her healthy. She sucked down two milk oats from his palm. Most of the horses in the stable would do just about anything for a couple of the Stable Master’s special treats.
I returned to my quarters in the apprentice wing. Even though my residence consisted of two small rooms—a bedroom and sitting area—I had them all to myself. After sharing a room with my sisters, being crammed into the Keep’s barracks for three years and one year living with four others in the seniors’ quarters, I had my very own space.
Dust coated the furniture and a musty odor floated in the cold air. I had been gone for a total of thirty-six days, over half the cooling season. I threw my pack and sais onto the table. Assembling a bunch of kindling, I started a fire to warm the room while I hurried to the bathhouse to bathe.
Ordered to report to the Masters’ meeting room right after breakfast tomorrow, I had the rest of the evening to myself. I decided to grab a late dinner. On my way to the dining room, I passed many of my fellow students. No one stopped to ask where I had been. No one called hello. A few scowled and a couple of girls sniggered after I walked past. The usual reaction.
I wondered how the other students would feel once the news of my apprenticeship to Zitora leaked out. I imaged their stunned and jealous faces. Even better would be when they saw Ulrick by my side, as I gave him a tour of the campus. His gorgeous green eyes staring at me with rapt attention.
My little fantasy lasted until I entered the dining hall. Ulrick sat at the head of a large table filled with students. The group of mostly girls laughed and flirted with him. He was the center of their attention.
Only here a few days at most, Ulrick had managed to do what I couldn’t accomplish in four years.
My appetite gone, I fled the hall.
15
I KNEW I shouldn’t care Ulrick had already made friends. Most of my life had been lived in my sister Mara’s shadow. She had all the friends and attention from every young man in the Cowan lands. I had Tula.
When Tula had been alive, I didn’t need anyone else. We were inseparable. Until the night Ferde stole her. She’d sent me to bed early. I was supposed to help her keep the kilns hot, but I was sick with a fever. She dragged me to bed, tucked me in, and the next morning she had been gone.
Dark memories threatened to push up from the depths of my mind. I squashed them down. No reason to suffer the heart-shredding guilt again. No relief in playing the “I should have” game.
I glanced around my empty living area as I crossed to my bedroom. The glass owl Tula had made for me on my fourteenth birthday rested on my nightstand. The statue fit neatly in the palm of my hand. I examined the exquisite detail of each feather and the perfect shape of the talons. She had a finer hand with the molten glass. The tweezers in her expert fingers would blur in motion, resulting in a lifelike animal.
My hopes of finding a true friend like Tula at the Keep hadn’t lasted long. With my involvement in imprisoning the Fire Warper and his partners, the other students either were jealous of my “fame” or afraid. And my propensity for classroom accidents didn’t help my popularity.
Our classes were small—three to five students and an instructor. I remembered a session with Professor Greenblade, learning the history of Rodknee Bloodgood, the first magician to use magic to move objects. After the lecture, I had been paired with Pazia to recreate Rodknee’s original experiment. Pazia had no trouble moving the lead weight off the table and high into the air with her magic. All my efforts resulted in nothing. I couldn’t move the weight past the mark on the table, let alone off the surface. When the professor leaned on the table to check his mark, it collapsed under him.
Professor Greenblade laughed it off and continued his lesson, but Pazia and the others had spread rumors that I was a jinx to all magicians.
A knock pulled me from my musings. Going into the other room, I peered through the window. Ulrick.
Surprised, I opened the door.
“I thought I saw you in the dining hall,” he said. “Welcome back.”
I sputtered for a moment before words formed. “Come in.” Moving back, I berated myself for my bumbling. If Ulrick noticed, he didn’t say anything.
He walked around the room. On the left side, there was a couch in front of the hearth. Table and chairs occupied the right side, and a desk rested along the back wall and next to my bedroom door.
“This is nice. They have me in the guest quarters for now, but if they see any potential I might get a more permanent spot.” Ulrick peeked into my bedroom.
“How long have you been here?”
“Two days. I already met with Master Bloodgood, but he thought we should wait for you and Master Cowan before doing more formal testing.” He scanned the papers on my desk, and fiddled with my quill.
“I saw you already made friends.” I tried to keep my voice even as if commenting on the weather.
He shrugged. “The kids are sweet and they’ve been very helpful in showing me the Keep.” Moving over to my table, he picked up one of my sais. He hefted the weapon and jabbed the air with the shaft.
“You’re bored.”
He stopped in midsweep. “Is it that obvious?”
“You’re fighting an invisible opponent.”
Ulrick laughed and set the sais back down. “I was on the road for six days and here for two. I’m used to working in the factory every day. I need …” He made a vague gesture with his hands.
“I know what you need.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I need it, too. Follow me.”
“Where’ve you been?” Aydan demanded. Never one to waste time on pleasantries, he went straight to the point.
I smiled at the old glassmaker. “I’ve been on a mission for the Masters.”
“Mission?” He glanced at Ulrick.
I introduced him to Aydan. “Another glass magician?”
“Maybe,” Ulrick amended before shaking Aydan’s hand.
The glassmaker snorted. “Another with confidence problems. At least Opal admits she’s a magician.” He handed me a blowpipe. “Gather me a slug.”
I scanned the small shop. No signs of an assistant. Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Aydan.
“I can’t find anybody good. They’re all lazy. All whine about the heat and noise.”
I exchanged a smile with Ulrick. We were probably the only two people in the Citadel who would seek out the glass shop for comfort. “Perhaps you need to hire someone from Booruby.”
“Pah. I don’t have the time. Besides, I can do it myself.”
Why did men get so stubborn when they grew older? I sighed. “If I find you an assistant from Booruby, will you let them stay?”
He
