“It should not be up when you are at the shop.”

“It isn’t.”

“Hale has reported that you have not accessed the power source.”

“Hale?” I thought. “Oh! Skippy.”

“Opal.” First Magician’s voice sliced the air. “He is a magician and your elder. You must show him respect.”

“I’ll show him respect when he earns it.” I marveled at my audacity. This refusal to back down and be a good little girl had bubbled from deep inside.

“Is he the reason you are not producing the messengers?”

“No. It’s the null shield.” The penetrating way Master Bloodgood looked at me sent warning vibrations along my spine. If he wanted, he could lift the null shield and read my mind. He could force me to craft my glass if the Council granted him permission. The Ethical Code didn’t apply to convicted criminals.

“I see.” A shrewd gleam shone in his eyes. “I will talk to the Council. However, if they agree, Hale might be assigned as your almost constant companion.”

“He shouldn’t hinder my work.” An annoyance, but I could deal with his presence. One thing at a time. First the null shield.

The Council granted my request after a week-long debate. By this time, the shortage of glass messengers had reached a critical level. I increased my output and filled orders. Skippy and his friends, Junior and Buddy, took turns babysitting me.

At the beginning of the warm season, I invited Pazia to my rooms after my shift in the glass shop. Fifteen days had passed since I won my concession.

As soon as my door closed, she asked, “Why do you think babysitters are better than the null shield?”

“I’m hoping to outwit the babysitters.”

“Good luck.” She pulled her golden hair out of a ponytail, letting it cascade past her shoulders. Even dressed in stained work clothes, her slim waist and petite build were enhanced. She could wear a burlap sack and still have Piecov follow her around like a dog in heat.

“Tea?” I offered.

“Sure.” She glanced around my living area. “You could use a few pretties to brighten up the place.”

“I’m not allowed to have glass in here.”

“Oh.”

I placed a couple chunks of wood on the banked coals, prodding a fire to life for the teakettle.

“Mara would flip if she knew you had her coal.” Pazia grinned. “How about you do my mathematical assignment and I won’t rat you out?”

“Nice try. I’d rather endure Mara’s lecture than do pages of equations.”

“Me, too. I used to be able to get out of doing those assignments.”

I poured the hot water into two mugs. “How?”

“Most of my instructors were weaker than me. I just convinced them they had seen my homework.”

A reminder of how powerful she had been. She’d had the potential to be a Master Magician if it wasn’t for me. I handed her a steaming mug.

“Don’t start,” she said, correctly reading my expression. “You defended yourself.” She sipped her tea. “I’m sure you didn’t invite me here to reminisce.”

“No. We could only do that if we had good times together.”

“Well, visiting you in jail was fun for me,” Pazia teased.

“And saving you from those thugs at the jewelry store was fun for me,” I countered.

“All right. Point taken.”

We drank our tea in silence. I then asked her about her diamond-edged bowl. “Where did you get the idea?”

“The cobalt glass reminds me of sapphires and I love sapphires with diamonds. Blue and silver.”

“Where did you get the diamonds?”

She shot me a shrewd look. “You’re going someplace with this. Right?”

“Right.”

“I bought them from Elita. And, yes, she’s still in business. She helped to capture Mr. Lune, so was only slapped with a huge fine and probation for selling black-market diamonds.”

“Could the diamonds give you a power boost?”

“From hardly anything to barely something?” Sarcasm rendered her voice sharp. She drew in a breath, held it and released it. “Sorry. At a quarter carat, the diamonds are too small to hold any usable power. Maybe if I had put carat-size or larger on the bowl, I could enhance my magic.”

“How about if you put the diamond inside the glass?”

“Why would you do that?” The idea dismayed her.

I explained about the glass animals in Ognap with their ruby hearts.

“Odd. Most people who own jewels want to be able to touch them.”

“I felt a vibration, but I thought that was just me.” The animals had pulsed in my hand as if their hearts beat.

“It is you. Normal people feel a connection to the stone. More an affection than an actual buzz. To encase it in glass would…frustrate me. I would never do it.”

“I guess your father doesn’t mind. The sculptures had Vasko certificates.”

Pazia thumped her mug on the end table. “My father would never allow anyone to put his rubies in glass. Are you sure the certificates were genuine?”

“No. They could have been fakes. But how can your father control where his rubies go? Once he sells them, they could be resold without his knowledge.”

A humorless smile spread on her face. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to get your way when you have a lot of money and power. My father has contracts with his sellers to ensure they are sold properly. He hires auditors and undercover investigators to keep track of them.