"Could be worse," Skyfire told her, shielding his eyes. "They could be landing in the cove - which is what they will do, when they learn the spell-net down there is gone."

Tris remembered what Daja had said about the spell-net, and flinched. Winding Circle had no army, just the dedicates of the Fire temple, those who wanted to help them, and mages. Would they be enough? Would pirates take this place, and burn her only home? Would they take her and...

"Sometimes a good imagination is a bad thing." Niko put an arm around her shoulders. "The defences around the rest of Winding Circle are in perfect condition, and we aren't exactly helpless here."

"Certainly not," commented Skyfire, with a bark of a laugh. Raising his voice he called, "Six mages - air and fire, if you please."

The top of the wall was dotted with red- and white-robed soldiers, mingled with dedicates from all four temples. Now Tris saw that all of the non-warriors had the black bordered robes of initiates. Three in yellow - initiates from the Air temple - and three in red came over to Skyfire. He paired up Fire and Air, then pointed out their stations along the wall, about fifty yards apart, all facing the cove. "By air," he told them, still watching the shimmering vessels. "By air - a hundred feet up, no less. I want a solid shield - no sloppiness. No cracks. Get ready."

Tris eyed the pair closest to her. They were rapidly threading copper wire through the wide links of a two-foot-long gold chain. Once that was done, the initiate in yellow hung dull grey stones on small hooks in the wire, s.p.a.cing them well apart. The initiate in red did the same thing with stones that looked like amber, flint and onyx.

"Copper is an air element," Niko murmured in her ear. "The grey stones are pumice, a stone of air. Gold?"

"Fire, and protection," said Tris.

"Very good. And onyx, amber and flint are protective." Niko kept his voice soft, in order not to distract the initiates. "Everything in the device has been repeatedly spelled for protection against trouble from the air. Daja would call it a bijili, a thing that stores magic. With such a tool, these mages don't have to use much of their own power - which they might need later - to protect this section of the wall. All they need do is call on the strength of the metal, and the stones-"

"And the temple walls," added Skyfire. Tris jumped. She hadn't even thought he was listening. "Like everything else here, the walls themselves hold magic, put into them over -here we go."

Two black, round b.a.l.l.s soared into the air between the ships and the walls. Squinting at them, Tris shivered. She got the impression of magical signs, and of her eyes being thrust away from the b.a.l.l.s. Quarrelling breezes yanked at her hair until her kerchief fell off, and her unruly curls went flying. She scrambled for the cloth.

"Why bespell catapult stones?" she heard Niko ask.

"Too high!" someone down the wall - an archer - yelled, shielding his eyes to follow the missiles' flight. "They're too light for stones, Skyfire!"

"He's right," growled the dedicate. "What in Shurri's name..."

Higher and higher the dark b.a.l.l.s rose.

"They'll be over your shields!" cried Skyfire. "Raise them, raise them..."

Tris shook, terrified. It was as plain as day that the things would pa.s.s over the wall higher than a hundred feet. She would be ripped to pieces, like the dead of the Bit Island tower and the men Daja had seen on that galley!

Winds swirled over the wall, coming from everywhere. They raced around Tris, knocking Skyfire and Niko and Briar out of the way. Tris barely noticed; her eyes were on the round b.a.l.l.s as they began to drop. She reached blindly for the winds.

They shrieked, spinning tighter and tighter, shaping themselves into a funnel. The narrow end of the funnel swirled around her hands, tearing at the skin. The wide end stretched, and stretched as the whole thing grew.

Tris clenched her fists, then opened them.

The funnel jumped free of her, racing into the sky to scoop up the twin b.a.l.l.s. Turning, it paused, as if it tried to decide which way to go.

A giant, invisible hand pressed those on the wall. A breath later, a dull crack boomed through the air. The funnel blew apart. In another breath, a dusting of soot, dirt and splinters rained down on them all.

Tris sneezed. Niko drew a clean handkerchief from his overrobe, wiped her cheeks with it, then gave it to her so she could blow her nose.

"I must re-think my opinion of weather-witches," Moon-stream said, her voice clear and calm in the ringing silence on the wall. "It seems they do more than just bring rain."

Skyfire leaned down, so he could look straight into Tris's eyes. Nervous, the girl backed up a step, then two, until she collided with Briar. The boy held on to her. Two more steps, and they would both go off the wall.

"Girl, can you do that cold?" Skyfire wanted to know, making his voice as gentle as he could. "Or do you have to be scared? If it comes to that -" he grinned, showing far too many teeth for Tris's comfort - "I'm sure I can think of ways to scare you when they launch those things. The other way is much friendlier, of course."

"Those weren't catapult-stones," remarked the Air mage closest to them. "Stones aren't that light."

The Fire initiate with him added, "I don't know if we can put a shield so high-"

"Lower it, then!" cried Briar, pointing to the ships. "Here come some more!"

"Don't let those things strike the wall!" barked Skyfire.

By then the snap of the catapults' release had reached the defenders' ears. All three sets of mages, seeing these b.a.l.l.s were aimed at the wall, called on their magic again.

Their metal and stone devices began to glow. Tris and Briar could see washes of silvery light rising ten feet higher than their heads as well as dropping out of sight, to cover the stone beneath them.

"The wall won't hold?" Tris asked in a tiny voice. She was trembling all over, vibrating in Briar's grip.

"We don't know," whispered Niko.

The air slammed around their heads, causing nosebleeds. The mages lurched, but kept their feet without letting go of the metal they used to guide their power. Dirt and rock sprayed into the air. Most stayed on the other side of the barrier, but enough came over it to give everyone and everything a thorough dusting.

"They blew two holes in the ground," a blue-robed dedicate called when there was quiet again. "Big ones."

"You children, off the wall, now," ordered Skyfire. "Tris, think about what I said to you. The rest of you, spot-shields only - block each of them as they come in!"

"Go on," Niko told them. "I'll see you in a while."

"Come on," Briar whispered in Tris's ear. He got an arm around her waist, to steady her. Tris's shakes were much worse. "Another one of those and you'll faint for certain."

Nodding weakly, she let him help her down the stairs.

"We still have to get that food for Daja and Frostpine and your bird," he remarked.

"I know," Tris said. "I haven't forgotten."

"And I'm a bit gnawish, myself," he added. The further she got from the top of the wall, the stronger she seemed to be. Still, he hung on to her until they were on the ground.

"You're always gnawish," she retorted, sitting on the bottom-most step.

Little Bear raced over to them, wagging his tail and yapping. The guard who had kept him and their baskets followed, taking a water-bottle from her belt. "Exciting up there, is it?" she enquired. Uncorking her bottle, she wiped the mouth on her wrist, and offered it to Tris.

The girl took it with a muttered "Thank-you" and gulped thirstily. "Too exciting for me," she said, offering the bottle to its owner. The dedicate motioned for her to pa.s.s it to Briar instead, and Tris obeyed.

"What's going on up there?" asked another warrior, a novice. "All that banging made my curls go straight." Since he was shaved bald, even Tris could tell this was a joke.

"They've got some odd new weapon," Briar told them. He shook the bottle, and looked at its owner. "If you don't mind waiting, I'll re-fill this for you at the Hub."

"No need," the woman said, taking it from him. "We've our own pump at the guard- house. New weapon, is it?" She spat on the ground. "Had to be something, to get those dogs thinking they could try us again." To Little Bear she added, "No offence to four-legged dogs."

"You aren't scared?" Tris asked, wiping her face again with Niko's handkerchief. She could see dirt and rocks all around them; some of the blasts had been felt down here.

The Gate-tunnel would have amplified the noise, too.

Their guardian shrugged. "New toys or no, they'll have to step pretty to dazzle old Skyfire."

Briar nodded. "He was never caught napping that / heard of. Come on, Coppercurls,"

he urged Tris. "It's almost midday. Bet Gorse has a chicken or some pasties with my name on 'em." He gathered up the baskets and whistled to Little Bear.

"Don't fret, youngster," the novice advised Tris when she rose, shakily, to follow.

"They'll need a much bigger cracker to open up this nut."

Some of the other guards laughed, including the woman who had so much confidence in Dedicate Skyfire. Others, Tris noticed, looked as uneasy as she felt.

You'd think differently, if I hadn't stopped those first two bang-things from dropping in here, she thought, trotting to catch up with Briar. And you may end up thinking differently anyway, if more get past the mages on the wall.

They entered the Hub kitchens through the outside doors, not those that opened on to the central stair. Even before they entered, they were startled by the amount of noise that poured out of the building. Little Bear sat, refusing to go into such a madhouse.

Plugging an ear with her free hand, Tris took a basket from Briar, and followed him inside.

They were engulfed by steam and heat. Shurri's Forge, deep in the earth, couldn't be any hotter, Tris thought. "Is it always like this?" she yelled.

Briar jumped out of the way of a novice staggering under a full tray of bread-loaves.

As he pa.s.sed, the novice suggested that Briar's mother had done something very unlikely with a snail.

"And your dam with a wharf rat!" shouted Briar cheerfully. To Tris he said, "No, never!"

Someone grabbed him by both shoulders. "Thieving little urchins outside," ordered a dedicate in flour-streaked blue. "And if-"

Briar grabbed one of his hands, bending the dedicate's smallest finger back on itself.

He grinned savagely, white teeth flashing against his golden skin, as he exerted pressure. The dedicate howled.

Threading her basket until it rode higher on her arm, Tris grabbed the boy's hands.

"You won't fix anything if you break his finger!" she yelled in Briar's ear. "You-"

Suddenly the three of them came apart. Flying backwards, they landed outside, on their behinds: Tris, Briar and the dedicate. Little Bear shrieked madly. The man scrambled to his feet, to come face-to-face with a big-bellied dedicate who stood in the open doorway. The newcomer scowled at all of them impartially. He was two inches short of six feet, with the black hair, brown skin and almond-shaped eyes of a far easterner. His hair was gathered into a tail and clubbed to lay forward on top of his head, after the custom of the men of Yanjing. He had a broad face, with a long, flared nose, a wide mouth and a thick, trimmed beard. It was impossible to tell what colour his habit was, under the stains and scorches. Tris thought it might be red, then wondered if it was blue, green or yellow. She had never been able to decide which temple this man was dedicated to. Perhaps, since kitchens combined all the elements, the dedicate in charge of Winding Circle's belonged to all four temples.

"Dedicate Gorse!" cried the Water dedicate. "I was trying to eject a thief..."

"If you must grab things, Dedicate Withe, you may grab thirty chickens and kill them for me." Gorse's voice was deep and booming. He spoke very precisely, with a thick accent.

"Make sure to bleed them in the proper manner. Now, please. No more grabbing my visitors." To Briar and Tris he said, "Too many mouths to feed today. We are very busy."

"That boy is a known thief!" cried Withe, pointing at Briar. "He was skulking in there-"

Little Bear growled. Tris seized his collar.

"Briar Moss never stole from me." This time there was a dangerous note in Gorse's voice, and a hard glint in his black eyes. "Chickens, Dedicate Withe. And think as you kill them about the fate of those who accuse without proof."

The man stomped away, red with humiliation. Briar held out the slate Rosethorn had given them.

To him Gorse said, "No more breaking the fingers of kitchen help. I need their hands.

Break a toe, if you must." Taking the slate, Gorse looked at Tris. "How is your bird?

Briar said you have a baby bird to raise."

She smiled wryly. "He's loud."

"That's good," said Gorse, nodding with approval. "Healthy lungs are loud ones. I will grind fresh meat for him, so he builds his strength. Cooked eggs we also have plenty of, for the soldiers. And what is this?" He read the note on the slate, frowning.

"Pork liver or beef liver? Three kinds of beans? We have peas and seafood stew. This is rich food she wants - very heavy, very strong."

"It's to build up Frostpine and Daja," Briar explained. "They worked magic in the harbour, and now they're so tired they can't sit up. Rosethorn says they need all that."

"Then we'll give Rosethorn what she wants, or she will come to get under my feet.

You two wait in the shade, by the stair. Too many people like Withe are under my feet today." He picked up the baskets they had dropped, his big hands dwarfing the thick, strong handles. "I will fill these. Wait."

He leaned inside, and reached for something. One at a time, he handed a pair of heavy buns to Briar with his free hand. "One is for Trisana," he told the boy with a meaningful look, and vanished into the kitchen.

"You never said he was nice," Tris accused as they walked to the entrance that would let them into the Hub tower.

"You shoulda figured it out your own self," replied Briar, mouth full.

"I never really talked to him before." Tris sank down on a bench near the central stair, the dog at her feet. A lone runner seated against the wall nodded to them, then dozed off.

Tris ate her bun by picking off a piece at a time, and chewing carefully. Strange, she thought as she began to relax. The racket from the kitchens didn't reach this part of the tower - and yet only the walls and a set of double doors lay between the two.

Magic, no doubt. Was everything here magic?

One of the kitchen doors eased open, releasing a burst of sound and a slender male figure in breeches and overrobe. He closed the door, and turned into the light.

"Tris! Briar!" Aymery was clearly startled - and not entirely happy - to see them. He fiddled with his earring, then smiled so warmly that Tris wondered why she'd thought he was unpleasantly surprised to find them here. "Now this is a happy coincidence."