Sworn To Transfer

“A mirror,” she said hesitantly. “A mirror of power. It glimmers and moves as if it’s liquid.”

A satisfied smile entered the woman’s voice. “Very good.”

“Now,” she said softly, “reach forward. Cup your hands under mine as if you wish to hold the mirror yourself. Look into the mirror. Tell me what you see.”

Ciardis took a deep breath, exhaled, and did as she was asked. She looked inside. At first it was just a mirror, rippling like liquid, but still just a mirror.

“Look with your sight, Ciardis,” she said, her tone changing. “Not just your eyes.”

“Right,” she said, trying to change her perspective. Suddenly the mirror shifted; the glow moved to the center of the rippling water and disappeared inside. Images began to appear.

“What do you see?”

“Buildings, water, people...but nothing’s focusing.”

“Right—because I’ve introduced a limited amount of power into the mirror. I’m using my power only to scry and see images from afar. With our connection you can see what I can see. But there are limits on how much. Just as you would only be able to tap into any other mage’s power as much or as little as they would let you.”

Maree Amber slowly moved her cupped hands in a circle, dissipating the images.

“This time I’ll call in more images with more power. Tell me what you see.”

Ciardis peered once more into her cupped hands. A winding street in the midst of Sandrin began to appear. Buildings that looked like they would topple over, and a dark red cobblestone pathway that had seen better days.

“The bookbinders’ district. I recognize the buildings.”

Maree Amber smiled.

“Yes, that is correct.” Slowly, she dropped her hands and let her power evaporate.

“You used your power to see what I saw, even to tap into what I saw,” she said with satisfaction. “But know this, Ciardis: You didn’t enhance what I did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Do you see the difference?”

She nodded.

“Very well. That was the first test. Whether you could see the difference, and, more importantly, if you could do both. You did and you could.”

“Why couldn’t you just—”

“Ask? Have Crassius tell me? He did tell me. But sometimes it’s more important for the instructor to observe, and, most importantly, it was good for you to do it yourself.”

“Yes,” Maree said, tracing a finger on a globe on her desk, “You could be very useful to us.” Ciardis perked up a little at the praise.

Maree Amber smiled a cold smile and held up a warning finger, “But if you cannot be trained, if you do not wish to learn, you are a threat to everything we stand for, Ciardis. And we can’t have that.”

Ciardis wasn’t entirely sure Maree Amber was speaking of the Companions’ Guild in that moment. Her tone was far too deadly.

“I think that we’ve done enough for tonight,” Maree Amber said thoughtfully as she sat back at her desk. There was a gleam in her eye that Ciardis didn’t like, but if it got her out of her office that much faster, she wasn’t going to question it.

She stood up uncertainly and asked, “Tomorrow, then?”

“Tomorrow I have a meeting with an Imperial representative,” Maree Amber said pointedly.

As if Ciardis should know that.

Ciardis grimaced when she remembered why she was supposed to know such a small fact about the head of the guild’s schedule.

Tomorrow was a petition day for the guilds across the city. An opportunity for each of the dozens of guild representatives in Sandin representing thousands of members across the empire to have their grievances heard by the Imperial Council. The petitions were given the night before to the Grand Vizier, the new one who had been appointed after the last one’s unfortunate death. The head of each guild would be personally advocating for their community in the morning.

“The next day, then?”

“The evening will do.”

Ciardis nodded and turned to leave.

“And Miss Weathervane?”

She turned back with dread.

“I meant what I said. I don’t want to see you anywhere near the courts. If I do, believe me the punishment will be fitting.” A glacial air overtook the room.

“I understand.”

Ciardis left the room without another word.

After tracking down a servant who directed her to a maid, she was able to find out where her new room was. A square cinderblock with a small bed and cupboard, it looked smaller than the bathroom of the previous room she’d left. There wasn’t even a bathroom in here. Ciardis sighed in irritation and flopped down onto the bed.

She sat up with an abrupt yelp as soon as she did. She pressed her hand into the firm mattress. “Firm” was a kind word for it. It felt like it had been made out of burlap and stuffed with horsehair; the bedding was that uncomfortable.

“What did I ever do to her?” Ciardis muttered into a pillow, her voice muffled.

Besides get the Companions’ Guild on the Imperial censure list. She was sure she wasn’t the only trainee with that distinction. Speaking of Imperial, she was supposed to meet with Sebastian tonight, but that dratted woman had taken her bracelet. The only way for her to connect to the Aether Realm.

Deciding that she wasn’t going to wallow in self-pity, Ciardis took action. If she couldn’t go to the palace, perhaps the palace could come to her. Looking around, Ciardis spotted towels folded neatly on top of her new cupboard. She grabbed a few and left. Casually, she walked out of her room and headed down into the dungeons as fast as she could without drawing attention. She was heading to the steam baths of the hammam.

Nodding nervously she undressed in the clothing station, putting on a towel and carefully wrapping her hair up in a second. She smiled at different Companions’ Guild members as she walked sedately into the welcoming steam of the baths. Kept at over a hundred degrees, the steam was usually a pleasant and relaxing reminder of the end to a long day...just not today.

When she nearly bumped into Maree Amber—on her way to the facial room, judging by the brown gook caked on her face—Ciardis couldn’t help but squeak in surprise. Wasn’t it enough that I just endured an entire afternoon with her? Does she have to ruin my evening too?

The stone cold look the woman gave her in return made her want to sink into the floor. She stood silently as the Companions’ Council head and her attendants glided smoothly around her. With a sigh of relief, Ciardis quickly slipped around the corner and behind a screen to a rarely used section of the baths.

Cracked walls and chipped molding gave testament to how long this small, round room had been left without maintainence. When Ciardis had first discovered the old nook in the back of the hammam, she had taken it as a good sign. It was clean and clear of debris and spiderwebs. So obviously someone knew about it. Even though it was off to the side in a secluded area. At first she’d used it as a place to practice her scripts when she didn’t feel like being in her room and didn’t want to be in the company of others wandering around the library, the main salons, or the outer gardens.

Sitting down on the ledge that ran along the circular wall at mid-height, she put the towel-wrapped bundle she carried in her arms down. When she’d first come to the baths with something like this, she’d had to unwrap it for bath attendants to inspect her provisions. Now they were used to her oddness and expected her to carry around the bundle filled with an inkpot, quill, and some used parchment.

But this time was different.

Quickly she pulled back the folds of the white towel covering the objects. Inside the bundle, instead of the