And that was because her brother had asked that she marry Erlac Vallad to secure this city, and watch over his interests. She could have refused, but she knew her brother all too well; she would not have lasted long if she had. Out of her four brothers, only two remained. She was pretty sure her eldest brother had seen to their “accidents”. She was just as certain in her mind that Erlac's father had been creatively murdered as well, she just wished she knew how, in case she needed it for future use.
She had not learned until two years after her marriage to him that he preferred men in his bed. It did explain why he was the least enthusiastic man she had ever been with though. They rarely slept in the same bed anymore, let alone the same room. Except for the rare orgies she would organize, she had not had her husband's cock in her in for eight years. This once they had discussed it, had been fine. He slept in his room, and had the men he liked, and she slept in hers and had the men and women she liked.
She wondered if Ari Dothranan liked women. If she did, perhaps she could talk her into sharing her betrothed between them. But that woman was another problem. She knew Lady Dothranan was a serious danger to her position here, and her husband.
She saw the power she had used to fire that greater lightning bolt: she knew the Council was wrong about her sight age being three. They had to be. It would not make sense for her to use so little power for that kind of attack. Her sight age was even younger than that, and she had done the math to calculate the magnitude of the Detonation stones she had made. It made her shiver when she saw the results. If she were right, this woman would have had to have been born with the sight. She knew the curve of spiritual conservation, and for the power efficiency she has it is the only explanation if the curve was consistent.
She had brought this to the Council's attention as soon as she had completed her work, over two weeks ago. Most of them had all but mocked her findings. “Master Rema is doing a detailed analysis of her power consumption for an adjustment to the spiritual conservation curve. We will await the results. But thank you, Councilor,” Master Osium had said.
It made her blood boil to be dismissed like that. Yes, she may have pulled a few strings to take the open seat on the Council, but she was no less deserving or intelligent than any of the others under consideration. If they were more worthy, they could have bested her in that. But they hadn't.
Lucia wished fervently Ari Dothranan had given her a reason to kill her tonight.
Kendal had not noted her power draw, but he did promise to pay closer attention in the future. The discussion of Ari Dothranan's sight age and ability was an old subject in Council. But she knew for certain that woman was far more powerful than the others thought.
She could not believe the way Erlac had embarrassed her at the party tonight. She'd actually had to remove him from the room twice! Lucia had no illusions about the perceptions of the Lords and Ladies. She was certain, unless they were drooling idiots, they knew she was the real power in this tower. But to be forced to display it publicly tonight was completely unacceptable. She had managed to avoid that for the last decade, since her husband had assumed his position. He had just made himself useless to her. But she had their son that he had barely managed to father. At least he had been able to do that much for her.
She would just have to widow herself, and she could keep her seat secure from Erlac's incompetence. She knew her brother would have no issue with this. He would refuse to be involved or assist in any way, but she knew he could not care less so long as he had what he wanted. That was the only real thing they had in common between them. Their father had been very instructive to her and her four brothers about the use and purpose of power.
She thought about it: and realized that the coming reclamation project could allow her to deal with her husband and Lady Dothranan at the same time. Or at least one of them for certain. She would have to find an appropriate bribe for her brother, but she knew what he liked. Knowledge, and control. Anything she could give him that would give him more of either, he enjoyed thoroughly.
She felt a lot better now that she had sorted all of that out in her mind. She would have to wait until next spring, but it would definitely be worth the wait.
She turned herself over, and pulled one of the pretty slaves to her. This one was a brunette girl. The blonde man continued massaging her foot even after she had turned. He hand such wonderfully strong hands. She kissed the girls belly.
“It is time to please your Mistress now,” she said with a purr.
Saturday May 25th 1624th year of the First Great City
Maturity and Stones
Siri sat in the comfortable chair in her spacious office. It was on the fifth floor of Dothranan Manor, with a full height window looking out onto the southern courtyard. She spent entirely too much time in this chair, it seemed. Her time as the Head Steward of House Dothranan was making her soft. She had a lot more time when she was the personal assistant to the previous Mistress.
She could feel that she wasn't as fit as she was when Mistress Ari had given her this position. She only had time to do two laps around Dothranan Manor in the mornings now, where she used to do three. There were several Dothranan soldiers that were surprised she did two laps around the Manor each morning before breakfast. It is only eight miles, laggards. She thought. I could still do that in armor. She made sure of that by wearing a twenty pound weighted belt, and five pound weights on each wrist and ankle when she ran.
Very few people really understood what it was to be a soldier anymore it seemed. That was one thing she missed about instructing at the Legion Officers Academy; she had been able to take these soldiers who really thought they were something, break them down into nothing and rebuild them into some of the finest weapons and leaders of the realm.
She imagined very few of them had grown up following their Crown General father everywhere as she had though. That made a person look at a soldier through very different eyes.
Her mother had died when she was five trying to give birth to her brother. Her father had called for a Wizard, but he arrived too late to help either of them. So Siri had grown up in the High Citadel of Vox following her father everywhere. She had mourned her mother's passing, and the brother that had never taken a breath, but she wouldn't have traded her time with her father for either of them.
Occasionally she would be sent to Fenel Hold to spend time with her grandmother, who held the Hold until she had died eight years before her father did. She loved her grandmother, but she hated being away from her father. She loved walking with him when he did his inspections, ran drills for Vox's elite units, and had his meetings with the High Lord, High Lady and Legion Generals.
She enjoyed it even more when she had turned eight when he let her start drilling with them. She had small wooden versions of the weapons he had made for her. It took her a few years to be able to go through the full drills though.
She became something of an inspiration for her father's elite platoon by the time she was twelve though. Often, when newer soldiers were making a mess of the formation, or didn't do their weapon or unarmed forms correctly, her father would call her to him.
“Siri! Show this soldier how to do the third spear form properly!” He would yell, and she would run to the front of the formation beside her father, salute him properly in the leather armor he had made for her with her wooden weapon in hand. The new soldiers in the platoon always laughed the first time he called her up.
Then they stopped laughing.
When she was fourteen she attended the Great Academy of Vox and acquired two degrees: a degree in Heraldry, and a degree in Sociology. She knew this knowledge would be useful when she became the Mistress of House Fenel.
It was there that she had killed a person for the first time. When she was fifteen a man tried to assault her; she didn't know what he intended, but he had a knife and had tried to grab her. She was cleared of murder though, High Lady Vox herself had put her under truth seer, because of who she was.
/> When she was eighteen she attended the Legion Academy in Vox. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to, for her father. After she had passed first in her platoon through basic training, she had been allowed to take the Legion Officer's exam. She passed, with a perfect score. Her father had been so proud of her. But he was even more proud when she made Junior Lieutenant rank before her nineteenth birthday. And due to her long practice with her father and his men, her second tier of mastery was certified the same day.
Her grandmother passed on her twenty-second birthday though, and her father had been forced to retire as Crown General of Vox to take the seat of Fenel Hold. It had been sad, but she had been unable to attend her grandmother's memorial, as she was leading a platoon against a hidden settlement of bandits and escaped slaves. She didn't even know her grandmother had passed until they had returned to the Great City of Weplo, with nearly two-hundred prisoners in tow.
Her reminiscence was interrupted by the speaking stone on her desk though. “Miss Fenel, there is a Mr. Quedesham here to see you,” the woman's thin voice said.
She looked at her clock: it was nearly the sixteenth hour now. Hopefully, the Mistress will be done with Mr. Tangarth soon. She thought. That young man was far more impressive to her now than when she'd first met him. His display last night had been extraordinary, even for a Wizard. But she needed to teach him his basics, to make certain his errors last night were never repeated.
“Send him in, with an escort,” she wasn't really worried about her ability to deal with Quedesham if he became violent, she just wanted to insure nothing happened here in her office. Yukiri had relayed the message through the others that he was visibly upset after he'd read the messages. It wasn't surprising with the second letter's content. She just hadn't expected him to inquire directly about coming here to see her.
She quickly shuffled the reports she had been reading aside, and stacked them neatly when the door opened.
It was odd to see her former student walk through that door. He was still in good shape for his age, but he was definitely showing his years.
Don't even think that, you're older than he is. She thought with irony.
“Greetings, Mr. Quedesham. It has been some time,” she said pleasantly with a small smile.
He looked at her oddly. “You used to have a lot more hair. I almost didn't recognize you,” he said gruffly.
“As I recall, you used to have more hair too, Mr. Quedesham,” she replied with humor in her eyes.
He ran his hand through his thinning hair conscientiously. He nodded, looked to the guard then back to her, and said; “Miss Fenel, what are your intentions towards Thorel?” He asked flatly, putting a stone mask of control in place.
Siri didn't miss his obvious ire. “Have a seat, Mr. Quedesham. I wanted to thank you for signing the document,” she said with a smile. “It has pleased my Mistress a great deal.”
He remained standing, and said “Woman, I don't care who it made happy. I want to know why,” his eyes flashed hotly. He wore the ornate short sword at his side that she had seen the King give him twelve years ago. His hand was near it, but not on it.
Siri was ready if he changed his stance though.
She raised her eyebrow. While playing with him was a bit entertaining, she wouldn't allow an incident that could alienate Tangarth to occur. “Wait outside and close the door, please,” she said to the guard without taking her eyes from Korin. He saluted, and obeyed her.
“First, I will be blunt. If you wish to test your skills against me, you may. But if you try do it here, I will make it a point to injure you more than I need to. There is a practice ring we can use to settle your anger,” she said seriously.
He nodded. “Good. I feel like testing my skills against you again. I actually feel more strongly than that, but I don't make threats like the one you made to me.”
She nodded. “I do apologize, but it was necessary to insure your cooperation. Time was critical. Have a seat and I will explain,” she said, invoking the tone of command she would use with erring soldiers on the last statement.
She watched with amusement as he took an automatic step to the chair and stopped. He shook his head ruefully and said, “You almost got me with that one, but I haven't been under anyone's command for twelve years now. I'll have a seat because I'm tired from riding, not because you asked it,” then he seated himself.
She smiled. My student not only held the line at the Battle of Vox, but wasn't broken by it, like so many others. She thought proudly.
“I think you will approve of my intentions, Mr. Quedesham. Mr. Tangarth is now able to marry the woman he loves because of what you did. I'm certain he would like to thank you for it,” she looked him directly in the eye.
“WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SO IF THAT'S ALL IT WAS????” He exploded in disbelief.
The door opened and the guard looked in with a hand on his weapon, Siri shooed him out with a wave.
When the door was closed, she said; “Mr. Quedesham, calm yourself. If I had put the truth into the letters, and they were intercepted by an enemy, it could have been catastrophic. House Dothranan has powerful enemies. Enemies that would have done anything needed to stop this marriage, including sending a few squads to eliminate you and your family.”
“That's still a danger now though, isn't it?” He said with a hard look in his eyes.
“It is, but it is far less likely. You have already claimed Mr. Tangarth, and it is on record with the High Lord. There would be little advantage to killing you, except out of spite perhaps,” she acknowledged.
He nodded. “Miss Fenel, I know you would be a dangerous woman if you chose to be, and I hid my family just because of that when I decided to make my trip here. Now I'm doubly glad I did.”
“You were a good student, with a solid mind. That was a wise choice,” she said seriously.
He was still obviously concerned, but his anger had diminished a great deal.
“So, who is Thorel marrying? The daughter of this house?” He asked.
She smiled. “No. He is betrothed to the Great Lady herself.”
He looked pole axed, then irritated. “So your Great Lady decided she was going to treat herself to a vigorous young man, hmm?”
Siri smiled. She was extremely amused with that sentiment, and felt certain he believed her Mistress was an older woman with a taste for younger men.
“Yes,” she said simply, meeting his eyes without giving him any information. This is going to be amusing when he meets her. She thought.
“I can't believe this! I want to talk to Thorel. Can you arrange that? Or do I have to search this huge anthill on my own?” He asked, exasperated.
“I will see to that, Mr. Quedesham. I will also arrange a room for you with household staff, and with no disrespect intended, a bath and some appropriate clothing. I'm certain the Mistress would accept your presence at dinner, and Mr. Tangarth will be there as well,” she said with a pleasant smile.
He turned his head and sniffed. “Yeah, I'm definitely due for a bath. I'd like to see him now, but if I can meet this cougar trying to take advantage of my boy, I'd definitely like to.”
Siri could barely keep a straight face, so she changed it into a more enthusiastic smile and said; “I would try to contact him now, but they are currently spending some time together. She ordered that they not be disturbed unless there was an emergency.”
She knew exactly where his mind would go with that statement, even though she knew the Mistress was just giving him Magikal tutelage.
He put his hand over his eyes, and shook his head, “Of all the lessons I forgot to teach him, I never thought he'd need the 'beware of older women with money' lecture,” he said quietly.
Siri needed to get him out of here before she laughed in his face. She was about to lose her composure completely.
“Guard!” She called loudly. Korin was instantly alert when she did.
The door opened, and the guard entered.
�
�Please show Mr. Quedesham to the household staff. Tell them to arrange a guest room, a bath and clothes. He will be dining with the Mistress tonight,” she said, working very hard to maintain her composure.
“Yes ma'am,” the man replied with a salute. “If you'll follow me sir,” he gestured to the door.
“Of course, thank you, sir. And thank you, Miss Fenel,” Korin said.
She just smiled, and said: “You're welcome. Close the door on your way out, please.”
They did, and she couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. She tried to keep it down to a point, to make sure he didn't hear her through the door.
But her sides hurt by the time she was done.
* * *
Thorel hadn't expected to see Korin for months, until the break between the first and second semesters. But he'd been here tonight at dinner! He hadn't expected that at all.
It looked like Korin was equally surprised by Ari, for some reason. He had greeted her properly, but when she'd addressed him as Lord Quedesham, he politely asked her not to. He had noticed that Korin gave Siri a look of surreptitious humor, which she had replied to with the broadest smile Thorel had ever seen on her.
Korin told him that after he'd gotten the message from Siri he'd decided to come to Vallad to find out what was happening with him.
At the end of dinner, Ari thanked Korin sincerely for claiming Thorel as his son so they could be wed. Korin said, “Of course, it was my pleasure, Milady.”
Ari told him that she and Siri needed to go to discuss some things for a time.
Siri said that she looked forward to sparring with Korin, and that when she was done with this discussion she would be happy to indulge him. Korin had agreed. She'd invited Thorel to join them. He accepted as well.
“Where may I find the two of you when I finish?” She asked.
“I was going to take him to my study, Siri,” He'd said.
Spirit of Magik (The Dothranan Chronicles Book 1) Page 44