“So? Hire a babysitter.” She put her hands on her hips.
A touch of magic brushed my face.
“Didn’t think of that, did you?” She dared me to correct
her.
I hadn’t considered a sitter, but what concerned me more
was the magic. Either a magician hid in my apartment or the
power came from Reema.
“How did you know what I’d been thinking?” I asked.
She wilted a bit. “I guessed. I’m good at guessing people’s
moods, but you’re the hardest person to read! Did you win
all your money from playing poker?”
I laughed. “I wish.” If she was already displaying power
at age ten, then she could be a powerful magician like her
brother. I needed to talk to Irys.
“Then how did you get rich?”
“Another long and complicated story. One I’m still trying to
figure out. It’s why I can’t make any plans for the future.”
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“Then stop hanging around with me and go sort it out. I’ll
wait.”
I peered at her. “Are you sure you’re not older?”
“My mother hated indecision. She told us she always let
others decide for her until she became pregnant with me. She
didn’t want us to be punished for her mistakes, so she took
Teegan and ran away.”
Now I understood. “That’s why you won’t tell me your
clan name. You’re afraid of them.”
“Mother made us promise to never tell anyone.”
“And you should always listen to your mother,” I said.
“Do
you?”
“No.”
“And?”
“Mixed
results.”
She giggled, but then turned serious. “What would your
mother say about your complicated future?”
“She’d tell me to stop procrastinating.”
“You should listen to your mother,” Reema said.
Easy to say, so hard to do.
“Come in, Opal,” Irys called before I could knock on her
office door.
“How did you know I was there?” I asked as I entered.
She sat on the front edge of her desk. Her hair had been
swept up and she wore a green tunic and pants. “Didn’t you
feel my magic?”
“In the Keep, I’m always encountering magic. This place
is saturated with it.” In fact, a bright bubble of it pressed on me at the moment.
“When you approached my door, I felt the…absence of
magic, which tells me either you or Valek are in the hallway.
Since Valek was last seen in Mica…” She swept her hands out
as if to say “ta da!” “Do you need something?”
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“I wanted to talk about Reema.” I explained about her
power.
“Interesting. We’ve been so focused on the boy. Are you
sure? She hasn’t reached puberty yet.”
“And how many times have we discovered a new wrinkle
with magic?” Both good and bad.
“Good
point.”
“Can you test her?”
“Of course.” She laced her fingers together. “Anything
else?”
The magic in the room pulsed, but I sensed it came from
behind the Master Magician. “What are you hiding?” I
asked.
She sighed. “Something we were debating about telling
you, but you’d find out eventually anyway.”
Irys stepped to the side, revealing an orb. Magic oozed from
it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You tell me. Go ahead, pick it up.”
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t an orb. Orbs were bigger,
and either hollow or filled with a storm’s energy. This was
a solid cube of clear glass. I hefted the palm-sized object.
Trapped inside was a dark thumbnail-sized substance shaped
like a drop of water. “The magic is coming from inside.” The
shock of recognition hit me like a bolt through my chest.
My legs turned to mush, and I handed Irys the glass before I
dropped it. “Is it…?”
“Yes,” she said in a gentle tone. “It works just like your glass messengers. Sit down.”
I perched on an invisible chair. My peripheral vision had
shrunk to encompass only that single item in Irys’s hands.
“Who? Why?” Questions formed and popped.
“This came from Vasko Cloud Mist. He says his daughter
invented it.”
“But Pazia has little magic.”
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Irys tapped the sphere. “That’s not Pazia’s magic in there.
Vasko told us he found black diamonds in his mine.”
“Black?”
“Extremely rare. The Commander of Ixia has only found
two in the Soul Mountains in twenty years of mining. Vasko
says he mined dozens.”
The mention of diamonds triggered a memory of the time
Pazia and I had tried to encase a regular diamond charged
with magic in glass. It had worked as a super messenger, but
the diamond had cracked after she used the magic.
I told her about the experiment.
She nodded as if that explained something. “These don’t
crack after the magic is used, and they can be recharged and
reused, which helps when you consider the cost.”
“Expensive?”
“Outrageous. Only a few people in Sitia will be able to
afford them.”
I motioned for the cube. She handed it to me. I studied the
dark tear-shape nestled inside. “It doesn’t have facets. Are you sure it’s a diamond?”
“Unless we dig it out, it’s hard to say for certain. But I can’t deny the magic it holds.”
No missing the power, but a sense of familiarity tugged at
my heart.
“Besides, why would Vasko lie?” Irys asked.
Rich, powerful and well connected, Vasko didn’t need to
lie.
Unless he purchased it on the black market.
Unless he paid Finn a ton of gold for it.
Unless it was my blood trapped inside.
Was it even possible? Valek had said blood magic was
potent.
“Irys…” My voice cracked.
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“What’s wrong?” She pressed a cool hand to my forehead.
“Are you sick?”
“I need…” I leaned forward and drew in deep breaths.
When the room no longer spun, I sat up. “Remember when
I mentioned those wrinkles about magic.”
A stern gaze replaced her concern. “Go on.”
For a moment I transformed into a first-year student who
had misbehaved, waiting for the Master Magician’s punish-
ment. Nothing I could do, I confessed my suspicions about
Vasko.
She said nothing.
The silence was unbearable, and I rushed to apologize
for keeping her in the dark about my search for my blood.
“…didn’t know he would use—”
“Opal, that is a serious accusation.”
“It’s a serious crime. He stole my only chance to get my
powers back!” A devastating anger rumbled through me until
I shook. I thought I had prepared myself for this possibility
and had almost accepted it. Gue
ss I lied to myself.
“Calm down, Opal. You don’t know that for certain. He
only made a few messengers. Besides, someone else may have
taken your blood.”
Unable to sit still, I surged to my feet and paced. She could
be calm, standing there with all her powers intact. I slowed. It wasn’t her fault. I had been so close and then Finn had snatched it away. I needed for this to be over. Either I find my blood
or it’s gone. End of story.
I mulled over our conversation. “You weren’t surprised I
was searching for my blood. You knew?”
“Of course. Yelena kept me informed of your progress. Plus
we had Zebb’s reports on your involvement with Councilor
Moon.” She cocked her head to the side. “We would have
been very happy if you had recovered your magic.”
“You and Bain or the Council?”
“You would have earned their trust…eventually. And you
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have a champion in Councilor Moon. She returned to the
Citadel yesterday, and she’d like you to visit her. I would have told you sooner, but Vasko dropped this little bomb on us right after the Council meeting.”
“Does the Council know about the new messengers?”
“Not yet. Vasko wanted us to verify them first.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. Yet more information being
withheld from the Council. “What happens if he is using my
blood?”
“He would be arrested. However, what to do with the
messengers will be problematic. If your blood is inside them,
do we siphon it out? What happens if that doesn’t work? Or if
you can’t recover your magic from your blood? Did he use all
your blood? There will be a million questions to consider.”
“And the Council will argue over each and every one,
taking forever.”
Irys frowned. “They are cautious. It’s an excellent trait.”
She gave me a pointed look. “The Council works best when
they have all the information. Bain and I will arrange to get
a tour of Vasko’s messenger operation.”
“I should go. It’s my blood.”
“Undercover?”
I thought back to when Janco and I had been searching for
Ulrick in Ognap. Janco considered sneaking into the ruby
mines a challenge worthy of him. If I could get into Wirral,
the mines shouldn’t be as hard. “I could steal into the mines
on my own. But why go to all that trouble? Pazia and I are
friends. How about I pay her a friendly visit?”
“Vasko’ll see right through that.”
I shrugged. “He probably expects you and Bain to investi-
gate. It can be an open secret, but once I’m there, I can snoop around.”
She crinkled her forehead. “Vasko’s intelligent. He’ll ensure
you don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”
“Vasko’s also overconfident. Right now he thinks I’m a
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washed-up magician with no prospects. Play it up. Hint that
you asked me to visit Pazia out of pity. Tell him how devastated I was over these new messengers.” I paused as I realized that
one wasn’t very far from the truth. “Make sure he knows you
gave me this assignment to make me feel important. Ask him
to indulge me. I’ll act the part and he’ll underestimate me.”
“You believe this ruse will work?”
“No
doubts.”
While Irys arranged a meeting with Vasko, I prepared for
my trip to Ognap. Reema was my biggest concern. Healer
Hayes would discharge Teegan soon, and Irys had offered to
train him until the new school year started at the beginning of the cooling season. The Citadel practically shut down during
the hot season. The Keep’s students returned home and the
Council dismissed for their annual recess.
Reema’s comments about hiring a sitter circled in my mind,
but who could I hire? I was sure Fisk would know someone
trustworthy, but Reema would be suspicious of anyone work-
ing for him.
The next morning, Irys stopped by my training session. She
watched me spar a third-year student. I blocked his practice
sword with my sais, hooked the sword with the hilt of my
right sai and yanked it from his hands. Match over.
“Impressive,” Irys said.
“I couldn’t use that move on an apprentice,” I said. Or Sarn.
The big brute would have unarmed me in seconds.
“But you would have used another tactic for an appren-
tice.”
“True.”
“You’ve gotten quite the reputation out here.” Irys gestured
to the training yard. Students practiced drills and sparred each other. “Has anyone beaten you besides Captain Marrok and
Sarn?”
I searched my memory. “No. But they’re students. I wouldn’t
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last long in a fight with Valek or Yelena.” Or Finn. Consider-
ing how short that list was, I straightened a bit.
“Then it’s a good thing they’re your friends. And, speaking
of friends, Pazia is looking forward to your visit.”
“Great. When is Vasko leaving?”
“He isn’t. He has more business to attend to in the Cita-
del.” She met my gaze. “You were right about him. He’s very
confident, but he could have good reason to be.”
“As my father would say, only one way to find out.”
“Make sure you visit Councilor Moon before you go. And
take someone with you for backup, just in case,” Irys ordered.
“How about Leif ?”
“And listen to him moan about missing his new wife? No
thanks. I’ll find someone else.” But Leif ’s name triggered
another question I had for Irys. “Do you remember a student
who probably came through the Keep around the same time
as Yelena, maybe with Leif ?” I described Finn to Irys. “He’s
powerful enough that I think he would have stood out among
the class.”
She drummed her fingers on the wooden fence. “There
were a number of strong students. And with Yelena taking
all my attention I wasn’t as involved.”
“How about a graduate who didn’t stay and work for the
Council? I couldn’t have been the only one to branch out on
my own.”
“There have been a few. Vasko for one, his children and
probably a bunch of his nieces and nephews. They’re all in-
vested in the family business and too rich and powerful to work for the Council. And since they’re all so worried about their
children being kidnapped, many of the kids came through
here under different names.”
“But you knew about Pazia and now Walker.”
“The family informed the Master Magicians, but no one
else. Pazia thought her father was paranoid and refused to go
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undercover. It’s the same with Walker. Although the boy is
keeping a low profile. Unlike his sister.”
Except with me.
Irys continued, “I’ll go through the records while you’re
gone. Maybe a name will jump out at me.”
I thanked her and hurried to the bathhouse.
After a q
uick bath, I headed to the glass workshop to talk
to my sister. Mara worked in the mixing room. She poured
sand onto a scale, weighing ingredients. Her loose golden curls had been pinned back from her face.
Mara finished measuring the different types of sand. She
poured them into the drum mixer. The device resembled a
wine barrel lying on its side. She spun the barrel a few times, then she added lime and soda ash—all the ingredients to make
glass.
“New recipe?” I asked.
She startled then admonished me for sneaking up on her.
“I brought a batch of Crimson sand back from our vacation.
I’m hoping it produces a nice red-colored glass.”
“I’m surprised you left the cottage long enough to notice the
sand. Unless the beach was softer than the bed?” I smirked.
She threw a towel at me. “Are you here for a reason or just
to bug me?” Mara returned to the mixer and cranked the
handle. As the barrel rolled, the metal fins inside blended the glass components together. The mixer rang like a steady rain
on a metal roof.
“Actually I have a proposition for you?”
She stopped. “This ought to be good. And it better not
involve Leif running off on some crazy mission with you.”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Leif stays.”
“But you’re leaving?”
“Yes, Irys needs me to look into something for her.”
“Something. How vague. Should I worry now, or when I
get the message that you’re on the edge of dying and I should
come?”
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“It’s not like that. You sound like Mother.”
“No. Mother would tell you to slow down and think!” She
tapped my temple with two fingers. “You do have a brain. I’ve
seen you use it. Do you need me to introduce you to it?”
Wow. Her sarcasm was impressive and scary. “Marrying
Leif has changed you. What happened to my sweet sister?”
“She was left home to worry and wait too many times.”
“This trip is not dangerous. I promise. I’ll be back by the
hot season at the latest.”
She failed to look convinced. “And your proposition?”
“Would you and Leif like to stay in my apartment while
I’m gone?”
“Are you worried someone would break in?”
“Ahhh…no. Remember when I told you about Teegan and
his sister?”
She smoothed the apron over her skirt. “Opal, just spit it
out.”
I asked her to watch Reema for me.
She opened her mouth, closed it and appeared to search for
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