I focused on the Stormdancers’ troubles to distract myself. We had left the Citadel through the south gate, headed southwest for a day to reach the border of the Stormdance lands, then turned west. Zitora hoped to arrive at the coast in another three days.
At various times throughout the trip, my worries over the mission had flared, and doubts jabbed my thoughts. If magic was involved, I wouldn’t be able to solve the problem and precious time would be wasted.
On the night of our fourth day, we stopped at a market in Thunder Valley. Zitora bought a Barbasco yam for me and managed to hand it over without any gloating. Impressive. My brother would have done an “I told you so” dance for weeks.
The market buzzed with activity. Vendors sold the usual fruits, vegetables and meats, but a strange shrub was heaped on a couple of tables. About three feet tall, the plant’s leaves were hairy and separated into leaflets.
“That’s indigo,” Zitora said when I asked. “It’s used to make ink, one of the Stormdance industries. They also make metal goods like those sais you carry.”
And they harvested storms. Busy clan.
I chewed on the yam as we hurried through our shopping. I would have enjoyed lingering over the glass- wares, but suppressed my disappointment. No sense complaining when exhaustion lined Zitora’s heart- shaped face, reminding me this wasn’t a pleasure trip. Perhaps we could stop on the way home.
After we secured our fresh supplies to the saddles, we mounted. I braced for the now-familiar jolt of protest from my abused muscles, but was surprised when none came. The yam worked fast.
Amusement lit her pale yellow eyes.
“Thanks for the yam, Zit…er…Master Cowan.”
Her humor faded and I berated myself for my slip of the tongue. She had been adamant about the students calling her Master Cowan. We all knew her frustration caused by everyone’s casual attitude toward her. But she was so sweet. When she noticed me and remembered details about my life, I wanted to confide in her and become her best friend.
She sighed. “Call me Zitora. I shouldn’t expect respect if I haven’t earned it.”
“That’s not it.”
“What do you mean?”
Feeling as though I’d melted more glass than I could handle, I cast about for the right words. “You’ll always be Zitora to the students. You’re not…intimidating enough. You don’t have the stern demeanor of Master Jewelrose or the walking textbook wisdom of Master Bloodgood. You can require us to call you Master, but we don’t feel the title in our hearts.” Her annoyance deepened toward anger, so I hurried on. “But you’re… approachable. You’re someone to confide in, to go to when in trouble. I think if all the Masters were unapproachable, the campus environment would be stilted. Uncomfortable.”
When she didn’t say anything, I added, “But that’s my impression. I could be wrong.” I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut. The One-Trick Wonder telling a Master Magician about how she was perceived was as ill- advised as the Masters sending me to the Stormdance Clan to fix their orbs.
Without a word, Zitora spurred Sudi into a gallop. See? She was too nice to chastise me. Master Jewel- rose would have sent me to scrub the kitchen floors for a week.
But, when we finally stopped to sleep in the early- morning hours, and as I tried to get comfortable on the hard shale covering the ground, I thought her choice of a stop-over site could be in retaliation for my comment.
Zitora remained by our small fire, but noticed me squirming in my blankets. “It’s all like this.” She gestured to the ground. “From here on out.”
“Like what?”
“Shale. Sheets and sheets of it. A few smooth places, others riddled with grooves or broken into gravel. All you’ll see under your feet is an ugly gray until we reach the coast. It’s called The Flats. No trees. A few bushes. Then… Well, The Cliffs before the sea are spectacular. Carved by wind and water, the piles of shale have been sculpted into beautiful shapes and bridges.”
She returned to staring at the fire. “Go to sleep, Opal. You need the rest.”
I was unable to keep my eyes open and too tired to question if she used magic on me.
For once, my overactive imagination and past memories didn’t invade my dreams.
My sleep remained blissful until a sharp point pricked my throat, waking me. Alarmed, I stared at a sword’s blade hovering mere inches from my chin. My gaze followed the long sharp weapon to its owner.
A person wearing a gray mask loomed over me.
Chapter 3
“GET UP SLOWLY,” the man ordered. “No sudden moves. And keep your hands where I can see them.”
Hard to argue with an armed bandit. I sat and pushed my blankets off. The man stepped back as I stood. The tip of his sword dropped toward the ground, easing the iron vise of panic clamped around my heart. I released a shaky breath.
His shirt and pants were speckled with a variety of grays, black and white. His hood and mask matched the fabric of his clothes. Brilliant blue eyes stared back at me.
A laugh drew my attention to the right. Zitora was before three people who also wore gray camouflage. They pointed their swords at her. Interesting, she didn’t look so sweet now. Red splotches spread on her cheeks. Anger or fear, I couldn’t tell.
“This is it?” the man standing closest to Zitora asked in amazement. “The Council sends two students to help the Stormdance Clan? This is too good to be true!” He cackled. “What are you…seniors? No. Don’t tell me…you’re a novice.” He pointed his blade at me. “And you’re a senior.” The blade swung back to Zitora.
I had slept in my cloak and the weight of my sais underneath the garment pulled at my waist. She had insisted I stay armed at all times. Her sword rested on the ground nearby. I could reach through the slits in my cloak and draw my weapons.
I sought a signal from Zitora. Her pointed expression warned me to wait.
“What do you want?” Zitora asked.
“To stop you from helping the Stormdancers, but now I’m thinking of letting you go. You’ll probably do more harm than good.” The leader cackled again. His laugh grated on my nerves as if he gargled broken glass.
The man who woke me grabbed my hand. He showed my burn scars to the leader. “She is a glassmaker. We must stick to the plan.” Blue Eyes released my arm.
“Aww. I can’t kill two little girls,” the leader said.
The word kill caused a hot flush of fear to race through me.
“This one’s a magician,” a woman said, gesturing at Zitora.
“Is she too strong for you?” the leader mocked.
The woman stiffened. “We have her firmly in our control.” She glanced at the person next to her.
Through the haze of fear in my mind, I realized Zitora hadn’t moved more than her mouth since I woke.
“And here we were all ready for a big fight,” the leader said. “Brought the magicians, the muscle, the swordsman, expecting guards and Keep-trained magicians. Overkill for sure!” He laughed at his own joke.
Sweat rolled down my back at hearing kill again.
“Why do you want to stop us from helping the Stormdancers?” Zitora asked.
Anger reddened the leader’s ears. “We want them to—”
“Shut up,” Blue Eyes said. “The less