Читать книгу Glass Collection: Storm Glass / Sea Glass / Spy Glass - Maria V. Snyder - Страница 25

LEIF BOLTED TO the factory. Ulrick, my father and I scrambled to our feet. Mara had been bitten and had mere minutes to live. In my rush to leave, I knocked the glass spiders to the floor, and crushed one under my boot.

By the time I arrived, Mara was in Leif’s arms. Sweat dripped from her forehead and her body shook. A decapitated fer de lance snake and a bloody machete lay next to her.

My father cursed. He knelt beside her leg. The bleeding punctures were above her ankle. The venom coursed through her leg. Shock froze all other emotions as I watched my sister die.

“Ahir ran for the healer. I tied a tourniquet under her knee. But that won’t save her,” Leif cried.

Suck the venom out, I thought and moved toward her. Father yelped. A large brown spider scrambled onto Mara’s foot and bent over her wound. He drew his arm back to swat it away.

“No,” I yelled instinctively. “Let it alone.”

The spider stabbed its mouth into the bite. Its body grew like a water skin being filled. When it finished sucking, the spider vanished. Blood splashed on the floor.

“The poison’s gone,” I said.

“How do you know?” Leif asked with a voice laced with pain.

Everyone stared at me. “The spider told me.”

Without hesitation, without question, Leif untied the leather strap on Mara’s leg; my father covered the bite and rubbed her calf to improve the flow of clean blood back to her foot. Leif cradled her in his arms, and she was enduring Mother’s worried attentions in the kitchen in no time. I loved my family. Only they would take the magical spider’s appearance and rescue in stride. Questions would arise later, but, for now, they were focused on the happy result.

Ulrick remained in the factory, disposing of the dead snake and hunting for more.

“Mara, you should know better,” Father admonished. “Cold night and hot kilns draw the snakes into the factory. What were you doing?”

She glanced at Leif, who had his arm around her shoulders. “I was … preoccupied.”

“Doing what?” he demanded.

Kissing Leif, I guessed. As her cheeks turned pink, Mara silently appealed to Mother.

“Jaymes,” Mother said, “you left the lanterns burning in your lab. Are you planning to do more work tonight?”

Deftly distracted, my father returned to his lab. I followed. About halfway to the building, I stopped. My emotions melted and drenched me. Relief—Mara didn’t die. Surprise—she was saved by a spider. Shock—a spider who magically disappeared. Fear—it resembled one of Tricky’s spiders.

By the time I joined my father, he had his magnifying glass in hand, inspecting one of my glass spiders. “Just what I thought. It’s the same spider only smaller. Care to tell me what’s going on?”

“I would if I could.” I grabbed a dustpan and brush, sweeping up the crushed glass from the floor. “I stepped on one. Maybe I released the illusion?”

“That spider was no illusion. Are you sure you weren’t attacked by real spiders?”

I thought back. The beetles Tricky had used first were illusions. Or, as Zitora had explained, figments of my imagination planted by Tricky, which is why I had felt pain. His second strike hadn’t touched me. I channeled his magic before the spiders reached me, trapping his power. However, the creatures called to me in the glass, as if I had pulled the magic.

I collapsed into a chair. “I’m not sure of anything right now.”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Wait—”

Father tried to snap one of my glass spiders in half.

He dropped it to the floor, stomping on it. Nothing. “These things are indestructible.”

“Here.” I reached for it, remembering how brittle they felt in my hands. Sure enough, I broke one in half.

A whoosh of air, a huff and a flash and one brown-colored spider stood in the middle of my father’s desk. Its body as big as two of my father’s fists put together and eight thin legs spread out close to the edge.

I jumped to my feet, wanting to back away.

“Relax.”

The creature remained in place as if waiting. The door opened behind me and even the night breeze didn’t disturb the spider.

“Ulrick, don’t come any closer,” Father ordered. “Opal, what did you do after you stepped on the glass?”

I replayed the series of panicked events in my mind. “I ran to Mara. Stood there like a complete simpleton. And …” I closed my eyes for a moment. “And my next thought was the need to suck the venom from Mara. But the spider came and …”

“Did your bidding,” Father said.

“A big leap in logic,” Ulrick said from the doorway.

“Easy to find out. Opal, tell the spider to climb to the ceiling.”

“With my thoughts or my voice?”

“We can try both. How many glass spiders do you have?”

I shuddered. “Hundreds.” Drawing in a deep breath and feeling a little silly, I ordered the spider to climb.

It leaped to the wall and scurried to the ceiling. When it arrived, it disappeared. For the first time ever, magic responded to my wishes. A strange sensation swept over me and I felt weightless. I dropped into a chair and clutched the armrests to keep from fainting.

“Hmm. Once and done,” my father mused. “I wonder if the first spider would have followed you around until you gave it an order. Only one—”

“Way to find out,” Ulrick said. “I’ll fetch more spiders. Where are they?”

I told him, then snapped the remaining one. This time I ordered the spider with my mind. The results were the same.

A couple hours after midnight, my father was finally satisfied with our experiments. The spiders were indeed real to the touch. They had sharp teeth and they would perform a task then vanish. They would listen only to me. I guessed when I had transformed Tricky’s magic into spiders I had become the owner. Although Tricky might be able to direct the spiders, too. And, since the only way to find out would involve him, I wasn’t going to confirm the possibility.

All those history classes I had taken never mentioned the ability to transform magic into a physical object. And it wasn’t static. It moved, obeyed commands and disappeared. Did the magic dissipate when the spider finished its job? Or did the power return to Tricky?

My sluggish thoughts swirled in my head as if my mind had melted. No answers formed, just an endless loop of speculation. I dragged my exhausted body to my room. Leif dozed in a chair next to my sister’s bed. Mara slept so still, I had to watch the rise and fall of her chest before I could relax. Leif roused. He drew me out into the hallway.

“What’s been going on? I smelled magic.”

As quick and succinct as possible, I explained about the spiders.

“That’s amazing! You have a whole army of helpers. You don’t have to feed them or care for them. The possibilities are endless!”

Only Leif would think of food. I was too tired to share his enthusiasm. “Leif, go to bed. I’m here now if Mara needs anything.”

He gnawed his lip. “Are you sure?”

“Of course, she’s my sister.”

He hugged me. “Thanks, Opal. You saved her life.”

“Inadvertently.”

“Doesn’t matter how. She lives. That matters.”

By the time I woke, the morning was almost gone. My family and Ulrick sat around the dining room table, eating a late breakfast. Mara remained pale and Leif hovered over her. Questions about the lifesaving spider shot from everyone’s lips as soon as they spotted me. Father enlightened them about my spiders, and I asked them to please keep the information quiet.

“Why?” Ulrick asked. “If it were me, I’d want everybody to know what I could do.”

“But I don’t know if I can duplicate the magic and get the same results. Best to wait until we have discovered everything about it.”

Ulrick remained unconvinced.

“It’s a logical strategy,” Leif said. “One that could save her life.”

“How?” Ulrick asked.

Leif glanced at my mother before speaking. “If, for example, someone was after Opal. If the person knows what she can do with her magic, they would have a way to counter it. If no one knows about her skill with the glass spiders, then she will be able to surprise them if she’s attacked.”

“Good point,” Ulrick said.

“No. It’s an excellent point. Those who brag and boast might cause problems, but they’re easy to counter. It’s the quiet ones who are deadly.”

I considered Leif’s words as Ulrick and I visited the equipment suppliers Father suggested. My instinct to keep a few magical incidents quiet had been correct. Although, I realized I shouldn’t rely on my instincts as much. Working with Zitora, I’d been unwillingly involved with criminals. Thinking my actions through and approaching a situation with a strategy in mind would be prudent.

Over the next two days, Ulrick and I had ordered all the necessary supplies. We prepared to leave the following morning. Mara would be coming with us. Leif didn’t want to leave her behind, and once the Keep’s glass workshop was operational, there would be plenty for her to do. My mother was thrilled. I could see by the glint in her eyes, she viewed Mara’s move as the next step toward grandchildren.

Mara rode with Leif on Rusalka. The trip to the Citadel would be a day longer because of the added weight on the horse. My emotions wavered from happiness at having my sister nearby to dread. Before this trip to Booruby, I kept meaning to send a message to Mara about Aydan’s need for an assistant, but I never did. Since Leda turned into such an accomplished helper, the problem was solved.

I squirmed in my saddle as understanding revealed my childish jealousies. My reluctance had two main reasons. The Keep was my domain and I was unwilling to share it with her. And I didn’t want to be Mara’s Little Sister again.

On the road for six days, Ulrick studied her as fellow male travelers tried to flirt, and as everyone, even the women, tripped over themselves to accommodate her. It was hard to get angry at her. She didn’t seek the attention; she shooed away Leif’s efforts to do everything for her.

We arrived at the Magician’s Keep without trouble. Mara was given a guest room. The equipment we had ordered before leaving had been delivered in our absence. Construction on the workshop had begun. The new building, built with marble blocks, was located in the northeast corner of the Keep between the pasture and Zitora’s tower.

As predicted, the Stable Master was livid over Ulrick’s horse theft. “… had to beg—do you hear me, boy?—beg Councillor Sandseed to send me another right away. How could he trust me with a new one, when I lost the other!”

“I did you a favor,” Ulrick said.

His reply rendered the Stable Master speechless. A sight I’ve never seen. Impressive. And scary.

“Moonlight is a fantastic horse. Too good for the Commander. You should save him for a special student or future Master Magician or even for yourself.” Ulrick’s matter-of-fact tone didn’t waver despite the flaming red color spreading on the Stable Master’s cheeks. “I’ll come exercise him for you until you find a rider.” And with a jaunty wave goodbye, Ulrick swept out of the barn.

I hustled to catch up. There was no way I wanted to be anywhere near the Stable Master when he finally exploded.

I reported the whole spider incident to Zitora and she was most anxious for me and Ulrick to start experimenting with magic and glass.

“I’ll ask Master Bloodgood if he knows about another magician in history who could transform magic into a useful object,” she said. “Meanwhile, you should hire Mara to help you in the glass shop. There’s lots of work to be done.”

“Hire?”

“Yes. Offer her room and board plus a weekly wage—the accountant should know how much. You’ll need a manager to keep track of supplies and work schedules while you and Ulrick concentrate on learning about your powers.”

I knew all along what we would use the shop for, but when Zitora talked about managers and schedules, the reality of the situation hit me. It wouldn’t be a hobby, but serious research. Results would be expected, and I could no longer look to another to lead the way. Perhaps we should hire Aydan as a consultant.

Squashing my fears into a hard lump that sank to the pit of my stomach, I asked, “Should we pay Ulrick, too?”

“No. We’ll grant him student status and a stipend until you determine the extent of his magical abilities. Then we’ll decide how to proceed.”

As I returned to the glass shop, I thought there wasn’t much difference between being a student and a worker. Mara would be given a small apartment in the staff quarters and Ulrick would be assigned a room in the apprentice wing. The stipend was smaller than wages, but not by much. Ulrick should be happy with the new arrangements. He would no longer be a guest, but a member of the Keep.

It didn’t take long for Ulrick, Mara and I to settle into a pleasant routine. And a funny thing happened while Mara worked with us. The population of the Keep would introduce Mara as Opal’s sister to others, and she never batted an eye. She even boasted with pride over being my sister. I berated myself for my previous misgivings and pettiness. In those few days, Mara showed me how I should have behaved.

And even though there had been no sign of Sir or Tricky or blue-eyed Devlen for a month, Ulrick accompanied me everywhere.

On the first day of the cold season, I received a message from Zitora to come to her office. Alone. I told Ulrick I would meet him at the glass shop after the meeting.

“I’ll just wait outside her office, so you can do your secret magician stuff with Master Cowan,” Ulrick said. He tried to keep his tone light, but his voice held a sharp edge.

“It’s not secret magician stuff.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“My point.”

Ulrick escorted me to Zitora’s office. He leaned on the wall next to the entrance. She waved me in, then stared at the door. It swung shut.

A split second of jealousy pricked me. “Handy.”

“Lazy. It’s been a long night.” She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. She wore the same clothes as yesterday. “You’ll need to let Ulrick and Mara work on the shop without you for a few days.”

“Why?”

“Remember the conversation the Masters had about the Moon Clan?”

“Vaguely.” It had been close to three weeks ago and so much had happened since then.

“We’ve discovered there’s more going on with the Moon Clan than the illegal border crossings and a possible assassination attempt on Councillor Moon. There’s a whole faction who want Councillor Moon to step down and the faction’s leader to take her place. Rumors of a civil war have reached us and now—” Zitora waved a scroll in the air “—now I have a report saying this group is selling illegal Ixian goods in the Citadel to raise money for weapons.”

“Bold.”

“Not necessarily. There’s always been a black market for certain Ixian goods—swords, tea, linen, spices. When we had no political relationship with Ixia, the officials at the Citadel turned a blind eye to the sales of Ixian merchandise. Once we negotiated a trade treaty with them, all the ‘contraband’ became readily available. It was no longer a problem.”

“What are they selling now?” I asked.

“Diamonds.”

The gemstones were a hot commodity in Sitia. Many riches were mined from the Emerald Mountains, but, so far, no diamonds have been found.

“The Commander keeps a tight control on the sale of his diamonds to Sitia, so there must be a new mine,” Zitora said.

“With diamonds being sold on the black market, there’ll be all sorts of problems.”

“Correct. What kind of trouble?”

“Another lesson?” I asked.

“I can’t pass up an opportunity to teach. You’re my first student and I endeavor to be a good mentor.” She rolled her hand in the air urging me to continue.

“All right. The black market diamonds will be cheaper, so buyers will go to them instead of the legitimate sellers. Word of diminishing sales will get back to the Commander, and he’ll want to know why. If the Sitian Council doesn’t stop the illegal sales, it could strain our relationship with Ixia. Plus, the money is going to the Moon Clan to pay for a potential coup.”

Each clan decided how they chose their Councillor. A few clans held elections, others followed family lines and the rest had committees who made the decision. The Moon Clan used a matriarchal system. It was understood the Councillor’s daughter would be the next Council member, but birth order didn’t always match the best candidate for the job. On occasion, sisters fighting for the position have been recorded in their history.

“There’s more,” Zitora said.

I thought about the people buying the diamonds. “Bigger chance for deceit. With more diamonds available from various sources, the buyers could be conned into purchasing glass.”

“Can you tell the difference?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never touched a diamond before.”

“I have one for you to examine.”

“Why?”

“Fisk needs someone he can trust to help him find the black market diamond sellers’ source.”

“Why would he care?”

No answer from the Master Magician.

Putting myself in Fisk’s place, I tried to see the situation from his point of view. “His customers are getting conned, which brings suspicion on the Helper’s Guild. And having the Citadel’s guards arrest all the sellers wouldn’t stop the source from going to another town to sell his diamonds. And the arrests would upset the legitimate people in the market. Fisk could lose business.” I considered for a moment. “Better to have everything resolved without the general population knowing about it.”

“Right. So we find the source and trace the new diamonds back to their point of origin before we arrest anyone.”

Her serious tone and emphasis on the word new caused my heart to squeeze a warning. This was no longer a hypothetical discussion. “Who will trace the source?”

“We have a magician in mind to act as our buyer, but she’ll need an expert with her so she doesn’t follow the wrong trail and end up with glass. Fisk trusts you. So does Yelena. She agreed with this plan.”

“I … But …”

“You’ll have the perfect cover.” When I didn’t respond, she continued. “Diamonds enhance magical powers. You need many large stones together to increase the magic, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a rich magician to buy a bunch of diamonds.”

A sense of having been maneuvered into a corner washed over me. I wanted to be part of the Keep’s network of magicians. Wasn’t this exactly what I would be asked to do when I finished my training? I could say no, but I would probably never be considered for another mission. However, my mission for the Stormdancers had bordered on a disaster, and still wasn’t resolved.

“What about Sir and Tricky?” I asked. “They haven’t been found yet.”

“The magician you’ll be working with is strong enough to handle them.”

Last question. “Who’s the magician?”

“Pazia Cloud Mist.”