Shatterglass

Tris looked at the tiny volume and gasped. You have a copy of Quicksilvers Winds Path, and you never told me?

He smiled. fears for your sanity are real, you know. My best friend at Lightsbridge, when I was a student there? She went mad from the study of wind-scrying. She was more easily distracted than you are, though. I,always meant to let you see the book in time. I suppose that time is now.

Trk stroked the embossed lettering on the cover with reverent ringers. It was said to be the ultimate book on wind magics. It was also very old. cant lend this to me. What if something happens to it?

Niko smoothed his moustache. s why Im giving it to you, so you neednt worry if anything happens to it. Ive learned all I can from it, and you need the half that s about scrying the wind. Just remember, it takes time to master it, if you can. You may not learn enough to stop this madman.

That Niko would trust her with such a prize told her more about how he saw her than anything else that had passed between them in recent months. It said that he believed she was a full-fledged mage, an adult and craftswoman. She met his eyes, her own filling with t ears. What would happen to her now? Was he saying he wanted her to leave him?

That you get rid of me,he added, as if hed read her mind. Neither of them was good at being sentimental with the other. ve places to go yet, libraries to search. Now, scat, so I can dress.

need to go back to Touchstone Glass,she said. ll find me there or at Ferouzes, Chamberpot Alley, in Khapik, if you need me.

will be here or at Phakomathen, scrying the future,Niko said. conference can manage without me, until this monster is caught.

Tris sighed in relief. you. Youll probably see him long before we will!

Tris packed, then visited the university baths. Dressed in clean clothes, her pack slung over one shoulder, she visited the Akaya Square skodi, or market. There she bargained with a jewellery seller for a price on the glass pendants Keth had made with Chimes flames, selling a quarter of them. At Jumshidas she had collected all of Chime s flames she could find, as well as the spiral glass circles that were the dragons vomit and the lumpy glass rounds that were Chime s dung. If she and Keth were to create more lightning globes and look after Glaki properly, they would need cash for glassmakers supplies, clothing and food. Tris had mon ey set away, but saw no reason to dip into that if Keth were right about the attraction of the pendants.

Once the bits of glass were sold, Tris set off for Touchstone. The day was heating up. By the time she arrived, she was red-faced and puffing under the weight of her things. Inside the workshop, Glaki napped on Little Bear s flank as Chime tried to wrestle the cork out of a jar of colouring salts. Keth was pacing as Tris set down her pack.

have you been?he demanded. of the morning has gone! I made three vases already!

had things to do,said Tris. you propose to up-end your life, arrangements have to be made.

Asked you to come live with us,protested Keth with a glance at the sleeping child. managed before you.

Ll manage better with me.Tris went to the well and gulped down a ladle of water, then looked at Keth. you ready?

Once her circle of protection was drawn and the magical barriers raised, Keth meditated, popping all of his power into and out of his imaginary crucible in the blink of an eye. he asked Tris. think I remember how to create a globe. I m going to try to make it big, so we see as much of the surroundings as we can.

right,Tris said.

He got excited as he picked u p the blowpipe. His fingers trembled, though his hands were steady enough as he collected a gather of molten glass from the crucible. Tris breathed with him as Keth inhaled, counted, held, and counted, forcing himself to calm down. Raising the pipe to his lips, he exhaled into it steadily as he twirled it. He continued to twirl the pipe as he stopped, inhaled, and held to the count. His second exhale expanded the bulging gather from the size of an orange to the size of Little Bear s head. He reheated the glass and blew a little more. cools faster when I work this way,he grumbled, reheating the glass again. hate going slow.

watchTris began, but it was too late. Hed let himself get worked up. When he blew into the pipe, a fat streamer of h is power went with the air, straight into the glass. It lengthened and burst, spraying droplets on to the wall.

Tris surveyed the damage. Luckily the walls, though wood, had been treated to resist fire. know, a few more of these, what with the drops, you put on the wall the other day, and you could make a design, she remarked, falsely cheerful. looks pretty, in an over-enthusiastic way.

Under his breath Keth told Tris what he thought of her comments. She caught the small puff of air from his mouth and twisted it in her hand until they both heard claybrained flap-mouthed impertinent

was that nice?Tris asked, releasing the puff of air. was only trying to help.

Very gently Keth beat his head against the wall, rousing Glaki from her sleep. the four-year-old observed, watching Keth.

Are like that, little one,Tris replied. feel sorry for yourself later. Start again.She dug inside one of her packs until she found the dates and dried figs shed bought at the skodi. These she gave to Glaki, who ate silently.

Keth cleaned his blowpipe, then thrust it once more into the kiln and its crucible. Chime glided over to sit on a shelf beside the furnace and observe. Keth drew out the gather and began to count, breathe, twirl and blow. Gently he coaxed the bubble along, reheating and twirling, enlarging it each time, growing more confident as everything went smoothly.

more,he murmured as he drew out the gather. more go.

Tris saw his magic spike, leaping to flood down the barrel of the blowpipe and out over the skin of the ball. Burdened with its strange weight, the glass ball dropped from the pipe and on to the floor, where it sprayed outward.