The Sorcery Code by Dima Zales and Anna Zaires

Chapter 19: Gala

Chapter 19: Gala

The wheat was up to Gala’s chest as she ran through the field. She could feel the stalks tickling the skin on the exposed parts of her body, and she loved the sensation. She loved all sensations.

She kept running until she could feel the muscles in her legs getting tired, and then she lay down on the ground, shielding her eyes with her palm as she looked up at the clear blue sky. The sun was bright, and the clouds had so many different shapes . . . Gala felt like she could look at them forever.

She truly loved the Physical Realm, she realized, and was genuinely grateful to Blaise for her existence.

Existing was obviously far superior to oblivion. Having read all those books, she knew that humans had only a short span of time during which they could be in existence. It seemed wrong to her, and sad, but that was the way things were. She wondered if the same rules applied to her. Somehow she doubted it; without knowing where the conviction came from, she felt like she might have complete control over how long she could exist. And if that feeling was correct, she intended to never stop existing.

After a while, she got tired of lying there and got up, walking back to where she’d left Maya.

The older woman was standing there with a completely horrified expression on her face.

“Is something wrong?” Gala asked, figuring that was the appropriate response. She was determined to blend into the human society as well as she could. The books and the Life Captures had given her some theoretical foundation for normal behavior, but there was no substitute for real-world experience.

“Oh, my lady, you are ruining that beautiful dress,” Maya said, wringing her hands.

Gala blinked. This seemed to be actually worrying Maya. Quickly analyzing the situation, she came to the conclusion that Maya’s reaction and her form of address made sense. The dress that Blaise had given her had to be unusually nice and expensive. From what she knew, humans divided themselves into social classes—a needlessly complex hierarchy that Gala didn’t think had any good rationale. Because of this dress—and because Maya and Esther had seen Gala in Blaise’s company—they likely assumed she was a sorceress and thus a member of the upper class.

That was not what Gala wanted. “Will everyone in the village call me a lady?” she asked Maya, frowning.

The old woman gave her a reproving look. “For now, in that dress, they will. If you roll on the grass a few more times, they might think you are an orphan homeless girl.” She sounded disgruntled about that last possibility.

“That’s fine,” Gala said. “I wish to be seen as one of the village women.” Going by what the books said, she didn’t think the common people would behave naturally in front of a sorceress. She wanted to fit in, not stand out.

Maya appeared taken aback, but recovered quickly. “In that case,” she said, “let’s go talk to Esther and see what we can do.”

They walked together toward the other woman, who had already finished her conversation with Blaise.

“She wants to play at being a commoner,” Maya said to Esther, gesturing toward Gala.

“How do you know she’s not one?” asked Esther, eying Gala’s dress.

Maya snorted. “Master Blaise would not settle for anything less than a sorceress. You know how smart he is. He would have nothing to talk about with a common girl.”

Esther gave her friend a look that puzzled Gala. “What happened to you and his father is not the lot of every sorcerer-commoner love affair,” she muttered to Maya under her breath.