Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan Read Free Book Online

at home and caught a one-seater to and from the Academy each day – in truth, he would have been driven there in the family’s carriage – but he’d taken the opportunity to escape his parents by requesting a room in the students’ house.
Or so he says
, Tyen thought
. Maybe his parents make him stay there, knowing that he’d never go to classes at all if he didn’t live in sight of the professors.
    They emerged from the station to the usual roar of the city, made louder by the rain beating down and the splash and rush of water in the drains. The city’s usual stink had been reduced by the downpour, thankfully. Dung collectors were rushing to pick up the droppings of morni, the thin-legged animal that hauled the city’s carriages, before the rain washed them away.
    Though most of the pay-by trips had been hired by the other railsled passengers, plenty of one-seaters were waiting, drivers perched atop the smaller breed of morni suited to the light vehicles. Neel hurried through the rain to one and was soon borne away. Tyen and Miko joined the queue for two-seaters under the station awning. Four two-seaters arrived before it was their turn. As their luck had it, the next one to arrive had a leaky canopy and was pulled by a bedraggled morni that looked about ready to expire – something Miko pointed out as he failed to haggle down the price. The driver flatly refused to give them a discount. Why would he when there were plenty of passengers waiting for a ride in this miserable weather?
    The city was cluttered with traffic. Overflowing drains forced vehicles closer to the centre of the street, where they passed with barely a finger’s width to spare. Tyen tucked his satchel inside his coat and winced as the wheels of other vehicles sent spray over his legs. Rain bounced off the sides of carriages and shop awnings into their laps with unerring accuracy. He could have used magic to protect them, but to do so would have risked a fine. Only in the Academy grounds was he allowed to use it for anything other than his own or his country’s defence. Elsewhere it was needed to drive railsleds and the numerous other machines of industry.
And the last thing I want to do is cause an aircart or aircarriage to fall from the sky
, he thought
.
    All around he felt magic moving, pulled here and there to feed the city’s needs. There was something thrilling about the way it constantly flowed through the city, billowing down from above then swirling off in all directions. In contrast, the magical atmosphere outside the city had barely stirred, like a calm lake rather than a fast-running river.
    As a large carriage passed, a cascade of water spilled off its roof and over Miko. The student let out a yelp of surprise and annoyance. As he grabbed the collar of his coat and lifted it to stop the water going down the back of his neck, his pogbag slipped off his lap. Tyen leaned forward to catch it, but only managed to grab one strap. The bag landed on its side and sprang open.
    It was called a pogbag because the top hinged open like the jaws of a giant swamp creature. Something round, polished and gleaming rolled out from the jaws, glittering like a wrapped sweet. Tyen grabbed it before it could roll out of the two-seater, then turned his hand over. In his glove lay a gold ball, etched with designs.
    Miko snatched it away. He righted the pogbag, stuffed the ball deep inside and snapped the top closed.
    “Was that a poible?” Tyen began.
    “Yes,” Miko said, hugging the bag to his chest. He scowled at Tyen. “It’s all right for you. You have magic to help pay your way on these expeditions. I don’t.”
    Tyen opened his mouth to retort that his ability did not make it as easy as Miko claimed, then paused.
If I support Miko’s decision to keep something from the Academy now, perhaps if he finds out about Vella before I’m ready to hand her over he’ll return the favour.
It would be out of character for him not to object a little,