Traitor's Moon

well,” laughed Mydri.
    Thero produced a pouch of fine white sand and sprinkled it in a circle on the ground in front of the couches. Using his crystal wand, he wove a series of glowing sigils over it. Instead of the tidy configurations he usually produced, however, they swelled and bulged, then exploded with enough force to scatter the sand and knock wine cups in all directions. Thero dropped the wand with a startled yelp and stuck his fingers in his mouth.
    Alec stifled a laugh; the normally reserved wizard looked like a cat that had just slipped on a patch of ice, chagrined and determined to regain his dignity before anyone noticed. Seregil shook with silent laughter beside him.
    â€œMy apologies!” Thero exclaimed in dismay. “I—I can’t imagine what happened.”
    â€œThe fault is mine. I should have warned you,” Adzriel assured him, clearly fighting down a smile of her own. “Magic must be performed with great care here. The power of Sarikali feeds into our own, making magic sometimes unpredictable. All the more so in your case, evidently.”
    â€œSo I see.” Thero retrieved his wand and tucked it in his belt. After a moment’s thought, he sprinkled more sand and tried the spell again, drawing the sigils with his fingers this time. The patterns hung in the air a few inches above the ground, then coalesced into a flat disk of silvery light as big around as a serving platter. He added another sigil, and the smooth surface took on a mottled array of sun-washed colors, then resolved itself into a miniature city set high above a miniature harbor.
    â€œHow wonderful!” exclaimed Amali, leaning forward to admire his creation. “What place is it?”
    â€œRhíminee, my lady,” he replied.
    â€œThat sprawling black-and-grey monstrosity is the queen’s Palace, my home,” Klia remarked dryly. “While this lovely white structure over here, the one with the sparkling dome and towers, is the Orëska House.”
    â€œI visited it during my time in Rhíminee,” said Adzriel. “As I recall, the wizards of Skala were originally scattered around your land, some solitary, others serving various noble houses.”
    â€œYes, my lady; what we called the Second Orëska. After the old capital, Ero, was destroyed, Queen Tamír founded Rhíminee and forged an alliance with the greatest wizards of her day, the Third Orëska. They helped build her city and other wonders; in return she gifted them with her patronage and the land for the Orëska House.”
    â€œThen it is true that those among you with magic are kept apart from others?” an Akhendi asked.
    â€œNo, not at all,” Thero replied. “It’s just that we are so different by virtue of that magic and its effect on us—life spans comparable to your own, and the barrenness that is its price—that it was good to have a haven, a place where we could live and share our learning among ourselves. Wizards are not required to live there, but many choose to. I spent most of my life there, in the tower of my master, Nysander í Azusthra. Wizards are highly honored in Skala, I assure you.”
    â€œYet do you not find it sad, to be cut off from the natural flow of life among your own kind?” the same Akhendi asked.
    Thero considered this and shrugged. “No, not really. I’ve never known any other life.”
    â€œRhaish and I visited your city as boys,” Riagil í Molan told Klia. “We went to attend the wedding of Corruth í Glamien to your ancestress, Idrilain the First. We were taken to visit this Orëska House of yours. Rhaish, do you recall that wizard who did tricks for us?”
    â€œOriena, I think her name was,” the Akhendi khirnari replied. “It was a beautiful place, with gardens where it was always springtime, and a great mosaic on the floor showing Aura’s dragon. The queen’s Palace was much darker, with thick walls like a fortress.”
    â€œWhich only goes to prove that my ancestor, Queen Tamír, should have included more wizards among her builders,” Klia said, smiling.
    â€œI should like to see this Third Orëska,” said Amali.
    â€œWith pleasure, my lady, though it is a less happy place now than it once was.” Thero uttered a quick command, and the city’s image was replaced with a view of the Orëska gardens. A few robedfigures were visible there, but the