Chaos Rises Read Online Free Page A

wasn't fair, this guilt, not when she had finally
won an argument with Mistress. She should have been basking in the
moment, but instead she'd come here. Guilt, her father always said,
was a weakness. If you did something wrong, you fixed it. You
wasted no energy on remorse. So she'd come here to apologize, no
matter how it galled her, because once the heat of the argument
cooled, Kallinesha realized how low a blow she had struck. Besides,
one of these times she would go too far and Mistress would send her
away. No small moment of victory was worth that. But the silence
had crushed the apology from her mind, and she stared at the door,
entranced, trying to understand this something that danced angrily
around the edges of her awareness.
    Kallinesha could only feel others' magic when
it was strong enough to set the air tingling like sand thrown
against her skin by a sudden wind. The magic behind the door was
different: a darkness that pulled at the hairs on her arms.
Mistress had told them never to interrupt her when she was
far-knowing. If that's what she was doing now, spurred on by
Kallinesha's words, then perhaps Kallinesha had underestimated
Mistress's powers. Because this was strong, whatever it was.
    She reached out to the door, ready to snatch
her hand back if the wood…what? Bit at her? She turned the handle
gently. It wasn't locked. If she interrupted Mistress, it might
really be the end of her apprenticeship, but what if Mistress was
in trouble? She eased the door open.
    Mistress lay twisted on the floor in the
middle of the ring of glass shards and fox fur and whatever other
enforcements she used for far-knowing. She'd flung one arm outward,
smudging the ring, breaking the circle. Skin white as linen. Eyes
open and unseeing. Kallinesha jumped into the circle and knelt
down.
    "Mistress? Wake up." Kallinesha put an ear to
her mouth, felt the slight disturbance of breath, and placed her
hands on Mistress's neck. Unable to feel any trace of life force,
she yelled for Ista, who never had trouble sensing such things.
Silence smothered the cry. She tried to concentrate, searching for
her own essence past the fever of her fear. It kept slipping away,
taunting her. Finally she caught hold of it and tried to convince
it to share a part of itself with Mistress. She'd never been good
at transfers, not even when they practiced in complete calm, but
now she felt her limbs growing heavy, her head beginning to ache.
It must be working.
    Mistress jerked, dislodging Kallinesha's
hands.
    "The Chaos Mage," Mistress gasped, her eyes
watery now, but alive.
    "He did this? How?"
    "The trance. Couldn't. Break."
    The far-knowing trance. Kallinesha knew it.
She'd goaded Mistress into action before she was ready. This was
all her fault. She could hardly look Mistress in the eye. "He's
very powerful," she muttered. "You couldn't have predicted
this."
    "But I should have," Mistress whispered.
"He's hidden his identity so well. I should have taken more
precautions." Her lips, the color of ash, barely moved.
    "Mistress?" The cry came from Ista, standing
in the doorway, big-eyed.
    "Where have you been?" Kallinesha hissed.
"See if you can feel her essence. Hurry up."
    Ista sobbed the moment her hands touched
Mistress's neck. Then she closed her eyes. Trying to transfer her
essence. Maybe she would succeed where Kallinesha had failed. And
this time Kallinesha wouldn't mind.
    "Ista, my pet, stop," Mistress said finally.
"It's not working."
    Ista had gone almost as pale as Mistress.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she helped Mistress shakily onto
the bed. Kallinesha stood back, unsure where to lend a hand. "What
should I do?" Ista begged.
    "Leave us for a moment, lamb. I need to talk
to Kallinesha."
    "No. Please," Ista begged.
    Mistress caressed Ista's hair. A trio of
candles glowed behind her, and Kallinesha could almost see the
light through those blue-veined hands. "My pet, obey."
    Ista crept off, whimpering like the child she
still was, even at