Mind of the Magic (Arhel Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

mountain air. Witte nodded. “Of course. Then perhaps tomorrow.” Faia chuckled. “Impatient man. I cannot possibly have everything ready by tomorrow. But soon—certainly in the next week. No more than two. Meanwhile, you’re welcome to stay here—keep us company. You can rest and rebuild your strength. Kirtha and I will be delighted to have you as a guest.”
    At that moment a large grey tabby cat bounded onto the open windowsill, clutching something that gleamed dully of gold in one stubby, furry fist. He looked from Faia to Witte, clutched his booty tighter, and darted for the open door behind Faia, running three-legged so he would not drop his prize.
    “Hrogner!” Faia yelled, and slammed the door in the cat’s face. Both man and cat jumped.
    “Close the shutters,” Faia yelled as she dove for the cat.
    Witte managed to pull them to before Hrogner escaped. Faia cornered him under the bed and dragged him out, protesting.
    “Give,” she snarled.
    He growled.
    She pried the golden thing from his fingers while he yowled and glared at her, then held it up to show Witte—a gaudy gold ring, set with stones. “Belongs to one of the neighbors, of course—though I’ll have a time figuring out which one.” She dropped the cat to the floor and grumbled, “He steals things.”
    “He has hands,” Witte murmured.
    Faia opened the shutters and shooed the cat back outside. “Yes. He does. The Mottemage at the university I attended thought it would be useful if her cat could open doors for himself, so she gave him hands.” Faia watched Hrogner sulk through the tall grass, and turned back to her guest. “It was an incredibly stupid thing to do. The characteristic bred true—and the little monsters have all the bad characteristics of normal cats, and a few nasty quirks all their own. They strike quicklights they find lying around, and catch things on fire. They pick simple locks, and take things apart… but they never put them back together, of course…” She shook her head. “And they steal. Hrogner is a brilliant thief. My neighbors loathe him.”
    “And you named him
Hrogner.”
The little man chuckled, and his eyes twinkled.
    “Hrogner is the saje god of mischief. I thought the name appropriate.”
    “No doubt it is. But have you never considered that if you run about calling that name aloud, more than the cat might answer?” He winked at her.
    Faia snorted. “No worry about that. Hrogner never comes when called. He’s a cat, after all.”
    “Nevertheless, you need equal measures of kindness and paranoia, dear girl. Otherwise, there’s no telling
what
might show up at your house someday.”

Chapter 3

    PREPARING
nondes
that evening, Faia found herself even more excited than she had been about getting away from Omwimmee Trade for a while. She ran over a list of all the gifts she would have to buy—it was extensive.
    She pounded her fists into the bread dough and thought, while she listened with only the smallest part of her attention to Witte entertaining Kirtha in the garden. They both laughed merrily at intervals. She couldn’t make out the words they said, for both of them talked at full speed and at the same time.
    Faia smiled. Witte was such a nice man—he’d told some wonderful stories about Nokar in the years before she knew him. She had never known that Nokar had once climbed into the tower room of his university’s chief administrator and replaced all of his grand robes with the simple robes of a first-year student, yet when she heard the story, she had no trouble imagining it. Nokar had been very much the sort of person who would delight in such a prank. The new stories brought him back to her, and made her miss him afresh.
    Kirtha’s giggles drifted in from the garden. She was ordering Witte around again—giving orders was one of the things Kirtha did best. She considered the little man a cross between her patient and her slave; for his part, he’d been her willing and good-humored