I dressed in the jacket I had made new out of what was torn. I buttoned on my spruce-green skirt that was so good for striding in, laced up my sturdy boots that had carried me through such a long journey, and set on my head the jaunty Amazon’s shako I had picked up on the battlefield from a fallen sister. I took only my locket and my sword. I twined my fingers intimately through his and savored the pleasure of walking hand in hand with him through the streets of Havery. A few people ran their final errands, but mostly the streets were empty as all made ready to shut their doors and light their candles against Hallows’ Night.

“I do like it here,” I said. “Although Aunty Djeneba’s boardinghouse is still my favorite place. You have some other scheme in mind, Vai. What is it?”

“We have two buildings,” he said, “so why not two schoolrooms? It seems wrong to me that those poor young fire mages were killed precisely because James Drake offered them a future they could not otherwise have. Cold mages were treated in the Antilles something like fire mages are treated here, with scorn and suspicion. Surely mages can work together as equals. What is to stop us from establishing an academy in which we see what may come about if we act in concert rather than in antipathy?”

“People will fear the prospect of cold mages and fire mages acting in concert. They’ll fear they will set themselves up as princes and lord it over all the people of the land.”

“People do that anyway.”

“I did feel sorry for those young fire mages. Imagine thinking that the best choice you have is to believe what James Drake is telling you! You’ll have to answer people’s fears, though. Naturally some magisters will abuse the knowledge and power they gain. I suppose that’s what you talked about with the blacksmith in that little village when we were escaping down the river.”

He smiled to let me know that no word of the conversation he had had with the blacksmith would pass his lips. “I also remember what the cacica told me. She said that the Taino believe every person is born with a kernel of power. Some waken it, and some never do. You were right to say that every child should have a chance to learn. Do you know, love, Beatrice and I are talking all the time about the things we want to do. All this work is going on for what she and I are hoping and planning for. But you never talk about what you’re thinking about. You must want something, Catherine. You can’t be happy merely to go along with our schemes.”