“Her name’s Kiki?” he asked.
I nodded. Cahil returned to Kiki and apologized. I felt a sudden peevish annoyance. He should have been apologizing to me for all the pain he had caused. Spy thing, my ass.
Cahil gestured for me to join him near Kiki. I clambered over the fence. As Kiki stood her ground, Cahil pointed to and lectured about the different parts of her body. Starting with her muzzle, he didn’t stop until he had lifted her right back hoof and showed me the underside.
“Same time tomorrow,” he said, ending the lesson. “Meet me in the stable. We’ll go over horse care.”
Before he could head back to the barn, I stopped him. Now that my annoyance that he was my instructor was gone, I wondered why he was here. “Why are you teaching me? I thought your campaign for the Ixian throne would take up most of your time.”
Well aware of how I felt about his quest, Cahil studied me, seeking for signs of sarcasm.
“Until I receive the full support of the Sitian Council, I can only do so much,” he said. “Besides, I need money to pay for my expenses. Most of my men are employed at the Keep as guards or gardeners, depending on what’s needed.” He wiped his hands on his pants, staring at the horses in the pasture. “When the Keep is on hiatus during the hot season, I focus all my efforts on gathering support. This season I thought I would finally get the Council’s backing.” Cahil looked at me. “But that didn’t work out. So I’m back to work and back to begging the Council to put me on their agenda.” He frowned and shook his head. “Tomorrow, then?”
“Tomorrow.” I watched Cahil as he walked to the stable. He had been counting on catching an Ixian spy to influence the Council. I wondered what he would try next.
Kiki nudged my arm and I scratched behind her ears before I returned to my rooms. Rummaging around for some paper, I sat at my desk and drew a crude sketch of a horse. I labeled the parts that I could remember. Topaz and Kiki helped me with the rest.
The connection I had formed with the two horses was odd yet comforting. It was as if we were all in the same room, doing different tasks and minding our own business and having our own private thoughts. But when one of us would “speak” directly to the other, we would “hear” it. I only had to think about Kiki and her thoughts would fill my mind. The same was true with Irys. I didn’t need to pull power and project it to Irys. All I needed to do was think about her.
Over the next week, my days fell into a pattern. Mornings spent with Irys to learn about magic, afternoons spent napping, studying and practicing my self-defense techniques. Evenings were spent with Cahil and Kiki. As I moved throughout the campus, I kept a wary eye out for Goel. I hadn’t forgotten his threat.
Not long into my magical training, Irys began testing me for other abilities.
“Let’s see if you can start a fire,” Irys said one morning. “This time, when you pull in the power, I want you to concentrate on lighting this candle.” She placed a candlestick in front of me.
“How?” I asked, sitting up. I had been reclining on the pillows in her tower room, thinking about Kiki. It had been a week, and I still hadn’t ridden her. So far, Cahil had spent every lesson teaching me about horse care and tack. What an annoying man.
“Think of a single flame before you direct your magic.” Irys demonstrated. “Fire,” she said. The candle flared and burned before she blew it out. “Your turn.”
I focused on the candle’s wick, forming a flaming image in my mind. Pushing magic toward the candle, I willed it to light. Nothing happened.
Irys made a strangled sound and the candle burned. “Are you directing your magic to the candle?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You just ordered me to light the candle for you,” Irys said in exasperation. “And
“Is that bad?”
“No. I hope you know how to light a fire the mundane way, because, so far, it seems that’s not part of your magical skills. Let’s try something else.”
I tried to move a physical object with no success. Unless making Irys do it for me could be considered a magical skill.
She raised her mental defenses, blocking out my influence. “Try again. This time focus on keeping control.”
As I pulled in power, Irys threw a pillow at me. The pillow struck me in the stomach. “Hey!”
“You were supposed to deflect it with your magic. Try again.”
By the end of the session, I was glad Irys had chosen a pillow. Otherwise, I would have been covered with bruises.
“I think you just need to practice your control,” Irys said, refusing to give up. “Get some rest. You’ll do better tomorrow.”
Before leaving, I asked something that had been on my mind for several days. “Irys, can I see more of the Citadel? And I need to exchange my Ixian coins for Sitian so I can buy some items and clothes. Is there a marketplace?”
“Yes, but it’s only open one day a week during the hot season.” She paused for a moment, considering. “I’ll give you market days off. No lessons. You can explore the Citadel or do whatever you want. It’ll be open in two days. In the meantime, I’ll exchange your money.”
Irys couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lecture me on spending money wisely. “Your expenses are covered while you’re in the Keep. But once you graduate, you’ll be on your own. You’ll earn wages as a magician, of course,” Irys said. “But don’t give your money away.” She smiled to ease the reprimand. “We don’t like to encourage the beggars.”
The image of the dirty little boy rose in my mind. “Why don’t they have any money?” I asked.
“Some are lazy, preferring to beg instead of work. Others are unable to work because of physical or mental problems. The healers can only do so much. And some gamble or spend their money faster than they can earn it.”
“But what about the children?”
“Runaways, orphans or the offspring of the homeless. The hot season is the worst time for them. Once school starts and the Citadel is populated again, there are places they can go for food and shelter.” Irys touched my shoulder. “Don’t worry about them, Yelena.”
I mulled over Irys’s comments on my way back to my rooms.
That evening, while teaching me to saddle and bridle Kiki in her barn stall, Cahil asked, “What’s gotten into you? You’ve been snapping at me all night.”
I sucked in a deep breath, preparing to apologize, but an unbidden torrent of words poured from my mouth instead. “You want Ixia so you can be king. So you can collect taxes, sit on a throne and wear a crown of jewels while the people suffer like they did under your uncle. So your henchmen like Goel can kill innocent children when their parents can’t pay the taxes for your fine silk clothes, or so they can kill the parents, leaving their offspring homeless and beggars.” My outburst ended as fast as it had begun.
Cahil gaped in shock, but recovered fast. “That’s not what I want,” he said. “I want to help the people of Ixia. So they have the freedom to wear whatever clothes they want instead of being forced to wear uniforms. So they can marry whomever they want without securing a permit from their district’s General. Live wherever they want, even if it’s in Sitia. I want the crown so I can free Ixia of the military dictatorship.”
His reasons sounded superficial. Would the people be any freer with him as their ruler? I didn’t believe his answer was the real reason. “What makes you think the Ixian people want you to free them? No government is perfect. Did it ever occur to you that the Ixians might be content under the Commander’s rule?” I asked.
“Were you content with your life in the north?” Cahil asked. An intensity held his body rigid while he waited for my response.
“I had unusual circumstances.”
“Such as?”
“None of your business.”
“Let me guess,” Cahil said with a superior tone.
