by K. E. Young
Hegall hadn't been able to answer many of my questions about magic. He had no magic himself so had learned little. The books in the library were cryptic. I was still missing a piece that would allow the books to make sense. I had become obsessed with the subject. Sometimes it disturbed my sleep.
Part of the reason was the diminishing charge on my laptop. What little I had learned of magic led me to believe I could recharge it. I had a spare battery pack with a full charge, but it too would run down in time even if I didn't use it. I didn't want to lose the pictures, music, and stories that kept me sane during those bad days in the hospital after Carlos finished with me. It was all I had left.
I needed a real tutor. It was time for me to gather my courage and talk to Asag. Dragos had promised me he would have me tested for magic and taught if I proved to have the ability once I had settled in. I had settled enough.
Asag ran a hand through his wispy hair. His irritation at my request was predictable. "Young lady, you come from a world with no magic. You couldn't possibly have any talent for it. Besides, you are a woman. I can't imagine you have the will or intelligence to master it even if you had the talent. Don't challenge those who are better than you are. Stop looking into magic. It's not for you. Now if you don't mind, I have a great deal of work to do."
The sourpuss was in charge of my education and so far, that had included dancing, etiquette, geography, history, and how to serve food and wine to men. It felt as if I was being trained to be an ornament, but I didn't believe I was pretty enough for it. It made me feel useless. Asag made it plain he didn't think I was good enough. I knew I wasn't stupid, but everyone treated me as if I was. No one seemed to believe I was worth anything at all. Sometimes I wanted to scream in frustration. Then my saner side would win out and I would knuckle under as I always did.
It had been almost a full local month since I had arrived here. Since Asag wasn't willing to help me, maybe I should take over my magical education. Taking my leave, I bent my steps toward the library. Cryptic or not, those books were all I had.
I had scoured every single book in both the palace library and Dragos' personal library before I found something with the potential to help me. It took almost two weeks. I found it in the palace library during my second round of searching. It wasn't so much a book as it was a diary. It didn't look promising at first, a crumpled, handwritten journal shoved behind the other books. The early pages were a rambling account of the author's days so I would have dismissed it if I hadn't spotted a diagram identical to those in the magic texts while I was straightening its pages.
I sat on the floor of the library, surrounded by stacks of books leafing through the journal for hours. The dinner bell roused me. The boy had been a conscientious diarist so everything was in there. It started a week before his mage testing and ended a month into his training. However, it covered his training time in meticulous detail. Everything he learned was in the diary, including all those things the authors of the books on magic had left out.
I stayed up late into the night studying the journal. The next day, I had new questions for Hegall. I had a sneaking suspicion the books couldn't answer my questions. Hegall couldn't either. In fact, it was possible no one in this world could. I wanted to know how magic worked. I also wanted to know why it worked. What is it about this world? What did this place have that my world didn't? The scarcity of answers made me waste most of the precious remaining charge on my laptop and spare battery pack trying to find something. An e-book on physics gave me the glimmer of a clue I needed.
The clue was Quantum Theory, of all things. It was the concept that all probabilities are out there and the observation itself causes the collapse of those probabilities into the observed state. Sort of. Did magic just influence probability? Was it a way of selecting the outcome you wanted out of all possible outcomes and 'collapsing' things down to that chosen one or was magic more direct than that? Was it a mix of the two, or was it something else? I didn't know, but it made what the books said more understandable.
Now I had a provisional model in my head for how it worked and the books were making more sense, I tried to come up with a way around the problem of lacking help. I had to replicate the experience of mage testing without the input of an outside party, which required a deeper understanding of how magic and the brain intersected.
I turned back to quantum physics. Unfortunately, my laptop's power gave out before I had a firm answer. I wasn't sure the e-book even had such an answer. It had given me a few ideas though.
Lord Torabreth didn't ignore me at dinner that night. He didn't speak, he just kept shooting quizzical glances at me. I wish I knew what had changed.
It was late in the evening before I could wrap my head around how the testing process in the book might work on a theoretical level. I dreamed of it all night and in the morning, I woke with an idea of how I might test myself although I still wasn't sure it would even work.
After my dancing lesson, I went out into the garden and began the process of trying to figure out if I had magic or not. By dinnertime, I thought I could say, with a reasonable amount of surety, I did, in fact, have magic. Now I needed to learn how to use it.
It wouldn't be easy, but the books actually covered this part, so I had a lot more information to work with. Still… it would have been nice to have a teacher.
I got more of those quizzical looks from Lord Torabreth that night but I had a hard time paying attention. My mind whirled with excitement at my discovery.
Kaio: 10th of Rains, 3837
"Are you sure?" Kaio placed a stone to block Girru's attempt to seize a pair of his stones.
"Positive. Yesterday at lunch, she was terrified of me. Between lunch and dinner, something changed and now she isn't. In fact, she pays no attention to me at all now. I don't know what happened, but something did." Girru tapped the table in thought then placed his next stone. "I'm glad. It's unnerving to sit next to someone who's terrified of you for no reason, but this is odd. Too sudden."
It baffled Kaio. Why would she suddenly lose her fear? Did someone else frighten her more than Girru did? No, that wouldn't do it… So what could it be? His dragon stirred again and he sighed in frustration.
Sara: 11th thru 24th of Rains, 3837
After my morning lesson, I read everything I could find on what needed to happen first. Universally, the books insisted the student needed to master control before trying to learn 'spells'. They also spent a great deal of time talking about the 'domains of magic' without once explaining what those were. The boy's journal spoke of elements but didn't mention domains so I suspect I had yet another disconnect to research.
In the meantime, I spent time in the garden every day practicing the little control exercises. Some showed visible results I could see, and with others, the only way I could tell whether the exercise was a success was feeling it. I was sure all of this would be easier with a tutor, but it didn't look as if that would happen. I persevered. It was what I always did.
Gradually, my practicing bore results. The outcomes of my attempts became more predictable and the actions came easier. My ability to sense what was going on in the world around me grew until I could tell exactly who was walking the path on the other side of the hedge without either seeing or hearing them.
I had tested my new senses on the pillar in the entrance hall. The pillar was a spike of bedrock and the crack went all the way down then radiated out in a starburst. There was something… off about it, but nothing I could pin down. I might have more luck later once I've learned more and gotten more practice.
I found the peepholes in the room where the dancing lessons convened in the same way. In the evening after discovering this, I snuck into the room and closed the peepholes. Permanently. I felt guilty for changing Dragos' palace without permission, but it didn't stop me. I didn't know if anyone had been using the peepholes or not, but I wouldn't let them continue if I could help it. The next day my lesson went as usual, but the day after that, I walked
into the room for my lesson to find four lords waiting for me. The teacher informed me there would be an audience this time.
This told me they had indeed been watching before. Sweat gathered at the small of my back and my heart raced. "Master Lulim, I think we need the approval of the High-Lord, I don't want to get into trouble with him." Even the high-Lord's approval wouldn't make me comfortable. I did not like anyone watching me. I didn't like anyone even paying attention to me. It always turned out bad.
"Silly child, of course, he would approve. The whole purpose of the dance is to share it with your audience." From his expression, my balking irritated him.
Remembering Dragos' assurances during our last meeting, I did not think he would approve. "Master Lulim, I'm sorry. I'll run over to his office and ask him." I turned towards the door, wanting out of that room. "I'll be back as soon as I've spoken to him. It shouldn't take long."
"No. No, we'll do without the audience for today. I can speak to the High-Lord afterward." He bowed to the lords and escorted them to the door with many apologies and assurances he would resolve the situation.
As I expected, his corrections during the lesson were harsher than usual.
The next day, a servant directed me to a new room for my lesson. A quick check with my new senses as I was stretching showed me this room also had the peepholes. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to close them before Lulim gave me a smack with his cane, disrupting my focus. The awareness of an unwanted and covert audience ensured I was exceedingly clumsy during my lesson that day and I paid for it in welts and a few bruises.
Later that night I closed the peepholes. Then I visited every room I could, checking for more peepholes. When I found them, I closed them. I wouldn't let them watch me anymore.
Besides my time practicing control of magic, I looked through the 'spells' in the various books. Spells were just a procedure, what needed to happen in the world to gain the intended result. The will of the mage affected the results but there were core actions, processes, and transformations that needed to occur, and specific types and levels of energy used.
Lighting a candle, for example, was easy. It was a matter of feeding heat energy in a preferred range to the substance of the wick until it burst into flame. Almost any level of heat energy would work, but too low, it would take a long time or not reach ignition at all, too high, and you would vaporize the candle. The spells got a lot more complicated once manipulation of mass got involved.
The lack of variety baffled me though. If magic worked the way my theories indicated, the possibilities were considerably broader than what I was seeing. The books in Dragos' library expanded the range of spells but still seemed to rehash the same narrow range of concepts.
Constructed by magic, the palace itself was a concrete example that the Mage-Kings at least, used magic in a far wider range of applications than I was seeing in the books. Ariset's stories also testified to this. So why wasn't I seeing any of those reflected in the books? How and when was the knowledge lost?
I realized it didn't matter. Gone is gone. I had to focus on what I did have and, more importantly, on what I needed. I turned my focus back to the problem at hand. Someone, somewhere, somewhen had devised those spells. They must have had a reason for building them the way they did, which implied a method.
Maybe it was like programming. With that thought in mind, I looked closer at the spells in the books. The more I studied the spells, the more patterns became visible. With a little care and testing, could I come up with a 'programming language' for magic, or rather, for magic's manipulation of physics? The idea intrigued me. I knew programming. It was what I did for a living.
At that point, I had been in Therysal for over two earth months. Sixty-four days. Less than a month and a half in local terms. My days were full but predictable. Lessons with Hegall or Grila in the morning, lunch, the hated dance lessons, then magic practice, homework, magic study, dinner, and bed.
Fanul: 24th of Rains, 3837
Those damned dragonlords would spoil everything unless they acted soon. He had communicated with the others and they agreed. That fool Lord Gonturan was acting more firmly and was garnering more respect from those weak-willed Ansoren. Dagresh had already begun preparations.
He glanced out the window to check the weather. Perhaps he had time to visit his mansion in town. That thought died in his mind as it registered what he was seeing. The Nakairu was sitting in the garden with her hand held out, palm down. As he watched, another slim spike of stone rose from the ground next to its brethren. The woman smiled and then held her hand over the first spike in the line in front of her and it slid back into the earth. She removed each of the other spikes in turn. Then she started all over again with a new line of spikes.
Magic. The female had seemed a proper woman despite sitting above her betters. How dare she!
His smile was tight. He knew how to handle her. She would learn how to be a proper woman. Now, he had to get her away from the dragonmen. It would require caution.
3: Absence
Dragos: 47th of Rains, 3837
Dragos had already decided, but he wanted to hear what Asag had to say. "Explain this decision you made regarding Lady Sara's education."
"My lord, Hegall had taught her the basics. She did not need him anymore. Since she had learned all the required material I let him go." Asag's bearing was confident. He believed he had done what Dragos required of him.
Dragos was not pleased. "Not that decision, although I have an issue with it as well. The other decision. The dancing lessons."
"My lord?" Asag sputtered with startlement. He hadn't expected Dragos to object. "I realize she is here to help your Goddess, but she is still female. She will need a husband or protector and no lord will marry her without a fortune, land, or some other draw since she cannot give him children. To gain a protector, she will need a courtesan's skills. I was providing her with them."
Dragos roared his fury. He advanced on the now cowering Asag. "Sara is my ward! I am her protector and she will remain under my protection. She is Aria Atlani, just as the Drakkeni and Direni are, which makes us her people." Dragos' voice dropped to a hissing whisper. "Her place is among the Aria Atlani, not Therys! Sara is not, nor will she ever be, a whore!" He gritted his teeth and paced in front of Asag trying in vain for calm. "First, you will tell the dancing master his services are no longer required. Second, you will reinstate Hegall. Third, you will apologize to Sara for inflicting those foul lessons on her. When you have completed these tasks, you may gather your belongings and your final wages and leave. You are no longer welcome here."
"My lord, please! I did what I thought was best for her!"
Dragos' rage overflowed. He was certain the entire wing of the palace could hear his bellowing. "You don't have the right to decide what's best for Sara! That right is mine! She is my ward. I am her protector, not you. Your duty was to see my will done and you failed. Spectacularly. Get out!"
Dragos whirled and crossed the room to gaze out the window. He wondered what else had gone wrong. Perhaps he should summon Sara so he could ask her and apologize for allowing this to happen.
Dragos watched the rain and reached again for calm as Asag clattered out of the office. If he spoke to Sara in his current mood, he might frighten her.
He huffed in sudden humor. So she had already learned the basics of everything on his list? She was a diligent student. If she weren't so frightened of everyone, she would be a remarkable woman.
His mind had almost stilled when he heard the door open again behind him. He could see Arhis' reflection in the window. Dragos felt the stirrings of alarm. He hadn't expected the lad for at least another couple of hours. It was unusual for Arhis to fly at top speed unless it was important.
"Dragos, I have news from Drakken. I bring a message from your mother." Arhis' voice was grim and rough with fatigue.
A chill went up his spine at the words. He knew what Arhis would say. Dragos sighed and turned. "The message?"<
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Dragos could see the sympathy in the lad's eyes. "Come home. It's time."
Dragos dropped his head in sudden grief. All his life, Dragos had known this time would come. "Thank you. Could you have Kaio see me?"
Kaio: 47th of Rains, 3837
Kaio was loping through the palace hallways, not a full out run, but not walking either. Arhis had roused him from a game of Hamsat with Girru. Dragos wanted to see him. Arhis' swift return from his courier run to Drakken was alarming enough. The grim expression he wore ensured Kaio didn't dawdle.
He let himself into Dragos' office to see his friend looking out the window at the rain. "You called for me?" Kaio's concern had him examining Dragos for tells. His bearing didn't show anger so it couldn't be war.
"When I came here, my mother made me promise to return if it looked as if Rhal was likely to die. He has been sick all summer, but now he's gotten worse. I need to go home. I'm leaving you in charge." Dragos' voice was strained and rough.
Kaio felt for his friend. For the past six years, his uncle had been more father to him than his sire. He would grieve himself… later, in private. "I understand. When do you leave?"
"Dawn. I'll keep you apprised of what's happening in Drakken. I'm asking Arhis to double his runs. Also, Sano is looking into a few murders in the town. All women, all tortured before they died. There are no leads yet and he may require your help. No one has claimed any of the bodies for burial or reported them as missing."
Kaio nodded. "Anything else?"
Dragos blew his breath out in sudden anger. "A few minutes ago, I fired Asag for inflicting dancing lessons on Sara. If he had simply stopped her lessons with Hegall, I might have let him keep his job. I need you to pass on my apologies to her. The dancing lessons should never have happened. I also need to thank you. Your note about Asag firing Hegall forced me to look into her education more closely. I didn't know." This last statement came out strained.