“With your sais?”

“With my sais, self-defense, knife fighting…” I swept my hand out. “Everything.”

He whistled. “You might make a few people nervous.”

“They’re already nervous. Have you been ordered not to?”

“Nope. But you’re going to have to dedicate a lot of time each day.”

“How much?”

“You’ll have to build up to at least four hours a day. Six would be better.”

“Six, then.”

He considered. “Don’t you have classes?”

“In the afternoon. I’m free all morning.” I would skip the two refresher classes Master Bloodgood assigned and deal with the consequences when they arrived.

“When do you want to start?”

“Now if possible.”

I soaked in the hot water, letting my bruised muscles relax. Captain Marrok had started my session by sparring with me. No weapons, just hand-to-hand combat to gauge how much I knew. Not a lot, but not beyond hope, either.

Taking my time, I washed the horse hair, sweat and grime from my body, luxuriating in the Keep’s bathhouse. When I finally returned to my rooms, Mara had already arrived.

We chatted about the glass shop for a while, but Mara sat on the edge of the couch, causing me to wonder why she couldn’t relax.

“I received a message from Mother,” Mara said.

A bite of annoyance nipped me. Since Mara moved to the Keep, I never received letters from our parents anymore, though a message meant my mother had used one of my glass animals through the magicians stationed in Sitia’s major cities. With my encounter with the Council, my parents had gotten special permission to send messages via the relay station in Booruby. “And?”

“Well…” Mara fiddled with the hem on her shirt. “They’re worried about you and want you to know you can come home anytime.”

I could just imagine the look on my mother’s face when she spotted my entourage trailing behind me. However, from my sister’s discomfort, I knew there was more. I waited.

“They’re planning to come for your graduation.” Mara plucked at her sleeve. “Ahir is coming too.”

“It will be great to see them,” I said.

“Perhaps you can talk to Mother about…you know.” She made a vague half wave with her hand.

“No. I don’t know. Come on, Mara, what are you dancing around? You can tell me, we’re sisters.”

“Really?” She finally met my gaze. Ire pulled her lips taut. “So why do I have to hear about your…adventures from Leif? Why do you always change the subject when I ask what happened to you in Ixia?”

“It’s difficult to talk about…Ulrick. Answer all the same questions.” Weak. “Leif knows…” Weaker. I rubbed my shoulder. Even though the wound no longer remained, my muscles ached.

The real reason I avoided the subject with Mara became clear. I hadn’t wanted her to believe I was a simpleton for falling for Devlen’s lies.

“Mara.” I held her hand. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been and am an idiot. The whole thing with Ulrick…I was such a fool.”

She squeezed my fingers. “You were used. That bastard, tricking you and making you believe his lies. It’s not your fault he played his role so well. If I ever see Ulrick again, I’m going to chop off a certain body part of his with Leif’s machete! ”

“Ulrick—”

“Should have told you he was on an undercover mission.” Mara tsked.

I paused in shock. Yelena had made Leif and me promise not to tell the truth about Devlen and Ulrick to anybody, but I had thought he would be honest with my sister. I hoped to eventually confide in her, but I couldn’t break my promise.

“At least you helped rescue the Stormdancer. I heard he was rather grateful. Did you two melt any snow?” She leaned back. All was forgiven.

I detailed my relationship with Kade for Mara, but in the back of my mind I wondered what Yelena planned to tell him about the other situation. Would she confide our strategy to pretend I was fooled? Would he then doubt his feelings for me? Or would he instinctively see through the ruse? Either way, my desire to see him flared and simmered in my chest.

The next morning I arrived for my training session, pushing as far as possible without exhausting myself. My afternoon classes of Money Management and Societal Trends were more interesting than I expected. Concentrating on the topics helped me to ignore the rather pointed stares and gawks from my fellow students.

As graduating magicians, my class would be assigned positions throughout Sitia. We would be living on our own and earning an income for the first time.

I gained new insight during the lecture on message priority in the Societal Trends session with Professor Greenblade. The ability to send a message over long distances almost instantly created a new department in the Sitian government. A few of my classmates would be appointed to work the relay stations. The government was in the process of drafting a series of protocols for those wanting to send a message to another town.

The Master Magicians and high-ranking officials, like Leif and Yelena, all had their own glass animals for communication. The Council members held priority status. Their messages were sent without question or delay. Business owners and the public wanted to use them, too. Their demands increased as knowledge of the relay stations spread throughout Sitia.

“More and more people will want access.” Dax Greenblade’s sea-green eyes scanned the students. “How will they put this new magic to use?”