The water splashed down, and the flames flashed huge. Heat slapped into me. I stumbled back; the hammer of Vai’s cold magic slammed me to the floor as my sword pulsed. The fireball vanished as if pulled into an unseen pocket. A dusting of snow swirled and faded.
Gaius Sanogo reached me first. “Is yee all right?”
My lips were dry and my eyes wept a few stinging tears, but nothing seemed broken. “I think so.”
Vai pushed past him and knelt to rest a hand on my cheek. “Catherine! Speak to me!”
I fluttered my eyelids, and pressed a hand to my forehead in the hope I appeared wan and fragile. “I…I think I…don’t feel well. Are you worried about me?”
He recoiled. “I would be, if you seemed at all hurt, which you do not.” He rose, running a hand over his head. “You ruined their experiment,” he added, then strode to the door, where he stopped dead.
Bee blocked it. “Blessed Tanit! Cat, are you hurt?” Her gaze axed him. She spoke in a caustic tone that would surely have burned out anyone else’s tongue had they attempted it. “Magister, did you do this to her?”
“Me? I am the one she refuses to trust! The one she keeps crucial information from! The one she doesn’t respect—!”
“Stop that,” said one of the trolls.
Looking startled, he broke off.
“Yee have killed the combustion.”
In the silence following this unexpected declaration, I let the warden help me to my feet.
“Proud young men is prone to nursing wounded feelings,” Sanogo observed softly, “as I know from me own experience as one of that very type.”
My pagne needed brushing off and straightening, because I dared not meet the warden’s gaze. The professora ventured to the table as the first troll rose out of the smoking cloud, crest raised, its feathers smeared with soot and ash. Its old-fashioned knee-length dash jacket was not, I realized, of a gray-and-black splotchy pattern; it was layered with the detritus of countless experiments.
“The ice lens focused the first undulation away,” said the troll in a tone I had to perceive as excitement. “That is not what killed this combustion, then. Emotion must also focus and amplify the effect. Or is it only anger? What think yee, Bibi?” It cocked its head, addressing the professora. The tip of its tail lashed twice and stilled.
“He seem unusually high-strung, though,” murmured Sanogo. “He would make an ineffective conspirator, but he surely is a cursed impressive fire bane.”
“Why haven’t you arrested him?” I asked.
He took my hand in an avuncular way. “Maestressa, yee already know everything about me that I can tell yee at this time.”
“You can’t even tell me who you support?”
With a wink, he released my hand as the professora came up. “The Anolis.”
I pounced. “If the Anolis lose Jonas Bonsu, they shall never win the Territory Cup.”
The professora appeared beside us to take my arm. “How long have you lived here, gal? They that support the Anolis are radicals. That is why no matter how much the Greens offer Jonas Bonsu, he shall never leave the Anolis. Shall we go to our supper? We need two more settings, for my associates have had their experiment terminated for the night and will be dining with us after all.”
“What happened with the water?”
“Certain chemicals react explosively with water. Rather like young men who feel they have lost face in public in front of people whose respect they wish to have.”
“Oh.”
At the door, only Bee and her gloating remained. She said, “He stormed off. Gracious Melqart, Cat, but that man has a high opinion of his own consequence. Still, it’s clear he’s madly in love with you. So if you want him—”
“I really do not wish to discuss this right now, Bee.” Embarrassment had singed me more than flames could.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” she asked more solicitously.
“Weren’t we talking about batey?” I said to the universe at large.
We had no sooner reached the archway than Vai appeared with the letter in hand. “If I might…your pardon, Professora…we shall be right there…”
With a look like that, fixed on me, I knew we had to have it out now. I did not look at the others as the professora released me. Sure that this would end badly, I strode over to the bench and sat down at one end. He sat at the other end. The talking of the others faded as they walked past the hedge and the fruit trees toward the dining patio.