She glanced at the window noting the frost around its edges and guessed at how cold it must be to cause it. The room wasn't that warm either. Since they hadn't been around for a few days, the Alamores had likely closed the vents off to conserve heat for the rest of the building. Rising to go to one of two grates, Ashleen checked it and pulled the metal lever to open its slats wider. Moving towards the second grate, she listened to him answer, "I was actually thinking that I might buy a few pieces to make her a ring or maybe a bracelet. Katya likes pretty jewelry, I think, though our family didn't have a lot of money to spoil her that way."
The comment made the girl glance at the thin, silver bracelet on her left wrist. It wasn't the only piece of jewelry the wilder had with her in Hala. She had bought a couple pieces since returning to the capitol using some of the funds her family had in the bank here. With her family name and a special mark, Ashleen could access wealth that Sebastian couldn't even imagine, since the mage had never known wealth until recently.
Ashleen had also often worn an anklet that had small amethysts set in a silver ring. It was something he had noticed the first time that he had met her and she had flirted with him enough to expose her legs to see the shiny piece of jewelry. Her current clothing including winter boots would make wearing it useless and uncomfortable, so it was protected in another box in the wardrobe.
"You mean that you are going to buy one?"
He smiled and shook his head. "You've seen Serena's ring and Yara's also that I made in Sardon? I just need the materials and can make something for her birthday."
While Ashleen knew of his ability to work metal for swords and the gates, she had forgotten the trinkets made by the mage for those who had been with him in the distant city of Litsarin. "Even so, do you really want to look for a gem and precious metals dealer in Hala in the cold? Your air shield makes it slightly warmer, but that doesn't make it warm. Besides I am not sure that you should do all that walking anyway. You might get sick."
She giggled and added, "I might get sick and I don't like that idea either."
Tying the pouch to his belt, Sebastian secured it before slipping it inside the waist of his pants. While the battle mage doubted that anyone could take the pouch from him easily, thieves looked for such pouches hoping to get lucky. The amount of gold bars inside his pouch would be one of those scores if they could find it.
"Who said we need to walk around Hala?" the owl asked opening another portal in their room.
Taking her hand, Sebastian led the pretty girl through the doorway and the silver light beyond the gate.
Silver light gave way to golden sunlight as their vision cleared after the confusion of passing through the magic doorway. Before the world around them came into clarity, his skin already told him of the warmth of the sun striking his face and as it heated the dark colored clothing that he wore.
Ashleen blinked away the travel fog and looked around her. To the west, farmland and trees could be seen. Young forest climbed up into the hills leading towards a far off mountain. Turning to the west, a city sat overlooking a near perfect circle of a harbor. The colorfully painted houses and buildings followed the curve of the harbor building deeper in the center, but the rows were never more than a dozen deep if her guess was correct.
Two lighthouses guarded the harbor from the north and south point where stone breaks stretched into the sea. Even from a distance, the white spray of ocean waves could be seen by the way they made the dark stones of the break stand out from green and blue of the water on either side. Large waves from the Glacian Ocean were kept at bay beyond the break making the harbor almost smooth as glass. Gentle waves would barely shift the half dozen larger ships and many smaller fishing vessels tied off at the various docks along the shoreline.
"Where are we?" Ashleen questioned, though he thought her eyes told of familiarity trying to answer the question for the girl before he could.
Sebastian removed his jacket before pushing his magic into the oval rune on his right arm making the mark rise up increasing to a window's size in the blink of an eye. Like he was putting it in the wardrobe of the Black Smith Inn, the mage maintained the opening since Ashleen began to remove her cloak at the same time.
The girl handed it to him and she watched it disappear into the darkness while waiting for an answer.
"Sardon," he answered simply.
Her eyes looked surprised. "The Dark One's town on eastern Litsarin? Why are we here? You are in no condition to risk being discovered and possibly have to fight his creatures again."
"Like you said, it is too cold to shop in Hala and I need a couple things that I know that I can find here. Nearly any other city that I can get to with a portal will likely be just as cold as the capitol while cities like New Harbor would certainly be more dangerous.
"No one expects us here and the Dark One is dead. Sardon may not have heard, but I doubt any of his warlocks or monsters will be coming here easily. Certainly they won't be looking for us or watching this city out in the middle of nowhere."
Ashleen looked at the open black hole in the air and brushed at her forehead looking warm already. "Fine, if we are going to be walking in this heat, I can hardly do it wearing all this winter clothing."
Removing her belt, the girl handed it to him and stripped off the two outer layers of robes that she wore in the Kardorian way. While Ashleen had dresses from Southwall after all this time, she still often wore clothing that mirrored the style the wilder had been wearing since they had first met. Her boots were kicked off as well and the girl showed little embarrassment as she pulled the warm shorts off that had been underneath for both warmth and modesty.
He put the two heavy robes into the darkness as well as her shorts thinking it funny that his magic had made him into a wardrobe, or at least a closet; since he had weapons and other things inside the pocket dimension as well. Ashleen was already retying the belt after manipulating the remaining robe like dress into place.
"How do you manage to find anything in there anyway?" the girl asked as the oval shrank back into place on his arm before disappearing from sight.
His magic made the rune the color of his skin or perhaps translucent just as it manipulated the size of the oval mark. Looking at the mark disappear, Sebastian realized that he had never truly thought about it. She leaned against him with one hand and replaced her boots, while he mulled over the question.
"I just place my hand near the opening or just within and see what I need with my mind. A sword or a jacket will just come to my hand so that I can pull it free. I'm not sure why it works that way, but I've never had a problem finding what I want so far."
Ashleen stood straight before using her hands to brush her dress back into place. The wilder looked more like a royal lady now than a simple wizard, which wasn't completely surprising since her father's line was apparently a lord of some import in Kardor. She never really elaborated on it, but her family had both money and power. Unfortunately for Ashleen, magic had appeared in her making her powers manifest chaotically as a wilder. Even a perfect wizard was likely considered unfit for a royal title keeping her from whatever hereditary rights she might have had otherwise.
He noticed that the innermost robe was of lightweight blue satin, thin enough to reveal her curves pulled as tight as it was by the belt. His eyes wandered to the v exposing her neck and part of the gap between her breasts. Ashleen caught him looking and put on one of her knowing smiles making him realize that she had likely worked to make the garment more attractive to him than necessary. Her ability to tease and excite him seemed incorrigible at times, but Sebastian had to admit that she was good at making him look at her.
"If we're going into town, then at least one of us can look dressed for the weather here. I am amazed at how much warmer it is here today. We step through the gate from where it's freezing and can enjoy a distant land in an instant. If you had warned me, I wouldn't have needed to undress in the middle of a field. I could have put on something more appropr
iate in our room, you know."
She took his arm as they began to walk down the low hill towards the outer ring of the city.
Chuckling, Sebastian replied, "Yes, I guess I should have said something; but I was thinking to surprise you. I didn't think that it would be this much warmer either though."
The couple walked half a mile entering the town as Sebastian looked for any familiar landmarks in the town that he had only been in twice several months ago. It was a strangely colorful city. They had noted the many paint stores on their first visit and how almost every building seemed to sport two or three colors making them stand out from each other. It was like Sardon had decided to use color to help people find their way through the city; but if there was any order to it, the mage had yet to figure it out.
When he spotted a white sign with a blue gemstone painted on it, the mage recognized the light blue building as the one he had planned to check. There were other gem dealers and ones that didn't know him, so perhaps he was pushing his luck. By the same token Sebastian had worked with this contact here on his previous trip and hoped that might work out for a better deal this time as well.
The two walked into the showroom with its glass cases of gems and jewelry making a middle aged man with thinning brown hair look up from his work on a ring. A silver band with little hooks waited for a square cut ruby, but the man set down his tools to greet his customers. His eyes looked to Ashleen first, and noted the blue satin dress shimmering in the daylight, making him smile.
"Good afternoon, miss and sir," the man started before his eyes truly noticed the man beside her. Dressed as he was, Sebastian guessed that he looked like the guard of the pretty lady; but the merchant's eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the mage. "Wizard?"
Ashleen's eyes flicked to Sebastian wondering how the man could know, but realized that he wasn't looking at her anymore but at the owl.
Nodding to the merchant, the mage returned the greeting saying, "Good afternoon, Master Narhorn."
"What brings you back here, young sir?" the man questioned conversationally, even though he appeared a little nervous as well. "Have your travels returned your ship here so soon? Perhaps your contacts appreciated the gems' quality enough that you wish to purchase some more?"
"Something like that," Sebastian agreed with a smile, "though this is more of a personal purchase."
"There are less people with you this time as well, though you seem to have found a beautiful new traveling companion. She looks like she should have more guards than just you, if you'll pardon my opinion," Wilhelm Narhorn said finding his eyes returning to Ashleen for a moment.
Sebastian followed his look this time and considered the pretty wilder in her dress. Though she always looked beautiful to him, perhaps the merchant was right that the girl looked a little too good to walk around the city so easily.
Giving the man a confident smile as Narhorn looked his way once more, the mage replied, "I have my talents to keep her safe, if necessary; but Sardon seemed safe enough as we walked through the town today."
The man leaned towards them and lowered his voice slightly as if he had to worry about being overheard, though it was just the three of them in the room at the moment. "Perhaps you left before the unusual event that happened in the city. There were monsters and wizards fighting in the heart of Sardon!
"Maybe I shouldn't say anything, but I would hate to leave you ignorant of it. It had never happened before and hasn't since, still such a frightening thing makes me wonder where they came from and if they might return."
Nodding calmly, Sebastian pretended that he hadn't been one of those fighting the Dark One's creatures. "It does sound frightening, but then again magic can be a dangerous thing. Where might those monsters have come from though...?"
He let the thought drift away as his eyes moved towards the cases to his right. The merchant's greed and need to sell his wares pulled the man from his warning back to the matter at hand. "So you said that this is a personal trip?"
"My sister's birthday is tomorrow and I want to either find something special or make her a piece of jewelry. I was also considering something for the fair lady," he added with a gesture towards Ashleen. The girl stiffened slightly in surprise at the thought that Sebastian had considered a gift for her as well.
On the previous visit, the mage had made a bit of a show creating rings for Yara and Serrena who had accompanied him here. It had been intended to influence the merchant; but if he was honest, the magic had also been to show off for Yara also.
His eyes spotted a silver chain. It looked very delicate, but too plain. "Do you have any necklaces with a gem ornament to make it a little more special?"
Moving to the case, Wilhelm pointed to a cluster of gems set on discs of silver and gold. "I have these ready, though I know that you could also use your impressive skill to create something yourself. All I need to do is attach the setting to the chain, if this is what you were thinking."
A dark green jewel caught his eye and he asked, "Is that an emerald?"
A glimpse of the snooty attitude the man had started with the first time passed through the merchant's eyes for only a moment before he recalled the magic shown in his shop the last time, as well as the large transaction of gold the boy had made for his gems. "The mines haven't come across any emeralds, young sir. That is actually a green sapphire. I suppose it could be mistaken for an emerald since it has been made to shine this way."
Sebastian had no doubt that with someone else; the merchant would likely have been less forgiving. "I'll take it. Attach that while I look around for something for Ashleen," he added already starting to look at some of the loose gems.
"Don't you want to know how much it costs?" the wilder asked the question that was plainly on Narhorn's face.
Shrugging without looking away from the case, the mage answered, "We'll come to an agreement or we won't. For now, I think that it will look nice on Katya. The green nearly matches her eyes, don't you think?"
Her mouth went slightly slack jawed a moment from Sebastian's complete disregard for the cost of what looked like a reasonably expensive jewel. Ashleen took a moment to recover before she replied, "I think so. Sebastian I know that you love your sister, but isn't that a rather extravagant gift for someone still in school?"
The wizard avoided mentioning the type of school. She doubted that there was any such facility on Litsarin. While traveling along the coast from the northeast end of the massive island, along the south and back up the western side where Sileoth had its colonies; no mention or sight had made them think that there was a special school for wizards here.
"It will be fine," he answered sounding a bit distracted.
As Wilhelm brought the necklace to him having already attached the added gemstone, Sebastian pointed at five small blue stones. "I'll take those as well, but I'll need some silver stock again since this will be a specialty piece."
Though the gems were small, the man asked, "All five of them?"
Sebastian nodded before adding, "I'll need enough metal for a bracelet."
Frowning as he considered the vague amount, Narhorn disappeared into the back for just a moment returning with a silver bracelet already formed into a simple circlet, a small brick of unpolished metal, and a few strands of silver that might make a ring individually with each piece.
"I wasn't sure how much you would need or if this bracelet would do? You seemed capable of using whatever shape of metal I might have to work with last time. Will these do?"
Ashleen moved closer curiously. The girl had been working with him to make the Hollow Swords and developing the metal for them off and on for the last several months. Working with metal was still something that he could do easily that she could not, but her senses had been honed to see the qualities in metal by now. If she was hard pressed, the wilder thought that she might be able to replicate what he did; but wasn't sure of the quality she could make for an end product. Helping Sebastian create the Hollow Swords and working wit
h metal had really been less her desire to make them than to be with the mage as much as possible anyway.
He studied the metal and shook his head before looking into the case once again. "That one too," the mage added pointing to a slightly larger gem of the same color as the smaller ones.
Ashleen didn't know the cost of gems exactly, but worried that he was spending more than might even be in his pouch. After his success at sea, Sebastian had been given a small fortune; so this wasn't close to everything, but it was still a significant portion, the girl believed.
"Sebastian..." she started to protest when the mage uttered the word 'dance'.
His hand touched the block of silver, the most expensive piece laid out for him, Ashleen thought glumly. The metal began to shift instantly. Like the word used, the silver seemed to break apart in a dance to music that only the mage must have been able to hear.
Ashleen placed her hand on his left shoulder blade as she looked past his arm to watch him work. Extending her magic into him subsidizing his strength with hers, the wilder worried that he might harm himself. He had barely been excused from the hospital and had cast multiple gate spells.
Portal magic had once required either her power or his use of a staff to draw power from the earth to drive the spells. Sebastian had cast both doorways without either to help him. She knew the power wells on his chest held a reservoir of magic, but the wizard wasn't sure of their limits. Not wanting him to harm himself, Ashleen leant her strength and watched the owl work.
Quickly the brick turned into a serpent in shape, but he didn't simply create a circle like the piece that the merchant had brought out to him. Before the silver formed a bracelet, the serpent rolled into the gems. They attached and slithered along the surface moving to the place along the snake that he desired.
"Heal," he spoke strangely, but Ashleen knew that Sebastian used the word to drive more than just spells to heal. He used the same word working with metal. Delving into the elements of the metal created for each sword, the mage would work with senses honed from healing to move and shape steel like it was living flesh.
Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13) Page 5