“I am sorry, Dean Echobart. Until this moment, I had heard nothing about any artifact, or where such might be taken.” Jess took a deep breath, choosing her next words carefully. “I am concerned for Lady Vaila and little Louise being the only ones to dedicate themselves to the garden. Perhaps it would not be remiss if your most trusted students and professors of magic also took a… deeper interest in the herbal arts. Learning to harness and channel the innate properties of herbs can certainly do no harm, and if nothing else, every wizard should know enough to brew a proper tea for upset stomachs or headaches, no?”
Jess’s smile was almost self-deprecating, but a grave looking dean instantly understood the meaning behind her words.
“Of course you are right. The lore and secrets of our master herbalist should be freely shared among all those dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. With all the applications the various herbs and flowers you nurture with such exquisite care have in the healing arts, we are fools not to consider their application within the elementalist tradition as well.” Echobart positively beamed. “I shall start a standing rotation of our most talented students and professors to look after, or perhaps I should say learn to appreciate the wondrous potential of our most precious shoots within that garden, assuming they have any inclination towards entering that most special sanctuary at all.”
Jess nodded her approval at that. “I, for one, wouldn’t mind giving some of my professors a lesson or two for a change.” She chuckled, relieved that the sacred shoot within that garden would be well protected, for all that she still found the idea that something so precious was attuned to her school to be nothing short of mind boggling.
She had always known it in her gut, but after all that had occurred since she had woken from dream into nightmare, Jess was compelled to accept head-on what she had always kept in the periphery of her awareness, just how special that sacred little oak really was.
Eloquin turned to gaze at the dean. “I thought no one who wasn’t attuned to that garden could possibly gain admittance, in any case.”
The dean sighed. “So far, from what we can tell, your assumption is correct. Jess, Louise, and Lady Vaila are some of the very few who can even cross the threshold into that sanctuary. Still, my dear Eloquin, it does not hurt to see if any further students and professors of a horticultural bent are of, shall we say, the right temperament to appreciate the possibilities of our little rooftop garden.”
Jess gazed at the dean, suddenly shaken. “I’ve always wondered in the back of my mind why so few people ever even visit the garden. Why the Healers Wing always asks for Lady Vaila or myself to personally bring the cuttings they need. Are you saying that most people can’t even enter the garden? That seems strange to me. I, for one, felt completely welcome ever since the first day I came to the college.”
Dean Echobart’s gaze twinkled with mirth. “Bright-eyed and raring to go, utterly excited for the martial contests soon to begin, and yet somehow you had heard about the garden and just had to have someone take you there. I must say I knew from that very day you were something special. For you approached that oaken doorway with awe and wonder, showing not the slightest hesitation in climbing those stairs and immediately taking careful inventory of our herbal treasures, even commenting on the plants and their soil, as your father and I carefully watched from below.” He chuckled softly. “When your father explained that you had a way with plants, I was not surprised in the least to hear of it, to tell you the truth. Most students and professors have no interest in even approaching that final stairway to the rooftop garden entrance, some youths even making a dare of it.”
Jess blinked. “Really.”
Malek nodded solemnly. “It's true, Jess. And no one even gets more than a few steps up. I’ve heard more than one of those idiots whining about how they felt the touch of their own death upon their hearts when they started up that stairway, as if they were fragile ghosts who could be effortlessly torn from their mortal coil, their awful peril increasing with every step they took. Most everyone agrees it is warded by strongest magics to protect the healer’s most precious and fragile cuttings, vital to so many of their restorative rituals. As you know, the far larger garden where Lady Vaila teaches most of her students is opposite the training grounds, guarded by head high hedges so the naturalists aren't unduly traumatized by our warlike carrying-on.” Malek grinned. “To be honest, Jess, this is one of the reasons Alex thinks you must be a Druid, because you have such an affinity with the rooftop sanctuary that even it knows to let you pass.”
Jess felt herself blush. “Why did you never tell me this before, Malek?”
Malek blinked, shaking his head in befuddlement. "I'm not sure, Jess. I just knew that the garden was a natural fit for you. As for myself? I never had any inclination to head up there. I don’t think I’m afraid of it, it's just that I’ve always seen plants as your interest, not mine.”
Jess grinned. “We shall have to go up there together sometime, and see if my brother-in-arms is brave enough to pick weeds with me.”
Malek chuckled. “You’re on, shieldsister!” He yawned then. “But not until we get a good night’s sleep under our belts.” Jess nodded her heartfelt agreement, barely holding back a yawn of her own.
As she was almost stumbling to her feet, Dean Echobart himself escorted Jess back to her quarters even as Eloquin led Malek to his own, that mark of favor causing more than a few heads to turn and stare as the dean kept up a friendly stream of soothing chatter, in addition to quietly commending Jess for the noble services she had already performed on behalf of Highrock. Jess blinked in amazement, wondering if the dean was having her on with talk of her facing down creatures of fantasy and nightmare, but the reverent stares sent her way by more than a few students stilled her tongue.
As overwhelming as the day had been, she couldn’t deny how good it felt to be appreciated, and her last memory was of the dean’s gentle smile as he bade her goodnight, quietly shutting the door to her quarters even as she lay her head upon soft down-filled pillows, savoring the songs of birds and the gentle touch of the sun upon her skin as she drifted off into deepest sleep, frowning only slightly when she realized she had completely forgotten to ask her kitty what exactly Lady Vaila had meant when she called Jess a Paladin of Yis.
“Never you mind that, my mistress,” Twilight soothed, as if reading her very mind. “Rest, now. All will be revealed in good time.”
4
Jess, are you awake yet?”
Jess moaned at the polite wrap upon her door.
“Jess, wake up. You've been asleep for days!”
Jess sighed, knowing Malek wasn’t going to quit if she didn’t make some response. Now that she was back among the land of the living. She halfway thought he could sense her.
“Jess, I know you're back. Come on, let’s be off!”
Jess grimaced. Bloody hells, how he did know?
“No Delvers here, just girls trying to get their beauty sleep! Go away, Malek.”
A soft chuckle on the other side of the door. “You’re a hellion of battle, Jess. Not some fragile little porcelain princess! What you need, shieldsister, is a good workout! Seriously Jess, come down to the dining hall with me. I’m starved, aren’t you?”
Jess grumbled but couldn’t deny the growling in her belly, cracking a massive yawn even as she made her way to the door. Of course she sensed Malek’s presence immediately, conveyed to her the moment she touched her exquisitely worked door, fingers lingering for a moment upon the exquisite oak tree carving in the door's center. She loved that it had such a semblance of life one could almost imagine the miniature leaves blowing in the breezy draft from ever opened windows that kept the air in her room always fresh and invigorating with the scents of forest and field, somehow always present no matter the season, much to her pleasure.
Malek just stared at a yawning Jess as she yanked open the door entirely, ignoring the curious gazes of passing students as well, before stumbling back to her bed. �
��Come in, shieldbrother, say hello. Then get me a bowl of fish stew. Maybe I can sleep and eat at the same time, if I give it some thought.” She then slumped back upon feather soft pillows, even as she felt a gentle weight upon her belly, her sleepy gaze meeting orbs of brilliant sapphire.
Twilight smiled down at her. “Did I hear the words ‘fish stew?’ what a delicious thing to say, my most beloved mistress,” her familiar purred, gently kneading Jess’s belly even as she murmured in protest. “Come, my Jess. We have slept quite well indeed, and nearly a week has passed. Let us rejoin our companions in the main hall, hear all the interesting tidbits of gossip our friends care to share, and of course, partake of Cook’s most savory fish stew.”
Jess sighed, shaking her head in defeat. "Very well, Twilight. Since you and Malek are both double-teaming me, it's not like I have much choice, I suppose."
Malek grinned from the doorway. “If your invisible familiar is telling you to join me, bravo! But you might want to put some clothes on, Jess. You’re still dressed solely in your mithril hauberk, and for all that it falls to your knees, mythical armor and bare feet might get you more looks than you want to deal with, this early in the day. Since, well, you can sort of make out, um, other bits.”
Jess grimaced and nodded. “Close the door, Malek. I’ll be out shortly.”
And not too much later, a much refreshed Jess who had rather expediently woken herself up by splashing an entire pitcher of water over her head was ready to go, the clean lines of her Highrock doublet and tights only somewhat marred by the mithril shirt she was obviously wearing underneath, Jess utterly ignoring her shieldbrother’s quirked eyebrow.
“Well, at least you're in uniform, shieldsister. And I suppose we never can tell when enemies from Shadow will attack us from unseen corners.”
“Exactly!” Jess concurred, oblivious to Malek’s amused grin. “One never can tell, and I sure as heck am not leaving my mithril unguarded.”
“Why not? It's not like your room will open to anyone besides yourself.”
Jess grinned. “Okay, I admit it. I just like to wear it. Now come, let us head to our table. I can tell by the way kitty is kneading my doublet that he is getting inpatient.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jess. Ooh. Is that Cook’s stew I smell? I do believe it is! Come, hurry, sit! Excellent. Now tell the nice serving boy to put down an extra bowl.” Twilight purred happily once Malek and Jess were seated, quite contentedly digging into his own bowl of stew which somehow no one could bear to look at for more than a moment without their eyes tearing up, causing them to squint and look away.
“Jess! Malek! It is good to see you both hale and whole. I understand our fine college owes you yet another debt of gratitude.” This from Rafael, dressed as elegantly as ever, tall and graceful with a fencer’s lean build. Honey brown hair fastened back with a golden loop, his exquisitely tailored crimson doublet, only nominally reminiscent of the standard Highrock uniform, nonetheless showed his figure to brilliant effect, and much like the gentleman he was, he first pulled out a chair for his beloved Josie, aspiring healer who had somehow won the heart of perhaps the most eligible noble in all of Highrock, before sitting down himself.
Josie’s rich brown eyes gazed warmly at her two dear friends. “It is good to see you both up, hale and whole. I swear, Jess, every time you to fall into that Delver’s sleep, I fear you might never return to us.”
Jess gave a solemn nod, even as she spooned yet more of the savory fish stew, light and flaky, into her mouth. Absolutely delicious. “Believe me, Josie. No one is happier to be awake than myself,” she smiled. “Now if someone could tell me exactly why I was in a Delver’s sleep to begin with, I’d love to hear the story.”
Malek began to splutter and cough, Jess giving him a good smack on the back till his throat was clear once more. “Bloody hells, I forgot to tell you! I’m sorry, Jess. From what I can gather, we defeated a diabolical lich intent on pulling the Wizards Wing into a realm of shadow, or perhaps it was the avatar of Winter himself who sought to freeze the entire college in ice and snow. For some reason, no one is clear on that part, and the bards wrote the account using such florid prose you could interpret the story either way. Anyway, after all that, some diabolical group of bastards used some sort of evil dream magic to attack the entire college while we were still lost in slumber from our first Delving.
"From what Master Enchanter Rens and Dean Echobart say, it is likely that our experiences in the Dreamrealms, facing down those horrors and somehow becoming stronger for it, allowed us to crack through that mantel of dreams, as well as giving us an edge in actually taking the battle to our foes in Shadow. Once our enemies found out that some of us had teeth, so to speak, they withdrew from their attack, and fled, I suppose.”
Jess gazed at her friends in astonishment, stew momentarily forgotten. “Wait a minute. You all are telling me that these assailants somehow managed to trap our entire school in a dream before assaulting us directly? How is that even possible?”
Raphael just shrugged. “Truth to tell, I have no idea, dear Jess. I can only say I’m glad that you and Malek were once again here to save the day.”
Josie nodded solemnly. “Commander Eloquin and his elites vouch for the story, those who remember it. They said our enemies were trying to kill us in the realm of dreams, and that somehow his Squires were able to fight them off. Truth to tell, since most of the students who were attacked in the dream have fully recovered, more than a few professors wanted to believe it was just the work of some mage practicing some sort of dream magic.”
Jess blinked. “Dream magic?”
Josie nodded, rich brown eyes animated, her blond tresses seeming to shimmer as stray shafts of light caught them as she bobbed her head. Jess sighed and shook herself, refusing to be distracted by her friend’s gentle beauty. Besides, she already had Raphael, and the two made an adorable pair. “That’s right. Some thought it just dream magic. But when they were forced to look at the bodies of those who crossed blades with Eloquin’s band, falling out of dream entirely, they couldn’t deny how real and deadly those magics had been.”
Raphael grunted in agreement. “Truly. And my understanding is that most of those kills can be laid at your feet, Jess, Malek. Something about the potency of your Delver magics, perhaps? In any event, two of their number that crashed out of dream survived. And you may rest assured that our more military minded professors, survivors of the border wars with Velheim, were quite happy to polish rusty skills and squeeze every bit of information that they could from those surviving bandits.”
Jess and Malek exchanged a fierce grin. “A pity we weren’t there to assist,” Malek quipped wryly.
“Such a bloodthirsty Hound,” Twilight mused from his bowl of stew. “I knew there was something I liked about you, Malek.”
Jess couldn’t help laughing, for all that she felt like she had just heard the rebuttal to a quip she had forgotten long ago. She stopped abruptly as her friend’s puzzled expressions. “Sorry. Twilight just said something funny.”
Josie nodded solemnly. “Of course. In any event, those bandits had been making a play for a valuable artifact within the school, but we couldn’t get any more information than that, Alex saying he was sworn to secrecy by Rens, even though he’s one of ours.”
Jess nodded solemnly, appreciating the distinction. Alex and Jera being two other members of their Circle of Midnight, the name they had made for themselves long ago, when they would get together and gossip about their adventures and explorations within the forgotten library that they called their own.
“Well, we can hardly blame him for keeping his word, can we?” Quipped a grinning Alex as he made his way to table, plopping himself down with a bowl of hot steaming stew. His dark eyes twinkled with mirth and intelligence in equal measure, one hand absently brushing his light brown hair. Small of stature, he was hardly a lad to be feared in the training rings, but should the arcane arts be in play, his mastery of ele
mental magics was already the equivalent of many a veteran battlemage, and from what Jess understood, his career as a renowned and respected elementalist and enchanter was all but assured.
He winked at Josie. “Fear not, sister of the Circle. Anything that would affect your safety, you can rest assured you would find out, one way or another. But just as I keep confidences within our group, so too I have confidences I must keep to other parties.”
Raphael gave an understanding nod. “I know how it is, friend Alex. Obligations of friends, family, and contract all may necessitate discretion; one’s primary duty being in that case to assure no party you are close to suffers needlessly at the hands of any other party you work with, which may sometimes necessitate you making certain concessions so that all may benefit, and none suffer harm.”
Alex nodded. “Something like that, I suppose. In any event, you have the right of it, Josie. Those raiders were a pair of rotten apples, their taint visible even with our limited abilities to sense such things. When faced with the prospect of the king’s justice, they were all too happy to share certain details which must remain secret for now. Suffice to say, their primary goal was thwarted, thank all the gods, even if their secondary objective was successfully achieved.”
Malek frowned, glancing at Jess, and she gave a reassuring smile, spotting the faint blue outline of the rune Alex had discretely placed upon their dining table. No neighboring student would be able to casually overhear their discussion.
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