Page 21 of The Tribes of Magic
Even his telepathic sigh sounded exasperated. Well, I guess it was time to salvage the situation, if I could.
“It wasn’t an order, General. It was a suggestion.”
“Go.” He thrust out his arm. His outstretched finger was pointed at the door.
That was definitely an order.
Nice going, Seven.Kato’s sigh echoed in my mind as I made my way back across the ballroom, toward the door.Now the General is in a foul mood, and I’m stuck here all alone with him.
You wouldn’t be stuck there with him if my spell had worked. I wonder why it didn’t.
You tried a spell on the General?Kato sounded horrified. And maybe a tad impressed. I’m sure he would have been more impressed if it had actually worked.
Ok, yes, I might have tried to do a teensy-tiny little spell on the General. But only because I’m trying to be a good Apprentice. Ainsley said we have to practice enchanting people today.
People. Not the General.Kato’s words were sharply articulated, like he was standing right in front of me, lecturing me.Do you have any idea what he would do to you if he found out you tried to bewitch him?
I’m guessing it wouldn’t involve cookies and heaps of praise for a job well done?
Kato’s sigh was the longest so far.You could at least try to behave yourself around the General, Seven.
I will if he will,I replied stubbornly, then stormed out of the ballroom, my ears ringing.
The General had been doing everything he could to make my life miserable since the day he’d met me, and all because he didn’t like teenagers who didn’t bow down to him and lick his boots.
And Kato thoughtIwas the immature one? The General was way more immature. He refused to acknowledge opinions that didn’t one-hundred-percent agree with his own. That was the definition of being immature.
I passed an elegant woman in a sparkling ruby dress. She was whispering to her companion as they cut across the hall toward the ballroom.
“Did you see the Gaians’ president? Theyactuallyhave a president. How quaint.”
I knew who she was even before the man at the door announced her: Duchess Dellondré, Fenris’s horribly-spoiled girlfriend. She was even worse than the General.
The Duchess continued, her voice reaching clear into the hall. She wasn’t even trying to be discreet. She wanted to be heard.
“The Iron Wolf is parading his pet Polymage around again.” She tittered. “As though we care about human-born rabble.”
I spun around and power-walked back to the ballroom.
Rabble.The word echoed over and over again inside my mind, pounding louder with every repetition, like a hammer to my head. The world was stained red.
Anger pumped through my veins, powering me past the high-nosed supernaturals waiting at the door for their grand entrance.
They thought they could demean us.
Disparage us.
Ignore us.
I’d show them who wasrabble.
I watched the leaders of the Many Realms debate policy and politics—all while completely ignoring the President and the General. They didn’t even acknowledge Kato, and he had way more magic than any of them.
“It’s just not right,” I said.
I cut across the dance floor.
“You won’t ignore us any longer.” My footsteps grew sharper, louder—and so did my voice.
