Magic Study (13 page)

  I felt helpless and alone with no one to watch my back. But I buried that thought deep, unwilling to share it with Irys. Instead, I ignored her question. Knowing my mentor was back, I rallied. She was the only person I could trust in the Keep.

I’m coming with some food. You
will
let me in and you
will
eat.
Irys ordered.

Food?
Topaz thought hopefully.
Apple? Peppermints?

  I smiled.
Later.

  My stomach grumbled. As I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, a wave of dizziness overcame me. I had lost track of the days and I was weak from hunger.

  Irys came as promised, carrying a tray laden with fruit and cold meats. She also brought a pitcher of pineapple juice and some cakes. As I ate, she told me about her trip to May’s home. May was the last of the kidnapped girls to find her lost family.

  “Five sisters just like her,” Irys said, shaking her head.

  I grinned, imagining May’s homecoming. Six girls squealing with delight, laughing and crying as they all talked at once.

  “Their beleaguered father wanted me to test all the girls for magical potential. May has some, but I want her to wait another year before coming to the school. The others were still too young.” Irys poured two cups of juice. “I had to cut my visit short when I felt your call for help.”

  “When Roze was invading?”

  “Yes. I was too far away to assist you, but it seems like you managed on your own.”

  “Valek helped me,” I said.

  “That’s impossible.
I
couldn’t reach you. Valek’s not a magician.”

  “But he was there and I drew on his strength.”

  Unwilling to believe me, Irys shook her head.

  I thought about how Irys had found me in the north. “You felt my power when I was in Ixia,” I said. “It’s the same distance for Valek to reach me.”

  She shook her head again. “Valek is resistant to magic so I think you used his image as a shield against Roze. When I felt you last year, you had no control over your powers. Uncontrolled bursts of magic cause ripples in the power source. All magicians, anywhere in the world can feel that, but only Master Magicians will know from which direction it comes.”

  That worried me. “You felt my call for help when you were at May’s home, though. Was I out of control to be able to reach you at that distance?” Loss of control led to flameout, which led to death for the magician and damaged the power source for all magicians.

  She looked startled. “No.” She frowned and stared at the wall, considering. “Yelena, what have you been doing with your magic since I left you?”

  I told her about the ambush, the escape and the truce with Cahil.

  “So you put
all
of Cahil’s men into a deep sleep?” she asked.

  “Well, there were only twelve. Did I do something wrong? Have I broken your Ethical Code?” There was so much I didn’t know about magic.

  Irys snorted, reading my mind.
And you wanted to run away with a horse.

  “Better than staying here with Cahil and Leif,” I said aloud.

  “Those two.” Irys frowned again. “The Master Magicians had a discussion with both of them. Roze is furious that they misled her about you. Cahil actually had the audacity to demand a Council session in the middle of the hot season. He’ll just have to wait until the cooling season. Perhaps he’ll get on the agenda, or perhaps not.” Irys shrugged, seeming unconcerned.

  “Would the Sitians go to war for Cahil?” I asked.

  “We have no quarrel with the north, but no love for them either. The Council has been waiting for Cahil to mature. If he develops the charisma and strong leadership abilities, his plans to take back Ixia may be supported by the Council.” She cocked her head to the side as if considering the prospect of going to war.

  “The trade treaty is the first official contact we’ve had with Ixia in fifteen years,” she explained. “It’s a good beginning. We have always been worried that Commander Ambrose would try to take over Sitia as he did in the north, but he seems content.”

  “Would a Sitian army prevail against the north?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Sitia would have a difficult time. The Commander’s men are loyal, dedicated and well trained. To lose a battle, they would either need to be vastly outnumbered or be vastly outsmarted.”

  Irys nodded. “A campaign against them would have to be launched with the utmost care, which is why the Council is waiting. But that is not my concern today. My priority is to teach you magic, and discover your specialty. You’re stronger than I thought, Yelena. Putting twelve men to sleep is no easy task. And having a conversation with a horse…” Irys pulled her hair back from her face and held it behind her head. “If I hadn’t been listening in, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

  Irys rose and began to pile the dishes onto the tray. “What you did to Cahil’s men would normally be considered a breech of the Ethical Code, but you acted in self-defense, so it was acceptable.” She paused for a moment. “What Roze did to you was a clear violation of our ethics, but she thought you were a spy. The Code doesn’t apply to spies. All Sitians are united in their intolerance for espionage. The Commander gained power by infiltrating the monarchy and using assassination, so Sitia worries when a spy is uncovered that the Commander is trying to collect enough information to launch another takeover.”

  Picking up the tray of dirty plates, Irys said, “Tomorrow, I will show you the Keep and start your training. There are candles and flint in the armoire if you need a light, and there’s firewood behind the building for when it gets cold. I’ve assigned you to the apprentices’ wing because you’re too old for the first-years’ barracks. And I think by the start of school, you’ll be ready to join the apprentice class.”

  “What’s the apprentice class?”

  “The Keep has a five-year curriculum. Students start the program about a year after they reach maturity. Usually around the age of fourteen their magic has grown to a point where they can direct it. Each year of the Keep’s curriculum has a title. First year, novice, junior, senior and apprentice. You’ll be at the apprentice level, but your schooling will be different since you need to learn about our history and government.” Irys shook her head. “I’ll figure it out before classes start. You’ll probably be with students from different levels, depending on the subject. But don’t worry about that now. Why don’t you unpack and make yourself at home.”

  Her words reminded me that I had something for her in my pack. “Irys, wait a moment,” I said before she could leave. “My mother sent you some perfume.” I dug into my bag. By some stroke of luck, the bottles hadn’t been damaged during the trip to the Citadel. I gave Irys the Apple Berry perfume, and put my bottle of Lavender on the table.

  Irys thanked me and left. After she was gone, the room felt empty. Taking everything out of my backpack, I hung my old uniform in the armoire and decorated the table with the valmur statue I had bought for Valek, but the rooms still seemed bare. I would ask Irys to exchange my Ixian money. Perhaps I could purchase a few things to brighten up the place.

  I found Esau’s field guide at the bottom of my pack. Taking a candle into the bedroom, I read his book until my eyes grew heavy. From his vast notes, it seemed that almost every plant and tree in the jungle had a reason for existing. I caught myself wishing there was a page in his guide that had my picture on it with the reason for my existence written underneath in Esau’s neat hand.

  In the morning, Irys scrunched up her nose when she entered my rooms. “Perhaps I’ll show you the bathhouse first. We’ll send your clothes to the laundry and get you some fresh ones.”

  I laughed. “Bad?”

  “Yes.”

  Irys and I went to another marble building with blue columns all around. The bathhouse had separate pools for men and women. Washing the road grime from my skin felt wonderful. The laundry mistress took my tattered and stained clothes. Nutty’s outfit, my white shirt and black pants all needed mending.

  I borrowed a light green cotton tunic and khaki-colored pants. Irys told me the Keep had no particular dress code for classes and everyday events, but special functions required an apprentice robe.

  After I combed and plaited my hair, we walked to the dining room for breakfast. Gazing around the Keep, I could see a pattern in the inner layout. Paths and gardens wound their way past marble buildings of various size and shape. Barracks and student housing ringed the main campus. The stables, laundry and kennels lined the back wall of the Keep. Horses grazed in a large fenced pasture next to an oval training yard.

  I asked Irys about the four towers.

  “The Master Magicians live in them.” She pointed to the one in the northwest corner. “That one is mine. The one in the northeast corner near the stables is Zitora Cowan’s, Third Magician. The southwest one is Roze Featherstone’s, and the southeast one is Bain Bloodgood’s, Second Magician.”

  “What if you have more than four Masters?”

  “In the history of the Magician’s Keep, we have never had more than four. Less, yes, but never more. It would be a wonderful problem to have. The towers are huge so there would be plenty of room to share.” She smiled.

  Three people sat in the dining room. Rows and rows of empty tables lined the long room.

  “When school starts, these tables will be filled with students, teachers and magicians. Everyone eats here,” Irys explained.

  She introduced me to the two men and one woman eating breakfast. Gardeners on break, they were just a small part of the vast force needed to tend the landscaping.

  We ate, I pocketed an apple for Topaz and Irys took me to her chambers. After climbing what seemed like a million steps and passing ten levels of rooms, we emerged at the top. The circular room’s windows stretched from floor to ceiling. Curtains, long and lacy, blew in the hot breeze. Colorful cushions and couches in blues, purples and silver decorated the bright area. The place was ringed with bookshelves, and the air held a fresh citrus scent.

  “My meditation room,” Irys said. “The perfect environment to draw power and to learn.”

  I walked around, looking outside. She had a magnificent view of the Keep and, through the northeast facing windows, I could see rolling green hills pockmarked with small villages.

  “That’s part of the Featherstone Clan’s lands,” Irys said, following my gaze. She gestured to the center of the room. “Sit down. Let’s begin.” Irys sat on a purple cushion, crossing her legs.

  I perched on a blue pillow across from her. “But my bow…”

  “You won’t need your bow. I’ll teach you how to draw your power without relying on physical contact. The power source surrounds the world like a blanket. You have the ability to take a thread from this cloth, pull it into your body and use it. But don’t take too much or you’ll bunch up the blanket, warping the source and leaving some areas bare and others with too much power. It’s rumored that there are places where there are holes in the blanket, areas of no power, but I haven’t found any.”

  I felt her power spread from her like a bubble. She raised her hand and said, “Venettaden.”

  The power slammed into me. My muscles froze solid. I stared at her in a growing panic.

  “Push it away,” she said.

  I considered my brick wall, but knew it was no match for her strength. Once again, I drew down my marble curtain and severed the flow of power. My muscles relaxed.

  “Very good,” she said. “I took a line of power and shaped it into a ball. Then, using a word and a gesture, I directed it toward you. We teach the students words and gestures for learning purposes, but really you can use anything you want. It just helps focus the power. And after a while you won’t need to use the words to perform the magic. It becomes instinctive. Now, your turn.”

  “But I don’t know how to pull a thread of power. I just concentrate on the feel of my bow’s wood and then my mind somehow detaches and I project it out to other minds. Why does that work?”

  “The ability to read thoughts is another thread of power linking two minds, forging a connection. Once the link is made, it remains there and reconnecting is easy. For example, consider the link between us, and between you and Topaz.”

  “And Valek,” I said.

  “Yes, Valek, too. Although with his immunity to magic, I think your link with him must be on a subconscious level. Have you ever read his thoughts?”

  “No. But I haven’t tried. Somehow I always knew what he was feeling.”

  “A survival instinct. That makes sense, considering his position in Ixia, and since he decided if you would live or die on a daily basis.”

  “That survival instinct saved me a few times,” I said, remembering my troubles in Ixia. “I would find myself in a tight spot, and suddenly it seemed another person had taken control of my body and impossible things would happen.”

  “Yes, but now you have control and you can
make
those things happen.”