to us carrying two mugs of ale.
“I see you found your friend,” the proprietor said, setting a mug before me.
“No thanks to you.”
The owner was unaffected by my comment. “Rick is my best customer. You’re a stranger. Dinner?”
“Yes,” Ulrick said.
“No,” I said. When the owner left, I raised an eyebrow. “Rick?”
He squirmed a bit. “I couldn’t use my real name. It didn’t feel right, and I don’t like the name Devlen. Rick worked.”
“So you agreed to be Rick? It wasn’t forced on you?”
He gulped his ale and set the mug on the table, placing it in the same ring of wetness. Avoiding my gaze, he fiddled with it.
“Why did you switch bodies with Devlen?”
“I couldn’t resist.”
“Resist what?” I prompted, although I had a good guess.
“The power.” He looked up. “You know, Opal. Remember when everyone called your magic the One-Trick Wonder? How you longed to do more?”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t—”
“Really? If someone gave you the chance, would you really have refused? If Pazia approached you, before she lost her magic, and wanted to change places? Think about it before you answer.”
The temptation would have been strong, but I would have refused because of the blood magic.
Before I could speak, he said, “I went from Ulrick, the One-Trick Nobody, to Rick, The Magician.” He laid his hands on the table with the palms up. The mug rattled, then floated into his hand. His lips curved into a satisfied smile.
“Didn’t you think we might have just scratched the surface of your own magic? That you might be able to do more?” I clamped down on my next question. Didn’t he think about me?
“He’s a Sandseed Story Weaver. He read the threads of my life and said I possessed one ability—to infuse my glass pieces with a brush of magic so they could read a person’s mood.” Bitterness spiked his voice. “The only way to increase my power was to switch with him. He no longer desired his magical ability. Devlen wanted to be an average man. I’m sorry if he hurt you by leaving so abruptly…” Ulrick paused. “Is that how you discovered the switch? Because you thought I wouldn’t leave you?”
Guilt warred with confusion. I replayed his words in my mind. “He was supposed to leave?”
“Yes. He was going to sever all contact with my friends and family…with you. I planned to learn all about my new magic, and then find you and explain.”
“But didn’t you know who he was?” Confusion won the battle.
“A Sandseed Story—”
“No. Who he really was?”
By his blank look, I knew he didn’t. Devlen had possessed a strong mental ability and he could convince a weak magician of anything. Add his wordplay skills, and Ulrick hadn’t stood a chance.
“He’s a Daviian Warper. He attacked me twice. Didn’t I tell…” No. I hadn’t. The contents of my stomach churned with dread.
“Must have been during one of your secret magician meetings where I wasn’t invited. No reason to tell a One-Trick Nobody.” He swigged his ale and glared into the mug.
“It wasn’t like that. When I explained about Sir and Tricky’s kidnapping, you wanted a battalion of guards to watch me despite the fact I escaped on my own. If I had told you about Devlen—”
“We wouldn’t be here.”
“No. You would have never let me out of your sight.”
“What’s so bad about that?”
When I didn’t answer, he continued, “Face it, Opal. You’re dancing around the subject, but we both know the real reason you’re upset.”
“We do?”
“Yes. In switching my life for another’s, I gave up on us. With his Story Weaver ability, Devlen replayed our times together. Watching you from a different perspective, I realized you never loved me.” The distance in his eyes faded. He leaned forward as if excited by a new idea. “But you’re here now. When he left, you must have realized your true feelings, tracked him down and discovered the switch.” A hopeful tone lit his voice.
A conflicting array of emotions rolled through me. Guilt dominated, and I needed to tell him…everything. “Ulrick, Devlen didn’t leave.”
“Oh?” A quizzical expression crinkled his eyebrows.
“He was a Daviian Warper—”
“Was. He doesn’t have any power—well, unless he can blow glass—because I have it.”
Unable to form words, I shut my mouth. Devlen had convinced him the switch included magic. And from his words, Ulrick didn’t know about blood magic.
“What?” he asked. “He couldn’t have hurt you. With your glass spiders and bees, sais, and surrounded by Leif and that Stormdancer, you were well protected.”
I pieced together Ulrick’s comments. Devlen had spun a story using Ulrick’s own fears and disappointments. No magical power. No love, and, since his sister did hit him over the head, no family support. If they switched bodies, Ulrick would have his desire, and Devlen would sever relations with Ulrick’s friends and go his merry way. If his argument hadn’t worked, Devlen could have used his magic to persuade him.
“It appears Devlen lied to you and tricked you, too,” I said.
A stubborn conviction settled in a hard line across his shoulders. “I guess it’s easier for you to believe he tricked me than think I left you.”
A rush of fury pulsed in my veins. How many more people would accuse me of lying to myself or others? I suppressed the urge to bash him on the head.
The arrival of Ulrick’s dinner allowed me a few minutes to cool down and collect my thoughts. He ate with abandon, as if concentrating on his food would keep me from commenting.
“Let me tell you a story while you eat,” I said. I related how Devlen used his disguise as Ulrick. Sticking to the facts, I kept an even pace even when I admitted to letting him seduce me. “You acted different yet the same. Bolder and more confident.” I gestured to him. “I hadn’t realized that was what I needed from you to go to the next step in our relationship. At the time, I thought your change was due to being tricked by Gressa. You…Devlen told me you realized you no longer needed your family’s approval. And I rationalized the change to you finally moving past your disappointment over your magic.”
He had stopped eating and looked at me in either horror or pain. Both cut through me, exposing my guilt.
“And perhaps in a deep
