carried her to a table in the corner. He dished up a bowl of soup for her, then gave her some strange crackers to go with it, rather than the bread she usually had. She dumped the entire plate into her soup and ate so fast, that before he could dish up a bowl for himself, the soup was gone. He refilled her bowl and brought sea fruit, things she’d never seen nor tasted before, but they were delicious, and slowly her energy returned.
About that time, Sarali and T’Kato came into the kitchens, and found her there. She filled them in on what she had done, and told them about the hotpot and how close they had come to being injured or killed. Sarali paled at the story, but promised to tell her parents.
Everyone thanked her, of course, and pushed more and more food on her until she could eat no more.
T’Kato and Sarali walked Kayla and Niefusu back upstairs, said good night, then dove into one of the rooms and left Kayla alone with the prince.
“Thank ye again,” he said, opening the door to another water-filled room for her.
“I can’t sleep in there,” she said. “How am I supposed to breathe? I don’t have the energy to clear another room tonight.”
He didn’t say a word, but turned so they faced each other and stepped backward into the water, pulling her to him so their lips met at the junction between water and air. He blew out, the bubble once again forming around her head like gravy skimmings. His lips were soft and gentle, and seemed to move against her mouth in exactly the manner she liked, mimicking her every move. Every time he kissed her the world narrowed down to just the two of them and it was so easy to get lost. She couldn’t quite manage to pull away, despite her commitment to Brant. Ugh! She’d sworn she wouldn’t let him kiss her anymore, but it was so hard to say no. He was so good at it!
This time he did something different. When he blew out, he pulled her head into the water and bit her neck. She cringed and exhaled a scream that came half out her neck and half out her mouth. As he pulled away, he lunged again and bit the other side of her neck, just below her ear. Kayla screamed again, but this time all the air came out her neck, and none from her mouth. For a moment, it scared her and she jerked away from him, back into the air, but he kept hold of her hands and grinned at her.
When she calmed enough to be rational, he pulled the hair back from his face and pointed at the gills fluttering below his ear, then pointed at her, caressing her neck gently. Kayla could feel she had her own set of gills now, and realized there was no bubble of air around her. She was breathing under the water.
Somehow Niefusu’s bite had given her gills. Was this the gift the king and queen had talked about?
That thought was enough to give her the strength to push Niefusu away. He came toward her again and leaned forward for one final kiss, but she put up her hands and wouldn’t let him come closer. She was engaged. She couldn’t do this.
He smiled at her, then backed out of the room and let her swim inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
Not knowing whether she could trust Niefusu, Kayla pulled the Sapphire Flute from her bag and froze her door shut, sealing the seams with ice, before she made her way to the hammock and lay down to sleep.
It was a long time before dreams came to claim her, and even then they were filled with kisses.
Chapter Eight
Ember awoke to a ball of cloth hitting her in the face, interrupting her dreams of endless tunnels and suffocation. She sat up in bed and looked around at the unfamiliar space. Cave walls. Beds on either side. A closet at the end and a nightstand to her right. That’s right, she was at the mage academy. Her roommate stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips as she stared coldly at Ember. Ember looked down to find her new white robe sitting on her lap. Evidently Lily had thrown it at her.
“Time to get up. Breakfast in ten and classes in forty. You slept through bath time, so you’ll have to go as is. Better requisition an alarm stone or learn how to make your own,” she said with hardly any emotion. At that, she stepped through the curtain, giving Ember some privacy.
Groaning, Ember slipped out from under the covers, fully expecting the floor to be cold when she set her feet on it, but was pleasantly surprised by the warmth. She stood and scrambled into some clean underclothes and pulled the white robe on over her head, letting it cascade down her body to her ankles. She had no idea how the clothing clerk had done it, but she had made Ember’s just the right length, and it didn’t itch. It was soft as silk, but not shiny. The material puzzled her, but she had no time to think further about it. She glanced in the mirror on the wall by the doorway and saw her messy hair, ran her fingers through it, then pulled the stringy mass back and wrapped a leather cord around it. It would have to do until she had time to bathe again.
Ember wondered about DeMunth as she stepped through the curtain to find her roommate leaning against the wall, waiting for her. Was he going to be all right? She wished she knew. As soon as Ember appeared, Lily shoved off the wall and walked down the hall to the right, the smells of something yummy assailing Ember’s nose the closer they got to the kitchens. A left turn, and then another right, and they entered the dining hall. Small, circular tables sat around the room and people stood behind a long stone counter that ran the length of the far side of the room. The whispers started as soon as she walked in the room, but she was too hungry to care. The closer they got to that counter, the stronger the smell of food became. Ember’s mouth was watering by the time she picked up a plate and started down the line after Lily.
Ember stopped and took sliced apples and peaches from the first station, biscuits and gravy from the next, moving down the line and pulling food from each tray. She loaded her plate like she hadn’t for a very long time. Mum would have never let her eat like this at home, but Ember didn’t care. She was nearly starving after the stress of the last week. She took the sliced fruit, biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, and a glass of milk and juice. She was juggling her food and looking for a place to sit when she saw the twins sitting at a table near the door. Ember couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. It’d been too long since she’d seen her step-brothers Tiva and Ren. She took the lead, Lily following behind as she made her way toward the boys.
“Mind if I sit with you guys?” she asked, actually feeling a little shy, but giddy with excitement to see them.
“Em!” Tiva leaped to his feet, took her food and set it on the table, then gave her a big squeeze, his hair minus the stinky oil he usually rubbed in it. Ren was right behind him with a more gentle hug, his dark eyes smiling. “Of course you can sit with us! Mum will be down soon. Isn’t it wonderful that she’s teaching at the school now? I never even knew she could do magic, did you? They’re letting me and Ren out two days a week to help Da with the horses too, thank heavens. Da needs the help and this gives us a break from our studies. Gives us the best of both worlds.” Tiva rambled like he hadn’t seen Ember for weeks.
When she could get a word in, Ember sat down and pulled out a chair for her roommate. “Have you guys met Lily? She offered to room with me so I wasn’t stuck with the littles. Wasn’t that nice of her?” She took a bite of her biscuits and gravy and almost choked, it was so delicious.
“Sure. We’ve met.” Tiva said, looking a little leery of the girl, but she seemed oblivious. “We were in the same group. You know, came to the academy at the same time, but so far as I know, you’ve never taken a roommate, Lily. Why now?”
Lily shrugged. “I had a change of heart. I know how it feels to not fit in, so I took pity on her.” Ren nodded and grinned at Lily, his shy smile taking o
n extra warmth. Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye and turned a little red. Ember was surprised. Ren? Ren and Lily? The girl was so outspoken, she didn’t seem like Ren’s type. Ember shrugged. Who could ever tell with these things? She tucked the thought away in her head for another time.
Marda walked in the door and headed toward the food line. She was about to pick up her tray when it flew out of her hand and across the room toward the doorway. Marda stepped back in surprise, then ducked as a bowl of hot cereal and a plate of biscuits sailed over her head, a splatter of the gravy nearly hitting her.
Ember started to her feet, but Tiva reached out and held her wrists from across the table. “Let go, Mum needs help.” She tried to shrug him off, but he ignored her and just grinned his usual grin.
“Mum’s fine, Em. Just watch. I love when Tyese does this.” He muttered the last, glancing toward the doorway. Finally Ember saw who he was talking about. A young girl, her red hair half covering her face, leaned over a notebook and scribbled frantically. She glanced up once at the line, her brow beaded with concentration as the food items sailed one by one to her tray, then down the hallway to her right. What in the world was she doing?
Ember watched as another tray detached itself from the pile and filled quickly with food before sailing toward her, barely missing one of the students. A booming voice shouted from behind the counter. “Tyese! What have I told you about magic in the dining room? Stand in line or get out, but no flying food!”
Tiva burst out laughing. The girl glanced Ember’s way and gave a mischievous grin before she scampered down the hallway after her flying food. Ember turned to her still-laughing brother as the chatter once again resumed in the room. “What in the world was that all about?”
“Tyese,” Lily answered for him, as he seemed to be choking with laughter. Typical Tiva. “She’s been here for a couple years now. Keeps mostly to herself. She’s only got one color, but it’s strong, and manifests differently than most.” Ember waited for her to continue, but instead of explaining further, Lily resumed eating.
“And?” Ember drew out the word and loaded it with expectation. Lily glanced at her, then put her spoon down with a sigh. “She has yellow magic, meaning that everything for her is about sight. Most yellow magi can visualize things and they happen, or manipulate light, but Tyese uses written words or pictures to make her magic happen. She’s been helping the Master Librarian for two years now to get his books in some semblance of order.”
Ember’s mind reeled. The girl looked too young to have been here two years already. “How old is she?”
“Eight,” Lily answered, then resumed eating as Marda joined them, looking puzzled and slightly disgruntled. Ember decided not to mention the splatter of gravy in her hair that evidently hadn’t missed her after all.
“So she came to the academy when she was six?” Ember asked. Lily nodded. “And why won’t she just come in and get her food? She doesn’t seem like a troublemaker, unlike Tiva here.” She kicked her step-brother under the table. He winked at her.
“No, she’s not a troublemaker. Actually, quite the opposite.” Ren took up the telling now. “She’s an orphan. Nobody’s ever been able to get a straight story out of her as to what happened, but Ezeker found her and brought her in. She’s afraid of crowds. She’s fine in small groups, but she can’t attend regular classes because she’s terrified by the sound of so many people. I’d guess it throws her back into whatever it was that killed her parents. Anyway, she gets meals for herself and the Master Librarian. It’s part of her duties here. She usually comes at odd hours so there aren’t so many people, but every once in a while, we get to see a performance like today’s. It’s kind of funny to watch, but I got clipped by one of her juice glasses once and it’s not so fun to be in the midst of it. About like being in the barn when Tiva levitates the cows. You just have to run for cover and get out of the way.”
Tiva objected. “Hey!” But aside from elbowing Ren, he said nothing more. He actually seemed a little proud of his escapades.
The table was quiet for a few minutes while everyone ate. Ren was much slower than usual, as he kept glancing out of the corner of his eye to watch Lily. She acted as if he didn’t exist, though her face still burned red. Ember wanted to laugh out loud, but didn’t dare. Lily already was inclined not to like her because she’d just bumped her from her position as the best in the highest ranking student in the Academy. If Ember wanted to get along with Lily, she’d do well to try to set her up with Ren rather than laugh at the way they tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore each other.
The table suddenly got very crowded when Ezeker and Aldarin joined the group, food in hand. It was like a Karsholm village reunion, with the exception of Lily, who didn’t seem to mind. These were almost all people Lily knew, after all. Marda was a new addition, but Lily didn’t seem to have a problem with her. She was probably used to being the teacher’s pet, with as many colors of magic as she had.
Ezeker started speaking almost as soon as he sat down, mouth full of food. “So, have you gotten your class schedule yet, Ember?”
She shook her head. “Lily said she’d show me my classes after breakfast.”
“She did, did she?” he said, glancing across the table at the girl. She met him stare for stare and went one notch up in Ember’s estimation. The girl was not intimidated by anyone, it would seem. “Well, you’re in good hands with Lily. We decided to put you in Green and Orange classes.” He put his hands out to stop her objection before she could voice it. “Those are the colors where your magic is manifesting. You healed your attacker, amazingly so, but you still don’t seem able to control your magic under normal circumstances. After lunch, you’ve got a few hours of one-on-one training with Shad. For now, your evenings are your own to practice or peruse the library in search of information on white magic.”
Ember was a little surprised with how full her day would be, but knew she shouldn’t be. Her time in Javak had been filled with testing and small bits of training, so it should be no surprise that her schedule would become even more hectic once she arrived at the mage academy. She was here to learn, after all, though she wasn’t sure how much good the classes would do, since she didn’t seem able to tap into magic the same way every other mage did. But if that’s where Ezeker thought she should be, then that’s where she’d go. She nodded, then asked the question that had been on her mind.
“Where is DeMunth? Is he going to be okay?” She suddenly felt ill with all the food she’d eaten, remembering her tongueless friend shaking and sweating as he pounded against the crystal wall with his sword.
No one answered. Ezeker avoided her eyes for a long moment. Her stomach dropped. “Is he dead?” she whispered.
Ezeker placed a hand over hers. “Oh, heavens no, child. We’re just not sure what’s wrong with him. He fell into a coma when he passed through the portal last night.”
“Can I see him?” she asked, suddenly desperate.
It was Marda who answered this time. “Perhaps this evening, he will feel better and up to company. For right now, involve yourself in your school work. We’ve assigned others to guard you until DeMunth is awake and back on active duty.” She glanced at Ember’s face, meeting her eyes. “He’s going to be okay, sweetie. Don’t you worry.”
Ember was worried. She couldn’t help herself, but as her family left the table one by one and went to their separate classes, she realized that there was nothing she could do about it. Her mother was right—she needed to throw herself into her classes. She had to learn how to manage her power, one way or another.
As Ember followed Lily to the green room, the whispers and pointing continued. She looked down at her robes to be sure she hadn’t spilled anything on them, and finally realized that the problem wasn’t that anything was on her robes, it was her robes—or the color of them, anyway. She was the first white mage in three thousand years. Nobody had seen anyone wear the whites for three millennia. Of course they were whispering and staring
at her. She was thrilled to be at the mage academy, living this dream she’d had for a lifetime, but the attention was hard to take. She’d never been one to stand out in a crowd, and now here she was at the center of one.
The moment she stepped through the doorway into the green room, she was overwhelmed by the smell of life. Wet earth and living green were all around her. Ember reached out to touch a plant, but Lily grabbed her hand.
“Don’t touch anyone else’s work. You’ll contaminate it.” She tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder and made her way toward the front of the room. Ember wanted to be offended, but she could understand Lily’s point. She just wished she’d been nicer in saying it.
Lily approached a tall man with reddish-gray hair and a goatee. He wore spectacles and had bright green eyes. His smile was kind and welcoming as he spoke with Lily, then glanced up at Ember. His eyes traveled the length of her white robe. He looked excited and apprehensive at the same time as he stepped past Lily and approached Ember, his hand outstretched.
“So you’re the one we’ve been hearing so much about. Ember, is it?” he asked. “I’m Master Stravin. Come in, come in. Sit, sit, sit. Find a spot, and we’ll begin shortly.” He gestured around the room with his thick hand. “A white mage. Who would have thought I’d live to see this in my lifetime? My, oh, my.” He was nearly breathless, and it made Ember uncomfortable. She felt like a new toy for the magi, rather than a person.
The kids came into class in groups and as individuals, but either way, they stopped and stared at her every time. It made her wish she could change her shape and be in disguise again, like she had been in Javak.
The door shut when a chime sounded, and Ember counted the members of the class. There were seventeen people ranging from a seven or eight-year-old to someone who looked to be near thirty. Class began with Master Stravin asking a couple of the older students, including Lily, to come and help him. The students took up a crate of seedlings and set one in front of each student. After what Lily had said,Ember was afraid to touch hers, so she waited for Master Stravin to begin his instructions, her hands folded in her lap. She wasn’t even willing to touch her desk until he said she could.
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