Bound by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #2)(3)

“Sure,” I said with a shrug, as if I didn’t care one way or the other. “I get that you’ve got a government to run. Go do your thing.”

“We’ll resume this lesson tomorrow night.”

The two mages swept out of the room, leaving me alone with Fenris. As soon as the door closed behind him, I let the mask slip from my face, allowing the anger in my heart to shoot back up to the surface.

“Sunaya,” Fenris said, noticing the murderous look on my face. “You shouldn’t be so angry with Iannis. He’s never had an apprentice for as long as I’ve known him, and it’s a big adjustment for him to find time to train you while also running the state.”

“I get that, Fenris, but at the very least he could actually try to stick around for the whole hour he’s penciled me in for,” I snapped. “We only have lessons three times a week, and Director Chen has already taken him off to do other things several times in the past fortnight. And he wonders why I’m not making enough progress!” I threw up my hands.

“It won’t be like this forever, you know.” Fenris sighed, running a hand across his short, dark beard as he cut his yellow gaze away from me. He was a wolf-shifter, and though he couldn’t have looked more different from Iannis with his shorter, stockier build and his dark tunics, the two of them were fast friends. Because of that, Fenris’s commands had weight, which had been a huge help to me when I’d first arrived at the Palace as he’d used his influence to ensure I got enough food and to soften Iannis up towards me. “Iannis wants to keep a close eye on Director Chen after the fiasco with Argon Chartis. Once he’s certain he can trust her, he’ll be able to take more time away from the Mages Guild and focus on your training.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I muttered. Argon Chartis was the former Director of the Mage’s Guild, and he’d been doing a crappy job, shuffling off matters that he felt didn’t merit his attention, and hiding problems from the Chief Mage to make him think everything was under control. Truth be told, I was happy Iannis was rolling up his sleeves and digging into the corruption. With any luck things would start to improve for shifters and humans around the city.

But still, after losing Roanas, my mentor, to the silver murders a few months ago, I was feeling a little bereft. And though Iannis certainly wasn’t a father figure to me as Roanas had been, I was still his charge, and it was frustrating that I couldn’t rely on him.

“I still don’t see why he can’t keep his appointments with me or see them through all the way,” I groused. “Can’t he just tell Chen to wait another half-hour? I mean, she should know better than to butt in on my lessons when they’re so infrequent to begin with.”

“Things will get easier once the Convention is over,” Fenris said. “You know how important it is that Iannis arrives at the capital properly prepared. Much as you might wish otherwise, this takes precedence over your lessons.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have to like it.” I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. The Convention was a biennial event held in Dara, the capital of the Northia Federation, where delegations from all fifty states gathered to debate and vote on legislation. I knew how important it was for Iannis and his delegates to be there and represent Canalo, and something like a last-minute agenda change was important enough for Director Chen to call an emergency council meeting.

“Well, I would stand here and talk to you, but regrettably I have other matters to attend to this evening.” Fenris eyed me. “Will you be alright on your own?”

I flashed Fenris a grin, shaking off my melancholy mood. “I’ve been on my own a long time, Fenris. I think I can manage one more night.”





2





I hopped on my steambike and rode down to the Port, the stretch of coastline a few miles east of Solantha Palace where seafaring merchants did business side by side with trendy boutiques and magical shops, the latter operated by foreign magic-users who’d obtained a special license to practice magic in the Northia Federation. Aside from rare cases like myself, they were the only people outside of the mage families allowed to practice magic in the Federation – everyone else born with magical powers either had to subject themselves to a magic wipe, or face execution.

I shook my head as I parked my bike outside Witches’ End, the pier where the aforementioned magic shops stood, marveling at how my life had changed so drastically in two short months. As a shifter-mage hybrid, I’d lived under the threat of execution daily, hiding my forbidden magic and pretending that I was half-human rather than half-mage to those who could tell I wasn’t a full-blooded shifter. But when my secret was outed, instead of executing me, the Chief Mage chose to take me on as his own apprentice so I could master my powers and prevent myself from accidentally hurting someone – which, according to the mages, was the whole reason why magic was forbidden to non-mages in the first place.

I’d always hated mages for their high-handed superiority and the status that had been afforded them through birth and circumstance, but the Chief Mage’s offer to train me had started to chip away at some of my anger, and the more time I spent working at the Mages Guild, the more I got used to the stuffy bastards. No, I might not ever master their icy composure, or don their flowing robes, but I was beginning to embrace my magical side, and that was something I never thought would happen.