Daughter of Moth (The Moth Saga, Book 4) (26 page)

Glancing behind her again, the
headmistress kept moving toward the stage. When Madori too looked
behind, she saw Professor Atratus standing between the columns of the
eastern gallery, his arms crossed, his eyes blazing as he stared at
the headmistress. He seemed like a master watching an errant pup.

The headmistress reached the
stage. Leaning on her cane, she hobbled up the stairs and turned
toward the crowd. Even standing at a distance, Madori saw that fresh
tears filled Egeria's eyes. Murmurs of conversation swept across the
crowd.

The headmistress raised a
trembling hand, and the crowd fell silent. Egeria spoke for them all
to hear, her voice soft at first but gaining strength with every
word.

"Dearest students, you have
heard many stories, rumors, and whispers over the past turn. The
tidings from the south have been confirmed. The old king of Mageria
is dead. The cause of death reported is . . ." Egeria glanced to
the shadows where Atratus was watching her. She swallowed and a
tremble filled her voice. ". . . the Night Plague, a disease
spread from Eloria. Lord Tirus Serin, Warden of Sunmotte, has been
crowned our new king."

A new murmur swept across the
crowd. Several cheers rose, along with chants for the Radians. Madori
forced herself to keep staring ahead, her jaw tight, refusing to look
at Lari who stood across the field; she had a feeling that Lari was
staring right at her.

The headmistress gestured to two
fourth year students. Both stepped onto the stage, carrying a chest
between them. Both sported Radian pins upon their lapels. The
students opened the chest and tilted it forward, revealing hundreds
of pins.

Egeria kept speaking, her voice
trembling. "Henceforth, on orders from our new king, all
Timandrian students at Teel University shall wear Radian pins,
showing the sun eclipsing the moon." Her voice cracked. "All
Elorian and half-Elorian students will wear a different pin, this one
shaped as a snake. You will now step forth, one by one as your names
are called, to receive your pins."

Madori glanced aside at Jitomi.
He met her gaze, his eyes dark.

Professor Atratus stepped onto
the stage next, unrolled a scroll, and spent the next hour barking
out names. Students approached, one by one, to receive their pins.
The Timandrians accepted their Radian pins with pride, some adding a
chant for Lord Serin and Radianism. Whenever an Elorian student
stepped onto the stage, Atratus sneered and held out the serpent pin
in disgust.

Finally Madori's name was
called. She trembled with rage when she stepped onto the stage and
faced Atratus.

"A serpent for a worm,"
Atratus said, glee in his eyes, his lips curled back in a mockery of
a grin. He slapped the brooch against her chest. "All will now
know that Elorians and mongrels are beasts that crawl in the dust."

When all the students had
received their pins, Egeria addressed the crowd again. She stood upon
the stage and let her cane drop; it clattered onto the stage. Madori
thought the old woman would fall, but Egeria spoke in a loud voice,
tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Students of Teel
University! Be strong. I promise you—no Elorians will be hurt on my
watch. You are safe, my students, regardless of what pin you wear. Be
strong and know that I protect you."

Madori's Motley spent the rest
of the half-turn in their chamber, guarding the door and windows. All
classes and exams had been postponed; instead, the Teel Radian
Society rallied in the cloister. The sound echoed across the
university, shaking the chamber walls. Standing at the window, Madori
heard Professor Atratus shout of sunlit domination, heard Lari—head
of the Radian Society and now Princess of Mageria—demand to drive
out the undesirables. After every slogan, the crowds cheered and the
walls shook anew.

"Perhaps Tam was right,"
Jitomi said. The Elorian stood guarding the door, his snake pin
fastened to his cloak. "We can still flee. While they rally."

Madori bit her lip.

Perhaps
they're right,
she thought.
Perhaps
we should leave.

She tried to imagine returning
home—to her parents, to old Hayseed, to her old bed, to her books
and dolls and the silver flute her mother always tried to force her
to play. Back in Fairwool-by-Night, she was nothing but a lonely
girl, a misfit, powerless and aimless. Here at Teel she had found a
purpose, but what hope did this place now have for her?

"I understand, Jitomi,"
she said softly. She lowered her head, her throat tight. "When
the bells next chime, and everyone is sleeping, you should leave."
She had to blink rapidly. "This place is no longer safe for you.
But I must stay."

Tam stepped toward her and
clutched her arms. "Billygoat, your life is at risk here. Leave
Teel too. I'll go with you. I'll shelter you and Jitomi in
Kingswall—all other Elorian students here too, if they'll join us."

"And I'll go with you."
Neekeya nodded emphatically, placing a hand on Madori's shoulder.
"This place is too dangerous. We all leave together."

Madori laughed mirthlessly. "You
are both Timandrians. You wear the Radian pins upon your lapels.
Jitomi and I wear the serpent pins; we're in danger, but you're
safe."

It was Tam's turn to laugh. He
tugged off his Radian pin, tossed it onto the ground, and stomped on
it. "What Radian pin?"

Neekeya tossed down her own pin
and shattered it beneath her foot. "I don't see any Radian
pins."

"Atratus won't be happy."
Madori bit her lip. "Those pins might be the only thing that
keeps you safe now."

"Then I'd rather be in
danger," Tam said. Holding her, he stared into Madori's eyes.
"Billygoat, we've been friends all our lives. I'm not going to
toss you to the wolves. If you and Jitomi have to leave this
university, Neekeya and I are going with you, and we'll keep you safe
on the road."

He pulled her into his arms, and
Neekeya joined the embrace. Madori—almost a foot shorter than
them—disappeared into their warmth, and she could not curb her
tears, for despite the pain and fear she felt beloved, and she felt
safe.

And yet . . . Egeria's old words
returned to her.

You
will stay at Teel, Madori, and you will learn magic.

Her eyes stung.

She thought back to the war
stories her parents had told her. Torin and Koyee, the great heroes
of the war, had many chances to return home. They had kept
going—traveling into the heart of darkness, the flames of war,
determined to fight for what was right, willing even to die for
truth.

I
am Madori Billy Greenmoat,
she thought.
Billy
after Bailey, the great heroine who fought with my parents.
Bailey had died in that war, fighting against the evil sweeping
across Moth. She had given her life and saved this world.
How
can I, the daughter of heroes, flee an enemy?

"No," she whispered,
still wrapped in the embrace. "No, my friends. I will not flee.
When you escape danger rather than face it, it will forever hunt you.
Here within the walls of Teel will I make my stand. Evil rises; I
will face it. Like my parents did. Like Bailey did. I will become a
mage."

Her friends stepped away,
looking at her strangely, as if she had changed before them like a
creature in Transformations class. And perhaps she had changed.

Hardship
changes us. It turns us into heroes or cowards. When disaster
strikes, we metamorphose into the person who's been sleeping inside
us.

She was about to say more when
the door shook madly.

The Motley spun toward the door.
Madori sucked in breath and raised her hands, already readying
herself for magic. The door rattled again and chips of wood flew.

"Death to Elorians!"
rose cries outside. "Drag out the nightcrawlers and show them
Timandrian pride."

Tam and Neekeya raced forward
and pressed themselves against the door. It shook again and more
wooden fragments flew. A hinge came loose.

"Drag them out and make
them pay for their sins!" somebody cried outside.

Madori was already whispering
under her breath, repeating the theorems she had learned in her
classes. She quickly claimed the floor, rattling the tiles to send
the hinge into the air. She switched to claiming the air, shoving the
hinge back against the door, then switched again, claiming the hinge
and bolting it back into the door and wall. At her side, Jitomi was
busy casting magic too. A funnel of air left his hands, drove toward
the door between Tam and Neekeya, and flattened against it, providing
extra weight.

The door held. The window
shutters smashed open behind them.

Madori spun around at once,
claimed the flying shards of shutters, and tossed them back at the
window. A student outside—a fourth year—cried out in pain, the
wooden chips driving into his face.

"The snakes are attacking!"
he cried.

"Jitomi!" Madori
cried. She was already tossing a cone of air at the window, sealing
the entrance with an opaque, swirling blob. Jitomi added his own
shield. The air in the room thinned, most of it shoving against the
window and door, leaving Madori lightheaded.

Behind her the door shook again;
a crack tore open across it. Hands reached inside. Tam and Neekeya
were still pushing their weight against the door when magic coalesced
outside, forming a smoky battering ram, and drove forward.

The door shattered into
countless pieces. Wooden shards flew. Tam and Neekeya fell and
sprawled against the floor.

The empty doorway revealed a
columned arcade swarming with Radian students, all proudly displaying
their pins. Some were raising Radian banners.

Lari stood among them, hands on
her hips. She pointed into the chamber and screamed, "Grab the
nightcrawlers! Punish the creatures who poisoned our old king!"

Not waiting another breath,
Madori thrust both her arms forward, palms facing outward. Collecting
particles of dust and wooden chips, she wove a ball and tossed it
forward. The missile flew toward Lari, but the princess was too
swift. She swept her arm, diverting the projectile with a blast of
air.

Radians spilled into the room,
eyes blazing, teeth bared, feral animals on the hunt.

"Call them back or you'll
pay for this, Lari!" Madori shouted. "Your father's arse
might be warming the throne, but Egeria still rules Teel."

Lari smirked. "Such a mouth
on those creatures. I will enjoy smashing that mouth."

Violence filled the room with
shouts, thuds, and splatters of blood. Neekeya swung her sword,
keeping the blade sheathed, slamming the wooden scabbard against an
assailant's head. Tam thrust his dagger in one hand, a chair in the
other. Jitomi was muttering spells and Madori made an attempt to
claim a Radian's boots and tug him onto the floor.

A student—Derin, the tall boy
from Lari's quartet—leaped toward her. Madori jumped back but was
too slow; Derin's fist slammed into her cheek, knocking her down. She
blinked, seeing stars, and kicked wildly. Her foot hit Derin's shin
and he fell, muttering curses. Three other Radians replaced him,
leaping onto Madori, and she screamed and punched one's face. Her
ring cut through his cheek and he fell back.

Elorian curses filled the air,
and Madori kicked off another student to see Radians mobbing Jitomi.
The Elorian boy was swinging his fists, shouting battle cries in
Ilari, the tongue of his southern empire.

But the Radians were too many; a
dozen filled the room and a hundred others filled the arcade outside.
Boots pressed down on Madori, pinning her to the floor. Fists slammed
into Neekeya and Tam, knocking them down. Hands grabbed Jitomi,
tugging him outside.

"Jitomi!" Madori cried
out, and another fist drove into her head, and for a moment she saw
only shadows and lights, heard only ringing.

She thought that she would die
here. Blood filled her mouth and dripped into her eyes. She had no
time for magic; it was all she could do to keep breathing. She had to
keep breathing. Breath by breath, like her father had taught her. Yet
Torin had meant that breathing was easy, a rhythm always with her, an
anchor to cling too. Right now breathing felt like the most difficult
thing in the world, and boots drove into her stomach, and she doubled
over.

No.
I won't die here.

Lying on the floor, blows
raining onto her, she balled her hands into fists.

Her parents had fought in the
great Battle of Pahmey. They had sailed down the Inaro and slain
mages in the port of Sinyong. They had faced the demon Ferius in
Yintao, the greatest battle in the history of Moth, and finally slew
him upon the Mountain of Time.

I
am the daughter of heroes. I will not die in a school scuffle.

She pushed herself to her feet,
and her magic blasted out of her.

Air slammed into her assailants.
Furniture flew, crashing against them. Radians thudded against the
walls, banged their heads, then slumped down, unconscious.

Neekeya lay on the floor, a gash
bleeding on her forehead. Tam lay above her, shielding her with his
body. Both were still breathing. Madori stood in the center of the
room, feeling as if she held the air, the walls, the entire
university in her arms. She had claimed objects before; now Madori
felt as if she had claimed the world, held everything around her in
her awareness.

Silent, her palms held outward
as if carrying the weight of the air, she walked outside.

She stood in the cloister's
eastern arcade—a portico of columns ahead of her, arches above her,
the wall of chamber doors behind her. A mob of Radians had pinned
Jitomi to one column. The Elorian was unconscious, his chin slumped
to his chest, but the other students were holding him up. Fists and
kicks thumped against the boy's thin frame. Blood ran down Jitomi's
chin.