Sapphique - Incarceron 02 Read Online Free PDF Page A

Pledge.
    'You won't teach me?'
    'Only the Apprentice gets my secrets.'
    She wasn't that interested, but she needed to find out about the Glove. 'That's your son?'
    His bark of laughter made her jump. 'Son! I probably have a few of those around the Prison! No. Each magician teaches his life's work to one person, their Apprentice. And that person comes once in a lifetime. It could be you. It could be anyone.' He leant closer, and winked. 'And I know them only by what they say.'
    'You mean, like a password?'
    He swayed back, in exaggerated respect. 'That's exactly what I mean. A word, a phrase, that only I know. That my old master taught to me. One day, I will hear someone speak it. And that someone will be the one I teach
    'And pass your props on to?' she said quietly.
    His eyes slid to her. He jerked the reins; the ox bellowed, hauled to a clumsy standstill.
    Attia's hand shot to her knife.
    Rix turned to her. Ignoring the shouts of the waggoners behind he watched her with sharp, suspicious eyes. 'So that's it,' he said. 'You want my Glove'
    She shrugged. 'If it was the real one...'.
    'Oh it's real.'
    She snorted. 'Sure. And Sapphique gave it to you.' 'Your scorn is meant to draw out my story' He flicked the reins, and the ox lu mbered on. 'Well I'll tell you, because I want to. It's no secret. Three years ago, I was in a wing of the Prison known as the Tunnels of Madness.' 'They exist?'
    'They exist, but you wouldn't want to go there. Deep in one I met an old woman. She was sick, dying by the roadside. I gave her a cup of water. In return, she told me that when she was a girl, she had seen Sapphique. He had appeared to her in a vision, when she slept in a strange tilted room. He had knelt beside her, and taken from his right hand the Glove, and slid it under her fingers. Keep this safe for me until I return, he said.'
    'She was mad,' Attia said quietly. 'Everyone who goes there goes mad.'
    Rix laughed his harsh bark. 'Just so! I myself have never been quite the same. And I didn't believe her. But she drew from her rags a Glove, and closed my fingers over it. 'I have hidden it for a lifetime,' she whispered, 'and the Prison hunts for it, I know. You are a great magician. It will be safe with
    you.'
    Attia wondered how much was true. Not the last sentence, for sure. 'And you've kept it safe.'
    'Many have tried to steal it.' His eyes flicked sideways. 'No one has succeeded.'
    He obviously had suspicions. She smiled, and went on the attack. 'Last night, in that so-called act of yours. Where did you get that stuff about Finn?'
    'You told me, sweetkin.'
    'I told you I'd been a slave and that Finn. . . rescued me. But what you said about betrayal. About love. Where did you get that?'
    'Ah.' He made his fingers into a quick elaborate steeple. 'I read your mind.'
    'Rubbish.'
    'You saw. The man, the sobbing woman
    'Oh I saw!' She let a rich disgust enter her voice. 'Tricking them with that junk! He is safe in the peace of Incarceron. How can you live with yourself?'
    'The woman wanted to hear it. And you do both love and hate this Finn' The gleam was back in his eye. Then his face fell. 'But the rumble of thunder! I admit that astonished me. That has never happened before. Is Incarceron watching you, Attia? Is it interested in you?' 'It's watching us all,' she growled.
    From behind, a shrill voice screeched, 'Speed up, Rix!' The head of a giantess was peering from the starry cloth. 'And that vision of a tiny keyhole?' Attia had to know.
    'What keyhole?'
    'You said you could see Outside. The stars, you said, and a great palace.'
    'Did I?' His eyes were puzzled; she had no idea if it was pretence or not. 'I don't remember. S ometimes when I wear the Glove I really think something takes over my mind.' He shook the reins. She wanted to ask him more but he said, 'I suggest you get down and stretch your legs.
    We'll be at the Dice soon, and then we all need to be on our guard
    It was a dismissal. Annoyed, Attia jumped from the cart. 'About