I tried to meet Zitora’s gaze, but she averted her face.

“You are hereby ordered to stay out of Sitian affairs while we deal with this new Daviian threat. Roze has agreed to let you work with Gede to discover the extent of your powers and we will reassess how you can aid our efforts in the future.” Bain gestured for me to comment.

Protests pushed in my throat, but I swallowed them down as I wrestled my thoughts into a logical response. This meeting was an ambush. They didn’t want to question me, just dictate to me.

“What about Cahil? You can’t believe him?” I appealed to Bain.

“There is no proof he lied. First Magician supports him.”

“He’s always been selfish,” Roze said. “He wants only one thing. To aid the Daviians against Sitia runs counter to his desire. He needs our help to launch his campaign to claim Ixia. A country in the midst of a civil war wouldn’t be able to aid him at all.”

Roze’s reasonable logic worried me more than her anger. “How about the Fire Warper?”

A bright fireball erupted from the fire, and hovered above us. I squinted into the harsh light. The heat of the flames fanned my face. Roze curled her fingers into a fist and the fire ball disappeared. Opening her hand, she gestured and snuffed out the hearth fire, casting us into cold semi-darkness.

“I’m First Magician for a reason, Yelena. My command of fire is my best ability. You need not fear the Fire Warper. I’ll deal with him.” Flames ignited. Once again heat and light emanated from the hearth.

I couldn’t suppress my skepticism.

“Do you really think I would let the Daviians and this Fire Warper take control of Sitia? They wouldn’t take proper care of my country. No. I will do all I can to keep them from power, including protecting you from the Fire Warper.”

Now she was outright scaring me. “You want me dead.”

“True. You’re a threat to Sitia, but there is no proof. I can’t obtain the Council’s support to have you executed. But once I have evidence, you’re mine.”

This was more like the Roze I knew and hated. We glared at each other.

Bain cleared his throat. “Child, by listening to the Council and working with Gede Sandseed you will regain the Council’s trust.”

Learning about my powers was what I had desired all along. Ferde was no longer a threat and the Council knew about the Daviians. If they wished to believe Cahil, why should I care? The Commander’s army would prevail against Cahil. I had sought to avoid a war, but I held no sway within the Council. Why couldn’t I be selfish for once and stay out of politics while I explored my powers?

I agreed. But the slight rush of relief failed to ease the pang of doubt. Moon Man’s comment about becoming a slave to another echoed in my mind.

I returned to my rooms in Irys’s Keep tower. She had given me three of the ten floors to use. I trudged up the steps, anxious, worried and frustrated. Roze’s boast she could handle the Fire Warper had better be true. Bain’s Efe books described power symbols and blood rituals, but he had discovered nothing to counter them. And there was no mention of a Fire Warper.

Dax had translated the bulk of the books, but a few chapters remained. He planned to spend the afternoon working on them. My worry also stemmed from a comment Dax had made about Gelsi. Bain’s other apprentice, Gelsi, had been Ferde s last victim, but I stopped him in time and revived her body and returned Gelsi s soul.

When I had inquired about her, Dax’s vague response caused me to question him further.

“To tell the truth,” Dax had replied, “she’s different than before.”

“Different how?” I had asked.

“She’s harsher. Unhappy.” He moved his arms in a gesture of futility. “She no longer enjoys life. She’s more preoccupied with death. It’s hard to explain. Master Bloodgood is working with her. We hope it’s a condition she can work through and not—” Dax shrugged “—permanent. Maybe you can talk to her?”

I promised to visit her. Thinking back, I had returned two people’s souls to bodies that had been dead. Gelsi and Stono. And both came back changed. Were their altered personalities due to something I did when I held their souls? My anxiety grew over what I might discover about my Soulfinder abilities with Gede.

Uneasiness soured my stomach, and I remembered the attack Roze had sent me where Flame Me made a soulless army. While it didn’t apply to Gelsi and Stono, I recalled Stono s offer to kill for me.

With those morbid thoughts, I reached my rooms. Even though I had three levels, I only possessed enough furniture to occupy one. An armoire, a desk, a single bed and night table looked lonely in the round room. I would need to do some shopping when I had the time. Right now finding souls took priority over finding curtains. Then I could be Yelena, the all-powerful Curtainfinder. Able to decorate a room in one hour.

I laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?” a heart-melting voice asked from behind me.

Valek leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as if he visited me every day. Dressed as one of the Keep’s servants, he wore a gray tunic and pants.

“I was thinking about curtains.” I moved toward him.

“Curtains are funny?”

“In comparison to all my other thoughts, yes, curtains can be amusing. But you, sir, are the best thing that’s happened to me all day, all week and, now that I think about it, all season.” Two steps and I was wrapped in his arms.