Page 6 of The Tribes of Magic
He shook his head. “I don’t know. But I intend to find out. In the meantime, the General won’t make a move on you, not with the Court here, watching everything we do. He wouldn’t want the leaders of the Many Realms to think there’s yet another Polymage Knight he can’t control. The Court would have a field day with that.”
They sure would. Way too many people on the Court considered Gaia to be a realm of primitives, at least when it came to magic. And they weren’t wrong either. Before five years ago, there hadn’t even been any Knights, and the only magic on Gaia to speak of was the Curse that had almost wiped out humanity.
Kato offered me a smile and a comforting shoulder squeeze. “I’ll worry about the General, Seven. You worry about your Apprenticeship tasks and getting yourself ready for our next training session. I’ve left some books in your cottage which you might find useful.”
Actually, that did make me feel a little better. I’d always found diving into books—absorbing their knowledge—to be very relaxing. Knowledge really was power, and arming myself with it made me feel stronger.
I had to study, train, and do whatever else was necessary to get a handle on my magic. And I had to do it fast. Because the next time I lost control over my magic, I might just end up hurting someone.
CHAPTER 3
DIVISIONS
Breakfast was a mixed affair, my attention divided between devouring my scrambled eggs, changing out my soggy clothes for fresh ones, and watching the morning news.
“The Gaians are, quite frankly, completely out of control,” Prince Fenris said with silky, slimy grace on the Many Realms News Network. “But that’s nothing new. I have been issuing warnings about these primitivehumansfor quite some time.”
Fenris saidhumanslike it was a swear word.
He continued his condescending speech as video clips from the fight in the Park played on the screen. “Yesterday’s debacle at the Spirit Tree was inexcusable. Gaia threatens all of the Many Realms, and I’m confident my sage peers on the Court will come to the same conclusion and votenoto accepting these heathens into our ranks.”
I made a disgusted noise in my throat, then changed the channel. There was only so much of the arrogant vampire prince that I could take before I had to vomit.
“Yesterday’s victory at the Spirit Tree was hard-won.” The General was on the Gaian News Network.
Hisvictorywas a far cry from Fenris’sdebacle. Our local news was telling a very different story from the one circulating across the greater Many Realms.
“Thanks to the hard work of our valiant soldiers, the Brotherhood of Earth was thwarted in their plan to poison the Spirit Trees,” the General said as I took a bite of my eggs. “Our soldiers also apprehended the Brotherhood’s leader and four of her fighters.”
I almost spat out my breakfast. “That is sonotwhat happened!” I shouted at the General’s image on the TV screen.
I would know. I’d been there. And the General’s soldiers—the Watchers—hadn’t. All they’d done was show up long after the battle to collect the prisoners that Conner, Kato, and I had gift-wrapped for them.
“Our brave soldiers were assisted by the star of the Castle, our very own White Knight,” said the General.
He didn’t mention me or Conner. Shocker. According to the General, we were agents of anarchy.
“General, the Brotherhood is a worldwide organization with dozens of members in every major settlement on Gaia. What is being done to apprehend them?”
The General sank his teeth into the news reporter’s question like he’d been waiting for it. “Our soldiers have worked tirelessly through the night, interrogating the prisoners captured yesterday. Those interrogations have proven fruitful. We are already acting on the acquired information to root out the Brothers still in hiding.”
“The Brothers stand accused of treason. What will the Government do to them?”
The General’s locked jaw loosened into a mockery of a smile. “The Gaian Government is strict, but it is also merciful. The Brothers will be rehabilitated into productive, contributing members of society.”
Translation: they’d be tortured for information, then be rebranded as Scavengers and sent beyond the wall to salvage the relics of humanity from the Wilderness, where the Cursed Ones roamed. Scavengers had the most dangerous job on Gaia. Very few of them survived more than a year.
A knock sounded on the door of my cottage. I turned off the TV, hastily shoveled the rest of my breakfast into my mouth, grabbed my backpack, and crossed the room to the door. It didn’t take more than a few steps. My cottage was small; in its former life, it had been a garden shed.
I opened the door. I found Bronte, my teammate and friend, on the other side. She stood on my welcome mat with the poise of a ballet dancer.
“Hey, Bronte.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“All ready! Let’s go.” I swung my backpack over my shoulders.
We followed the stone path across the back garden and around the main house. Mrs. Edwards, my host, stood on the front lawn, watering her roses. She adjusted her grip on the hose to give us a little wave, which we returned before heading down the driveway and through the forest that blanketed the Apprentice Village.
