Ghost Omens by Jonathan Moeller

Ghost Omens
    My name is Claudia Aberon, and I am a failure.
    Over and over again I have failed.
    My father is Decius Aberon, the First Magus of the Imperial Magisterium. When I was a child, I idolized him, thought him the wisest and the strongest man in the world. I wanted to become one of the high magi and help him in his great duties. So I studied and learned, and became a sister of the Magisterium. I hoped to use my sorcerous powers for the good of the people of the Empire.
    And then I learned what kind of man my father he really was. I saw the murders and the cruelties he wrought, how he constantly schemed to make himself into the tyrant of the Empire.
    The things he had done to my brother Corvalis. 
    I had failed to see him for what he really was. 
    I fled with Corvalis, hoping to start a new life outside of the Empire, one where I could use my powers for good. Instead I was captured, and transformed into stone by one of my father’s lackeys. 
    I had failed to escape him. 
    Corvalis rescued me with the aid of the Ghosts, the Emperor’s spies and assassins. We joined the Ghosts, and again I hoped to use my powers for the benefit of the Empire. 
    And when the time came, I made a decision...and I failed. Horribly. If not for Caina Amalas, I could have started a war that would have drowned the world in blood. I trusted the wrong person, and I could have been enslaved, my soul forever bound to power a suit of sorcerous armor. 
    Because of my arrogance, my pride.
    I am a fool...and I am a failure.

    ###

    My brother was in love with a woman who terrified me.
    I climbed to ship’s deck and looked around. We had traveled by caravan from Catekharon to Cyrica Urbana, and then chartered a merchant ship to take us to Malarae, the capital of the Empire. The sailors went about their business and ignored me, though a few cast appreciative glances in my direction. 
    If they knew what I really was, they might run screaming instead. 
    Corvalis stood near the bow of the ship, talking with Caina. 
    My brother was tall and strong, with close-cropped blond hair and hard green eyes. He was dressed like a merchant’s guard, with chain mail, a leather jerkin, and a fine sword and dagger at his belt. He did not often smile, but he was smiling now, and he laughed at something Caina said.
    She was three or four years my junior, trim and lean with long black hair and eyes like chips of blue ice. She wore a blue gown that matched her eyes, too tight and low in front. But that was all part of the disguise. She was masquerading as Anna Callenius, the daughter of master merchant Basil Callenius, and she could play the part of the spoiled merchant’s daughter perfectly.
    Which was nothing like her real self.
    Caina turned, looked at the sea, and glanced at me. Then she looked away again. Even that brief glance at been enough to chill me. It made me feel measured, weighed. Like she was contemplating where best to put the knife.
    A creak on the deck reached my ears, and Halfdan stood next to me.
    He was a circlemaster of the Ghosts, but wore the furred robe and cap of a master merchant, part of his disguise as Basil Callenius. Strands of iron-gray hair jutted from beneath his cap, and a gray beard shaded the line of his chin and jaw. 
    We regarded each other in silence. 
    “Are you going to have me killed?” I heard myself say. 
    Halfdan frowned. “That would be wasteful.”
    “I betrayed you in Catekharon,” I said. 
    “That,” said Halfdan, “is overly dramatic.” The deck shuddered beneath us as the ship rode a large wave. If the ship reached harbor, I vowed, I would stay on dry land for the rest of my days. “You were trying to achieve the goals of the Ghosts. You just went about it the wrong way.”
    “By disobeying you and Caina,” I said. 
    “Well, yes,” said Halfdan. “That is more serious. But some of it is my fault. I misjudged you. I thought you could handle yourself better in a dangerous situation. I fear I was