The Mistress had been shocked, then ecstatic when she had told her today. This fact was not in any of the histories: it was only in the Royal Court records of Corwinthius itself.
Siri had not needed to research this though. She was in the King's Throne Room when it had happened. She simply sent word to Corwinthius via stone to have the record pulled and copied for her. The messenger was already on their way with the copy.
She would send at least four of her Shadows, her best and fastest riders. She could trust no one else with this. She gave them gold to buy new mounts if needed. Two of them would stop at different points partway, and the other would rest in Handal. The lead rider would be riding for nearly two and a half days to reach him though, based on the information she had now. They were packed and ready, awaiting her orders in the stables.
Then the lead rider would return with Quedesham's reply, hand it off in Handal, he would ride to the next rider in line, and hand it off to him. Their horses would be fresh, and the people rested so they could make the best possible speed without stopping.
Siri saw Tangarth and Riks stepping out of a carriage: Tangarth had two cups and a carafe in one hand. She could see they had not slept well, and she knew why. Normally she would offer them condolences, but she did not wish for them to question why she already knew.
Do not offer information: use it, and gain it: but do not give it to anyone without reason. That was a personal code she had lived by for many years now. It worked quite well for her.
“Mr. Tangarth!” She called out. She was in excellent condition, but she was getting older and had run from her office on the fifth floor as soon as she got word he had returned. Time was too critical to be waiting for people getting on and off the lifts.
“Ma'am!” Thorel called back to her. She stopped her run almost directly in front of him. He stepped back in alarm as if she might run into him.
The two men looked worn and tired. That was no surprise to her though. Siri took two deep breaths and said, “Mr. Tangarth, can you describe exactly how to get to your guardian's farm?”
He was taken aback, obviously surprised by the question.
“Ma'am, do you need me for anything?” His friend asked her.
“No Mr. Riks, thank you,” she nodded to him.
“I'm gonna go fall on my nose, man. Wake me up half past the sixteenth hour, Thorel,” he said.
“Ok,” he said.
“Mr. Riks, if you stop by the Household staff station on your floor, you can arrange for them to wake you when needed. Ask one of the guards on your floor, they'll be able to direct you,” she said.
“Ok, thank you ma'am,” he wandered off, looking like he might not make it that far. That was no concern of hers though.
“Mr. Tangarth, can you describe precisely how to get to your Guardian's farm from Handal?” She asked again. She could see her four Shadows, with the fastest mounts available waiting patiently. They were near the exit staying out of the way of traffic.
“Yes ma'am, but why?” Thorel asked looking at her almost suspiciously.
“It has been many years since I have spoken to my former student. I wished to send him a letter, to renew our relationship. I would have done so years ago, but I did not know where he was, or if he still lived,” she told him, her breathing back to normal now. Just enough information for her to move forward, and nothing more.
“Um... is that all, ma'am?” He asked still looking at her oddly.
“Mr. Tangarth, if you please, I am extremely busy. There are many other matters with the murder last night that require my attention. Can you describe the route, please?” A strategic twist of the blade into this man's pain should distract him for a moment, she hoped. She opened her case and pulled a blank page and a pen from it.
He nodded sadly, a tear running down his face. “I'm sorry ma'am. I know you're busy. It's pretty simple,” he went on to describe the path from Handal that went to his Guardian's farm.
It was a good thing he did too. There were several paths that led elsewhere, such as a pond, a cabin owned by a lone man, and an abandoned wood mill. Siri scribbled the information down quickly and verified it with him.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Tangarth,” she nodded to him and ran to her waiting Shadows quickly.
She heard him say: “You're welcome ma'am,” from behind her.
She stopped in front of the waiting woman and handed her the sheet of paper with the directions on it. She opened her case and pulled two sealed letters from it, giving them to her.
“Give him this one. If he declines, give him this one as well. Do you have any questions?” She looked at the three men and one woman.
They looked about briefly, to make certain no one was in earshot.
“No Mistress,” they said quietly as one.
“Then spirits go with you. Kill these horses if you have to, but return by Friday at the nineteenth hour. I will be in the High Lord's Tower at that time. Do not give his reply to anyone, except me,” she said, serious as death itself.
All four of them saluted with their fists to heart and mounted their horses. They kicked their heels into the animals' flanks and started off quickly.
Now the only concern she had was would he cooperate? He had better, for his sake. She thought.
* * *
Ari sat in the chair in her study, sipping her tea. She would normally be sipping wine while she waited, but she didn't even want to look at a bottle right now, let alone smell it.
She still didn't feel well, but the alchemists' medicine that Kira had brought her had helped a great deal. It was past the fifteenth hour now, and she needed to teach her love more. There are so many things he needs to know still.
Her love. She felt the well of feelings in her heart when she thought those words. She had read many times many books in her life since she was young. She had read many books of fiction before she'd been accepted at the Academy, and had enjoyed romance stories the most of all of them.
After she had learned more at the Academy and had her life's harshest lessons at her stepmother's orders, she came to believe love was simply an artificial construct of society. One made to excuse the instinctual desire to fornicate and reproduce. To give the way it was done order to separate human desires from that of beasts in the field. To try to put the Human animal on an artificial pedestal above others in the animal kingdom. And to ensure that only the best examples of human were mated to specimens of similar quality. The class distinctions in the Noble system only served to reinforce this.
Once she had come to that conclusion, she had admired the brilliant design of this falsehood. It was absolutely marvelous in its simplicity and its complex function. She hadn't believed it was real anymore like many childhood beliefs are discarded when one matures. She believed it was just as real as the tales of snow giants and dragons she had read.
But she had seen the mythical beast with her own eyes now and was shocked by its power.
She was relieved when she had pulled back that blanket and found herself unmolested. But there was a strange part of her that had never spoken before that wondered why he didn't. Worried that he didn't want her. She wouldn't have even remembered. Why didn't he?
Of course, she would have had to punish him if he had done that without her leave, and she had lived through many excellent examples of how to do so effectively. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn't even think about punishment: it would have meant their immediate death. But if he had taken her without her leave, she would punish him thoroughly to correct him. So that he wouldn't make such a mistake again. She wasn't a monster like her stepmother.
Because she loved him. Almost as much as she loved her own life now.
The guard's stone touched her mind: “Mistress, Mr. Tangarth is here.”
“Send him in,” she replied.
Thorel entered her study with the bag of books he always brought with him for his lessons. He looked freshly washed and was wearing clean clothes. His eyes had dark circle
s under them that told her he was very tired.
When she had asked her personal guards when he had left his room, they told her about his friend coming near the fourth hour to give Thorel the news of the whore's murder. When she had asked, they had described his grief in detail. Ari found herself irritated that this common whore could still have a pull on him now, even after death. She hadn't considered that possibility. It made her feel jealous.
But when she looked at him, those feelings disappeared. She smiled and went to him. He'd set his bag down on the chair he always used, and she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Kissing him made her not care how bad she still felt. It didn't matter.
Thorel returned the kiss with passion and hugged her tighter than she would have liked. She said nothing though; she didn't want him to stop. She could endure this easily as uncomfortable as it was if it meant holding him longer.
“I love you Thorel,” she said looking into his eyes, long moments after they released their kiss.
“I... I think I love you too Ari,” he said with a strange look on his face.
She stepped back from him, a wound opening in a place filled only with love a moment ago and said, “What does that even mean? ‘I think I love you?’” Her eyes were hard, and her voice harder.
“Exactly what I said Ari. I think I love you. I don't know, I've never felt like this before in my life,” he said looking straight into her eyes.
Ari angrily said, “Well neither have I! But I know it's love, and I love you!”
“Then how do you know, if you've never felt like this either?” He asked.
“It fits every description I have ever read, that's how I know,” she replied pithily.
“Well, if this is what love feels like, I don't think the descriptions I've read did it any justice,” he said.
“Then you do love me. You just said the descriptions you read were inferior to what you feel,” Ari said, relieved to know that he does love her, he is just confused.
“I think I do, yes,” he nodded.
Ari just let herself fall into the soft couch behind her. She let a gasp of frustration escape her.
He sat down next to her looking down at his hands in his lap. “I'm sorry, Ari. I've had a rough day. My friend Eliel was murdered last night,” tears began running from his eyes.
“I know. I had to go and deal with the murder when I woke up. I recall meeting her with you the first night you came to the Manor,” she said, keeping the joy at her death carefully in check. She was glad to note that her spirit hadn't attached to him. At least she wouldn't have to see her still clinging to him.
“Did Tara kill her? That's what Nigel said,” Thorel asked.
“Yes. According to the other woman, she had been following her so she could avenge an attack that your friend made upon her. Even though that one hadn't actually been a party to the murder, she had attacked your friend with the one that did kill her before,” she said succinctly.
“I decided to pardon her that, as her part was very minor. And she was so terrified when I arrived to put her under truth seer, I think the entire experience of being arrested will likely correct her quite well. Although, I did warn her that if I see her again for any such thing, I will take it as an insult to my generosity this time,” she said with a nod.
She left out the fact that she simply wished for the entire thing to disappear as quickly as possible, and that was the real reason for pardoning the assault the woman had confessed to.
Thorel nodded. “I can't believe that girl killed her. I thought she only wanted to hurt her. She had cut Eliel's face up with a knife: she told me about that, and I healed it for her. But I never could have believed..,” Thorel leaned on her and began crying quietly.
Ari wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want him to get her dress all wet. But she wanted him to touch her too.
I can endure this, my dress will dry. She said to herself. She remembered doing this on Kira several times after her stepmother's punishments. Or when she was just feeling horrible after the other students at the Academy had made her feel like less than a person. What would Kira have done?
She put her arm around him and said. “It's alright, Thorel. I'm right here,” That was what she was supposed to say. She would have to ask Kira to teach her more comforting words.
She was glad she'd remembered. He put his arms around her and held her tight. Perfect. That was what she had really wanted him to do anyway.
Ari tried to feel real sympathy for him. But she found it was impossible when what he was feeling was for a whore that had tried to take him from her.
* * *
He had actually fallen asleep on Ari while he cried. He couldn't believe he'd done that.
But she said nothing about it when he woke up. She only said: “We have work to do,” and taught him how to touch her mind directly, so they could speak without being near each other.
It was tough at first, but by the end of next three hours, he was able to do it without difficulty. Thoughts of Eliel kept distracting him.
He asked her about work he could do to earn money. He was getting low, and while he didn't spend his coin the way Nigel did, he needed to make certain he would have enough.
“Nonsense, it is no issue. You need to study and practice!” She said vehemently.
“Ari, I have to have enough money to take carriages,” he explained.
She looked at him oddly, then comprehension dawned. “Oh my, you are right. I forget you're common at heart. I've only ever done that a few times when I was running away from home,” she giggled and pulled a handful of gold coins out of her coat that was hanging on her chair.
“Is this enough?” She asked pouring the small fortune into his hand.
“Ari, I can't accept this,” he said.
Her face took on a harder look. He was starting to understand every time he saw that, she wasn't happy. “Why not?”
“I didn't work for it,” he said. “I want to earn my money, not just take it from you.”
“Why is that important?” She asked. The hard look in her eyes softened into a genuine curiosity.
“Because then I feel I owe you for it,” he told her.
“Well, you have been working hard at your lessons. Consider that payment,” she said.
“You already paid for my schooling, and you're tutoring me at no charge. I should be paying you!” He said.
“When your services are called for Thorel, you will be asking me for more money to cover what will be required of you. I can assure you of that,” she said completely seriously.
“You will not only be working hard, but your life will be in danger sometimes. Do not forget the assassin that nearly killed you. I guarantee you will be faced with such danger again, and we will be in danger again soon.”
“Why? From whom?” He asked, completely attentive.
He saw her use the mind touch, and a door opened. He saw the servant he had seen with her before. She was almost Nigel's height, with a large bust and pretty brown hair.
“Yes Mistress?” she asked.
“Kira, I would like a pot of black tea. Does that suit you, Thorel?” Ari asked.
“Yes Mistress. Thank you,” he said.
The young woman exited through the concealed door she had entered from.
“Oh, House Quarrel, all the Crown Lords, and whoever they can get to ally with them,” she replied nonchalantly.
“And before I forget, you recall the day High Lady Vallad summoned me, don't you?” She said with a half smile that was coated in irony.
“Yes. Why?” He didn't like how large this list of enemies was. Not at all.
“She actually threatened my life that day. After saying a few other unpleasant things, and fining me for handily beating Quarrel at his own game. Enemies are all around us, at all times, Thorel,” she looked him square in the eye.
“By the spirits! She actually threatened you?” Thorel never imagined Ari was in such danger. It was one thing to have
an enemy that was your equal, but this was the High Lady!
Ari nodded. The concealed door opened and Kira came back in with tea service for two. She bent at the knees and set it on the low table. She poured them each a cup.
“Thank you Kira,” Ari said.
“Of course, Mistress,” She said with a curtsy and scurried away quickly.
Ari waved her hand over the tea, and Thorel could see the Magik of the venom seeker penetrate it.
“It is safe,” Ari said and picked up one of the fine porcelain cups, taking a drink.
“So keep the money, it is nothing. Even if it is your desire to earn it, that desire will be fulfilled,” Ari said looking over her cup at him.
“I will earn it, Ari,” He said taking his own tea and trying to absorb what all of this really meant. Then a question came to him. “Ari, why are they our enemies?”
“They think I am weak, and will be easy prey. Or in the High Lady's case, it is the opposite. She recognizes my strengths and wishes to remove me before I can threaten her. It is mostly because we do not have any actual Wizards. And they underestimate me due to my age. I think a few of them are beginning to rethink that logic though,” she said with a smile.
“How can you smile about that? And why don't we have any Wizards?” He asked seriously.
“I smile because I find it amusing that they would discount me for such a reason, and I have already made Lords Guithenus and Quarrel pay dearly for that assumption. As far as the Wizards are concerned, either they aren't interested in any Lord or Lady or they have political or family ties to someone who is my enemy.”
“And I have heard the excuse, “I don't wish to serve an apprentice,” many times too. Of course, they will serve a no talent sightless Lord or Lady without batting an eye. They seem to think that if they served me, they would be serving one who was beneath them. Egotistical fools,” she spat out venomously.
“Yes, they are fools if that is the way they think,” Thorel said, then took a drink.
She nodded in agreement. “It is no matter. When I take the oath and have constructed my staff, I will be the most powerful Wizard ever born. And you are a completely different matter. We have not even begun to tap your abilities I think. We understand only the most rudimentary aspects, but there is so much more we do not know yet. Your ability to take Magikal action while not even conscious, or conscious of it is amazing. We just need to make certain you are trained as well as we can be before a crisis occurs.”
Spirit of Magik (The Dothranan Chronicles Book 1) Page 34