Cahil walked me to my rooms. He was unusually quiet.
Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Oh, my sword what?” I demanded.
“I realized something,” he said, trying to shrug me off.
Not content with his vague answer, I prompted, “Which was…”
“If I told you, you would be angry. I don’t want to end the evening with a fight.”
“And if I promised not to get upset?”
“You would anyway.”
“Tomorrow, then?”
“Ask me the next time we’re fighting.”
“What if we don’t fight?”
Cahil laughed. “With you, there is always a next time.”
Then with a speed that surprised me, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in for a quick kiss on the cheek before releasing me.
“Till tomorrow,” he said over his shoulder as he strode away.
It was only after watching him disappear into the darkness that I realized I stood with my switchblade clutched in my right hand. But I hadn’t triggered the blade. The south was making me soft. First curls, now this. Shaking my head, I opened my door.
At Tula’s room the next afternoon, I had to squeeze my way in. Tula’s bed occupied the center. Leif and Hayes stood on the right side of her bed, and Irys and a young girl stood on the left. Tula’s guard, one of Cahil’s men, looked uncomfortable wedged in a corner.
Hayes paled when I looked at him. Irys introduced me to Opal, Tula’s sister. Opal’s long brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her red-rimmed eyes looked swollen from crying.
I hadn’t expected an audience. “Irys,” I said. “I need to spend some time with Opal before I can try to bring Tula back.”
Leif muttered something about grandstanding on his way out, and Hayes just aimed for the door.
“Do you need me?” Irys asked.
“No.”
“We don’t have much time,” Irys warned as she left the room.
She didn’t need to remind me that Tula’s attacker still roamed free, possibly hunting for another victim. However, I knew in my heart that if I rushed this, I wouldn’t succeed.
I asked Opal to tell me about her sister. In halting sentences, the young girl told me only a couple stories of their childhood.
“Tula once made me a large glass tiger to protect me from nightmares.” Opal smiled at the memory. “It worked and the tiger looked so lifelike that Tula started making other glass animals.” She glanced from her sister’s still form to the guard in the corner.
Opal seemed hesitant and distracted by her sister’s condition. So I changed the subject and asked about her trip to the Citadel.
Her dark brown eyes widened. “Fourth Magician woke us all up in the dead of night.”
At the word dead, the young girl glanced with dread at Tula.
“I was barely awake. Before I knew it, I was on the magician’s horse, riding flat out for the Keep.” Opal clutched her arms to herself. “When Tula was found, the healers rushed her to the Citadel. My parents had to find people to work the kilns and take care of us before they could follow her. They’re on the road somewhere.” Opal began to ramble. “We didn’t pass them. They don’t know I’m here. It’s my first trip away from home, and we stopped only to eat. I slept in the saddle.”
That would explain Irys’s exhaustion. Even today she had dark circles under her eyes. That also explained why Opal seemed so distressed. I switched tactics and invited Opal to take a walk. She appeared reluctant to leave her sister until I assured her that Tula would be fine.
I showed her the campus. The air temperature felt comfortable. With warm afternoons and chilly evenings, the weather during the cooling season was my favorite.
Eventually, we wandered out into the Citadel. I guided Opal toward the market. Fisk appeared with a ready smile and led us to a dress shop. I bought Opal a change of clothes and Fisk played tour guide for her.
When Opal seemed more relaxed, my questions about Tula grew more specific. As she remembered more stories, I pulled a thread of magic and linked my mind with Opal’s, witnessing her memories as she spoke. I smelled the hot furnace of their family’s glass factory, and felt the coarse sand in my hands.
“Tula and I used to hide from Mara, our older sister. We had found the perfect spot. Mara still doesn’t know where it is,” Opal said, smiling.
The image of an awning of tree limbs and sun-dappled grass filled Opal’s mind as the cool scent of moist earth reached my nose.
“That’s it.” I grabbed Opal’s arm. “Hold that place in your mind. Concentrate on it.”
She did as I asked. I closed my eyes and put myself into the memory. Blades of grass brushed my arms as I lay in the small hollow behind a row of overgrown bushes. The smell of sweet honeysuckles hung heavy in the fresh air. Dewdrops sparkled in the morning sunlight. Instinctively, I knew this place hid Tula’s soul.
“Come on.” I pulled Opal toward the Keep, waving goodbye to Fisk. A guard stood outside Tula’s door. He nodded to us as we went inside.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Fourth Magician and the others?” Opal asked.
“No time. I don’t want to lose the image.” I took one of Tula’s hands and held my other out to Opal. “Take my hand. Now, I want you to imagine yourself in your hiding spot with Tula. Close your eyes and really concentrate. Can you do that?”
Opal nodded, her pale face drawn.