The Spell Realm (The Sorcery Code #2)(39)
There were fewer books on this topic, since it was a new invention, but there was still enough material to keep her occupied for a number of minutes. As she consumed the texts, she found it amusing how much less variability there was in the code for written spells. It seemed that now that spells could be reused, sorcerers just copied the same component spells over and over, instead of trying to improve on existing offerings or starting from scratch.
Depleting the books on sorcery, Gala went for anything that could give her a better understanding of how the world worked. Chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, psychology—she knew that these were as important to sorcery as the code itself. Though her ultimate goal was to control her spells, she enjoyed learning about how the natural world functioned. Oxygen, for instance . . . Gala found it mind-blowing that it was an element in both the air that she breathed and the water that she drank. It was also crucial for controlling fire spells.
After she was done reading, the pile of books surrounding her was waist-high.
Examining herself for a moment, Gala realized that she could now say or write many spells. There wasn’t anything in the books that she would not be able to do. However, she wanted more. She knew that her way—how she’d sporadically done sorcery before—was more direct and more powerful. More pure, in a sense. With the new knowledge she’d absorbed, she felt like she was on the cusp of understanding how her mind worked. In a way, it was like the Interpreter Stone, except it used her thoughts and emotions as inputs, rather than cards. All she needed to do was shape those thoughts and emotions properly.
She decided to try something—a feat of teleportation, something she was already beginning to master. She saw in her mind how a verbal spell would sound that would teleport all the books on the floor to their original place. She then visualized how that would read as written code. And then, clearing her mind with slow breathing, she tried to do it directly.
At that moment, Blaise entered the room. “What—” he began saying, but stopped mid-sentence, mouth agape, as the books began to disappear off the floor and reappear back on the shelves. Within a few moments, the mess was gone and the shelves were as neatly arranged as before.
“That was amazing, Gala,” he breathed, staring around the room. “I’ve never seen anyone perform such a well-coordinated spell before.”
Gala felt her cheeks warm at the praise. “Thank you,” she said softly. Then, remembering the droplet, she asked, “So did Ganir tell the truth?”
“He did,” Blaise said, his smile disappearing. “The droplet did indeed show him voting against Louie’s death—and I felt his pain at the outcome of the vote.” He paused, his lips tightening. “I was wrong about Ganir. I let my anger and hatred cloud my judgment, and that made it easier for Jandison to deceive me.”
“So what does that mean?” she asked, her heart aching at the pain she saw on Blaise’s face.
“It means Jandison has a lot to answer for.” Blaise’s voice was flat, and Gala saw something frightening in his eyes. “Both to the Council and to me.”
“Are you going to tell Ganir that it was Jandison who told you about that vote?”
Blaise nodded. “I already sent him a Contact message. I’m sure he’ll take it straight to the Council.”
“Do you think this changes anything as far as the Council coming after us? After all, if Jandison has been fixing the vote, could their latest decision be considered invalid?”
“Yes, it could. Ganir said he’ll keep me abreast of the developments on that front. I think I can trust him, but I wouldn’t bet our lives on it. If Ganir found us, so can the others. It’s unfortunate, but I think we still need to leave this place.”
“What? No!” Gala couldn’t contain her disappointment. “We just got here, and Liva said she’ll introduce us to everyone in the village. I’d like to stay and meet more people.”
“Gala . . .” Blaise sighed, looking at her. “It really wouldn’t be wise.”
“Please, just for a little while longer?” Gala pleaded. “It will take Ganir some time to get back to Turingrad. It’s not like they’ll come after us tomorrow, even if they somehow learned we were here.”
Blaise hesitated, visibly wavering. “All right,” he finally said. “We’ll stay, but not for long. I won’t have you in danger again.”
Chapter 23: Augusta
Trembling with fury, Augusta stared at the closed door before beginning to pace up and down her room. How dare Barson treat her like she was his possession? And how dare Ganir betray the entire Council by consorting with Blaise and that abomination?
The old man had to be dealt with. Now—before he did any harm. She would think about what to do about Barson’s suspiciously unreasonable behavior later.
Grabbing her Stone and the cards she’d prepared for another purpose, Augusta stuffed them in her bag and hurried out of her room. As she walked, a plan began forming in her mind.
She had to get Ganir away from his study, as he would have an advantage there. The big question was how to accomplish that. There was one way, but it would be a risky maneuver. Stopping for a minute, Augusta sat down on one of the stone benches lining the hallways and started scribbling. When she was done, she double-checked her calculations.