Cassandra Rose Clarke
THE WIZARDS PROMISE
CHAPTER 1
I was picking ice berries for Mamas start-of-spring cake when a spark of magic smacked me in the side of the head. My basket hit the ground and berries rolled out over the mud, and I scowled at the little trail of amber lights darting back and forth through the air.
Larus! I shouted. What do you want?
The light flickered and coiled in on itself. For a moment I thought it was going to extinguish, since Larus doesnt exactly have the most reliable magic in Kjora. But instead it just zipped off to tell him where I was.
I cursed under my breath and knelt down in the soft, cool earth to gather up the escaped berries. A trail of light from Larus meant one thing somebody had a message for me. Larus, untalented wizard though he may be, was still the only person in the village who had trained at the academy in the southerly seas and officially been named a wizard by the capital, and thus the only one people ever hired to do tracking spells. He took that job seriously, too, the prig. Like carting weather reports around the village made him important. It wasnt as if he had even trained someplace renowned, like the Undim Citadels.
So someone was looking for me. I knew it wasnt Mama or Papa or my brother Henrik, since they all knew this little road leading away from the sea was the best place to pick late-season ice berries. My friend Bryn never hired Larus for anything after he ruined one of her best dresses with a love charm. And nobody else in the village had any reason to send for me.
Except Kolur, of course. Id bet my entire basket of berries Kolur was the one looking for me.
I cursed again.
The wind, still sharp-edged with winters cold, blew through the bushes. I stuck my hand in the brambles and pulled out another handful of berries. This would probably be the last time Id get to harvest them before next winter, and I wanted to collect as many as I could before Kolurs message ruined my day. That you could still pick the berries this late in the season was why Mama used them in her start-of-spring cakes, since she always said spring was as much a goodbye to winter as it was a hello to summer. Mama liked winter, for some reason. Papa always said its because she grew up in the south, where heat is dangerous. I could never imagine it.
Larus took a long time following his tracking spell back to me. Id managed to clear out most of the remaining berries by the time I spotted his tall, gangly figure up on the road. He raised one hand in greeting, the embroidered sleeve of his red wizards cloak billowing out behind him.
Hanna Euli! he called out, as formal as if he were a wizard from the capital. I have a message for you.
Yeah, I noticed. I sighed and hooked my basket in the crook of my arm and hiked through the mud to the edge of the road. Larus watched me, his eyes big and blue and round. He wasnt much older than me, although I was still expected to treat him like an adult, given that he was an official wizard. I didnt, though.
Is it Kolur? I said. Its Kolur, isnt it? Couldnt he have let me have a few days of spring?
Larus cleared his throat and made a big show of pulling a scroll out of the cavernous depths of his sleeves. I sighed and shifted the basket of berries to my other arm. Larus unwound the scroll. It was a short one.
Get on with it, I muttered.
Larus drew back his shoulders and held his head high. Delivering messages was pretty much the only wizardly thing there was for him to do around the village, so he always took it too seriously. Kolur Icebreak wishes you to meet him at the village dock at the start of longshadow. He wishes to set sail for the Bathest Chain, as he
What? I tossed my basket to the side and stalked up to Larus, reaching to grab his scroll. He jerked it away from me and sparks of magic flew out between us, stinging my hand.
Dont touch the scrolls, he said.
I glared at him and rubbed at my knuckles. I called on the wind, too, stirring it up from the south, but Larus just rolled his eyes like it didnt impress him.
Tell Kolur Ill sail with him next week, I said. Ive got to help Mama with chores today.
Let me finish, Hanna. Larus struck his messenger pose again. For the Bathest Chain, as hes thrown the fortune for the coming weeks and found that the fishing will be excellent for the next few days. Hes already spoken with your mother and knows that she can spare you.
I glowered at Larus. He coughed and looked down at his feet. I made the south wind stir his robes, tangling them up around his legs.
Stop that, Larus said. You know some childs trick doesnt make you a real wizard.
Is there anything else?
No. Larus pulled a quill out of his sleeve. Would you like to send a reply?
Do I have to pay for it?
All messages cost one common coin. He glared at me. You know that.
No thanks, then. I picked up my basket. Sometimes you can wheedle a free message out of Larus if hes in the right mood, but I should have known better than to try after teasing him with the wind. He doesnt like being reminded that Im a better wizard than him, even if I am a girl.
Not that I needed to send a message. Kolur knew I would show up whether I wanted to or not, because I was his apprentice and he was friends with Mama, and between the two of them there was no way I could ever slack off work. I mostly just wanted to send him something rude so it would annoy him.
Has the message been received? Larus asked, back to playing the village wizard.
Yeah, yeah. I ran my fingers over the ice berries, relishing the feel of their cool, hard skins against my fingers. The last crop and I probably wouldnt even get a slice of Mamas cake, since Henrik would eat every crumb by the time I got back. It was always that way, fishing with Kolur. He didnt go out for just one day no, he had to go out for three or four at a time. Only way he could get a decent haul.
Well, if theres nothing else, Larus said.
Theres not. Thanks for nothing.
He made a face at me. I didnt bother trying to retaliate, just left him there, making my way down to the road, toward the little stone house where I lived with my family.
When I walked up the muddy path, Mama was out in the garden, tending to the early-season seedlings shed finished putting in the ground a few days ago. She waved, her hands streaked with dirt. I figured shed been out here waiting for me, seeing as how she received word from Kolur before I did.
Did you get the message? She sat back on her heels. Mamas accent was different from mine and Papas and everyone elses in the village, since shed grown up speaking Empire her whole life. Normally I liked it, because it gave her voice this pretty melody like a song, but today even that wasnt enough to sway my annoyance.
You knew! I tossed the basket at her and she caught it, one-handed, not spilling a single berry. Why didnt you just come tell me yourself?
She smiled. Oh, I dont like stepping in between your arrangements.
Larus said he checked with you first!
You know what I mean. She stood up and tried to shake the mud from her trousers, although it didnt do much good. It looks like you have a good crop of berries here.
I scowled.
Oh, dont be like that. She came over to me and draped one arm over my shoulder. You know youd be bored if he hadnt sent for you.
Its only just starting to get warm! The suns out I gestured up at the sky and the south winds blowing. I was going to practice my magic.
