Shatterglass

Its childs play. Now that I know what the problem is, itll be easy.

Tris nibbled on her lip. He could be right, though she doubted it. as you like, then.

He stood for a moment, blowpipe in hand, the light from the furnace casting his face into high relief. Tris settled on a bench to watch. She could feel t he forces in the shop come together. Lightning flared from his skin more powerfully than it had before. Quickly Tris sent extra power into the protections that enclosed the shop. She did not want any stray magics to come in now, as they had two days ago. His next accident might not be as wonderful as Chime.

Tris breathed with him and waited as he returned to meditation. At last Keth slid his blowpipe into the furnace. The heat didnt seem to bother him, though Tris had seen journeymen and even guild masters flinch from it. She removed her spectacles and closed her eyes, sketching the sign for fire on them with a finger. When she opened them, Keth and his surround ings were a blur, but the quivering heat of the furnace was as clear as his magic. The heat twined around Keth like an affectionate cat, sinking into his skin and bones.

Tris wiped a thumb over her eyelids and restored her spectacles to their proper resting-place. Whether it was due to lightning or his own expanded seed of glass magic, Keth could bea r higher temperatures than most people. He might even be able to hold fire in his bare hands, Tris thought. She would ask Daja, the smith mage, when she got -

was the next word of her thought. Triss eyes burned with sudden tears. After all this tim e, she still tricked herself, thinking Discipline cottage was nearby and that Daja, Sandry and Briar would be there when she returned for the night. But they weren t. Discipline and Sandry were in Emelan, months of travel to the north. Daja was in Kethluns home country of Namorn, even further north; Briar was on the road to Yanjing in the distant northeast. They were truly scattered and Daja wasn t here to judge Keths magic.

Tris sniffed and locked her attention on her student. Keth brought his gather of molten glass out of the furnace, twirling his blowpipe as he did. His grip on his breathing was shaky.

she murmured, watching the reddish-orange glass change colour as it began to cool. the feel of your magic.

He kept the pipe spinning and carefully blew down its length. Tris saw the lightning blaze of his power show through the pipe. He blew steadily, far longer than she could have managed. When his lungs were empty, Keth reheated the glass as he took in fresh air. The power in his br eath was brighter still in the pipe this time. Tris, about to say something, held her tongue. He reheated again, but she knew hed lost the count of his meditation. This time, when he blew into the pipe, glass-coated lightning darted from the end and dropped to the earth without shattering. Chime dashed under a corner worktable and stayed there.

Tris said as Keth turned beet red with frustration. down, drink some water, try again.

-!he began to yell, turning on her. Tris met his eyes with her own, wanting him to see that this was normal, it was to be expected. She knew it was maddening to think a thing through perfectly, only to have it go awry the minute she actually tried to do it.

Whatever hed meant to say, Keth chose not to say it. Instead he walked around the shop, touching vases, bowls, jars and suncatchers until he was calm. After that he set another crucible to heat and drank some water.

They were so caught up in their work they didnt even notice Antonous wife had come with Keths midday. She couldn t pass through the magical barrier or catch their attention. At last she fed some chunks of grilled lamb to Little Bear, then went back to her own work.

By late afternoon both student and teacher were sweat-soaked and exhausted. I n addition to the glass lightning, Keth had produced a few other mistakes. When the breath caught in his throat on his second try, droplets of molten glass exploded over the workshop. They glinted in the light of the furnace like dark gems. Next came an e gg-shaped blob of black glass, then a lump that sparkled with tiny lightnings. The last failure was a glass coil that burned the toe off one of Keths boots. Chime had yet to leave her hiding place.

Tris looked at the glass coil, then at Keth. Knowing she was about to trigger an explosion, she said as gently as she knew how, isnt working. Youre exhausted and probably starving. Its time to stop for the day.

he told her stubbornly. dont know the yaskedasi. I do. Ive been living with them for eight months. The Ghost is killing their sense of, of excitement. Of fun, joy. . . He fumbled to express his thought. was the first place Ive been where I c-could forget what h-happened to me. The, the Ghost is killing Khapik.He collected a fresh gather at the end of the blowpipe.

Tris wanted to scream. She was hungry, she was soaked in sweat, she wanted to be out and about. She was pouring magic into the barrier to keep the wild bursts of Keths power inside. What was so wonderful about Kh apik? she wanted to yell. There were theatres, inns, musical performances, women and men who flaunted themselves in form-fitting clothes, gambling dens and wine shops. Every city had such places.

She said none of these things as Keth drew a shuddering breath and started to blow into the pipe. As a teacher her duty was to encourage Keth, not discourage him. From her own experience, Tris knew he would give himself enough dis couragement without help from her.

yet, then?someone asked from outside the barrier. It was Dhaskoi Nomasdina,

crisply dressed in a clean red tunic and blue stole, his short black hair still wet from the bath.

Keth, startled, made an apprentices mistake and puffed hard into the blowpipe. The molten glass at the end bulged, coated in tiny lightnings, and grew to the size of his hand. Tris and Nomasdina froze, watching. Tris could see that Keth s hands trembled, but he continued to work, carefully twirling the pipe to see what shape his most recent accident would take. The bulb expanded to a perfect globe, then broke away. Keth reached out and caught it in one hand before it could fall.