Read Imager's Challenge for Free Online Page B

mostly about Shault, who had just lost all that was familiar to him, humble though it might have been. I was glad to see that Mayra was with him. She towered a good fifteen digits over him, but she seemed patient, and occasionally whispered instructions to the taudis-boy. Twice Shault pointed to me andmurmured to Mayra. I was surprised that he’d located me among the more than two hundred imagers in the anomen.
    After services, I hurried to catch up to Mayra and the two boys with her.
    “Mayra?”
    She stopped and turned. “Yes, Master Rhennthyl.”
    “Is Shault settled in?”
    “As well as he can be until we can get him to the tailor tomorrow.”
    “Good . . . and thank you.” I looked to Shault. “In the morning, you’ll meet with Master Dichartyn. He can be very stern, but you should listen to him carefully.”
    As I hurried away from them back to the duty study, I caught a few words from behind me.
    “. . . must be strong . . .”
    “. . . young for a master, but he’s very powerful . . .”
    And still less experienced than I would have liked, something that having had to deal with young Shault had reminded me.

Needless to say, at quarter before sixth glass on Lundi morning, when I entered the receiving hall to close out the end-day duty, Master Dichartyn was the one who was there, rather than Master Schorzat or Master Jhulian.
    Master Dichartyn smiled at me. It wasn’t a wry smile, not exactly, but it held a trace of amusement. “I understand you took in a young imager yesterday afternoon. A taudis-child.”
    “Yes, sir.” Had I done something wrong?
    “You seem to have made quite an impression on him, Rhenn.”
    “I just followed the procedures.”
    “He said that you scared his taudischef, and no one ever scared Horazt. Exactly what did you say to him?”
    “I just told Horazt my name and that if the second gold didn’t go to the boy’s mother, sooner or later I’d find out, and there would be a new west quarter taudischef.”
    “I thought as much.” Master Dichartyn shook his head. “You know that young imagers from the taudis have much more trouble adjusting to the Collegium. You’re really too young to mentor a young imager, but Shault respects you, and that’s half the battle. Master Ghaend will handle his assignments and day-to-day work, but you need to talk to him twice a week, at least for a while, starting tonight, after dinner. You know why, don’t you?”
    “He needs another taudischef, and one approved by Horazt.”
    Master Dichartyn nodded. “You’d better get on your way, if you want to eat and get to Patrol headquarters on time.”
    After that, I hurried to the dining hall, early enough that most of the primes and seconds weren’t there. Neither was Shault. I slipped into a seat next to the gray-haired Maitre Dyana, because any other seat I would have taken would have suggested I was avoiding her.
    “Good morning,” I offered.
    “Next time, don’t scan the table when you’re close enough to have your eyes read.” Her bright blue eyes pinned me in my seat. As always, she wore a colorful scarf above her imager grays, and this one was a brilliant green, withtouches of an equally bright violet. Her unlined face suggested she was far younger than did her hair and experience.
    I laughed, if apologetically. “Every time I see you, I learn something.”
    “Good. You might even learn enough to survive your abilities, young Rhenn. Commander Artois has a good brain encumbered by solid grasp of protocol and procedure. He might listen to you if you can avoid offending him. The easiest way to offend him is to flaunt protocol and ignore procedures.” She handed me the platter of sausages and scrambled eggs. “You’d best eat. You don’t have much time, not if you don’t want to arrive sweating and flustered.”
    I took her advice and drank my tea and ate quickly, then set out for my first day at the Civic Patrol, adjusting the gray visored cap that imagers wore