for a moment and made it something entirely different, how they dug into lives for sport and a headline. It all felt like a warning for now.
And yet, Kallia was curious about the woman before her. More than she’d dare admit.
“Aaros, I’ll meet you back at the room.” Kallia shot him a look. After a hesitant blink, he nodded, knowing she could fend off the wolves herself.
As soon as he disappeared, Kallia resumed her sharp, waiting stare.
“You know, I adore your spirit. You’re not the least bit shy, nor afraid,” Lottie said, her features now grim. “I think that’s why you’ve lasted longer than the rest.”
“Who?”
“Why, your fellow female stage magicians. You may have noticed, there aren’t very many. If any,” she muttered. “But there are many who would like to keep it that way.”
Kallia’s frown deepened. She thought back to the scorn of the mayor and the judges, the way Jack had always spoken of female magicians living quietly across Soltair because that’s the only way society would have them. The only truth he ever told her, the most disappointing one of all.
“Magician or not, we’ve always lived in a series of clubs we’re not allowed to enter,” the journalist went on. “We’re told we’re simply lucky to be in the room, as long as we stay quiet. Make even a little murmur, and it’s like we’ve disturbed the order of life itself.”
“Trust me, I know,” Kallia said curtly. “Since arriving, I’ve been constantly reminded.”
“That’s because they’re scared. If you can’t stay small in the box they’ve built around you, they will make you feel small until you fit right back in it.”
“That won’t happen.”
“It better not. If even a little harm comes to you here, this place will wish it stayed quiet.”
A sudden outburst of oohs erupted from an act nearby, but it dulled to the unflinching ferocity in Lottie’s voice, the fierceness in her eyes that belonged to a friend. Not someone she’d only met days before and avoided every day since. It almost made Kallia choke up. “But … you don’t even know me.”
Lottie paused, inhaling deeply. “Have you ever heard of Enita Son?”
Kallia shook her head. Lottie nodded in understanding. “Gone a week after opening a show at the New Crown Amphitheater when the first magician backed out. Almost a decade ago, and never heard from again,” she said. “What about Adeline Andradas?”
The shake of Kallia’s head grew slower.
“Known in Deque for her card tricks—from close-up guessing games to shuffles in the air where the cards danced in formation. She’d perform on the streets for sport, until one day, some gent offered her a wealthy sum to perform at a major private function. According to witnesses, she never showed, and was never seen again, performing or otherwise.” Lottie paused with a haunted expression. “By now, you’ve heard about Eva—”
“All right, enough. I don’t want to hear any more.”
“He never told you?”
“Who?” Kallia exhaled sharply, her temple throbbing. All the names paired with silent ends, and she hadn’t even heard that many yet. Only enough to know there were so many more, and so much she didn’t know about magicians like herself. Why none had ever risen past clubs and tricks in the streets.
Lottie observed her, eyes troubled. “You … really have no idea, do you?”
Her tone wasn’t out to hunt, but Kallia chose her words carefully. “I never had much access to current news before this. And everyone in this town barely talks about what happens outside of it.”
“Yes, it’s quite disturbing,” Lottie grumbled. “Though it’s not only Glorian when it comes to the stories of female magicians. As a whole, people in Soltair prefer plugging their ears and pretending everything is fine.”
“Why?”
“People are ignorant. Or they simply choose to be when threatened.” She sniffed. “I heard a theory that female magicians were once regarded as the most powerful in ability and skill. Back when the Soltair cities warred with one another, before the Patrons stepped in, it was said female magicians were chosen for the forefront. Throughout the years, it’s been shaken off as rumor, which is rather convenient for those currently dominating the stage.”
In all her studies, Kallia had never touched upon such a fact, not that it would have mattered. She knew her strength, how her power felt in the grips of a trick. And Jack had never once made her feel lesser. But it was all too easy for a fact like that to become a small secret, tucked into the