The Fire Mages by Pauline M. Ross Read Free Book Online

knew it would be all right.
    When I finished they pored over the paper as if it held the secrets of the seven moons.
    “Well done, Kyra,” the master in charge said, relief in her eyes, for my capability reflected well on her teaching. “Let us see if it works, shall we?”
    We seldom saw a true spellpage burned in the spellarium, so all the scribes gathered round the crucible to watch. At the village, only three families could afford a crucible, and only the smallest type. This one was larger than any I’d seen elsewhere, an open metal bowl at least two handspans across, raised on a matching metal stand. The outside was engraved with spell symbols, while the inside was blackened with use.
    The master placed the spellpage in the crucible, recited the words – “By the sun, bring light and fire and colour; by the moon, enable the darkness” – and lit it with a shard from the fire. At once it flared to a brilliant burst of searing colours, dazzling my eyes. By the time I had blinked it was gone, no more than smouldering ash.
    ~~~~~
    Over evening board that night, Mani said, “I’m so glad it was you and not me.” He shone his generous smile at me. “The first of us to scribe a true spellpage! And everyone watching, too. I’d have been terrified. Yet you seemed so calm.”
    “Isn’t she always calm?” Lora reached across to squeeze my hand. Her scarves were beaded in the Ardamurkan fashion, and the movement set them glittering. “I’ve never seen Kyra ruffled by anything.”
    “That’s true. But this was beyond anything. You’d have been amazed, Lora. She just sat down and scribed without any hesitation, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.”
    “So it is. It’s what we’ve trained to do, after all. What’s so terrifying in that?”
    “It’s one thing to practise, it’s something else to do it for real. You don’t know whether you can until you try.”
    Yet somehow I knew that I could. Coming to the scribery felt like coming home, finding my place in the world, the one place I truly belonged. Everything I did there, the scribing, the books, the spells, the rules of business and the law, even mingling with the Kellon’s people – all of it felt natural and easy to me. I hadn’t been terrified because it hadn’t occurred to me that I could fail. Perhaps it was arrogance or hubris, but I truly felt I was born to be a scribe.

5: Pain
    Before the first snows arrived, I had an unexpected visitor. After my shift at the mirror room one cold sun, I made my way back to my lodgings, well-wrapped against the bitter wind. Inside the entrance door was a large hall, with benches along either side. As soon as I walked through the door, bringing a whirl of frigid air with me, a figure bundled in a fashionable woollen coat, large hat and voluminous scarf jumped up from a bench and rushed over to me, arms out.
    “Kyra? Surprise!” It was indeed, for I had no idea who it was. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect to see me here!”
    “Erm...”
    “Come now, sweet child, have you forgotten me already? I’m mortified.”
    He unwound the scarf and swept the hat off his head with a dramatic flourish, revealing blond curls.
    “Bonnor? Gracious Moon Gods, what are you doing here?”
    He enveloped me in an enthusiastic, woolly hug, squashing my nose into his coat so that I could hardly breathe. “Benissar – Mistress Tallyan, that is – is here for some family affair, and she brought me along. Isn’t that delightful of her?” He gurgled with pleasure. “So I get new clothes, thanks to her generosity, and you get messages from everyone in your family. Look!”
    He produced a big bundle of papers, all shapes and sizes, tied up with string.
    “Wonderful,” I said sourly. “Naturally they’d never pay good coin to write to me.”
    “It’s expensive to send by the official messengers, and the wagons are uncertain.” He touched my cheek with one gloved finger. “It doesn’t mean you’re forgotten,