Street Magic - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,54
the kinds that could be spelled to make plants grow better, like malachite. Even that way it's easier to lay magic on the fertilizer or the seed, because the stone fights me."
"Well, malachite's a lesson," Evvy said, perching on Briar's high stool. "You'll think of something, Pahan Briar. You're awful smart. And you don't think you're better than people just because there's silver in your pocket."
She doesn't know, Briar thought, bewildered and scared. She thinks I'm an adult who knows things. She sees a pahan, not a fourteen-year-old kid who's spent the last four years with his nose in the dirt.
Had Rosethorn ever felt this way? As if he thought her perfect, and might be disappointed if he found she was human after all?
Talk Evvy around, argued a cooler part of himself. Talk her around and talk Jooba-hooba around. You could maybe do it. You talk a fair stitch when you want to.
Did he want to?
She needs to learn to read and write, he thought; I can teach her that. I remember how Tris taught me. Same with sums, and learning the stars, and how to use paper and ink. I can teach the meditating. Earth temple has to have some books about stones and stone magic, and we can find her a stone mage once we leave Chammur.
It could be done. But how was he to tell Rosethorn? He knew it was good for the student to live close to or even with the teacher. Rosethorn definitely would not like it, if he brought another resident into their home. She might say he should have made Evvy listen to Jebilu.
"We ought to live in the same place," he remarked quietly.
She had remained silent on her perch for as long as he'd been thinking, not distracting him with chatter. Now he saw worry in her eyes. "I can't leave my cats," she replied. "I just can't. Please don't ask me."
He and the girls had all agreed that their dog Little Bear should go with Tris, who would have missed him the most. Still, it had hurt Briar to see Little Bear walk onto a ship without him, and Little Bear was a shared dog, not his alone. What would it be like, to be forced to give up a pet?
He chewed on a thumbnail. I could find another house, maybe near Rosethorn, he decided, reviewing the amount of cash he'd left with the Earth temple treasurer. He had plenty, but he always liked a plump money cushion, just in case. It was a good thing Lady Zenadia had bought the larch, or at least, it would be good once Briar had the coin in hand. Nobles often changed their minds when they got home and added up their accounts.
"You're more trouble than you're worth," he informed Evvy tartly.
She shrugged. "I'm a girl. That's my job."
He grinned at that – it fit the girls he knew – then sobered. "I didn't mean that," he apologized. "About you being trouble. I'm just not sure I'd be a very good teacher."
"You have to be better than Jooba-hooba," she said.
"Not like that's saying much," he retorted. "That – "
"Hey – tree people!" someone said sharply, interrupting.
Briar and Evvy looked up. Two of the three Gate Lords who had passed by earlier had returned. Their morning's good mood had vanished: they looked hot and cross as they walked up to the booth.
The female, a black girl of Briar's age, pointed to Evvy. "What did they do with him?" she demanded sharply. "Your two friends? We saw him talking with them, and that's the last we saw of him."
"Our tesku, brat," said the male Gate Lord, a brown-skinned youth of seventeen. He reached over the counter and grabbed Evvy's shirt-front, dragging her toward him. "And if you're friends with Vipers, you're a Viper – " He looked to the side, to the dagger Briar had gently laid against his face.
"She isn't a Viper and you just annoyed me," Briar told him softly. "If you don't want a third nostril, let her go."
"She runs with Vipers," objected the girl. "Or gutter slime that let go their true gang to join Vipers."
Briar saw the girl was moving to the side, ready to grab Evvy's arm when her mate let Evvy go. Briar woke the willow and the fig trees, releasing years' worth of growth into their branches. As soon as the Gate Lord girl was within reach of the miniature, he turned them loose.
Wire-thin branches twined around her