Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce

Author:Tamora Pierce [Pierce, Tamora]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Fiction
ISBN: 9781439115169
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 1994-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

CARTHAKI MAGECRAFT

Finally Daine and Kaddar returned to the palace, the prince carrying the dragon, Daine cradling Zek. They entered by the marble water stairs that led from the river to the guest quarters.

On her arrival that first day, the girl had been too busy keeping Zek warm to notice the statues on either side of the stairs. She stopped now to look them over. The crowned images were both Ozorne: one simply dressed, with birds on his shoulders and a pile of scrolls and books at his feet; the other draped in robes, a jeweled scepter in one hand, a crystal orb that sparked with gold and green fire in the other.

“In case you’d forgotten whose house this is.” Kaddar’s dry remark was made quietly, for her ears alone the ambassador from Tusaine and his staff had come out to take the air. “You could say my uncle has two faces.” He smiled politely as the others approached

The ambassador shook his head. “It did not go as well today,” he remarked with a sigh. “Problems arose over fishing rights. One could have wished for a more flexible attitude from all parties. If only the strait between your lands were not so narrow “

The sky was bare of even the tiniest cloud. None of them expected a loud crack of thunder to interrupt the ambassador as it ripped through the air, drawing shrieks from Kitten and Zek. Lightning flashed down from above. Splitting in two above the stairs, it struck each of the imperial statues with a roar. When Daine s vision cleared of spots, all that remained of Ozorne and his two faces were globules of molten gold and charred, shattered marble.

No one moved for a long moment Then, without speaking, they all rushed inside.

Returning to her room to calm down, bathe, and change for supper, she discovered something was missing. Where was the king vulture? The desk where he’d settled was empty, but its top shimmered. Rising on tiptoe to look at its surface, Kitten squawked in outrage,

Daine looked. There was a message scratched into the varnished wood, in writing that glowed.

Dearie, I came to fix your room, but some mortal took care of it first. Very nice work on the vulture. I’m taking him with me, so don’t worry about him. We’ll talk soon, never you worry.

Burned into the wood in silver was the print of a rat’s paw.

“She is getting on my nerves,** Daine told Zek and Kitten. “The things I am going to tell her ‘

The writing vanished. Only the paw print remained. Furious, the girl shed her clothes, muttering about gods who hung around where they weren’t invited or wanted.

That nights banquet was held aboard a large boat kept for the emperors use. Once his guests took places at tables in the stern, the emperor seated in lonely state on a deck raised above them nodded to a nearby slave. The man lifted a silver pipe whistle to his lips and blew a wavering string of notes.

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