“He did say something about Automotones crying out or something,” he admitted. “But I told him he had to be wrong, because Automotones is in chaos. Aaron sent him there when we were looking for my dad.”
I sure did. Aaron sounded pleased.
Call turned to gesture toward Warren, but the little elemental was gone. Call threw up his hands in frustration. “Oh, come on! Warren? Get back here!”
“So this is how it happens with you guys?” Gwenda demanded. “Some weird lizard shows up and all of a sudden everything goes sideways and you’re fighting a massive elemental or some Chaos-ridden army or whatever? Well, let me tell you, I am not in for any of that.”
“No one’s asking for your help,” Call said grumpily, picking up his ball of aluminum.
That is kind of how it happens, though, Aaron said.
Just then there was a ringing noise, like a distant bell, followed by Master Milagros’s voice, calling them back. They’d barely gotten to do any poking around. Call couldn’t believe the exercise was already over.
“Did either of you find anything?” he asked.
Tamara shook her head. “I don’t think there’s any silver in these tunnels.”
Gwenda looked a little smug. “I found a vein of tungsten back in the other room and marked it down. I ran into you when I started looking for a second one.”
They squeezed through the tunnel to find Kai and Jasper excitedly marking their finds on a map. Call noticed that he was the only one who had an actual sample of the metal, though. He hoped that was a good thing, but when he showed Master Rufus, he looked over the aluminum ball in a puzzled manner.
Both Malinda and Cindy had found impressive amounts of their metals embedded in the walls. Celia’s team had obviously won, although neither of the Masters made a big deal about it.
“Now that you’ve found so much metal in the Magisterium, tomorrow we will go to the library and discover the properties of each,” Master Milagros announced. “What kinds of magic do each of the metals lend themselves to? And how would you fashion a weapon from what you’ve found today? We want to see your designs and ideas.”
Celia, clearly expecting a prize instead of another assignment, gave a heavy sigh.
Master Milagros continued. “There’s something else we are going to do today, something done very seldom, but which is not without precedent. Master Rufus and I have been discussing what would be most helpful to your learning and it’s been decided that Gwenda and Jasper will become Master Rufus’s apprentices and I will take on some of the orphaned apprentices from Masters who were lost in the recent battle. Right now, everyone is a little overloaded, and this is a way to help.”
More Jasper? Why does the universe hate me? Call thought.
Tamara folded her arms over her chest. Call wasn’t sure what it meant, but at least she wasn’t jumping up and down for joy.
Celia, however, appeared to be fuming. She must be upset enough at having her boyfriend moved to another apprentice group, no less one with the Enemy of Death in it. This wasn’t going to make things better between her and Call.
“Jasper hasn’t made it much of a secret that he wanted to be Master Rufus’s apprentice from the beginning,” Gwenda said. “But why me?”
“Don’t you remember?” Master Milagros said. “You asked to be reassigned.”
For a moment, Gwenda looked as though she was going to choke, and Call abruptly recalled how she had come to their rooms a long time back to complain about Jasper and Celia making out. How she’d asked if they could persuade Master Rufus to take her on as an apprentice. Apparently, they weren’t the only ones she’d discussed it with.
“But that was Bronze Year! And I definitely didn’t want to move in with Jasper,” Gwenda said, which so perfectly summed up Call’s feelings that he couldn’t help thinking it might be fun to have her as a roommate after all.
But no matter how much he liked them, having new apprentices in his group was going to be weird. It had always been him and Tamara and Aaron — and even if Tamara didn’t know it, it still was. Besides, he had important stuff to work out with Tamara. How was he going to win her back with Jasper around all the time? How were they going to find time to talk?
How are you going to figure out a way to tell her about me? Aaron asked, and there was something in that thought that made Call remember how, to Aaron, this might feel like being replaced.
“Jasper and Gwenda, you’re going to move into Tamara and Call’s room, so pack up your things and we will reenchant your wristbands,” said Master Rufus. “Tonight, I will meet with you privately to determine your strengths and weaknesses.”
Jasper nodded, looking shocked. He’d spent his Iron Year trying to get into Master Rufus’s apprentice group. Master Rufus was the most famous of the mage teachers and had an eye for picking apprentices who would go on to do important things — for good or for ill. He’d taught Constantine Madden, but he’d also taught prominent members of the Assembly and mages at the Collegium. Now, Jasper was finally getting his chance. Call wondered if it was still something he wanted.
“Okay,” Jasper said slowly, as though he was still trying to process what was happening. Gwenda towed him away to pack. Celia went over to Master Milagros, probably to complain. Call decided he better go back to the room and make sure Havoc was on his best behavior for the move.
Tamara fell into step with him. “So,” she said, “what do you think of Warren’s warning?” With everything going on then, it was the last thing that Call expected her to say, but Tamara was a person who seldom let herself be distracted from what was important.
“Could Automotones have really escaped the void?” Call asked, although he didn’t really expect an answer.
No, said Aaron. Not possible.
“I don’t know,” Tamara said. “But we could go to the library tonight to research. Maybe there was another elemental like Automotones.”
“Like his cousin?” Call asked. “And you think that maybe Warren’s friends mistook them because Automotones is the famous one?”
Tamara gave him an annoyed look. “Sure,” she said. “Automotones is in all the elemental celebrity magazines.”
Aaron chortled. That was pretty good.
Oh, shut up, Call thought, homing in on something he realized had almost passed him by. “We’re going to the library tonight?” Is this like a date? A study date?
Tamara nodded. “I think we better check this out, just to be sure. Warren’s annoying, but he’s been right before.” She put her hand to her chin. “We’re going to need help, going through all those books. Jasper might do it. He’s our new roommate now, after all.”
So, not a date, then, Call realized. Aaron sang “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” in his head all the way through the corridors of the cave, just to cheer him up.
THE MOVE DIDN’T take too long, Gwenda did like dogs, and to both Tamara and Call’s surprise, Jasper and Gwenda agreed to accompany them to the library that night before they went to meet with Master Rufus. Gwenda seemed curious, and Jasper — well, Call wasn’t sure why Jasper did anything. Jasper watched Celia stride off to the Gallery with half the other Gold Year students with a forlorn look on his face, then squared his shoulders and followed Call and Tamara to the library.