Free Sparkers by Eleanor Glewwe

sat for the SSE. Whether you go on to secondary school or whether you seek employment right away, you must complete the appropriate procedures at the District Hall. We maintain education and employment records for all Horiel residents . . .”
    Listening with only one ear, I gaze out the window at the grimy snow lining the street. This is even more excruciating than one of Aradi Mattan’s history lessons. Somehow, the kasir manages to stretch his explanations over half an hour, but finally he runs out of forms to describe. “Do you have any questions?” he asks.
    When Shaul’s hand shoots up, half the class tenses while the other half perks up. The official calls on him, and Shaul stands.
    â€œIs the Assembly going to find a cure for the dark eyes?” he asks.
    The question takes the District Hall representative off guard. “That is not strictly relevant,” he says nervously. “I cannot speak in any official capacity, but yes, I am sure the Assembly will find a cure, most likely in the form of new healing spells.”
    â€œThese healing spells,” Shaul says. “How do they work, exactly?”
    â€œExcuse me?” says the kasir, nonplussed.
    â€œI want to know how magic works.”
    â€œSit down, Shaul!” says Aradi Mattan.
    â€œNo, no,” the kasir official says, “it’s a harmless question. That is, if you really do not know . . .”
    He looks out across the classroom as though beginning to suspect we’re all playing a practical joke on him. Doesn’t he know the Assembly prohibits sparker schools from teaching about magic?
    â€œWell,” the kasir says cautiously, “magic works through spells. Each spell comprises two essential components: the hand shape and the incantation.”
    Some of my classmates nod. It’s not like we’ve never seen a magician cast a spell. At the back of the room, Aradi Mattan looks alarmed. Halan students are not supposed to receive this kind of instruction. On the other hand, he doesn’t dare contradict the District Hall official.
    Heartened by our interest, the kasir continues. “Spells are useless when magic isn’t plentiful in the environment, however. Ashara was founded on the banks of the Davgir, between the Sohadir and the Shatarai Rivers, precisely because magic is dense here.
    â€œMagic has certain effects when it flows along a certain course. Each hand shape corresponds to a desired effect. Uttering the right syllables causes the magic to move along the contours of the hands.”
    Aradi Imael once explained magic in a way I understood better. We were laughing because Reuven’s music stand kept buzzing when he played his open D string. Aradi Imael said it was because the frequency of that note matched the music stand’s natural frequency, producing sympathetic vibrations.
    She told us magic worked in a similar way. Instead of finding the right note to make the music stand vibrate, magicians form the music stand with their hands in order to capture the right note among all those already present. To Aradi Imael, magic is one great unending chord, an inaudible symphony all around us.
    â€œWhen magic is drawn into a spell, it produces secondary substances which are magical derivatives, by-products,” the kasir is saying. “Some of these are useful, strengthening the spell. Others are of no use and merely dissipate. While most spells deal with the elements, some can influence men: making them invisible, putting them to sleep . . .”
    Now we’re all alert, waiting for him to take this point to its inevitable end. But he doesn’t. Shaul does.
    â€œOr killing them?” he says, eyes narrowed.
    â€œShaul!” Aradi Mattan explodes.
    The kasir looks ill at ease. “The healing spells you originally asked about can do things like purify the blood, suppress or stimulate various physiological—”
    â€œBut