Red Madrassa: Algardis #1 (22 page)

“What is this moss then?” she asked. He shrugged.

Stuart was busy tapping a slender reed into the side of another tree with a small hammer. He answered her: “These are the weeping trees of Marcas. The leaves, the bark, and the vines are all poisonous; but the sap is known for its restorative properties.”

“It’s used by soldiers and gladiators in their drinks‌—‌gives them bursts of energy for hours,” explained Sidimo. “It’s very expensive, though; the Ameles borders Madrassa grounds, so collectors aren’t allowed here. The only other place it’s known to grow is owned by one family near Sandrin.”

“Huh,” Allorna commented, as she walked around the trees with her hands at her waist.

“What I’m even more curious about is these stones,” murmured Sidimo as he walked over to the imperfect circle.

“Wouldn’t touch those if I were you,” commented Stuart from his perch by the sap bucket.

Sidimo arched a sarcastic eyebrow at Stuart as he reached for a round, pebbled rock at the edge of the circle. Allorna was already coming toward him with a troubled look on her face…‌and that’s when the lightning struck. At least, that’s what it felt like to Sidimo. Fire arched through his body, and he dropped the stone in rush and hunched over, clutching his stomach while hurling his breakfast into the grass. Allorna ran over, grabbing for his shoulders.

She didn’t know what was wrong. Nothing had physically attacked him. He had picked up a rock, and just as quickly was doubled over in pain.

They both heard a chuckle from Stuart. Allorna snapped, “This isn’t funny, dolt!”

Stuart said, “C’mon, I tried to warn him, didn’t I? That’s a magehole there. Geared towards one person‌—‌must have their cache in it. Although,” he continued, while sauntering over with the bucket, “It looks like it’s fairly old.”

By this time, Sidimo had fallen over onto his back, still clutching his stomach. Allorna asked worriedly, “He’ll be all right, won’t he?”

“Yes, it’s just a warning system.” With a sigh, he said to Sidimo, “Perhaps I should have given you a clearer warning, friend. Mages are pretty protective of their caches.” He reached his hand down to give Sidimo a lift up.

Sidimo looked up at his hand, and decided to take it. He snorted as he stood. “Guess I’ll be more cautious next time.”

Seeing that the boys intended to let bygones to be bygones, Allorna rose from her crouch. “Why do you say they’re old?” she asked.

“The color of the stones,” responded Stuart, with a backwards glance. He was already heading toward the edge of the grove. “They start out black, and pale gradually to white. That takes decades, though.”

They walked deeper into the forest, this time heading west in search of the moon moss. Stuart began whistling as he led them. Eventually Allorna, after shooting a few worried glances at Sidimo, asked “Where’s the moss, usually?”

“Coal pits or lakes,” the answer floated back.

“Fantastic,” murmured Sidimo drily. “I can only hope we’ll be going to a lake?” he pitched toward Stuart.

“Yep.”

Chapter 18

T
wo weeks passed quickly, and the roommates rarely saw each other except at night. This day, however, they were all planning to enjoy some rest in the gatehouse.

Sitara and Allorna had decided to get up early to scrub the kitchen. Allorna leaned over the newly cleaned counters as she wiped sweat from her forehead. She could hear the thumping sound of a pack of boys coming down the stairs. They’d conveniently risen right after the smell of Sitara’s hotcakes started wafting through the air.

Maride arrived first. He sidestepped Allorna’s sweaty form with a muttered “Morning!” and sidled over toward Sitara’s breakfast. It was clear that she’d made enough for all of them. Next came Sidimo, looking as if he had risen hours ago with his pressed white tunic, belt, and leggings. As Vedaris joined them, they all heard a howl of “Owww!” arise from the griddle area.

When three pairs of eyes turned towards the stove, they saw Sitara standing next to Maride, waving a spatula menacingly. Maride had a spatula-shaped grease-stain on his forearm. “So good of you boys to join us,” said Allorna sweetly.

Sidimo, noting her tone, looked wary. He knew from experience that the only time Allorna oozed sweetness was when she intended to shove a fistful of sour grapes down your throat.

She continued, as she crossed her arms and paced away from the counter, “The two of us have been cleaning this dirty, grimy,
drecky
kitchen used by five people for the last two hours. Why, do you ask? Because last night, our wonderful companion and cook Sitara came into the kitchen only to discover a new friend.”

At this, she looked over at Sitara. With a warning glance at Maride, who was pouting and still rubbing his forearm where she’d whacked him, Sitara said flatly, “There was a rat. It was sitting atop a tower of soiled dishes in the sink. Before, it was merely unpleasant to cook surrounded by dirty dishes and half-eaten food. But that…‌that was just
disgusting
.”

At this Allorna chimed in to count out the other ills of the kitchen: “Apple cores in the sink. Cooked pasta left on the counters to rot. Sunflower seed shells on the floor.” She made sure to emphasize each example, and every boy flinched as if she had called his name specifically.

At this, Vedaris spoke up. “Look, I agree‌—‌a rat in our kitchen isn’t cool.”

Allorna’s eyebrows lifted as she replied, “Any suggestions, then?”

He grimaced. “A more thorough cleaning schedule, maybe?”

Maride wilted visibly. “Something to say, Maride?” sniped Allorna. “Or shall we chat with Wilhelmina about who’s been ducking their Tobama duties?”

“No, no! I mean…‌I just hate cleaning,” he said, the last bit in a near whisper.

Before Allorna could voice her thoughts at that comment, Sidimo stepped in. “Obviously, all of us do. But maybe we could play to our strengths here?”

Sitara’s head tilted curiously. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, everyone choose a task they’re good at,” he replied calmly. “You like to cook, right? You’ve already prepared lots of meals for us, even with the dining hall and all. And they were really good!”

“Well, yes.” Sitara ducked her head, blushing at the compliment. Then, as she noticed some flies nearing her food, she called in a small breeze to sweep them away.

“Great!” Sidimo said. “Then maybe you could cook regularly for us.”

By this time, Vedaris had a thoughtful look on his face. “Hate to say it, but maybe palace boy is right. Something we did all the time when I younger‌—‌play to your strengths.” He shrugged. “I can shop for us.” With a glance at Allorna, he noted, “No offense, lass, but what you paid for that meat the other day was highway robbery.”

Allorna favored him with a sweet smile. “None taken, but call me lass again, and I’ll cut your danglers off.”

Vedaris shrugged and said to Sitara, “If that’s good with you, Cook?”

“Yes, that works,” she replied. “I don’t really like bargaining. We can work on a list of food to buy.”

Maride, who had been thinking carefully, offered, “Some of you have…‌holes in your attire. Perhaps I can mend them, and take your clothes to the laundry near the library?”

Sidimo said, “I’ll need to go into the woods for healing supplies fairly often. Sometimes the senior healers will trade stock herbs they can’t use for rare ones. I can get the regular herbs and spices for your cooking, Sitara, as well as for any spells everyone’s working on in class.”

Allorna now had a genuine smile on her face; it was good to see everyone working together to divvy up the tasks. As Sidimo finished she interjected, “Then I’ll continue to clean on the weekends. But Sidimo and Vedaris, you’ll both be joining me on Saturday mornings.”

“Fair enough,” the two boys said simultaneously.

With that settled, they all turned eagerly to Sitara. The hotcakes were still on the counter in a large platter, and the smell of bacon was spreading enticingly from the oven. Her eyes lighting up, Sitara began to assign tasks, instructing Maride to grab the stools from the corner, Vedaris to get fresh fruit from the cupboard, Allorna to set the table, and Sidimo to get the jam ready from the coldbox.

Breakfast passed quickly, and soon they were racking up the dishes and heading out the door. Maride had to go to the library. He’d already turned in the ten summaries for his Duke of Carne assignment, but one text had caught his eye:
The Merchants of Isador.
Isador was where his family had originally hailed from generations back. He needed to take a closer look at the text for his
Intro to Research
class.

Allorna decided she needed to practice her fire technique more. She settled in the grass behind the gatehouse. Seated comfortably, she called a fireball into her palms. For the next hour, she worked on shifting and shaping the flame. It was no easy task. She had to appease the nature of the fire, which naturally wanted to go every which way. It was particularly jumpy with the errant breeze floating around.

Towards the end of the day, the others joined her in a loose semicircle‌—‌the boys lolling in the grass, while Sitara sat back on her hands, turning her head occasionally to stare at each person.

“You know,” Sitara said casually, “you all have different auras?”

“You can
see
them?” asked Maride, startled.

“Oh yes.”

“Not everybody can,” Sidimo offered from his piece of ground.

“Not even healers?” Allorna asked softly. She was staring intently at the little whirlwind of blue flame in the palm of her hand. They had all thought she was paying no attention to the general conversation.

“No,” replied Sidimo. “It’s why they teach other techniques to assess health. Besides, even if you can see an aura, that doesn’t mean you can read it. It may just look like a swirl of pretty colors to you.” He turned his head casually to Sitara. “Can you?”

“Read an aura?” She paused uncertainly. “I…‌don’t know, really. I can tell
some
things, like whose aura I’m reading from afar, and I can identify especially strong emotions. But Air doesn’t have a class on it.”

By this time, Vedaris had risen and was walking over to her. Sitara blushed as he came closer; his tunic was casually blowing open. He had absolutely no sense of the impropriety of approaching a girl with his bare chest showing, at least among her people…
But he’s nice,
she thought,
and nice-looking.

Vedaris almost paused when he saw the change in her aura as he approached. It wasn’t lust; he could easily read
that
, having spent too much time on the street docks. Maybe it was embarrassment? He shook his head irritably and settled down beside her. Women he would never understand. “I’ll show you how to read an aura,” he offered.

She looked at him askance. “How do you know how?”

“My mother taught me,” he muttered evasively. Vedaris didn’t want to let on that it was one of the few things that came naturally to him as a Sahelian. Most of his kind could read auras and mask their true feelings by the time they were teens. He’d learned to interpret the colorful, swirling intentions of his city mates after discovering that reading an aura was a lot like figuring out a card player’s tell‌—‌the behavior they exhibited before making a particular move. It was especially useful for avoiding street thugs who wanted to hurt you; some people just wanted to pound on someone else, and he’d long since decided he’d be damned if that someone else would be him.

Of course, he couldn’t see everything at once, which was why he’d suffered the beating that ended up with him on that storm-tossed ship…‌and ultimately here.

As he coached Sitara, Vedaris taught her to look not just at the colors of each aura, which varied by individual, but also at the spikes of power and emotion. It was almost like reading someone’s thoughts, if you knew what you were doing. After a while, she could tell that Maride and Allorna were getting hungry from the orange tint to their auras, with the occasional flare-up of umber. She also knew that the flame in Allorna’s hand was drawing directly from her core and aura, but only a little. Some time ago, Sidimo had fallen asleep in the grass. With Vedaris’ guidance, Sitara could tell that he was deeply dreaming without being within five feet of him.

With a start, Allorna revived from her trance, doused the flame, and stretched with a yarn. “Anyone else hungry?” asked Maride.

Vedaris said, “I could use some grub.”

“Me too,” chimed in Sitara.

With a sigh, Allorna went over to tap Sidi awake. He got up slowly, and after taking it all in, agreed that dinner would be nice.

“Um, I’ve, I’ve got some fish,” said Sitara haltingly. She continued in a near whisper, “If anyone would like to try some.”

Allorna enthusiastically agreed. “Roast fish?” chimed in one of the boys enthusiastically. “Sounds great,” said another.

As Sitara stood, she said, “There’s just one issue.” They all looked at her expectantly. “They’re still in the bait traps on the low river in the Ameles,” she admitted. “But it won’t take me long to get them!”