season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings (7 page)

Magic Institute. He had to do more here than defend himself; he also

had to sabotage the sight-enhancer without letting Salth realize what he

was doing. His body burned with pain as Salth shrank it several inches

and he forced it back to its normal size.

Maybe I don’t need to defend against this spell; I can use it.
Kron

reached into his pouch and grasped a chunk of porous stone.
Perfect.

As Salth’s spell continued to work, he allowed its magic to flow through

him into the stone. The stone absorbed most of it, then started to shrink

itself. That alone was proof that Salth already controlled more magic

than all the other magicians Kron knew.

When the stone was so tiny he could conceal it by pinching his fin-

gers around it, Kron pulled it out of his pouch, along with a more-

impressive but unpowered crystal. He raised it over his head with both

hands, taking the opportunity to transfer the pebble to his other hand,

closer to the sight-enhancer. “Prepare to feel your own spell, Salth!”

His voice was higher-pitched than normal. He lunged forward, but he

must have shrank more than he’d realized, for he fell short of the sight-

enhancer. Kron clenched his hand into a fist so he wouldn’t lose the

pebble. Salth cowered for an instant before spreading her hands as wide

as she could. Guessing she had cast a shield over herself, Kron didn’t

press his attack. Instead, he touched his hand to the sight-enhancer, al-

lowing the pebble to melt inside. Then he turned and bolted out of the

house, not stopping until he was winded. He staggered to a tree and

leaned on it, panting. If Salth wanted to send another attack after him,

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now would be a good time to do it. When no fantastic animals or blasts

of power erupted from her house, he backed away, keeping a magic-

finder out in case she decided he was a threat after all.

He’d never thought of Salth as a threat before, even if she was too

obsessed with power. But if she wanted to use it against others—that

was another matter. As for the golden haze she found so fascinating,

was that her own desire speaking, or the truth? How could she be so

sure something so far away was so powerful, or that it would ever come

within anyone’s reach? This haze was too insubstantial to bother Pagli

with. Kron had to focus on finding some way to make Salth and Sal-

thaath leave others alone. He couldn’t return to Delns knowing that

Bella—and Vistichia—were at risk.

* * *

When Kron returned to Bella’s house late the next morning to check

on Phebe, he found himself greeted by a crowd of people so thick he

had trouble pushing through them. As he attempted to maneuver around

a bulky matron, she grabbed his arm. “I found him! It’s the magician

who turned Phebe back into a person!”

“I thought he’d turned her into a chicken,” a man said. “Didn’t the

city-king’s magician change her back?”

Kron gritted his teeth. He’d hoped they could avoid this kind of at-

tention, but more people must have noticed them than he’d realized.

Poor Phebe and Bella must be embarrassed by all the attention. Then he

spotted a city guard blocking the entrance to the house. What if more

people believed the man’s story instead of the woman’s? What if the

official magician of Vistichia wanted Kron out of the city, or wanted to

cause trouble? He wasn’t equipped to make up more defensive artifacts

on the spot. Maybe he could bluff his way through.

“Let me go,” Kron said in his gruffest voice. “I need to check on

Phebe.”

“Check on her, or cast another curse on her?” another man asked.

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S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n

“I never cast a curse on anyone!”

“Your boy did,” the first man said, “and that’s the same thing.”

“He’s not my boy, not my son or apprentice,” Kron declared in his

loudest voice. He scanned everywhere he could see, from the flat roof-

tops to the barrels of rainwater beneath the houses, searching for Sal-

thaath. If he should appear now and hear him, it could be complete dis-

aster for everyone here. But perhaps that could be a way to disperse the

crowd.... “In fact, Sal-thaath is under no one’s control. If I were you,

I’d get away from here in case he returns. He might want to create more

chickens....”

The woman holding his arm, shrieked, released him, and bumped

into several people as she fled. Others copied her, and soon Kron was

alone. Well, almost alone. The guard hadn’t deserted his position, and

a second man, tall, rail-thin, and ornately dressed and jeweled, stood

next to him, scowling at Kron.

“We don’t need more magicians in Vistichia,” he said. “The king

will tolerate none who oppose him.”

Kron shrugged. “I’m not here to oppose him or do anything more

than pay his fees with the artifacts I sell. I’m simply traveling home and

need to earn passage back.”

The man sniffed and stepped away from Bella’s door. “Then see that

you do so quickly, stranger.”

Kron waited until the guard and the king’s magician departed before

knocking on the door. He had to wait for an agony of heartbeats before

Bella finally opened it. Dark circles under her eyes showed she must

have had trouble sleeping. Kron wished there was more he could do for

her to ease her worries.

“Is everything all right?” he asked. “How’s your sister? Noth-

ing...else has happened, has it?”

“Not yet.” She opened the door a little wider. “But she had poor

dreams all night. No one slept well.”

“But she’s acting human now, isn’t she? Do you want me to check

her?”

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“Troge won’t like it. He thinks you changed her in the first place,

even though I explained you were the one who changed her back.” She

glanced around. “His head’s as thick as the wood he chops. Come on

in, just for a few heartbeats. Phebe can’t complain after all you did for

her.”

And Bella couldn’t help her family. Kron slipped in to find Phebe

huddled near the fireplace, grinding corn so furiously kernels flew eve-

rywhere. She started as Kron approached.

“Good morning to you, Dame. How are you today?”

She glanced everywhere before replying, “He’s not with you, is he?”

“Sal—the boy?” Kron didn’t want to say Sal-thaath’s name out loud

in case the child was listening in magically. “No, I haven’t seen him

since the marketplace yesterday. He comes and goes as he pleases. I

can’t stop him.”

“But you must, Kron!” Bella said. “What if he comes back? What if

he does something worse next time?”

“That’s what I want to prevent.” He sighed. “I’ll talk to the boy—

once I find him.”

Phebe looked up from her grinding to glare at him. “Just talk to him,

magician? Can’t you do more than that?”

“Dame, he’s just a boy. A very powerful boy, but not taught

properly. If I can correct him—”

“Boys do need a firm hand,” Phebe said. “I could never get my sons

to listen to me half as well as Troge does.”

Bella frowned. “That’s because he beats them senseless.”

“Wait until you have your own, Bella. Then you’ll understand how

hard it is to keep them out of trouble. Speaking of trouble, magician,

you should leave before more of it follows you.” Phebe finally looked

at him. Her expression still wasn’t welcoming compared to her sister’s,

but the hostility had melted away. “And ... for your trouble before...I

thank you. You’re welcome to stop by any time my husband’s working

for a quick meal.”

Bella’s expression brightened, as if she was being rewarded too.

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“Show him out, sister, before more gossips stop by. There’s much

work to be done to make up for yesterday.”

Bella pressed a cooked flatcake filled with pickled vegetables into

his hand as she led him to the door. “She is grateful to you, even if she

doesn’t show it,” she whispered. “She’s just fearful of saying too

much.”

“She has reason to be frightened of Sal-thaath,” he replied. “His

mother has no respect for anyone who can’t perform magic, and I’m

afraid he feels the same way. If you see him, try to make sure he doesn’t

see you.”

“What will you do if you can’t change him?” she asked.

Kron gazed at her face for a few heartbeats before replying, “Then

I’ll have to find some way to keep you, your family, and everyone else

safe from him.”

She smiled at that, but when he reached for her hand, she ducked

away and closed the door. He tried not to take her rejection personally.

Of course a maiden would avoid contact with a strange man. But they

shouldn’t be strangers to each other by now, should they? What would

it take to make her more comfortable with him, a betrothal? Would she

be willing to leave her family behind and come to Delns with him?

Bemused, Kron shook his head. He needed to avoid crowds until

people forgot about him, so he headed for the city gates. If he wandered

by the banks of the Chikasi River, he would find materials, like

branches, stones, and various items dropped from boats, he could use

later in artifacts. And if Sal-thaath sought him out—though Kron sus-

pected he might have to hunt for the child this time—no one would be

around to suffer another of his spells.

Kron passed fishermen and washerwomen standing on the rocky

banks of the river. Other people gathered driftwood or birds’ eggs. The

sun was close to the zenith by the time he found a small curve in the

river, obscured by willow trees, where he was certain he was the only

other person within shouting distance. Using an enchanted thread from

his tunic, Kron lured in a pair of fish for lunch. He cleaned them, stuffed

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them with wild herbs, and set them on a thin flat rock over a fire to

roast.

While the meal cooked, he found a few snail shells and feathers that

might be useful. Kron braided a grass rope, but he knew no matter how

much enchantment he poured into it, it wouldn’t last a heartbeat against

Sal-thaath’s magic. He’d studied magic for nearly twenty years, and a

child young enough to be his own easily mastered him. Kron let the

rope fall apart. Toys weren’t the way to make Sal-thaath treat others

with respect, and threats would be useless, since both of them knew

Kron wasn’t powerful enough to take action against Sal-thaath. What

else could he do?

“I’m hungry,” Sal-thaath said from behind him. “When do we eat?”

“How did you know I was expecting you for lunch?” Kron asked.

“I was watching you, and you caught two fish.”

“Can’t you feed yourself with your magic?”

“I like it better when someone else cooks. Sometimes I take sweet

bread or fruit tarts from a baker. Or sometimes when Mother is busy

studying, I bring her back a meat pie.”

No need to ask if the boy paid for the food. Kron simply nodded and

prodded one of the fish with a stick. “They’re done. Help yourself.”

Sal-thaath reached out with his bare hands for the closest fish,

yelped, and snatched up a pair of sticks to hold his meal. Kron claimed

the second fish before the boy ate both. He was definitely hungry;

maybe Kron could use that to reach him.

“Does your mother ever cook?” he asked.

“She never learned how. She said when she was growing up, they

had servants and slaves to cook and make their clothes.”

“She’s the daughter of a city-king, isn’t she?”

Sal-thaath shifted as if the ground had become uncomfortable.

“Mother says she’d rather be on her own, owing nothing to anyone, than

be a city-queen.”

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“But people need each other,” Kron said. “How can you grow crops

and build a house and cook your meals and weave cloth all by your-

self?”

“With magic, of course.”

“But someone had to figure out how to do those things without

magic first before magician could create spells and artifacts to warm

food or keep it from spoiling. And what would you do if your spell

failed?”

Sal-thaath glared contemptuously at him as though he were the

teacher and Kron the student about to be forced out of the Magic Insti-

tute. “Magic doesn’t fail any more than the sun does, or the rivers. In

fact, Mother says soon we’ll have a brand new source of magic to draw

on.”

“The golden haze in the sky?” Kron asked.

Surprise broke out on Sal-thaath’s face. “How did you know about

that? You must be more double-clever than Mother says you are.”

“I did create the sight-enhancer she’s using.”

Sal-thaath frowned. “But it broke. Maybe you should come fix it.

Then Mother would respect you, and you could live with us forever.”

“But I don’t want to.” At Sal-thaath’s stricken expression, Kron

quickly added, “I mean, I like your company, Sal-thaath, but I need to

return home to Delns and visit my family. It’s been a long time since

I’ve seen them, and I don’t know how they’re faring.”