15. I'll Make You a Star (Vaye)¶
“It’s a big garden, but I don’t remember planting one of these.” The man’s voice was sonorous, rich with amusement and confidence.
Vaye opened her eyes to find Tadevi Kenem, Healer of Sarmala and brother of the Vorkyrda, staring down at her, a smile tilting one end of his mustache. “You were at the Challenge today, with the Cantereian, but you fled. Why?”
Vaye knew, abstractly, that speaking was a thing she was capable of. She was sure she had done it before.
“Close your mouth, girl, you look like a frog,” the Healer said. He leaned in, sniffed, and frowned. “Nownow is a trap. You use it to escape, but then it becomes your prison.” He held out his hand, beckoning for her pipe.
Usually, her sojourns into Grandmother’s realm faded into peaceful sleep, and she awoke some time later feeling refreshed. But this time, she was still high. The drug pinned her to the present, leaving her overwhelmed with sensations and struggling to process what was happening.
The Healer beckoned again, impatiently, and Vaye dumbly handed him her pipe. She was quite proud of its elaborate aeration system, although she certainly hadn’t been planning to show it off to one of the most powerful people in the world. To her shock, the Healer produced his own fire starter and lit the pipe, taking a thoughtful pull.
“Hmm,” he said, exhaling through his nose. “Tissuli Haze, cold-fermented.” He frowned. “Why does it taste like blood?”
Vaye blinked stupidly. Maybe she was even more intoxicated than she’d thought. Was this part of her vision? Grandmother’s dreams had never looked like this before.
The Healer sat down on the fountain beside her. “Are you mute, child?”
Vaye cleared her throat and sat up straight. “No,” she croaked. “No, Your... Holiness?”
“Luminance,” the Healer corrected absently, holding her pipe up to the light and squinting. “You made this yourself from unrefined scraps,” he said, phrasing it as fact rather than a question. “And you aligned the filaments for heat dissipation. Not perfect, but exceptional. Where were you trained?”
“I wasn’t,” Vaye stammered. “Trained, I mean. I just tried different things until I found what worked.”
Tadevi stared at her like she was a tooth floating in his bowl of soup. “Remarkable. And Anashi, no less.”
“I’m from Dzhar,” Vaye said without thinking.
The Healer smiled indulgently. “I know an Anashi when I see one, girl. So you wanted to get into the School, but once you saw what the Challenge entailed, you realized that you lacked the training, is that it?” Hearing him say it out loud made her realize how idiotic she had been, but she didn’t get the sense that he was mocking her. She nodded. “What’s your name, child?”
“Vayeliyah,” she said, then paused. Tadevi was looking at her expectantly, his eyelids crinkled. “Vayeliyah Keshesai. But everyone calls me Vaye,” she added, as though it would explain anything.
He leaned back, tapping her pipe on his lip. “Yobaza’s going to be livid,” he murmured.
“What?” Vaye blurted.
“The Head Preceptor,” Tadevi clarified. “I’ve a mind to admit you to the School of the Storm, Vayeliyah Keshesai of Dzhar.”
She was struck dumb yet again. The Healer chuckled, clearly enjoying her bewilderment. “You were right to flee the Challenge. You never would’ve passed. But I can’t let raw talent like yours go unrefined. It would be a terrible waste. So Yobaza is finally going to have a living Anashi to go along with her collection.”
Vaye overcame her shock enough to realize she should say something. “I... I am not worthy, Your Luminance.” She scooted back from the wall and bowed from her knees. The world felt tilted, like she was sliding off a giant table.
“You might not be so grateful once you see what it’s like,” he said. “You’ll be at a major disadvantage. The other novitiates will have had years of proper training, and some won’t take kindly to an Anashi being admitted. You’d be wise to keep your witchglass skills to yourself at first.” He handed back her pipe. “But risk is the salt that brings out life’s flavor. Report to the registrar tomorrow morning. I’ll make sure your name is on the rolls. And stay off the nownow; it blunts your senses.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Vaye said, bowing again.
“I assure you, it’s my pleasure,” The Healer replied, his teeth glinting. Far away, lightning branched across the Eyewall like cracks in the shell of the world, revealing the fiery abyss surrounding it. “I expect a proper show.”
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