Free Glyphbinder by T. Eric Bakutis

would like you to make the journey together.”
    “I would be honored. So long as you have no objections, Kara?”
    Kara smiled at him, and it made him feel warm all over. “No objections at all, provided you can leave tomorrow. My plans are rather set in stone at the moment.”
    “Tomorrow, then?” Halde asked.
    Trell tested the thick sore muscles of one arm. They worked. “I will be fit to travel by midday.”
    “Excellent,” Halde said. “I’ll have horses ready.”
    This was a good deal. Trell would have been hesitant to travel alone even at full strength. He doubted he could even navigate to Tarna without Kara’s help.
    “I must leave you now.” Halde was now standing by the door, but Trell could not remember seeing him move. “Rest. Apprentice, I will see you before you leave tomorrow.”
    “Yes, respected elder.” Kara bowed her head, and Trell remembered to do likewise. When he looked up, Halde had vanished.
    “Busy day!” Kara plopped back down on his bed. “So it looks like we’re taking you to jail. Traitor. I promise I’ll visit.”
    “Kara, tell me something. Why do you trust me?”
    “What?”
    “All signs point to me being Tellvan. It’s very likely I was injured fighting the people of your province, yet you spoke for me without hesitation. What made you do that?”
    Kara laughed, but it felt forced. “I’m a good judge of people, and I don’t judge you a threat.”
    “I would not hurt you or this academy.”
    “Look at you, fussing like a mother hen! I believe you. One way or another, we’ll get you to Tarna. We’ll get your memory back.”
    “Thank you. For your part in saving my life, your trust, and your vow to help me.”
    “See? It’s as easy at that.” She rose. “Now I’d best shove off. You need sleep. You look like you’re about to collapse right on the bed.” She raised an eyebrow. “Or on me.”
    “I am tired. So. Tomorrow?”
    “I look forward to it. Halde’s favor is not an imposition?”
    “No.” Trell collapsed in the warm space Kara had vacated. “It is the least I can do for one who has done so much for me.”
    “You’re sweet.” Kara squeezed his arm. “Five guard your soul.”
    “Five guard your soul.” Trell heard the sliding panel open, then close. His bed swayed and rocked like a river had swept it up. His head pounded. The panel slid open once more.
    “Are you ready to sleep?” Landra asked softly.
    Trell nodded.
    “Then relax. I must scribe a few more healing glyphs. They will help you regenerate your strength and ready your body for tomorrow’s journey. Allow your mind to drift.”
    Trell abandoned his struggle to remember. He let his mind go. Sleep took him the moment Landra’s hands touched his skin.
     
     
     
    KARA HURRIED UNDER the freestanding arch leading into the Memorial Garden. Little bigger than four student rooms put together, the garden nevertheless held life of great beauty. Purplish ivy, glowing with the light it had stored during the day, wrapped around the shimmering mage stone columns at each of the garden’s four corners. Kara had known she would find Halde here.
    Boxed rows of roses and sweet-smelling honeysuckle bordered the garden. White tile with inset diamonds of obsidian led to its center, where a single white marble monolith stood alone. It bore the names of all Solyr mages who had given their lives to thwart the enemies of Mynt. Halde sat in front of it.
    “Well?” Kara asked softly. “What’s our course?”
    Kara stopped beside him and ran her eyes across many names, stopping on the ones she recognized: Lared, Cantrall, Torn. She knew their names, stories, and deeds as well as she knew her own. Torn’s legacy, ending the All Province War, would live for all time.
    Halde said nothing. Kara settled herself cross-legged by the memorial, beside him, and leaned back to rest her hands on the cool tile. “Visiting Cantrall?”
    “It is an odd time to think upon him, isn’t it? I haven’t been here