Valbore (Tasks of the Nakairi Book 1)

by K. E. Young

  She smiled shyly and nodded. "Something about the Mage-Kings? I hadn't taken my history studies back that far yet."

  "Absolutely, My One. I'll be back shortly. Sano…"

  "I'll keep her safe until you return my friend." Sano smiled and pulled the chair next to the bed around to straddle it.

  Kaio left and hurried to the library. He had seen Sara there a few times and looked around curiously at the section of the library that would have been behind her. He could see two places the secret entrance could be. However, that was now Sano's problem. He had a mission to fulfill.

  He made his selections then stopped at his office on the way back and gathered all of the pending paperwork. If he had to stay close, he might as well be productive. If he were honest with himself, what he wanted more than anything was to spend time getting to know his mate and letting her get to know him.

  When he got back, Sano was regaling her with stories of their youth when he, Kaio and Dragos has been the terror of the Imperial Palace, Sano being the son of the Captain of the Guard. She had relaxed in the glow of Sano's open charm and was laughing unreservedly. Kaio stood quietly in the doorway, loath to disturb them despite the thread of jealousy he felt. He got the feeling Sara didn't get much chance to laugh.

  Sara looked up at him and her smile warmed. "Kaio! What did you bring me? I see books."

  Kaio thought to himself that if she always got that look on her face when he brought her gifts, then he would be doing it a lot. "One on the mage wars, the biography of a diplomat at the Mage-Kings court at the end of the war, and the last one is a Drakkeni book of funny stories translated into Trade. It's one of my favorites. I also chose Ariset's Myths and Legends for myself."

  She laughed shyly. "I wondered if you really thought it sounded interesting."

  "I did." He placed the stack of books on the table next to the bed for her. "Hungry?"

  She looked exasperated. "Yes. How? I ate not too long ago!"

  "Magic assisted healing uses a lot of energy."

  "If it's so demanding, then why use it?"

  "Because it reduces or even eliminates scar tissue and the effects of infection. What would have left a great deal of scarring without the assist will leave little or none with it." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Besides, it means you're healed in days rather than weeks. I don't like seeing you in pain."

  Sano rose with a chuckle. "You two are unbearably sweet together. I was going to spend my day interrogating Dagresh, but I find myself with unexpected free time so if you don't mind, I'll go see if I can track down some secret passages."

  Kaio snorted. "It's not free time if it's filled with duties ordered by Dragos."

  "I knew I should have drowned him in the fountain." Sano's glum expression was comical.

  "Ha. You tried. Twice." Kaio slapped him on the back before saying, "Thank you."

  Sano smiled. "As always. See you tonight if not sooner."

  After Sano left Kaio sat next to Sara. "So, is there anything your heart desires besides books?"

  She was abruptly solemn. "There isn't anything I need."

  "Is there nothing you want? Jewelry, perfume, combs for your beautiful hair. You're making it hard for me to give you gifts."

  Her eyes were wide and she looked uncertain. "I don't need all that."

  He hadn't predicted this battle. Had no one ever given her gifts before? "My One, you aren't limited to what you need. Haven't you ever thought about what you want? Haven't you ever dreamed of what you would get if you could?"

  She looked uncomfortable and he cupped her cheek. "Sara, you're stuck with me and if I see the same expression from you every time I give you a gift I saw when I brought in those books, then I will give you a gift every day for the rest of your life."

  She blushed and looked down. He thought she would appreciate a change of subject. It would give her time to absorb the message that she had value. "My mother will come to meet you. I asked her for help on what was necessary for a princess who also happens to be an earth mage."

  "What does that mean? The books weren't clear. They spoke a great deal about domains but never defined them. The journal I found spoke of elements but ended before the distinction was clear. I suspect they're related but I don't know for sure." She seemed grateful for the change.

  She had developed her ability to the extent she could repair the pillar without knowing something so basic? His respect grew. "In simplest terms, a domain concerns the level of power a mage can command. The more power, the more you can affect, the greater the control required, and the more… precise that control must be.

  "The stuff that makes up the world all has an inherent energy of its own. Water has less than air and flesh has less than water. Stone has the least amount. It's very sessile and takes earth level power to manipulate or change. The domains are based on the stuff of the world you can affect such as fire, air, water, and earth. Element is a rather simplistic term used in the early part of training to aid the student in comprehension."

  She was listening to him intently and he received the impression she was analyzing what he said against something else in her head. He remembered Hegall's comments about how Sara had already thoroughly analyzed the Therysi mindset. He wondered what construct her mind had come up with for magic. Whatever it was, it had worked for her.

  "At one end of the scale, you have Fire level mages, the lowest. Their ability limits them to the most energetic stuff in the world and they use it as if it were a mallet. They manipulate fire, direct lightning, and bring forth light but not much else. They can't even create fire. At the other end, you have Earth level mages. They have little or no limits on what they can affect and with practice, they can use it as the finest jeweler's tools. They can transform lead into gold, create illusions that can fool the eye, make a deaf man hear, and heal almost any hurt. But, they can also reshape the earth, destroy a city, and black out the sun. They can create almost anything they can imagine, and destroy it as easily. Earth magic built this palace." His hand waved to take in the walls around them.

  "Those who took the title of Mage-King were all earth mages and since their passing, their numbers have decreased dramatically. Something in their bloodline encouraged and reinforced the ability and that something was lost. Now, most mages are air or water level. Mage Healers such as Master Bedin are almost always water level due to the control necessary, which is why there are so few of them.

  "Drakken has a greater number of high-level mages than anyone else now, but even we don't have many earth mages and they aren't the most powerful of their kind. They are barely higher than a high-level water mage. They might have been able to mend the stone as you did, but it would have been difficult for them. The Emperor is one such. Barely."

  Her face was fiercely thoughtful. "So it's a combination of the power you can handle, what you can affect, and the amount of control you can exert?"

  "Mostly, yes. There are other things that go into it, but those are the greatest factors."

  "Then why can't they say so? That makes a lot more sense." She sounded exasperated.

  Kaio had to laugh. "Knowledge is power. The more they share the less they have."

  She looked outraged. "Then they shouldn't write the book." She caught herself and looked contrite. "I'm sorry…"

  Kaio interrupted. "Sara, you have nothing to be sorry for. I've felt the same way myself. Many have. Perhaps you should show them how they should do it. You obviously have good control or you wouldn't have been able to heal the stone as if it had never cracked. You also have an excellent sense of how the universe functions. You can't affect the world unless you know what needs to happen and how.

  "The scholars say the works of the Mage-Kings are the most concise and complete works on magic ever written. However, they explain the universe in a way most never understand, no matter how much they study and practice. The underlying rules the Mage-Kings put forth are… cryptic." He finished this last with a shrug.

  "I wouldn't
know. I couldn't read those books." Kaio didn't like it. She was back to looking as if she was unworthy.

  "That is an easily remedied problem. Dragos can give you that knowledge. I'd do it myself, but I've never had the knack for it. I'm better at illusion magic, Dragos is better at mind magic. Overall, we're about the same. Sano is the one to watch. Don't let his laid-back attitude fool you. He's a smart and talented man. He's more effective with magic than either Dragos or I despite being less powerful. He uses it more creatively. Unfortunately, he doesn't know old Atlani well enough to teach it to you."

  "Atlani, from Atlan, your original home?"

  He nodded assent. "Asarsani-Atlan is the name this region held during the reign of the Mage-Kings. It means 'the land that came after Atlan'. It covered the entire eastern half of the lands bordering the Blue Sea with about twenty little city-states within that. After they fell, the whole region was reduced to fragments trying to survive. War had destroyed almost everything. Plague and starvation wiped out many of the remaining survivors. Those Mage-King descendants who survived migrated to Direnis, on the other side of the Blue Sea. It's part of the Drakken Empire now. The remains of the magic used in the war poisoned the land for centuries in many places and still does in a few. The largest is the Waste north of here."

  "Oh. My studies didn't go back that far. It would be nice if Hegall had mentioned it. I tried to find out about the Waste but there's not much written on it. Everything I found spoke of it as something that had always been there. There was nothing about its creation."

  "The Mage-Kings lost a thousand years ago. Most of the books written since, including those in the library, are based on scraps. Drakken knows more, but even Drakken's historians couldn't transcribe everything. The distance that allowed us to carry on as normal, handicapped our historians. They functioned mostly on hearsay. Those who lived through it were too busy surviving to write about it and too traumatized to want to talk about it.

  He jerked his head to point out the window. "North of the ridge the palace sits on is the waste. Entire cities lie in ruins there, some of them reduced to a field of dirty gray glass and shattered lava rock. Even millennia later, people can't live there. The land is too blasted to support life and those who spend any significant time there sicken…"

  "My lord, the seamstress is here." Thorn's voice interrupted.

  "Thank you, Thorn. Send her in." Kaio smiled his thanks.

  The seamstress was a dumpy little woman named Palla with improbably blond hair and an outgoing, cheerful demeanor. She was overawed by Lord Shalatu but clearly charmed by his desire to give the best to his chosen. She cooed over Sara's hurts like a mother hen and coaxed her out of bed gently, chattering incessantly about gossip in the town as she made her measurements.

  Kaio was pleased the seamstress kept Sara distracted from the process and even wheedled a smile from her. He found himself increasingly charmed by Sara's smiles. They were a gift that soothed his dragon soul.

  Sara came alive when the seamstress asked about the gown she wanted for the wedding. She became the confident decisive creature he knew she could always be but had never seen except for the time she faced off against Kali. It felt right and he had to smile. Even if the seamstress turned out to be awful, she was worth every penny.

  Sara: 32nd of Hunting, 3837

  I had enjoyed my time with Palla. It was the first time since arriving in this world I'd been friendly with anyone without having to watch my back. The servants came closest, but their fear of reprisals kept relationships businesslike. The dragonlords had been the only men at court I didn't have to worry about. That still held true and would continue to be for quite some time. I couldn't see Kaio leaving Therys and I wouldn't leave without him. I needed him. Fortunately, I could see now that my fear of the dragonlords was baseless. This left me free to learn if we could be friends. I hoped so.

  It was strange how swiftly I had come to rely on Kaio. I hadn't felt as if I could rely on anyone since my mother died. He had rescued me, sworn to keep me safe, and seemed to like me. He was giving me the new life I had so desperately wanted. I didn't like living in darkness and at last, I could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I trusted Kaio to teach me how to do more than merely survive.

  The part that gave me pause was that as his wife, I knew Kaio would expect me to… well. Amy, Lara, and Stephanie had all talked about sex and all of them had enjoyed it, but I never had. I had to admit though, Kaio had made me wonder even before he started being nice to me. I just wasn't sure I could get past my memories of it. Kaio said he would be patient, but how long would he wait?

  "What are weddings like here?" I dropped onto a sofa as my energy ebbed in the loss of Palla's buoying presence.

  Kaio sat beside me and took my hand. "First we're introduced to the witnesses. Representatives of the families and clans present the lineages to prove there's no consanguinity. After that, we receive the blessings of the Goddess. Then there is the bonding, our oaths of dedication to each other, the chosen returns the promise bracelet and the couple exchange mating bracelets. Then the couple is welcomed into their respective new family and clan, and we receive the well wishes of the witnesses. Afterward, there's a festival with feasting, dancing, and gifts to the couple."

  Overall, it didn't seem too different from a wedding at home. The details and the order were different, but the elements were familiar. "You exchange bracelets? My people exchange rings instead."

  "The bracelets have designs to identify the family and clan so that all know who your alliances are. I doubt they would fit on a ring." His eyes lit with humor.

  I felt a new burst of anxiety. "I have neither family nor clan for you to ally with."

  Kaio's head shook in denial. "As Dragos' ward, you are a member of his family and clan by extension. Not much of a stretch as far as family alliances go since we're part of the same clan, but nothing to sneer at either. Therys defines a ward as a woman under your care and control. She's little better than a slave. Drakken, however, considers a ward as part of your family. Not quite adopted since a ward can't inherit unless formally declared an heir, but close."

  I thought for a second and the humor of my thoughts caused me to smile. "So I've been a member of the Drakken Imperial clan all this time?"

  A sly grin lightened his features. "Yes. Something I will take great satisfaction in during the wedding when the court hears and they realize how badly they miscalculated. Dragos' blood father wasn't the Emperor, but Uncle Rhal adopted him which makes him of both the Gonturan clan of his birth and the Shalatu clan through Rhal, so you can claim both."

  "What's the difference between family and clan? I thought they were pretty much the same."

  "The female line determines family while the male line determines clan. As Dragos' ward, you can claim his clan and since he's unmarried, his mother's family. His mother is also the Emperor's so you share both with Urash. If the old Emperor hadn't adopted Dragos, then you could only claim Gonturan, which is still quite respectable."

  "It sounds as if women hold equal status."

  "They do. My mother, for example, owns and runs a trading company. She's even wealthier than my father is. In fact, female dragons are dominant so when our women still manifested dragons they ranked higher than the males. It's part of why Akkad ended up as a matriarchy."

  "Ah. I couldn't find much on Akkad. I know it is west of Drakken, but that's about it. What does 'when our women still manifested dragons' mean?"

  Kaio nodded. "Drakken nulls settled Akkad, people born without a dragon soul. Without that dragon soul, they cannot manifest a dragon form. Since Drakken is mountainous with no roads between towns, those without a dragon self were hard-pressed to function, especially in the early days of Drakken. We have enough people now to have alternative transport for them, but they find it difficult to fit in. They're often happier among others such as themselves.

  "There are dragonkin born in Akkad every year so we keep close ties with them.
They are still kin. In fact, Gelal, General Istanetlu that is, comes from Akkad." He paused with a sad expression.

  "As for the other… Centuries ago, Drakkeni women could manifest a dragon form as the men do. Slowly, the number of women who could take on that dragon form dwindled until there were none left. The last female dragonkin died a few hundred years ago. There have been no others since. Our women have dragon souls but are incapable of allowing them out to fly. Some women's dragons feel the loss so keenly that they commit suicide. We've searched for a solution but have had no luck so far. We keep looking."

  I felt sorry for them. Their dragons must feel as trapped as I had in my stepfather's basement. "So your mother is a trader. I was just a programmer." It wasn't glamorous or powerful, but my boss said I was pretty good at it. Good enough that the game company I had worked for let me work from home after the fire.

  Kaio looked curious. "I fear I don't recognize that word. What does a prow-grah-mare do?"

  His mangled pronunciation made me realize I had spoken that one word in English. So how was I going to explain it? "We had these devices called computers. They store information and if you feed them a precise set of instructions they will perform various tasks. We call the set of instructions a program. A single program can perform many tasks depending on the instructions. They can call on other programs too. It can become extremely complex. I had a portable computer with me when I arrived but it ran out of power. That's why I learned magic. I was hoping there was a way to recharge its power."

  "What sort of information would it store and what sort of tasks?"

  "My laptop has books, pictures, and music on it. The programs let me read the books, listen to the music, write notes, keep a journal and account records, keep track of appointments and important dates, recipes, maps. One program lets me draw. There are even games on it." I sighed. "When I was still in my old world it would let me communicate with other people all over the world too."

  He looked intrigued. "It sounds useful. Were you able to figure out how to recharge it?"