Tris sat and helped Chime out of her sling. t start flying about and breaking things, she warned. cant afford to pay for them.

I?asked Antonou, holding out his hands. s not

koria, is it? Its dhasku He had properly identified her as a female mage.

s just Tris,she replied as she offered Chime to him. The glassblower gently wrap ped his square, blunt-fingered hands around the willing dragon and sat on a stool, steadying Chime on his knees. Chime looked up into his face and gnawed one of his fingers.

should be careful,warned Tris. tries to eat anything she sees.

would be old and gamey to the taste, Antonou told Chime. He surveyed the creature with wonder, noting each detail of her eyes, muzzle, feet and mouth. say Keth knows something about this creature?

made her,Tris replied, watching the glassblowers face. Antonou was no mage; she had already looked inside him for that.

repeated the man, shocked. made this lovely being?

A low, musical, steady note rose from Chime. s her purr, I think,explained Tris. Be careful. You dont want her to be vain.

beauty like this has every right to be vain, Antonou replied. Chime nibbled one of his shirt buttons. if Keth did this, it explains this morning,Antonou commented. came here just after dawn, looking as if Hakkois Firewights were on his trail. When he told me he d got magic, like its a disease to be caught, and he needed to find a teacher, I thought hed been drinking.

Tris thrust her brass-rimmed spectacles up on her long nose. m sure he thinks magic is a disease,she said drily. s how he acted yesterday. You say hes looking for a teacher now?

Heskalifos,Antonou replied. magic explains more than it doesn t. He was struck by lightning, you know.

Tris stared at Antonou, mouth gaping, before she remembered her manners and closed it. When

she had enough wit to speak again, she said, neglected to mention it.

well, he usually does, poor lad. He lived, but it made a shambles of his life. Suddenly Antonou beamed at her. this is wonderful news. A proper teacher can rid him of the

malipi thats gnawed on him since he came. Anyone could see he was troubled. I kept saying, go to Dhaskoi Galipion over on Witches Row. Whatever malipi rides you, hell be able to banish it.

young people, they dont understand how many troubles come from the unseen world, he continued, shaking his head. insist that all this reason and rationality thats so popular these days proves there is no supernatural, only what the mind can grasp and make plain. How about magic? I ask them, but they tell me magic is also governed by reason. Pah.Antonou shook his head. and reason are very well, but to say the gods are only tales told to comfort us. . . Hey, you!Tris jumped. Antonou lunged over to a c ounter, where Chime was attempting to thrust her muzzle into a low, fat jar. is she looking for?Antonou demanded.

Tris said, getting to her feet.

Koris Antonou, what substances are used to colour glass, and where might I buy them? At this rate Chimes going to eat all of my mage supplies.

Antonou was happy to assist her. Half an hour later, he sent her off with a list and explanations for every item on it, and directions to the Street of Glasss

skodi, or marketplace. There Tharioss glassworkers bought raw ingredients and residents could buy whatever they fancied in the way of plain glasswork. Tris would find all she needed to feed a glass dragon there.

She went happily, just as curious to see the raw materials of glassmaking as she was to see the work itself. A small part of her mind was uneasy about the information she had gathered from Antonou regarding Keths search for a teacher. That part of her demanded constantly, And what of the lightning? Lightning and glass don t go together in the day-to-day world. Lightning

melts glass. How can a glass mage teach him to combine the two?

Tris ignored that part of her mind. Keth was no longer her problem. That was all that mattered.

Still, she might cut her day of exploration short, she thought. Go back to Heskalifos, to the Mages Hall library, and see what books they had on the subject of glass magic. In the past shed never thought about it much, but now that she had, she wanted to find out how it was worked, and what could be done with it. If she had a motto, it was New learning never hurt anybody.She wouldnt know what insights she could or could not get from glass magic until she learned more.

Rather than wander the Street of Mages, Kethlun went straight to the source, Mages Hall at Heskalifos. He presented himself to the clerks at the third hour of the morning, when he was informed that few mages were available. It seemed most of them were at some kind of conference in

Philosophers Hall, and would not return to their offices until midday. In the meantime, a clerk sat with him to ask a number of questions, writing Keth s answers down as he gave them. The clerk made it plain that he was not surprised to find a northerner who hadnt recognized his power until he was twenty. His atti tude was that it was a wonder that northerners, unschooled in logic, reason and discipline, discovered their magical skills at all. Keth tried to explain his near-lack of power before his encounter with lightning, then gave up. Perhaps the mages would be more understanding.

After the questions, Keth was interviewed and tested by three student mages. One of them gave Keth a glass ball to hold as the student gazed into it. One used a glass wand to perform the same exercise. The third used a mirror made of gla ss and backed in silver. Each young mage reacted to his testing in the same way: they inspected their devices, then summoned the waiting clerk. After a few words from the student, the clerk made a note on the paper of information about Keth, then led Keth to the next student. After the third student, the clerk sent Keth off to eat his midday meal, with instructions to return in the afternoon.