“I think so. Just as long as you don’t suddenly start dating Sella or something. I want an answer first,” Korima said firmly, her eyes hardening.
“Oh, Guardian preserve me, she isn’t…?” Ruethwyn gasped, her eye widening suddenly.
“I’m not sure. Navaan and Tadrick seem intent on scaring her off, and you are going to her hometown later this year,” Korima said, a grin flickering across her face.
Ruethwyn groaned, slumping slightly as she reached up to rub her eye. “Oh, this isn’t the sort of complication I needed.”
Korima laughed, pulling away as she said, “It is entertaining, though! Who knows, maybe your Anara wouldn’t mind company, hmm?”
That prompted Ruethwyn to glare at the kitsune in shocked exasperation, but Korima simply grinned in response.
After a moment, Ruethwyn slumped, muttering, “This isn’t going to be simple, is it?”
“What is?” Korima asked, her voice a bit gentler. “I’ll give you time, though, and try to help.”
That did help Ruethwyn’s mood, and she straightened, taking a moment to try to regain her poise. Smiling at Korima, she said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” Korima replied, then grinned as she darted forward, planting a kiss on Ruethwyn’s cheek without warning. Then she fled the room, with Ruethwyn staring after her.
“So much for giving me time,” Ruethwyn muttered, her emotions roiling.
Chapter 6
Essryl adjusted the flow of mana going into her rasp as she ran it over the marble, watching the stone flake away in approval. Enchanted files were so much better than attempting to sculpt using mundane methods, at least in her opinion. She blew the flakes away and examined the surface of the figurine closely, trying to decide whether it was correct yet.
The sound of footsteps outside the room distracted her, though, and Essryl leaned back, considering the door for a moment before calling out, “Come in, Anara.”
Anara opened the door a moment later, the blonde elf looking at Essryl with a frown. “That’s eerie, Mistress Essryl. I wasn’t sure what room you were in until you spoke up.”
“You need to learn to listen more closely. I was using this, so it wasn’t like I was being that quiet,” Essryl replied, running the rasp gently across another section of stone, deciding she wanted the figure’s robes to flow a little differently.
“I don’t think most elves have that keen of hearing,” Anara said dubiously. “Also, umm… what are you doing, Mistress Essryl? As a matter of fact, what’s this room?”
“I’m sculpting, of course. As for the room… what does it look like to you?” Essryl asked, sitting back on her stool and glancing around the room.
There was a large set of shelves in the back of the room where dozens of small chunks of marble rested, each about a foot across. Her tool bench was close at hand to the pedestal where her current project rested, and along the two outer walls were dozens of statues. Most were on the right-hand side of the room, and Essryl’s eyes flickered as she glanced over the statues, each no more than ten inches tall.
The statues were all of women, with most wearing dresses, and the vast majority were human or elven. One was playing a cello, while most were simply standing as though looking at someone politely, and all of them bore a tiny, intricate collar like the one Anara was wearing. In fact, though Essryl imagined Anara wouldn’t notice it immediately, there was a statue of Anara in mid-dance along the left wall.
“It looks like you make sculptures, but why are all of them women? I also haven’t seen any of these out in the halls before…” Anara said, a frown on her face.
Essryl waited, curious how long it’d take for Anara to put the pieces together. It wouldn’t take long, she imagined, since Anara was an intelligent woman.
“Wait, isn’t that a statue of Vella? And one of Leticia… and of me?” Anara exclaimed, spinning to stare at Essryl. “Are these all statues of the women the dragon has stolen?”
“Not bad, Anara, you did put some pieces together,” Essryl said, nodding in approval. “Now, what else are you noticing, hmm? Put that mind of yours to work.”
“I…” Anara hesitated, frowning as she looked back and forth. It took only a few seconds before she spoke, gesturing at the left side of the room. “I recognize all of these statues when I look closely, unlike the others. Are they other people you’ve known, or…”
“Of course I’ve known them, Anara,” Essryl said, once Anara’s voice trailed off, her tone slightly scolding. “You should be able to tell more than that, though. Look at them more closely.”
Anara stepped toward the statues on the right, then stopped suddenly. Kneeling next to them, she was silent for a long minute as she examined one after another. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “They all have collars like mine.”
“That’s correct, Anara. These,” Essryl said, gesturing at the statues to the right with just a hint of regret welling up inside her, “are your predecessors. Those who didn’t make it.”
“Why do you have them?” Anara asked suddenly.
“Hmm?” Essryl asked, tilting her head curiously as she stood up.
“The statues… why do you have them? Let alone all down here?” Anara asked, looking up at Essryl with a confused expression. “You’ve never talked about our predecessors, except in vague terms.”
Essryl blinked at Anara, slightly surprised that the young woman had dared to ask the question. Then she took a step over and ran her fingers gently over the cool stone of the first figure’s hair, her touch gentle.
“Why do you think I keep them, Anara?” Essryl asked finally, her voice calm as a flowing brook. “I’m going to answer your question… I’m simply curious what you make of this.”
“I don’t know. I’ve heard about the horrible things you’ve done… you serve him loyally, and yet at the same time, you’re different,” Anara said, standing up slowly. “You protect us from the soldiers, and you heal us, while giving warnings of what might get us killed. You even are kind to Lissa and give her lessons. This almost feels like a… a memorial.”
“Hm… I suppose that’s not a bad way to describe it. I’ve always thought of a memorial as something for many people to view, but that doesn’t have to be the case,” Essryl mused, staring at the oldest of the statues and remembering Zera. “That’s exactly what it is. This… is a reminder to me, Anara. Every last one of you has been placed in my charge. You’re my responsibility, and even if you choose to disregard my advice… well, that’s your choice. I do what I can. In the end, you’ll all die, no matter what I do, whether from old age or because you’ve been slain. This is a way to ensure I don’t forget what each of you looked like. I’ll never forget names, but appearances can shift in the mind’s eye over the years.”
“That’s… well, it’s interesting,” Anara said, looking over at the statue in the middle of the room, her face a bit darker, likely because of the number of statues, Essryl imagined. After a moment, she asked, “Who is that one for?”
“Ah, that one? It’s a little different than the others. That is going to be of Ruethwyn,” Essryl said, grinning as she saw Anara’s expression flicker with surprise.
“Ruethwyn? I thought the rest of the statues were all of captives,” Anara said, frowning.
“Quite. Still, she’s determined to come after you and the others, so she may join you sooner or later,” Essryl replied easily, amusement bubbling up inside her as she added, “Though I’m afraid you do have a rival or two in love, it seems.”
“I what?” Anara demanded, looking distinctly taken aback.
“A rather attractive kitsune confessed to Ruethwyn last week, and apparently there’s another elven woman who’s intrigued by her. Neither is quite as attractive as you are, but they have the distinct advantage of having talked to Ruethwyn more than a handful of times,” Essryl replied. “Now, you can’t have been coming down here to talk to me about her, hm? What is it this time?”
“No, b
ut… well, I did want to get some advice on the dance steps you taught yesterday,” Anara admitted, then frowned. “Still, I’d like to hear more about Ruethwyn.”
“Hmm…” Essryl considered, then smiled. “How about this, let’s go up and I’ll run you through things again, and we can discuss her a bit more.”
“That would be nice, Mistress Essryl,” Anara said, relief in her voice, despite the tension in her back. Essryl realized she might be feeling threatened. Unsurprising, considering that Ruethwyn was her only hope for freedom.
“Good. Come along, Anara,” Essryl said, leading the way to the door.
As she held the door for Anara, Essryl extinguished the glow-globes in the room with a thought, and the last light shone on Ruethwyn’s rough statue before the door shut.
Chapter 7
Despite the pain it caused, Ruethwyn was utterly relieved at being able to wield her magic again. In fact, her pain had grown slightly worse since she’d nearly shattered her mana core, but that was to be expected. She’d come too close to death, Ruethwyn admitted to herself, though at least she’d also gained quite a bit of respect from the others.
What was most surprising was that Master Mara had quite firmly decided that Yalline was going to be Ruethwyn’s study partner, which had startled everyone. Madeline hadn’t protested, so with the most likely person to object out of the way, Ruethwyn had found herself with a new neighbor during artificing classes. It was proving something of a challenge, as well.
“Check the diagram again,” Ruethwyn said patiently, not even looking away from the ring she was painting tiny sigils on. From the corner of her eye, Yalline stopped just as she was about to put her chisel against the stone surface.
“You didn’t even look at the slate, though!” Yalline protested, setting the chisel aside. “Damn it… how did you even know I’d made a mistake?”
“We’ve gone over your project a dozen times, Yalline, and I have a very good idea of what it looks like at this point. I saw what you chalked down as a guide from the corner of my eye and could see that it didn’t look right,” Ruethwyn explained gently, finishing the rune she was working on, then looking away from the jeweler’s loupe she was using. Yalline looked depressed, but Ruethwyn smiled slightly. “Remember, you’re on my left. It’s my right that I can’t see on.”
“I guess… this is just frustrating. I thought I copied the runes exactly, but now that I compare them, I changed several without thinking,” Yalline said, her shoulders slumping slightly. “I just don’t understand why I keep making the same mistakes.”
Ruethwyn considered Yalline for a long minute, trying to decide what to say. A part of her was still a little… annoyed with the young woman for putting them all in danger, but Yalline’s humility since the incident had done quite a bit to mitigate Ruethwyn’s anger. As it was, Ruethwyn had become far more intimately aware of Yalline’s strengths and weaknesses, and she debated before speaking.
“Would you like my honest opinion?” Ruethwyn asked, dipping the tip of her paintbrush in a cup of water and watching the remnants of the compound she was using dissolve. “I’m not sure you’ll like it, though.”
“I… guess so?” Yalline replied uncertainly. “I’ve gotten enough opinions over the last couple of weeks to last a lifetime, so what’s one more?”
“A fair point,” Ruethwyn said, smiling as she glanced up at where Master Vrenne was helping Barthel and Madeline. Her smile vanished as she considered how to say what she was thinking. Eventually, she spoke, her voice softer. “Some people are simply unsuited for learning some things. You might be able to learn to use ritual spells or artificing eventually, but as it stands, your best bet is to check every single sigil against the source a half-dozen times before moving on. I don’t know that you’ll ever excel at it, but I imagine you can become somewhat competent in the end, though it’ll probably take you two to three times as long to create something.”
Yalline visibly winced, but didn’t speak for a long moment. When she did, her tone was surprisingly level. “You’re being more generous than a few of the others. Lady Madeline… well, she was scathing, to say the least. She also was going to stop paying my tuition, but the teachers were rather, um, firm with her.”
“Oh?” Ruethwyn asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to get into your room if she hadn’t given me the things to do it. She asked me to make copies of your notes, so they said that she was at least partly at fault for what happened,” Yalline explained sheepishly. “So, she had the choice of helping me complete my education or being punished as well. She decided to keep paying my tuition.”
“Ah, well, that does explain it,” Ruethwyn agreed, but it seemed that Yalline wasn’t done.
“So, you’re thinking that I just have to compare things several times?” Yalline asked hopefully. “I’ve been growing afraid that I was completely out of luck.”
“What I would do, if I were you, is always copy from the original source if possible. You don’t want to give yourself two opportunities to transcribe the runes wrong,” Ruethwyn said, leaning forward to point at one rune. “Then I’d decide where on an enchantment I’d always start, and the order I’d go through different diagrams. Read the names of them aloud in order and keep comparing them to ensure that they’re in the correct order. It won’t be perfect by any means, but I think it will help. I’d always compare them at least three times if I were you.”
“Hm, I suppose I can try that. It sounds tedious, but if it keeps me from having a demon mentally control me, it’s worth it,” Yalline replied, nodding and scowling at the diagram. “I just wish I had your talent for this.”
Ruethwyn snorted softly, shaking her head. “You want my talent? I doubt that.”
“Of course I do! You seem to cast spells effortlessly, even if it takes you a bit longer than it takes me, and you know all about artificing, rituals, and more!” Yalline protested.
“Yalline? You’re seeing things… differently than me,” Ruethwyn replied, taking a deep breath, then letting it out with a sigh. “If I didn’t have the ability to use atavism, I wouldn’t even be in this class. If I hadn’t had a five-year head start on the rest of you to learn, I would be on equal footing with you, Yalline. That’s with atavism giving me a boost, I might add. I have no talent in any particular sphere… and without atavism, I expect that I’d never pass fifth circle in any sphere. You at least have a talent with water magic.”
“For all the good that does,” Yalline murmured.
Ruethwyn looked at Yalline incredulously at that, a little stunned. It took her a moment, but finally, Ruethwyn asked, “Yalline… do you not know what water can do?”
“I’ve created water bolts, I’ve conjured clouds of mist, I’ve used it to dry Lady Madeline’s hair, and I’ve controlled flows of water a fair bit. Oh, we’ve used some shields and the like, but not much beyond that. I’ve been a little discouraged, really,” Yalline said, looking disgruntled. “It’s why I was looking at other spheres.”
Ruethwyn raised her gaze to the ceiling and slowly counted to ten, a little stunned by how little Yalline had been told, somehow. She’d known the assignments Master Mara was giving the others weren’t too complex, but Korima, Tadrick, and Sella had all done enough research to start branching out quite quickly.
“Yalline, you’re giving water far too little credit. I suspect you haven’t really researched it, or you’d know better than that. The four elemental spheres are considered some of the most powerful, broadest spheres, and it’s all based on your understanding of it,” Ruethwyn said as patiently as she could manage. “The sphere of water isn’t just water. It’s liquid, and yet more than that at the same time. A master of water can transmute water into blood for someone who’s dying. They can seal wounds and give someone bleeding out the chance for their body to start healing. Steam or clouds are simply water which has evaporated, while ice is water as well. Ice is a sub-sphere of water, Yalline, and everything I�
��ve done with ice can be done with water.”
“What? I… I guess some of that could be reasonable, but any liquid seems a little too broad,” Yalline said, looking slightly taken aback. “Wouldn’t steam require knowledge of fire, anyway?”
“Spells aren’t restricted that deeply, not really. My teacher, my first teacher, taught me early on that, in theory, someone could develop a universal sphere which would allow the wielder to use any type of magic. The problem, as she explained it to me, was that the sheer amount of knowledge it’d require to reach even the first circle of such a sphere would likely be more than any mortal could learn in their lifetime,” Ruethwyn explained. “Steam spells can be created by air, fire, or water… or even a specialized steam sphere. In theory, any effect that you can tie your understanding of water to could become a spell of the water sphere, Yalline. It’s just a matter of figuring out how, and how mana efficient it is.”
“I… I see. That’s… a lot to take in,” Yalline said, looking stunned. “I guess I’d best do some reading on it. I never thought it was that broad, even after Master Mara’s overview.”
“Be as that may, you’re in artificing at the moment, so I’d suggest you work on that,” Vrenne interjected pointedly, now standing just a few feet away, her arms crossed as she tapped a foot.
“Of course, Master Vrenne,” Ruethwyn agreed, blotting the water from her paintbrush and looking at her diagram, then at the ring again. The runes were tricky, so the delay had been helpful.
“Right. Let’s try this again…” Yalline murmured, leaning in to start examining and correcting her runes.
Ruethwyn hoped that Yalline would get it right this time. More importantly, she hoped that the rest of the year would remain relatively peaceful.
Queen of Ice (Through the Fire Book 2) Page 6