Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Too late for hiding under the radar, I suspect.
Everything I touch now will come under scrutiny, I realize. They’re all watching my every pause to read glyphs, my every hesitation in front of an object. I need to go back to the egg from before, but as I turn around, I see a thick palm-sized disk on a chain, the metal tarnished and scuffed. It has glyphs at four equal points on the surface, one of them the ornate eye used to denote the home of the gods, which the Old Prellians believed was in the great north, past the mountain range of my home. I pick it up and turn slowly until the medallion shivers in my hand, indicating that I’m facing north.
Well, I can’t very well put it back now and pretend like I don’t know what I’m doing. I return to my table with the medallion and set it down as discreetly as possible. Mereden, Kipp, and the rest of the team pick items, and I do my best not to wince when each forgery arrives on the table. At least they’re avoiding the yellow like I’d asked. But it’s clear from what they’re choosing that they have no knowledge of Old Prellian art or enchantment, or even the basics of glyphwork. I make a mental note to bring this up to Hawk. My team needs classes on how to spot forgeries.
Well, and how to spot artifacts.
Really, we just need classes on everything.
“One point for Master Magpie’s team,” Master Tiercel declares at the end of round two.
One point is then declared for Master Crow’s team, this person a different one from before. If I had to guess, I would say there’s not an expert on Crow’s team. They’re just guessing out of luck. But now I need to go back and get that egg. I have a feeling that if I don’t, we’ll end up with a tie, and I’m willing to bet that a tiebreaker would not go in our team’s favor.
This time, I head straight for the Weight of Crushing egg with no charges left. I pick it up and bring it to our table, and sweat as I watch the others pick their choices. When everything is chosen, this time Master Tiercel goes to Master Crow’s team first and picks through their objects with the archivist at his side.
“One point for Master Crow’s team again,” Master Tiercel declares. “Total points—three.” He strolls over to our side as I busily do mental math. Okay, we’re at three points at the moment. My egg should get us to four, which is a win, unless they don’t count it because of the lack of charges. If someone else on the team has picked a winner—
“No points this round for Magpie’s team.”
“What?” I blurt out, looking up. “So deactivated artifacts don’t count after all?”
Archivist Kestrel seems puzzled by my reaction. “They do count. You do not have any real artifacts at your table. We have a tie.”
I glare up at both of them. “That’s not right. Mine is a real artifact. It just doesn’t have charges.”
“The guild frowns on poor losers,” Master Tiercel begins.
Archivist Kestrel turns the object over in his hands, peering down at it.
“I’m not a poor loser,” I declare, stabbing a finger at the stupid thing. “It’s a legitimate artifact. Read the glyphs on the bottom. It’s a Weight of Crushing but it’s out of charges. They’re a common sort of thing. Look at it again.” Master Tiercel gives me a pitying look that only pisses me off more. “Just look, all right?”
“This is not very becoming of your team,” Master Tiercel continues. “And if your teacher were here, she would hear about it. This is the reason why teams need to be supervised. You can’t be left alone. The rules are rules for a reason—”
“She’s right,” Archivist Kestrel says suddenly.
All eyes are on him. And me, but I keep staring at the archivist, waiting for him to elaborate.
“She’s right,” he repeats, and shows the underside of the egg-shaped weight to Tiercel. “Look at the markings. Look at the usage of lapis. There’s one like this in the archive and it’s got the same angle of cuts in the stone.”
They bend their heads together, scrutinizing the artifact. Lark nudges me but I ignore her. My every fiber is vibrating with anxiousness as I watch the two of them. For some reason, it’s very important to me that I be correct about this. I’ve always prided myself on my Prellian scholarship. If I’m not right, then I’ve got nothing to my credit. Not looks, not wealth, not holder name…
Master Tiercel grunts after a long, interminable pause. “I suppose.”
“It’s truly a shame it no longer has charges,” Archivist Kestrel says in a bright voice, clutching the egg to his chest as if it is precious. “I would love to see how much weight the Prellians considered to be crushing. It would be a fascinating bit of scholarship, don’t you think?”