The Fire Mages' Daughter Read Online Free Page B

believe not, for Axandrina has examined every book. I feel that we should institute a more extensive search. Do you not agree, Magister?”
    The Magister was silent. She licked her lips, but could find nothing to say. Strangely, until that moment, it hadn’t occurred to me that she might have hidden the book herself. I’d just assumed that she knew it was missing and so had set me a deliberately impossible task.
    But if there was a search, and the book was found in her room, that would be a very serious offence. Thievery in a Magister would cause her to lose her position. I looked from the Drashona to the Magister and back again. The Drashona’s face was unreadable to me. Was she serious about this?
    But she backed away from it. “Perhaps you can take the necessary steps, Magister.”
    The Magister bowed, but her hands were shaking. At that moment, I felt sorry for her, even though she’d brought it on herself.
    “Here is my opinion,” the Drashona went on. “I believe that Lady Axandrina correctly met the standard of the test as it was set – to read every volume in this room. This she did.”
    I glowed with triumph. I had won!
    “However…”
    Is there any word more depressing to hear? My heart sank to the floor in an instant.
    “However… this would only entitle her to ask to be admitted to the Keep library. That was the arrangement, I believe. So you may ask, Axandrina, but it is for the Magister to decide whether to make the request on your behalf, since you are not yet adult.”
    “And I have no intention of doing so,” the Magister crowed.
    “Couldn’t you ask for me, Highness?” I said. “The librarians would have to do it, then.”
    “Which is exactly why I cannot. I, of all people, must conform to the rules. No special cases.”
    It was a huge disappointment. I’d done everything I could, and proved my case to the Drashona, but it hadn’t been enough.
    “Never mind,” she said to me in a low voice as she was preparing to leave. “The next year will pass very quickly, and then you will have all the books you could want.”
    But I had no intention of staying around for so long. The game had been fun, but now it was time to think seriously of a way to get myself sent home.
    ~~~~~
    “I have some news for you,” the Drashona said to us at one of her afternoon hours with the children. “There is a group of Icthari arriving soon, and I shall be receiving them formally in the assembly room. They would be pleased to meet you, I believe, so I should like you all to attend.”
    Axandor looked at the baby, who was chewing a wooden horse and dribbling. “Even Yussia?” He was such an idiot.
    I rolled my eyes at his stupidity, and even Zandara shook her head, but the Drashona never showed any impatience with him. “No, just Zandara, Axandrina and you. The little ones are of no consequence to the Icthari. You three are different. Your father was Icthari, so it will interest them greatly to see how you are growing up. I am afraid it will be quite dull for you, since they only speak Icthari, so everything will be done through an interpreter. You will have to wear a gown for the occasion, Axandrina.”
    “May I wear an azai? My mother always does, for formal things.”
    “I remember that. Yes, it would be acceptable, on this occasion, but if the Icthari invite you to any of the evening feasts, a gown would be more appropriate. You need to accustom yourself to managing skirts for when you are adult.”
    I hoped I wouldn’t be around long enough for that.
    To my delight, we were allowed to be present for the entire assembly. We sat on chairs on the lowest step of the dais, saying nothing, while a long procession of petitioners and delegates came and went. The Drashona was the same to everybody, from the new High Priest to the Sun Temple down to the apprentice stablehand who felt she’d been dismissed unfairly. She never made anyone feel rushed or inadequate or unimportant.
    That was why she was