First Apprentice

Chapter 30 Part 3

Half-remembered snippets from Grandfather and Selim's lectures slotted into place. The strongest dae rules, but as Grandfather constantly reminded me strength comes in many forms. "You stepped down because Katia beat you."

"No. Katia and I never fought against each other. No battles or challenges, not like you're thinking. How old were you when you learned to read?"

I blinked. "Three, maybe four. I guess. I don't remember learning."

"They named me chief because I was their only remaining ferepris. I was nineteen. Katia taught me how to read when I was sixty-one."

"But you wrote treaties and..." I trailed off when he shook his head.

"Helen wrote those treaties, Alannah. She read them to me, taught me their provisions by rote, and sat beside me at the negotiating table. That's the difference between us. The Marstow elders raised me to fight. From the day I was old enough to toddle across a training field, they placed a sword in my hands and trained me in clan magics."

"And the summons?"

"Hadyn taught me. By then, I was a teenager. We were constantly in the field. He didn't have music or written materials. I learned using a set of pipes he found abandoned on a battlefield and memorized them as best I could. I didn't step aside because I lost a challenge. I stepped aside because I was chief in name only. I couldn't negotiate treaties with the clans. I couldn't even understand the academy curriculum. Katia could."

"Grandfather said you negotiated the Marstow's merger with the Shedu."

"Centuries after the war and with Katia's help. To this day, I struggle with the written word. You use memory crystals for speed reading."

"Telltales," I muttered under my breath.

"That's Mitchel," he said with a shrug. "I use them because they give me more time. You can read, what? Fifteen-hundred pages per crystal?"

"Two thousand."

"My limit's three thousand. Terry's is seven. Asha's was fourteen thousand, Katia's sixteen thousand. Mitchel once managed seventeen thousand. According to Mitchel, you'll reach Asha's level within a century. I never will."

"If you..." My protest died on my lips as his fingers curled around mine.

"I learned too late. It will never be intuitive for me like it is for you."

"You can't be that bad if you invent seals."

"Instinct and experiments." He squeezed my hand. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach and warmth curled up my spine. "The difference between us is simple and stark. The Marstow raised me for a single purpose — countering Saar. Mitchel taught you law, accounting, history, strategy, everything you need to run an army. Endellion cultivated your sealing talents. Somehow, they persuaded Manfred and Sumati — neither of whom have ever taken on a student — to train you. They raised you to lead."

"I won't."

"You already do." His eyes crinkled as if he were laughing at an unspoken joke. "Iver," he drawled. "I didn't recruit you because of Mitchel or your magic. Power's meaningless if you can't control it. At the end of the day, the only difference between your average Marstow apprentice candidate and me is staying power. With training and experience, they can cast the same illusions I can, work the same wards, and summon the same gates.

"I recruited you because you kept David alive. Shattering the first two anchors is easy. Holding them together while another sealer heals them takes control and knowledge. Doing that with a sealer you don't know takes experience. Before we left the bar, I decided I wouldn't leave Vinetta without you. I didn't care what color your aura was, what it might mean, or if you knew how to fight. If anything, your status and family complicated matters."

"Don't they always," I muttered under my breath.

"The delicate balance between the Border Guard and the Dracon died the day Caed was born. The Shedu are our longest standing ally. In the Dracon's eyes, we now have three ferepris versus their two. Endellion's presence further upsets that balance."

"Because she partnered with Rainer. You know she won't fight another war."

"Perhaps. You—" he snickered "—overturn the entire apple cart. Potentially."

Eyes closed, I mulled over Joel's words while whispered conversations between Grandfather and Uncle Manfred filtered through my mind. I didn't know the full details. Never would. Endellion caught me with my ear pressed against the stove pipe while I listened in. "The Shedu want their own Katia. They intentionally risked a third clan war and bred a ferepris because they want the chieftainship.

Joel's eyes darkened and his mouth settled into a grim line. "Yet, Caed was fifteen the first time he intentionally summoned a gate. He was a beginner at the same age you earned a master's stripe. He knows little history beyond what's taught at the Academy and often offends guardians because he doesn't grasp the difference between his clan's propaganda and historical fact. His legal training amounts to 'ask your mother'. His clan raised him like an ordinary sealer with mediocre talents and barely enough magic to summon a training gate."

"A puppet," I whispered to myself. "They want a mouthpiece, not a chief. With Caed at the helm, the Shedu Council would control both their clan and the Border Guard. The Seven support this."

"Simon and Natalie believe that Terry's death will restore the balance and avert the coming war."

"It won't."

"Twenty years ago," he said with a shrug, "it could have. With the Pundarikam and Shedu Clans merging, Amit and Mitra fully support Caed's ascension. Plus, Mitra is Caed's second cousin on his father's side. Diane only cares about her research."

"And Terry?" I asked as another puzzle piece fell into place. Diane may not voice her support, but her actions kept Amit and Mitra both in power.