Chapter Two

Audra found herself skipping around her bedroom. It was midnight and she was far too excited to sleep. She wanted to open her window and shout, "I'm going to be a sorceress!" at the top of her lungs, but the reasonable part of her conscience forcefully explained that this was a stupid thing to do. Finally Audra made herself sit down on her window seat and try and rest, though of course, she knew it wouldn't do any good.  'Oh, the irony of it all. The Daughters can turn me into a lady as much as they want to, but I'm free. When my Gift is completely trained, I'll find a way to take my mastery, and once I pass I'll be the first female master—or should I say mistress? —of magic in over a century.'

In her vain efforts to settle down (after all, as the Daughter had so kindly mentioned, they started the day an hour earlier here) Audra went over to the cracked and battered mirror that hung over the equally cracked and battered dresser. The glass rippled and the reflection was terrible. She tugged the mirror off its hook and climbed on her bed, trying not to put all her weight in one spot and bring the whole thing down to the floor. Audra leaned across it and attempted to find her dark brown hair and eyes in the glass.  And then she saw something, but it definitely wasn't her likeness.

The mirror fogged up and swiftly changed colors, going from its old, reflecting yellow to a vibrant orange. A purple color, identical to Thom of Trebond's magic, spread through the orange, reluctantly mixing until the entire surface of the mirror shone blood red. Audra ordered her fingers to uncurl and drop the looking glass, but they apparently weren't listening. Her eyes were drawn to the surface of the mirror once again. A window appeared in the center, growing bigger and bigger. Then moving pictures appeared; and Audra couldn't understand them.

She saw Thom and a man with black hair and blue eyes arguing, the stranger asking Thom if he trusted a man called Roger. She saw a boy looking like an un-bearded Thom toss snow into the face of the same man with the blue eyes.  She watched as the boy was revealed to be a girl after dueling with someone she gathered was Roger. She watched the girl kill him. And then she saw them bury Roger. For some reason, the sight of the crypt disturbed her deeply, and Audra threw herself out of the foretelling spell.

She lay on her bed gasping. The mirror lay where she had dropped it.  Trembling, it took Audra some time to gather her courage and pick it up. It had gone back to being an everyday looking glass. She hurriedly hung it on its hook, but reversed so it faced the wall. She didn't like seeing things she didn't understand. This was the first time this she had Seen anything, and Audra had an uncomfortable feeling that it wasn't the last.

Thom couldn't sleep either. He was trying to figure out what on earth had happened to his common sense. He went so far as to think, 'I must be as insane as Alanna,' before deciding that no one was as loony as his sister.  'But why did I feel so compelled to teach her? I hate people. I have a temper, and I'm proud and selfish and a loner. How exactly did I think I would make a good teacher?' he kicked himself again and again. He was here to learn as much as possible, not waste time teaching a beginner. He should tell Master Si-cham about how powerful she was…. but then he would have to explain how he knew she had the Gift in the first place.  'It's a challenge. And you've already accepted. Back out now, and the entire university knows you aren't stupid within an hour.' Thom angrily pummeled his pillow. He hadn't even gotten the book he had wanted from the library.

One last person burdened with troubled thoughts lay restlessly in bed. A healer named Maude frowned, thinking of the twins. By now Alanna should realize she was one of the Goddess's chosen. And Thom, her one-time pupil, always so eager to learn, desperate for anything that had to do with his Gift, now he should be all alone. She felt her frown deepen as she thought of the day she had tried to See for the two of them, six years ago.

"I have seen many things I do not understand. Many things—," she had not told them what she had seen. Maude hoped Alanna had taken her advice, though, advice that could change the course of events. She had been afraid that she would give one of them too much information. Maude had seen the Goddess give Alanna an ember stone, Thom studying by himself, a man with orange magic fighting with Alanna.  None of it made a lot of sense.

Alanna had acted so strangely that day, asking Maude if she had seen a city in the flames. Maude could only hope that Alanna learned whatever lesson the city in the flames had been meant to teach her. Now she assumed that the city had been the Black City. Trebond had received word of it, and Maude had thanked all listening gods that Lord Alan hadn't paid attention to the names mentioned. If he had, he would have noticed they had said Alan of Trebond instead of Thom.

But Thom. Maude didn't know what was to become of him. She had seen a crypt, but only the gods knew why a crypt was significant. Perhaps it represented his death, or even his sister's. Perhaps something of importance would happen to him there. But from all of the fragments of the future Maude had seen, she knew one thing.

Thom had no friends or companions in any of them.

Audra was afraid. It was ridiculous, really, and she knew that, but it didn't stop her from being afraid. She lay flat on her back in bed, her lamp blown out. Normally she slept on her side, but she had the terrifying sensation that people were watching her. If she rolled over, they would lean over and grab her. Audra took a deep breath. It didn't help at all. She wanted to get up and light the lamp again, but was still too scared to move. The darkness pressed on her from all sides. It wasn't the welcoming darkness that invites you to sleep peacefully, but the type of darkness that wraps itself around your mouth and suffocates you the minute you close your eyes.

'Why was everyone so worried about Roger in my vision? Who is Roger? And why was Thom involved? And why was it showed to me? And why did it happen with a mirror? All the Seers I've ever heard of use fire. I didn't even cast a spell.' Audra wondered for the billionth time. 'If I'd known my Gift was going to be so complicated, then I wouldn't be here right now.' She grinned, her terror forgotten. 'Yeah, right. I'd be here anyway, and we all know it.'

The shadow in the corner listened to Audra's thoughts and nodded approvingly. None of his master's pawns suspected any of their coincidences were linked. If Tortall were to be kept safe, the mortals would have to manipulated just right…

A/N: forget the review requirements. I feel like updating. R&R please! This chapter is to show everyone's thoughts on the events that happened earlier. Maude's observation will prove important later on. The next chapter may take longer. Audra refuses to tell what type of magic she specifies in, and therefore I can't begin training yet. She's way too stubborn. ~Kris.     Oh, p.s. thank you, my one reviewer!