Marked for Magic. Daisy Banks

not sure I want to be that safe anymore. I like it at the tower. I like being with the Mage. I think he likes me, too.”

      Alicia’s jaw dropped.

      She laughed at her friend’s surprised expression.

      The potter’s voice boomed across the small square from his workshop. “Alicia! You’re needed in the house. Your mother needs you.” Alicia’s father always had an eye for what might be going on in the square.

      “I’d better go. I hope we meet again soon because there is something I have to ask you.” Alicia patted her arm with a bandaged hand before she hurried off across the small square to her parent’s house.

      “Sparrow, it is time we returned to the tower,” Thabit called. She dashed over.

      The full basket looked heavy. She struggled in an attempt to lift it.

      He gave a low laugh with a shake of his head. “No, I will carry it back.” He stooped to pull the straps over his shoulders, hefted the basket up, and walked toward the gate.

      She followed, placing her feet exactly in the marks of his footsteps all the way down the dusty track out of the village.

      “I am very pleased with how you behaved. Next time, it will not be as hard. Each visit will get easier the more often we trade here. They know you have the mark, but you are safe with me for training. They understand, one day you will have wisdom beyond their imaginings. Yes, you did very well.”

      Her face flushed hot at his praise, but her stomach rumbled. “Thabit, do we have any bread?”

      “There are two small loaves in the basket. When we get back you can have bread and butter with honey, but you will have to wait.”

      She grinned at his back. Things got better and better. Away from the eyes of the village now, she danced down the overgrown path beside him.

      “A Mage’s apprentice should not hop about so, such hopping is for sparrows,” he said with a laugh as they walked on.