Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(19)

‘I don’t understand,’ I said, my voice rising. ‘Mother is a healer! Why didn’t she—’

‘There is no cure. If it’s true, what the masters say, that the shadowblack is a curse cast upon us by the Mahdek in the final days before they fell to our spells, then I doubt any magic of ours can remove the disease. We can only cut out the infection before it spreads.’ He placed a hand on my shoulder – an unusual gesture for him. ‘Do not dwell on the past; the present has more than enough perils of its own.’

I thought about last night and Ra’meth with his sons. Could they have killed Father if Ferius hadn’t interfered? I looked up at Abydos. ‘Is our family in danger from Ra’meth?’

He turned back to the food. ‘Not if your father becomes clan prince.’

‘But will he? The House of Ra has a lot of supporters. What if …?’

Abydos had been in the process of raising a forkful of lamb to his mouth. He stopped and gave me a raised eyebrow. ‘Have you ever known your father to fail at anything?’

He had a point. On the other hand, I doubted Abydos knew anything about Jan’Tep politics. Before I could think of a polite way to make that point, the door to the room opened again. It was Shalla.

I should have known she would come. Almost a whole day had passed, and no doubt she expected me to be over any misguided anger I might feel towards her. ‘Look, Kellen, I know you’re cross with me, but I …’ It was only then that she seemed to take any notice of our uncle sitting at my desk. ‘What are you doing here, Abydos?’

‘Get out, Shalla,’ I said.

Abydos gave me a stern look. Normally I would have found the idea of being reprimanded by a Sha’Tep preposterous, but in a few weeks’ time chances were very good that I’d be reporting to him every morning to receive my duties for the day. He squeezed my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic smile. There was real warmth there, maybe more than I was used to seeing from my parents.

‘I was just leaving, Mistress Shalla,’ Abydos said. He rose and was about to reach for the tray still half full of food when he turned to me. ‘Forgive me, Master Kellen, but I have some pressing duties. Would you mind terribly if I left my supper tray here for a little while longer?’ He didn’t wait for an answer, but simply stood and walked to the door.

‘Thank you, Ab … Thank you, Uncle,’ I said.

He turned back and gave me a smile underneath sad eyes.

‘“Uncle”?’ Shalla asked dubiously, depositing herself on the chair Abydos had just vacated.

‘What do you want?’

‘I …’ She hesitated for a good long while. ‘I just wanted to see if you were all right.’

Why do people ask questions like that? I see your arm has fallen off, are you all right? Oh, hello there. I understand your entire family burned in a fire. Are you all right? My magic was fading and in a matter of weeks I would find myself consigned to the Sha’Tep. From that moment forward Shalla would view me with no more respect than she did our uncle. So the correct answer was, No, I’m not all right. I’ll never be all right, and it’s your fault, Shalla.

Had it been five years ago, when we were little children, I would have picked up the tray and dumped its contents on my sister’s head. Had it been yesterday, I would have yelled at her, shouting until the roof came off for the way she’d helped to destroy my life. But it was today, and I could no longer afford to be that person. I needed to be someone who thought about the future.

‘Shouldn’t you be preparing for your own tests?’ I asked, hoping to change the subject.

She opened up the palm of her hand and revealed a gold disc. ‘My duel was this morning. I almost refused when that old fool Osia’phest told me I had to fight Enyeris. She’s the weakest student among all those taking the trials.’

Not the weakest any more, I thought bitterly. When I caught Shalla looking at me as if I was some kind of invalid I said, ‘I’m fine. Thanks for asking.’

Her mouth opened but no words came out. I let her hang that way for a few seconds, hoping a bug might fly in through the window and land in her mouth. At last she said, ‘You’re fine?’

I nodded and patted the left side of my chest. ‘Heart’s beating just how it should.’ I had no idea if that was true of course. It might have been ticking backwards for all I knew. I stood up and opened my wardrobe and began searching for a clean shirt. ‘Really, Shalla, I’m doing great, but I’ve got some important errands, so if you don’t mind …?’

‘Your magic is fading, Kellen. Soon it’ll be completely gone. And you’re saying you’re fine?’

I didn’t respond. She was trying to pick a fight with me. In Shalla’s world, a fight was a chance to prove how smart she was; a test of wills to be quickly won – after which she would magnanimously declare that the conflict and anger could now be forgotten. Shalla was my sister and one of the three people I loved best in the world, but I didn’t want to ‘fight and forget’. Despite how much I was soon going to need my sister’s help, at that moment I couldn’t stand even to look at her.

I exchanged my dust-covered shirt from the day before for a dark grey linen one from the wardrobe that suited both the evening sky and my mood.

‘And what “errands” do you have tonight?’ she asked, idly picking at my food. ‘Is this because Mouse Girl came around asking about you?’