Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2) (12 page)

Azra was by her side.
You
should have been warned about the augury cannons, but it is the way of this Guild
to initiate you without telling you what will happen. I won’t ask you what you
saw, but know that the magic that touched you showed you what could be, not
what must be.

Azra nudged her gently
in the shoulder with her nose, and Valerie let her tears fall into her mane.
Then she stood straighter.

“I’ll take it as a
warning and make sure it never happens,” she said. Her brother approached with
curiosity in his eyes.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. They hit us
with some powerful magic that took me by surprise, that’s all,” she said. His
mind touched hers, and she pushed him out, suddenly understanding how he had
done the same thing to her in Ephesus and again when she had told him about her
father.

Henry opened his mouth
to argue, but before he could say anything, Midnight lightly gripped Valerie’s
shoulder. “I can see now that you were meant to be a Knight, though I would
have counted our Guild lucky to have you as a Guardian.”

Valerie saw that
Midnight’s eyes were shining with pride, and she was surprised to see a less
reserved side of the usually formal Grand Master.

“I dreamed of being one
of King Arthur’s knights when I was little, but this is even better,” Valerie
said.

“To pass the test, you
only must offer to protect someone who you do not consider a friend. But you
were willing to give your life. That is rare,” Midnight said, blinking back
tears.

“How do you know that?”
Henry asked curiously.

Azra made a soft noise and
stepped closer to Midnight.

“I remember the last
Knight recruit who passed the test by offering her own life to save one she
considered an enemy. She was special,” Midnight replied.

“What happened?” Valerie
asked softly.

“Aurora died shortly
before she would have been named a Master Knight,” Midnight said shortly, and
passed a hand over her face so quickly that Valerie couldn’t be sure whether or
not she had seen a tear on her cheek. “She would have been a great leader in
this Guild. You remind me of her.”

I have had the same
thought. They are sisters in spirit.
Azra’s words brought a wobbly smile to Midnight’s face, which then resumed its
usual calm.

Valerie sensed that
Midnight didn’t want to delve into painful memories, so she turned the subject
to one that had been blazing brightly in her mind. “I found out from a prophecy
that my father is alive. He’s a Conjuror on the Globe. Do you know who he could
be?” she asked Azra, unable to keep a thread of excitement out of her voice.

Azra released a startled
snort.
I never even suspected, or I would have told you, of course. I will
do all I can to help you find him.

Henry wasn’t listening.
Their conversation was interrupted as loud music began to play. It sounded
different from anything she had heard on Earth, powerful and deep. It pounded in
her bones as well as her ears. It caught the crowd up in a kind of trance, and
people began to dance.

Juniper grabbed her hands, and she joined the rest of
the new apprentices who were bobbing to the beat. Joy rose up inside of her.
She was a Knight of Light, just like King Arthur or Lancelot. Now she would
protect the innocent, starting with her family.

After the festivities were over, Valerie,
Dulcea, and Henry walked home, still giddy from dancing and eating too many
sugary desserts.

But as they walked, Dulcea’s
smile slipped. “There’s something I have to tell you. Rastelli, our Guild’s
Grand Master, made a new rule that only members or potential members of the
Society of Imaginary Friends can live in our dorm.”

“And now that I’m an
official apprentice of the Knights of Light, I’m out,” Valerie said, her joy replaced
by something harder. It wasn’t the first time she’d been homeless, but her room
with Kanti had somehow seemed more permanent than anywhere else she’d lived.

Dulcea impulsively
pulled her into a fierce hug. “Never. You will always have a home with us. I’m
only telling you because we’ll have to be a little sneaky so Rastelli doesn’t
find out.”

Valerie and Henry
exchanged glances.

“Couldn’t that get you
into a lot of trouble?” Henry asked Dulcea.

“That’s not something
for either of you to worry about. I don’t understand what’s going on with
Rastelli. He has always been the warmest person you’d ever meet, but lately
something seems off. He’ll come to his senses about this and thank me for not
sending you away,” Dulcea said.

But Valerie knew that
Dulcea was in the final weeks before she became a Guild Master, and she refused
to jeopardize that.

“I’m sure the Knights
have a dorm, too,” Valerie said lightly. “I’ll sleep there, but I’ll visit you
all the time.” The thought of being away from her friends, and especially her
brother, hurt.

Dulcea bit her lip. “The
Knights of Light is one of the most popular guilds on the Globe. If you want
housing, you have to apply years in advance.”

“I’ll find somewhere to
live, don’t worry. I’ll be out within the week,” Valerie said with a practiced
ease that she hadn’t used since her days in foster care.

“You don’t have to do
that. Your home is with us,” Dulcea said, but Valerie could detect a note of
relief in her voice, confirming her suspicions that Dulcea could get in serious
trouble if Valerie stayed.

Their conversation was
interrupted by the silhouette of a young girl standing in the middle of The
Horseshoe. She was turning around in a circle, staring at the buildings with her
mouth open.

They came closer to the
girl, and Valerie saw her face. “Cara? Is that you?”

“Valerie? This is Arden?
It’s amazing. Cyrus didn’t do this place justice when he told me about it. Not
that my parents would let him say much.”

“You’re Cyrus’s sister! The
Where-o-Well sent you here!” Dulcea exclaimed. “Welcome! I’m Dulcea, Master-in-training
at the Society of Imaginary Friends.”

“Nice to meet you,” Cara
said. Valerie gave her a quick hug, which Cara returned awkwardly.

“Now that you’re here,
we’ll show you around properly,” Dulcea said, already hovering over Cara like a
mother hen. “You can stay tonight with Valerie, since it’s too late for you to
be going anywhere. Tomorrow I’ll show you the guilds, starting with Cyrus’s and
mine.”

They began walking
toward the dorm. When Cara stepped on the path that wound around the guilds,
each flagstone glowed in a different color when it was stepped on. Cara stared,
amazed. “Did Cyrus really do that? He said something about it once, but I
didn’t understand.”

“He really did it,”
Valerie said, smiling. She wished he were there to see his sister’s first
impression.

“It’s beautiful. Who knew he had it in him?” Cara said
to herself.

The next day, Cara was
up and showered by the time Valerie opened her eyes.

“It’s barely dawn,” Valerie
said sleepily. “You okay?”

“I’m so excited to see
it all. I don’t want to miss anything. This will be my one and only chance to
see something of the world before I go back to Messina.”

“If you go back,” she
corrected.

 “Leave? Like Cyrus? I
could never do that. There are rules,” Cara insisted.

“Don’t let someone else
decide your life for you. Make up your own mind.”

Cara nodded uneasily and
then hurried Valerie out of bed. She quickly got ready and showed Cara around
the streets of Silva before breakfast. They met up with Dulcea and Henry in the
cafeteria as Cara was stuffing herself full of the delicious food and groaning.

“They don’t have
anything like this in Messina. Surely they can make an exception to the no-magic
rule for these puff things,” she said, her eyes closed as she devoured a little
pink cake.

Dulcea laughed. “The
adventure is just beginning. Are you ready to tour the Society of Imaginary
Friends?”

“Not without me,” Cyrus
said, joining the table and ruffling Cara’s hair. She threw her arms around
him.

“You’re here already!”

“I knew you’d land here,
so I came straight back. It’s where you belong.”

“I’m coming on the tour,
too,” Henry chimed in. “I’ve narrowed down the guilds I’m considering to
Imaginary Friends or the Empathy Collective.”

“Count me in,” Valerie
added. “I’ve been dying to see inside ever since I first laid eyes on the Guild
waterslides.”

As they headed over,
Valerie walked beside Henry. “What’s the Empathy Collective, anyway?”

“It’s sort of like counseling,
but using magical tools to help people heal from trauma. A lot of people with
psychic powers join the Empathy Collective. The Conjurors in it are really
nice, but it’s kind of touchy-feely, so I’m not sure if I’ll fit in.”

“I had no idea you were
researching all the guilds. I’m impressed,” she said.

“What did you think I
was doing while you were training with the Knights?” he asked.

They stopped in front of
the Society of Imaginary Friends. Cara’s eyes bugged out. Waterslides came out
of a dozen windows and landed in the moat that surrounded the Guild. The tall
front doors were painted to look like a tunnel. They approached, and Dulcea
pressed her hand against the door. It shimmered and then disappeared.

Henry, Valerie, and Cara
stared, trying to take in everything at once. Inside reminded Valerie of a
crazier version of Alice’s Wonderland. Young Conjurors were running around
shooting what looked like water guns. But instead of water, silvery threads of
magic shot out. Valerie’s leg was hit, and the instant it touched her, a
horrible taste filled her mouth. She began to spit, and Cyrus laughed.

“Sorry, we brought you
right in the middle of a magic fight. When you’re shot, you taste the worst
things. What did you get, broccoli?”

“Dirt,” she said, wiping
her tongue on her shirt. But she had to admit, it was a good idea.

“Much worse than getting
a little wet,” Henry said with a grin, but then he was hit, too, and began to
gag. “Farts, I think.”

The taste on Valerie’s
tongue went away, and she was able to focus on the incredible, colorful space
around her. Trampolines had been charmed so that jumping on them would take you
to whatever floor you needed to access. In front of their eyes, they watched a
young girl squeal with joy as she leaped up to the seventh floor and landed on
a pad that was waiting to cushion her fall.

“So you guys play all
day?” Cara asked, suddenly sounding very young.

Dulcea and Cyrus
laughed.

“I wish!” Cyrus said. “It’s
actually really hard work. We have to take intensive classes in child
psychology and development, and learn basic Earth subjects so we can find
creative ways to help kids study.”

“When you’re younger,
it’s the most fun time. You’re assigned a kid on Earth who needs help, and it’s
your job to be their friend,” Dulcea explained. “But once you age out of that
program, you develop the curriculum and help the new Conjurors with difficult
problems. You have to specialize in a certain area.”

“Can you specialize in play?”
Valerie asked.

“Actually, you can,”
Dulcea said. “But it’s the most competitive program, as you can imagine. A lot
of people are rejected and have to settle for their second choice.”

“What are you
specializing in, Cy?” Valerie asked.

“I work in Guild
relations,” he explained. “We need to interact with the other Guilds, like the Guardians,
pretty often, and that’s where I come in.”

“It must help that
you’re on Azra’s youth council as well,” she said.

Cyrus grinned. “What can
I say, everyone loves me. Now let’s go check out the good stuff.”

The rest of the day was
like being ten years old again. They tried out every single waterslide,
including one that used magic so they could go upside down and another that
shot them around the moat underwater in a bubble. Lunch was pure sugary
goodness, followed by visiting a library with a huge living tree in the middle.
It had been hollowed out using magic, and inside were rooms where Conjurors
could curl up and read.

There was every toy
imaginable from Earth, and even more that were inventions from the Globe, like
a dollhouse with little people who came alive to enact whatever scene you could
imagine, and a model solar system that, when you touched it, transported you
through space to whiz around the galaxy as fast as you wanted. Valerie sped by
the rings of Saturn and walked on one of the moons of Jupiter.

By the end of the day,
they were completely exhausted. They crashed on the steps outside the Guild and
watched the younger Conjurors splashing in the moat.

“It would take a
lifetime to show you everything in there,” Dulcea said. “We picked out the
highlights.”

“I think I’m in love
with this place,” Cara whispered.

Cyrus beamed. “I knew
you would be.”

“That’s what I love,
Love, LOVE to hear!” said a funny, nasal voice that was followed by a high
giggle.

They turned around and
saw a short man with a red face and spiky orange hair. He was wearing a tie-dyed
shirt, pants, and shoes. Valerie saw Henry bite his lip to keep from laughing.
But she frowned. There was something familiar about him. It hit her—he was one
of the faces Chrome had shown her that he suspected could be the spy.

“Valerie, Henry, and
Cara, I’d like you to meet Rastelli. He’s the Grand Master of this Guild,”
Dulcea said.

“It’s an honor,” he said
with an elaborate bow.

Valerie’s stomach
clenched. He didn’t seem like the type of person who would cast people out onto
the streets. But she bit her lip and tried to keep her resentment in check.

Rastelli squinted at
Cara. “You’re familiar—you must be Cyrus’s sister! What a pleasure.” He pulled
a bouquet of pink flowers from the air and handed it to her.

Cara blushed. “Thank
you.”

“I hope you’ll all stay
as long as you like. And if you have any ideas to make this place more fun, let
me know personally. We always want to improve!”

Rastelli then skipped
away, heading down the flagstone path. The minute he was out of earshot, Henry
burst out laughing.

“Is that guy for real?”

“Don’t make fun! It
isn’t nice,” Cara said. “I thought he was sweet.”

“He is—most of the time,”
Dulcea said, glancing at Valerie.

Valerie hid her feelings
with a bright smile, her good mood from their fun day evaporating. Where was
she going to live? She wished Thai was there to help her figure it out.

“You’re thinking about Thai
again, aren’t you? You always get that dreamy look like you’re imagining
chocolate cake,” Cyrus said, a note of accusation in his voice.

“I miss him. I don’t
have so many people in my life who care about me that I can take any of them
for granted,” she said, and Cyrus’ face softened. He put his arm around her
shoulder.

“We’ll keep you
distracted till he gets here.”

“I think I can help with
that,” Kanti said, walking up behind them.

Valerie threw her arms
around her friend. “Finally! It hasn’t been right without you.”

She pulled back and
stared at the person she was hugging in confusion. Instead of Kanti’s buck
teeth, yellow skin, and greasy dark hair, the girl in front of her was
stunningly beautiful. Her raven hair glinted and fell down her back in elegant
waves. Instead of warts, she had two beauty marks that somehow gave her face a
unique charm. Her skin was like milk, and long, thick eyelashes framed
fathomless brown eyes.

It was the eyes that convinced
her that this really was her friend, especially when Kanti scowled at her after
she stared for too long.

“What happened?” Henry
asked, stunned. Cyrus’s mouth hung open.

Only Dulcea wasn’t
surprised. Kanti’s parents must have already told her what had happened.

“Turns out I’m a
metamorph. The ugly duckling come to life. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m
fine and I’m the same person.”

“But gorgeous!” Cyrus
said.

“I knew I could count on
you to be tactful,” Kanti said sarcastically, but her now rosy lips twitched in
her familiar grin.