Lillian sighed, watching them go. She sat in silence for a few moments longer before turning to her friends.
“You guys go ahead and leave. I’m going see if Magister Valera is in her office.”
“Hi, Sera,” Lillian said as she entered Valera’s outer office. “Is the Magister in?”
Sera smiled, saying, “Yes, she is. How much time do you need?”
“I don’t know,” Lillian said, fighting the urge to wring her hands. “I don’t think too long.”
Sera looked up at Lillian in silence a few moments before she stood and went to Valera’s door. Knocking twice, she opened the door and slipped inside.
Moments later, Sera opened the door and motioned for Lillian to enter. Lillian started walking toward the door, and Sera stepped aside as Lillian entered Valera’s office. Sera closed the door behind Lillian.
“And how can I help the Lady Mivar today?” Valera asked, gesturing for Lillian to sit.
Lillian chose the chair on her left and eased into it.
“Ma’am, I’m not comfortable bringing this matter to you, but I feel you should know.”
“Know? Know what? Has someone approached you over the Rolf Sivas duel?”
“Oh, no…his so-called ‘friends’ made themselves very scarce following the duel. No, it’s about the mentor sessions. Ma’am…well…no one has seen Gavin in two weeks.”
Valera frowned. “Are you sure? Do you think there’s been foul play?”
“No, I don’t think so. Kiri said-”
Lillian watched the color drain from Valera’s face in an instant as she collapsed against the back of the chair.
“Ma’am, what’s wrong?”
“That name…who is it?”
“Kiri? She’s Gavin’s slave. Well, Gavin doesn’t treat her like a slave. She ran away from her former owner, and Gavin found her in the warrens. The slavers attacked, and he defended her.”
“You say her name is Kiri?”
“Yes-”
Now, Valera leaned forward in her seat, her eyes intent. “Is she Vushaari?”
“Yes. Ma’am, what is this about?”
Valera leaned back in her chair once more and, looking up at the ceiling, whispered, “She’s alive. Thank the Gods she’s alive.”
After a few moments of silence, Valera sat upright once more, saying, “So, Gavin has been missing the mentor sessions? And Kiri doesn’t know where he is, but you don’t believe there’s been foul play. Why is that?”
“Well, ma’am…I…I still have the initiate’s robe he draped over me in the garden. I used it as a focus to scry him. When I did, I saw him sitting at a roadside camp somewhere making food over a campfire; he was wearing traveling clothes I’ve never seen him in before.”
“Farscrying is a Third Circle spell,” Valera said. “A First-Tier student shouldn’t be able to cast it.”
Now, Lillian looked away and wrung her hands. “It’s in one of my grandfather’s spellbooks, ma’am, and I’ve read them all.”
The silence soon became awkward for Lillian, and she chanced a glance at Valera. The magister sat in her seat, looking at Lillian with a slight smile that seemed to convey a mixture of pride and amusement.
“Should I ask what other spells you cast on a regular basis?”
“Oh, no, ma’am! I only cast the scrying to see if Gavin was well. I know I’m not supposed to be casting yet.”
Now, Valera did break out into a full-fledged smile. “Don’t worry about it. Your secret is safe with me. I didn’t exactly wait until the College to begin casting spells, either, but that’s been a little while ago. Very well. Thank you for alerting me to the situation. I’ll assign a new mentor and notify the group that I’ve done so.”
“This won’t get Gavin in trouble, will it? I didn’t want that.”
Valera smiled. “I regret that he didn’t follow through, but I’m not going to say anything to him about it. Life has assaulted him with a great many changes lately. As for anyone else…well…even if Gavin’s duel with Rolf wasn’t so fresh in everyone’s mind, I highly doubt anyone would brave confronting Kirloth over so minor a matter.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I should be going.” Lillian stood and left Valera’s office.
Chapter 37
Gavin stood on a small rise north of the Tel Roshan road, overlooking the remains of Kalinor’s estate. What had once been stone structures had long since cooled, the masonry melted into solid blobs of stone, and the charred and blackened dirt extended five feet beyond what was once the manor wall.
“How hot does stone have to be before it melts?” Gavin said.
Jasmine snuffled and returned her attention to grazing.
“I’m sorry, Jasmine,” Gavin said. “I don’t understand Equine.”
“It’s just as well,” a new voice said. “You’d never have a moment’s peace.”
Gavin spun to face behind him and saw a young man whose Vandyke beard and close-cropped hair were the color of caramel. He wore a black robe, and the rank runes on the cuffs of the robe’s sleeves were white and proclaimed him a Magus within the Society. The silver wizard medallion bore the Glyph of Wygoth.
“The last time I saw you, you wore a brown initiate’s robe with no medallion,” Gavin said.
He shrugged, saying, “Yes, well, I don’t normally wear a black robe, either.”
“Why don’t you show yourself for who you are, then? Why the masquerade?”
“Are you sure you want to know who I am, Gavin?”
“This is apparently the time of year for mental shocks to my system. Go ahead.”
The black of the robe and silver of the medallion drained away like water-based paint in a rain storm. Gold remained in their wake, and the medallion shifted from its usual circle to the shape of a dragon’s head. The Wygoth Glyph shrunk and shifted to occupy a scale between the dragon’s eyes, and the rank runes on the sleeves were now black.
“That’s what I thought,” Gavin said. “You’re Bellos.”
“Yes, Gavin, I am.”
“I can’t imagine every arcanist receives a visit from you.”
“No, they don’t, but I thought you might benefit from a talk.”
Gavin frowned, saying, “How so?”
“The man you knew as ‘Marcus’ was my friend, too.”
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Gavin said, sighing. “I mean, sixty-one hundred years, and he just dies?”
“He didn’t ‘just die.’ He was investigating some rumors the Wraiths could not, and he was cornered by the Lornithrasa. When he wouldn’t surrender you, they killed him.”
“That’s the second time they’ve tried to get me. Why is that? What’s so special about me that the Lornithrasa want me dead?”
“I’m not sure the time is right for you know the answer to that question, Gavin. It’s…well, it involves how the Godswar ended and one of the reasons my mentor was still alive after all this time.”
“That wasn’t cryptic at all.”
Bellos chuckled. “Gavin, there are some things it’s not time for you to know yet. When the time comes, though, we’ll have another talk…or maybe you and the old man will.”
“The old man?” Gavin asked. “You mean that crazy old codger in the alley when I woke up?”
Bellos outright laughed. “Oh, he’s not as crazy as he puts on, but yes, that is who I mean.”
“Who was he?”
“Are you sure-” Bellos cut off his question at Gavin’s flat expression. “He was Valthon.”
“Why did He take my memories?”
“He didn’t take them, Gavin; like our mentor said, He merely hid them.”
“Okay…why did He hide my memories?”
“I won’t give you the whole answer, but we needed a wizard of House Kirloth, and you were…well…available. However, the memories you possessed would’ve interfered with learning what you need to know, and He made it so you could approach this world with an open mind.”