Magic Study - Study 2

Chapter Eleven

“No,” I said. “You will not be my instructor.”

“No choice,” said the Stable Master. He glanced at Cahil then me, looking puzzled. “There’s no one else and Fourth Magician insists you start right away.”

“What if I help you muck out the stables and feed the horses? Will you have time to teach me then?” I asked the Stable Master.

“Young lady, you already have plenty to do. You’ll be mucking and caring for your own horse, as well as studying your lessons. Cahil’s been a stable rat since he was six. No one, other than me…” He grinned. “…knows more about horses.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “Fine. As long as he knows more about horses than he does about people.”

Cahil cringed. Good.

“But I keep this horse,” I said.

“She’s a walleye,” Cahil said.

“A what?” I asked.

“She has blue eyes. That’s bad luck. And she’s been bred by the Sandseed Clan. Their horses are difficult to train.”

Kiki snorted at Cahil. Mean Boy.

“A silly superstition and an unfair reputation. Cahil, you should know better,” the Stable Master said. “She’s a perfectly good horse. Whatever’s going on between you and Yelena, you’ll have to work it out. I’ve no time to babysit.” With that, he stalked away, once more muttering to himself.

Cahil and I glared at each other for a while until Kiki nudged my arm, looking for peppermints.

“Sorry, girl, no more,” I said, holding out my empty hand. She tossed her head, and resumed grazing.

Cahil stared at me. I crossed my arms over my chest, but they seemed an inadequate barrier between us. I would have preferred thick marble walls. He had exchanged his traveling clothes for a plain white shirt and tight-fitting jodhpurs, but he still wore his black riding boots.

“You’ll have to live with your decision about the horse. But if you’re going to fight me every time I try to teach you something, let me know now, and I won’t waste my time.”

“Irys wants me to learn, so I’ll learn.”

He appeared satisfied. “Good. First lesson starts now.” He climbed over the pasture’s fence. “Before you learn how to ride a horse, you must know everything about your horse from the physical to the emotional.” Cahil clicked his tongue at Kiki, and when she ignored him, he approached her. Just as he came up beside her she turned, knocking him over with her rump.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Every time he tried to get near, Kiki either moved away or bumped into him.

His face red with frustration, Cahil finally said, “The hell with this. I’m getting a halter.”

“You hurt her feelings when you said she was bad luck,” I explained. “She’ll cooperate if you apologize.”

“How would you know?” Cahil demanded.

“I just know.”

“You didn’t even know how to dismount a horse. I’m not that stupid,” he said.

When he started to climb over the fence, I said, “I know the same way I knew Topaz wanted milk oats.”

Cahil stopped, waiting.

I sighed. “Topaz told me he wanted the treat. I connected with his mind by accident, so I asked him to go smoother because my back hurt. It’s the same with Kiki.”

Cahil pulled at his beard. “The First Magician said you had strong magical abilities. I guess I should have known it before, but I was too focused on the spy thing.” He looked at me as if noticing me for the first time.

For a second, I thought I witnessed cold calculation slide through Cahil’s blue eyes, but it disappeared, leaving me to wonder if I had seen anything at all.

“Her name’s Kiki?” he asked.

I nodded. Cahil returned to Kiki and apologized. I felt a sudden peevish annoyance. He should have been apologizing to me for all the pain he had caused. Spy thing, my ass.

Push Mean Boy? Kiki asked.

No. Be nice. He’s going to teach me to care for you.

Cahil gestured for me to join him near Kiki. I clambered over the fence. As Kiki stood her ground, Cahil pointed to and lectured about the different parts of her body. Starting with her muzzle, he didn’t stop until he had lifted her right back hoof and showed me the underside.

“Same time tomorrow,” he said, ending the lesson. “Meet me in the stable. We’ll go over horse care.”

Before he could head back to the barn, I stopped him. Now that my annoyance that he was my instructor was gone, I wondered why he was here. “Why are you teaching me? I thought your campaign for the Ixian throne would take up most of your time.”

Well aware of how I felt about his quest, Cahil studied me, seeking for signs of sarcasm.

“Until I receive the full support of the Sitian Council, I can only do so much,” he said. “Besides, I need money to pay for my expenses. Most of my men are employed at the Keep as guards or gardeners, depending on what’s needed.” He wiped his hands on his pants, staring at the horses in the pasture. “When the Keep is on hiatus during the hot season, I focus all my efforts on gathering support. This season I thought I would finally get the Council’s backing.” Cahil looked at me. “But that didn’t work out. So I’m back to work and back to begging the Council to put me on their agenda.” He frowned and shook his head. “Tomorrow, then?”

“Tomorrow.” I watched Cahil as he walked to the stable. He had been counting on catching an Ixian spy to influence the Council. I wondered what he would try next.

Kiki nudged my arm and I scratched behind her ears before I returned to my rooms. Rummaging around for some paper, I sat at my desk and drew a crude sketch of a horse. I labeled the parts that I could remember. Topaz and Kiki helped me with the rest.

The connection I had formed with the two horses was odd yet comforting. It was as if we were all in the same room, doing different tasks and minding our own business and having our own private thoughts. But when one of us would “speak” directly to the other, we would “hear” it. I only had to think about Kiki and her thoughts would fill my mind. The same was true with Irys. I didn’t need to pull power and project it to Irys. All I needed to do was think about her.

Over the next week, my days fell into a pattern. Mornings spent with Irys to learn about magic, afternoons spent napping, studying and practicing my self-defense techniques. Evenings were spent with Cahil and Kiki. As I moved throughout the campus, I kept a wary eye out for Goel. I hadn’t forgotten his threat.

Not long into my magical training, Irys began testing me for other abilities.

“Let’s see if you can start a fire,” Irys said one morning. “This time, when you pull in the power, I want you to concentrate on lighting this candle.” She placed a candlestick in front of me.

“How?” I asked, sitting up. I had been reclining on the pillows in her tower room, thinking about Kiki. It had been a week, and I still hadn’t ridden her. So far, Cahil had spent every lesson teaching me about horse care and tack. What an annoying man.

“Think of a single flame before you direct your magic.” Irys demonstrated. “Fire,” she said. The candle flared and burned before she blew it out. “Your turn.”

I focused on the candle’s wick, forming a flaming image in my mind. Pushing magic toward the candle, I willed it to light. Nothing happened.

Irys made a strangled sound and the candle burned. “Are you directing your magic to the candle?”

“Yes. Why?”

“You just ordered me to light the candle for you,” Irys said in exasperation. “And I did it.”

“Is that bad?”

“No. I hope you know how to light a fire the mundane way, because, so far, it seems that’s not part of your magical skills. Let’s try something else.”

I tried to move a physical object with no success. Unless making Irys do it for me could be considered a magical skill.

She raised her mental defenses, blocking out my influence. “Try again. This time focus on keeping control.”

As I pulled in power, Irys threw a pillow at me. The pillow struck me in the stomach. “Hey!”

“You were supposed to deflect it with your magic. Try again.”

By the end of the session, I was glad Irys had chosen a pillow. Otherwise, I would have been covered with bruises.

“I think you just need to practice your control,” Irys said, refusing to give up. “Get some rest. You’ll do better tomorrow.”

Before leaving, I asked something that had been on my mind for several days. “Irys, can I see more of the Citadel? And I need to exchange my Ixian coins for Sitian so I can buy some items and clothes. Is there a marketplace?”

“Yes, but it’s only open one day a week during the hot season.” She paused for a moment, considering. “I’ll give you market days off. No lessons. You can explore the Citadel or do whatever you want. It’ll be open in two days. In the meantime, I’ll exchange your money.”

Irys couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lecture me on spending money wisely. “Your expenses are covered while you’re in the Keep. But once you graduate, you’ll be on your own. You’ll earn wages as a magician, of course,” Irys said. “But don’t give your money away.” She smiled to ease the reprimand. “We don’t like to encourage the beggars.”

The image of the dirty little boy rose in my mind. “Why don’t they have any money?” I asked.

“Some are lazy, preferring to beg instead of work. Others are unable to work because of physical or mental problems. The healers can only do so much. And some gamble or spend their money faster than they can earn it.”

“But what about the children?”

“Runaways, orphans or the offspring of the homeless. The hot season is the worst time for them. Once school starts and the Citadel is populated again, there are places they can go for food and shelter.” Irys touched my shoulder. “Don’t worry about them, Yelena.”

I mulled over Irys’s comments on my way back to my rooms.

That evening, while teaching me to saddle and bridle Kiki in her barn stall, Cahil asked, “What’s gotten into you? You’ve been snapping at me all night.”

Lavender Lady upset, Kiki agreed.

I sucked in a deep breath, preparing to apologize, but an unbidden torrent of words poured from my mouth instead. “You want Ixia so you can be king. So you can collect taxes, sit on a throne and wear a crown of jewels while the people suffer like they did under your uncle. So your henchmen like Goel can kill innocent children when their parents can’t pay the taxes for your fine silk clothes, or so they can kill the parents, leaving their offspring homeless and beggars.” My outburst ended as fast as it had begun.

Cahil gaped in shock, but recovered fast. “That’s not what I want,” he said. “I want to help the people of Ixia. So they have the freedom to wear whatever clothes they want instead of being forced to wear uniforms. So they can marry whomever they want without securing a permit from their district’s General. Live wherever they want, even if it’s in Sitia. I want the crown so I can free Ixia of the military dictatorship.”

His reasons sounded superficial. Would the people be any freer with him as their ruler? I didn’t believe his answer was the real reason. “What makes you think the Ixian people want you to free them? No government is perfect. Did it ever occur to you that the Ixians might be content under the Commander’s rule?” I asked.

“Were you content with your life in the north?” Cahil asked. An intensity held his body rigid while he waited for my response.

“I had unusual circumstances.”

“Such as?”

“None of your business.”

“Let me guess,” Cahil said with a superior tone.

I clutched my arms to keep from punching him.

“A kidnapped southerner with magical abilities? That is unusual. But do you think you were the first person that Fourth Magician had to rescue? Northerners are born with magical powers, too. My uncle was a Master Magician. And you know what the Commander does to anyone found with power.”

Valek’s words echoed in my mind. Anyone found in the Territory of Ixia with magical power was killed. Magicians might be hunted in Ixia, but the rest of the citizens had everything they needed.

“We’re not that different, Yelena. You were born in Sitia and raised in Ixia, and I’m an Ixian raised in Sitia. You have returned home. I’m only trying to find mine.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but snapped it shut when Irys spoke in my mind. Yelena, come to the infirmary right away.

Are you all right? I asked.

I’m fine. Just come.

Where’s the infirmary?

Have Cahil show you. Then her magical energies withdrew.

I told Cahil what Irys required. Without hesitation, he removed Kiki’s saddle and bridle. We hung them in the tack room before we headed for the center of the Keep. I had to jog to keep up with him.

“Did she say what this was about?” he asked over his shoulder.

“No.”

We entered a one-story building. The marble walls were a soothing pale blue, resembling ice. A young man in a white uniform moved about the lobby, lighting lanterns. The sun’s rays had begun to disappear for the day.

“Where’s Irys?” I asked the young man.

He looked puzzled.

Cahil said, “Fourth Magician.”

“She’s with Healer Hayes,” he said, and when we failed to move, the man pointed to a long corridor. “Down the hall. Fifth door on the left.”

“Few call her Irys,” Cahil explained as we hurried down the empty hallway.

We stopped at the fifth one. The door was closed.

“Come in,” Irys called before I could knock.

I opened the door. Irys stood next to a man dressed in white. Healer Hayes perhaps. A figure lay under a sheet spread over a bed in the center of the room. Bandages shrouded the face.

Leif hunched in a chair in the corner of the room, looking horrified. When he spotted me, he asked, “What’s she doing here?”

“I asked her to come. She may be able to help,” Irys said.

“What’s going on?” I asked Irys.

“Tula was found in Booruby near death. Her mind has fled, and we can’t reach her,” Irys explained. “We need to find out who did this to her.”

“I can’t feel her,” Leif said. “The other Master Magicians can’t reach her. She’s gone, Fourth Magician. You’re just wasting time.”

“What happened?” Cahil asked.

“Beaten, tortured, raped,” the healer said. “You name something horrible, and it’s probably been done to her.”

“And she was fortunate,” Irys said.

“How can you call that fortunate?” Cahil demanded. His outrage evident in the sudden tautness of his shoulders, the strident tone in his voice.

“She escaped with her life,” Irys replied. “None of the others were so lucky.”

“How many?” I asked, not really wanting to know, but unable to stop the words.

“She is the eleventh victim. The others were all found dead, brutalized in the same manner.” A look of disgust etched Irys’s face.

“How can I help?” I asked.

“Mental healing is my strongest power, yet you reached the Commander and brought him back when I couldn’t,” she said.

“What?” Cahil cried. “You helped the Commander?”

His outrage focused on me. I ignored him.

“But I knew the Commander. I had an idea of where to look,” I said to Irys. “I’m not sure I can help you.”

“Try anyway. The bodies have been discovered in different towns throughout Sitia. We haven’t been able to find a reason for the killings and we have no suspects. We need to catch this monster.” Irys pulled at her hair. “Unfortunately, this is the kind of situation you will be asked to deal with when you become a magician. Consider this a learning experience.”

I moved closer to the bed. “May I hold her hand?” I asked the healer.

He nodded and pulled the sheet back, revealing the girl’s torso. Between the blood-soaked bandages, her skin looked like raw meat. Cahil cursed. I glanced at Leif; his face remained turned to the wall.

Splinted with pieces of wood, each of the girl’s fingers must have been broken. I gently took her hand, rubbing my fingertips along her palm. Pulling a thread of power, I closed my eyes and projected my energy to her.

Her mind felt abandoned. The sense that she had fled and would never come back filled the emptiness. Gray intangible ghosts floated in her mind. Upon closer examination, each specter represented Tula’s memory of a specific horror. The ghosts’ faces twisted with pain, terror and fear. Raw emotions began to sink into my skin. I pushed the ghosts away, concentrating on finding the real Tula who was most likely hiding some place where her horrors couldn’t reach her.

I felt a sensation along my arms as if long grass tickled my skin. The clean earthy scent of a dew-covered meadow lingered in the air, but I couldn’t follow the source. I searched until my energy became depleted and I could no longer hold the connection.

At last, I opened my eyes. I sat on the floor with the girl’s hand still clutched in mine. “Sorry. I can’t find her,” I said.

“I told you it was a waste of time,” Leif said. He rose from his corner. “What did you expect from a northerner?”

“You can expect me not to give up as easily as you have,” I called before he stalked out of the room.

I frowned at his retreating form. There had to be another way to wake Tula.

The healer took the girl’s hand from mine and tucked it back under the sheet. I remained on the floor as he and Irys discussed the girl’s condition. Her body would heal, they thought, but she would probably never regain her senses. It sounded as though she would be mindless like the children Reyad and Mogkan had created in Ixia when they had siphoned their magical power, leaving behind nothing but empty soulless bodies. I shivered at the memory of how the two evil men had tried to break me.

I brought my mind back to Tula’s problems. How had I found the Commander? He had retreated to the place of his greatest accomplishment. The place where he felt the happiest and in the most control.

“Irys,” I interrupted. “Tell me everything you know about Tula.”

She considered for a moment. I could see questions perched on her lips.

Trust me, I sent to her.

“It’s not much. Her family operates a profitable glass factory right outside Booruby,” Irys said. “This is their busy season, so they keep the kilns going all the time. Tula was to keep the fire hot during the night. The next morning when her father came out to work, the coals were cold and Tula was gone. They searched for many days. She was finally found twelve days later in a farmer’s field barely alive. Our healer in Booruby tended her physical wounds. But her mind was unreachable, so they rushed her here to me.” Irys’s disappointment shone on her face.

“Does Tula have any siblings?” I asked.

“Several. Why?”

I thought hard. “Any close to her age?”

“I think a younger sister.”

“How much younger?”

“Not much. A year and a half maybe.” Irys guessed.

“Can you bring her sister here?”

“Why?”

“With her sister’s help, I might be able to bring Tula back.”

“I’ll send a message.” Irys turned to the healer. “Hayes, let me know if Tula’s condition changes.”

Hayes nodded and Irys marched out the door.

Cahil and I followed. He said nothing as we left the infirmary and stepped into the twilight. With the sun almost gone, the air cooled and a faint breeze touched my face. I sucked in the freshness, trying to dilute the bitter smell of the girl’s horror.

“Pretty bold,” Cahil said, glancing at me. “To think you can reach her when a Master Magician could not.” Cahil strode away.

“Pretty stupid,” I called after his retreating form. “To give up before all possible solutions have been tried.”

Cahil continued to walk without acknowledging my comments. Fine. He had given me another reason to prove him wrong.