First Apprentice

Chapter 19 Part 2

"We agreed you would apprentice Caed, not some untried child who doesn't know the difference between a keystone and a training gate," a strident baritone shouted.

The man's voice stabbed into my brain like a thousand knives, each sharper than the last. Wincing, I reached for the gramophone's arm. Stop the racket, swap out the loud needle for a quieter one, and go have a nice, silent soak while Joel listened to them arguing.

Well, listened to Terry gut the idiot.

Rainer's bones, I didn't know if the man was instinct blind or stupid. I suspected both. One did not challenge a dae of Terry's power lightly. A spar was one thing. Shouting while questioning his judgment...I wouldn't try that with Uncle Manfred now. I had more magic than Uncle Manfred when I was three, but if I spoke to him like that I wouldn't wake up the next morning.

The sound cut off when I picked the arm up. Joel grabbed my wrist and shook his head. "Wait," he said.

I dropped the needle back on the seal.

"Where were you, Amit?" Terry bit out. "I called up every marked sealer on this world except the three teachers tasked with evacuating the academy. You weren't in the Well. Where were you?"

"I was on the surface, same as Simon and Natalie."

Dozens of lessons with Grandfather rolled through my mind. Charts ranking the Seven according to their PM level flashed before my eyes – the same ones he made me write a hundred times each perfectly along with a description of each of the Seven, their fighting style, and aura.

The Pure Magic Scale – PM for short – measured total core magic. The clans and Border Guard used it to track their own strength, their enemies, and assign gate maintainers. Amit's PM barely scrapped one-hundred-twenty-six – two points higher than Simon and one point higher than Natalie. By the time I arrived, Simon and Natalie were so exhausted Saar evacuated them. If Amit had been up there, he'd be with the healers, not ambushing Terry.

"Really?" Terry said. "That's quite the accomplishment."

"What is?"

Apple green stars streaked through Joel's aura like a meteor shower. I blinked. His aura disappeared, leaving tanned skin and dark stubble dusting his cheeks. His lips twisted into a feral grin that made butterflies flit around in my stomach. "Bad move," he muttered.

"That you were on the surface," Terry's voice turned as cold as his infamous ice. "The magic was so thick, so intense, even Saar has aura poisoning. He has over seven times your reserves. Comparing Saar to you is like comparing a man-eating tiger to a slug."

"That's an insult to slugs," Joel muttered. I snorted and pressed a hand to my mouth, holding in my snickers.

"So why exactly does every marked sealer who was outside the Well," Terry's voice took on the same measured tone Grandfather used before he verbally gutted his opponent, "including one of the most powerful daes in existence, need medical attention except for you?"

And me. How would Terry explain that his green apprentice participated in a summon of that caliber and all she needed was a handful of elixirs, a purification ritual, and a good night's sleep?

"I went to communications. I thought if the Shedu –"

"Before you say another word, I checked the logs. Second Apprentice Arash contacted the Shedu, not you. Then he teleported back, at great personal risk, to assist. The healers have him under stasis. If he survives the night, they give him fifty-fifty odds. I have two of the Seven comatose, both of their apprentices fighting for their lives, countless injured guardians and apprentice candidates, and who knows how many dead. Joel and Diane were in the Well, along with your apprentice and hers. Mitra was off world with his and Joel's apprentices. Everyone is accounted for except you."

Harsh breaths echoed through the gramophone, making me wonder how close Terry was to his prey. I didn't share Amit's delusions. The second he yelled at Terry he became prey. Amit may be the difference between Terry and Saar, but a gulf separated Amit from Terry. Even if Terry could ignore his instincts, would he in this situation? Endellion wouldn't.

Terry's voice dropped an octave. "Where were you?"

"Leeth," he squeaked.

"Why?"

"Investigating."

Cotton balls filled my mouth. I swallowed hard. There were only two things worth investigating on Leeth: their banks and Iver Copper's sales branch. My great-grandfather moved it from Vinetta to Leeth, better trade routes. After my father died, Linas Verig, the head of the Leeth branch, took over until I came of age. Linas, who treated me like a favorite niece during his bi-annual visits, told stories about the Ivers. He particularly liked the ones from when we had our own cadres of spies and assassins.

"On Leeth?" Terry paused. "Iver Copper. Have you gone mad?"

"Your new apprentice is Iver Copper."

"Exactly! You compromise those pipes and Headquarters will be a ghost world. Without people living here, working here, a quarter of our revenues will dry up. All because you put your pride ahead of a business relationship we've had since the end of the First Clan War! You will leave Iver Copper alone. You will cease any and all attempts to investigate First Apprentices Alannah Claise. You will pray that you didn't trip any wards and that their security finds no evidence of your presence. If they do, I will personally execute you in whatever manner the head of Iver Copper deems fit."

Hanged, disemboweled, his soul fed to the gates, his head mounted in front of Iver Copper's main office, and his hacked up remains sent to the clans as a warning. Linas would accept nothing less. As much as it sickened me, I wouldn't intervene. As Linas reminded me in his letters, we were a business, not a charity. Our main customers were the clans and the Border Guard. All of whom would grind us into the grave if we let them.

"As amazing as this is," Joel swept his hand toward the gramophone, "you know how the clans will view it. Combining Vinetta's technology with seals," he trailed off.

"Provincial and inefficient," I replied. "I'm aware."

"Used properly, these seals represent a massive advantage. No matter what crimes Amit committed against you, we won't reveal them. We can't."

"I know." I forced a smile and shrugged. "There are other uses, better ones. Doesn't confronting Amit publicly undermine Terry's position?"

"Terry only uses the hallways when he has company. Otherwise, he takes the back passageways through the walls. More secure. Unless I miss my guess, Terry caught Amit trying to sneak back in."

My temples throbbed in time with my heartbeat. I stifled a yawn and cast a longing look at the bathing area. Joel followed my gaze. His eyes swept up my face, lingering on the marker between my eyes. "If the needle dies, give me a shout," I said and ambled toward the nearest wardrobe.

Within minutes, I had a fresh tunic and trousers laid out on the bench and scalding hot water pounding against my back. As informative as Terry's meeting with the Dracon might be, it couldn't change the facts.

They tortured their gate.

She was dying.

My transcription seals didn't make one copy. They made two.