Professor Altschuler observed the eight scrolls, joined together, with only the faintest hint of where they’d once been torn. We watched him prowl around the tables, breath bated.
“This was your spell, Miss Bat Yardena?”
“It’s based on my original, but we all worked on the improvements—”
“It originated in the one you showed me?”
I hesitated, looking at the others. “Yes.”
“Very nice. Congratulations. The rest of you—” He shook hishead. “I’m disappointed. You’re further along in your studies. You should have been able to come up with this.”
Yael stared at her feet, blinking, while Stefan set his face grimly, and Gidon stared out the window, looking defeated. I felt horribly uncomfortable, even though this was part and parcel of Professor Altschuler’s behavior.
“There will be a chance to make up for it,” the professor continued, as though bestowing a magnanimous gift. “Whoever makes a step in deciphering the text itself, if you do it by the Lumière Festival next month…you will receive a seat at my table at graduation. Good night, students. Miss Bat Yardena, stay a moment.”
The other three filed out.
“Good job,” Professor Altschuler said. “But this is not the time to rest on your laurels.”
“I know.” I shifted. “Professor Altschuler, I’m sorry, but—this wasn’t just my success. The others worked on this as much as I did. I can’t take more credit than any of them.”
His brows rose slightly. “You won’t win yourself any accolades by giving away what recognition you receive.”
“I’m not trying to. But I mean it. This was a group effort.”
“Groups have leaders.”
“If we have a leader, it’s Yael. She’s the one who organizes us. I’m sorry,” I said, scarcely believing what I was saying. “I need to go.”
“Excuse me?”
“No, excuse me,” I said. “Good night.”
I bolted, running out the door, down the hall. I could see the other three, not together, all walking toward the exit. “Guys!” I called. “Yael! Gidon! Stefan!”
Yael turned first, then Gidon, and lastly Stefan, as thoughunable to resist the group. I caught up to them, huffing slightly. “What we did there—that was amazing.”
They stared.
“I’m sorry—I mean,I’mnot sorry. It’s not my fault that Professor Altschuler is a jerk—but he is. I wish he hadn’t singled me out. This is our success. We all did it.”
“I mean,” Yael said, somewhat grudgingly, “you came up with the theory for the spell.”
“I did. But you all helped.” I paused, nervous they would reject my peace offering. “Do you guys want to grab a drink? Celebrate?”
They looked at me. Looked at each other. A hesitant moment, as we all tried to decide if we could transition from allies to something stronger. To the start of being friends.
“Yes,” Yael said. “And call Daziel back. We couldn’t have done it without his help.”
A smile blossomed on my face. Once more, I said Daziel’s name three times, and together the five of us headed out.
Fourteen
The next morning, everyone withany relation to the scrolls crammed into the fifth-floor Keep room. Outside, under a strange orange sky, waves surged through the Lersach, crashing against the shore. Earlier, as I’d crossed the land bridge, I couldn’t tell if the rain fell down or up. I’d told myself it was the spray whipped off the river, but it wasn’t clear.
Inside, though, everyone focused on the scrolls, quivering with excitement. Professor Altschuler stood at the front of the room, and even he couldn’t keep the glee from his voice. He strode back and forth, as though unable to contain himself. “We will analyze every word in each scroll and across the scrolls—their frequency, their location, their similarity to other words.” He looked at my cohort. “Who can tell me the first question to ask when faced with an undeciphered language in a foreign alphabet?”
All four of us shot our hands up. We’d been well trained on what to ask once the scrolls had been re-created; any one of us could have put together a checklist.
