Chapter Six

 

 

Running the two spells together was difficult, and it meant she had to move slowly through the woods, careful to measure her steps. She might be in shadow with no scent of man or magic, but her footsteps still made noise.

Hyl was sitting with Adrea in the middle of a pool of light. Imara whispered for help to the space, and the lanterns dimmed. She stepped to the side and approached the chair she normally sat in, facing the herb gardens and the rioting rabbits. The moment she touched the chair, the spells dissipated.

Adrea laughed at Hyl’s expression. “Hooray! You spooked him. How did you get the lamps to dim enough to give you cover?”

“I asked. You have told me enough about Ritual Space over the last few weeks to know that as long as what I wanted wouldn’t affect you, it might just help me.”

Hyl poured her a cup of tea. “I consider you a very successful student. Well done, Imara.”

Adrea raised her cup. “Well done, Imara.”

She blushed and looked down at her grubby hands. “Thanks. I still need to practice.”

“And I am glad of the company.”

Hyl chortled. “I am sure that Argus will be happy if you can spend a few more days with him.”

Imara waved her hand through the air. “He knows what I am focused on. While he is right for me, I might not be right for him. If he changes his inclination, I won’t hold it against him.”

Adrea quirked her lips. “That is why you have kept it to a friendship.”

“Until I can afford for it to be more, yes.”

Hyl whistled. “You really do have a plan.”

“Yes, and I am very lucky to meet the right people at the right time.” She cupped her teacup in her hands, and she sipped slowly. For once, she wasn’t served from a separate pot.

Adrea looked at Hyl, and her expression softened. “To meeting the right people at the right time.”

They all toasted with their teacups over the table. Mr. E snorted into consciousness and stretched.

The talked softly of friends and families and how it was a great thing that you could at least choose one.

 

She scratched under Mr. E’s chin as they entered her room. She glanced back at the portal a moment before it closed. “I am guessing I won’t have it much longer.”

I would not be so sure about that.

“Technically, it would be dangerous for them to leave those stones with me.”

True, but it is Adrea’s choice. Her space, her choices.

She put him on the bed and grabbed her clothing for after her shower. “How do you think I did?”

I think that I only learned of your actions through your mind. You did very well. Hyl is a good teacher. He got the physical into your muscle memory and then moved on to the strategy.

“I know. I got lucky.”

His chuckle was in her mind while she headed for her shower.

Kitty was waiting in the common room when Imara came down. “Ready for coffee and gossip?”

Imara checked her watch and blinked in surprise. The sky was still light, though she felt like she had been at Ritual Space most of the day. “Of course. Sorry. I lost track of time.”

“You look exhausted. Even Mr. E looks sleepy.”

“I will get some coffee and be right as rain. Are we walking?”

“Yes. It’s a wonderful night.”

“Great.” Imara smiled. “I need some fresh, normal air.”

“I can’t guarantee normal, but it is definitely fresh. Get a coat.”

Imara patted herself down to make sure she had her wallet, beckoned to her familiar, and then slipped on a loose poncho. Mr. E popped his head out the neck hole, and he got comfy.

“Okay, ready.”

Kitty smiled and linked arms with her, hauling her out of the hall and down the street.

 

The restaurant was busy, but ordering quickly meant that they had time to chat while they waited for their food. Mr. E had his usual fans, so he sat at the edge of the table and let people stroke his chin.

“Okay, Imara, what have you been up to?”

Imara shrugged. “Working out, getting ready for the class exam. How about you?”

“My apiary is twelve feet tall, and I don’t have the nerve to harvest the honey for testing.” Kitty looked abashed.

Imara looked at her. “Do you need help? We could do it tonight.”

Kitty looked at her with adoration. “Really? That would be wonderful.”

“Sure. Let’s just fortify ourselves first and then get the boxes for the frames and a ladder. We will get the honey out of the hive tonight... before they know what has happened.”

Kitty sighed. “I have missed hanging out with you.”

“Yeah, I am getting that a lot, but this course load is heavy. It is one class, but it takes all my time.”

“I know. It just sucks. I only found you a few months ago. It is just that I want to hang out more.”

Imara nodded. “I feel the same. So, tonight, we will make up for lost time.”

“You still look exhausted.”

“I can sleep in tomorrow.” She toasted Kitty with a cup of coffee and took a swig of the hot brew. Their night was set.

Kitty spent the rest of the dinner explaining the technique for harvesting the honey with minimal interference with the bees.

They paid for dinner and Mr. E’s dessert and headed over to the agricultural centre.

It felt just like the days that Imara had spent with the Deegle family. With the equipment and protective gear, they crept out to the apiary, and Kitty had not been kidding. The stack of boxes was actually twelve feet high, so Imara made sure that she had a box to catch the first rounds of frames with honey.

Imara was going to remove the frames and lower them one by one to Kitigan’s gloved hands.

Imara removed the lid of the hive and pried off the inner cover. There were next to no bees near her as they were down keeping the brood warm, or so Kitty had promised.

She pried up the edges of the box and lifted it. The weight wasn’t bad at all, considering her recent training, so she tucked it on one hip and moved down the ladder.

Kitty was staring. “How can you lift it so easily?”

“I told you, I have been working out.”

She went back up the ladder and took down the next box the same way, shaking out a few bees and going down the ladder again.

The next level was the final one that she needed the ladder for, and the trolley that Kitty had grabbed took the hive boxes easily.

“How many more until I get to the excluder?”

“Just two.”

Each level had more bees on it, but she shook off the slightly more agitated inhabitants and kept working her way down to the excluder.

The stack of brood boxes was chest high when she finished robbing them. Several bees were cruising around, but they didn’t move far from the original hive.

Kitty handed her the empties, and Imara set them in place, evening out the frame spacing before putting the next on top. The cover and lid went in place, making the entire tower nine feet tall and ridiculous.

Imara descended the ladder and shook her head. “You are going to have to do this yourself, you know.”

“I know. I am just afraid of getting stung. These little bastards pack a punch.”

“Please, they are ladies.” Imara laughed and carried the ladder to the equipment shed.

Kitty trundled the boxes into the lab, and Imara followed when the single-use gear was stowed.

In the lab, they prepped the equipment, removed their protective gear and began harvesting two hundred sixty pounds of honey with magical properties.

“What are you going to do with all this?” Imara stared at the settling vat that contained it all.

“Study it, try different enchantments, that sort of thing.”

Imara didn’t want to ask, but something made her. “Can I have a litre of it?”

“Sure. Let me get you a jar. What do you want it for?”

Imara rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know yet. I just feel that I need it.”

“Good enough.”

The jar of honey was produced; Kitty made her notes on her records’ chart, and Imara started yawning.

Kitty looked around and saw the clock. “Good lord, I have kept you all night.”

Mr. E was snoring softly against her neck. Nothing woke him.

“It’s fine. It was fun. What are you going to do with the extra bees?”

“They are nearing the end of their life cycle. Why? Do you have an idea?”

“I will make a call, and if you need a place for them to go and sniff flowers all the year-round. I know just the spot.”

Kitty smiled. “I will think it over.”

“Good. I am going to head back to Reegar Hall. It has been a very long day.”

“Thanks for coming out, Imara. I appreciate it.”

Imara was turning to leave when she had a thought. “If you know anyone who is giving away a bike, let me know. I think it is another thing that will come in handy.”

“Will do, now shoo!” Kitty grinned and waved her off.

Imara nodded and headed out the door. There were only a few security vehicles on campus, and her calm and even stride didn’t raise their suspicions.

It took her twenty-five minutes to get to the hall, and she peeled off her wrap with a sigh, stumbling through the hall and up the steps until she got to her room. Changing her clothing was going to take too much effort, so she just dropped onto her bed.

 

Bara rubbed her shoulder. “Imara, come on. I have my exam in two hours, and I need to make final adjustments on the gown.

Imara sat up, and she flung her arms wide.

“Damn. Okay. Come with me, and I will do what I have to so you can get back to bed. Are you still ready to be my model?”

Imara nodded.

“Good. Now stay there, I will get the gown.”

Imara was on autopilot as she was stripped, stuffed into eveningwear, and pinned.

“Wow, you have been working out. Impressive. This is going to look fantastic.”

Imara nodded, and when the gown was gone, she thudded back into bed.

 

Imara woke fully in a strange environment with Bara fussing with her hair. Bara grinned. “There you are. Mr. E was willing to drive you on autopilot all day, but he was gravitating to ordering his own pizza, so I was hoping you would come to.”

“I am so sorry.”

“You have been burning the candle at both ends. I get it. Now, we are up next, walk with your head high with an expression that everyone is beneath you but amuses you.”

Imara smirked. “That is my normal expression.”

“I know. Down the runway, turn, and back up. No drama.”

“Nothing dramatic. Got it.” And so, barely awake, she walked up the steps, waited for the announcement of Bara’s name, and she walked down the runway, wondering why the hell they had made it so long. At the end, she caught a look at what had to be her father, but this was a drama-free zone, so she kept walking back to the rear of the stage.

Bara’s hug nearly crushed bones.

They waited backstage until the scores were announced, and when Bara was declared, “Ninety-eight,” Imara was hauled onto the stage once again.

There was applause, she took a bow, and she had to wait for Bara’s return after her fellow students applauded her because Imara had no idea where she was.

Mr. E rubbed against her ankles, so Imara reached down and picked him up. The population around her made cooing noises, and since he had driven her there, she offered him up for caresses and cuddles.

The party that Bara had planned was extensive, but Imara only had to be there for the first twenty minutes. She scampered upstairs and checked the calendar. She hadn’t missed it. Tomorrow, she would get her exam assignment and the rest of the time would be used for preparing her assault on whatever hall she was assigned.

 

Imara looked at the engraved document, and she looked back up at Professor McClairie. “You are joking.”

“I am not. That is your assignment.” He raised his voice. “Guard your assignments well, as your fellow students can find you, foil you, and use their skills to work against you.”

Edgar Demiel was still sneering at her, and Imara had no idea why. She had his ancestral home on her card. Demiel Hall, on the twenty-seventh. It was the last place she wanted to be.

When the professor finished reading out the rules of their exam, she stood up. Another card dropped in front of her, and when she looked up, Edgar was out the door.

She didn’t look at the card until she was home, and Mr. E was fighting to cackle. It was hard with a kitten’s face.

“What the hell?”

Reegar stepped over to her and looked over her shoulder. “You have been invited to a birthday party.”

“It is my father’s birthday party and an introduction to my first niece. This is... something is... damn it is the same day as the exam.”

She huffed and sat down for a moment before Hyl’s advice ran through her head. “It has to be that day but not during the day.”

Bara looked up from where she was sewing together the wraps that would keep Imara from being glaringly visible during her adventure. “What does that mean?”

“That means that I am going to be doing a lot of night work, but this is all going to work out in the end.”

Reegar grinned, Bara gave her a thumbs-up, and Mr. E stretched before going back to sleep on his favourite book. Now that the Death Keepers had taken off with the spectres from the accumulation stone, everything was finally coming together.

She might be able to master stealth magic with just a little help from her friends.