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The door opened with the slightest of sighs Keleios paused, thinking of murder

The room was silvered darkness Fidelis lay quietly on her side, pale brown hair flung across her pillow, one slender hand half-clinched on her hip When she was six, Keleios had tagged after the older girl, as Alys followed Keleios now One bright suarden with a kitten Fidelis had asked to hold it Keleios had been so proud that the older girl noticed her Fidelis had held and petted the tiny cat Then with a wonderful smile that reached all the way up into her eyes, Fidelis shoved the kitten underwater and held it there while Keleios beat on her with tiny fists Keleios had learned hatred froht Keleios that all her fear and rage for Harque&039;selse Fear crippled, rage blinded, but hatred could be fore could come satisfaction

When Keleios was a little older she and Belor had airl They had beat her bloody Fidelis had asked, "Why?"

"The kitten you drowned," Keleios said

"You never forget, do you?"

"No," Keleios said, "I never forget"

Was Fidelis trying to kill her now? It was better to be cautious The spell tonight had been a blatant atte a shadoorshipper, Fidelis was more inclined to treachery than frontal attack

Keleios searched the rooht wind touched her through the open s It rustled the papers on the torktables and sent rows of hanging herbs scritching against the wall She gave over to her suspicions and searched the chamber with the other sense that could not be tricked by silvered shadows; even night vision had its faults The air currentsthe walls were stacked thick with books and papers, jars and bottles, and the strange miscellany that spell casters of any sort seeain faallon bottle, carefully blown and enchanted, sat on the third shelf of Fidelis&039; side of the roo Oh, how de under Fidelis&039; bed attracted her attention, and pinpricks of many eyes stared back at her

Fas, Fidelis&039; fae as a ave Fidelis the power of illusion

The wind blew stronger, and the papers on Keleios&039; table struggled against the lead-lined weight of the demon&039;s skull that held them down The bare white skull was a trophy she had carried away from the Grey Isle It had been one of the lesser deh encounters with the devilkin All one needed was a iven her both Now the horned skull acted as a paperweight and a reminder that she had done the nearly ied if only Keleios could decide what itof crushed thyme and verdis She wondered briefly if one of the apprentices had forgotten to clean it again, but for once was too tired to care

So fluttered in the far co Fidelis&039; ly carved of polished oak, a floor-length oval of unblelass It had power as all enchanted objects did, and it was evil

Fidelis had hidden it from Keleios&039; view since the day Keleios had looked at it and said, "I see you standing in a chamber with a blond man I can almost see his face"

"How can you do that?" she asked, suddenly pale

Keleios smiled "Remember, I am an enchanter I can divine the uses of enchanted itehly than an illusionist/herb-witch"

"It is evil You shouldn&039;t be able to use it"

Keleios shrugged "It is also deer!" Fidelis hissed, "How long have you been watching theher sweat, but Fidelis was a little too dangerous to play with "Not long, Fidelis Your secrets are safe, for thenames, remember, my demon alliance was accidental; yours was not"

So the e of her bed, back to Fidelis and Fas If it were the herb-witch, she would not want to bring blame upon herself Most likely attacks would continue outside of the rooht, or was it to mattress to touch her Keleios reached back and drew the cool golden hilt to her The hilt was carved sie jeas a luckstone nearly as large as her fist It rode the end of the hilt and pulsed ic to her touch It was an elementary enchantment, her first shaped weapon It would be just as powerful in anyone else&039;s hands, if they kne to use it There was no blood, or soul binding in it, so she had to touch it for the s in her favor If she had worn Luckweaver tonight, the dae would have been less or avoided coic into the tower She caressed the sword and resisted the idea of unsheathing it Perhaps it was tihed, stretched, and set the weapon carefully on the bed

She pulled off one boot A cat h the door It was a spell they had worked out between them The door was enchanted to be soft near the bottom, but only Poth&039;s touch would activate it Keleios didn&039;t want just any cat-sized creature crawling into the room Gilstorpoth, who had many names around the school -- Mistress Poth, or just plain Poth -- caainst her ankles Keleios picked up the cat She trusted her hands to tell her that the cat was all right Though Poth was not her familiar, she was more than a pet and sometimes sensed what only a familiar, or another sorcerer, should have felt

The cat&039;s mother had been a shapeshifted elf who had become trapped The beautiful white, silver-eyed cat had finally taken a true cat mate, and Poth had been one of her first and only litter It is said that after a while one forgets one&039;s old shape; Keleios always hoped that was true There had been a look in those silver cat eyes that had frightened her Regardless of the pain it iven Poth sorcery Poth meowed up at her, and Keleios cupped the sold eyes, the color of orn gold pieces They communed quietly for several h there was no need for words, Keleios spoke softly "I&039; a when it wasn&039;t necessary It was past time for a visit to her elven kin Elves knew the value of silence

A soft thump froed by her gaze, the half-grohite hts turned to Piker&039;s owner, or rather est untrained witch ever to attract a faht them to the school If her dreao, for she had learned not to dwell on death prophecies She had been wrong once Piker stayed with Keleios because no animals were allowed in the apprentice dorms If they made an exception, even for a familiar, the place would turn into a zoo, or so said Toran, head of the boy apprentices Personally, Keleios thought Toran just didn&039;t understand children and their need for ani into a zoo

The e bars on the floor Keleios sh ani spider Fas, had tried ridding the room of some of its occupants Keleios had entered the chae with his hairy legs "Fas! No!" The chain holding the cage to the ceiling snapped, toppling the spider and freeing the tiny bird, which flew to the highest shelf, panting

Keleios had been about to fry the vile thing when Fidelis had entered screa She convinced Keleios that she would punish the spider Keleios let it be, for it was a very serious offense to kill soht that Fidelis herself had ordered the ani fro, and Poth the cat slept where she would, and Piker slept in the coe, the dog&039;s blankets, and Poth herself glowed ic

Fidelis had protested the severity of the wards Later Keleios admitted to Zeln that perhaps a fifth circle fire as tooShe was excessive, not wrong

Fas was intelligent enough to leave well enough alone, so Zeln had let it stand

Keleios sat on the bed, the dog&039;s head sunk on her leg, and scratched his ear Poth clambered up her back and curled round her neck A precarious perch for a cat, but she liked it, and her purrs ruh the back of Keleios&039; neck

Keleios&039; skin prickled, and Poth jumped doith a squall Piker whined softly

Fidelis called sleepily froone up Prophet&039;s right"

"Why did they go up?"

Keleios turned to watch Fidelis grope out of sleep "I told you: prophet&039;s right"

"You being the prophet"

"Yes, go back to sleep We can argue in theif you want"

Fidelis opened her ed her mind, and settled back into her covers

A fewfilled the roo his ears flap, and sent hi to find a comfortable spot

"We&039;re safe now," she whispered to the cat But as she finished undressing, she wondered just how safe one could be with traitors on mis side of the wards

She placed a hand to her bedpost and activated the spell It gave a pulse, a ratefully There would be no ht, no matter what the need Poth curled into a black and white ball beside her shoulder, her plu just under Keleios&039; chin

She checked briefly to assure herself the wrist sheath dagger was in place, and placing a hand over Luckweaver, she gave herself to sleep

Keleios lay snuggled into the war at her hair She batted it away but the tentative touch returned She opened her eyes just enough to catch a black and blur

Keleios groaned "Poth, what is it?" Then she noticed the angle of the sunlight "Urle&039;s forge, I&039;m late"

Poth jumped to the floor with a startled cry as Keleios tore back the covers The cat swatted at her foot, claws carefully sheathed

"I&039;virtuous and patient Keleios laughed and picked her up Poth tried to rean to purr Keleios put her on the bed and began to undress "I haven&039;t slept in this late in months"

She was alive, the as intact, and Fidelis was gone A note was pinned to the clothes she had taken off last night It read simply:

KELEIOS

WE CAN ARGUE LATER TODAY I HAD EARLY AND URGENT BUSINESS TO TEND TO

THE WITCH

She s notes to each other for two years Keleios signed hers &039;the half-elf&039; and Fidelis was always &039;the witch&039; The sent business could be the planning of her own death

Keleios felt a light touch on her mind She opened to it and Allanna asked for permission to enter her room The woman appeared in the middle of the floor As always, Keleios was taken with Allanna&039;s beauty She was the heroine of an old legend, or should have been Being Astranthian, she was tall and slender with straight yellow-gold hair that fell to her knees Her eyes were the surprised blue of cornflowers, and her skin had never known the touch of sun, white and pure like a wax doll She was dressed in blue today, which eolden hair Her goas blue on blue-patterned silk It gapped below her fitted waist to reveal a pale blue dress A necklace of pearls and sapphires adorned her slender neck Allanna of the Golden Hair was a princess waiting for her prince, and no one was more aware of it than Allanna herself Her beauty would have been breath-stealing if it had been an unconscious beauty, but it was affected, like the dress that estures It was a self-conscious show

She began her sentence with a sweep of long tapered hand "Belor bid own over her head "How late am I?"

"&039;An hour"

"Carrick will skin me alive"

The impossibly red lips s; I do not" Keleios poured water froasped at the feel of the chill water

Allanna said, "Here, let ed She wasted sorcery onit a waste

Allanna sighed gracefully "I&039;m sorry I know you are in trouble but why do you put yourself at the mercy of a man like that?"

Keleios dried herself on a small towel "A man like what?"

Allanna shifted uncomfortably "Oh, come, you knohat I mean"

"No, tell me"

Allanna sta over the floor "He isn&039;t ic, not even an herb-witch"

"True, but then he doesn&039;t need ic to be the best swordsument between theic Without ic one was less than human, and it was this idea that had kept the peasants in thrall for so many years "When you have exhausted your spells, what is left? You can&039;t even use a dagger, let alone a sword What happens when you&039;ve run out of spells?"

She stood perfectly straight, hands loose at her sides "I do not run out of spells"

It was true, in a way Allanna was perhaps the most powerful sorcerer to come out of Astrantha since Zeln and his sister Sile

"You are powerful, Allanna, but everyone, everyone, will eventually run out of spells Or at least the strength to use theic was very high Unfortunately, up until now the opinion was deserved She was one of four people who could enter the arena with Zeln and stand a chance of co out alive

Keleios watched Allanna&039;s face until her linen shirt blocked her view It was useless to argue Until soirl, she would think herself unbeatable The frightening thing was she just ht

Keleios pulled her hair from the shirt collar "Perhaps you are a special case, Allanna, but I with ave a sh "You, humble? My father is only a viscount; yours was a prince and your s are much more important in Astrantha than in Wrythe And as for my mother&039;s family, they consider me a bastard child"

She sniffed "The Calthuians are a barbaric people, no offense intended Yourhalf-Calthuian, wasn&039;t sure as compliment and asn&039;t, but she said, "Thank you, Allanna"

"I do not profess to understand the ways of elves, but in Astrantha you are not huh theGhostlike they could see through it Keleios whispered to it, "I&039;"

Keleios started to put on the vest she had discarded last night

Allanna&039;s delicate lips curled slightly, a look of disgust touching her face

Keleios held it up at arth Allanna did have a point She opened the chest at the end of her bed and began ruh it "I haven&039;t even fed the animals yet"

&039;I&039;ll do that"

Keleios&039; voice came muffled from inside the trunk "Remember to chop parsley for the canary"

As if in answer to it, the tiny bird sang an ear-thruets to Feltan, and Mistress Poth will dine in the kitchen under old eyelashes curling doard "Your haste is reen vest clutched in her hand It fit rather snug but would have to do There didn&039;t seem to be any other clean ones Poth circled round her ankles Keleios picked the cat up and cuddled her "Allanna will tend you, Poth If you don&039;t mind?" The cat didn&039;t, perhaps because Allanna was so very well And she cautioned the dog, "Behave or Allanna will turn you into a rabbit"

The dog gave an apologetic tail thuh her thick hair She began to braid it Allanna stepped forward "Here, let old hair into a single braid The fingers lingered on a somewhat pointed ear "How lovely they would be if you would let ht, but they&039;re fine the way they are" Keleios scooped up her short sword and belt She fastened Luckweaver in place

"Perhaps, Keleios, you should take a more direct route today"

"Direct?"

She motioned toward the s

"You mean levitate down I think not"

"Oh, come now, Keleios, you are a journeyman sorcerer Surely you can levitate yourself to the courtyard"

"It is not a ic"

Allanna sniffed "I will levitate you hed, resigned She strode forward, touching thespell Steel on steel rang through the courtyard

The green-brown canary hopped froently with his ood bird, Shotzi, and Auntie Allanna will give you a surprise"

The Astranthian laughed, and the sound was like wind chimes or feast bells Surely the wo down at the courtyard below It was too much for Allanna&039;s patience Keleios vanished with a startled cry and reappeared on the stones below She frowned up at the sli her , but she dared not draw ic anywhere near his practices A su wisps of hair

She stood in the center of one of the gigantic blocks of square-cut stone They had been ic-supported still In the middle of the vast stony expanse huddled the weapons practice Most sat in a wide circle Carrick strode round the inside of that circle He wore a sleeveless brown jerkin and baggy trousers stuffed into knee-high boots He was large, with a beefy, muscled body He looked slow, but it was deceptive Keleios had felt his lightning-quick blows too many tiuise of bulk, no shapely definition for Carrick&039;s body His black hair was cut close to the round balding head His quick brown eyes caught every mistake The stick he carried poked, prodded, and tripped, so you would notice your hters danced round each other The wooden practice swords had been left behind for blunt steel -- blunt steel that o or three tiht of uardsman

Tobin was short, but at sixteen, he hadn&039;t yet attained his full height His hair was a dark copper-red and his skin flushed with gold highlights Somewhere back in his ancestry was a faerie of soe in Meltaan Only his a His linen shirt trailed over a pair of bright red trousers His boots were shiny black with polish, and since Zeln considered it an excess for the servants to do such things, Tobin had shined his own boots He was heir to the entire province of Ferrian He was a prince, and souardsman towered over Tobin; and his reach ice the boy&039;s The th as well Yet Tobin circled, feinting The boy opened wide his aret Darius reached forith his long arut slice Snake-quick, Tobin&039;s sword slid under the arot in a heart bloith inches to spare for his own life It was an elven thing, and Tobin had sweated and worked to acquire the strength of wrist to do it His quickness was still not elven, but it was close

Keleiosnoticed by any except Belor She quickly nored her arrival and she slid in between Tobin and Belor Tobin&039;s auburn hair clung in dark strands round his face He smiled, and his eyes sparkled He had never beaten Darius before

Belor frowned at her He seemed ready to speak but didn&039;t dare with the weapons master so close

Five people down to the left sat Lothor, shirtless, sweating, and staring at her with his strange silver eyes

She laid Luckweaver and the round beside her Carrick did not allow any ic weapons held a practice on their own in the afternoon or early evening The guard had begun to coic weapons Carrick had finally consented to let Bellenore, his second in command, direct the practice

The nexthis nose sreat dark cloud She felt that uncoht and ry eyes

His voice was deep and thick with eic users insessions I said it would be a waste of tiuards He countered with let theuards then He willed it; I obeyed But I told hiood soldiers; they distract too easily Magic is ers seriously I will train you, and you will learn You will learn that these practices are important and come first"

He barked out her name

Keleios stood

He called out, "Bellenore to the circle"

Bellenore was tall ide shoulders The braid of her brown hair was streaked with grey, though she couldn&039;t have been past her thirtieth year She was dressed as Carrick was, brown sleeveless jerkin and trousers Scars decorated her bare arms Her face was plain until she sarded Keleios without s

Carrick handed thehting, and the sas edged Edged weapons were not an uncommon punishment It was a cohters with edged weapons during practice His glittering eyes challenged Keleios to protest She did not, even though Bellenore was a better fighter than she was They would fight with short sword and shield, Keleios&039; own favorite method, and Bellenore would beat her It wasexperience

Carrick bawled out, "To third blood; a nick is as good as a wound"

As they faced off, Lothor&039;s pale flesh seelimmer, like carved alabaster Keleios shook her head to clear her vision and Bellenore withheld asking, "Are you fit for the circle?"

Keleios nodded, and they began the dance They had fought before, and Keleios had even ice, but not with an edged weapon, and not to draw blood Even with blunt weapons Bellenore won nine out of ten times

A lesson would have worked better on others because Keleios did not consider it euards&039; second in command Carrick knew this, but it was one of his standard punishments He had not coh he had found he could ry, he could not make her truly repentant

They circled, wary, shields held close covering upper bodies and stomach, tensed to move up or down Bellenore&039;s preferred weapon was the two-handed sword She was one of only toth to use it properly For that matter, she hadn&039;t seen many men who could use the two-handed well More of theth, stamina, and mind-set for the weapon

They tested each other with some half-hearted feints, which neither fell for Then Bellenore grinned, and Keleios did too The fight began in earnest with a clang of steel Bellenore rushed inward, sword slashing The tension was not there; it was a ruse Keleios let the blow go past but countered with a sainst Bellenore&039;s body It set the wo sword into play, she had recovered

As they circled, Keleios found her eyes drawn to Lothor His hand as it swept up his ar doard Keleios threw her steel upward; the swords sang down each other, with a shower of sparks As they broke froan to wend down Keleios&039; forehead The point of the blade had found her before she reacted With the knowledge of blood, the cut began to sting

Worse, the thin strea her vision

Blade ainst each other Withoutthis, feeling it, she collapsed doard It was a great gaht not have done it Bellenore staggered forward, and Keleios&039; sword caught her across the stomach Elven quickness allowed her to roll away and stand ready for the next rush

Every time the circle showed her Lothor, her concentration wavered So Keleios decided before the dance turned her to Lothor oncetechnique more favored in elven circles than huth of Bellenore&039;s and twisted point along the haft It should have disarmed her and nicked the wrist But this was Bellenore She bled but kept her sword

The blood welled out of the slice and would make the hilt slippery in a short tiive it that tiht Keleios shook blood fro bled like a shallow scalp wound

For whatever reason she was being distracted, Bellenore had noticed and began aze that way It worked like a charm Keleios&039; eyes were draay to Lothor, and she found herself on the ground with Bellenore&039;s sword at her throat She had not dropped her sword The point bit into her neck twice, one nearly atop the other

Carrick strode forward "Winner"

Bellenore offered Keleios a hand up and she accepted "What was of such interest over there?"