Read Mage of Clouds (The Cloudmages #2) for Free Online Page B

again—shall we go there?”
    With a nod toward Faoil, Jenna abruptly left the room. Máister Kirwan hesitated a moment, an expression on his face as if he’d just swallowed sour milk, then he turned to follow. “We’ll be back in a bit,” he said to Faoil. “You ought to continue studying; Siúr Meagher’s examinations are generally quite thorough. Meriel, if you’ll come this way, please . . .”
    They found Jenna already in the small courtyard, staring at a young woman caught in a moment of agony, her tortured face lifted toward the sky as if in supplication, her right hand clasped to her chest. On the woman’s arm, Meriel could see the same pattern of scars that marred her mam’s skin. For a moment, Meriel didn’t realize that it was a statue—the coloring of the flesh and the clothing she wore were entirely realistic, and the figure itself was so lifelike. She almost expected it to breathe, or sound to come from that mouth.
    It was instead her mam who spoke. “What in the Mother’s name do you think you’re doing, Mundy?” Jenna said without turning around. “Do you think I’m going to let my daughter sleep in the same chambers as a Tuathian spy?”
    “She’s not a spy, Jenna,” Máister Kirwan answered. “Faoil’s a girl, the same as Meriel. No more.”
    Jenna whirled around, and Meriel saw the anger on her mam’s face. (Behind her, the statue remained unmoving, caught in its moment of sheer terror. Meriel moved around the outside of the small garden, wanting to get closer to it.) “You can’t know that. How fortuitous that a tiarna in the court of Infochla would send his daughter here to study. And that remark about my mam and Doyle Mac Ard . . .”
    “She was trying to make polite conversation and meant nothing by it. You saw her face; she realized that she’d said something she shouldn’t have, but she tried to make the best of it. Faoil’s an only child, and her da could have sent her to the Order of Gabair instead, but he didn’t. He has family ties to Inish Thuaidh and knows that it’s here that cloudmages are best taught. I’ve met the man and I trust him. Are we already back to war with the Tuatha, Jenna, or do the agreements we’ve made still hold? Have I missed something?”
    “You know what I mean, Mundy. We might not yet be at war with the Tuatha, but you know as well as I do that we will be, and perhaps soon.”
    “But not yet, ” Máister Kirwan said, unrelenting. “We have several students here from Talamh an Ghlas; you knew that from the beginning. We teach anyone who comes here, regardless of their home or background or heritage—that’s the way it’s always been.”
    “Perhaps that should change, since you teach the enemies of Inish Thuaidh, who will use that knowledge against us.”
    “Perhaps the Banrion is seeing enemies where there are none.” He lifted his hands in exasperation. “Jenna, I chose Faoil personally, myself, because she has work habits and abilities that Meriel—”
    Meriel, an arm’s length from the statue, heard her name and glanced over to the two. She saw her mam’s face go dark as her arm slashed air, cutting off Máister Kirwan’s words. “Listen to me, Mundy. I don’t want Meriel in that room. Put her with someone from Inish Thuaidh or place her in a room of her own—the Mother knows you have enough to spare here. I don’t care which you do, but do it. You can pretend she’s just another acolyte all you want, but she’s still the Banrion’s daughter— my daughter—and I need to know that she’s safe.”
    “Aye, she is the Banrion’s daughter, but while she’s here she will be just another acolyte. I told you this in Dún Kiil, Jenna: if Meriel is to be here, I will treat her as I think best. If that isn’t to your satisfaction, then find somewhere else to put her. I’ll keep her as safe as—”
    Meriel reached out a hand to stroke the statue’s arm and gave a startled, half-strangled cry. Her mam and Máister