Page 34 of The Princess of Portals

“Because I run toward danger rather than away from it?” I laughed.

“Powerful and crazy: that’s you in a nutshell.”

“The perfect combination.” I grinned at him.

He grunted in amusement. “The perfect combination for trouble.”

“Yes, we Polymages are all so powerful and crazy.”

“Indeed we are.”

He was looking at me very strangely, like I was a puzzle he was still trying to figure out. I wasn’t the only puzzle at the Castle. All the Knight Commanders were busy discussing the Apprentices, trying to figure out where they belonged.

“Care to share any spoilers?” I asked.

“Regarding?”

“When it comes to most of the Apprentices, it’s pretty obvious which Tribe they’re going to end up in. But for others, it’s not at all obvious. And I’m curious.”

“All will be revealed in a few days.”

“Come on, you must have some idea of where everyone’s going to end up. You are a Knight Commander. You have all these secret meetings with the other Knight Commanders. This must have come up.”

“Seven, you know I can’t tell you what goes on in those meetings.”

I smirked at him. “Because of the Code of Conduct?”

“You shouldn’t joke about the Code.”

I placed my hand over my heart and said solemnly, “I would never joke about the Code.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“There’s a reason for that.”

“I suspect that reason lies somewhere between mischief and madness.”

What could he possibly mean by that?

“Why do you want to know about the Knight Commanders’ meetings anyway?” he asked me.

I shrugged. “I guess because I’m nosy.”

He snorted.

“I was just wondering how many Apprentices you guys have already placed into Tribes. I mean, some are easy. Like Ansel or Nevada. But what about the more complicated cases? What do you do when an Apprentice has shown no distinct type of magic?”

“Or has shown too many distinct types of magic?” His mouth quirked up. “The other Knight Commanders know what you can do. I suspect one or more of them will try to poach you from me.”

“And will you let them?”

“Of course not. I’ll never let anyone take you from me, Seven.” He took my hand as he said it. And though his glove was cold and metallic against my skin, there was something personal about the way he held my hand. A connection born of friendship and magic.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing. I was just thinking about that spell we used to combine magic.”

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about it a lot too.” And he looked, dare I say, wistful. “It’s a useful spell. Two Knights are stronger than one. In fact, the two of us combining magic are stronger than two Knights. The spell is truly remarkable, a spell that pushed the boundaries of what I thought was possible. It somehow made us greater than the sum of our magic.”