Free The Shifter by Janice Hardy

filtered through a hazy sky, gray as the slate lining the League’s antechamber. Puddles of water shone like mirrors on the sidewalk. I continued checking corners and bushes, but if the fancy men were there, they were hiding well; not a flash of yellow or green anywhere. Would they approach me today or keep lurking like a pair of hungry crocs?
    I paused across the bridge from the League on the west side of Grand Canal. If the fancy men were from the League, then going inside was as foolish as spending money on a pole boat. Safer to get a message to Tali and have her meet me someplace a lot easier to get into than the gardens. The birthday ruse wouldn’t work twice in a row.
    A passing Baseeri jostled me, and my rib pain woke up bright and sharp. There’d be no running from Elders today.
    So: risk going to the League, or hide and hope Tali came looking for me? Both ideas stank like bilge water.
    Laughter from the League’s side yard caught my attention. Wards! They played in the small courtyard facing the bay, and a set of boys were knocking a ball around with sticks. Tight bunches of girls stood near the shore talking. I spotted Enzie in a group in the middle.
    I waited for another good-sized swell in the crowd and merged with them, making my way toward the League behind a man with a crippled arm. A wrought iron fence surrounded the courtyard; too high for rebellious wards to climb and go wandering, but wide enough between the bars to carry on a conversation.
    “Enzie!” I waved, looking out for mentors and fancy men. It took four waves to get her attention. She saw me and froze like a spooked cat. After a few nervous glances around the yard, she scurried over.
    “Nya!” She kept checking the doors leading into the League, but stood between me and the building, her hands on her hips. With the puffy sleeves she made a pretty good wall to hide behind.
    “Could you get Tali for me, please? I really need her.”
    She looked at the doors again, a lot more fear in her eyes than normal ward-mentor wariness. “Now?”
    “I’m sorry, but it’s important.”
    A pause, then a quick nod. “Okay, but stay out of sight. The mentors are clingy today. Something has them arguing and hovering over us worse than mosquitoes.”
    More missing apprentices? She dashed off before I could ask. I moved away from the fence, to avoid any mentors who might pop out to check on the wards. It was possible someone might spot me from any of the dozen or so windows. I hoped they didn’t look out much.
    I kept an eye on the League doors and windows for a while. Too many towers to watch. Tali used to gush about the spires at each of the four corners, even drew me pictures of the intricate leaf patterns carved into the stone along the tops of the pillars. Mama had loved the dome and the way it looked like it was floating over the building. She said the tall, wide windows underneath the dome gave that illusion. Papa had liked the arches, and there were plenty of those. Arches over the windows, the doors, the hallways. Looked like the whole League was stretching up to grab the sun.
    Though I tried not to, I looked at the wing where the Luminary’s office was. It had the best view of the city, overlooking the lake and the mountains along the shore. Sometimes when Mama had been too busy, I used to sit on the floor in that office, my face against the glass while Grannyma worked at her huge desk. People hadn’t been scared when she was Luminary.
    “Nya!” Enzie raced toward me, and her worried expression said it wasn’t good news.
    I limped back to the fence. “Did you find her?”
    “No, no one’s seen her.”
    The fish cakes turned to rock in my belly. “She wasn’t on rounds? Or in her room?”
    “No.” Lip trembling, Enzie reached through the bars and grabbed my hand. “And I couldn’t find any of her friends either. I asked some of the round’s leaders about Tali and they said she’s fine, but they didn’t tell me where she was. And