challenge, and his defeat your success.”
“But I don’t have a spirit guide.”
Leif laughed. “Your bat! I thought he was strange. Beside the obvious fact that he wanted to hang out with you.”
“Leif. That’s not nice, considering all your sister has done for you,” Perl admonished.
“Oh, right. How can I forget that she made me bait for a snake, left me under house arrest in Ixia and smuggled me into the Keep in a coffin. And don’t forget the time…”
I ignored Leif’s rant. I wondered, why a bat? Why not something fearsome like a fire dragon or necklace snake? Irys had a hawk, Bain a wind leopard and Zitora a unicorn. Thinking of Zitora, I reminded myself to go visit her in the infirmary. She had been severely wounded during the fight with the Warpers, and her recovery had been slow.
I kept glancing out the window, hoping to see Valek. My mind circled through various excuses for me to leave everyone to search for him.
Bain interrupted Leif’s list of grievances against me. “According to our policies, Yelena is Fourth Magician.”
I raised my hand to prevent any more wild speculation. “No. I can’t light fires or move objects like the Masters can. I’m a Soulfinder. My job is to find lost souls and send them home, including the souls of Ixia. There is still need for a Liaison between the two countries. I plan to reassume the role.”
And the first order of business would be to assess Cahil’s intentions. His help in defeating Roze and uncovering all the Vermin nests had proven invaluable to the Council, but I wasn’t convinced his new role meant he wouldn’t try some way to claim Ixia’s throne.
Leif asked, “What do we do with those glass prisons? They’re under guard, but we don’t want them falling into the wrong hands.”
“What would happen if they break?” Perl asked.
They all looked at me. “If the souls are freed, they will go to the fire world, unless there is another Soulfinder to place them elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere?” Leif raised his eyebrows.
“Into another body or to the sky.” I sighed. “We will have to find a place to protect and to hide them.”
“The Keep,” Bain said.
“The Illiais Jungle has some deep caves,” Esau suggested.
“Under the Emerald Mountains,” Irys said.
“Sunken in the deepest part of the sea,” Leif said.
“Buried under the northern ice,” Perl recommended.
“All good ideas, but the Council will need to debate the issue and decide.”
My gaze met Irys’s. She gave me a wry smile. We both knew the Council would argue for months, and it was up to me to find a home for them.
I spent the rest of the afternoon with my family. Perl and Esau made me promise to come visit them.
“A nice relaxing visit,” Perl ordered. “No chasing Vermin or saving anyone. We’ll sit and talk and I’ll make you a new perfume.”
“Yes, Mother.”
She made me eat before I could leave. I hurried to the training yard, hoping Valek would be there.
He was not. The man must be torturing me on purpose. I had made him wait over two months. Perhaps he was returning the favor.
Ari and Janco sparred with swords. And although Janco sang his rhymes and Ari used his brute strength, they were equally matched in skill. They stopped when they saw me.
“Come on,” Janco said. “Ari wants to make sure you’re in good fighting shape before we leave.”
“I do?”
“Yes, you do. Otherwise you’ll worry about her.”
“I will?”
“Of course.” Janco waved away Ari’s comments. “Besides, this is just a lull before the next storm. We need to be ready!”
This time I piped in. “The next storm?”
Janco sighed dramatically. “There’s always another storm. It’s the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, wind-storms, sandstorms and firestorms. Some are fierce and others are small. You have to deal with each one separately, but you need to always keep an eye on what’s brewing for tomorrow.”
Ari rolled his eyes. “Janco’s unique view of life. Yesterday he compared living to food.”
“That’s because some food leaves you full while others—”
“Janco,” I said. “Prepare for my storm.” I swept my bow toward his feet.
He jumped over it with a nimble grace. Dropping his sword, he reached for his bow and our match began.
Since I had returned from the underworld, I could see everyone with a new sight. With a blink of my eyes, I saw through their bodies and directly into their souls. I knew their thoughts, feelings and intentions as if they were my own. Before I had to pull power for the source and project myself to them. Now the connection was there the second I thought about it.
Janco’s comical surprise when I dumped him on the ground in three moves was almost worth my trip through the underworld. Almost.
He huffed and blustered and tried to make excuses. I stopped our second fight to guide a soul to the sky. Many hung around the Keep and I knew I would have to do a sweep of the Citadel.
Janco viewed my magical actions as if they were distasteful to him. “At least you’re expending energy. You’ll be easier to beat,” he smirked.
“Wishful thinking,” I said.
After losing the next four matches, Janco finally conceded.
“Am I ready for the next storm?” I asked him, smiling sweetly.
“You are the next storm.”
Bruised ego aside, Janco and Ari were pleased with my fighting skills.
“You found your center,” Ari said with a note of approval in his voice. “You’re not afraid to embrace who you are. Now Janco won’t have to worry anymore.”
“I’ll let Ari do all the worrying for both of us. Oh wait! He already does.”
“I do not. You’re the one who moaned and fussed about Yelena all these weeks.”
“I did not.”
They launched into another round of bickering. I never thought I would enjoy listening to them, but I did. Until I saw Cahil walking toward the training yard.
He held his long broadsword. I watched him approach, preparing to defend myself if need be. I studied his emotions with my other sight. Hate, determination and anxiety dominated his feelings.
Cahil stopped at the fence. “I didn’t come here to fight,” he said. “I want to talk to you.”
Ari and Janco didn’t seem concerned by his presence, and continued their debate. But they hadn’t been on the wrong side of Cahil’s wrath. I moved closer with my bow in hand, keeping the wooden fence between us.
“What do you want to talk about?” I demanded.
Cahil pulled in a deep breath and let the air out fast. “I wanted to…”
“Go on. Say it.”
Irritation flared in Cahil’s light blue eyes, but he stifled it. “I wanted to explain.”
“Explain why you’re nasty, ruthless, opportunistic—”
“Yelena! Will you shut up.”
My expression must have warned him, because he rushed to continue. “You bring out the worst in me. Can you listen?” A pause. “Please?”
“All right.”
“When I found out that I didn’t have royal blood, that my whole purpose in life was a sham, I refused to believe it. Even when Marrok admitted I was just a soldier’s son, I didn’t want to hear it. Instead, I transferred my anger to you and Valek and decided I would find a way to make the Council support an attack on Ixia to reclaim the
