Chapter 36 Taera
Taera
Ithought I’d been on Nikolai’s bad side before. I was wrong.
Part of me crawls with guilt, but another part feels helplessly outraged. He’s lied to me again and again. I’m caught being dishonest once—snooping through his desk—and he gets to punish me? It makes me wish I’d succeeded and unearthed another one of his precious, well-hidden secrets.
“How do talismans work?” I ask.
Nikolai ignores me, inking symbols in his notebook. It reminds me painfully that I still haven’t sent word to Gramps and Ezran. They don’t even know if I’m alive.
“May I have a piece of paper?” I try.
No response. I return to staring at my desk, at the walls of the classroom, at the magicians around us. Then a tearing sound perks my ears up, and Nikolai drops a blank page in front of me.
I think of a dozen things I could say. But I don’t dare mark the page—not until I know what I’m allowed to write without the Halls erasing it.
I brace myself. “Nikolai—”
“I’m busy.”
Working up my nerve, I decide to cross the room toward Omi and Annie. I stand up. If he doesn’t want me here, then I’m not going to—
“Sit back down.” Emerald eyes burn into me. The whole class is watching.
I gaze longingly at my friends, but Omi gives a slight shake of their head. Frowning, I sink back into my chair.
I ache for answers, but he doesn’t give me anything. I clench my jaw.
“Who’s Hazel?” I hiss.
Green eyes narrow to slits, turning back to me. “Never say that name again.”
The air around us has turned cold, and this time it isn’t because of me.
I stay quiet after that.
The next three hours are more tedious than trying to sweep sand in the wind. Every other pair in the class practices magic. Nikolai doesn’t look at me once. I just sit awkwardly at his side, drafting the letter I’m going to write again and again in my head.
When we’re finally let out, I stomp out of the room, finally able to catch up with Omi and Annie, whom I’ve watched chatting for hours.
“What’s Nikolai’s deal?” I grumble.
“He’s overly dramatic.” Annie laughs. “Don’t stress about it.”
Omi smiles apologetically. “You making any progress with those exercises?”
I sigh. “Not really.”
“Sometimes it takes a while.”
A nervous idea rises to my lips. I glance between the chipper conduit and the quiet source and try not to sound too hopeful. “You wouldn’t help me practice, would you? Outside of class?”
Annie laughs like I’m joking. “Sorry, Tae-tae. I won’t step on Niko’s toes. Lunch?”
“Step on his toes?”
“You’re his,” she says simply. “And it’s not like you can touch any other conduit without zapping their hair off, anyways.”
I bite back my frustration. “Nikolai’s not that special.”
Annie rolls her eyes. “Haven’t you heard anything about his reputation?”
“I know he’s powerful,” I mutter.
“Powerful? He’s in a league of his own.” She begins ticking off fingers. “He skipped a full year by impersonating someone. He can modulate even your out-of-control magic. Some claim he even sleeps in his illusions.”
I swallow. I thought that was normal.
“No one’s even glimpsed him without his illusions,” Omi murmurs.
What would it be like, always hiding behind a mask? I try to remember his hazy reflection when he uncovered that mirror in the labyrinth—the one that strips away illusions—before he yanked me away.
“What about Hazel?” I ask. “Who is she?”
Annie smirks at me. “Tae, I told you not to get attached.”
I sputter.
“No one knows anything about Hazel,” Omi says.
I stare at them. “Then how—”
“Jezebel let the name slip, back when she and Niko were close,” Annie says.
My stomach objects to the idea of him being close to her, of all magicians.
We arrive in the dining hall. Two buffet tables laden with delicacies stretch longer than my entire hut back at home, surrounded by smaller tables around the outside of the large glassy hall.
I still can’t comprehend the endless platters of food, sweet and savory, and some things I’ve never even seen before.
Big orange tarts that smell like citrus.
I load a plate with pot pie and potatoes.
The upside of sticking with Annie and Omi is I don’t have to eat alone. We find seats in the back of the room, joining Sasha. He’s as untalkative as ever. Several students I don’t remember the names of come join us, but I just dig into my food.
“So… you like him?” Annie grins at me, popping a cream puff into her mouth. I’ve only ever seen her eat dessert.
“I don’t,” I mutter, breaking through the buttery flakes of crust of my pie and stuffing the last bite into my mouth. Eating quickly means I can always flee if someone unpleasant—like Jezebel—shows up.
I put my plate down. “I should get back. I think Nikolai has another class soon.”
“Right, right.” Annie chuckles. “All those optional, advanced classes. What do you have next? Thermomagicks?”
I grimace. “Something like that.”
“I’m in that one too,” Omi says. “I’ll walk with you.”
“See you at the party!” Annie gives us both a cheeky little wave.
Omi and I wind our way past tables and into a nearby hallway. When we’re alone they say, a little awkwardly, “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Well, Nikolai won’t tell me anything,” I say. “Like how this place even works.”
“No, I like it.” They smile. “What do you want to know?”
They’re right. I never feel like I have quite enough time to ask Omi all my questions. “Who runs the Halls of Glass? Why is the desert the way it is?”
“The Glassmasters oversee the Halls, but the desert…” They shake their head. “All the history books contradict each other.”
“How is that even possible?”
“There are competing theories”—their voice drops—“whether the desert used to be a desert at all, why it’s expanding, who built the Halls. If you ask me, the scholars don’t actually know how magic works.”
So Nikolai wasn’t actually lying about that. But what secret is he trying to unearth?
Omi perks up. “And I’d be happy to practice with you,” they say. “It isn’t personal, you know, that Annie won’t. She just can’t mess with the personal source of another conduit.”
I huff. “I’m not Nikolai’s personal anything.”
“It would be easier if you were,” Omi murmurs. “More people would leave you alone.”
I shake my head, sighing. “I don’t need them to leave me alone; I need to get out of here.”
Omi pauses in the middle of the corridor. “You’re trying to find a way out? Of the Halls?”
I swallow, wondering if I shouldn’t have told them. But out of all the magicians, I trust Omi the most. “Yeah.”
Their brow creases. “I know it’s going to take a while to learn to control your magic, but—”
“I don’t have a while.” It comes out harsher than intended.
Omi grimaces. “There are people who know the way out, but they’re not the sort you can trust.”
“Please, Omi.”
They swallow, their eyes darting around. “You’ll find them at the party, if you’re looking for them. But be careful. If you have to do this, tell Nikolai first. He’ll explain how to be careful better than I can.”
“Alright,” I say, but even now I know it’s a lie. My gut wrenches. I really am becoming a magician. “Thanks.”
Omi is actually helping me. A lump forms in my throat, unwanted and painful, at the thought that someone actually cares. It’s a few moments before I can speak again.
“I’d love to practice magic with you,” I say.
We barely arrive at the classroom before things get scary.