The task seemed simple to Dahlia, but as she watched, Ginger’s expression made it seem less so. She sorted the first three cards into separate piles with apparent ease, then hesitated at the next one. She frowned at it, started to move it toward one pile, then stopped and chose another. She continued to look at the errant card as if it had somehow tricked her and she wasn’t sure of its position. She picked it up, then put it back down, in the process revealing its face to Dahlia.
The card, as far as Dahlia could tell, was a perfect, glossy white. Blank.
Chapter 38
Naples
Naples limped into the temple, hoping to find it empty, and was shocked to recognize its occupants. He was only a breath away from demanding that Dahlia and Celadon explain their presence in this sacred place when he noticed his mother and the girl sitting across the altar from her.
He didn’t recognize the girl, but her features gave her away as a Cremnitz, even if Celadon’s intense, protective gaze hadn’t made it clear that she was kin to him. She was sitting at one of the altars almost exclusively used by cold magic sorcerers and was apparently being tested.
Celadon glared at Naples when he entered, but didn’t attempt to stop him. Maddy would have warned him that distracting Ginger could influence the test though Naples was surprised the Quin cared enough to be able to stay so silent.
It might test Celadon’s self-control too much if Naples lingered there in the doorway, just a breath away from the preacher, but Naples couldn’t resist seeing how the girl was doing. The testing was always exciting, not just for an individual who came to the Hall but to everyone. He stepped into the room, careful to keep his footfalls soft and quiet.
He probably could have done a song and dance routine without fear. The girl was completely fixated on the task before her, and paid him no attention.
The “game” Madder was playing with the Cremnitz girl was simple. There was a collection of cards. Each one bore a symbol.
To Dahlia Indathrone, some of those cards would appear blank. On some, she would see a completely different symbol than what a magic user would see; on others, Celadon and Naples would see different symbols, as some lines were drawn with cold power, and some with hot. There were some cards Naples could see but a weaker member of the Order could not. So the test, in addition to determining the presence of power and the type, could also estimate power level.
The girl hadn’t put aside any blank cards. That meant she had power—maybe not a lot, but enough that she had come this far in the testing.
His mother would have let her explore earlier and watched what tools she was drawn to. Did her eyes trace runes and symbols as she walked, or did she run her fingers over the edges of crystals? Did she rub a bit of ash between her fingers, or walk by it, oblivious to its presence? All those little hints could tell so much about a person’s eventual tendencies.
Naples wished he could have seen it.
For a while, as he watched the test continue, he let himself be pulled into the excitement of the moment—and then felt the crash of disappointment as he recalled that this was Celadon Cremnitz’s kin. She couldn’t possibly understand. She didn’t realize how many people came to the Cobalt Hall desperate to pass this test, only to fail.
She would never know that Naples’ mother had to work to keep the smile from her face, because a smile might influence the girl’s choices or affect her instinctive use of her power. The Cremnitz girl, undoubtedly raised Quin, couldn’t know that she would deserve a celebration, that she need only accept this gift she had, and she would be welcomed into the Napthol family with pride and joy.
Times were hard; Naples understood that. But no matter how hard, if she walked out of the temple and allowed Maddy to announce her as a member of their Order, people would cheer for her.
But she wouldn’t. He knew that as surely as he knew Celadon was standing beside him, the grinding of his teeth audible.
The girl put the last of the cards in its place and then looked up with a sleepy, dazed smile. Naples let himself grin. Even with his whole body aching as if he had taken a beating, he wanted to pick the girl up and spin her in his arms and congratulate her.
He might have, if he hadn’t been sure that Celadon would murder him on the spot.
Naples’ mother did it for him. She pulled the girl to her feet and hugged her tightly, saying, “That was wonderful!”
“Did I do well?” the girl asked. “When you told me what to do, I thought it would be easy, but it was really difficult.”
“You did great,” Maddy replied, finally allowing herself a wide smile. “I’ll need to go through them carefully so I can get more of an exact idea of how you did, but—” As she spoke, her gaze moved up. She was still smiling when she first turned to Celadon, and then Naples saw her hit the same mental wall he had moments before, as she realized who she was talking to. She quirked a half smile at her son in greeting before saying to Celadon, “You should be very proud of your sister.”
Celadon flinched from the words. “I take it that means she has power.”
“I do?” the girl asked. “I thought . . . I was sure I . . .” Wide-eyed, she asked, “I really do?”
Maddy nodded. “You really do.”
“You know what you need to do, then, to prepare the brand?” Celadon asked.
Naples’ already fragile self-control snapped as a wave of revulsion rolled through him. “What?”
“She wants to take the brand,” Celadon replied. “My sister does not need this—”
“How old is she?” Naples demanded.
“Seventeen, and old enough to know what she wants.”
“Gentlemen.” The Indathrone girl stepped between them with a nervous, forced smile on her face. Didn’t this woman know how stupid it was to stand between angry sorcerers? “That’s enough. This is about Ginger, not you.”
Naples looked at the girl, who was staring at the seven piles of cards she had put on the table. “Ginger?” he asked.
She looked up with an expression of amazement on her face, but tears in her eyes. “Hi,” she said softly.
He moved closer. Celadon actually growled, but Dahlia prevented him from stepping farther into the temple.
“Naples—”
He touched his mother’s arm, shaking his head to interrupt when she tried to stop him.
“Someone needs to tell her,” he said. “She deserves it.”
She let him pass.
“Nice to meet you, Ginger,” he said. “My name is Naples.”
“You’re Maddy’s son?” she asked. Then she blushed.
He nodded. “I’m Maddy’s son, yes. I was raised here in the Hall.”
“And you’re a sorcerer.”
“And I’m a sorcerer,” he agreed. Were they really only two years apart in age? She seemed so young. Of course, that’s how the Quin liked their women, soft and subservient to their men. “Ginger, I know your brother doesn’t like magic, but even he knows it can be used in good ways. Otherwise he would have taken the brand himself, right?”
Ginger’s eyes widened.
Celadon growled, “You bastard, you leave her alone.”
Naples spun about. “It’s true, isn’t it? You’re going to allow your little sister to mutilate herself, when you have been willfully and knowingly using your power since the Apple Blossom Festival. That’s to say nothing of the fact that it is illegal in the country of Kavet to brand a minor. For a reason!”
“Naples—”
“No!” He broke off his mother’s protest. “I don’t care that she’s a Cremnitz. She should be allowed the same rights and privileges of anyone who has ever passed that test! She should be celebrated. She should have a party given in her honor in a hall lit by foxfire orbs in every color of the rainbow and decorated with roses on every table. She should be able to study, to know what it feels like to turn ash into crystal. She should absolutely not be told that something the Numen graced her with at birth is shameful and dirty, and she sho
uld never be forced to lie down on that table and bite down on a strip of leather to keep from screaming while they brand her and burn her power away like a criminal!”
Why were there tears in his eyes? He didn’t even know this girl.
“Her power could be dangerous to her,” Dahlia said firmly.
“Sailors face death every day on the seas,” Naples said. “Farming accidents claim lives every year. Life is dangerous, but we make of it what we will with the tools we are given. A person should not have to be ashamed of what they are.” He glanced down at the piles Ginger had made, and then looked back to the girl herself, who was visibly shaking with emotion.
He started to reach out, to put a comforting hand on her arm, and stopped himself just in time to keep from having Celadon leap across the room to stop him.
“You have what is known as cold power,” he said. “It’s the kind your brother uses. People with cold power are often very good healers. Some can take crystals and coax them to make music. Some can turn ice into beautiful sculptures. You can have a place here, if you want it.”
Ginger Cremnitz had the most incredibly wide doe-eyes. No wonder her brother was so protective of her; Naples had never once been interested in a girl or woman, but he imagined, looking at her, that she probably couldn’t go far without young men panting after her.
“Look,” he said, recognizing how overwhelmed she had to be feeling, “it will take a little time to sort through the cards, and after that, it will take a couple days to make a brand specific to your power—one that will scar the least, and hurt the least. In that time, I want you to consider your choices. If you have any questions, you can ask anyone in our Order, and we’ll answer you. And if you decide that you don’t want to take the brand, and your family disagrees with you, you have a place to go.”
“Maddy, Dahlia, would you please escort my sister downstairs?” Celadon asked through clenched teeth. “I need to talk to Naples alone.”
“Alone, oh?” Naples teased. He wished he could get away with hitting the man, but knew he couldn’t.
“Naples,” his mother said, the tone heavy with warning.
“I’ll play nice,” he promised. “I need to talk to him, anyway.”
The ladies left, Dahlia and Ginger each with a last nervous look back, and then Celadon and Naples were alone in the temple.
“How dare you,” Celadon growled, “try to influence my sister? Try to convince her to keep her magic, when you know what it could do to her?”
“The wild power’s effects vary with the strength of the user. Ginger has power, but even if she dedicated herself to her magic today, she wouldn’t develop her abilities fast enough for them to endanger her before we can sort this out.”
“She already has one frostbite scar,” Celadon said.
“One,” Naples replied. “One scar, which didn’t seem to bother her at all today. Do you have any idea how much pain and trauma is associated with taking the brand? It looks like a small mark, but its effect on the body isn’t minor.” He shook his head. “She has a couple days. Hopefully she’ll come to a reasonable decision. If she doesn’t, I will step forward and assert the law which protects minors from guardians like you.”
“Times have changed,” Celadon asserted. “The Terre aren’t here for you to—”
“Whether or not you and Indathrone think your council is the new king and court, I will fight to protect that girl.”
“Protect her from what? I will protect her from you. All that crap you fed her about magic, I notice you didn’t mention—”
“She has time. She’ll make a decision,” Naples said, trying to change the subject. Hearing Celadon speak of branding that girl had raised a kind of righteous fury in him, but he knew he had important things to say to the preacher, and that this was likely to be the only chance he had to speak to him alone. “If you really want to protect her, you can help us figure out what’s going on with the magic in Kavet.”
“I don’t know a damn thing about your magic,” Celadon growled, moving toward the door.
Naples stepped in his way. “Your power is a different type, but in its own field, it may be as strong as mine. But I have been studying here since before I was old enough to talk, while you only just recently realized you had yours. How?”
“How, what?”
“You are one of the most powerful cold magic practitioners in Kavet and you don’t have a single frostbite burn on your body, do you? Because you aren’t just a sorcerer. Who have you made your deals with?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Damn it, Celadon!” He almost caught the other man’s arm before he thought better of it. As amusing as it would be to nudge Celadon into replicating that shocking display of raw power he had shown in the kitchen, Naples didn’t have time to get thrown across the room again.
“The only thing I know about sorcery,” Celadon spat, “is that it is killing your kind. I know it is why Terre Jaune and Terra Sarcelle are dead. I know it murdered the potion-maker, Helio. And I know it has gravely injured and possibly killed Henna. So how can you—”
Naples felt his world spin. “What do you mean? What happened to Henna?”
How he hated Celadon for the look of triumph in his eyes right then. “Maddy told us before we came up. Go look at her. I gather she’ll live or die in less time than it will take to make the brand. Wait for that, then come back and tell me whether I should let my sister join your cursed ranks.”
Chapter 39
Dahlia
Dahlia hesitated in the hallway with Maddy and Ginger. “I’m not sure we should leave those two alone together.”
“They can take care of themselves,” Maddy answered, shaking her head sadly. “And Naples wouldn’t get into a fight in the temple. There’s too much of value that could be damaged.”
Ginger spoke up. “Celadon really has magic?”
Maddy nodded. “He only realized it recently. He doesn’t like it, but he decided not to take the brand, and has been able to use it to help us at times.”
“Hmm.”
Dahlia could see the girl reevaluating her entire life in much the same way Dahlia had upon reaching the city. Dahlia watched the conversation, intent on making sure Maddy gave the girl honest answers and didn’t try to bully or manipulate her into anything while Celadon was distracted.
As Maddy led them back downstairs, Ginger asked, “Is magic really dangerous, or is that my brother being Quin?”
Maddy paused to consider, then spoke carefully. “It can be dangerous, especially lately,” she admitted. “But if I thought your life was in danger, I wouldn’t have let Naples argue with you against taking the brand. Most members of our Order have relatively little power, as you seem to, and the wild magic hasn’t bothered them much.”
“But it is what hurt your friend Henna?”
The girl was bright, though at that exact moment, it looked as though Maddy wished she were less so.
“Yes, it’s what hurt Henna,” Maddy said. “She is nearly the strongest of the hot magic users here.”
Ginger tilted her head. “Who is the strongest?”
With a wince, Maddy admitted, “Naples.”
“I’m sorry,” Ginger said softly. “I know you’re worried about people you care for, and probably don’t like being pestered like this, but I think I need to ask these questions.”
“I know. I will answer any questions you put to me.”
“Then . . .” Ginger drew a breath. “Naples is your son, and you said Henna is like a sister to you. They’re in more danger than I am. If taking the brand could keep them safe, why haven’t they? And do you wish they would?”
Maddy leaned back against the wall and shut her eyes as she took several slow, steadying breaths.
“You saw Naples’ reaction when Celadon mentioned the brand. Sorcery isn’t a tool to him, something that can be picked up and put down when it’s convenient. It is part of who he is, and it is a part he cherishes.
Taking the brand would kill part of him.” Maddy opened her eyes then, but stared at the ceiling as she spoke. “As he mentioned, branding is also painful, and often has long-term consequences. There have been only a few cases in Kavet’s history where powerful sorcerers were convicted of repeated crimes of magical maleficence and branded in consequence, but we share them among ourselves as cautionary tales, because such sorcerers rarely live full lives after. They report phantom sensations like people sometimes do when they lose limbs, and often suffer chronic pain or illness. It isn’t as bad among those who take the brand before their power fully manifests, as you are considering, but I still do not think it is healthy. And anyway . . .”
She sighed again. As she reached the more critical part of her explanation, she turned her gaze back on Ginger.
“I know I could lose Naples to his power, but even if he took the brand, what then? Would he become a sailor? A soldier? He isn’t the type to take any kind of ‘safe’ profession. Times are hard for magic users, but they’re hard for everyone in Kavet right now. At least this way, he’s true to what he is. I wouldn’t steal that from him, even if it were my choice to make.”
Maddy had been frank and, as far as Dahlia could tell, honest. The longer their conversation in the hall went, the less concerned Dahlia was about leaving Ginger alone with Maddy and the more worried she became about Celadon and Naples being alone together in the temple.
“Maddy, do you want to show Ginger around and let her know what options she has if she doesn’t take the brand?” Dahlia suggested. Maddy wouldn’t want to give such a tour with an outsider in tow, and Ginger might have questions she would feel more comfortable asking without Dahlia present.
“Would you like that?” Maddy asked.
Ginger’s eyes lit up, the curiosity Dahlia loved about her clearly reacting to the offer to see more of a place that had always been so mysterious and forbidden.