Free season avatars 01 - seasons beginnings by sandra ulbrich almazan Page B

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    artifacts are marvelous, but you can’t make seeds sprout and bloom in
    an instant, can you?”
    “My magic works best on manmade things—”
    She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And the God of Summer cer-
    tainly doesn’t look like a normal person, what with His green skin and
    all.”
    Kron felt like he might turn green himself, but with worry, not envy.
    How had he not noticed the presence of such powerful magicians
    sooner? What did they want here? Was Bella safe?
    His ward pealed an alarm as a familiar but unexpected voice called
    out, “Kron Evenhanded, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be
    in Delns by now!”
    Kron turned. Pagli waited at the boundary of his space as if he came
    to the marketplace in Vistichia all the time.
    “Pagli!” Here was one magician he didn’t have to worry about. He
    crossed the square to greet his friend. “What are you doing here? I
    didn’t even know you knew this city well enough to portal over! How
    long are you staying? You have to come to my house and have dinner
    Sea so n s’ Be gin n in gs · 6 9
    with us! My wife—” Kron still enjoyed being able to say that—“bakes
    a fine flatbread!”
    “I’d love to.” Pagli glanced at the artifacts set out on a blanket—and
    sniffed. Illness, or contempt? He’d never disdained Kron’s magic be-
    fore. “Though with your magic, I’d have thought you’d be living in the
    palace complex by now, serving the city-king.”
    “You know I never sought to serve power. Common people need my
    talents too.”
    The air stirred at Kron’s words. His magic-finder, which had started
    glowing with Pagli’s arrival, flared, then cracked.
    “I need you too.” Pagli reached under his cloak. “I found an artifact
    unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Could you identify it for me?”
    “Of course. Where did you find it?”
    “Someone dropped it off at the Magic Institute.”
    “Dropped it off? They didn’t want to trade something for it?”
    “Oh, of course they did.” Pagli spoke quickly. “First they asked for
    healing. Then they wanted a love potion, even though I told them no
    one actually made such things. Then they asked for a gold nugget the
    size of your thumb. I finally gave them that to get rid of them.”
    Kron raised his eyebrows. This wasn’t how Pagli usually spoke.
    What kind of artifact could excite—or upset—him so much? “Show me
    this valuable artifact then.”
    Pagli stepped forward with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He
    smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in days. “Come, take it and find out.”
    He pulled out a small, black sundial and thrust it at Kron. Hostile
    magic roiled off the object strongly enough to make him step back.
    “I’m not touching that.” How could Pagli handle that safely? Kron
    would have to sacrifice a square of silk from Kin to neutralize the sun-
    dial’s magic. Thankfully, Bella hadn’t returned yet, so he didn’t have
    to worry about her getting hurt by the sundial. Yet, Pagli, who wasn’t
    an artificer, seemed unaffected.
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    “Why not?” Another step forward by Pagli. A few passersby stopped
    to see what was going on. “Think your magic isn’t strong enough to
    master this artifact?”
    Anger surged within him, but caution restrained him from blurting
    out a response. Pagli had never been to Vistichia before, wouldn’t know
    how to find Kron so easily, and wouldn’t treat him like a foolish novice.
    What if this wasn’t Pagli, but someone pretending to be him? How
    could Kron tell for sure? His magic-finders would only get confused by
    the sundial. What Kron needed was a way to see through the magic to
    the truth beneath.
    He glanced at the unsold artifacts, trying to determine what could be
    used as it was or if he could modify something quickly. Too bad he
    didn’t have the far-seer he’d made for Salth. Only a couple of magic-
    finders today; most of his items were things ordinary people