season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings (16 page)

swer your question without changing the balance of power. Besides,

I’m no artificer. Use the skills you and the Avatars have, and you will

find a solution.”

“And if we don’t?”

“Then try another. Salth may claim she is the mistress of Time, but

We Four understand eternity. We see much farther ahead than she

does.” Spring turned to Galia and Bella. “Farewell until tomorrow, dear

Avatars—and you too, Kron.”

She vanished as quietly as She’d come.

Kron let out a long breath. He still didn’t have any answers about

Salth, but at least now he was certain Spring and the rest of the Four

were, if not what They claimed to be, more than human. He would be

honored to have Them as allies, even if that meant training Their ava-

tars.

“What did you see when you looked at Her eyes?” Galia asked.

“Darkness. Not evil, but something unknowable.”

“Ah.” She sighed. “She won’t let me look into Her eyes.”

“None of Them will,” Bella said. She slipped closer to Kron. “So,

does this mean we will be traveling to Salth’s realm after all?”

How could he tell her he would be happier if she stayed safely at

home? At least he could delay the trip. “No one will be traveling any-

where until you prove you’ve mastered your magic.”
That could take

moons, even years.

“I hope it won’t be by portal,” Galia muttered. She packed some

medicines in a woven bag. “Since you seem to be recovered, you should

come with us to our new quarters and explain to the others who this

Salth is and what we’re supposed to do.”

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“New quarters?” It took Kron a few heartbeats to recall that Bella

had mentioned they would be expected to live with the other Avatars.

He hoped this new house was big enough to allow them some privacy,

but he wasn’t sure where they could find such a place in Vistichia.

“Yes, near the palace. It used to belong to Judge Tyr.”

Kron frowned. Tyr had had a reputation of taking bribes. He’d been

found dead a couple of moons ago, with his family and slaves gone.

“How is that possible?”

“The Four arranged it for us,” Galia replied. She surveyed their

house. “Perhaps you could bring some of your belongings over and start

moving in. Otherwise, someone else, like Domina, will pick the best

room. I’m surprised Bella hasn’t packed more.”

A flush crept over Bella’s cheeks. “Kron’s been so busy with his

artifacts and travel that I haven’t wanted to bother him.”

“Well, I see no reason to repeat my trip to Salth’s domain any time

soon, so now’s as good a time as any to see these new quarters and meet

the rest of the Avatars.” Kron stretched, surprised how full of energy he

felt now. A gift from Spring, perhaps? “I’ll be in my workshop.”

***

Kron hadn’t thought he had so many artifacts and raw materials, but

it took the rest of the day to pack and transport everything to their new

home. It would have been easier to prepare a portal between the two

locations, but Bella insisted he should save his strength, no matter how

fine he felt now. Fortunately, Carver, one of Summer’s Avatars, owned

a cart and a pair of oxen he used to haul wood from the forest surround-

ing Vistichia to the city. He and Kron managed to fit all of Kron’s and

Bella’s goods in the cart, with room for Galia to ride next to Carver.

Bella and Kron walked next to the cart. While she kept an eye on

her ducks, Kron observed the changes in the city. Many people wore

something colored in addition to their brown or gray tunics or leggings.

Women wore bright scarfs over their hair or at their waist, while men

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wrapped cloths over their wrists. Blue, green, red, and yellow appeared

in roughly equal amounts. People smiled and waved at their cart as they

passed. Even the air smelled fresher—perhaps because the street

seemed cleaner.

“Are the colors meant to honor the Four?” he asked Bella when they

halted to let another cart pass.

She nodded. “Everyone wants the favor of their God or Goddess.”

“Do you just pick One that you like?”

“No.” She smiled. “It depends on what season you were born in.”

Kron thought back, trying to remember what he’d been told about

his birth. It had been muddy, so the midwife had been delayed. “I think

I was born in the spring. Perhaps that’s why Spring’s the One who talks

the most to me.”

“Perhaps. But since spring is the first season, I think She leads the

rest of the Four.” The cart halted in front of a gate. “Here we are. Our

new home.” Bella smiled with so much pleasure he couldn’t help but

smile too.

Carver opened the gate and drove the cart through. They entered a

courtyard even larger than the one at the Magic Institute. This one dis-

played statues instead of a central garden, and rows of dirt—probably

meant for a garden—alternated with stone pathways. The house beyond

stood three stories. It wasn’t as grand as the palace, but the exterior

boasted enough carvings to keep a host of sculptors employed for a

year.

“Isn’t it lovely, Kron?” Bella asked.

“Yes, Dearest.” He hoisted as many of his supplies as he could carry

off of the cart. “Any idea where I can set up a new workshop?”

“Maybe in one of the storerooms.” Unencumbered, she darted

ahead. “Come, let me show you the place I picked out for us.”

The room she’d selected had probably not been living quarters be-

fore, more like a receiving area, but it was as big as their old home.

Bella explained that since the kitchen was big enough for all of the

women to work in it at once, she wouldn’t need space for cooking or

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storing food. “So we have even more room here than we did before.”

The cradle had been returned to a place of prominence, near the fire-

place. Kron wondered if one of the goddesses had promised Bella a

child in return for her becoming Fall’s Avatar.

Bella gave him precise instructions for how she wanted him to ar-

range their belongings, then left to help prepare supper. Kron set up

everything as quickly as he could, but he couldn’t remember all of the

details Bella had given him. Finally he placed everything off to the side

and looked for a room he could use for his workshop. All of the best

ones had already been claimed. Kron climbed up a flight of stairs and

finally found a spot at the back of the house. A pair of windows let in

the sunset, and the wooden door was sturdy enough to grant him pri-

vacy. Many of the rooms downstairs had only a cloth hanging in the

doorway. For extra privacy, Kron enchanted the door so that only he or

Bella could open it, then set up some of his light-producing artifacts in

sconces. A cushion to sit on, a low table for his work, and baskets to

hold his supplies, and he would be content.

“Kron! Kron, where are you?” Bella called from below.

It must be dinner time—and time to meet the other Avatars. Kron

braced himself before joining his wife.

“Dinner’s served in the great hall,” she said.

The great hall had clearly been designed to impress others. Appar-

ently the judge who used to live here could dine among paintings of

floggings and eye gougings without losing the contents of his stomach.

Bella grimaced and put her hand over her mouth, so Kron touched a

wall and made all of the paint fleck off. A few Avatars applauded.

Galia brought in several loaves of bread. “I think Kron deserves the

prime seat after redecorating for us,” she said.

Kron sat down at the head of a long table that had been set up in the

center of the room. Bella took the seat on his right and Galia the left.

Janno bounded back upstairs, calling for Caye and other Avatars Kron

hadn’t met. At his shouts, more women appeared carrying jars and cups

for beer. Kron sipped at his beverage until everyone had gathered. Then

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he stood. Twelve people stared at him with varying expressions of cu-

riosity or boredom on their faces.

“Greetings, everyone. I’m Kron Evenhanded, an artificer and the

lucky husband of Bella.”

“You got lucky all right,” Janno said. His mother scowled at him

until he turned red and muttered something Kron couldn’t hear. He de-

cided to assume it was an apology.

“The Four Gods and Goddesses asked me to investigate something

in the Western Mountains. Another magic-user lives there, one whom I

have the misfortune to know.” The room was as quiet as a grave. “She

despises ordinary people who can’t use magic, but she always looks for

ways to increase her own power. I believe she’s found a way to do so,

but at great cost to everything around her.”

“What does that have to do with us?” asked a richly dressed woman

with a pointed nose. “The Western Mountains are a moon’s travel from

here.”

“Not if you’re a magician. I can create a doorway that will let you

cross from here to there in a heartbeat.”

Kron described how he’d portaled to Salth’s domain, the ball that

had attacked him, her house, and the transformation of his arrowheads

into ingots. Since Bella and Galia already knew this story, he watched

the others. Some of them faced him, listening intently—or at least ap-

pearing to. Some whispered to each other or stared into their cups. At

the end of the table, the rich woman who’d spoken earlier scowled at

him the entire time. When he finished, she said, “If you know so much

about magic, why didn’t one of the Four choose you?”

He had no intention of revealing to her how much his exposure to

star magic had changed him. “My type of magic isn’t compatible with

the Four’s,” Kron said evenly. “But I know how to find magic and iden-

tify it, and I’ve helped other magicians learn how to use their magic.

The Four Gods and Goddesses have asked me to help you learn yours

after you receive it.”

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A woman with birds embroidered on her tunic glanced back and

forth between the first woman and Kron. She opened her mouth and

said something so softly Kron couldn’t hear her. “What was that?” he

asked.

She looked down at her hands before saying, “You mean we won’t

know how to use our magic? I thought that the Four would give us the

knowledge at the same time.”

“Many magicians can use some of their magic instinctively, but in

order to make full use of it, you need training.” Kron looked around.

“Any other questions?”

Galia tugged at his sleeve. “This other magician you knew—is she

really a threat to us?”

The only sound in the great hall was the slow drip-drip of the water

clock in the corner.

Kron avoided looking at Bella. If the other Avatars knew how much

Salth hated him and Bella, would they aid or reject them? Did they

know about Salth’s meeting with Winter and Spring and the threats the

three of them had exchanged? If the Four hadn’t shared that with their

Avatars, he didn’t think he should either.

“I’m the one she has the most grievance against,” Kron replied. That

was true.

The rich woman frowned. “Does that mean we’ll be in danger if

you’re with us?”

“Or the city of Vistichia?” Galia asked.

How could he answer that? Salth would have no qualms about hurt-

ing innocents to get at him—or even just to benefit herself.

The quiet woman with embroidered birds spoke up. “The Four Gods

and Goddesses told us we would help Them take care not just of

Vistichia, but the land surrounding it. Perhaps this is part of our duties:

to protect the city against hostile magicians. Why worry about this Salth

then? The Four will give us the power to deal with her.”

Galia smiled. “I think you’re right, Caye.”

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With that, the other Avatars started conversations of their own, ig-

noring Kron. He ate what Bella put in front of him, but he couldn’t say

a heartbeat later what it was. The Avatars dismissed Salth much too

easily. He hoped they wouldn’t regret that later, but he feared they

would.

C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N

The Avatars

The next morning, after a restless night, Kron was the last one to

enter the great hall for breakfast. Everyone stared at him curiously, as

if he was wearing his robe the wrong way. When Bella brought in a big

bowl of cooked grains, he whispered to her, “What’s wrong? Why are

they looking at me strangely? Have I forgotten something?”

She studied him for a heartbeat. “You’re not wearing any color.”

“Color? What do you mean?”

“Your color to honor one of the Four.” She turned her head so he

could see the red ribbons she’d braided into her hair. He’d noticed her

doing so earlier, but he hadn’t realized the significance.

“Red is for Fall, then?” Kron glanced at the other Avatars, noting

jewelry, tunics, or other items of green, yellow, and blue. “The question