Chapter 0
Several weeks previously
Ranye felt the pounding throb of the wakeup call in her temples and willed it to go away. Her parents had said that the alarm would begin to get stronger as her powers developed, and that this was a good thing because otherwise she’d soon be a lazy teenager that spent all morning in bed. Ranye was okay with that. Right now, she’d settle for a few minutes in the downy embrace of her pillow. But she knew that the pain would only get worse until she got up, so she didn’t bother.
It was Elnaday, the one day in the week that kids had off from school yet parents did not have off from work. This made it a childcare nightmare, and a child’s paradise. Ostensibly, there was a large childcare industry for all families wealthy enough to pay for it. In reality, there were never enough workers for all the demand, and even if families did pay for it, the harried babysitters would let their charges run amok without paying any attention. Ranye’s parents hadn’t bothered with it since she was seven. Not worth the money, they said.
Today, Ranye had plans to meet some friends and go explore a factory that Ranye had run across in her wanderings last week. Technically, it wasn’t trespassing, since it was owned by her dad. But Ranye suspected that neither he nor his security guards would appreciate a pack of tweens running around, and therein lay the fun of it. She had found a secret way in, and the challenge was to explore as much as they could without getting caught.
Now fully awake, Ranye hopped out of bed and headed over to her closet. She had an outfit for every possible occasion in here. Ranye was one of those girls who claimed not to be interested in fashion, but this was a big lie, told to make it seem even more impressive when she came in to school wearing clothes that her friends had only read about. Her father indulged her. He had money; there was no way his daughter would be shabbily dressed, unless, of course, she wanted to be.
Today was one of those days. They’d be going through areas where the latest designer fashions would certainly attract unwanted attention, so she was looking to dress down. Also, a dress just wouldn’t cut it - she’d be climbing over all sorts of things, and there was no sense in putting on a show for people. She ended up selecting a pair of “casually ripped” jeans and a nondescript top.
She headed off to her bathroom to hop in the shower. As she undressed, she glanced at her nearly-flat-but-not-quite chest in the mirror. She had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, she couldn’t care less about boys, and would rather they not take notice of her. On the other, if they did take notice of her, it would make her so much popular with the girls.
Ranye had always been at or near the top of the social heap. Her family had money and pedigree, she did well in school (and particularly well in the magical subjects), she was always impeccably dressed, and she tried not to as much of a backstabbing bitch as some of the other girls who vied with her for the title. But lately some of the other girls had been getting all the invitations, the whispered giggles. Many of them had full-fledged breasts, and all the attention that went with them. Rumor had it that Elniara Davyndred had even been caught letting a boy feel them. Elniara had always been near the middle of the social heap, but the mere act of letting a boy put his grubby paws on her had catapulted her to the center of every conversation.
Ranye almost wished she had had an older sister. She’d be somebody to talk things like this over with - it’s not like Ranye could go to her parents and ask “Do you think my boobs are growing?” But alas, Ranye was an only child. Most of the time she liked it, but sometimes it did get lonely.
At least she had several friends, she thought as she let the water run down her body. Well, maybe. At this age, friendships always seemed to come and go. Ranye wondered how many of her friends would stick by her if she suddenly became an outcast. Probably none of them. She’d be left with the other outcasts.
She finished up and got dressed, taking the opportunity to practice drying herself off with magic. It worked for her almost every time now - she was becoming almost as good with water as with fire. She’d mastered the lighting several years ago, but that was no major feat. Even ordinary common people could control modern light fixtures, whether they had any magic or not. It was fun to try and work around the automatic mechanisms, though.
*****
Downstairs, she fixed herself up a large breakfast and gave her friends Alneissa and Lynian a call wih her talkbox. Her parents had already left. This was typical: they often left before she woke up, and got home late, late at night.
“Hey, it’s Ranye,” she said once the box had connected. A faint image of her two friends appeared at the other end of the room. This was a late-model talkbox which displayed visuals, though they still hadn’t got the transparency quite right.
“Do you always eat so much?” Lynian asked. Lynian was a short girl, though not quite so short as Ranye, with a bit of pudge. Ranye’s ability to eat just about everything in sight and still remain thinner than everybody else had caused more than a little resentment between them, though Lynian kept silent for the most part. It was only when Ranye started picking up on others’ emotions through psionics training that she realized her friend’s jealousy. This magic stuff wasn’t quite an unmitigated blessing.
“I’m hungry. Besides, we’ll be running around a lot today.”
“What time are we meeting? And where?” asked Alneissa. Alneissa was like that: all practicalities. Ranye liked that about her. She also got the impression that Alneissa was one of only a few of her friends that didn’t really care whether Ranye was popular or not. Then again, it was hard to tell with Alneissa. She didn’t give up her secrets easily. Always seemed to know everybody else’s, though.
“How about you come over to my house in an hour or so?” Ranye suggested. “Ilthrana’s not coming; her parents are taking a day off from working, so they’re all going to the dragonshow.”
Ranye almost thought she saw a frown cross Lynian’s face. She wouldn’t be too surprised: Ilthrana and Lynian were much closer friends than she and Lynian were. Lynian would never turn down and invitation from her though. And Ranye wasn’t about to rescind it - that would just be rude.
Alneissa seemed fine with it though. “Sure, we’ll be there. Wear comfortable clothes, right?”
Ranje nodded. “Yep. And we’ll be climbing too, so don’t wear a dress.” Alneissa liked dresses much more than Ranye did; her idea of comfortable often included a long flowing skirt. That wouldn’t be terribly convenient where they were going.
“Okay. See you.”
The two images winked out, leaving Ranye alone. She grabbed the daily Nithrallah Tribune, which her father had thoughtfully left out on the table. There was a large magiscreen that she could easily have used, but Ranye preferred reading. She got more information that way.
The top news was all about the coming parliamentary convention. Agitators from the North were calling for Prime Minister’s resignation because of the harsh economic conditions there. Ranye thought the whole thing rather stupid. She’d met the Prime Minister once, and he’d seemed like a very nice if somewhat old and dowdy man. Besides, it wasn’t really his fault that Northern agriculture wasn’t competitive anymore.
There were also the normal reports about killings and muggings at some faraway place. Probably just sensationalism; Nithrallah had always seemed plenty safe to Ranye. They had to fill the papers with something.
Ranye headed outside to wait for her friends. Ranye’s house was abutted the Central Canal in the back, right near where it joined the Inland Canal, and so they’d come by boat. Windriders would be faster, but Lynian hated them, always losing her balance. So boat it would be.
It would be another twenty or thirty minutes, so Ranye whisked a book from the house. Something quick that she could put down easily.
Next door, she noticed that the neighbor’s son Lathrav sat out on their back dock too. He waved at her. They had been close friends once, five or so years ago. But that was when they were young, before it became taboo for boys and girls to hang out together. She gave a halfhearted wave back.
Alneissa and Lynian pulled up in a gondola. The gondola of Nithrallah were all driverless, magicked so that you need only think of your destination and they would take you there. This was a very good thing, since Ranye doubted that the bottom of these canals could still be poled against.
“Should we invite him with us?” Alneissa asked, gesturing at Lathrav.
“No. He’s a boy,” Ranye replied curtly.
“I think he likes you. Ilthrana said that Pellenem said that Crysani was talking to her ‘boyfriend’ who said that she should get Pellenem to get Ilthrana to get me to hook you up with him.”
“Let’s go,” Ranye said curtly.
“Suit yourself,” Alneissa said.
Ranye noticed that Lynian hadn’t said anything, and was looking rather wistfully at Lathrav. They’d actually make a good couple, insofar as any couple could be nice. Ranye almost changed her mind and brought him along for her sake. But it would end badly - Lynian would spend the whole trip paying attention to Lathrav, who would spend the whole trip paying attention to Ranye, who would spend the whole trip trying to get everyone where they were going, and everything would be messed up. So she hopped in the boat and cast off.
They headed north through the central canal, past the royal canal that led to the old palace. That was worth a trip sometime - Nithrallah had once been the imperial capitol, in the early days of the empire before