Glass Collection: Storm Glass / Sea Glass / Spy Glass. Maria V. Snyder
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Stormdancers?”
“You said before that not all magicians are Keep trained. Does the Stormdancer power only manifest in the Stormdance Clan members?” I paused, glancing at Kade.
“As far as we know,” he said with a stiff tone.
“Then what if one of the clan married a Krystal Clan member? Say they live in Mica and raised a family. Could one of their offspring have the ability to capture a storm’s energy?”
“Possible. But who would teach the child?” Kade leaned forward, finally getting into the spirit of the discussion.
I turned my thoughts back to the problem. “There could be a Stormdancer with a grudge.”
Kade made a sound, but kept silent.
“Go on,” Zitora urged.
“A rogue who decided to leave and start his own group of dancers. But he can’t make the orbs so he hires Sir to help him get the recipe. No.” I shook my head. “Sir wanted to stop us from helping the Stormdancers with their orbs. Why would the rogue sabotage their orbs?” Wheels turned in my head as I followed the logic. “To make them give up the recipe!”
“Why would the Stormdancers tell the rogue the recipe?” Kade asked.
“They wouldn’t, but the glassmakers would. Their orbs are shattering and killing people. They’re desperate to make them right. Sir shows up with an offer they can’t refuse. Tell him the recipe in exchange for the reason their orbs are so brittle. Except we’re called to help and ruin the rogue’s plans. He sets Sir on us and when that doesn’t work, he captures me.”
“A possible scenario,” Zitora said.
“It’s pure conjecture,” Kade said.
“It’s an exercise in logic, thinking past the facts. The Masters and I do it all the time. Opal speculated a possible reason for Sir’s actions by making an assumption. The rogue. Now, let’s assume it’s not a rogue dancer but an owner of a factory who wants the orb’s energy to power his equipment. There is a lot of jealousy over the orbs. The other clans believe the Stormdance Clan should share.”
Before Kade could defend his clan’s actions, Zitora launched into another round of questions. I struggled to produce possible answers to how and why a factory owner would try to procure Stormdance orbs.
When fatigue slowed my responses, we stopped for the night. Zitora headed to our room, but I needed to retrieve a few things from my saddlebags.
Kade followed me to the stables outside. “You should never be alone. Sir and his gang are still at large. And don’t forget about Blue Eyes.”
“I found out his name is Devlen, and I won’t forget about him.” I shuddered, remembering his possessive hunger. “At least your Stormdancers are safe.”
I found Quartz’s stall and hunted through my bags, turning my back on Kade to hide my spider-filled orb. I was so engrossed in my task, Kade’s quiet voice surprised me.
“I didn’t travel all this way just because I was concerned for my Stormdancers,” he said.
Afraid to meet his gaze, I kept sorting through my bag even though I no longer remembered what I had been searching for. “You didn’t?”
“No. I …”
I waited.
“I … wanted to ask you about your sister Tula.” His voice changed back into his normal tone.
Closing my bags, I wondered what he had really wanted to say. I stood and faced him. “What about her?”
“How long did it take before you could think of her without …” He tapped his chest.
“The burning pain?”
“Yes.”
“Two to three years. But don’t go by me. Everyone grieves in different ways. For some, it could take longer or shorter. I do know it never disappears. An ember still smolders inside me. Most days, I don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it’ll flare to life.”
The air around me pressed against my skin as if charged with magic. I stepped closer to Kade, seeking to connect with him, ease his pain.
He jerked back, and the energy dissipated. “Then I should avoid getting burned again.”
I masked my disappointment as he escorted me to my room. His distant demeanor returned and he remained business-like and brisk.
“Please inform me if there’re any new developments with Sir and Blue … Devlen. Have a safe journey home.”
“You, too.”
He nodded and left before Zitora opened the door.
Since there was nothing more to do in Thunder Valley, Zitora and I set out for the Citadel the next morning. Even though she acted normal and knew information only Zitora knew, I still checked her shadow on occasion. Each time the black shape matched her figure, I released a breath I hadn’t known I held.
Helping the Stormdancers had gotten me into more trouble than I cared for. I convinced myself that staying far away would be for the best. I stroked Quartz’s neck, content to leave Thunder Valley behind. The sunshine warmed my new cloak and the cool air held a crisp scent of earthy pine. For once, I looked forward to returning to the Magician’s Keep.
The day passed without incident. When the light faded to gray, Zitora scanned the surrounding area, and decided to make camp off the main east-west road, which led straight to the Citadel. An abandoned quarry was on the other side, and a thin wood occupied our side.
“Gather wood for a fire, and I’ll take care of the horses,” she said.
I picked up enough dead branches from the edge of the wood to get a fire started, but would need more for the rest of the night. Before searching deeper into the forest, I hesitated. Reluctance pulled. Every time I had been alone, something bad happened.
Determined not to let my fears rule me, I pushed through the underbrush and collected a few bigger logs. Every sound caused my heart to jump and sweat dampened my shirt, but I persisted until my arms were full.
Zitora lit the fire and cooked us a pot of beef stew. The yellow glow from the flames cast shadows along the ground and in the woods. Multiple times I sought the familiar black shape behind Zitora as if I was a child checking the presence of my mother.
I wondered if Yelena’s time as the Commander’s food taster made her instinctively test each meal for poisons before she ate or if she avoided hugging people because they might prick her with Curare. Thinking back to the first time I had seen Yelena after I had tricked her, I remembered being so happy to see her I hugged her without thought. She hadn’t recoiled. In fact, she hugged me back.
Her advice about not letting the past ruin the future proved impossible to follow. How could I stop checking Zitora’s shadow? Wasn’t I supposed to learn from my past mistakes? How did Yelena do it? How could she relax by a fire without worrying about a Fire Warper jumping from the flames and burning her?
Magic, of course. She was a powerful Soulfinder. If a person approached her with Curare, she would sense the intention and counter with ease. In my case, I don’t think an attacker would wait while I fired up the kiln and gathered a ball of hot glass.
Zitora retrieved our bedrolls from the saddles. I stared at the flickering flames, wishing I could do more with my magic.
“What’s this?” Zitora asked. Instead of our rolls, she held the spider-filled glass orb.
“One of the orbs Ash made. I grabbed it when I escaped.”
She arched an eyebrow, but remained quiet.
The silence drove the story from me. I told her about Tricky’s magical attacks, and how I countered the second one. “I really haven’t had the time to wonder where the glass spiders came from. Filling the orb with