Shatterglass

He nodded.

The crucible in your mind, can you do that?

Keth nodded.

put all of your power in it, but for a single thread that youll blow into the globe,she directed.

He did as she suggested and imagined his power flowing into the crucible. Imagining it, he could also feel his magic disappear endlessly, like an illusionists trick, into some part of himself that held it neatly. In his mind s eye he saw the lone thread hanging from the opening like the loose end on one of his mothers balls of yarn. After a pause to make sure his grip was solid, he opened his eyes. he told Tris.

She nodded. you blow the globe, let that thread and only that thread travel with your breath into the glass. Maybe the problem has been that all of your magic is pouring into the globe until it explodes. Give it a try.

Keths hands trembled. This was exciting. This might actually help. He glanced down at the blowpipe in his hands, the one he d never used before. Set into its sides was a line of Kurchali, like advice from a seer who knew that one day a mage would hold the pipe: me steady hands, and steady breath.

Normally he didnt use an unfamiliar blowpipe on important projects, but this one, with the advice cut into it, seemed like an omen. Keth slid the pipe into the furnace, until its end was firmly set in molten glass. He began to twirl as he withdrew the rod. Up ca me the gather, a nice, red-orange blob. Frowning in concentration, Kethlun sent breath and power sliding through the pipe. The gather began to spread.

By the third reheating his magic began to fight its way free of the crucible in his mind. Keth clamped down. In that moment of distraction the glass developed an irregular bulge on one side: he d slowed at twirling the pipe. He controlled its movement and blew, reshaping a perfect globe. A moment later he saw that the merest thread of his magic had thickened.

Then the force that had urged him to blow a globe expanded up and through Keth, filling the glass. The piece was finished.

Keth sighed and cut the globe free of the pipe. A veil of lightnings shimmered softly over the surface, a tamer version compared to the others Keth had made. Inside it was the same, a multitude of lightnings that moved, flashed and split so much it was impossible to see anything.

Tris was reading from her leather-bound volume again. She looked at the globe as he passed it to her. got away from my control,he admitted.

As much as before,she murmured as she turned the globe over in her hands. know what you have to do now, right?

Keth sighed. for that thing to clear.

waste the time while you wait?she asked.

Keth glared at her.

bad name is just a fart with consonants,she informed him loftily.

Once more Keth sighed. need to work on my control.

A while. Then you can just blow glass if you like,his taskmistress said. the looks of you, most of your power today went into that globe. Im going outside to do my own work. Ill make sure the barriers are sealed.

She was being an alarmist, Keth thought. He felt just as good now as he had on getting up that morning. Shakin g his head over her lack of faith in how much magic he could work at one time, Keth sat cross-legged on the workshop floor. Tris opened her protective barrier and walked outside, Little Bear following. As she resealed the barrier around the workshop, Keth looked at Glaki. must get bored, sitting around here all day.

The little girl shook her head: she and Chime had discovered a game in which she would point to one of the dragons food dishes, and Chime would eat, then produce coloured glass flames for her. Keth noticed the little girl s brown curls were glossy and thoroughly combed, her face, arms and legs clean. Yali and Iralima had both belonged to the as well as can be expectedschool of grooming a child. Most of their time had to be used on th eir own appearance, in preparation for a nights performance. Keth decided that of course Tris would do an exacting job on Glakis hair: only look at what she put her own through.

He glanced outside, where Tris, veiled by the silver glow of the magical pro tections on the workshop, stood in the courtyard. Her spectacles were tucked away somewhere. She stared into space, eyes wide and unseeing. What was she doing? That was another thing hed ask her, when he found the courage.

This wasnt helping him to control his power. Taking a deep breath, Keth began to meditate.

Glaki roused Keth from meditation when Dema arrived. It took both Derm and Little Bear to bring Tris back to the real world. Keth frowned as the older man helped his teacher to stand so she could remove her magical barrier on the workshop. As Tris s student it was his job to look after her, not Demas.

Both Keth and Dema rushed to catch her when she staggered on her way into the workshop door. When Keth touched her, a fizzing power like his own, on ly a hundred times stronger, flooded his body. He gasped and flinched back, then steeled himself to steady her on the left as Dema steadied her on the right.

stop that,she said when they placed her on a bench inside. me a moment to catch my breath.She looked at Dema. are you crying?

m not crying!he retorted. eyes are watering. Girl, what were you doing?

Her eyes darted to and fro, as if she tracked the movement of a dozen insects inside the workshop. she said shortly. there water?

Glaki brought it, steadying it as Tris drank. Keth was silently grateful to the girl as he sat unnoticed on one of the benches. His knees were a bit unsteady.

When she finished her water, Tris looked at Dema and Keth. you show him, Keth?she asked.

Keth blinked, puzzled, then remembered his globe. He reached over to the nearby workbench and picked it up, turning it over in his hands. you send your people into Khapik tonight?he asked Dema.

Four women, plus the guards were putting on them, arurimi in civilian clothes,the older man replied. female arurimi will wear the yellow veil with the ends knotted, so they can be identified.