by Andur
He looks back and forth between the palace and the woman. “I... you...”
Her sobbing turns into actual crying with her chin shivering uncontrollably and tears running down her cheeks. For a long moment the man does nothing, as if uncertain of what to do. The moment stretches out and the man's expression turns guiltier and guiltier, then he steps forward to hug her with the bundle between them. “Don't cry. We'll stay together, whatever happens. I just don't know where we should go now. This country and my plans were everything to me for so long.”
Holding her, he rests his face on her beautiful hair, while she is pressing her forehead onto his chest.
That makes it impossible to see their faces, but what I can see is the woman's chin and mouth.
From one moment to the next the woman's beautiful, shivering lips turn into a winning smile. She sniffs and starts speaking. “Actually I already know of a good place where we can hide. I even channelled a little starting capital there.”
The man doesn't answer immediately, his eyes wandering towards the palace. As if she anticipated his reaction she pushes the bundle up into his face and starts sobbing again.
He nods desperately. “Yes. Okay. I already promised. Just stop crying and get us away from here.”
Then they vanish in dark shadows and are gone. I sigh in relief and turn gloomy again, watching the palace crumble in front of my eyes. She was right that it's ugly though, thankfully the thing is gone now! “What's becoming of the world when even the god-king's mages are running away?” I shake my head. “Somehow I expected more from his personal servants.”
Suddenly my wife elbows me in the side and I let go of her. “She was obviously using the good old honey trap on him, you fool! Apparently the higher caste is not much different from us common folk.” She grabs our daughter and pulls her away from the street, heading deeper into the forest. “It's not safe here. Let's get away from any important infrastructure, including streets!”
I get up and hurry to follow her.
115. ~History Lesson.~
“What do you mean? Festivities?” The receptionist asks with a blank expression.
“I mean that you people have some kind of holidays here in Quinn? The clothing is really extravagant and all the buildings are painted in so many colours. Not to speak about the street artists!” The woman smiles. “It's so different from home, so wasteful and strange.” Without waiting for a response she turns and walks off to her room.
The receptionist shakes his head. “All those visitors from foreign nations. Weirdos altogether. Visiting us during normal working days and thinking that we are having a party! Ha!” He sighs, talking to himself. “Their culture must be really boring. They should try to visit during the Goddess' Advent. That's when we have a real party!”
-Story of the first tourist.
Free City States of Nict, Capital
Sariel
“... and the three countries which we know as the Allied Nations began their counter attack on the Second Empire. It was a long and horrifying battle, but the Empire wasn't able to stop the combined forces and technologies of the Allied Nations at this point. If there is anyone who doesn't know that the founders of the Allied Nations are Nict, Dwem and Quinn, I'll see to it that you repeat pre-school. The Nomad-lands and the Northern Kingdoms joined the alliance only ten years ago.”
“Returning to the matter at hand. The Allied Nations destroyed the capital of the Second Empire. In that battle the Emperor and his consort vanished. They didn't show up again and so the Empire collapsed slowly during the following months. That was about twenty years ago.”
“There were attempts by various factions to keep control over the country, but after the disappearance of the Emperor nobody was able to keep such a large nation together. The repercussions of the following civil war can still be seen today. Students, don't forget about the requested essay. Research the exact circumstances and explain why it's a good idea to stay away from a country in such a crisis. Explain why it was a mistake that the Allied Nations tried to interfere. Also try to give a reason why it's not a good idea to kill warlords and dictators just because their way of ruling a country doesn't fit your ideas.”
“I think the actions of the wanderer are a good example as for what the result of such an interference in a nation's natural development is.
I want all of you to explain why the second Empire collapsed after the emperor's disappearance. I also want you to give an explanation as to why the Allied Nations aren't without fault for the current political and economical state of the second continent and the southern nations. Try to come up with a possible solution to the problem...”
I yawn and rub my eyes. Listening to professor Pendragon is extraordinary boring. His voice sounds like he will fall asleep any second.
“Sister, try to show a little more respect for the lesson.” Zadkiel whispers at my side.
“Why? I am only visiting 'Advanced History Lessons' because of you.” I lean back and sigh. “This subject is extraordinarily boring. I would rather try to get Nathan interested in me.”
“Not that again, Sariel. He is much too young for you. I don't get what you see in him. Admittedly, he has skill and talent.” Zadkiel shakes his head, taking some notes. “But isn't he outright avoiding you? You should try to get the hint. How many times did you get rejected by now?”
“But he is the only male who doesn't start drooling as soon as I look at him. I just want one chance to be alone with him. If we learn to know each other, then maybe...” I cross my arms in front of my chest. “And why is he too young? He is a capable mage at the age of twenty years and four months. He is old enough. There is just a small gap between us. That's very good if you consider how much time mages will spend with their partners.”
“It's perfectly normal for them to be interested in you and me. Through us our partners would get to establish relationships to the most influential persons in the country. We are royalty after all.” Zadkiel narrows his eyes, looking at me. “Don't you know his age a little too exactly? It almost looks like my sister turned into a stalker! And what about me? I don't drool when I talk to you.”
“You don't count, you are my brother. Or do you want to say that you are a possible romantic interest?” I wait for a moment, but Zadkiel doesn't reply. Fiddling with my fingers I continue. “It's nothing like that. I am just interested because he isn't trying to lick my feet.”
“Who tried to lick your feet? I'll gut them!” Zadkiel snaps.
“That was just a figure of speech!” I sigh. “But it's surely hard to keep the female competition away from Nathan.”
“Don't tell me you went as far as to...” Zadkiel's widen. “You didn't get Helen involved?”
I frantically shake my head. “No! How would you come to that conclusion? I know very well that keeping Helen away from family affairs is the best thing I can do!”
“You obviously unearthed his file from somewhere.” Zadkiel raises the first finger. “You did something to keep other girls away from him.” The second finger comes up. “And you are you!” He finishes, pointing accusingly at me.
“No. For your information I talked to the girls around him and made it clear the he is already 'reserved'. My own influence is more than enough for that. And I got to his information by downloading it from the mana net.”
A grin forms on my face. “I even took a look at his personal interests and they are matching mine. I am sure that we could have an interesting discussion if he gave me a chance.” Not to speak about his secret files. There are some interesting things in his account.
Zadkiel freezes. “Where did you get the access codes?”
“Nowhere. I used father's account to log in. As an administrator he can find out anything.” I reply frankly.
My brother starts massaging his forehead. “He will roast you on a low flame when he finds out.”
“Dad would never do something like that. He always says himself that there are no rules when there is somet
hing you really want.” I wink at my brother.
Zadkiel is worrying too much. I guess he is like our mother in that regard.
He sighs. “So what did you find out about him?”
I smile and edge closer to Zadkiel. “Nathan is the only son of a small family of outstanding mages from the countryside. Their family name is Shipwright and they are fairly well off, but have no dealings with the 'Big Seven'. They are managing a village with about three thousand inhabitants at the outskirts of the capital. Nathan's father is the mayor of the village and Nathan is visiting his parents only on weekends. He lives alone in a nearby apartment during the week. Do you want to know his favourite food? Hobbies? The type of girl he turns his head to ogle at?””
“Oh... crap. My sister turned into a stalker!” My brother pushes me away from him.
“But it's love!” I always have a tingly feeling when Nathan rejects to go on a date with me. It hurts, but at the same time I feel happy that he isn't like the other guys who are undressing me with their eyes. “Hey, can't you try to become his friend? You know... from guy to guy? Then you could present me to him in a good light. Or at least arrange something between me and him.”
“No. Don't get me involved.” Zadkiel's expression turns sour.
“If you help me, I'll help you?” I offer him with a smile.
“Like I need your help.” He looks up with a proud expression. “I could probably lay all the girls on the campus and they would be happy about it.”
Ha! Now I have him! “But you would never know if the girl does it because she has genuine feelings for you, or if she simply wants to catch the prey. I heard that some girls are dealing with fertility pills, so I would be careful in your shoes. Otherwise you might end up causing problems for the family. You know what will happen if a girl with an egg shows up and claims that you are the father. Just imagine Mom's reaction.”
Zadkiel's expression drops. “What do you need.”
I start playing with my thumbs. “Become his friend, find out what he likes. He is in your tutoring lesson and-”
“How do you know that he... no forget it, go on.” Zadkiel makes a dismissive gesture, remembering that I have full access to the mana net.
“Find a good opportunity for me to be alone with him. I don't expect you to do anything. Just create an opening for me. And if the situation is right you could try to find out what he thinks about me.”
“Fine. He isn't that good in my lessons anyway. I'll be extraordinaryly harsh in grading him and give him the opportunity to improve his results by taking extra lessons. He is a perfectionist. I am sure that he'll take the chance. There will surely be an opportunity to get the conversation going.” Zadkiel starts packing his stuff because Pendragon ended his lesson and left while we were talking.
I clench my hands into fists and press them to my chest. “You are the best brother! Thank you.”
“It's not like you have any choices.” Zadkiel grumbles.
“Don't worry! I'll be extra careful in choosing the right girl for you. Leave it to your sisters! I'll even involve Zana in the project. We'll take this decision to our hearts!” I swipe my stuffed pencil case and the notebook into my backpack and jump up, running for the exit.
“No! Wait! That's not what we-” My brother's words are cut off as I slam the classroom's door shut behind me.
116. ~Fate.~
“Aah... there is nothing better than taking a well deserved break and drinking coffee.” Clara Veit, director of the capital's educational facility for mages, stands up and walks over to the window. A quick hand gesture opens it to let fresh air into the room.
Upon taking an accidental look at the university's campus Clara freezes. Then the voice of the old woman explodes. “TRINA!!!”
The door to Clara's office bursts open and Trina, the director's secretary, storms into the room. “What happened? I never before heard you scream like that.”
Clara points at the scene on the plaza under her office's window. “Who is that? I am not a supporter of male rights, but that's going too far! Dragging another student across a public area like a pet is completely out of the question! If one of those news reporters films this scene the association for male rights will skin us alive! Why is no one interfering?”
Trina comes closer to take a look out of the window. On the plaza is a girl who is pulling a guy towards the self study classrooms. As a Siorda, Trina is the perfect secretary, knowing every student by face and name. “It's hard to tell at this distance. She is Sariel Gejene, those horns with the silver inlays are unique. And the guy looks like Nathan Shipwright. I'll go and apprehend them.” She turns to leave the office.
Clara raises a hand. “No, wait! Could she be the daughter of Stella Gejene?”
“Yes.”
The director furrows her forehead. “The father is Azir Zait?”
“Yes.”
Without hesitation Clara draws the curtain closed and heads back to her office table. “Let's pretend we didn't see it.”
“But what if it becomes public?” Trina asks astounded.
“Then we will deal with it. As my secretary, you have better things to do than hunting misbehaving students. Do you understand?” Clara pulls one of her folders closer and starts working again. “On another thought, that guy who was here a month ago... the one who caused severe injuries to eight students...”
“Zadkiel Gejene. That's her brother. His experiment failed and he had to throw it out of the window before it caused severe damage to school property. It was by pure chance that he had a prior disagreement with the eight students in question.” Trina answers sarcastically.
Clara grumbles. “Any other kids?”
“Three, if you count Zana too. She is adopted and-” But Trina doesn't get any further.
“The one who was bullied! Thank you, you can go.” Clara answers with a deadpan expression and Trina leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
After sitting there for a few minutes Clara starts massaging her temples. “First there was one... one generation later there are three... four... five... if they double... or triple... six generations? I need to find a successor.”
-A normal day in the director's office.
Free City States of Nict, Capital
Azir
“What's that, Uncle?” A childish voice asks from beside me and I stop my work to face the child.
“That's the new control circuit for the public transportation carts.” I answer, but the boy's eyes tell me that he understood nothing. “Why don't you go and play with your mother? Where's Ivy?”
“She said that she has to do something important with Daddy and then both of them disappeared into their bedroom.” The boy answers solemnly.
“Ah...” So Ivy and Jeremiah are making out. “So you thought it would be a good idea to run over to my house to search for entertainment?”
The boy nods guiltily. “It's always cool here, Uncle Azir! Can I play with the cats?”
“Sure, sure. You don't have to ask for something as trivial as that.” I wave towards the open window from where the small Jonathan entered my laboratory. Just don't interrupt my work.
“Yay! Thank you!” Jonathan turns and climbs outside to play with the cats.
I return to my work and scratch my head. Where was I? Ah, yes! The connection of the power sink. That's a delicate task, I have to be very careful.
Calling up the circuitry's subroutines I connect to it through the runes which I painted onto my left hand. Information starts scrolling through my field of vision.
“Power sink active... no errors... looks good.” I take the soldering iron and a piece of golden wire to finish the circuitry. I mumble a spell to enhance my vision and zoom in on the small interrupted connection between the main power lines. They are very close together which makes it a very delicate task. “Now don't touch any of the other connection-”
“Azir!” Stella's voice startles me and I twitch, shorting-out the main power line with the g
rounding of the power sink.
“Shit!” A spark of energy shakes my body and several small runes on the circuit go up in flames. The spasms send me to the ground and I lie there for several seconds, smoke rising from my body. Luckily I protected myself with a minor defence spell before I started my work.
Stella is right next to me, looking down on me without mercy. “I told you that you shouldn't work like that. Pay attention to the safety regulations. There is a reason why people use telekinesis for such tasks.” She pokes me with her tail. “One day you will die on me because of that. Putting a sign in front of your lab would also solve the problem.”
“It's not interesting to work like that. I am doing this for recreation.” I grab her tail and pull at it to get to my knees. “Why did you interrupt me?”
“Doing fiddly work is recreation? I'll never understand that logic.” She shakes her head and draws a rune-set into the air. “Heal!”
Healing energy starts flowing through me and the pain subsides.
Then she pulls me up. “What I wanted to talk about is if you know anything about Sariel's boyfriend?”
I freeze. “B...b... Boyfriend!?” My cute little angel is being defiled by a guy whom I didn't test first? “Where!? From where did you get that information?”
Stella raises an eyebrow. “So you didn't know. There are rumours all over the campus saying that she claimed a certain guy as her personal-”
“Claimed? We have to go and stop them.” I head towards the door when Stella stops me.
She grabs my left horn. “Ooooone moment! Don't overdo it. There are only rumours so far. It seems like our little angel overestimated her control over the female student body.”
“Let me! We have to protect her. She is far too young to do 'that'!” I pull, but Stella doesn't let go of me.
“Too young? She is older than we were when we first did it.” Stella purses her lips. “I think his name is Nathan Shipwright.”
I immediately access his information over the mana net and send it to Stella. My attention is pulled towards the number of requests on this file. “There is something wrong. Someone else accessed this information before me. Four months ago.”