Storm Glass (28 page)

  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.”

19

I GROANED.
Pazia detested me as much as I disliked her. It would be difficult to become a team and convince a black market diamond seller to reveal his source.

  “What’s the problem?” Zitora asked.

  “She thinks I’m worthless. A One-Trick Wonder,” I blurted.

  “You’re not…” She paused. “Hearing it from me won’t change your perceptions. If you want to
believe
you’re a One-Trick Wonder, fine by me. Just don’t say it to me
ever
again. Understand?”

  Stunned by her order, I drew in a breath before replying. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good.” Zitora leaned forward in her chair. “You’re an adult now, Opal. In order to be successful with this mission, you’ll have to overcome your differences with Pazia. She’s a strong magician. Maybe a Master. I’m certain she will behave in a professional manner toward you, especially since you’re going to pretend you’re best friends when you meet the diamond sellers today.”

  “Today?” Why did troublesome events have to happen so fast? Why couldn’t I digest the information first, and then spring into action?

  “This afternoon you’re to meet with Fisk and Pazia at the Unity Fountain. Do you know where it is?”

  “Yes.”

  “Once there, Fisk’ll take you to a place to change and be briefed before he leads you to the seller. Do you have any questions?”

  “Change into what?”

  “Expensive clothes and obnoxious jewels. You’re supposed to be rich, too.”

  “How will I tell if the diamonds are fake?”

  Zitora opened her desk drawer and removed a small box. She handed it to me. “Open it.”

  I lifted the red velvet-covered lid. Inside a diamond the size of my fingernail sparkled. Clear as glass, yet the light played deep within the stone, obscuring the red velvet behind it. I marveled at the reflections jumping from the many facets on the diamond.

  “You can touch it.” Amusement colored her voice.

  I pinched the diamond between my thumb and forefinger. Cold stabbed my finger pads and a brief image of snow-covered mountains filled my mind. Then heat seared my hand as the mental image transformed into burning mountains. A mere second later, the gem cooled to body temperature, and a slight vibration hummed against my skin.

  My tongue stuck to dry teeth. I swallowed, and the hard motion scratched my throat. “Do you feel a…flash when you touch it?” I asked.

  “Flash?”

  “Feel cold through your fingers and get a mental image?”

  “No. If I charged it with magic, I could feel the potential, but right now, it’s inert.” She studied me. “Does the flash mean you’ll be able to tell the difference?”

  “Yes.” I closed the lid.

  “Any other questions?” Zitora placed her hand on my shoulder. Her comforting gesture reminded me of Ulrick.

  “What should I tell Ulrick?”

  “Nothing about the diamonds. The fewer people who know, the better.”

  “He’s not going to like the idea,” I said. Even though there was plenty for him to do in the glass shop. Equipment and supplies were being delivered every day. Soon the shop would be ready to use.

  “You’re just going to have to convince him.” She smirked. “Good luck with that. He has an overdeveloped stubborn streak and has decided to be your protector. Ditching him will be your hardest task today.”

  “Thanks.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.