“He’s in the workroom, meditating,” replied Niko. “Glaki is helping in the kitchen. They’re staying here for the time being — Khapik was closed during the riots. What do you plan to do with the girl, Tris?”
“Keep her with me,” Tris replied. “She needs something constant in her life, and she has no family.” She held up a hand to silence her teacher when he opened his mouth. “I know I need to provide for her properly. I’m too young for motherhood. And she’s an academic mage, though too young to work with it much. I want to learn to be an academic mage myself; I don’t know how to teach one.”
“She has used her power somewhat,” Niko remarked. “She is far more disciplined than I would expect for a child her age.”
“It’s the meditation, I suppose,” Tris replied. “I suppose that will do for now. I was thinking of taking her back to Winding Circle when we go home.” Searching an open drawer for a scarf for her hair, which was a mess of half-undone braids that would have to be washed, arranged and pinned afresh, she found Chime sound asleep in her belongings. “Hello, beautiful,” she murmured, stroking the glass dragon as she eased a blue scarf out from under her.
Chime opened one glass eye and chinked at her, then resumed her slumbers.
“Come eat something,” Niko said. “You don’t have to plan Glaki’s life today.”
“Good,” Tris replied, clutching a chair. “Right now I’d be hard put to decide between honey and syrup for my bread.” She took the arm Niko offered, leaning on it more than she would have done had her strength been normal. “How’s Dema?” she asked as they went downstairs.
“Vindicated. About to receive a more prestigious appointment,” replied Niko. “We thought it was best for all concerned if he got sole credit for the Ghost’s arrest. Some grumblers say he should have sent disguised arurimi into the district earlier, but they’re in the minority. Do you mind?”
“Dema getting credit?” Tris asked as Niko let her sink on to a dining-room chair. “He’s welcome to it. I told you, I didn’t find the Ghost, I ran into him. Does Keth mind?”
“He says no,” replied Niko, ringing the bell for the cook.
“Tris, Tris!” Glaki plunged out of the kitchen, arms upraised, spoon in one hand. Tris managed to hold off the spoon while welcoming the four-year-old’s passionate hug. “You’re awake!”
“We thought you’d sleep all year,” said Kethlun. He’d come downstairs without Tris realizing it. “So tell me, if you were storing other things than lightning in your hair, why didn’t we feel them tear up the house while you were snoring?”
“I don’t snore,” Tris retorted. “And there are protections on my head to keep the power from escaping even when I’m not in control of it. I renew them every time I wash my hair, all right?”
Keth sighed. “Here I was, all hopeful you wouldn’t even have the strength to pick on me once you woke up. So much for boyish dreams.” He wandered into the kitchen.
“Tris, look,” said Glaki impatient, bouncing in the older girl’s lap.
“I’m looking,” Tris replied. “Don’t do that, I might break.”
Glaki pointed to a dish on the table. It rose, shakily, eight full centimetres, then settled again.
“Very good,” Tris said. She hesitated, then kissed Glaki on the cheek. “Your mother and aunt would have been proud.”
Keth had continued to work at Touchstone Glass while Tris slept, with Dema to keep him enclosed with protective magic. A week after Tris got out of bed, she rejoined Keth at the shop, along with Glaki, Little Bear and Chime. They said hello to Antonou on their arrival, then retired to the workshop.
The slip into their old routine was as easy as Tris’s slip into sleep. The three of them meditated. Glaki settled into her corner to play with her dolls as Tris drew her protective circle around the shop. Watching Keth work, she thought that she would dispense with the barrier after today. He kept his power firmly in hand as he created the small, sparking globes that Antonou could sell.
Comfortable with Keth’s skills, Tris let herself out through her barrier, to practise scrying the winds. Her bit of success in pursuit of the Ghost had given her confidence. She could master this in time, and who knew? Unlike her other magics, she might be able to make a living with this.
She only had the strength for less than a half hour of work. Sweating,