season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings Read Online Free Page A

was as up-
    set with him as her sister was. She still smiled at him, but her lips
    trembled. What should he tell them? Should he pretend he’d been un-
    successful, or tell them about Sal-thaath? The boy would never learn if
    he was never corrected for his mistakes. He had to convince Sal-thaath
    to confess and apologize. It was too bad he hadn’t thought to discuss
    this with Sal-thaath before coming to the market.
    He drew Sal-thaath off. “Sal-thaath, do you remember using magic
    on a chicken and twisting its neck backward?”
    2 6 · S a n d r a U l b r i c h A l m a z a n
    The boy nodded.
    “Well, that chicken belonged to that woman. It laid eggs for her, but
    your magic killed it. You should tell Dame Phebe you’re sorry for hurt-
    ing her chicken and that you won’t do it again.”
    “Why would I say that?”
    Kron stared at Sal-thaath for a few heartbeats, speechless. How
    could a child be so callous? “Aren’t you sorry?”
    “It was only a double-stupid chicken, Kron. It bothered me, and
    Mother always says I should try new things with my magic. Why should
    I be sorry that bird can’t peck at me anymore?”
    The women had advanced into Kron’s space while he’d talked with
    the boy. Now Phebe gasped. “This boy...this boy killed my chicken?
    And you’re sheltering him?”
    Kron stepped between Sal-thaath and Bella, who stood there quietly,
    but with such sadness in her eyes Kron longed to comfort her. “Dame,
    I’m not sheltering him. I’m trying to teach him why what he did was
    wrong!”
    “I don’t care. You owe me for that chicken!” Phebe’s face grew red
    as she shook a fist at him. “If you’re his master, it’s your fault—”
    “My master!” Sal-thaath laughed scornfully. “Oh, Kron knows a few
    things I don’t, but I’m much stronger than him. When I grow up, I’m
    going to be the double-strongest magician ever — Mother said so.”
    Phebe drew back, eyes wide. Sal-thaath wasn’t done, though. “And
    when I’m a double-strong magician, all the Nils will do whatever I
    want.” He approached her like a wolf stalking a deer. It should have
    been funny to see a grown woman frightened by a boy half her size, but
    it wasn’t.
    Kron eyed his stock, but finders and enhanced tools wouldn’t stop
    Sal-thaath from using magic. All he could do was bluff. “That’s enough,
    Sal-thaath,” he said, grabbing at the boy’s shoulder but missing. “Leave
    her alone.”
    Sal-thaath didn’t even seem to hear him. He stared straight at Phebe,
    who didn’t move despite the fear in her eyes. “What’s the difference
    Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 2 7
    between a Nil and an animal?” Sal-thaath asked softly, almost to him-
    self. “I don’t know. Do you?”
    Phebe shrank between one heartbeat and the next, her market-day
    dress collapsing around her. A russet chicken poked her head out of the
    neckline, clucking confusedly and cocking her head at Kron and Sal-
    thaath. Bella gasped.
    “Sal-thaath! Change her back this heartbeat!” Furiously, Kron
    started to shake the boy, then stopped. His hands clutched air.
    Sal-thaath was gone.
    C H A P T E R F O U R
    Breaking the Spell
    Kron made sure the door to Bella’s house—actually, her sister and
    brother-in-law’s house—was closed before opening the basket with
    Phebe. Still a chicken, she poked her head out, but then cowered inside.
    “It’s all right, Phebe. I’m here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Bella
    crooned a lullaby as she held her hands out, inviting her sister to hop
    into her embrace. When Phebe finally fluttered out of the basket to her
    sister, Bella turned to Kron. “Kron?” She spoke his name hesitantly.
    “Why didn’t you do something to stop your apprentice?”
    Kron sighed. “Sal-thaath isn’t really my apprentice. I know his
    mother from the Magic Institute, and he likes to visit me because I pay
    him more attention than his own mother does.”
    “So, he learned how to change people into