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passing since leading her up the trail. But he’d developed the habit of searching for her face whenever he passed by the trainees in the hall. They hadn’t reached the point where they would be allowed to mingle with the mages or the Keep’s guests yet. Still learning the hundreds of rules that kept the Keep operating.
    Madelen suddenly darted away. He took a single step to follow her, but paused. He had been doing that on more than one occasion when he caught sight of Madelen. The door creaked behind him. He glanced over his shoulder as Mistress Marta led the new trainee in and shut the door behind her. She paused when she saw Herrick in the hall.
    She curtsied. “May I be of assistance, sir?”
    He still hadn’t gotten used to Marta calling him sir. Didn’t matter that he had reached full mage status last winter. He remembered her constant scoldings over the years all too clearly. The small child peeked around Marta to look at him.
    He smiled at her. “ No, thank you, Mistress Marta. Passing through.”
    Pivoting on his heel, he headed down the hallway Madelen had sprinted down. He suppressed the urge to quicken his step and glanced in the massive kitchen. She was there with several other trainees helping to prepare the evening meal to serve. He hovered in the doorway, watching.
    The head cook noticed him first, but Herrick shook his head before she came over. She sent the trainees out the other door to set up the dinin g room. He followed behind them walking over to the giant fireplace which was yet to be lit for the evening meal. He could feel the trainees’ eyes on his back, but he didn’t know if Madelen was one of them secreting glances in his direction.
    Someone had laid the kindling and wood within the hearth. It only needed a spark to ignite. Holding one hand below the mantel, he mouthed the fire spell and concentrated on transferring the heat from his body to the kindling. The wood smoked and crackled. The fire sparked to life. A trainee dropped something behind him.
    He knew he shou ldn’t be amused by the reaction but he was. Bracing his hand on the mantel, he angled sideways so he could watch them without blatantly staring. Madelen had her back to him as she picked up whatever she had dropped. By her position, he couldn’t be sure if she had even noticed his little burst of magic.
    He dropped his gaze back to the fire and w atched the flames dance. Why had he wanted her to notice? He’d followed her in here and then flexed his magical muscles to impress her. His eyes moved without thought to follow her movements throughout the room. She was completely oblivious to his presence. Maybe a little too oblivious.
    She twisted and pushed her long brown hair over her shoulder, a habit he’d already memorized. Yet, despite her irritation at having her hair in her face, he hadn’t seen her tie it back. She leaned over to set a fruit centerpiece in the middle of the table. Her green eyes lifted and met his. Her brows were drawn together. In anger, confusion, he wasn’t sure what. They smoothed out as she straightened, a more familiar expression on her face. The same cautious, ready-to-bolt expression she had worn during their journey up the mountain.
    He looked away from her this time. He shouldn’t be watching her . She was a keeper in training. The rules between mages and unicorn keepers were very clear. No fraternization allowed. The rules of relations with the house keepers were a lot less strident, but he didn’t yet know what type of keeper Madelen would be.
    Any sort of relations between him and Madelen at this point would be completely inappropriate. It didn’t matter, now that he admitted it to himself, how beguiling he found her. He had to stop following her around. The thought solid in his mind, he forced himself to leave the dining room and head toward the main stairs which would take him to the mage level.
    He had been following her around. Why hadn’t he realized what he was doing? He