The Will of the Empress - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,92
it." She hesitated for a moment, then said, "You four are an odd crew."
Daja looked at her, confused by the remark. "What do you mean?"
"Well, anyone at court and quite a few people not at court would kill for the chance to join Her Imperial Majesty's circle. And yet you all stand aloof. Is Emelan so much more filled with diversions and interesting people, compared with here?"
Diversions? thought Daja, confused. "Our work is in Emelan. I have a house, with a forge, of my own. The Trader caravans know to find me there. My teacher Frostpine is nearby, and the temple libraries, for when I want to tackle something magically complicated. Sandry is her uncle's assistant, and he needs her. I don't know about Briar, but Tris means to go to Lightsbridge to learn academic magic. I suppose you could say we're not really the 'diversions' sort."
"But there are forges here in Namorn," Rizu pointed out. "Sandry could advise the empress, I suppose, if she cared to." She looked down. "I know I would like you to stay."
Daja's heart thudded in her chest. A fizzing sensation filled her body, while her mouth went dry. "Me?" she asked, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. "We'll be here most of the summer," she replied, trying to sound relaxed. "You'll be more than tired of us all by then. We're a difficult lot, and we usually only get on with difficult people."
Rizu raised her eyebrows. "Usually the difficult need people who aren't in the least difficult around them. I try to be very un-difficult. Daja...." She put her hand on Daja's arm.
"Rizu! Daja!" Caidy stood in the open doorway. "She's looking for you!" When she spoke that way, "She" meant only one person. To Daja, Caidy said, "Have you any idea where Briar got to? She's asking for him, too, and she's got that wrinkle between her brows."
"The one that means she's deciding whether to be offended or not," said Rizu. "Do you know where your brother is?"
Daja quested out with her power. She found Sandry and Tris instantly. Her connection to Sandry was reopened all the way, so that Sandry blazed bright in Daja's magical vision. Tris had not thawed, but the lightning in her was clear to the fire in Daja's magic. Briar was still completely invisible.
But maybe not to everyone, she thought. Looking at Caidy, Daja said, "I can't find him, but Tris might. She usually keeps an eye on Briar."
*
Tris shook her head when Caidy, Rizu, and Daja asked her where Briar was — but she had an idea. She felt the finest cobweb of a bond between her and Briar. Perhaps it was there because after everything else was said and done, Tris had taught Briar to read, and they could still talk about books together. Neither Sandry nor Daja read as much as they did, or shared books with them. Shared reading made for solid friendships, like her relationship with Duke Vedris, Tris had found.
She excused herself politely to the courtiers and wandered away with relief. How many times in one day can a person curtsy or bow without tripping over their own feet? she asked herself. It gives me a headache, and I don't have to live at court.
She wandered down the back halls of the castle, pretending to ignore the servants who edged away from her. Word about the river repairs at Pofkim had spread in the last three days.
Forget it, Tris ordered herself as she passed through the kitchen, a cook stepping away from her. When I have my Lightsbridge credential, I'll be able to work in a way that won't make people nervous. Nobody shrinks from the village healer or the woman who sells charms in the marketplace. I'll be able to keep to small magics, and people will stop looking at me as if I had two heads.
Her steps carried her down a corridor where the store rooms were located. A stair at the end led her clown into the cellars. There she found a light shining through the open door of the room nearest the stairs. She poked her head inside. This was a cold room, spelled to hold winter temperatures all year long. Here the castle stored things that would spoil. In the outer room, they stored meat, butter, eggs, urns of milk and cream, and large cheeses. In the room off the main one, Tris saw the silver bloom of magic. Briar was working with household medicines.