Page 60 of The Study of Magic
“What was different?”
“She was distracted. Those two goons came into the dining room, and she was focused on them.”
“Goons?”
“Yeah, the two newbies in our corps. They attract so much attention, there’s no way they’ll graduate and become spies.”
Ah. Ari and Janco. Valek didn’t bother to correct him. Trevar would discover their abilities all on his own. “Did she notice you?”
“No. No one, and I mean,no onelooks at us. No eye contact, nothing. We set the plates in front of them and if they mutter a ‘thank you,’ it makes our day.”
Someone rapped on the door, but before Valek could respond, Maren strolled into his office.
She carried her bo staff in her right hand.
“You have information?” he asked.
Maren glanced at Trevar. “Not in front of the snitch.”
“Snitch?” Trevar’s voice squeaked with outrage.
“Yeah, you’re the kid that gave us the black market dealers’ locations before the raids. Right?”
Valek was impressed by her memory. It had been dark and there were dozens of people there.
Trevar huffed in indignation. “I wasn’tsnitching, I wasspying. It was my first mission for Valek.”
“One of your corps?” She turned to him.
“In training. What did you find out?” Valek asked Maren.
“I found your girl.”
Valek and Trevar exchanged a glance.
“I found her first,” Trevar said, smirking.
Maren moved closer to Trevar as if she’d planned to rap Trevar on the head with her bo staff.
“Ignore him,” Valek said before she could remove the smirk from his face. “Please report.”
“You asked to keep an eye on the new recruits and the women from the visiting platoon. At first, no one really stood out. They were friendly, but distant. I get it. I’m not everyone’s cup of sunshine.”
Trevar covered a cough.
After a heartbeat, she continued. “But over time, I picked up on one lady. She didn’t seem to belong to anyone. I’d see the diamonds on her uniform but couldn’t remember if they were red or white. She didn’t talk to anyone and just today, I saw her wearing a housekeeping uniform. Yet as soon as I thought it, she seemed to change into her soldier uniform just like a chameleon. Weird.”
“What does she look like?”
“No clue. I might need glasses. Every time I looked at her face, it was blurry.”
“Do you know where to find her?”
“Yeah, I figured out she’s sleeping in the lieutenants’ barracks on the first floor. The first cubby near the door. I was returning from a late shift and almost ran into her as she was leaving. I think I startled her, ’cause she hurried away.”
All good news.
“Did we both find the magician?” Trevar asked.
