“Probably no worse than Chief Ghallan’s astronomer dying and his fool apprentice taking his place,” one of the older men muttered. “But that’s what you get when you choose noble blood over ability.”
“Ghallan has picked up some of our language over the cycles and may have people watching for our arrival,” Lejikh reminded them. “So keep opinions like that in your head and off your tongue.” He turned to the rest of the family, who were fussing over the wagons and animals. “Clear out the plants, but don’t break the circle until we’re sure of our welcome.” He looked up. Following his gaze, Rielle saw a rosy sky far beyond the foliage above. “It’ll be dark soon. Do I have a volunteer messenger?” One of the young men stepped forward. “Thank you, Derem. Skim between worlds, but do not appear within the gates.”
The young man nodded. He faded to a ghostly figure, then flashed away at great speed. Rielle wondered if this was what the Travellers had looked like as they’d moved through the forest earlier.
She looked at Baluka. “So many precautions,” she said in her native tongue. “Is there a chance you won’t be welcome?”
He shrugged, but his expression was serious. “Always. Worlds like these–well, the area within it that we are in–are very changeable. We are trading with the most powerful of the chiefs here, but kingdoms around here are small. Most of the time one or more are at war with another. Even in peaceful times there are squabbles between families that lead to assassination and death duels.”
“Death duels?” she repeated. The picture she was getting from his mind was frightening.
“Don’t be worried,” he added hastily. “All of us but the young children are sorcerers. We don’t let our guests come to harm.” He looked at her closely. “You know you can trust us, don’t you?”
She nodded. It was clear in his mind that he believed she could and he’d never known his father to break with Traveller custom concerning guests. “Yes.”
“Stay with me,” he told her. “I’ll look after you and let you know how to behave and speak here.”
“Will I be finding a teacher here?”
He shook his head. “There’s no local sorcerer knowledgeable enough to teach you what you need to know, as far as I know. It’s in the next world you’ll most likely find a teacher. The society there is peaceful and used to foreign visitors, though it’ll take some time for you to adjust to people doing things differently to what you grew up with, and you’ll have to learn the language.”
“I’ve adjusted before,” she told him, remembering her first months in Schpeta. “I’m sure I can do it again.”
“When you settled in a new land before it was not by choice, was it?”
“No.” She looked at him, wondering how much he had learned of her past from her mind. Nothing she hadn’t had reason to think of yet, she guessed. Thinking back to her meal the previous night… a few hours ago… she realised the Travellers had not asked her many questions. She’d assumed they didn’t need to because they’d read all there was to know about her from her mind. But if she hadn’t thought of something then perhaps they hadn’t learned it yet.
If that was true, then asking her questions could make her think of things she’d rather keep private. Perhaps that was why they hadn’t sought more information.
Would a teacher be as considerate? Perhaps not. I guess I’ll have to learn how to hide my thoughts as soon as I can. A chill ran over her skin as she realised she was thinking as if she had decided to learn magic. But if I don’t I will never be able to go home.
But where was home? Was it Fyre, where she was tainted–a criminal and exile? The people there would never believe that an Angel had forgiven her for the use of magic, or told her she’d created more magic than she’d stolen. They would not know why all the magic in the world was gone. They might blame the tainted for the loss. No, she couldn’t return to Fyre.
Was home Schpeta, then? Betzi and the weavers might welcome her back, but she had known her friend would be leaving with Captain Kolz after the siege ended, and nobody in the town would ever treat her quite the same now they knew she had met an Angel. She had been and always would be a foreigner there. It did not feel like home.
Maybe I could make a new life for myself again, somewhere else. But if she was going to do that, why return to her home world at all? She could find a new world to settle in.