Thief’s Magic (6 page)

All around he felt magic moving, pulled here and there to feed the city’s needs. There was something thrilling about the way it constantly flowed through the city, billowing down from above then swirling off in all directions. In contrast, the magical atmosphere outside the city had barely stirred, like a calm lake rather than a fast-running river.

As a large carriage passed, a cascade of water spilled off its roof and over Miko. The student let out a yelp of surprise and annoyance. As he grabbed the collar of his coat and lifted it to stop the water going down the back of his neck, his pogbag slipped off his lap. Tyen leaned forward to catch it, but only managed to grab one strap. The bag landed on its side and sprang open.

It was called a pogbag because the top hinged open like the jaws of a giant swamp creature. Something round, polished and gleaming rolled out from the jaws, glittering like a wrapped sweet. Tyen grabbed it before it could roll out of the two-seater, then turned his hand over. In his glove lay a gold ball, etched with designs.

Miko snatched it away. He righted the pogbag, stuffed the ball deep inside and snapped the top closed.

“Was that a poible?” Tyen began.

“Yes,” Miko said, hugging the bag to his chest. He scowled at Tyen. “It’s all right for you. You have magic to help pay your way on these expeditions. I don’t.”

Tyen opened his mouth to retort that his ability did not make it as easy as Miko claimed, then paused.
If I support Miko’s decision to keep something from the Academy now, perhaps if he finds out about Vella before I’m ready to hand her over he’ll return the favour.
It would be out of character for him not to object a little, however.

“At least you found
something
.”

Miko narrowed his eyes then, not seeing disapproval, he straightened and grinned. “Yeah, you had back luck with that tomb.”

Tyen sighed and looked way. “I have nothing but all the calculations I made to find it.”

“If it’s any consolation, the professor’ll probably take all the credit anyway. I expect he’s already showing off everything to his Academy friends.”

“He won’t let them touch a thing until it’s all properly labelled and recorded,” Tyen assured his friend. “Which we’ll probably have to do after class.”

Miko groaned. “Well, so long as we still get Market Nights off to visit Nectar Ally.”

Tyen narrowed his eyes. “I thought you were broke?”

“Won’t be soon.” Miko patted his bag and grinned.

“You’d better pay me back for this ride before then.”

“Of course!”

The two-seater broke from a knot of traffic and put on some speed. They grabbed the handholds and whooped as the morni dashed between slower vehicles, making up the time lost in the clotted streets around the station. Soon she settled into a steadier pace, slowing for corners and the occasional obstruction, until the stone pillars and iron fence that surrounded the Academy appeared. The driver reined her back to a walk and directed her through the open gates into the courtyard.

A few students were huddled in the shelter of recessed windows and doors, but no one else was about. There was no sign of the longcart that Kilraker had hired. Tyen assumed it had entered by one of the delivery gates. He paid the driver and they climbed out. Miko moved close to Tyen’s side, then looked up and grimaced as rain splattered over his face.

“Aren’t you shielding?”

“No,” Tyen replied. Though using magic was legal in the Academy, frivolous use was still frowned upon.

“Must you always be so well behaved?” Miko gave a little huff of annoyance, left Tyen’s side and ran to the entrance. Tyen chuckled and followed at a fast walk, wet enough from the ride that it wasn’t worth trying to avoid a little more rain. As they made their way through the building he was surprised to find himself relaxing.

Maybe I am more relieved than disappointed to be home.
It was reassuring to be in familiar, safe surrounds. As they passed the library he inhaled deeply. How had he not noticed before how wonderful the smell of books was? They took a corridor past the lecture halls, imbued with the scent of wood polish and dust. Instead of crossing another rain-soaked courtyard they detoured past the laboratories, from which all kinds of odours and sounds emerged, both pleasant and disgusting in equal measure. Their senses hadn’t recovered by the time they reached the Student House, so the smell of the evening meal cooking didn’t tempt them to stop. They called out to and were greeted by other students as they climbed the stairs to their room. Tyen found himself automatically peering into the dining hall to note the time displayed on the big round clock. An hour until dinner. Enough time to change and unpack.

The upper floors were where the poorer students took residence, as the rich ones preferred to avoid the daily climb. Tyen and Miko’s room was on the fourth floor, second from the top. When they finally reached their door they were both a little breathless. They tossed their bags on the floor, threw off their jackets and collapsed onto the beds.

“Home,” Miko said.

“Yes,” Tyen agreed.

“I’m hungry.”

“Dinner isn’t for an hour.”

Miko tapped his fingers together. “Then I’ll take my gear to the washhouse. Want me to take yours?”

“Thanks.”

They set to unpacking, and soon Miko had gone off with a bundle of dirty clothing under one arm. Alone, Tyen looked at the rest of his travel gear, now strewn across his bed. He began putting everything away. Miko had emptied the contents of his luggage on his desk, but Tyen’s was covered in tools and parts for making insectoids. A few partially made beetles, hoverflies and arachnids sat within rings of components needed to finish them. The cleaners had learned long ago not to disturb anything, so all was covered in a fine layer of finger-marked dust – thicker away from the central work area. Tyen did most of his studying and essay writing while sitting on the bed.

I wonder if Kilraker will make me help catalogue Neel and Miko’s finds
, he thought.
Perhaps he’ll take pity on me, since I didn’t find anything. Then I can finish these
.
The insectoids always found eager buyers, especially the customised ones with special abilities like playing tunes, or imprinted with specific commands.

“Beetle,” Tyen called. A whirr came from his satchel as the insectoid came to life. “Come.” One side of the bag’s flap lifted and the little machine emerged, scuttling to the edge of the bed, its auditory antennae waving. “Guard the room,” Tyen ordered.

Iridescent wings sprang open then blurred, carrying the insectoid up and over to the door. It landed and scurried into the gap beneath. Tyen smiled. Miko’s habit of barging in without knocking had been one of the reasons he’d created the insectoid in the first place.

With most of his gear stowed away, he sprawled on the bed and dragged the satchel closer. Taking Vella out, he considered where he should keep her.

Hide her?
Knowing Tyen’s luck, Miko would burst in just as he was slipping her in whatever hiding place he came up with.
Tell Miko about her?
He shook his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Miko, but the young man lost the ability to keep secrets when he was drunk. Though he remained good at keeping his own secrets, so perhaps he would stay silent because Tyen knew about the poible he’d kept.

And that was another point.
If Miko can keep something, why shouldn’t I?

Because Vella is no mere bauble.
He sighed as the same old arguments ran through his mind. Disobeying the Academy made him uneasy, but Gowel’s story of the Academy letting discoveries go to waste worried him. He needed time to think about it, and in the meantime … around Miko he would simply behave as if Vella was an ordinary book. He might even be able to read her while Miko was around, though he’d still have to make sure he angled the book so his friend didn’t see the text appearing on the paper. Perhaps he’d tell Miko she was a boring textbook.
No, he won’t believe that if he sees me reading it all the time
. Perhaps a book about magic – something that sounded difficult and complicated. And if Miko still grew curious enough to investigate?
Perhaps Vella can make herself look like an ordinary, boring textbook.

Opening the cover, Tyen looked down at the first, blank page.

I can’t do that. It would be a lie, and I cannot lie.

Can you say nothing at all then?

No. Remember, I must reply to questions if I know the answer. People often think in questions. He has only to think “What is this?” or “Why is Tyen reading a book with no text in it?” and I will have to answer.

I see. Though Miko is more likely to ask “When’s dinner?” or “Can I owe you for that?”

Both questions that he knows the answer to, therefore I know the answer to, and must reply.

Tyen chuckled as he pictured
that
conversation. Would Miko, like Tyen, find Vella’s honesty refreshingly frank or be put off by it?

From what I see of him in your mind, his taste in women tends towards those who offer physical rather than intellectual interaction.

You are – I am – probably right.
At least Miko knew how to relate to women in one way.
Unlike me … could Vella help with that?

Probably. Mostly because you are wrong to think you don’t understand women. You understand more than you believe. Men and women’s minds are not as different as you have been taught.

The world was different when you were whole. Women were different.

People stay the same. Only culture changes: traditions, ideas about right and wrong, what civilisation is and what threatens it. Your society has rigid ideas about the roles of men and women, class, manners and ethical behaviour while at the same time it has opened its mind to technological innovation and understanding of nature and the universe.

Tyen nodded. Perhaps these rules of society provided a safe feeling of stability when everything else was changing. Which reminded him of his obligation to her.
I have so much to show you. But it will be some days before I am free to leave the Academy.

Take me with you anyway. Show me the Academy.

But I can’t get a book out and read in the middle of classes.

You don’t have to. Keep me against your skin and I will see all that you see and hear all that you—

A high-pitched noise jolted him from the page and he looked down to see Beetle scurry out from under the door. His heart skipped as he realised Miko was returning, but he made himself stay as he was. The door opened and his friend caught hold of the frame with the other hand to halt his forward motion.

“Dinner – you’re reading?”

Tyen closed the book and tossed it onto the bed. “Sorcery. Statistics. We’ll be back in class tomorrow. May as well get my head into the right frame of mind.”

Miko grimaced, then jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. “Come on. Neel’s back and has an audience already. He’s probably making up stories about us.”

“Can’t have that.” Getting to his feet, Tyen put Vella into his satchel then held the bag open. “Beetle. In.” The insectoid whirred into the air and dived inside. He slung the bag by its handle over the back of his chair, then followed Miko out of the room.

The sound of laughter drifted up the stairwell and when they reached the ground floor they found Neel sitting on a table, waving his arms around as he addressed a circle of students. Though they hadn’t worn them for days, Neel had his aircart jacket on over ordinary clothes, scarf wrapped close under his chin and his goggles strapped around his forehead.

Tyen stopped. “What … why is he wearing that here?”

“Apparently it’s the height of fashion to look as if you just landed an aircart. Women love it.”

“He looks ridiculous.”

“A right poser,” Miko agreed.

Tyen chuckled. “Must we sit near him?”

“I’m afraid we must.”

Shaking their heads, Tyen and Miko entered the dining room.
Maybe it isn’t women I don’t understand
, Tyen thought,
but why men make such fools of themselves over them.
Though it was more likely Neel wanted to impress his peers tonight, since no women were allowed here other than the serving staff. The few women students of the Academy were housed on the other side of the buildings, guarded by ever-watchful Matrons.

W
ith Vella safely tucked inside his shirt, Tyen strode out of the Academy gates. He hadn’t left the grounds for five days, but it felt far longer and the expedition already seemed a distant memory from months before. As he’d predicted, Professor Kilraker had recruited him, Miko and Neel after classes to catalogue the artefacts they’d brought back from Mailand, keeping them working well into the evenings and giving Tyen no chance to educate Vella. Eventually Kilraker had given in to Miko’s relentless appeals that they have their first Market Day free to attend to familial or other duties.

Tyen doubted Miko or Neel had anything resembling family or duty to attend to. Not wanting to waste his first opportunity to show Vella the great advances of the modern era, Tyen had slipped away early. He’d decided to start with a visit to a place she would find both familiar and greatly changed.

A distant voice called from behind him.

“Tyen! Wait!”

He checked his stride, then cursed himself for betraying that he’d heard Miko’s call. As he heard two pairs of running footsteps behind him he knew that pretending not to would have been futile anyway. It was churlish to be annoyed that they wanted his company, too. He stopped and turned to wait.

“Where’re you going?” Miko asked as he slowed to stop before Tyen. Neel grinned as he followed suit.

“To the printery.”

Miko frowned. “Why?”

“I’m going to get a pamphlet made up denouncing the Academy as grave robbers.”

Neel’s smile vanished, but Miko laughed. “What are you
really
doing? Off to see some girl you haven’t told us about?”