Page 106 of Alchemy of Souls

“You know,” she says. “In a way it all makes sense. Gran hates Mages. And there was never a subject my grandparents disagreedon. Well, except who got to plant what in the garden.” She smiles at the memory. “Which also means we need to get moving. If the Chancellor’s headed here, we need a plan.”

Eloise

Sage stands outside the tent with her hands in her pockets and a faraway look on her face, one that makes me wonder if she’s still thinking about Grandad.

“I’d like to show you the camp, if you’re willing,” Sage says.

“I’d like that,” I reply, finding that I mean it.

Grayson watches the two of us with a discerning eye, but doesn’t comment.

“You’re open-minded,” Sage says as she leads us through the rows of tents. “That’s rare.”

“After what the Chancellor did to me today, I know he’s capable of anything,” I say.

“He’s the reason our homes are temporary structures,” Sage says as we follow her to the center of camp where there’s a big firepit with stones and benches around it. Adults are cooking together and children are running around in the forest playing games. “We always have to be ready to move.”

“Because he attacks you?” I ask, repeating what Grayson told me.

“Because he’s threatened by their existence,” Grayson replies.

“But why?” I ask.

Sage stops near the firepit. “A couple hundred years ago things weren’t like this,” Sage says, offering Grayson and me two bowls of what smells like broccoli-cheddar soup. “There was still the class system, sure. There were Mages and Laborers. But it used to be a choice to leave the wards, not just for Laborers, for anyone.”

I sit down on one of the log benches next to Sage, and Grayson sits next to me. “I’ve always been told that if we didn’t accept our Laboring assignment that we’d die out here or be attacked,” I say.

Sage looks at the firepit, her forehead wrinkling. “Look around. It’s by no means an easy life.” She gestures at the people, families playing and friends laughing. Their clothes are simple just like their lodgings. In a lot of ways, they remind me of my own neighborhood at the edge of the wards.

Sage swallows her soup. “Magical plants grow poorly out here and magic is dampened the farther you get from the wards. After a few days you start to feel it like some basic need you can’t fulfill. Which is why we choose to build our camps by the warded towns. If we didn’t need to be near the magic concentrated within the wards, we’d just go live a peaceful life somewhere else. But if we do, we’ll get sick and weak.”

My eyes widen. “Did you guys ever try to return to Mage society?”

“Many times,” Grayson says.

Sage nods. “My mother’s sent letters to the Chancellor, tried to strike bargains with the Council. But they never answer her. For all I know, no one even reads them.”

“But why?” I ask.

“Because the Chancellor needs us to be the villain,” Sage says. “He needs us to suffer so he can control all of you. But the real reason he’ll never let us return is because we know things.”

“One thing in particular he’s worked hard to keep secret,” Grayson adds.

I swallow, my heart picking up speed. “What is it?”

“I’ll show you,” Sage says, and calls over a girl about Delilah’s age. “Chloe, can you help me demonstrate something?”

Chloe raises an eyebrow, considering Sage.

“Can you show us a spell? Any spell. Your pick,” Sage asks.

Chloe looks from Sage to me and says, “Nope!”

Which makes me smile and feel heartsick for Delilah. But as Chloe runs off after a boy, she does cast, and I stop smiling. Because it’s not a beginner spell—she pelts him right in the head with a ball of water.

“Did that tiny child just…cast an Elemental spell?” I ask, unable to comprehend.

“You should see her Illusion magic,” Sage replies.