Page 87 of The Tribes of Magic
“Keep it. It’s yours,” he told me. “Put it on whenever you need a reminder that your magic is working with you, not fighting you. So you shouldn’t fight it either.”
I set my hand over my heart. “Thank you, Kato. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me.”
“Good night, Seven.”
“Good night, Kato.”
Happy drowsiness settled in with every step that I took toward my cottage. Finally, I fell into my bed and had calm, peaceful dreams for the first night in a very long time.
EPISODE 5
THE ALCHEMISTS
CHAPTER 1
SPELLBOOK STUDIES
Every day, the Apprentices came closer to being Knights. We were spending more and more time at the Castle. Today, we’d gathered in the dining hall again, this time for breakfast.
“Do you really think someone here is spying on you for the General?”
I glanced at Nevada. She was wearing the same black shirt-and-shorts uniform we all did—the mark of an Apprentice—but she’d managed to add her own personal touches. A pink cloth headband. A pair of pigtails with matching pink hair bands. A gold bracelet with cute little animal charms: a lamb, a kitten, a koala.
“That’s right.”
“But who, Savannah? Who is spying on you?”
“I wish I knew.” I held my breakfast bagel in one hand. With the other, I turned the page of the Paragons’ spellbook. I hadn’t had much time for reading lately. I needed to cram it in whenever I could.
“And you aren’t worried this spy is watching you right now, reporting back everything you’re doing?” Nevada whispered.
“Maybe. But what am I doing right now that’s so bad? Nothing the General can get me on, that’s for sure. I’m sitting in the dining hall for breakfast, eating my bagel and studying like a good little Apprentice.”
“Studying an ancient magic book,” she pointed out.
I’d told Nevada everything I knew about the Paragons’ spellbook and how I’d gotten it.
“The General willdefinitelywant to know about that book, Savannah. And once he knows, he’ll want the book for himself. It’s powerful. He’ll assign teams of scientists to try to learn its secrets.”
“You’re forgetting one thing. If the General does have a spy in the Castle, all they’ll see is me reading a book that is, as far as they can tell, completely blank, which while weird, is not newsworthy. No one can see the text on these pages. Not even Kato and Conner. Only I can.”
“I hope you’re right about this, Savannah.”
“Good morning.” Dutch sat down across from us.
He set down his overflowing breakfast tray. There were croissants and rolls and a big stack of toast—as well as cheese, cold cuts, eggs, and five flavors of jam.
“Hungry?” I said, amused.
“Famished.” Dutch assembled his sandwiches with the sort of meticulous efficiency generally reserved for military exercises. “The Castle has way better food than I get in my cottage. And more of it too. We should eat here every day.”
Bronte sat down next to Dutch. She’d exercised far more restraint when filling her tray. Her breakfast consisted of a single sliced mango with a couple of scoops of yogurt on top.
“I just spoke to Altair,” Bronte said. “Today, we’ll be working in the Magic Emporium. He wouldn’t say anything more than that.” She frowned. “How am I supposed to prepare if I don’t know what to prepare for?”
“I know what we’re doing today,” I told her.
“You do?” Bronte’s face lit up. She set her arms on the table and leaned in toward me. “What is it? What will we be doing?”
