Spy Glass

by Maria V. Snyder

  words.

  “It’s just a couple weeks,” I rushed to explain. “When I get

  back, I’m going to find her a proper home. I just don’t have

  time right now.”

  “I have to think about it and talk to Leif. In the meantime,

  please consider Mother’s advice.”

  “Slow down and think?”

  “Since you came back from Hubal, you’ve been different.

  I think you’ve lost your purpose, and are just dashing around

  looking for something to call your own. The factory in Fulgor,

  the apartment, Reema. Raising a child is a huge responsibility, you—”

  “Forget it. I’ll find someone else.” I left the mixing

  room.

  Mara knew nothing about my purpose. She didn’t under-

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  Maria V. Snyder

  stand. Couldn’t. On my way out, I almost ran into the first-

  year student I had helped.

  Keelin jumped back. “Sorry.”

  I waved her off. “My fault.”

  “Opal, wait,” Keelin said.

  I

  turned.

  She handed me the dolphin I had made. “It’s pretty. You

  should display it.”

  Absently, I glanced at it. “Thanks. How did your paper-

  weight turn out?”

  “Like a clump of dirt kicked up by a horse.” She laughed.

  “But you were right, my latest one is better. And I tried to

  make a dolphin, too.”

  “Good for you. How did it look?”

  “Not as sleek as yours and it didn’t f lash, either.”

  “Flash?”

  Keelin pointed to the shelves filled with finished pieces

  from the annealing oven. “When anyone in here used magic,

  it would f lash. I thought since you…you know…with the

  glass…that it was supposed…” Her voice petered out.

  Odd. “Must have been a trick of the light.”

  “You’re probably right.” A queasy relief shone on her

  face.

  I hurried away. Out in the bright sunlight, I examined

  the dolphin. Nothing out of the ordinary. When I encoun-

  tered a few pools of magic, nothing happened, just as I had

  suspected.

  Stopping by the infirmary, I visited Teegan. Reema read

  to her brother. She held the book up to the lantern light. His

  room didn’t have a window. Teegan didn’t seem to mind the

  gloom. He listened to the story with his eyes closed anyway and a half smile on his lips. I waited for her to reach a break.

  Magic touched my cheek.

  “Fire Lady’s here,” Teegan said without opening his eyes.

  “Your control has improved,” I said.

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  He peered at me with a sly smile. Impishness danced in his

  gray eyes.

  “And you’re feeling much better, aren’t you?”

  He sat up in his bed. “Yep!”

  “Good. Now you can tell me why you call me Fire

  Lady.”

  He glanced at the dolphin in my hand. “Did you bring me

  a present?”

  “You’re trying to change the subject.”

  “Can I see it?” He reached.

  “Only if you answer my question.” Ha!

  Holding a hand out, he said, “The dolphin will tell you.”

  “Tee,” Reema warned. “Don’t.”

  “Why

  not?”

  She waggled her fingers as if communicating to him. He

  scratched his nose and tapped his shoulder.

  Reema grunted in frustration. “She won’t believe you.”

  Teegan smiled. “Seeing is believing.” He turned to me.

  “May I see your dolphin please?”

  He played it just right, making me curious and hitting me

  with a polite request. I handed him the dolphin. He placed it

  on the table next to his bed. Folding his hands, he closed his

  eyes.

  Magic spread from him. It was slow and in control. Impres-

  sive. When it reached the dolphin, the glass animal blazed

  with light. He pulled back and the glow died.

  I grabbed the statue. “Do it again…please.”

  The magic swelled, and the light returned. I handed it to

  Reema. “One more time.”

  She squealed in delight when fire burst from the glass.

  I met Teegan’s gaze. He said, “I call you the Fire Lady be-

  cause you have magic trapped inside you and when you—”

  “Teegan!” Reema jumped to her feet. “Be quiet!”

  “Doesn’t matter now, Ree.” He swept an arm out. “We

  found a home.”

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  Maria V. Snyder

  “You found a home. I’m still too young. And you’re going to scare her.”

  “Has Master Jewelrose tested you?” I asked her.

  She nodded. “I don’t have any magic.”

  “Not that the Master can detect,” Teegan said. “I’d bet you

  a hunk of bread Fire Lady has felt it.”

  “You’re guessing,” I said.

  “So? I’m right. Aren’t I?”

  “Teegan, that superior attitude won’t help you make friends

  at the Keep,” I admonished with a stern tone.

  His arrogant manner remained. “Now you’re trying to

  change the subject. You felt Reema use magic, didn’t you?”

  “I thought it was from her. But I could be wrong.”

  “No, you weren’t wrong. The trapped magic burns inside

  you. You feel power. Even when it’s a tiny bit. Even when

  the person doesn’t even know she’s using it. When you touch

  magic, there’s a faint shimmer around you. A glow. You can’t

  see it. Reema and I can, but—”

  “No one else. How convenient,” I said.

  A sullen pout creased his face. “That’s right. We’re a couple

  of homeless street urchins. Why believe us?” He f lopped on

  his pillow and turned his back on me.

  His words slapped me in the face. It hadn’t been too long

  ago that I had fought to convince my friends and colleagues

  about an unbelievable twist of blood magic.

  I sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m sorry. It’s hard for me

  to believe you because…” Did I really want to tell him and

  Reema? “I’m immune to magic. No power can be inside me.

  There’s nothing there.”

  Teegan rolled over. “Then why did your dolphin blaze with

  light?”

  “Your magic caused it to light up.”

  “Exactly.”

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  “But I have nothing to do with that. It’s all you,” I said.

  He hissed in frustration. “It’s both of us! You created the magic detector. I just supplied the magic to detect.”

  Magic detector? Hard to believe and even harder to wrap my head around. Yet Teegan and Reema took the revelation in stride. They didn’t understand enough about magic

  to think it odd. Who really understood it? As each generation

  reached puberty, new wrinkles seemed to develop.

  I reviewed our conversation and remembered Keelin’s com-

  ment. “If no one can see me…shimmer when I encounter

  magic, then why can they see the dolphin light up?”

  Teegan shrugged. “Probably the glass works like a…” He

  cast about for the right word. “One of those…things that

  increases the light.”

  “Like a magnifying glass?” Which was also used for my

&n
bsp; spyglass.

  “Yeah. The glass magnifies the glow so everyone can see

  it.”

  His explanation sounded logical. “Reema, why did you

  think the information would scare me?”

  She shrugged and dipped her head. Her long corkscrew

  curls hung in her face.

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  Crouching down, I lifted her chin and looked her in the

  eye. “Worried I would leave you?”

  The slightest nod.

  “It’s going to happen no matter what. In fact, I’m leaving

  tomorrow for a mission for Master Jewelrose.”

  Her features hardened into her tough street kid mask.

  “I’m trying to find a sitter for you. And don’t worry so

  much.” I tucked a curl behind her ear. “When I’m done, I’ll

  come back and find you a home.” I straightened and picked

  up the dolphin, shoving it into a pocket. “And I’ll figure out

  what this means. For now, can you keep it quiet?”

  They gave me their solemn promise. As I left the infirmary,

  I realized my intentions for full disclosure had failed. I’d kept many things from the Council and others—my immunity,

  being trapped by a null shield and now the magic detectors.

  If I recovered my blood, those secrets would be moot. And

  they couldn’t mourn the loss of something they never had.

  Right?

  Or were my motives a bit more complicated? If Pazia’s super

  messengers proved to be legitimate, the Council might think

  I was better off with my immunity and confiscate my blood,

  claiming it was illegal for me to use it.

  I checked on Quartz and inspected my tack. The trip to

  Ognap would take nine days, including the shortcut through

  the Avibian Plains and a stop in Fulgor. As for my backup,

  the only way to reach Ari and Janco would be through a

  complicated series of message relays, starting with Leif. And

  there would be no guarantee my request would reach them

  in time. Instead, I planned to arrange for backup in Fulgor.

  “There you are!” a girl’s voice cried.

  I spun to see a young page hurrying toward me. She wore

  a Council uniform. A finger of unease slid under my ribs.

  “Opal Cowan, your presence is requested. You are to ac-

  company me,” she said.

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  Maria V. Snyder

  “Requested by whom?”

  “Councilor

  Moon.”

  I relaxed. “Tell her I’ll—”

  “You are to accompany me now.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “You will be violating a direct order of the Council.”

  “The whole Council? I thought you said—”

  “She is a representative of the Council. Her requests have

  the Council’s power.”

  The page’s haughty tone annoyed me. “Is it a request or an

  order?”

  She drew herself up to her full height, which was a few

  inches taller than me. “The request is her way of being

  polite.”

  I suppressed a chuckle at her increasing frustration. “Oh. A

  polite order. Why didn’t you say so? Lead on.”

  As I followed her from the Keep, I regretted giving her a

  hard time. She was a page, and had nothing to do with the

  Council’s decisions.

  Instead of taking me to Councilor Moon’s office in the

  Council Hall, she led me to Tama’s private residence. Each

  Councilor owned one of the town houses that had been built

  in a long row behind the Council Hall. All Sitia’s govern-

  ment buildings were located in the southeast quadrant of the

  Citadel.

  The door swung open as we approached, and Faith greeted

  me with a relieved smile. “Come in, come in.” She thanked

  the page and ushered me inside.

  Before I could say a word, Faith handed me a glass of red

  wine and gestured to an overstuffed white chair with black

  spots. All the living room’s furniture matched—black, white,

  or black with white circles. No other color had been invited.

  I felt out of sync in my comfortable tan tunic and dark brown

  pants.

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  Faith called to Tama before she settled on a solid black couch

  across from me. “We don’t know what to do,” she said.

  “Is this about Tama’s new assistant?” I asked.

  “No. After a thorough background search, we hired a sweet

  man. My only complaint is he’s a little too organized. Makes

  me feel sloppy in comparison.”

  “Wow. I didn’t think there was anyone more organized

  than you. But you can’t go by me. I thought the woman we

  hired before was a perfect candidate.”

  “We all did.” She shooed my comment away. “Leia didn’t

  have time to do any damage, and now we have Captain Alden

  and Zebb in charge of personnel.”

  “Zebb?”

  “Tama has come a long way,” Faith said. Her gaze slid past

  my shoulder.

  I turned in time to see the Councilor and Zebb enter the

  room. Tama carried the glass paperweight I had made for her.

  I had forgotten about it. Zebb sat in the chair next to mine,

  but she set the paperweight on the table before me.

  Tama remained standing and peered at me as if I had played

  a nasty trick on her. The desire to slouch down and avert my

  gaze f lared. I felt like a kid caught sneaking out.

  Not bothering with the niceties, she asked, “Did you know

  what this could do when you gave it to me?” She jabbed her

  finger at the glass.

  “No.”

  She softened a bit. “It scared the hell out of me the first

  time it exploded with light.”

  “I’m

  sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” She perched on the end of the couch, tuck-

  ing her long white skirt under her knees. “Once Zebb and I

  figured it out… It’s a wonderful tool, but I wasn’t sure what

  I should do about it.”

  I glanced at Zebb. Surely he had reported it to Bain

  by now.

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  Maria V. Snyder

  He pressed his lips together before saying, “Too many

  variables. We needed additional information. Can you make

  more?”

  Pulling the dolphin from my pocket, I placed it next to the

  paperweight. With a quick strike, Zebb’s magic touched the

  dolphin. It glowed red-hot.

  “That’s a yes,” he said.

  “Opal, what do you want us to do?” Tama asked.

  My thoughts scattered as shock slammed into me.

  Faith smiled at my reaction. “You’ve done so much for us.

  Did you really think we would do anything without consult-

  ing you first?”

  I tried to collect my wits, but they slipped away. “I didn’t…

  I just found out.”

  “How?” Zebb asked.

  “Two kids.” I told them about Teegan’s discovery.

  “I’ve heard of him,” Tama said. “Master Jewelrose was very

  excited. She thinks he may have master-level powers.”

  Not a surprise.

  “Is he the one who almost f lamed out?” Zebb asked.

  “Yes,” I said, but regretted it as three people turned to stare
at me.

  “You saved him, didn’t you?” Tama asked. “Master Blood-

  good said the boy was stopped, but not by who. The Coun-

  cilors assumed it was one of the Masters.”

  Faith added, “That means the Masters know about your

  immunity. Do they know about the detectors?”

  “Not

  yet.”

  “I understand about the detectors. You just found out, but

  why would you keep your immunity a secret now?” Tama

  asked.

  “Bain advised against it.” When spoken out loud, it sounded

  lame.

  Zebb nodded. “She’s a magician…or rather a… In any

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  case, Master Bloodgood is her boss. He makes the decisions

  regarding all the magicians in Sitia.”

  “He also said my immunity would scare the Council.”

  Tama agreed. “The Council has a love-hate feeling toward

  magic. On one hand, they’re skittish and on the other they’re

  all protected by it. To know you could walk through their

  magical defenses would be scary.” She picked up the paper-

  weight. “But this could cancel it out.”

  “You lost me,” I said.

  “The Council wouldn’t be afraid of you if you provide them

  with these detectors.” Tama brandished the glass in the air.

  “But it doesn’t protect them from me.”

  “They’d be grateful for the peace of mind. With so many

  magicians around, who knows what they’re doing. No of-

  fense, Zebb.” She shot him a tender smile. “But any one of

  them could be inf luencing our Council decisions. We could

  have sessions where no magic is allowed and your detector

  will ensure it.” Tama’s eyes blazed with her conviction.

  Before, I would have attributed Tama’s antimagicians rant

  to paranoia, but I remembered Leif ’s comment about Bain’s

  magical bodyguards. And perhaps it wasn’t all Tama’s idea. Her

  complete relaxation around Zebb was unexpected. However,

  the paperweight didn’t f lash, so she wasn’t under his magical

  inf luence.

  My head spun with all the potential complications and pos-

  sibilities. “I need to sort it out.” I stood. “I’m going to Ognap for Irys.” Yet another secret. I would soon need a chart to list who knew what. Would this be my life if I worked for Valek?

  Keeping secrets, telling lies and half-truths. “Can we decide

  what to do with these detectors when I return?” No sense

  getting everyone excited and then not be able to make them.

  It would be just like the crisis with my glass messengers.