The Rage Eater

Chapter 8: Rumours

Sadie stood silently as she watched Frederik, the driver, secure the wagon's ropes. The early morning sky was a haze of blues and pinks, the air cool and crisp.

"Just the one bag then?" said Frederik. He was big and bearded but moved with a surprising grace.

Gillian nodded. Like Sadie, she'd been quiet. Only George seemed able to fill the silence. He had arrived in the black morning, drumming a tune on the door, then greeting Sadie with an ear-to-ear grin. She was annoyed then but was happy to have him here now.

"Sadie, you sure you don't want to take one?" George said, offering one of his tattered orange flags. "Could be good practice for the Game of Thieves. You can even wrap bread and cheeses in it, pack yourself a little picnic in case you go off adventuring."

"No thanks," Sadie said.

"We should be going soon," Frederik said. He fed his beastly an apple. She looked like a traveller's horse—scabby, but sturdy, her brown hair caked in mud.

George wrapped Sadie in a bear hug. "Write me as soon as you get your beastly. And don't spare any details. How it feels to share a brain, what its paws or talons look like, everything."

Gillian knelt beside Sadie and looked into her eyes. "Sadie, I need you to remember what I said." Seeing George, Gillian stopped. "May I have a moment?"

"With me?"

"With my daughter."

"Oh, of course." George retreated to pat the horse.

Gillian continued. "I know you think that I've been stern, that I've been unfair, but everything I did was to protect you."

Sadie nodded, her heart too full of emotion to muster a response. She'd been so resentful of her mother's rules and punishments, she'd barely registered how much she cared, how much she loved her.

"Now I need you to promise me you'll protect yourself. That you'll be careful."

"I will."

"I need you say it."

"I promise." Sadie hugged her mother tightly, forcing herself not to cry.

"There's something else. It's all rumour, but I've heard whispers in town. That instead of a Priestess, there will be a Wizard in Residence. Living at the Academy, working with the students. Wizard Dvesha."

Sadie's skin tingled with fear. She'd been foolish to think she'd ever be truly safe from magic—her own, or others far more powerful. "Will he be able to sense my powers?"

"Assume he can," Gillian said. "So, keep your distance. And watch your temper."

Frederik slapped the side of the wagon. "Ready?"

"Ready," Sadie replied.

Gillian hugged Sadie once more, then stood.

With a deep breath, Sadie walked towards the horse, steeling herself for the journey ahead.

"Only room up here for one," Frederik said, mounting his beastly. "You're in the back. With the vegetables."