From the beginning, if Iylis was to be believed, which, considering his sudden lapse in memory, she wasn’t sure he could. “What exactly is wrong with the Library?”
“I have no idea, or else I would have corrected it.” Perhaps not entirely without restraint. Was he truly unsure, or were there yet more secrets here to uncover?
I have not, nor will I ever, lie to you.
Did he truly expect her to believe that? Everyone lied. Everyone manipulated.
“Now, I came to get you to practice your magic.” Allaster gestured to the hallway. “Are you—what? Why are you looking at me like that?” He recoiled as she stepped closer to him, having finally discerned what looked different about him.
She pointed. “You have more rings in your ears.”
“And?”
“And you’re running out of ear. What are you going to start piercing next?” Her gaze dropped to his chest, and his eyes widened.
“I—That is none of your business,” he spluttered.
“Why do you wear so many of those? What does it do?”
“None of your business,” he repeated as he absently spun a ring around one finger, an action which as good as screamed,I’m hiding something.But before Kasira could press him again, he transported them to the training grounds, where several mages were already sparring. She spotted Elyae and Warrin in one corner, the girl giving her a sour look over the notes she was taking in her journal.
“What about Iylis?” she asked, half her attention still on Elyae. The girl had yet to try anything since their sparring match, but whileKasira had thought that Allaster’s naming of her as Assistant would dissuade the mage from another attempt, the constricting look currently darkening Elyae’s face said otherwise.
Perhaps it was time to put that particular plan in motion. Kasira had already planted the seeds of suspicion in Allaster about another spy. If she could convince him it was Elyae, if hebelievedKasira, she would know she finally had him.
“This isn’t the first time he’s disappeared,” Allaster replied. “He’ll be fine. Now, while the mages are only granted a portion of the Library’s magic by me, you and I are directly bonded to it, which gives us additional abilities beyond the increased speed, strength, and reflexes the mages get. In addition to teleporting, you—what are you doing?”
Allaster drew up as Kasira stepped closer to him, intending to demonstrate a level of comfort around him she hoped would serve to further deter Elyae. What she did not anticipate was exactly how aware of him that madeher. Without the distraction of their sparring, being this close to him made her skin prickle, the faint scent of paper reaching her nose. From Allaster’s wary expression, he was equally cognizant of her nearness.
Not wanting him to retreat, she sought to break the tension. “All that magic, and I still beat you in our sparring matches.”
It worked, his brow knotting at the comment. “I wasn’t using my magic during those.”
That surprised her. He’d been quick during their bouts, and strong, more so than she had expected, though she supposed he was by no means small. His bands clung to muscled forearms and biceps, his uniform stretching across broad shoulders—details that seemed far more noticeable with him only a handsbreadth away.
This close, she could make out a dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose like a constellation of stars.
Like a rattling kettle approaching its final pitch, Allaster at last seemed to reach his limit and edged back a half step. She expected the concession to feel like a victory, but in truth it hit a little like disappointment.
“What else can I do?” she asked to distract herself from the thought.
Allaster cleared his throat, the action making the torc at his throat bob. “You can more or less communicate with beasts, and you can summon things inside the Library. If it is within its power to provide it, it will.” That confirmed her suspicions about the link between her and Gievra, which had felt like a conversation, if not in words. Even now she could feel the faintest flicker of magic from the beast, a tether not like a chain, but like the gentle grasp of a hand.
“Can we only summon within the Library?” she asked.
“There are historical accounts that suggest we might have once been able to do so outside of it as well, but that ability has waned in recent centuries.”
She wondered if that had anything to do with whatever was wrong with the Library. It sounded like the magic was growing weaker. “I have to say, that’s all a lot less, uh, impressive than the stories.”
A smile crooked his lips. “You think so?” He waved a hand, summoning two staffs, and tossed her one. “See how long you last against me then.”
It was quick. With two moves he had her disarmed and on the ground, staring up at him with barely disguised shock. She’d hardly been able to track him, he moved so quickly, and the strength of his attack—he’d forced her to the ground with one arm.
He offered her a hand, but she refused it, clambering to her feet to the sound of Elyae’s distant laughter. Ignoring her, Kasira lifted her staff. “Again.”
This time she tracked him better, dipping into the magic a little herself. But the moment she thought she had adjusted, he disappeared. Before she could react, he materialized behind her, hooked his staff behind her knee, and sent her tumbling over it.
She scowled, surging back to her feet. “Fine, I get your point. But what use is all of this against a Zeras? Even with your bow, you couldn’t take it down.”
