- Please call me by my first name," I asked, "tell me about yourself, Mrs. Cross. Did you grow up in the Empire?
- Yes, in Eloar," she smiled, "and taught in the capital's high school. But, you know," she smiled slyly, "in my old age I was drawn to adventure. And your new school, it seems, I will be a very interesting page of my life!
- I hope we will not disappoint you, Mrs. Cross!
- Oh, Vetrjana, don't remind me of my age! Oh, please. For you, I am Tiana. By the way, why are you hiding your real name? - I was surprised to look at her, - don't be surprised, I have the gift of "seeing", it's almost impossible to lie! You must agree, a very useful quality for a teacher!
I laughed again. In addition to the gift of the visionary, Tiana certainly had the gift of disposing of her interlocutor.
- Your name, though it suits you, does not reflect the essence. It wasn't given to you at birth, was it? - She was perceptively informed. I nodded.
- You're right, Tiana. They called me Tyara. But I grew up without my parents, and I only recently learned that name. For a long time, I didn't know anything about my past.
- Tayara," said the magician thoughtfully. It was as if she rolled a berry on her tongue, tasting it to the taste," said the Wind of the North. You know, this name suits you very well. You're a natural, aren't you? Really, I can't understand your abilities... strangely. And you have such a strange aura... Green.
- My element is air," I smiled, "and I'm a schematist.
I did not go into detail, despite Tiana's very interested eyes. But she had enough tact not to ask.
After seeing the castle, Tiana was very pleased and immediately expressed her desire to stay. I was happy to give her one of the rooms that had already been set up for teachers.
Tiana was followed by other teachers: the tall and arrogant elf Mr Yarvan Urgus, a combat magic teacher. To my surprise, he did not have blond hair like the other elves, but dark, but his ears were even longer than those I had seen before.
The young historian Varan Galon, in bright rooster clothes and with amazing knowledge, it was a pleasure to talk to him.
Lord Darrell's longtime friend and wonderful teacher, Mr Chelus, came.
The last one was a thin woolly girl, Miss Leah Bright Star, beautiful as her name is the Linden Colour Driad.
All the teachers, except Tiana, after acquaintance and a short stay at the castle, went to Eloar, promising to appear by the beginning of the school year. My dream of opening a school was coming true. And one quiet evening another guest knocked at the castle gate and I ran out in amazement to meet her.
- Solmeya! It's really you! It's so good to see you! But... what are you doing here?
Serena was standing on a snow-covered road, dressed in human clothes: a simple gray dress, a fur coat. Green eyes burning feverishly on her pale face. The oboz, who had brought a mermaid, slowly fled behind the curve.
- Rumors of a new school and an amazing Guardian have already spread around the world," she smiled, "and I'm glad to see you too, Vetriana.
- Come in quickly," I pulled her out of the gate.
In the castle, I took a mermaid to my chambers, drunk her with a herbalist. The siren itself was not frozen even in human form, but I had been frozen all the time since some time, so I settled closer to the fireplace.
- What's wrong? - I wasn't walking around in the middle of nowhere.
- The duel," said the mermaid with a sigh, "and I called Mayira to the duel...
- Did you... lose? - I asked quietly.
- Ah, Vetriana! If I had lost, I wouldn't be drinking herbal with you right now! No, I won... - Solmeya was looking at the dark water in her mug without seeing it. Then she clenched her teeth and raised her head - but she couldn't finish the job. I couldn't kill Mayira... And I was banished from Im.
We were silent. She was looking at her mug. I'm the fire in the fireplace. I wouldn't ask her why she did it. Sometimes it's very difficult to answer such a simple question.
- I think you did the right thing," I said quietly, "there comes a time when we have to make decisions that change our lives. And we know that we can't do it any differently... Otherwise, our lives will never be the same as we want them to be," I smiled at the sad mermaid, "I hope you'll feel warm in Riverstein, Solmea. That's what they say in the Northern Kingdom.
- May Eternity be good to you, Vetriana," the siren sounded quietly, "and you know... I think I understand why you people are crying...
In the evening we gathered at the refectory for dinner, and I introduced Solmeya to Tiana and Antashar. She already knew the others. Xenia gave the mermaid a jealous look and firmly grabbed Danila's hand, to which the young siren only smiled mockingly. Antashar was again in the guise of a wimpy figure in a cape, he had looked like this all the time lately. He did not react to the siren, did not even turn his head, and sat in his corner, almost merging with the shadow.
But Lord Darrell was delighted, and Tiana began to question Solmea so vividly and so enthusiastically that the mermaid smiled and began to talk. To resist the charm of the cheerful magician was not possible. So this evening was held in quite a pleasant and cozy atmosphere. Even Ksenya relaxed and stopped throwing disliked looks at the mermaid. Especially since she did not look at Danila at all, and the whole evening talked with Tiana and Shider.
I liked the way Riverstein came alive and changed. There were voices, laughter, conversations again. His humming corridors were filled with rustling footsteps and rooms with voices. The old castle has a future. And it filled my heart with joy.
Winter was at an end, and though I knew that spring would not come to these parts yet, we could all feel its breath.
* * *
Every morning I started by going around the property, as I called it. I woke up early, before dawn, just opened my eyes, leaving the night's forgetfulness in an instant. Strangely enough, I stopped dreaming at all. Or I didn't remember them... Even old nightmares didn't torment me anymore. Tired for the day, I just lay down on the bed, turned my face to the wall and fell into a dark pit. I tried to get tired so that I would fall instantly without thinking.
And when I got up and washed, I'd walk to the gate and go into the woods. I walked along snow tracks, listened to the spirits of the earth and lakes. Sometimes I would go where my help was needed, to heal a fox that had caught a hunting arrow by its side or to redirect currents in a young tree that had started to dry up. I didn't interfere with the natural course of life; I just sometimes slightly corrected it and brought relief where possible.
Very soon, my healing abilities were also discovered in the Wastelands...
And it began with the fact that one day a desperate blacksmith, Avdotya's wife, stabbed into the gates of the castle.
- Mrs. Vetryana! - he shouted, - Madam, please! Come out!
I jumped out of the gate before I could even get dressed.
- Mistress! - A man rushed to me, feverishly shining his eyes, - please come with me! Avdotya... baby... She said you would help!
- What's wrong? - I was frightened.
- The baby is born! There's something wrong... I think my Avdotya is dying...
- Hurry up," I said, and the blacksmith pulled me into the saddle, seated me in front of him.
He carried me in such a way that I was seriously afraid that the horse would break his legs on the icy road, but, praise be to the Saints' Elders, it all worked out. But we arrived in the village surprisingly quickly. I flew to the cook's house, where the women had already gathered and sat around the woman in labor with a mournful circle.
Avdotya was lying on her bed, her complexion equaled that of the grayish window blanket. Her aura turned pale, her strength fading away, and the threads of life thinning. And a greedy clot of the Primordial Darkness hung over her...
I threw all the strangers out of the room, leaving only the midwife and Danina. They did not dare to disobey me. I took Avdotya's hand, pouring in the Powers, then pulled the threads, weaving a protective shell over her, preventing Dark
ness from reaching the woman.
- Frozen what? - I shouted at the midwife, go ahead!
She hurriedly wrapped herself around the sacred crescent, leaned on me, but nevertheless, came to bed and habitually pressed on the belly of a woman in labor, gently verdict ... And after a while the house announced the first furious cry of the baby, and his mother leaned back on the pillows and squeezed my hand.
- Thank you," she whispered.
I gladly examined her aura and the strong, strong threads of life, nodded and went out. The happy new father had only smiled and rejoiced when she saw Kairos standing at her doorstep and Lord Darrell next to him.
- Are you all right? - Spider asked, "How are you?
- I'm a little tired. Thank you for coming to get me.
He put a warm coat on me, saddled me up. A little longer than he had to hold his palm on my leg, fixing the stirrup...
- I always will," Shider sighed as he guided Kairos to the castle.
For a couple of days I was worried that the village would be in turmoil, and the frightened residents of the Wasteland would summon the caretakers to my heart. Of course, I was not afraid of them, with Eloar's support, I no longer needed to be afraid of accusations of witchcraft. I just didn't want any trouble. But instead of the expected armed guards, on the third day, a crying woman with a plague boy froze shyly at the gate. When I came out, she threw herself at my feet, begging me to grab my gray skirt.
- Mistress," she grabbed, "Mistress, look at this! There's something wrong with my boy! Now he can't open his mouth at all, his whole gut is smeared with blood! Help me, mistress, please! I'll do anything for you...
- Come in, - I opened the door a little wider, while examining the boy's aura...
* * *
Very soon the news of my healing gift spread around like the wind... And sometimes people appeared at the gates of the castle with frightened eyes, asking the gatekeeper for permission to see the "white sorceress".
Once there appeared a full ripple girl, long looked around and complained, whispered that the case was secret, hid her eyes. I thought she had some kind of ailment she was shy about, but then I quickly examined the double aura and frowned.
- You see, ma'am," the mumblebird muttered, "I was just once, silly as it may seem... and here it is. And I have a fiance, Parka, the son of a tanner. So he loves me... but here's the thing... Can't you get rid of him somehow? It's a burden...
I didn't immediately understand what she was asking. And when I did...
- Mommy! - the rowan yelled, grabbed her eyes out in terror, and panicked, don't ruin it, madam...
My hair flew up, a snow swirl circled around me, a black cloud over my head zipped... Riabaya had already fallen to the floor in fear and just mooed incoherently. I took a deep breath, calming down. Well, I didn't want to scare the pregnant woman, or else what she asks for will happen. I walked up to her slowly.
- I know that you're trying to get rid of the baby, I will punish you," I said almost gently, but the girl clenched her voice and crawled to the door, nonstop falling asleep.
- Not to live, madam... I was foolish... I never thought... Never again...
When she left, muttering vows and assurances, I fell on a chair, squeezed my hands with whiskey, trying to calm down. But it didn't work out well. Like everyone else... unfairly...
* * *
Lord Elwon was involved in Riverstein.
At first I still believed that the elf attracted the Source to our northern lands, but I quickly realized that the man in the castle had a different interest. His courtship was becoming more and more insistent and his signs of attention more and more expensive. When the elf presented me with a bracelet decorated with precious lapis lazuli, I wince and shook my head.
- Lord Elwon, I am grateful for your help in opening the school, but you shouldn't count on anything more... on my part. Please, take it away, such gifts are inappropriate.
The elf was dissatisfied with his amazing purple eyes.
When he arrived, I was sitting in the library, once again trying to sort out Mother Briar's notes, and now I've moved the manuscript and got out of my chair. Clarius came closer.
- Chickenpox, there's a lot I can do for you. To give you whatever you want," he said in subtlety, "believe me, you must not disregard my... disposition.
I looked at him with astonishment.
- Lord Elwon, have I understood you correctly? - I was coldly informed, are you threatening me? How sweet... In that case, I think you have nothing more to do at Riverstein, and I can go directly to the Emperor of the Rainbow Empire for help. And for some reason, I'm sure he won't refuse me!
The elf was clever and quick to think he'd gone overboard.
- Chickenpox, forgive me," he said with a sigh, "I'm a fool... Don't chase me away, please," he smiled white-toothed, "just your wonderful beauty and your cold act so on me... It's hard to resist. I want to sprinkle you with jewellery and present you with the most beautiful gifts! I'm sorry. You're like the snow flower of the north... You know, at the top of Diamond Peak, a wonderful flower grows, with a bitter-sweet scent, you're so like it... Just as beautiful and inaccessible... Vetriana? What's wrong with you? You look so pale...
I took his hands when he rushed to me, picked up.
- It's okay.
And I went to the window, turned my back on him.
- Lord Elwon, let us finish this conversation. I'm sorry, I have a lot to do...
The elf stood up a bit, but he didn't insist, he left. Still, he knew how to learn from his mistakes.
* * *
The elf's attention to me, of course, didn't go unnoticed for Schader, and that night, he knocked on my door.
- Chickenpox, may I?
- Of course, come in. Is something wrong?
He stood there looking at me, and he frowned a little. I didn't hurry him.
- Chickenhead, don't you think it would be easier for you... for us... It would be easier if we announced our engagement? Functional, of course, - he added in a hurry, taking your eyes off it, - but that way you'll avoid unnecessary talk... And unpleasant attention for you. And I can legally protect you...
I sighed. Of course, that would be the way out, but how soon does Syder forget that the engagement is fake? Start seeing it as real and claim my rights?
So I shook my head.
- I'm afraid it's too late to save my reputation," I laughed, "and then I haven't cared much about her since some time. And I can protect myself from unnecessary attention. But... Thank you, Shaider. I know you wanted to help.
And from the flickering disappointment in his eyes, I knew I did the right thing. You shouldn't give Shaider more hope than you already have.
- You know, I had a manuscript in my hand," I translated an unpleasant subject, "but part of the text is written in runes, I can't read it. Can you help me?
I gave him Mother Briar's notes. A researcher in Shider had beaten a man for a moment, and he was interested in looking at the text.
- Where did you get this? - It's a manuscript written by Amalie the Seeing, a very famous magician of the Empire! You see, there's her sign? But I thought I read all her research!
- This is the manuscript she had written before she died," I sighed.
- Will you allow it?
Sayder deepened his reading, then grabbed clean paper and started writing out runes, muttering under his nose. I sighed with relief, rejoicing that this longing expression had disappeared from his eyes and now they were burning with the scientist's excitement.
* * *
And yet the elf has not abandoned his attempts to win my favour. But the gifts are no longer gifts, at least not so... personal. But he brought rare books and magic items for study, presented them as a gift to the school, and even pretended to be from the Empire, not personally from him. Sometimes I even pretended to believe it.
And one day he solemnly handed me a scroll bearing the seal of the Rainbow Empire: a small rainbow of color shone over
the paper, and the sun rose slowly.
- The Emperor's personal invitation to a ball to celebrate the founding of the Empire!
I still admired the wonderful rainbow and put the invitation aside.
- I am grateful to the Emperor for the honor he gave me. But, unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this ball. Please convey my apologies.
- But... Vetriana! - ...Lord Elwon has warned, the Emperor's invitation is not refused!
- Alas, I am forced to do so. I will not leave Riverstein. I hope the Emperor will forgive me," I said indifferently.
Clarius kept looking at me with his purple eyes.
- Chickenpox, why do you refuse? - He asked, "Believe me, you will be perfectly safe in the Empire! The Emperor's Palace is one of the safest places in the world, and I will personally be your escort. And your guardian... I ask you... Don't refuse...
I sighed and turned my back.
- I'll open a portal to the palace for you, Vetriana! - and you can go back to Riverstein whenever you like! It's still seven days till the ball, just think about it!
- Well, I'll... think about it," I answered, just to stop this conversation. The elf shone and left quite happy. And I immediately forgot about him and the Emperor's invitation...
Chapter 29
One of the most challenging tasks in opening the school was to reconfigure the Northern Kingdom's portals so that they led to Riverstein, not Eloar. And, of course, Shader had to do it.
- I'll take Danila with me," said Lord Darrell as he set out on the road, "the boy will benefit from the training. And by the way, Antashar volunteered with us too. But I think he'd better stay here, I don't like the fact that only women are left in the castle.
- Don't worry, the shield won't let uninvited guests in.
- Don't marry him, please," he asked.
- There is someone in my forest to protect me," I smiled.
Shyder shook his head.
- They never found Alir," he quietly reminded them.
- She doesn't need me. Her main purpose is to free Saar Kharrion, and she followed us only to get to ... the Archarion. Shaider, don't worry, everything will be fine.
The Wind of the North Page 67