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The flames in the fire pulsed with an urgency. They swelled to man-size. I looked at Gede in alarm, but he appeared serene.
“He waits for you. Go to him,” Gede said.
I stood. “No. I’m not ready. I don’t even know how to fight him. With magic?”
Gede sneered with disdain. “You have no idea, do you? All the better.”
Confused, I glanced between Gede and the fire, expecting the Fire Warper to step from the conflagration.
“He comes for you. If you will not go on your own, then I will provide an incentive.” He snapped his fingers. “Moon Man, show your pupil what she needs to do.”
Moon Man strode toward the blaze. The flames reached out to him. He extended his hands and the fingers of fire wrapped around his arms.
“No,” I yelled. “Get back.” I grabbed Moon Man’s shoulders and pulled to no avail.
The tendrils of fire advanced and crawled over my hands. A burning excitement tingled and souls writhed in agony within the depths of the blaze. Caught between worlds. Hundreds of them. They dragged us toward them.
My first instinct had been to resist, but their need for freedom, for relief clawed at my body. I needed to help them. Leaning with Moon Man, I pushed forward. The fire burned on my skin, but the pain stayed bearable and a cooling relief lurked on the other side. If I could just get through.
A hand tugged on my shoulders. I tried to shake the person off. “It’s okay. They need me.”
An arm from outside the fire world circled my neck and squeezed. My hands still clutched Moon Man’s shoulders, trapped in the fire world. “No. Stop. I must…”
The souls ceased their pleading and flinched. “Wait.” The word wheezed from my lips as I strained for air. But they hid and cowered. “I’ve come to help—”
“But who will help you, my little bat?” the Fire Warper asked.
I lost my grip on the Story Weaver. Without the breath to speak, I projected, Do something! into Moon Man’s mind.
I can not. I have no power here.
The fire world blurred into a blob of orange and yellow. I plucked at the arm around my neck, but my hands weighed a hundred pounds. The blob transformed into black.
I woke. Lying on my back, I squinted and blinked until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The cold air moved like silk over my hot body. My head throbbed and the skin on my hands and arms sizzled with pain. I drew a thread of magic and used it to soothe my head and heal the blisters.
“How about helping me,” Leif said. He held out his arms. They had been scorched.
Leif sat next to me. We were in an alley in the Citadel. Concentrating, I pulled power and healed his burns. My energy sapped, I leaned back against a wall as a wave of dizziness made my head spin.
“What happened?” My voice croaked as pain ringed my neck.
“I had business in the Citadel tonight and thought I’d wait for you by the guest quarters. Out of nowhere Valek appeared.” Leif paused, but when I failed to explain, he continued. “He muttered a comment about a Council meeting and asked where you were. By the firelight blazing through the windows, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Valek picked the lock and we peeked in time to see you and Moon Man hug the fire.”
He wiped soot from his face with a sleeve. “Valek attacked the Sandseeds inside and yelled for me to get you. Gede screamed for me to leave you alone, that you need to learn. Valek’s scarier than Gede, so I listened to him, but I couldn’t pull you away from the fire. I choked off your air until you passed out. Carried you out here.”
I touched my neck. “Did you do the same for Moon Man?”
“He was too far in. I couldn’t reach him.” Leif’s voice cracked with anguish. “Does the Fire Warper have him?”
“I don’t know. It was strange. I’m not certain what just happened.” My brain felt overcooked and logic stuck to the sides of my skull like a burnt crust. I needed another opinion. “Where’s Valek?”
“Disappeared. But he left your cloak and pack. And orders.” Leif smiled ruefully. “We are to leave the Citadel as soon as possible.”
“Did he say why?”
“No. Just to meet him about two miles south of the Citadel.”
I stood, wrapped my cloak around me and shouldered my pack. My legs protested the weight. “Let’s get our horses and supplies from the Keep.”
Leif shook his head. “He said not to return to the Keep for any reason.”
I mulled over the implications. Valek had been in the closed Council session where they questioned Marrok. Evidence must have been gleaned, but obviously not in our favor. So much for my promise to visit Gelsi.
We fled the Citadel and camped in a farm field west of the main road. With no supplies, and me refusing to let Leif light a fire, a miserable night loomed. We huddled in the dark.
Leif muttered over Valek’s reason for sending us here. I cursed my own stupidity; I didn’t have to wait for Valek. I could contact Irys myself.
I asked Leif to keep watch.
“Better than freezing to death,” he said.
Lying on the hard ground, I projected my thoughts. Irys’s tower sparked with life. And instead of finding the Master Magician sleeping, she was bent over a handful of books in her study. Because of the bond we shared, her thoughts were open to me.
Irys, I said in her mind.
Yelena! Thank fate! Are you okay?
I’m fine.
Where are you?
I don’t know if I should answer. What happened at the Council session?
A long pause. Marrok confessed.
To what? He didn’t do anything.
To freeing Ferde and conspiring against Sitia.
Stunned, my mind blanked for a moment. What…what was his motive?
Just like Cahil said. Marrok wanted to get Cahil arrested and be in charge of Cahil’s men. But…
Go on, I urged.
There’s a new wrinkle. Marrok conspired to team up with Ferde and the Daviians to provoke a war with Ixia.
Why is that new? We already know the Daviians want war.
The new part is Marrok named accomplices. Another pause. You and Leif.
My body numbed. Unbelievable. Someone must have forced Marrok to confess. It’s all a lie. Did you feel any magic being used? How can the Council swallow that? The thoughts tumbled one after another.
Unless you have some proof otherwise, the Council has signed an arrest warrant for you and Leif. They wish to capture you so you can be safely executed.
I almost laughed at the words safely and executed said together. The whole situation was ridiculous.
I’m not supposed to be telling you this either. I could be incarcerated in the Keep’s dungeon if the Council finds out. Bain and I are already being watched for disagreeing with them. They’ve gone quite mad.
That’s putting it mildly.
What are you going to do? Irys asked.
There has to be a reason the Council has gone mad. Discovering the reason should be next. Guess I really was going to stick my nose in Sitia’s business. Nothing like having a warrant for your execution to get a girl motivated.
But all the clans will be alerted to your arrest warrant, and there’s already talk of a reward. There’s no safe place for you in Sitia.
I’ll figure something out, and I think it’s best if I don’t contact you again for a while. You’re already under suspicion. I don’t want to compromise you any further.
Good point. Be very careful, Yelena.
I’ll try. But you know me.
Yes, I do. So I’ll say it again. Be very careful.
I pulled my awareness back, breaking our connection. Exhaustion dragged at my body and I would have drifted to sleep if Leif hadn’t bumped my arm.
“Oh, no you don’t, little sister. You were gone a long time. Tell me what’s happening.”
I filled Leif in on the details and managed to shock him into a rare silence.
“So what do we do now?” Leif finally whispered.
>
“We wait for Valek.”
Valek arrived near dawn. He rode Kiki and had Rusalka in tow. The saddlebags bulged with supplies. Fatigue lined his face.
He peered at me. “You know?”
