I shuddered. No. I had to break free of Vilusia.
“I had nowhere else to go,” I said, making my voice wobble a little and turning my face down, rubbing at the corner of my eye as if wiping away tears. “I lost my home, and I was forced out of town. Because I have no money.” I buried my face in my hands, willing my eyes to squeeze out a fake tear or two. The sudden memory of my father walking away from the house we shared, even as I had begged him to stay, made the tears swim in my eyes, and I looked up, blinking rapidly.
The face in the fire clicked his tongue in sympathy, and shook his head. “Oh, you poor thing. Well, you can stay in the tower as longas you want. As the owner, I give you full permission.” Rindais leaned forward. “As long as you can send me my notes.”
Ah, now this was easier for me to understand. I realized that, like me, the mage was just pretending emotion, he didn’t care two bits about me or the tower. He had another goal in mind.
Looking up, I sniffled and quickly wiped my eyes. “Where are your notes? And how do I send them to you?”
Rindais smiled. “I’ll answer your second question first. Do you see this stone in the back of the fireplace?” He pointed over his shoulder, and I moved closer to look at the back of his fireplace. Through the flames, I could see a crimson red gem winking back at me, shining in the light.
“Yes,” I said dubiously.
“It connects me to the tower, no matter where I am. Whenever you want to talk to me, start a fire and send some of your magic at the gem. I’ll know you have my notes, and I’ll send someone to get them.”
“Send someone?” I frowned. “Who will you send?”
The mage smiled, in the same patronizing way that the guild master had looked at me when he had denied me a place on the healers’ guild. It made my blood boil, but I choked down my anger and kept my face bland.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” he said condescendingly. “As soon as you find the notes, send word.” He smiled. “And in return, the tower is yours.”
I smiled, as if his offer was truly generous. He smiled back.
“Are you living there all alone, child?” His curious eyes roamed around the room, stopping on the sliver of firelight he could see from under my bedroom door. I turned to look, just in time to see a shadow moved across the light, and my heart leaped in mythroat. It seemed Kael had returned, and he had yet to douse the fire in the kitchen.
“Is there a dark haired man with you, perhaps?” I whirled to look at Rindais, who stared at me with his eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised he made it out of the dungeon.”
“Dungeon?” I gasped.
“Oh, I see Kael hasn’t been very forthcoming with you,” Rindais tutted, and my heart sank. I had hoped the mage was talking about someone else, because itcouldn’tbe Kael—it couldn’t—but now my hopes had been dashed.
“Of course Kael spent a long time in my dungeon,” Rindais said, his keen eyes observing my reactions, “Where else would I keep an enemy soldier?”
“Enemy—?”
I was unable to do more than parrot the mage’s words back to him, so great was my shock.
“He’s from Drakazov, child. Surely you didn’t think I would let such a dangerous man roam around freely, so close to your town?” Rindais sighed. “I never imagined he was still alive. I would never have left him there, so close to you and your town, if I had known.”
I nodded weakly, my mind whirling. Kael, an enemy soldier? Had I spent nearly a month in the company of a soldier from the Drakazov army?
“Hmm, this complicates things. Ordinarily, I would send my man to capture Kael…”—my heart seized at the thought, even as I told myself that he was an enemy—“but he cannot travel right now.” Rindais looked at me. “And you haven’t found my notes yet, have you?”
I shook my head numbly.
“Well then, I’ll be waiting to hear back from you. And remember, if you don’t find those notes, I’ll need to come back to the tower to look for them myself. And if I am back in residence at the tower, then the army will station some soldiers there—for my safety, you see.” He looked at me earnestly. “Then there’s no way you can keep living there, I’m afraid.” He sighed in mock sympathy. “But I don’t want that, of course. I’d like nothing more than foryouto keep living in the tower. So, if you can help me, I can help you.”
I nodded, eager to finish the conversation. “I’ll send word as soon I find the notes.”
He smiled. “What I’m looking for is a big leather-bound notebook, as thick as four fingers.” He held up his hand, showing me the thickness of his book. “It is bound in brown leather, and held closed with a black strap. I expect it to be somewhere in my room.” He waved his hand around carelessly. “I can give you until the next full moon.” And then he was gone.
I slumped in my chair, my mind whirling. Kael, an enemy soldier?
But he had protected me, helped me…
And he had also hidden so much from me…
I had seen the claws, the glowing eyes—I knew there was something different about Kael. I knew he had been touched by magic.
