Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(34)

I expected Shalla to launch into a tirade, but she just smiled and took both my hands in hers. Then, as if that were somehow insufficient, she let go of my hands and reached over to hug me. ‘None of that matters, Kellen. You’re always going to be my brother.’

Of all the shocks I’d had in my life recently, that was the biggest. Was my sister really going to tell me that it didn’t matter if I became Sha’Tep? That she’d love me no matter what? I guess that’s why I was doubly surprised when she whispered in my ear, ‘Because I’ve figured out a way to fix your magic.’





14


The Snake


‘It was your idea really,’ Shalla said as we crept along the path.

‘What was my idea?’ I asked, shouldering the pack she’d brought with her and now expected me to carry. ‘You still haven’t told me what this is all about. And what are we doing on the Snake, anyway?’

The Snake was the second of the intertwining routes that ran north–south through the Jan’Tep lands, so called because of the way it wound itself around the nearly five hundred miles of caravan track called the Staff. Daroman military engineers had carved out the Staff from the surrounding forest hundreds of years ago in order to facilitate trade, travel and, in times of war, moving an invading army into our lands. The Snake was a much older road whose proper name was the Path of Spirits. It was said to be occupied by the ghosts of our ancestors who waged a never-ending war with those of our ancient enemies, the Mahdek. It was also the place where Jan’Tep mages went on vision quests when seeking out the high magics.

‘When you were duelling Tennat the other day,’ Shalla said, ‘you spoke to that falcon flying overhead.’

I nearly dropped the pack to the ground. ‘Shalla, that was just a trick. I was just pretending so that I could—’

‘Scare Tennat. I know. But you haven’t thought about the reason why it scared him. It’s because a mage with a power animal can channel magic even if their bands are still in place.’

‘So?’

‘So what if you really did have a power animal?’

It was a stupid hypothetical question. The kind of impossible thought experiment that appealed to ageing spellmasters, my annoying sister, and pretty much no one else. ‘Well, we’re never going to find out, are we? Since you need actual magic to summon a power animal, which, in case you hadn’t noticed, I don’t have any more.’

‘But I do.’

I stopped right there. ‘Father’s allowing you to continue your trials? I thought he was going to make you wait because you …’ almost killed your own brother.

I supposed he had to let her finish. If the council was considering the strength of the bloodline, then my father’s only hope of becoming clan prince was for Shalla to make an impression on the lords magi. She wouldn’t receive her mage name until she was sixteen, but by passing her trials three years early she could prove the strength of our house. Not that any of that would help me. ‘Shalla, hardly anyone bonds with power animals any more. They’re too risky. Why would …?’

She looked down at her feet. ‘Mother helped me convince father that a familiar might … temper my behaviour somewhat.’

Fat chance, I thought. While it made sense in theory that when a mage and their familiar bond there’s a kind of fusing of personalities, I doubted some cat or duck was going to teach my sister humility.

Shalla coughed and I noticed again how pale she looked. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ I asked. ‘You look worse than Tennat, and he nearly got his neck sliced by Ferius last night.’

‘It’s just a cold,’ she said, and started down the path again. ‘I’m not going to let it get in the way.’

‘So what does any of this have to do with me?’ I asked.

‘I convinced Father to let you be my watcher. You’re going to protect me.’

I nearly broke out laughing. ‘You expect me to guard you from evil Mahdek spirits on the Snake? With what? My winning personality?’

‘Don’t be stupid, Kellen. Nobody’s seen any Mahdek for decades. Besides, I’ve got my own warding spells and no doubt Mother will have cast a scrying spell to watch over me. All I need you to do is keep any bugs or sick animals from trying to bond with me while I’m under the calling spell.’

‘So I get to watch you become even more powerful, and in exchange I get what?’

She smiled as if she was about to reveal that she was the one who invented the wheel. ‘I’ve got a plan. Once I’ve got my falcon—’

‘What makes you think you’ll get a falcon?’ I interrupted. Falcons were bold creatures who seldom allowed themselves to be commanded by humans and so were the rarest of power animals to respond to a summoning. ‘You’re more likely to spend the rest of your life bonded to a mouse or a tree frog.’

Shalla rolled her eyes at me. ‘Kellen, please. Can you imagine me with something that weak? I’d rather just die and come back and try again in the next life.’

‘Fine,’ I said. ‘If you get a falcon …’

‘When I get my falcon – I’ve figured out a way to keep the summoning spell going even once the bonding has taken place. I’ll use a sympathy spell to channel my will through the falcon to summon one of its fellows. If there’s another one anywhere within ten miles of here I’ll make it come and then it will try to bond with me, but I’ll already be bonded to my one.’