“A good day’s work and you should have it all ordered,” my father said. “Just make sure Gid doesn’t charge you more than three silvers for a load of coal.”

Satisfied we were done, I placed the orb and three glass spiders on my father’s desk. “What do you think?”

He picked up the orb and examined it close to the lantern light. “Is this one of the Stormdance orbs?”

“No. It was made by another,” I said. When he raised an eyebrow, I continued, “Someone named Ash. He might be from the Krystal Clan.”

“Never heard of him. Hmm. Functional and a little misshapen, otherwise sturdy.” He gave the orb to Ulrick and picked up one of the spiders. “It looks like a real spider. Who made these?”

Time for a little creative explaining. “I did…in a way.”

Twin confused expressions peered at me. I steeled myself and launched into how I channeled Tricky’s attack into the glass orb. “One reason for the decision to build the Keep’s glass shop, so we can experiment with this ability.”

“So these are magical spiders inside here?” my father asked. “Do they glow like your other animals?”

“No glow, and Master Cowan couldn’t use the magic inside.”

“Are you going to tell me why this magician attacked you?”

“As long as you don’t tell Mother.”

Father considered. “Unless there is a need to tell her, I won’t say anything.”

I explained about Sir’s group and their desire to duplicate the Stormdancers’ orbs.

Before he could reply, a muted shout reached us through the windows. The door flew open and Leif stood in the threshold. His eyes filled with horror.

“Mara,” he panted. “Bit by a snake. Come. Help.”

18

LEIF BOLTED TO the factory. Ulrick, my father and I scrambled to our feet. Mara had been bitten and had mere minutes to live. In my rush to leave, I knocked the glass spiders to the floor, and crushed one under my boot.

By the time I arrived, Mara was in Leif’s arms. Sweat dripped from her forehead and her body shook. A decapitated fer de lance snake and a bloody machete lay next to her.

My father cursed. He knelt beside her leg. The bleeding punctures were above her ankle. The venom coursed through her leg. Shock froze all other emotions as I watched my sister die.

“Ahir ran for the healer. I tied a tourniquet under her knee. But that won’t save her,” Leif cried.

Suck the venom out, I thought and moved to ward her. Father yelped. A large brown spider scrambled onto Mara’s foot and bent over her wound. He drew his arm back to swat it away.

“No,” I yelled instinctively. “Let it alone.”

The spider stabbed its mouth into the bite. Its body grew like a water skin being filled. When it finished sucking, the spider vanished. Blood splashed on the floor.

“The poison’s gone,” I said.

“How do you know?” Leif asked with a voice laced with pain.

Everyone stared at me. “The spider told me.”

Without hesitation, without question, Leif untied the leather strap on Mara’s leg; my father covered the bite and rubbed her calf to improve the flow of clean blood back to her foot. Leif cradled her in his arms, and she was enduring Mother’s worried attentions in the kitchen in no time. I loved my family. Only they would take the magical spider’s appearance and rescue in stride. Questions would arise later, but, for now, they were focused on the happy result.

Ulrick remained in the factory, disposing of the dead snake and hunting for more.

“Mara, you should know better,” Father admonished. “Cold night and hot kilns draw the snakes into the factory. What were you doing?”

She glanced at Leif, who had his arm around her shoulders. “I was…preoccupied.”

“Doing what?” he demanded.

Kissing Leif, I guessed. As her cheeks turned pink, Mara silently appealed to Mother.

“Jaymes,” Mother said, “you left the lanterns burning in your lab. Are you planning to do more work tonight?”

Deftly distracted, my father returned to his lab. I followed. About halfway to the building, I stopped. My emotions melted and drenched me. Relief—Mara didn’t die. Surprise—she was saved by a spider. Shock—a spider who magically disappeared. Fear—it resembled one of Tricky’s spiders.

By the time I joined my father, he had his magnifying glass in hand, inspecting one of my glass spiders. “Just what I thought. It’s the same spider only smaller. Care to tell me what’s going on?”

“I would if I could.” I grabbed a dustpan and brush, sweeping up the crushed glass from the floor. “I stepped on one. Maybe I released the illusion?”

“That spider was no illusion. Are you sure you weren’t attacked by real spiders?”

I thought back. The beetles Tricky had used first were illusions. Or, as Zitora had explained, figments of my imagination planted by Tricky, which is why I had felt pain. His second strike hadn’t touched me. I channeled his magic before the spiders reached me, trapping his power. However, the creatures called to me in the glass, as if I had pulled the magic.

I collapsed into a chair. “I’m not sure of anything right now.”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Wait—”

Father tried to snap one of my glass spiders in half. He dropped it to the floor, stomping on it. Nothing. “These things are indestructible.”