Despite being located on the far end of the West Wing, it didn’t take very long for us to reach Iannis’s quarters. I watched as he placed a hand on the brass knob and muttered an incantation, and the knob glowed briefly before the lock clicked open. I memorized the Words he’d used – I wanted to try that out for myself when I got home. With the way my life was going right now, it was probably a good idea to spell my locks so that nobody would try to ambush me in my own apartment.
I followed Iannis in through the open door, my eyes taking in the spacious, yet cozy sitting room. It was decorated in the Chief Mage’s colors, the blue upholstery on the heavy, dark wood furniture and the matching curtains framing the large bay window embroidered with gold thread. The wall to my left was lined with bookshelves, and a large bay window on the right offered a wonderful view of the Firegate Bridge stretching across Solantha Bay. The couches were grouped around a marble fireplace, which lay dark and silent –no fire was needed at this time of year.
“Help yourself,” Iannis said, gesturing to a table by the bay window where the remnants of a meal were laid out – half a platter of ribs, a partially empty bowl of roasted carrots and sweet potatoes, and some salad. “I’ll return shortly.”
I watched as he disappeared through a door on the far side of the room, then sat down and helped myself to the food. As I chewed on rib meat, which was cold but tasty, I stared out the window at the Firegate Bridge. I should have already been across it and halfway to Turain by now, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have time to make the trip tonight. I would have to do it in the morning.
Once I polished off the food, I stood up and crossed to the other side of the room, perusing the books that lined the shelves. Many of the titles were in foreign languages, some of them even written in strange runes rather than letters, and I wondered just how many languages Iannis knew. I’d never asked his age, but I always assumed he’d lived several centuries already, which was plenty of time to amass quite a few languages. It made me wonder just how much knowledge I would have when I got that old.
If I got that old.
The door opened behind me, and I turned around to see Iannis clutching two gold chains in one of his fists. Small, white tanzarite stones swung from the ends of the chains, their fire catching the light, and I blinked, curious.
“What are those for?” I asked as Iannis closed the door behind him.
“Come sit down and you’ll see.”
I joined him on the couch, sitting as close to the armrest as possible. Even so, our knees nearly touched, and my pulse jumped as his masculine scent invaded my space.
“Tonight,” Iannis said, holding out one of the necklaces to me, “you are going to learn how to make a charm.”
“A charm?” I echoed, taking the piece of jewelry from him. I was careful not to let his fingers touch mine, but even so, my cheeks warmed at the idea of accepting something so beautiful from him. White tanzarite was one of my favorite gemstones; they were pure and full of fire. If I’d been the type of girl to buy myself jewelry I would have a whole collection of them.
But I doubted Iannis knew that, or that he’d chosen the stones based off what he thought my preference would be.
“Yes. Usually apprentices already know the basics of charm-casting; mage children are taught from an early age how to make simple ones.” Iannis looked wryly down at the stone in my hand. “The ones we are going to make tonight are not simple, but with my help I’m certain you’ll do fine.”
“Cool.” I glanced down at the chain in my hand, and noticed that it was more masculine, the links thicker and larger, than the one the Chief Mage had. “Umm, so what are we making, exactly?”
“We’re making a set of serapha charms.” Iannis paused for a moment, and he seemed to be watching my face for a reaction. When I only stared at him blankly, he continued. “These are worn by two different people, and can be used to locate the other at any given time. I thought it would be a good alternative to the tracking spell I placed on you, as you can take this off whenever you feel you must have privacy – though nobody else can take it off for you. And you can also use it to track me down, should you have need of me.”
“Oh.” Touched, I stroked the tiny round stone, which was about the size of my pinky nail. “You don’t need to go through all this trouble. I’d already forgotten about the tracking spell.”
Iannis shrugged. “Fenris suggested it. I think it’s a good idea, and also an excellent opportunity to teach you about charm-casting.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t about to argue, especially since this would allow me to locate the Chief Mage whenever I wanted, eliminating the need to rely on others to tell me where he was. “So what do we do?”
Iannis unclasped the necklace, then fastened it around his own neck. He positioned the stone so that it sat directly over his heart, then placed his hand over it and held it there.