Daniel placed a Da Capo on Find All to sustain the spell and then played the Symphonic, Mind Touch, in his head. Blue beams of light shot from his fingers, through the window, and straight to the raptors nesting above. He became aware of ten minds, all focusing on him and wanting to know if he needed anything. “All my needs are satisfied,” he replied, to which they sent back feelings of contentment. He added the eleventh raptor, assured her all was well when she inquired, and then delicately formed links to the fledglings. With even more delicacy he linked his mind to the inhabitants of the eggs.
The whip crack sound of displaced air came from behind. He spun around while opening his eyes, and preparing to cast, Sleep Time, at the intruder.
Sherree stood between him and the door while holding a baton in her left hand, and wearing a red on black cloak pulled tight to her body, the hood down; revealing her long yellow-gold hair. Well, he never expected her to keep the silks blue, not since making it clear she wanted to continue her career in the Aloe Guild. Still, Daniel was certainly surprised by the abrupt arrival.
Amber light radiated from her body and with the potential she formed cushions of air on the, door, ceiling, and walls. “I don’t want people to hear the displaced air snapping back when I leave. I did the same to my room so none would hear me coming or going. Even so I cannot stop the harmonic waves given off by the bolt of potential the spell requires,” she explained, although he was already coming to that conclusion and had a good understanding of harmonics; no doubt that was why she did not share building one with the other Aakacarns. Her green eyes focused on him like a hungry cavalryman who just spotted the chuck wagon. “Marsha gave me a tour of the entire compound, so naturally I fixed this room firmly in my mind. I want to sleep with my husband tonight,” she added after he stood there staring like a love struck fool.
“I approve of your first use of, Conveyance,” he said while taking a step toward her and hoping she wanted to do more than sleep, slumber being suddenly pushed way back on his list of things he desired to do.
Sherree tilted her head to the side while her pupils widened as if to grant her a greater scrutiny of him. “I admit it is a handy spell, especially since we can convey ourselves to this room no matter how far apart we travel in the future.”
Daniel knew he was grinning like an idiot, yet could not stop. “That is the best use of this spell I have ever heard.”
Sherree pulled open the cloak, let it drop to the floor, and stood wearing nothing but her black silk panties and bra. The curves and contours of her body were most impressive. “I hope you weren’t planning to sleep anytime soon,” she stated and then pounced.
Daniel caught her out of the air, spun her around, and carried her to the bed. Sleep, it turned out, was a long time in coming.
Chapter Eight: Innovations
Daniel felt the warmth of Sherree’s body pull away from his and began blinking the sleep out of his eyes; with dawn breaking the light filtering through the window was dim and he could hardly see. By the time he sat up she was back in her cloak. “I tried to slip away without waking you.” She spoke softly, padded barefoot across the rug, kissed him on the lips, and then sat on the side of the bed. An amber glow radiated out from her and she touched his forehead, sending, Vitality, warm and tingling into him. “You didn’t get much sleep last night.”
No argument there and certainly no regrets. Grasping her hand, he kissed it. “Thanks. Do you have to go so soon?” Daniel asked the question even knowing the answer before the words came out. She needed to get back to her room before someone figured out where she was, yet he longed for her to stay.
Sherree nodded. “The longer I am here, the greater the possibility some person will see me.” She kissed him again, this time lingering and full of intensity. She pulled away and stood up when it seemed as though she was on the verge of getting back in bed. “You are remarkably distracting. There was a time not so long ago when I could clear an amorous male from my mind without much bother; it is not so easy when we both feel the same way.” She remarked and then closed her eyes, took a breath, and continued. “Before I go, will you explain why Tarin Conn’s, Teleportation, requires so much more potential than, Conveyance? I’m fairly sure his spell would mummify me in an instant.”
Her mind seemed nearly as eager as Simon’s when it came to wanting to understand the why and how of things, and the question could also be a way of taking their minds off love making. “You are correct, Teleportation, is a single line Melody requiring six bolts of potential, and it would mummify you. I added parts of my own composition, notes and rhythms, and altered the Melody until I had a sixteen part harmony, requiring a single bolt to power the spell, which was the goal,” he explained while caressing her arm. “Not every spell comes easy to an Aakasear, some come to my head whole and others have to be worked on. I broke the Silencing using, Memories, a spell that came quickly into my mind after Efferin cast his Melody on me, to replace the original spell that resulted in you entering my life.”
There had been many tumultuous events as a result of casting his first spell, yet meeting Sherree was definitely a high point in all that he had experienced. She reached into an inner pocket of her cloak and pulled out an amulet, gold with an amber stone. “I want us to stay in touch, so take this and give me one of yours.”
Daniel had planned on making the same suggestion. He threw aside the covers, took the amulet from her hand, and went to the chair upon which his coat lay. He removed one of his own communication amulets from the inner pocket, placed hers inside and tossed the one he made to her. “Good idea, we will need to coordinate our schedules.”
Her eyes took on the hungry look, dilated pupils and all. She shook her head and a slow smile spread across her face. “My thought exactly. Now, when we are apart, don’t go wrestling with any more mountain lions.”
Daniel glanced over his shoulder at his bare backside and knew there were only two people who could tell her how he came to have those claw marks. “Which one told you?”
“You weren’t the only one holding meetings yesterday. Your mother felt there were things I needed to know about her son. Our marriage is a secret but that does not give you license to behave as if you were single. You are mine and I have a say in what you do with your body, and I say, you are not allowed to throw yourself recklessly into danger.”
Daniel understood that much about marriage; each had a say as she said, and he would honor her wishes, yet she married the Chosen Vessel. Danger was a part of his life and nearly unavoidable. “You married a man destined to fight the Dark Maestro, battling him is going to be dangerous.”
Sherree gave a firm nod of the head as if he had just made her point, which caused him to open and close his mouth without saying anything, thus creating silent moments she decided to fill. “You’re right, but you don’t have to fight him one on one like when you dueled Balen Tamm. Just keep in mind what I said and try to reduce the dangers as much as possible,” she declared while eyeing him up and down. She raised her baton and glowed with potential. “We belong to each other,” she stated and then vanished in a flash. A few moments later the cushions of air placed to conceal her coming and going vanished.
After dressing and having a substantial breakfast prepared by Marge and her staff, Daniel stood ready to face the day as did his parents, Tim, Gina, David, and Silvia, who also enjoyed the bacon, eggs, ham, hash browns, toast, and pancakes. Chas Herling sat eating over at table ten along with Mallory SuKendall, thirty-two years of age, whose dark hair was long although cut to half the length it had been. A gold bar added to the broad shoulder stripes on her uniform indicated her rank, Herling had two on each. Beside Mallory sat Al Benkorren, thirty-three, wearing a similar uniform, both had been made Lieutenants by their commander.
Al had his hair cut and shaved off his beard, yet sported a neat mustache. Sitting with the Commander and Lieutenants was Jacob Tanner, twenty-nine. The lanky man, when standing, stood nearly as tall as Jerremy DeSuan and l
ike him chose to be clean shaven. The pair of gold stripes on the sleeves of his blue coat marked his rank as Sergeant.
Daniel made it three steps from the table when a weak harmonic ripple came from the direction of his office. Someone just cast a spell. Moments later, Samuel, in his black on red silk pants, walked into the dining area while flexing his right hand, and clearing up the matter of who cast the Melody, allowing Daniel to relax.
Gina was the first to take note of the new appendage. “The Maestro strikes again,” she called out, gaining everyone’s attention.
“Samuel, have you been exercising?” Miriam asked, clearly referring to his improved physique.
Ronn turned to his son. “Nice repair job. I figured you would get around to it.”
“After restoring Condemneds this wasn’t so hard,” Daniel shrugged off the difficulty.
Samuel walked right up to him. “The hand is great and I stood flexing my muscles for a good two tenths of a mark before coming out here. Daniel, I don’t have the words to fully express how thankful I feel,” he stated and then shook hands. The new one had a strong grip. “You don’t have the title but Gina is correct, in my opinion you are a Maestro.”
Daniel squeezed firmly and then let go. “Glad to help,” he replied, choosing not to mention the Maestro business. Maybe if he ignored it people would stop.
Tim bent toward the former Teki. “He has titles aplenty and doesn’t really need another. You may also want to reconsider spending so much time flexing; people might think you are vain.”
Samuel smiled at the shaggy headed mountain man. “I’m an Aakacarn. People think we are all vain.”
“Then you have nothing to lose, go ahead and flex,” Tim replied, jokingly, and then his smile faded into seriousness. “I am pleased Daniel was able to help you and happy to see that second lightning bolt on your shoulder.”
Sam having a smaller vat than Sherree had caused Daniel to think his friend might not have the capacity to hold another bolt. In this instance it felt good to be wrong. “You ought to be hungry after the growth forced onto your body.”
Samuel rubbed his belly. “The aroma is what drew me away from flexing. If you don’t mind, I’ll eat here rather than in building one.”
“Go get a plate and eat your fill,” Miriam told him. She had a golden letter, I, on her silver shoulder stripes. She and Ronn were Instructors, their specialties being, tracking, and the bow and knife. “And put on the rest of your clothes before going to building one.” He actually bowed his head to her.
Folks in the holding clearly moved ahead with the distinguishing of rank and responsibilities. Everyone in blue had patches on the left arm of their uniforms, a falcon with a lightning bolt clutched in its talons in a sky of blue; the symbol of House Benhannon. Daniel approved of them adding gold bars and insignia to their uniforms, these all being things he would have suggested had he not been involved with other pressing matters.
Chas and his team walked over to see the restored limb. “Even knowing you healed us, I am still amazed at seeing your work. Oh what I would have given for a healer on staff able to re-grow limbs after a battle.”
“As long as you don’t lose your head, he could probably fix whatever parts get chopped off,” Gina offered her thought on the matter.
Samuel went to the kitchen, no doubt in search of food. Chas and his team saluted their leader, and headed for the outside door, as did Daniel’s parents. A good deal of training needed to be done and all of them had parts in the process, as would Sergeant Zaccum when he arrived. That left Tim, Gina, and the pair of Teki following Daniel to his office. Gina placed the bucket of rocks on the floor and they all ignored the cobalt blue colored cushion of air covering the desk and Sam’s shirt and cloak.
He had just settled into his chair when the four sat down in the remaining ones made by Simon. Daniel had work to do and wanted to be about it.
“It’s a good thing your current status isn’t interfering with your personal safety,” David remarked with a mischievous smile. “It was blasted inconvenient for my wife and I those times when you forgot to remove the body shield spells. Recently-weds desire quality time together, yes, it is a good thing you don’t have to worry about that.” He just proved the success of Sherree’s air cushions on the walls, ceiling, and door. No one suspected she had come and gone, best to keep it that way.
Silvia elbowed her husband. “Be nice,” she admonished him while laughing.
Tim stifled his laugh, barely. “I told you about getting sweet on her.” At least he did not say Sherree’s name. “All that, a relationship for me is impossible, talk you were throwing back at me, and how I just don’t understand the ways of Aakacarns. Who’s the hound pup now?”
“If Val can move on and find happiness in the arms of another, so can Daniel, even if not as often as he might like,” Gina stated, starting out serious and ending with a mischievous smile of her own. It was the first time she had mentioned her twin in his presence since the farewell hug back on Tannakonna.
Daniel licked his lips and shifted his gaze back and forth between each of the self-styled humorists, who were looking rather pleased with themselves. No one in the room seemed intimidated by the lightning bolts, which he found pleasing, and so chose to play along. “You are prancing on a dangerous trail. It might be necessary to place body shields on your persons, to keep you safe, just for a few days and nights.” He placed emphasis on the last word.
“I never prance on a trail,” Tim replied in mock indignation.
“I’ll have you know we Teki only prance during a show,” David stated.
Daniel did not see the need to cast, Personal Shield, upon himself or anyone else while in the compound, and especially not during his time spent with Sherree. He smiled, appreciating their attempt to lighten his mood, he had been thinking grimly and no doubt it showed on his face. He needed to work on controlling his facial expressions and tone of voice. Can emotions be compartmentalized like his repertoire and the minds of the creatures linked with him? Maybe, even if not, the mental exercise might be good. Thinking of exercise, he needed to find some people to practice against, perhaps Chas, Keenan, and someone else good with a sword would be willing spar with him.
“Are you going to make more amulets?” Silvia inquired as her gaze flicked to the bucket of rocks.
“I expect so, eventually, but those rocks are for another project,” Daniel replied.
“Busy, busy,” Gina said, “You seem to have lots of chores. Why don’t you share some with us?”
Because most of them require the powers of an Aakacarn, was the response on the tip of his tongue, yet he did not say so. It suddenly occurred to him there were things his friends could do. “I need more recruits. Marcus Bower, my Captain-of-the-guard, has gathered five hundred into my service and will be bringing more, yet only so many can be drawn from that region without taking from the musters of other Lords of the Land. I need to draw from the independent jurisdictions.”
“You can pop us over to Tannakonna,” Tim suggested. “Gina and I can round up volunteers from villages and towns all over the region. As you may know, I am quite famous in those areas.”
He was famous for helping Daniel win the duel against Balen Tamm, fame well deserved. The suggestion had one problem, it being a chore that required a spell caster, and all but one would eventually be leaving.
Gina began shaking her head. “We would be making Daniel swing his ax at the same tree as us. Let’s do this on our own and allow him to work on a different chore.”
“Maybe Simon will take you on the Javelin,” Silvia threw out the notion for all to chew on.
A slow grin spread across Tim’s face. “Not the Javelin, the Wager. Daniel, take us to the riverboat, modify it for our use, and then we can travel the rivers of Ducaun independently, including the Tannakonna.”
Like the steady beat his friend used to set on his pair of drums, he once again set in motion a rhythm Daniel could work with. “That’s a good
notion. We could ask my parents to come, they designed the Javelin for Simon, and they might have some good ideas for improving the Wager. Presently it is just a huge plank-covered hull that floats.”
Gina’s eyes widened, showing her eagerness. “Can we start this project today?”
Daniel nodded his head while setting his priorities and arranging his chores accordingly, the way his father taught him. He summoned potential, projected a hologram of the Wager on his desk, and then solidified it with air, added a Da Capo, and tied it off to the residual life force energy in his hunting knife. “Take this to my parents so they’ll have an idea what they’re going to be working with.”
Tim picked up the model from Simon’s air cushion. “Nice toy, we’ll take it and be about our business.”
“Sounds good, I’ll meet up with you two and my parents later. We can decide on a design and then go modify the Wager,” Daniel said, and watched as his two long time friends stood up and walked out the door.
He focused on Silvia, the weapon on her hip in particular. “My defenders will be using the longbows. For offensive force, I was thinking about your crossbow design.”
Silvia smiled and removed the weapon from the clip, holding it up. “I made this for ease of use. The miniature bolts can be set and fired rapidly. They don’t have the range of a bow but I can have three targets down before a bowman can launch a second arrow.”
“It is a fine weapon,” David ventured to say. “Even so your fighters need a few more pieces of equipment in order to be effective. They will eventually run out of bolts and will need swords and knives.”
Daniel well understood the feeling of facing an overwhelmingly huge army with nowhere near enough arrows to make a dent in their numbers. He had no intention of sending his people into a situation like that. The things he learned recently about the vat of life force energy in each person, along with other pieces of knowledge he had picked up along the way, have been steeping in his mind, including some spells requiring minimal potential. He had an idea and the success depended on toiletries. He started laughing.
To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) Page 10