Page 41 of The Tribes of Magic
“Someone who is good with children? Are you recommending yourself for the job, Senator?”
Senator Gaines pretended to look surprised by the reporter’s question, but there was something in his eyes that gave him away. “Me? I would of course be flattered to be considered to lead such a remarkable group of young people. I have two children myself, you know. Being a parent is a rewarding experience and an invaluable one too. So, yes, I’m sure I’d do a better job leading the Knights than the General has.”
Nevada watched him. “The man has a point. Maybe if the General had kids, he wouldn’t be so bad at dealing with them.”
“I don’t know, Nevada,” replied Dante. “Just because the General is terrible with children, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any himself.”
“Oh, I really hope not!” she said, horrified. “He would make a terrible father. He’s so…unpleasant.”
“What’s that, Dante?” I asked.
He’d just pulled out a notebook and was writing in it. “My journal,” he said cryptically.
“Journal? Like a diary? Oooh, does it contain all of your deepest, darkest secrets?”
“Yeah, like what I ate for breakfast,” he laughed.
I scooted closer to him, and sure enough he’d entered his smoothie and sandwich into a chart on the page. “You have got to have the most boring diary ever.”
“It’s not a diary. It’s ajournal. Jareth is having all of his Apprentices keep one.”
I flipped the page. Height, weight, distance run with time, pushups completed… The list went on and on and on. “You have to fill this out every single day?”
“Yeah. Jareth wants us to operate at peak physical efficiency.”
“Peak physical efficiency…” I tried not to laugh. “Sounds like fun.”
“It is, actually. The journal shows me how much I’m improving each day. It’s very motivating.”
I poked my cold smoothie with my straw. “Maybe I should start a journal too.”
Of course, the only thing I’d be able to write in that journal was a list of my catastrophes. And who would want to read that? I sure didn’t need the reminder.
“What else is Jareth having you do?” I asked Dante.
“What do you mean?”
“Like what exercises is he giving you to help you connect with your magic?”
If I could collect lots of tips from enough Knights, maybe I’d finally get a handle on my magic. Eris had given my team a few exercises, but most of them involved meditating, which felt an awful lot like sitting still and doing nothing.
“Doing physical exercisesdoeshelp you connect with your magic,” Dante said.
“Only if you’re a Metamorph.”
“Everyone on Team Victory is hoping to be a Metamorph.”
Nevada snorted. “I’m not surprised.”
Dante looked at her. “What isthatsupposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” she said, smiling. “It’s just that your teammates kind of seem like the type of people who really enjoy hitting things.”
Dante nodded. “That’s a pretty accurate assessment of my teammates.”
I sighed.
Dante shut the book. “What’s wrong, Savannah?”
