Shadowblack by Sebastien De Castell

Author:Sebastien De Castell [Castell, Sebastien De]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction
ISBN: 9781471406683
Google: _uCODgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction Ltd.
Published: 2017-10-05T09:50:34.505000+00:00

29

The House Mage

Revian walked with me partway back to Seneira’s house and told me his story.

‘It began a few days ago,’ he said, pulling his hood back on to hide his face. ‘I woke up soaking in sweat with a searing pain in my right eye. When I crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom to splash water on my face, I saw the markings.’

‘Do you have visions?’ I asked. ‘When the attacks come, I mean.’

He shook his head. ‘Mostly just pain. Sometimes I hear things … Voices.’

So, more like Seneira’s than mine.

‘You’re Jan’Tep,’ Revian commented. ‘I’ve made a study of your people and culture. My father wants me to become a diplomat one day, to build bridges between the Daroman empire and the Jan’Tep arcanocracy.’

Good luck with that.

Then he really surprised me. ‘You’re a spellslinger, aren’t you?’

The question sounded oddly desperate. I fumbled for an answer, and ended up stumbling on the truth. ‘I guess so. Still trying to figure that out.’

‘Is that why you’re here? To cure Seneira?’ He reached up a finger to touch the markings around his eye. ‘Can you cure me?’

‘What? Of course not. I can’t even cure …’ I stopped myself when I remembered the paste covering my own shadowblack. ‘I can’t even cure a cold,’ I recovered.

Revian didn’t seem to notice. ‘My parents tried to hire a man – a spellslinger like you – because they believed he might be able to help me, but he said we have to find the mage who cast the curse in the first place.’

‘Do you have any enemies? Particularly ones who might also have a problem with Seneira or her family.’

He gave a terse, bitter laugh, and gestured in the direction of the Academy. ‘Take your pick. You think those people you met today were being nice to you because they want to be your friends?’ He decided to answer his own question. ‘They’re the sons and daughters of wealthy and powerful families from across the continent, Kellen. In their own countries they live in palaces, and when they return home they will become politicians and courtiers and military leaders. To them, you’re nothing more than a novelty, or perhaps a tool that they can use for their own ends.’

‘You don’t sound as if you have much faith in Beren’s vision of the Seven Sands becoming a country.’

‘The Academy is a noble idea, but a foolishly optimistic one. For all the prestige Seneira’s father has been able to buy for his school, there are many who want to see it crumble.’

I pointed at the markings around his eye. ‘Bad enough to start a plague?’

He hesitated for moment, then nodded. ‘Do you know what a whisper witch is?’

I had no idea. For the most part, the Jan’Tep have neither time nor respect for any other culture’s ideas about magic. On the other hand, I didn’t know Revian particularly well and didn’t feel like revealing my ignorance, so I played it the way Ferius had with the masters at the Academy.

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