A gloved hand thrust its way into his vision, holding an ivory rod. this,the priest of the All-Seeing told Dema, a kind note in his voice. will send you such tools, blessed for this work,

Dhaskoi!

Other

Arurim dhaski have them? Dema wanted to know, meeting the priests dark brown eyes.

Of them want to get so close as you,replied the priest. We have seen this in you before. Do not let curiosity take you too far. Yours is a noble house, free of the stain of corruption. We will protect you, as best we may.

Dema hesitated, then accepted the rod with a nod of thanks. H e used it to straighten the curled ends of the veil. By law

yaskedasi had to carry their home address stitched along the hem of their veils, one of the ways the city kept watch on their disreputable ranks. While most were fairly honest, everyone knew that their ethics in matters of theft were flexible.

Here was the dead womans address:

Ferouze s Lodgings, Chamberpot Lane, Khapik. Dema would start his questioning there. He straightened and returned the rod to the priest, fixing the woman in his mind. Then h e turned to be cleansed before he went to find her name. The arurim prathmuni moved in to take charge of the body.

CHAPTER TWO

Tris put the rest of her time in the lower part of Tharios to good use, visiting other glass-makers. Most of the people with sho ps on the Street of Glass understood that they were there to entertain as well as to create, and that someone who saw a piece being made often bought it. They were happy to welcome Tris into their workshops and to answer her questions, though the sum of w h at she learned was not comforting. None of them knew of any glass mage at Touchstone, only that the owner, Antonou Tinas, had a distant kinsman from the far north working there. His name was Kethlun Warder, they told Tris, and they described the man that Tris had met. They also had never heard of anything like the glass dragon, though all of them were fascinated by the creature and insisted on giving it a thorough examination. From the way the glass dragon preened, it enjoyed the attention.

Tris would have talked to the citys glass mages as well, but found only their students in the

workshops near Achaya Square. The mages themselves were at the same conference as Niko, since glass magic was often used in order to see things or to make a problem clearer. Tal king to the students did teach her one thing: while glass mages were as common as dirt in Tharios, a glassmaking capital, for the most part they were academic mages, people who worked with charms, spells and signs worked on to the material. Tris knew, sin c e she had seen the dragon shape itself, that in all likelihood this Kethlun was an ambient mage, one whose magic came from something in the world around him. Tris had always thought the balance between academic mages and ambient ones was equal, until Niko explained that it only looked that way to her, because she had been schooled at the single greatest centre for ambient mages in their part of the world.

For every ambient mage there were four academic ones, not counting those with ambient magic who could a lso practise academic magic. Moreover, some types of ambient magic were more common than others: the magics for stones, carpentry, healing, cooking, thread and needle work, pottery, fire and the movement of weather in the air. Ambient glass magic, one of the mages journeymen told her, was rarethough Tris had no idea what that meant.

With such a scant amount of information, Tris returned to Heskalifos and Jumshida s house. If memory served her, Jumshidas private library held

A number of books on magic. Tris might learn more there.

Inside the house, she banished Little Bear to the inner courtyard and carried the glass dragon to her room. Jumshida had granted Tris and Niko the whole of the first floor on the east wing of the house rooms for each of them, as well as a workshop they could use during their stay. Tris put the dragon in her room, freshened up, then went downstairs.

Jumshida s cook welcomed her. Preparing supper for an unknown number of mages was always a tricky business. Even with the help of a maid hired for the length of the conference, there was still plenty for Tris to do. She chopped, grated, washed and peeled, soaking in kitchen scents and listening to the servants talk about their lives and the schedule for the week. Muscle by m uscle, Tris relaxed. Kitchen life comforted her. It was a place where she knew the rules and knew how to act. Since the staff only knew her as Nikos student, they didn t watch themselves around her as they would around a fully accredited mage. Tris could be ignored as long as she made herself useful, and she could hear about the university and the people who lived on its grounds.

The bell that marked the closing of the city s gates had just rung when the front door of the house burst open, admitting a flood of chattering men and women. The maid picked up the tray with its pitcher of wine and many cups; the

housekeeper gathered the tray of fruit juice and cups. my husband I will greet him in the next world,the maid said drily as she walked out.

Tris snorted with amusement as the women braved the guests. it that bad?she asked the cook.

There is nothing worse than a crowd of hungry mages who dont have to pay for the food, the cook informed her. d as soon be hunted by wolves. Arent you going out there?

Tris shook her head. dont like parties,she confessed. never fit in. If older mages knew her as Nikos student, they treated her like an idiot, not fit to converse with adults. If theyd heard of her, they treated her wi th distrust and suspicion. Her own talents, so broadly distributed over forces in the air, ground and water, intimidated those who actually believed she had them. Many chose instead to think Tris lied about the extent of her power to make herself look mor e important. Tris preferred to stay with her own circle: her foster- sisters and -brother, their teachers, a handful of mages and students from Winding Circle, and Duke Vedris of Emelan. They not only knew her; they treated her as one of them, someone they loved.