“Bet not many do that,” Jedek said.
“You’d be surprised,” Ahnon said. “Now, Nazar already had the bhari, and they had bhari guarding the royal family. These were called sho bhari. Sho means guardian. After the treaty of Antlas, another rank was added: sho-ka bhari. In the old language of Nazar, ka means servant, so sho-ka bhari means guardian servant warrior in plain sight. The first born are taken at the age of ten and sent to the academies of the bhari to train. Then, when they graduate, they travel to learn the ways of the world to become better warriors and guardians. Sometimes for the sho-ka, it’s fifty years. Other times, it’s hundreds before they are called back to Nazar. A spell is performed called ‘infusion,’ giving the sho-ka back the years of life they spent learning to become sho-ka and have the time to guard their sire. Then they pledge themselves to their sire.”
“You mean if you would’ve had a sister born first, you would be king of Nazar?” Jedek asked.
“It’s emperor, and the answer is no,” Ahnon told him. “The ruling family must give up its firstborn son to show their commitment to the treaty and show the rest of the royal families that honor is utmost before family. The princes, princess, dukes and duchess of the royal family only have to give up their first born be it male or female.”
“That bites cow patties,” Jedek said.
Stunned at the swear, “Where did you hear that?” Ahnon asked, grinning.
“Some of the soldiers’ kids say it,” Jedek told him.
“So that is how you become sho-ka,” Ahnon said, ruffling his hair.
“When do you learn magic?” Jedek asked.
“Magic runs strong in the Nazar royal family, so all sho-ka have the ability. All sho-ka can use magic, but not all bhari can. Bhari are just normal people, but quite a few normal people can use magic.”
“I want to learn magic,” Jedek said, getting a dreamy look on his face.
“When you are old enough, I will teach you,” Ahnon promised.
“That’s so Pegasus feathers,” Jedek said, clapping his hands.
“Huh?” Ahnon asked.
“You know. Great.”
Frowning, Ahnon said, “I don’t know about you playing with the soldiers’ kids anymore.”
“Ahnon, they’re the only kids I get to play with,” Jedek complained.
“Fine, but I get to stay closer to you from now on. I want to know what kind of language they are teaching you.”
“Come on. You’re never that far, and they will make fun of me if you stay right beside me,” Jedek protested.
Ahnon shook his head. “That would just stop the turning of Thanos if they made fun of you,” he said with a fake scowl on his face.
“I can’t be seen as weak, Ahnon. They might call me a girl,” Jedek told him very seriously.
Ahnon grabbed his chest. “Oh no, not a girl,” he moaned.
Jedek lunged, trying to tackle Ahnon, pushing him down on his back. “You’re making fun of me,” he accused.
“I would never make fun of someone who’s afraid of being called a girl!” Ahnon shouted and lifted Jedek over him.
Jedek looked down at Ahnon and smiled. “You’re my best friend, Ahnon.”
“You’re mine too, Jedek,” Ahnon told him, lowering him and giving him a hug. He let Jedek go, and they both sat up, brushing grass off.
Looking up at the suns, “Dad’s going to be mad, isn’t he?” Jedek asked.
“Yes, I’m sure he will be,” Ahnon agreed, not improving Jedek’s situation or mood.
“Why do I have to meet her now? I’m not going to marry her until I’m twelve. That’s like a million years away,” Jedek said, looking down at the grass.
Ahnon lifted Jedek’s head up. “First, it’s only two years, and it might be nice to meet her before you get married, don’t you think?” Ahnon asked.
“I’m only ten, and girls have bugs,” Jedek whined, falling back on the grass.
Startled at this information, Ahnon said, “I didn’t know they had bugs.”
Jedek lifted himself off the grass and looked at him. “Everyone knows that, Ahnon.”
“Your mother doesn’t have bugs, nor does Akene. I would’ve noticed,” Ahnon pointed out.
“Their big girls, and mammas don’t have bugs.”
“Oh, I see. Only the smaller versions have bugs,” Ahnon said, thinking about it.
Jedek looked down. “I’m being bad, aren’t I?” he asked.
“No, just a boy afraid of getting girl bugs,” Ahnon said, making Jedek laugh. “Hey, they might be bad. You never know. Maybe even change you into a troll,” Ahnon said with a serious face.
“Ew, maybe a goblin,” Jedek offered, making Ahnon grin. Jedek looked at the long garden pool. “Ahnon, can you do the magic on me so I can run on the water again?” he asked hopefully.
“Well, I guess I can since you told me about girl bugs.” Ahnon stood, brushing the grass off his pants.
“Alright!” Jedek yelled, jumping up. Ahnon pulled out the components, holding them over Jedek’s head as he spoke. Jedek glowed for a second, then it slowly stopped. Before Ahnon could say anything, Jedek took off and jumped in the air, landing on top of the water. “This is great!” he yelled, running down the pool. Then, at a full run, he jumped in the air, landed on his stomach, and slid across the surface of the water. He jumped up totally dry and continued running.
Ahnon just chuckled, watching him, then picked up the sailboat and carried it over to a bench and sat down. Laying the boat down, Ahnon held out his hand, making his staff, which was lying on the ground where he and Jedek had been sitting, fly to his hand. He continued watching Jedek laugh as he stomped on the water but not making it splash.
Looking up from Jedek, Ahnon noticed two people walking toward them several hundred paces away from the other end of the pool. The royal garden was over a hundred acres, and the pool was right in the middle. Even though the garden was inside the northwest corner of the castle wall, one still couldn’t see the wall from the pool. The first kings wanted an area for the families to play in but still be inside the walls.
As the two stood at the opposite end, Ahnon could tell it was a little girl and a woman. He didn’t know them by smell or sight, but he could tell by the way the woman moved she could be a threat. Standing up, he moved closer to the pool, getting closer to Jedek. The woman noticed his movement and moved in front of the girl, making Ahnon smile. He nodded to her and sat down beside the pool on the marble walkway.
The woman smiled and let the girl’s hand go, sitting at the other end of the pool. Once she was free, the girl ran over, stopping across from Jedek, who was rolling across the surface, laughing, when he noticed he had an audience. He stood up and walked over to the little girl. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
The little girl smiled at him. “I don’t want to be in the castle today,” she told him.
“Me either,” Jedek said, and the little girl smiled at him and threw her hair over her shoulder. Jedek had never seen hair like it. It was a golden brown that went to her waist with loose curls running down from the side of her head to the ends. Unconsciously, Jedek walked over to her and noticed she had green eyes like his, but hers were a very bright green. Stopping at the edge of the water, he held out his hand. “I’m Jedek.”
“I’m Kenna,” she told him, smiling and shaking his hand. “How do you do that?” she asked, pointing at the water.
Jedek waved his hand at her. “It’s nothing. My sho-ka does it for me,” he told her.
With a frown, “My sho-ka’s never done that for me,” Kenna said.
“You want to run on the water?” Jedek asked with a shocked expression.
“Are you kidding? That would be fairy hair.”
Not really sure what that meant, Jedek asked, “That’s good, right?”
“Fairy hair is the best.”
Jedek shrugged. “Let’s ask Ahnon,” he said and took off running across the water. Kenna clapped and ran along the mar
ble edge of the pool, following him. The woman jumped up and followed at incredible speed, reaching Ahnon the same time the kids did.
They all stopped by Ahnon as Jedek walked off the water. “Ahnon, can you make it so Kenna run on the water with me?” he asked.
Confused, Ahnon inquired, “What about the bugs?”
Jedek’s mouth fell open as he cut his eyes to Kenna. “Ahnon, not now,” he said.
Jumping in the air, standing on her tip toes and eyeing the ground, Kenna squealed, “Bugs?”
The woman walked over, putting her hands on the little girl’s shoulders. “There are no bugs,” she told Kenna.
Looking up with wide eyes, Kenna said, “I don’t like bugs, Karme.”
“Believe me, I know, Kenna,” Karme said with a tone that spoke volumes.
Ahnon leaned close to Jedek. “I think you might have got some bad information. I don’t see bugs on the little one, and I’m looking hard,” he whispered.
“Ahnon, shh,” Jedek whispered as Ahnon leaned back on the bench, smiling. “Can you make her run with me?” Jedek begged.
Ahnon stood up, smiling as he reached behind him. Then, holding his hand over Kenna’s head, he spoke the words of magic, making her glow for a second. “Take off,” he said.
“Hold on!” Karme shouted and ran over to tie Kenna’s hair up while Kenna tapped her little foot, waiting. “Now take off.” Kenna jumped up and down, clapping, then ran over to the water and stopped. Stepping out with one foot, testing the water, she started laughing when her foot didn’t sink.
She jumped out on the water and started chasing Jedek. The laughter of the two filled the air as Karme sat down beside Ahnon, watching the two play. “Girl bugs, huh?” Karme asked.
“Yep,” Ahnon said, looking at her. Karme was shorter than he was by a few inches with long, black hair braided up with a beautiful face. Her body was the athletic body of a warrior though she still had feminine curves. Ahnon really noticed those curves.
“Yeah, I just had to listen for ten minutes about boy worms,” Karme told him. Ahnon gave a soft chuckle. “You don’t have to make me look so bad,” Karme told him.
“What?” Ahnon asked, looking over at her.
“Using a spell to let them run on water. Now, come on,” she said, waving a hand at the two kids. “I can barely do basic spells,” she admitted.
“It’s not that hard,” Ahnon told her.
“Surely for you maybe, but I have trouble remembering the words, and I learned a valuable lesson from that. If you don’t say them right and focus your thoughts, bad things do happen,” she said.
Shrugging, “It’s happened a time or two to me,” Ahnon admitted.
Karme looked at him. “And you still casually just rip off spells?” she asked.
“What good is having it if you don’t use it?”
“Uh, dying,” she told him.
Ahnon glanced at her then looked back at the kids. “Yes, there is that.”
Karme looked back at the kids. “You have to give it to Queen Eira. This was a good idea.”
Nodding as he spoke, “Until they figure it out.”
“By then, it will be too late.”
“You’re probably right,” Ahnon said.
They watched the kids play for over an hour then watched Kenna trying to reach down and get a drink of water, but her hand couldn’t break the surface. Jedek came over to her, watching, then pointed over at Ahnon. The two broke into a run across the water, jumped over the marble ledge, and stopped in front of Ahnon, panting. They were both soaked in sweat, but smiles covered their faces.
“Ahnon, can you stop the spell so we can drink?” Jedek panted out with his face red.
Acting frustrated, “Use the spell and then turn it off. You need to make up your mind,” Ahnon said, sitting up trying not to smile.
Kenna looked at him. “Ahnon, come on. I’m thirsty and can’t drink,” she pouted.
“Very well then,” Ahnon said, putting a hand on each of their heads. “Concedo,” he said, making the kids glow again for a second. “Okay, let’s get some water,” he said, leading them to the fountain beside the pool.
The kids ran over to a massive statue of a woman many times taller than Ahnon, holding a vase and pouring water over rocks on the ground before it drained into the pool. Holding their mouths open next to the pouring stream of water thick as a man’s arm, they stuck their faces in. “Kenna, please don’t get soaked,” Karme pleaded.
Pulling her face out of the torrent of water, she said, “I won’t,” then promptly put her face back under the stream, trying to drink, making Karme groan.
“It’s going to take a week to brush her hair now,” Karme mumbled.
Ahnon smiled and then froze catching a smell. Spinning around, Ahnon searched the area with his eyes. The wind was blowing in his face, and he breathed deeply through his nose again.
Karme saw his reaction and looked around. “What?” she asked, seeing Ahnon smell the air and grip his staff tighter. Karme sniffed the air. “Blade oil. There are soldiers on the wall,” she told him.
“I smell spell components, kesptal to be exact. None of the soldiers have the ability,” he mumbled as he backed over to the kids. “Jedek, come here,” he said in a low voice.
Jedek turned around with water dripping off his head. “What, Ahnon?” he asked.
“Jedek, come to me now, and don’t talk anymore,” Ahnon commanded, scanning the area harder with his eyes and listening for any sound. Startled at the tone, Jedek looked at Ahnon, how he was holding the ever-present staff and his body, ready to pounce. Jedek ran over, stopping behind him.
“Kenna, come here,” Karme whispered, and Kenna ran over. “Let’s move back to the castle,” she whispered to Ahnon.
“There are at least three behind us,” he told her, moving his head slightly from side to side.
“How many altogether?” Karme asked, looking around, pulling her katana off her back.
Ahnon looked at her, annoyed. “If you would shut up, I could count,” he told her. Karme glanced around and tried to concentrate. Off to her right, she heard the soft rustle of cloth brushing against leaves, then off to her left, she heard a sword being slowly drawn. “Twenty,” Ahnon finally told her.
Stunned, “Are you kidding me? Twenty,” she whispered harshly.
“Did you graduate from the bhari academy?” Ahnon asked, getting irritated.
“Yes, I did,” she shot back.
“Well, act like it. They are going to attack from all sides at once, so be ready.” He paused then added, “I think they’re kytensa, so be expecting good warriors.”
Karme’s knees became weak. She had graduated, but Karme had never been in a real battle. She had heard rumors of the kytensa but didn’t believe them. How could the three kingdoms train warriors like the bhari? Suddenly, she just wanted to go home as she scanned the trees. Slowly, she leaned down to Kenna’s ear. “Kenna, no matter what happens, stay close to Jedek, and don’t leave his side,” she whispered so Kenna could barely hear her. With a frightened look, Kenna nodded, moving closer to Jedek. When she got beside him, Jedek grabbed her hand, pulling her closer.
Ahnon threw some powder behind him at Jedek’s feet. “Contego orbis,” Ahnon mumbled. “They’re moving in,” Ahnon said in a normal voice. “Jedek, don’t move from the spot you’re in no matter what happens. They can’t get to you unless you move.”
Jedek nodded even though Ahnon wasn’t facing him. Jedek looked at the air around him, noticing it was shimmering in the shape of a globe. He reached out, and his hand met a wall, but he could push through it if he tried. He looked down at Kenna and noticed a few strands of her hair were stuck in the shimmering air. He pulled them out and noticed Kenna pushing on the shimmering air but couldn’t push through like he could. Leaning over, he said, “Don’t worry, and stay here with me. Ahnon has a shield around us,” he whispered. She looked up at him, giving a little smile with fear on her face.
Ahnon
turned to Karme. “They’re moving to me first. They don’t consider you a threat. I hope you have some throwing blades.”
“Yes, I do,” she said, dropping her hand to her waist.
“Get ready to shield yourself,” he told her, and she looked at Kenna. “Don’t worry; as long as she stays by Jedek, she’ll be safe,” Ahnon assured her. Throwing his head back, Ahnon shouted, “The coliseum is open. Let the games begin!” as he turned to his right. Karme reached to her waist and pulled out her shield powder, trying to remember the words. “Contego orbis,” Ahnon offered softly.
“Thank you,” she replied, turning to her left. Now, she could hear them moving softly around them. “I will not disappoint you, Father,” Karme said aloud, and a calm fell over her.
Ahnon spotted five off in the garden and reached behind him, touching his spell bag on his left. The bags were slung across his back with a pouch on each side. On the bottom of each were five spigots that he only had to touch to get drops of liquids and powder. Then if needed, he could stick his hand in the side of the pouches and pull out small, wax paper packets containing pre-wrapped spell components that he couldn’t get from the ten spigots.
“Incendio jaculum,” he said, holding out his hand. Dozens of flaming darts shot forth in quick succession, streaking at incredible speed off into the garden where he pointed. Screams suddenly echoed from the garden, and one man fell out of a tree, grabbing his chest. Jedek gasped, seeing the man had three burning holes in his chest, screaming. “Come on; let’s play. I’m getting bored!” Ahnon yelled. When Ahnon yelled again, Karme almost took off running.
Shouts started coming from around them. Ahnon reached back then pointed at the ground in front of him, moving his arm in an arc. “Diru emuqa.” A shimmering wall a hundred feet long shot from the ground on the group’s right, and several arrows hit it, shattering. “That’s right; look who’s a stupid cow!” Ahnon yelled, turning to see five running up behind them.
Dawn of Man (Thanos Book 1) Page 6