Shatterglass

Keth looked at his plate. was that way for a friend of mine, back home. He said hed never return.He glanced at her. you have family now, your foster-family.Tris nodded. Keth went on, And you look after each other, and study together.

Of studying,Tris replied with a smile as she helped herself to the seasoned cantaloupe. were all in the same basket with our power, you see none of us knew we even had any, even though it was breaking out all over the place. It wasnt until we learned to meditate that we got any kind of control. Thats where you have to start, too. Meditation, the whole thing. Breathing, clear ing your mind, exercises to strengthen your grip on your magic.She held Chime away from her plate as the dragon tried to inspect it for anything edible.

know how,Keth told her, then took a bite of chicken.

Tris /pursed her lips. It sounded as if he claimed he could simply to shut her up. know how to meditate. And where, pray, did you learn?

Now he looked up into her face. all learned it,he said impatiently. the Glassmakers Guild. It helps you get control over your breath, so you can blow long and steady and not swallow molten glass. It was the first thing we learned as prentices. Well, that and how to tell whats good charcoal and whats bad.

Tris propped her chin on her hand. me.

Keth demanded. ve been pounding around Heskalifos all the blessed day.

youre to be a mage, you must control your mind your power anywhere, at any time, tired or no,she retorted.

Keth put down his fork with a sigh. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly he inhale d as Tris counted silently to seven. He held the breath for the same count, released it for seven, and held for seven. As he continued Tris closed her eyes briefly, concentrating on her vision. When she opened her eyes again, Kethlun s magic was as plain as day to her sight.

His breathing and stillness served to calm him, that was clear, but his power was unaffected. It jetted from his skin in erratic flares, fluid like molten glass one moment, crooked like lightning the next. Then the lightning shapes grew , racing over Kethlun like groping hands, splitting into more bolts, until he was nearly covered with light. He opened his eyes and the lightning vanished.

he demanded irritably. said I know how.

For a moment Tris didnt reply, stunned by the fiery lacework that had covered him over. Then she remembered to breathe herself. How could Keth hold such beauty and not know it?

She remembered something Briar had once said while her friends cowered under a tree in the rain. Tris was dancing in a field as lightning flashed and thunder roared overhead. everybody thinks it s a play-pretty like you do, Coppercurls! Send it on its way so we can go home!

you can meditate,she said to Kethlun now. saves time. Let me see

She was interrupted by someone banging on the street door. for the aruriml a man cried. in the name of the law!

Little Bear dashed into the hall, barking furiously. Tris leaped after him and seized his collar. The housekeeper passed them both, opening the door on ly when she saw that Tris had the big dog under control. Tris hung on to her pet with both hands, dragging him back with all her strength as men and women in bright red tunics shouldered past the housekeeper, heavy batons in their hands.

is this?the servant cried. are law-abiding people!

seek Kethlun Warder,said a man who wore a sergeants black sword border on his tunic sleeves. have information that he is present here.

m Kethlun Warder,Keth said. He came to stand by Tris and the nearly-hysterical dog. would the arurim look for me?

A man stepped through the arurimis ranks. He was young, with dark brown skin, kinked black hair cut in a short cap around his head, and sharp brown eyes. Like the men of the arurim he wore a scarlet tunic, but his was topped by a blue mages stole bordered in scarlet braid. Warder, is this your work?The mage held out a round glass ball. Sparks glinted faintly on its surface.

Looks like my work,Kethlun answered slowly. He leaned in to better look inside the ball. rather, its like something I made this afternoon, but there was nothing in it then. It was all lightning.

To a clerk from Mages Hall, the lightning cleared to reveal this scene just before he was to leave for the day. He brought it to us,replied the mage.

Tris squinted at the ball and frowned. woman looks dead.

To his sergeant the mage said, him.The arurimi surged forward to grip Keth by the arms.

cried Tris, outraged. cant march into a private house can they?she asked the housekeeper. The woman nodded.

The arurim mage frowned at Tris in a well-bred way. do not answer to children,he informed her. was done at the Fifth District Forum. The whole thing looked just as it does here, which means we arrest Kethlun Warder for murder.

I just blew the globe, I didnt kill anyone!protested Keth.

growled an arurim as she twisted one of Keths arms up behind his back. ll speak when spoken to.

Tris looked from the arurimi to their mage to Keth. She had no understanding of what was going on here - she d been in Tharios less than a week -but she knew what Niko would say her duty was. Briar and her foster-mother Lark both had told stories of what happened to defenceless people who were taken away by those who enforced the law.

I am going with him,she informed the mage haughtily. is my student. You will answer to me should any harm come to him.

The mage lost his air of superiority when he goggled at her. re joking,he said in a less self-important, more matter-of-fact way.

Tris gave the housekeeper Little Bears collar, then reached for the ribbon around her neck. She pulled out the medallion and allowed the arurim mage to see both si des. When he reached for it, she closed her eyes. The moment he touched the medallion to test if it were a proper mages token, it threw out a blaze of white light that left everyone but Tris blinking.