“What—h-h-how?” he stammered. “How did you—how do you know how?”
“What's going on?” Andon asked in confusion, his arms still holding her.
“I taught myself,” Veria admitted, her voice quiet, but not ashamed, as she thought it might sound.
“You...you what?!” Willis snapped. “Veria—Lady Veria—do you not understand—”
“I understand completely,” she said, her voice reflecting her seriousness.
Willis backed away slowly. “We cannot be here, Andon...”
“What?” Andon snapped. “Will someone tell me what is going on?”
“I did that,” Veria said, to spare Willis the trouble of explanation.
“How in the world did you hit him in the back of the head with a large stone planter if he was on top of you?” he asked, and Veria shuddered at the phrase describing Rames' position. “Sorry,” Andon whispered.
“Andon, have you heard of...hard elementals?” Veria asked.
“Yes, but...” his face changed and his arms let her out of their comforting, protective hold as he caught up with them, “they are outlawed...”
Veria nodded.
“So, how do you know them?” he asked.
“I taught myself,” she repeated.
“Veria, tell the truth,” Willis pleaded. “It is okay if someone else protected you. This was a heinous thing to do to a Lady of the Regalship and you don't need to cover—”
“What makes you think I'm not telling the truth!?” Veria snapped. “You should know if I'm lying, you trained Sapphire and Sand with Daloes!”
“You should not be able to do this, Veria—my Lady—it used to take the most gifted Magers years, and certainly none of them taught themselves. And nobody teaches it, period! It is illegal!” Willis argued.
Veria sighed. “I don't know what to tell you, Willis. I did it. On my own. In a year. And I am glad I did because it was the only thing I had to protect myself from Lord Rames today.”
“So that's what you meant when you said you could take care of yourself?” Andon questioned in disgust. “You meant you could just bludgeon anyone who wronged you?”
“I was protecting myself!” Veria snarled. “I would not have taken measures of this length if I had other options. He attacked me, and would have...I am not going to bear another child for this salacious dullard,” she argued, gesturing to Rames on the ground.
“No one expects that, but—”
“Really? There was no one else around, and he knew it, and he kept me from screaming, so what do you suggest I should have done?” Veria questioned, her voice brusk and defensive.
The men were silent, their eyes shifting from her to Rames, Rames to her, in incongruous cycles.
“I do not regret my choice,” Veria stated confidently. “Any of it. Training it or using it. But I can't get him out of here on my own.”
Andon snorted. “So you call on us?” he scoffed. “You call on me?”
“I suppose so, yes,” Veria answered. “I do not know many people, let alone many men.”
“What did you think was going to happen when we showed up, Veria?” Andon asked.
Willis coughed non-discreetly. It was a reminder to Andon to use her title. She didn't wait for a correction because she did not care at the moment.
“I just need to get him home, that's all,” she said.
“Too bad he wasn’t wearing more jewelry, you could have lifted him all on your own!” Andon snapped.
“Andon!” Willis barked. “Let's stop antagonizing each other and just solve the problem at hand. Even if we load him into his carriage and send him home, he will wake up remembering that you had something to do with attacking him. Not to say you weren't justified! But, you'll be lucky, and I use that term loosely, if all he remembers is being attacked on your property, and not necessarily the details of how it happened,” Willis explained.
“He won't saying anything,” Veria guaranteed. “Even if he puts the pieces together.”
“What makes you sure of that?” Andon asked, his tone skeptical.
“Because if he says what he knows, then I release information he doesn’t want released.”
“Blackmail?” Andon scoffed. “Illegal elemental powers and now blackmail!? What a busy day for you Veria.”
They scowled at each other as Willis tried to shush them. “Quiet, both of you!” he rasped, dropping his voice as low as he could for them to both hear him. “There's only one option here,” he said, his eyes darting nervously around the scene before catching his son's in a knowing gaze.
Andon nodded. And stepped toward Rames.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Veria asked.
“Tell Andon what happened again,” Willis said. “Exactly.”
“What are you doing?” she repeated, her voice becoming frantic.
“Tell me what happened, Veria!” Andon barked.
“Tell me what you are doing!” Veria demanded.
“I am pulling his memory out!”Andon answered, his tone matching hers.
She gasped and stumbled away from him, as if she'd been struck in the face.
“You...you...” she stuttered, then gasped again as she remembered Willis mentioning they had spent their time in Govaland, which she knew to be the location of the Diamond Mager, “Ellory Myler.”
“Yes, my elemental Master,” Andon said. “Now tell me the details of the memory I am looking for.”
“I can't believe you trained this skill!” Veria uttered.
“And I can't believe you trained yourself in hard elementals,” Andon rebutted.
“It's so unethical!” she argued.
“You hit him in the back of the head with a stone planter that could have killed him,” Andon replied, unruffled. “Are you really going to engage in an argument of ethics?”
“He did not consent for you to do this—what if you pull more than just this memory?!”
“There is a chance I could pull all of his interactions here today, yes,” Andon answered. “But I'd say that is worth it for you not to be Red-Listed, and possibly imprisoned.”
Veria didn't want to be an accomplice in it, but Andon was right. She had no choice. It was blackmail or wiping his memory, and one was much safer for everyone involved. Even though Rames might lose all memory of his visit today, including the games with his giggly baby daughter, it had to be done, even though it disgusted her. And Andon could only pull the memory out if he knew exactly what he was looking for, so she told him:
“He came this morning, played with Irea, drank meade and ate biscuits,” she described, and Andon closed his eyes, focusing on her words and his task. “He told me about Lady Ambra being with child and very ill, and then...”
Andon's entire body went rigid, and his fists clenched. Willis swallowed hard and averted his eyes from the scene.
“...He kissed me,” Veria continued, on the verge of tears recalling the events, still clutching her torn skirt around her waist so it wouldn't fall to her feet. “And he wouldn't stop. He wasn't rough, but he...I couldn't get him to stop—“
“That's enough,” Andon snapped, clearly not wanting to hear anymore. “I found it.”
Veria watched, expecting to see something, but was not surprised at all when there was nothing visible to the act at all. Just Andon with two fingers at his temple and a slight grimace as he focused on his task. What did she think there would be? A wisp of gold, a shudder, a gasp, a whoosh? Was she just looking for something that she could visualize when she thought about her father tampering with her memories as a child?
Her thoughts were cut short when Andon dropped to his knees sharply with a deep, gasping inhale that suggested he hadn't been breathing throughout the entire process.
She dropped to his side and put her hands on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“He's just drained, dear,” Willis explained.
Andon shivered and shook, his eyes still closed and his fists still clenched. His breath became rapid and fur
ious, snorting through his nose like a bull.
Veria studied his face closely as it contorted in rage under her watch.
“Where does the memory go...?” Veria asked slowly, her eyes not leaving their watch on Andon.
“With the Mager,” Willis said softly, almost sadly. “Always with the Mager.”
“Forever?” she asked.
“Well, it will fade over time like their own memories,” Willis explained. “But yes, he will be able to recall any pulled memories at any time, just like a real memory of his own.”
Veria squeezed his shoulder. “Oh, Andon,” she sighed.
She did not want him to carry around a memory of Rames attempting to force himself on her. She knew it would just hurt and anger him.
His whole body twitched suddenly, like he had snapped out of a trance, and he jumped up to standing abruptly.
“Let's get him to the carriage and go home,” Andon said, and both Willis and Veria seemed caught off guard by his quick change.
“Lady Veria, may we commission your carriage to take us back to town?” Willis asked.
“Of course,” she answered Willis, but hadn't taken her eyes off of Andon.
Andon bent down ad scooped Rames up, throwing his upper body over his shoulder and turning to leave without a word. Veria and Willis followed, and watched as Andon put Lord Rames back into his own carriage, sitting him up in the seat as best he could, but Rames just slumped completely over to the side until he was laying down across the bench.
“Lord Rames seems to have had too much to drink,” Andon lied, Veria's ears warming in response. “Take him home immediately and get him into bed.”
“It isn't even lunch yet!” Rames' driver protested.
“He seemed to be having a hard time with things at home,” Veria stated. “He asked for a drink as soon as he arrived and cleaned me right out of a whole bottle of meade.”
The driver shook his head in disbelief. Veria was starting to lose her patience with Rames' driver, who seemed to have a lot of judgment and opinions and no issues with speaking them. She was relieved when he finally slapped the reins of the carriage horses and drove away from Longberme.
“Tomley,” she called softly, knowing that Tomley was nearby and had been watching, “please take the Villicreys back to their cottage at Bermedge?”
“Yes, of course, my Lady,” Tomley replied with a swift bow, and went to ready the carriage.
Veria turned to Andon, whose eyes were hard and steely, and staring out over the forest, seemingly lost in thought.
“Thank you, both,” she said softly.
“I am glad we could help,” Willis responded. “I just...I wish you would be careful with your skills. Especially since it appears you are already so adept at them.”
“Did you never—” Veria started, and Willis must have known the question was coming, as he cut her off with his answer.
“I did,” he said. Andon's head snapped to look at his father. “I tried to train myself, as Daloes would not train hard elementals, but I failed to achieve anything of note or usefulness. I must admit, the part of me that's not worried sick about you is quite impressed.”
Andon sighed and shook his head. “Don't encourage her,” he groaned.
“She's already come this far without any encouragement,” Willis said with a soft chuckle. “I doubt anything I say will do much to change her mind.”
“Well, that's generally what happens when one only thinks of themselves,” Andon muttered, turning away from both of them again.
Veria scowled at the back of his head.
Tomley pulled the carriage up to the front of the house where they waited, and Willis climbed in first.
“Goodbye, Lady Veria,” he said once situated inside. “Be careful.”
“Goodbye, Willis,” she said. “Goodbye, Andon,” she said, turning to him. He had dropped his head and seemed reluctant to look at her, but also reluctant to get in the carriage and leave.
Finally he turned to her and looked her in the eyes.
“I don't think we should see each other any more,” he said quietly.
“What?” Veria uttered in shock. “Why? What do you mean?”
“I mean I can't be the person you call every time you have a problem when you have already made it very clear to me that you do not want to be with me,” he explained coolly.
“So, we can't even be...friends?” Veria asked, her tone one of hurt and confusion.
Andon sighed and shook his head. “I don't think I can with you,” he said.
Veria was speechless. What was she supposed to say? He didn't want anything to do with her, and if that was how he really felt, she didn't see any reason in trying to convince him otherwise. She had already resolved to let him go months ago. Why would her decision be any different now?
“You're right,” she said. “I should not have called on you today. I apologize. It will not happen again.”
Andon didn't respond, but nodded politely and climbed into the carriage.
Her stomach sank as the carriage drove away, knowing that if he had his way, they may never see each other again.
-VI-
It had been two weeks since the incident with Lord Rames, and she had heard no news or even whispers of anything out of the ordinary, so Andon's memory-clearing had apparently worked. Rames had no recollection of the account. Part of her sort of wished he did, though, because it would guarantee he would never try to force himself on her ever again. But, having Rames fear her was not worth enough to be Red-Listed, or locked in a dungeon for assault, or have Tanisca and Irea lose the Estate and be removed from the Regalship.
She had obviously had to tell Tanisca everything that had happened. And Tanisca seemed concerned that the Villicreys knew, but acknowledged that Veria hadn't had a choice, and made the right decision in protecting herself.
“From now on, when he visits, we will have someone watching him at all times,” Tanisca had said. “Tomley, he's not burly by any means, but he's not scrawny either. If I cannot stay with the two of you, he can keep an eye on Rames.”
“How about I just don't spend any time alone with him ever again?” Veria had suggested with a groan. “That would certainly be my preference.”
Strangely, she felt no guilt for hurting him, but still felt guilt over the fact that the memories of the entire visit had been removed. He had seemed to need that time with Irea. But, she reminded herself each time her thoughts veered into guilt territory, he should not have done what he did and ruined what was a perfectly nice day until that point. He deserved what she did to him, and whatever other consequences that entailed, she had come to reason.
And for whatever reason, guilt over her secret training had started to eat at her almost daily, as well. She knew it had to do with Andon's obvious disapproval, and just the general fact that other people, besides her mother, knew about it. But, partly, she thought that maybe part of her guilt came from the fact that she hadn't trusted Daloes enough to tell him. She hadn't told him because she did not want to be told not to do it; however, the thought occurred to her that he had already seen this potential path for her—and he had never gone out of his way to explicitly tell her not to do it before...
She also realized she felt guilty for not being more proactive about continuing the investigation of her father's death. Daloes had said their investigation was over, the continuation of it too dangerous. But that was before Veria had trained hard elementals. Now that she could better protect herself, maybe it wouldn't be as dangerous.
If anything, she thought she deserved to know why it was too dangerous, which was something Daloes had never told her. She should have pressed him, she realized in hindsight. She also should not have let her anger get to her and should have gone back sometime before now, a year later. But, it was not much longer after their last lesson that she had become too large with child and too exhausted all the time to really do anything productive. So, she had some form of an excuse.
She
resolved to visit Daloes, knowing there was a good chance that it might not go well, but she had to try...
She had Tomley drive her to his little cottage, and as usual, he seemed to be expecting her, the door opening before she had even reached it or knocked.
“Veria,” he said, and his voice seemed to lack the knavish delight she had grown used to in their original sessions. He must know, she thought. He must know everything. Her secret training, why she was here, what she'd done to Rames. Her face went hot with embarrassment and self-consciousness.
“Master Daloes,” Veria greeted with a nod and slight curtsey.
“Come in,” he smiled, and she did. They made their way to the cushions and both seated themselves. “How is the baby?”
“She's healthy and beautiful,” Veria answered with a polite smile. “And I am quite happy she is on the outside of me now,” she added in a joking tone.
Daloes chuckled. “I can certainly imagine. So are you here wishing to continue your training, since she is, as you say, on the outside and doing well?” he asked.
“I have been continuing my training on my own—” she started.
“I know.”
She swallowed nervously, at least one of her suspicions being confirmed. “I was thinking I would like to continue with the investigation,” Veria stated. “Someday Irea will want to know about her grandfather...someday she will be looking for a suitor, and I would like to clear this scandal up if I can—”
“It is still too dangerous,” he interrupted again.
“Even with my skills?” Veria asked in exasperation.
“Yes,” Daloes said, and it was the truth. But she didn't understand why.
“Why?” she asked. “Why is it dangerous?”
“Cadit Ohren is very dangerous,” Daloes said. “In fact, he fled the country after attacking a colleague and nobody knows where he is, but I'm sure it's nowhere you need to go. Nowhere anyone needs to go.”
“But someone must know where he is?” Veria threw her arms up in frustration. “Maybe it isn't that bad. We should at least try to find out.”
Daloes was silent.
If Daloes was silent, it was because he was afraid to lie. He was afraid to give her the truth...
The Second Talisman: (Book II of the Elementals Series) Page 5