by Jay Boyce
There were many sublayers of context in that statement. She heard how the wives of the Resaigh were treated, how they were essentially trapped. From the thoughtful look on his face, it was something he was thinking of too. Perhaps Jamil was a progressive? Either way, based on what he said, it seemed he’d given up on the idea of taking her as a wife, and was instead trying to solidify his position as a potential ally.
She genuinely liked smart people. They were so much easier to deal with. Nodding as they continued to eat, she answered, “I think I’d like that. Thank you for the invitation.” Hesitating a little, she lowered her voice further and asked, “Can I ask a personal question?” At his nod, she continued, “I am quite curious as to how you got your poison resistance to advanced.”
He froze up completely, causing a few others at the table to cast glances at them, wondering what she’d said as he finally blinked and turned to her, asking softly, “How do you know I have that?”
Her lips twitched up in what she thought would be a mysterious smile as she spoke in that same almost whisper, “I have my ways. I admit, seeing someone as young as you with two advanced skills is quite impressive, but I can understand how you got archery to advanced with enough use. Poison, however, is a different matter. Either it was on purpose or someone tried to kill you...a lot. I want to know which it was.”
The quiet assurance with which she pointed out his two highest skills made his eye twitch, but also affirmed that she really did know what she was talking about, Primarily because she stated that he only possessed the two. After all, skill levels were something which most people kept quiet about. Especially as royalty. It was generally considered a good idea to keep people unaware of your skills so you could use them as trump cards when necessary.
Letting out a small sigh, he kept his voice to barely nothing as he replied, “Both. After a few incidents when I was younger, my father gifted me with Shazim. Between the natural resistance I got from the bond and training after, I raised it to a level where I feel safer.” He shook his head, then asked in a more normal voice, “Does that answer your question?”
“Yes, I very much appreciate your honesty.” She smiled warmly at him, and the rest of the dinner passed in more normal conversation with the others at the table. At the same time, she was thinking of what he inadvertently revealed to her. The bond didn’t just raise the intelligence of the bonded, nor simply allow you to mentally communicate or use their senses. It implied there was a deeper transference of key characteristics.
If that was the case, what did she get from her fellacai? And what had they gotten from her? There were three things she’d taken from them: flight, magical resistance, and different magics. Because of her siphoning, it would be hard to pinpoint what actually came from them naturally versus what she took via her special ability. Had her gains in those three areas risen more naturally and easily because of her connection? She had so many questions, but she put them off until she could have a good conversation with her babies.
As the dinner came to an end, Jamil stood up, addressing the group at large. “I’d like to thank all of you for coming tonight. We look forward to many such future activities and the continued alliance between our two nations. Lastly, I’d like to thank Lady Jade for teaching us of her world and expanding our horizons. May all of us leave now with the blessings of the gods.”
He put his hand on his heart before extending it outwards, and most of the guests got to their feet, imitating the same gesture while including a bow. The words, “May the blessings of the gods be upon you!” were repeated from almost every mouth. Obviously, it was a traditional farewell, as the people stood and began to mingle or leave after the gesture. Jade was surprised by the whole thing, not expecting the unity of their actions.
Jamil held his hand out to her, and thinking absently that he wanted to shake it, she placed her fingers in his. Lifting it to his mouth, he gave the back of her hand a light kiss as he grinned and spoke to her, “I look forward to getting to know you better, Lady Jade. Have a wonderful night.”
“Thank you, A’Udar Faris. It was a lovely meal.” She nodded to him as he let her go, turning to bid farewell to the rest of the family while Victor grinned at her, holding out an arm. After making sure her babies were properly placed, she once again took it, holding her skirts out of the way as much as she could.
He led her outside after bidding his own farewell to Jamil, and the rest of his family followed soon after. When they got into the hall and she let out a sigh of relief that things had gone so well, Victor grinned and nudged her slightly. “You did it. We made it through dinner without any problems.”
“Or proposals!” Camille interjected happily, obviously giddy that she hadn’t had to reject the future ruler of Resaigh.
Jade nodded thoughtfully. “Indeed. A’Udar Faris is much more reasonable than I was led to believe.” She raised her brows slightly, and Victor coughed and looked away.
Will piped up from beside her, “This is honestly the most reasonable we’ve ever seen him. The last few times he visited he was much more…” Will paused, searching for the right word, then seemed to give up and said bluntly, “arrogant. He was arrogant, haughty, and in general treated everyone as beneath him. I don’t know what changed.”
“Jade.” Hunter said only her name, and when everyone looked at him in confusion, he clarified. “Jade is the difference. Last time he was here, there was no traveler. Jade already showed an aversion to him at the gate, and he undoubtedly heard about what happened at the tea party. Being in the city, his people have obviously been gathering information and heard about how powerful she is. He made the smart choice to make her an ally, and not an enemy, and thus changed his behavior accordingly.”
Silence met Hunter’s conjecture, until Victor finally spoke up again, “That’s probably a big part of it, you’re right. But it’s also been almost ten years since we last saw him. People do change.”
Hunter shrugged. “Yeah, it’s probably both of those things.”
Thoughtfully, Jade asked, “Was he bonded to Shazim the last time he was here?” They looked at her curiously, obviously trying to remember.
Ashanna was the one who spoke up, obviously remembering better than her children. “No, he was riding a normal ancalom the last time he arrived.”
Jade paused at the unfamiliar word, then realized she was referring to the creature the rest of his delegation arrived on, something like a mix between a camel and an antelope as far as she could tell. In the end, she shrugged, “Well, that probably influenced him as well. He’s experienced several attempts on his life after that and gone through a lot of harsh training.” Curious eyes looked at her, obviously wondering how she’d gotten that information. She shrugged minutely again. “He told me a little after I asked how he got advanced poison resistance.” It was something she figured they should probably know about, anyway, even though they all looked shocked at that information.
“Advanced poison resistance? That’s madness.” Tisha shook her head dazedly, obviously voicing out the opinion of most of the royal family. Even Jade agreed.
“Wait, how did you even know he had advanced poison resistance?” Hunter asked quietly, and she grinned at him. Just like Jamil probably changed after the attempts on his life, she’d noted that Hunter became much more alert and thoughtful after his kidnapping. Or maybe it was that she’d been spending more time with him and felt more comfortable with him. She wasn’t sure.
Looking at the guards around them, she smirked mysteriously and shook her head. “I have my ways.” She might’ve outed herself slightly to them, but they obviously saw her glance and decided not to pursue it...for now.
They’d reached the royal wing, and one by one, they bid goodnight as they stepped into their rooms. Victor dropped her off with Camille, whose room she’d be sharing for the night. Camille’s maid helped them out of the fancy dresses they’d been wearing, and Jade took a few deep breaths, enjoying the feeling of being able to breathe
freely once more.
“Ugh, I’m so glad we don’t have to wear those very often.” Camille voiced her thoughts as Jade explored her suite of rooms.
“Agreed,” she responded absently, her attention caught by the doors that led to what was obviously a balcony. Camille grinned, beckoning for her to go ahead when she saw Jade’s distraction. She quickly opened the doors, walking out into the chill night air. Despite the fact that she felt exceedingly full from trying all the delicious foods, it was still only a little after nine. Sure, she could go to sleep now and try to be fully rested for tomorrow. That was probably the smart thing to do.
However, she felt restless, looking out over the city from four floors up. It wasn’t raining currently, but the dark clouds hadn’t gone away. With a sigh, she pulled out one of her glass balls that was filled with blue light, creating a metal band for it and attaching it to the balcony. It wasn’t very bright, but it would serve her purpose of acting as a beacon.
“Jade, what are you doing?” Camille’s voice was slightly suspicious as she watched Jade’s actions.
Looking back at the older girl, she smiled a little guiltily as she responded, “I know I’m not going to be able to sleep, so I’m going to go out for a bit. Don’t worry, I won’t stay out too long.”
“Can I come?” Jade hadn’t been expecting the question, but she immediately shook her head.
“Sorry, I’d like a little alone time. Next time?”
Camille sighed. “I’m going to hold you to that, you know. Be careful, and come back quickly.”
“I will.” Jade smiled, then pointed at the glass. “Just don’t lock me out, and leave that there so I can find the right window when I get back.” Camille nodded, and before she could raise any more objections, Jade ran forward, vaulting off the railing to sail through the air, lowering her gravity, and forming her bubble around her as she quickly rose instead of plummeting.
She just needed some fresh air. She’d be back soon...ish.
Chapter Thirty-Eight – Wall
As she shot into the sky, she didn’t actually have a plan of where she was going. All she knew was that for a little while, she wanted to get away from the castle. She felt a sense of restlessness she couldn’t pinpoint the origin of. The dark clouds overhead blocked out any potential starlight that might’ve come through, granting the night an eerie hue as she observed the lights below. She could see drizzles of rain falling in patches across the city, the distortion in the darkness making it harder to see very far.
It wasn’t a conscious decision that led her to the edge of the city, but more an attraction to the line of light, the darkness beyond, and a gut feeling. As she drew closer, she could hear the sounds of battle, which confused her for a moment before she dove lower. A cloudy night would be perfect for a mesmer raid, after all, and she felt her stomach sink. Was this why they’d been quiet? Was Marcelle still okay? She’d check just as soon as she made sure the people in front of her were all right.
“Get them off the walls! Destroy their ladders!” As she shot down like a bullet, she could hear Ammon’s voice amidst the din of battle, yelling orders. She couldn’t stop the momentary breath of relief that it wasn’t a mesmer attack, until she realized that it was an orc attack and they’d somehow gotten ladders onto the walls. This wasn’t like the previous attack where misshapen misfits were shot down at a distance. No, this was a cunning group and she couldn’t help but be reminded of Helm’s Deep.
A quick assessment of the battle from her aerial view had her shooting towards the largest group that carved its way to the top of the wall, and she silently ordered her little ones, “Go help confuse the orcs or push them off the walls.” Her fellacai took off as she got closer to her targets. There was a group of orcs holding off the humans while more swarmed up the large trellis they were protecting. Didn’t look much like a ladder to her.
Her magic might be powerful, but it was still a lot better at close range. “It’s Lady Jade!” She heard one soldier cry out as they noticed her above them. At twenty feet away and closing, she sent blades of wind at the orcs, grumbling when she realized that while it cut the first line in half, there was a shield of water protecting the trellis thing. She finally noticed three shaman looking orcs who were standing guard there and realized why they hadn’t been pushed back before.
Activating her mana sight, the orcs literally glowed with a dense magical aura. Two of them were focused on maintaining the shield, while one of them was throwing spears of darkness. As the shaman released his next spear, she tried to grab hold of it in an effort to stop it from hitting the soldier it was targeting, but she obviously underestimated the power of the shaman. At least her struggle for power wasn’t useless, as it accomplished three things: it slowed the power of the shadow spear, misdirected the trajectory enough to turn a fatal blow to the chest into a non-lethal blow to the soldier’s shoulder, and made the shaman intensely angry and focused on her.
She could see the magic swirling around the shaman as she cut the string that tied it to the shadow spear, which promptly dissolved with the cry of the soldier that she didn’t quite have the ability to spare a moment for just yet, because she had shamans to deal with. Anger at their ability to hurt someone right in front of her bubbled up. She wasn’t helpless, and she snarled as she ran straight at them, her voice thundering with compulsion and hypnotism, “Drop the magic!” Their water wall was no protection from the sound, and looks of slightly dazed surprise crossed all of their faces as, for a moment, the water wall dropped and the shadows around them dispersed.
A moment was all it took. Her magic was reaching for them when they turned into pincushions, and she skidded to a stop in surprise. It took a second for her to compute that when she’d cleared the outer layer of orcs, she’d freed up the soldiers around her from their fights, and they’d turned that into an opportunity to wait for the right moment to strike. As soon as the shield dispersed, they acted. She could already see soldiers rushing to the man who’d been speared, as another mage used wind to push the trellis from the wall, sending the orcs climbing it crashing to the ground. Other soldiers regained their positions and began to shoot, some breaking off to help turn the tide along the rest of the wall. In a moment, order returned with a crisp efficiency that left her dumbfounded.
She heard garbled voices in a language she didn’t understand, and stared blankly as the orcs quickly began to retreat, running off into the wheat fields in the darkness. “I helped!” The tiny voice in her mind finally made her come to as Bolt zigged in front of her proudly, echoed by her other little ones returning to whirl triumphantly around her. She shook her head, still feeling a little dazed as she noticed the sidelong looks she was receiving for standing there blankly. She’d been all prepared to rush in and be the hero, but she’d barely done...anything? And then it was over. She was still trying to process it all.
“Lady Jade, could we trouble you to have a look at the wounded?” The voice drew her attention to the soldiers who’d been pulled back from the edge, others obviously providing what emergency first aid they could.
“Of course! Sorry, of course.” Her reply was still a bit of dazed nonsense, and she saw the guard frown a little as she quickly made her way to the wounded. The standing guards gave way when they realized she was there. Laying her hands on guard after guard, she quickly and efficiently healed them one after another. Once they’d found out she was there, they’d started bringing all the wounded to her and laying them in a row so that she could get to them easily. Other healers were working along the line too, taking care of what they could, and she realized some of them looked vaguely familiar from the group healings she’d participated in before. They were the apprentices that Scylla and Mike brought.
She kept her hands clean with water magic, due to the fact that she kept pulling food from her ring and shoving it into her mouth to replenish her energy as she healed. When she got to the end of the line, she paused, looking around. She’d been so focused on healin
g that she’d sort of tuned everything else out. The orc bodies had been cleared away, and several water mages were working to clean up the green and red blood that was splashed liberally across the walkway. She finally registered the sharp tang of iron, struggling with a bit of nausea until she created a tiny breeze around her to freshen the air. She almost giggled when her little ones flocked to the fresh air, and made the breeze a little bigger for them.
“Thank you for your help, Lady Jade.” The voice startled her, and she turned to find a man who looked to be in his thirties standing beside her. From the respectful distance everyone was giving them, she realized he was probably a captain or something equivalent. She nodded absently. She didn’t feel like she’d done all that much in the fight, but the healing was probably helpful in getting everyone up faster, at least. She realized the problem was that she was feeling more useless than usual. She’d gotten used to being the ‘hero’ and doing everything herself. She realized now why the barbarian rage made people attack their own party. You were all hyped up to kill something, going for it, only to have someone else kill-steal before you could get there.
The man pulled her out of her introspection as he went on, “Count Ammon has asked that I bring you to him, if you have time?” He phrased it as a question, but she could tell he was under orders to try and get her to come.
She nodded, gesturing forward. “Of course. Um, while we walk, can you maybe explain what just happened? I’m pretty sure I only caught the tail end of it. Also, what was your name?” The whole situation was throwing her back to when she’d first arrived in the world and no one introduced themselves, and she was useless. However...this was probably a good reminder that she didn’t have to do everything by herself. The people around her weren’t incompetent nincompoops, they were highly trained warriors. Sure, she might have the advantage of crazy stats and a world of stolen ideas, but they’d spent their whole lives fighting and honing their skills.