Infinite Magic

2. Not Enough Time-1

Kinza woke to the sound of birds tweeting. On any other day, she might have enjoyed the innocent sound, but she had slept fitfully last night and wished she could block out the sound with noise-canceling headphones or something.

She groaned into the pillow before deciding to get up. The sun wasn’t quite over the horizon yet, so she took the time to quickly bathe, hoping it would invigorate her before she needed to meet with the Elders. She had no idea what she was going to say to them or what they would say to her. They hadn’t had another meeting with all of them since the morning after the attack.

She went about her morning routine, washing and dressing in a turquoise outfit with indigo and gold stitching. The entire time, though, she was thinking about Zaid instead of the Elders. Had he been sent away in the middle of the night? Was the last image she would have of him be him walking back to the city after the funeral? She tried to quell her anxiety by focusing more on getting ready. There were more gifts left last night, and she now had pots of oils and jars of what looked like hand-made makeup and perfumes.

There was only so much she could do though, so eventually, she headed out into the main room. She needed to be at the Grand Hall just a little after sunrise, and it wasn’t too far of a walk. The sky was just starting to lighten, so she sat at her little table, eating fruit and sweetbread, her knee bouncing with nervousness. Not about her meeting, but about whether or not Zaid would show up this morning to walk her there.

When the knock sounded at her door, she practically sprinted to open it. She was breathless when she yanked it open, and immediately her face filled with a smile at seeing the tall storm cloud of a man before her.

“Since when are you a morning person?” Zaid said, eyeing her skeptically.

Realizing how ridiculous she probably looked, she cleared her throat and tried to relax her stance. “I—uh, slept really good.”

Zaid raised an eyebrow.

“I had dinner at your mother’s last night, so I was out like a light,” she said with an awkward laugh.

“Ah,” Zaid said, as if that made sense. “Are you ready?”

“Yep!” she said and stepped outside, her breakfast forgotten on the table. They started heading in the direction of the Grand Hall, Kinza’s two guards following behind.

Zaid was back to his usual black clothing today, and Kinza found it comfortingly familiar, so within minutes she had relaxed from her morning anxiety.

“So... no new assignment yet?” she asked casually.

“Not yet,” Zaid said. “I more or less got a verbal lashing for avoiding Savar, but I have to go back after the meeting.” He heaved a sigh. “There are a ton of ubir in South America right now, near Sao Paulo, and only one venari there at the moment.”

“Ah,” Kinza said. “That’s not good.” She thought for a moment. “Last night at dinner, the other women were saying that the barrier might collapse soon.”

“Yeah, I heard that from a few people too.” They were walking along one of the wide boulevards, birds filling the baobab trees that lined the street. A few early morning workers were already out and setting up for the day. There were always vendors out this early with hot rolls or sweetbreads ready for when the rest of the city woke up. Kinza liked the smell of the food mixed with the morning dew.

“What happens if it does?” she asked, fiddling with a curl.

“That... would be bad,” he said hesitantly. “Humans would be able to see and just wander in. Since human governments pretty much monitor everything by satellite now, they’d probably see it right away. The fight we had the other night would be a cakewalk compared to what we would have to deal with.”

Despite the dark thought, Kinza giggled a little. “Cakewalk? Since when do you use such blatantly human terms?” she teased.

Zaid snorted. “I spend almost as much time out there as you do,” he said, gesturing vaguely to the edge of the barrier outside the city. They finally reached the central plaza, where scholars and workers were already going about their day.

On the other side of the plaza stood the library that held the headquarters of the Apostles of Truth under the building. The structure was still being rebuilt, but after the fight, the Elders and the Apostles had come to some sort of tenuous truce. The Apostles had fought bravely to defend the city, losing many, including their leader Sa’id. Kinza was not ashamed to say she had cried when she learned he had died after saving her in battle, and she was one of the people who stayed the longest at his funeral. Nim had been there as well, as he was the new de facto leader of the Apostles, and they had sat in silence most of the time.

The Elders had realized how much information the Apostles truly had acquired and were interested in what else they had. Kinza watched several Apostles now hurrying in and out of the Grand Hall as if scholastic pursuits were a death-defying race. She supposed it was for them.

Kinza and Zaid were content to walk in silence across the plaza. Kinza caught sight of the left wing of the Grand Hall, which still had a gaping hole in the side from when she collapsed it with her explosion. They went up the front steps instead and entered the shadowy hall that was just starting to fill with the morning sun that was peeking over the tops of the buildings.

Zaid led her down the main hallway and turned right at the main intersection. From there were sets of large doors on either side. None of them were labeled, so he probably was leading them based on his perception of heartbeats. He stopped at one of the doors on the left.

“This is it, ready?” he asked.

“Sure...” she said, feeling anything but.

Zaid paused with his hand on the handle and looked over her face. “You sure? We could just ditch and take a vacation in Cabo. Well... it would probably have to be Sao Paulo, but—”

could Kinza laughed. “I’m sure,” she said, meaning it now. “Open the door,” she urged. He grinned and did as she asked.

Inside was something of an auditorium. They entered on the main floor, which led to the circular speaking area in the middle. Around that, in a semicircle, were raised tiers of seats that were already filling with Elders and apprentices and even a few scholars. The man Kinza recognized as Elder Ishar was standing on the main floor and noticed them as they walked in.

Ah, Kinza. Good, you are just in time, he said, walking over to her. When he noticed Zaid behind her, he said, Hatem, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Savar... or on assignment?

Ah, Kinza. Good, you are just in time, Hatem, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Savar... or on assignment?Before Zaid could respond, Kinza said, I asked him to be here, if that’s okay?

I asked him to be here, if that’s okay?Ishar’s face looked like it wasn’t, but he nodded and indicated for them to take a seat. They chose two seats on the end of the lowest tier and watched the rest of the room fill in. One of the seats was more decorated than the others but was purposely left empty—in honor of their Grand Elder who had passed. In the seat next to it sat a tiny woman with very short hair who looked roughly Kinza’s age. She wore pale gray robes and sat in absolute stillness with her eyes closed.

Kinza recognized a few other faces that started to trickle in, but most of them she did not. There were supposed to be fifty Elders, but with one having passed and four others off with Tahir, the forty-four remained here with their apprentices. The only apprentice without a mentor was Mikah, who still walked in as if they were waiting on him.

“Morning, Kinza,” he said and smiled as he went to take a seat across the room.

Kinza just smiled back. They waited a few more minutes before Kinza caught Zaid looking at her oddly. “What?” she said.

“Nothing,” he said, turning back to watch the room.

An Elder, whose name Kinza found out was Ekbal, banged a gavel and said, Let’s get started! It seemed as if he was going to lead as he sat on the other side of the decorated chair. Everyone, take your seats!

Let’s get started! Everyone, take your seats!An Elder Kinza didn’t know called out, Ekbal, shouldn’t Eta be leading? Is she not the next Grand Elder? Some of the others in the room shouted in agreement, and some took the opposite stance, saying neither of them should be leading. Kinza didn’t think it really mattered, but who was she to say?

Ekbal, shouldn’t Eta be leading? Is she not the next Grand Elder? We haven’t spoken yet on the matter of the new Grand Elder. Let the dead rest a day, would you? Either way, Eta has expressed that she would prefer I lead today, at least until the Grand Elder matter is spoken about. That shut everyone up for the time being. Kinza glanced at the woman sitting on the other side of the decorated chair and wondered if that was Eta.

We haven’t spoken yet on the matter of the new Grand Elder. Let the dead rest a day, would you? Either way, Eta has expressed that she would prefer I lead today, at least until the Grand Elder matter is spoken about. Eta was Hakim’s apprentice and the only other seer in Rhapta, Zaid said in her mind directly. She most likely will be the next Grand Elder, but... he shrugged. Kinza thought she looked so young to be in such a high position of responsibility, but then again, Kinza was the one who was supposed to be queen. There was probably some irony in that.

Eta was Hakim’s apprentice and the only other seer in Rhapta, She most likely will be the next Grand Elder, but... Ekbal started again. Today we are here to talk about Kinza Solace, the apparent heir to the Rhaptan throne. Some people had a few comments about that, but Ekbal actually looked at Kinza reassuringly. She had found some of the Elders to be somewhat understanding of the position she was in, Ekbal included.

Today we are here to talk about Kinza Solace, the apparent heir to the Rhaptan throne. Can I interject for a moment, another Elder asked, to ask why a venari is here? Some others echoed his sentiment. Clearly it was a political faux pas for someone who wasn’t in a political position to be here. Even the guards had been stationed outside.

Can I interject for a moment, to ask why a venari is here? wasn’t Zaid looked up at that, and even Ekbal looked at him questioningly.

I asked him to be here, Kinza said, speaking up for the second time. She didn’t give an explanation and hoped they wouldn’t ask for one. Ekbal pursed his lips but nodded, and no one said anything else, but she could feel the annoyance in the room from a few people.