Chapter Twenty-two: Bridges and Promises
I wasn’t usually an active thinker but that evening, I felt restless. I couldn’t stay in my room at the inn, as nice as it was. Mind whirling, feeling a little out of sorts, I finally pulled on my boots and a jacket and headed outside.
Fall had started encroaching on the late summer season, and this far north it had already started getting cold in the evenings. The cool air actually felt good to me, so I kept walking, looking for a quiet place to think. One block down, I found it: a small little park with a few benches, sculpted trees, and walkways all lit by nearby street lamps.
Mari and Kaya had likely started preparing for bed at this time, like most sensible people. I didn’t know why my brain wouldn’t settle. I just felt like I needed to think about something, as if I were poised on the edge of a great epiphany.
I settled on a cold metal bench underneath one of the street lamps, gazing out in a northward angle. I could faintly hear people talking from further away, the soft sounds of doors opening and closing, basically the noises associated with a city getting ready to retire for the night. From here, I could just see the tip of the bridge in between the buildings. If Kaya hadn’t gotten us here so quickly this morning, I likely wouldn’t have been able to see the bridge at all.
The arsonist had done more damage than Remcarparoden had ever managed despite being non-magical. It truly made me think. I’d been confronted by so many people over the years about fire only being good for destruction, with those same people treating me like a harbinger of evil for being a Fire Mage. I’d felt shackled by Remcarparoden’s reputation since before I even started my training. And yet…and yet here was another man that went around torching things and he didn’t have a trace of magic to his name.
“The magic is not to blame,” I said aloud, almost startling myself by speaking the words. But it felt cleansing to say it. Madness was madness. A madman intent on destroying would find a way to do it, using any tools that he could lay hands on. Remcarparoden had been just as mad as the arsonist I now pursued. The only difference between the two men was that one had easier access to starting a fire than the other.
Garth once told me that magic was a gift, a talent like any other. I’d agreed with him, but until now, I wasn’t sure if I’d actually believed him. Why, I didn’t know. I’d found many useful, beneficial ways to use my fire magic. The only thing I’d ever destroyed I’d done to save a city from being flooded!
Why had I believed those fools and thought my own magic inherently evil?
“There you are.” Mari melted out of the shadows, coming into the pool of light cast by a nearby street lamp.
I’d been in this woman’s company for weeks now, but I never got tired of looking at her. In this mellow lighting of streetlamps and evening shadows, she seemed almost mysterious to me. A half-smile curved the corners of her lips just enough to make her expression completely enigmatic. She looked more feminine than usual, strangely so, considering she still had her uniform on. As she passed under the yellow lighting of a nearby lamp, it touched her hair, and for a moment she seemed to glow with a light all of her own.
In that moment, I forgot how to breathe.
I didn’t even try to get up, just watched her approach and settle in right next to me. Strange, how natural that seemed. Chahirans usually preferred a good hand’s worth of distance between, not wanting anyone in their personal space. But Mari had been so close to me, so many times, that not being in direct contact with her seemed stranger.
She slid an arm through mine, resting her head comfortably against my shoulder without a by-your-leave. I enjoyed the cuddling, and not just because her warmth felt nice in this chilly autumn air.
“Beating yourself up?” she asked me quietly.
Why could she read me so easily?
“A little, maybe. It’s funny. In the Academy, I was very careful to not ever burn anything that would cause trouble for someone else, trying so hard not to follow in Remcarparoden’s footsteps. It’s only now that I realize you don’t have to be a Fire Mage to cause widespread destruction.”
She turned her head on my shoulder slightly so that she could see my face. “Your mentor told you that magic is nothing but a tool. I remember you saying that, once.”
“And he was right. I knew he was right even then, but I didn’t understand how right until this past week.” I looked back at her, feeling this urge to smile. “Garth had a very good point. We all have the same tools—it’s just that some of us have a better set of tools than others. It’s oddly liberating for me, actually, to know that.”
“As much as I wish this had never happened, I’m almost selfishly glad that it did.” She reached up and tweaked my nose, teasingly. “If it means you’ve finally stopped fearing your own magic, then I’m glad.”
I was, too. Magicians were taught throughout their training to be respectful of the power they wielded. The mages especially could do a lot of destruction accidentally, if they ever let their magic go wild. The stigma of having only destructive magic had haunted my footsteps in school. But I finally felt free of it. I just wish that I hadn’t been so dense that it took an arsonist to get that through my head.
Being free of that oppressive weight must have gone to my head. Without thinking, I closed the few inches between Mari and me and grazed her lips with a soft kiss.
Then I froze. Um. What did I just do? Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but, well, I’m supposed to do this sort of thing later after properly courting her and…I peeked at her nervously. She wasn’t going to kill me, was she?
Mari looked like someone had just smacked her on the back of the head, eyes wide, breath caught in her throat. Then she blinked, several times. “Krys. Why—”
“Sorry,” I babbled, not sure whether it was a good idea to retreat now or not. “Sorry, I really should have asked permission first. And, well, I fully intended on courting you properly only I’m still not quite sure how you do that in Solian culture and—mmph.” After that reflexive jerk, I settled into the kiss, lingering in that pleasant moment for several seconds.
Mari drew back a scant inch and breathed, “Proper courtship?”
I had to take a second to kick-start my brain before I could actually formulate a response. “Right. I don’t know what’s done here, but in Chahir, you don’t touch a woman unless there’s some sort of formal understanding between you.”
“You Chahirans are very formal, aren’t you?”
I guess in comparison to Solian culture, we are.
Mari lifted a hand and traced my jawline, the softest expression on her face that I’d ever seen, eyes warm and lifted in an almost smile. “So that’s why you’ve been hesitating.”
“That’s why,” I admitted frankly.
“And if I told you that you don’t need to worry about any of that?” her head slanted ever so slightly to the side in question.
All right, here came the real test. Chatta had warned me about this before. Any relationship between people of different cultures took more compromise than most. Since she’d married into a Chahiran family, I figured she’d know what she was talking about. So I gulped and said, “I’d still feel better about giving you an Oath of Promise first.”
She regarded me silently for a long moment. Ah, she did know what I meant…right?
“If I remember right,” she said slowly, “an Oath of Promise is a binding agreement that a man gives to a woman that he fully intends to marry.”
Heart, stop trying to beat your way out of my chest. You’re not helping. “That’s the one. Although technically I give it to your father.”
“Ohhh, do you?” Her eyes sparkled in amusement. “Well, when you do get a chance to do that, I get to stand nearby and watch. The look on my father’s face will be priceless. But for now, why don’t you give that oath to me?”
Seeing absolutely no reason why I shouldn’t, but every reason I should, I did so unfalteringly.
“On my honor, and by the name of
my family, I will take Mari Wangsgard under the protection of my name, and swear to cherish and protect you for the rest of my life. Will you accept my oath?”
Mari seemed breathless. “That’s…quite the oath.”
Too much? I couldn’t tell from her expression. Should I be worried, or…?
Then she relaxed into a smile bright enough to be a second sun. “Oath accepted. Should I make a promise in return?”
Relief turned my brain to mush. I had to try twice before I could manage, “Traditionally, you don’t need to say more than that.”
“All right. Then we’ll go with the Solian tradition of sealing a promise.” With a wicked gleam in her eye, she tugged my head back down and kissed me.
You know, there was a lot of merit to the Solian tradition of sealing a promise.
~*~
After our late night, we didn’t get up as early as normal. In fact, the inn had stopped offering breakfast altogether and had shifted to lunch by the time that Mari and I made it downstairs. I beat her to a table, but only just, and as she passed me to get to a chair, she paused long enough to kiss me on the forehead.
“Morning, sweetheart,” she greeted with a warm smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Good morning. Or should I say, afternoon?”
“We are up a trifle late,” she admitted, obviously not bothered. “Kaya couldn’t wake you up this morning, so she stopped by my room and told me that she would be at the river.”
Fishing for her food, no doubt. “How did she know which window was yours?”
“I have absolutely no idea.” Leaning toward me slightly, she said with wicked amusement, “The real question is, how many false tries did it take before she found the right window.”
Actually, that was a question I had no intention of asking. I just didn’t want to know.
We waved a serving girl over and placed an order for food. With that done, Mari suggested to me, “Let’s put our hands on a map after we eat and see if we can’t think of some possible targets.”
“Probably a good idea,” I agreed. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Too many, actually. Some of the more famous locations are all in northern Sol. That doesn’t even take into account Q’atal.”
“No one can get into Q’atal anymore, not unless they’re Q’atalian,” I reminded her. “Not since Garth put up that barrier around the country.”
She blinked, confused. “Wait, I hadn’t heard about that. Barrier?”
As we waited, I told her the story, which almost made her eyes cross. “Around an entire country?” she demanded when I finished.
“It’s a small country,” I pointed out. Although, really, she had a point. I struggled with constructing barriers and if it was anything larger than a three-story building, you might as well call for another magician.
“Not that small!” she objected. “It’s bigger than Kelevi.”
“Well, according to Garth, the trees helped.”
Mari looked at me for a long moment, half-convinced I was pulling her leg. “The trees…helped.”
“They’re apparently ancient and have a lot of inherent power to them,” I elaborated. “If you want a more in-depth explanation than that, you’re going to have to ask him.”
“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by this, not after watching Trev’nor work.” She shook her head in wonder. “After seeing what a child can do, I shouldn’t put anything past the Advent Mage.”
She had a point. “Speaking of, I wonder if they’re done up there?”
“They probably are.” Mari shrugged. “They’ve had almost three weeks to put everything back to rights, after all.”
“True. Although Helen warned me at one point that the water would take a good month to stabilize back to its normal levels.” Which I had been less than happy to hear. But even a Water Mage had her limits. The underground water table had been too depleted to be easily renewed.
Mari grimaced. “Let’s pray that no major fires pop up until that happens. It shouldn’t—we are, after all, entering the rainy season. Most fires happen in the summer months.”
I sent a prayer up to the Guardians for a reprieve. Mellor had already taken quite the beating because of those thrice-cursed towers. Everyone needed a chance to put their lives back in order before something else hit. “So the winter is usually quiet?”
“Usually. It gives us time to do other things.” A wicked smile curved the corners of her mouth. “Things like meeting families and talking to fathers about marrying daughters.”
I groaned. “I was trying really hard not to think about that!”
She cackled happily. “I don’t know why you’re worried.”
“You’re laughing with evil glee and you don’t know why I’m worried?” I responded acidly, which set her off all over again. Remind me: why had I fallen in love with this woman again?
~*~
After our brunch we went to meet Mastan and checked in with him about the oil supply. He hadn’t yet been given any reports, but he willingly sat down with a map and helped us think of possible targets. They were more or less the ones that Mari had thought of earlier.
We did, in fact, spend three days wandering around the city and stopping in at shops and asking questions. It didn’t do an ounce of good. The arsonist was apparently too smart to be caught in simple mistake. He’d bought a normal quantity of oil from each store, and because of his average looks, he hadn’t made an impression on anyone. If this had been a small town, a stranger stopping in and buying oil would have been memorable. But in this city of travelers and merchants, he blended right in.
After so many days of this without any results, Mari and I decided it was time to move on. But the question was where? We sat at the table after the breakfast dishes had been cleared and leaned over a map, debating possible targets.
The front door to the inn slammed open as someone darted inside, skidding to halt and looking around frantically. It took me a second to place him, but then it clicked. Han Kholer, the Coordinator of this city. Uh-oh. If he was here, looking that panicked, something very wrong must have happened. I stood on instinct, and when I did, his eyes snapped to me.
“Magus!” he shouted, heading for me as quickly as he could with all of the tables blocking his way. “You have to leave. Now.”
I caught him by the shoulder, steadying him before he plowed right into me. “What’s wrong?” I almost asked what’s burning this time.
“Mellor,” Kholer gasped out, the words tumbling over themselves as he tried to get his message across quickly. “He’s attacked Mellor! Half the city is burning.”
For a terrible, awful moment, his words didn’t make any sense to me. When they did sink in, I swore viciously and dove for the door. “Mari, get our gear!”
I didn’t hear her response, just her footsteps as she pounded up the stairs. As I ran, my thoughts churned chaotically. How had the arsonist gotten so far north so quickly? He’d been burning a bridge down here just four days ago! He must have travelled all night and worked frantically to manage it.
No. Later. I could think about that later. Right now I had to get Kaya, and we had to get to Mellor as quickly as we could. I hit the open air outside of the inn and stopped in the middle of the street. Raising a palm, I shot a burst of flame high into the air, signaling my dragon.
Chapter Twenty-three: To Be a Mage
It glowed on the horizon like a sun, bright orange and yellow flames flickering up into the sky as the city below it burned. My gut clenched and roiled at the sight. I’d seen many things burn, and put out most of them, so the sight of a fire spreading wildly and destroying things didn’t hit me as hard as it used to. But this…seeing Mellor burn was a different story. I felt it deep in my chest, knowing that people I knew and loved would be affected by this.
Mari’s hands shook as they grabbed fistfuls of my shirt.
Almost. Almost close enough. The smoke interfered just enough that I couldn’t quite see the fire
, just the glow of it. But in another moment, Kaya came in lower, below the billowing smoke, and I could finally see the source of the blaze. My magic soared in my chest, warming me to the core as I released it, and the fire below snuffed out like a giant hand had smothered it.
Kaya’s speed hadn’t diminished much upon our approach to the city, and she shot past the southern wall so quickly that I couldn’t do more than that one section before we passed out of sight. Looping sharply, she came back around, slowing this time so that I could have more time to work.
The whole southern section of the wall had been burning without anything to check it, although I could see a firewagons with fighters nearby, obviously trying to squelch the blaze. I focused on it and put every trace of it out that I could see. From below, the men let up a ragged cheer at our appearance, waving at us enthusiastically.
“They look rough,” Mari called grimly. “I’d say they’ve been on shift for a full day at least.”
They probably had been. It would have taken a half day to get the message to us at the very least, and then another three hours for us get here. Kaya had outdone herself to get here as quickly as she had, but the damage had still been done. Empty shells of buildings, still smoldering, were silent witnesses to the fire’s destruction.
But I couldn’t focus on just this section. Other parts of the city were burning still. I turned to Mari and raised one finger, shaking it in a signal for, Where else? She held up three fingers, in a w shape, and then pointed west. West side? She stood up in the saddle to get a better look before shouting, “PARK!”
At the word ‘park’, Kaya growled angrily, lips curling back from her teeth. To her, that park was sacred ground where her precious children could safely play. I could almost pity the arsonist if it really had been burned. Kaya wouldn’t take that well at all.
I found it hard to see, even with my nifty goggles. A thick layer of smoke milled about the city like a white fog, blanketing the area. Unusually, there was no wind today, and so nothing encouraged the smoke to go upwards and away. But I trusted Mari’s instincts in this regard better than mine. She’d been reading smoke behavior for years in this job.
Dragon's Mage (An Advent Mage Novel), The - Raconteur, Honor Page 25