Читать книгу The Barbed Rose - Gail Dayton, Gail Dayton - Страница 14

Kallista jerked back, physically as well as magically. The braided magic in her hands fell to pieces, snapping back into its respective homes, leaving her with nothing.

Joh fell to his knees with the backlash, crying out in pain.

Torchay staggered but remained standing. “What happened?” He bent double, gasping as the reaction rebounded through him, hands braced on his knees. “What was that?”

“Backlash.” Kallista tipped Joh’s face up, checked him quickly—no permanent damage—and crossed to Torchay. “Sit down before you fall. Don’t be such a bodyguard.”

“I am a bodyguard,” he rasped out as he sat on the ground. “I can’t help it.”

She could sense his nausea through the link, and when it settled, he would have a terrible headache. The backlash had hit him harder because his magic held so much more power. Like Fox’s magic held order and Obed’s held truth, Torchay’s magic was power, strength. Which apparently had its price.

Kallista fought to control her anger. She had a right to it. Obed’s attitude had put them all in danger. But this was not the time or place to let it out.

Blood trickled from Torchay’s nose and he blotted it with a finger, surprised. Frantic, Kallista dove questing through his veins. If he bled where it could not be seen, it could kill him. But only the small vessel in his nose was broken.

Kallista held back any attempt to heal it. She knew too little of East magic, trusted too little in her control just now, and it was small enough to heal quickly on its own.

“What do you mean, backlash?” Torchay blotted his nose again and looked for something to clean his fingers. Kallista handed him her handkerchief. “What…? Was that magic?” He glared accusingly at Obed. “I thought you said the magic always felt good.”

“Backlash doesn’t.” Kallista pushed Torchay’s head forward. “Pinch your nose till it stops.”

“Bud whad is—” he began.

“Backlash happens when the magic breaks. When it is interrupted for some reason, it snaps back into—usually into the naitan who is attempting to use it. Infirmaries at the academies are full of students suffering backlash. In this case, it snapped back into all of us.”

“So why ab I de odly one wid a bloody dose?” Torchay sounded aggrieved.

“Because your magic is stronger than Joh’s.”

“Whad aboud Obed?” Torchay lifted his head, released his nose and wriggled it, testing for leaks. “He’s just standing there like he wasn’t touched.”

“He wasn’t.” Kallista didn’t look at her dark ilias. Not yet. She was too angry. “Obed and I are going to discuss it as soon as we get back to our chambers.” She got a hand under Torchay’s arm and lifted. “Up you go.”

“Good idea.” He swayed when he reached his feet. “I’ve had enough magic for today.”

“Help Joh.” Kallista snapped the order at Obed as she got her shoulder under Torchay and got him steadied. “And pray the One my temper calms before we get back.”

The crowds they pushed through only made Kallista’s temper worse. Thank the One that the crowds kept Torchay from asking the questions she knew were piling up behind his teeth. And the slow pace they were forced to take gave Torchay and Joh the time to recover most of their strength and equilibrium before they left Winterhold. By the time the door to their suite closed on the stream of people climbing the stairs to the towering heights above them, Kallista was angry enough to chew nails into bits.