Her office downstairs would be harder to access. The factory employed three shifts of workers, so the four kilns were in constant use. Perhaps I could try during a shift change.
The afternoon sun’s warming rays combined with the heat from the kilns, turning the apartment into an oven. I left for the market, wondering why she hadn’t insulated the ceiling below her quarters.
Before heading toward the market, I walked by the Councilor’s Hall. At this time of day people scurried up and down the entrance’s grand marble stairway. The Councilor’s suite and a number of apartments for her aides resided inside. I guessed the building also contained break rooms for the guards.
Fulgor’s security headquarters was located across the street. From personal experience, I knew a small jail filled the basement. Circling both structures, I noted the number of entrances and windows on the lower levels. A training yard and stable had been built behind the security building. Guards practiced with swords. I leaned against the wooden fence, watching them train.
Eventually one of the men ambled over to me. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. Would I be allowed to train with you?”
He studied me. “That depends on who you are and why.”
“I’m Opal Cowan, a glass magician.” No reason to lie. “I just graduated from the Magician’s Keep and would like to keep my skills sharp in case I’m needed to go on a mission for the Masters.” I could name-drop with the best of them. Janco would be proud.
“Don’t see why not, but I have to check with my supervisor. Wait here.” He hailed another man and they talked.
I counted twenty men and four women in the yard. There would be more guards inside and more out on patrol.
The man returned. “Captain said it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you bring your own weapons.”
“Great. When do you train?”
“We have a two-hour session at dawn and another one in the late afternoon.” He gestured to the men. “If anyone gives you a hard time, just tell them Captain Alden gave you permission.”
“Thanks.” I stayed by the fence until they finished the session. By this time, the sun dipped behind the white dome of the Councilor’s Hall. Finding a hidden vantage point, I spied on the Hall. The evidence I needed would be in either Tama’s or Gressa’s office. And the best time for me to search them would be at night while everyone slept.
It was full dark by the time I finished my stakeout. The market had closed with the sunset. I walked to Gressa’s factory. The apartment’s empty rooms echoed with loneliness, driving the fact that I was on my own to heart.
No support from the Keep. No support from the Council. No Kade. Sleep eluded me. I tossed and turned all night, sweating in the heat.
In the morning, I dressed and joined the factory workers. Though annoyed and grumbling, they vacated a gaffer’s bench and assigned me a reluctant assistant. The unhappy boy looked as if he’d just graduated high school, but he handled the pontil iron with confidence.
“Do you need a special mix?” he asked me.
“Not really. What’s in the kilns now?”
“Cobalt, Crystal Fire, Industry Clear and Milk.” He pointed to each kiln in turn.
Most mass-producing factories used Industry Clear to make plates, drinking glasses and bowls. “What’s Crystal Fire?”
“Miss Gressa’s special blend for her fancy bowls.”
“Is it clear?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll take a three-inch slug of Crystal Fire.”
He moved away with an iron.
“Uh…Boy,” I called.
He turned. “My name’s Lee.” His voice sounded resigned as if giving me his name was a commitment.
“Lee, gather it on a blowpipe. Please.”
“Right.” He switched rods and returned with a proper-size glob. The molten glass pulsed with a bright orange glow, beckoning me to play with it.
When I blew magic into the glass, Lee asked, “Do you need me to thumb a bubble for you? Some glassmakers have trouble with it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“No, thanks. It’s part of my…routine.”
“Oh.”
I finished the robin and put in a jack line to crack it off the pipe. Lee took the pipe over to the annealing ovens. Opening a door, he tapped the pipe. The robin fell onto a shelf in the oven. He closed the door with his hip. I marked the date and time on the oven’s slate so the others would know when this oven had started the cooling process.
“You don’t have to label it, that oven is just for your use. Are you going to make more?” Lee asked.
“At least a dozen today.”
“Let me know when you’re done. We’re supposed to lock the oven’s door so no one can steal your animals.”
Practical, but still an interesting requirement. I returned to the bench and we began again. After a full day, I crafted fourteen messengers. While Lee cleaned up, I returned to the apartment to change. I hurried through the streets of Fulgor to join the guards for their afternoon training session.
My arrival caused appraising glances and a few welcoming nods, but no one questioned why I was there. I warmed up and practiced defensive moves with my sais. A female guard asked me about my weapon. She held a wooden practice sword, so I invited her to spar with me to observe how the sais blocked and countered.
“They’re nonlethal,” she said in surprise.
“If you hit the skull hard enough, you could cause death. Or if you poke deep enough into the eye, it would reach the brain.”
“No. I meant if I arrested someone, and they resisted, I could use these instead of a sword to subdue them.”
“True, but you could use a billy club, too.”
“But a billy club won’t disarm a criminal if they have a sword. I can only carry a certain amount of weight—I have to make the most out of the weapons I have,” she said.
We discussed various strategies. I taught her a few defensive moves with my sais and she showed me a couple new self-defense techniques.
“Hey, I know you,” a male voice called out.
I glanced up and up. An oversize guard loomed over me. I recognized him as the bully from the jail. Nic.
He squinted with suspicion. “You were with that Ixian who escaped. And I believe you caused trouble in the Councilor’s Hall.”
Everyone in the training yard stopped and focused their attention on us.
I thought fast. “You’re right. Sorry about that. We were undercover for First Magician and we couldn’t tell you.”
“Undercover?” His voice lacked conviction. Hostility emanated from the guards as the tension increased.
“Go ask Councilor Moon if you don’t believe me. I’m here at her invitation.” I met his gaze without fear. My courage amazed me. I liked this new Opal.
“What’s the trouble?” another man asked. He walked through the yard. The guards parted for him. His captain’s insignia glinted in the sunlight—Captain Alden.
Nic explained his concerns.
“Ah, yes. The Councilor has advised me about our new glass magician.” The Captain’s pleasant attitude rippled through the surrounding guards, dispelling the tension. “She is welcome here. Please continue your exercises.”
He stayed next to me as the guards drifted back to their groups. Soon grunts, clangs and curses filled the air.
When Nic moved to leave, Alden gestured to him. “You’ll need to hear this. You, too, Eve,” he said to the woman who had been practicing with me. “Councilor Moon has asked us to keep an eye on Opal.”
Again suspicion creased Nic’s face.
“She’s been the target of an assassination attempt, and the Councilor requested we guard her so any future attempts will be unsuccessful,” Captain Alden said.
“There is no need for her concern,” I said. “It’s been over a season and I haven’t been attacked again.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Alden turned to Nic. “I’m assigning her to your team. Draw up a shift schedule, I want her guarded at all times, starting now.”