To Play the Lady

by Naomi Lane

  Jenna grabbed the chairs and placed them on the rug, while Lord Harcourt took a small folding table and set it down near the chairs. As Jenna went to grab the bowl, she noticed he retrieved a jug of water from a locked cabinet.

  “Let me guess,” said Jenna. “That’s water from the Crystal Spring?”

  The high mage smiled slightly. “Yes, but we will not need to reveal your ability today.”

  “It’s used for other things?”

  “Many things actually, but today scrying.”

  “What’s that?” Jenna asked, feeling once again overwhelmed by the world of magic.

  “I want to see how well you can control your far-sight. The water has the magical property of being able to reveal what a mage sees.”

  “You want me to fly out of my body again?”

  “Is that how you saw Prince Sebastian’s injury?”

  “Yes.”

  Lord Harcourt’s eyebrows rose. “Then I suppose so. You will learn that mages use different styles when performing magic. I, myself, do not usually use the sight in that fashion, but it has never been my strong suit.”

  “What is?”

  “Mind-linking.”

  Jenna thought this made sense given his ability to mind-link with her and the King the other night.

  She watched as her new instructor retrieved a few more items before joining her inside the circle. He held three small cups and a cloth bag. “This is a bag of colored marbles. I will select three and cover them with the cups. Your goal will be to determine the color of the marbles with your inner eye. Your visions should also be reflected in the bowl once you key it to your magic.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “Since it is Crystal Spring water, it should do it automatically when you touch it.”

  “You mean I just dunk my hand in?” Jenna became confused.

  “You could, though it is more traditional to make a circle around the water’s surface.”

  Jenna nodded and dipped her finger in the bowl and made a circle as he suggested. She felt magic tingle up her arm all the way to her head. She shivered slightly.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. It just tingles.”

  “Good. Then it is keyed to you. Please close your eyes.”

  Jenna complied and heard some clinking sounds. When she opened them again, the three cups were overturned on the table.

  “Now,” said the high mage. Jenna could see an increased intensity in his eyes. “I want you to use your magic. If you feel the need to leave your body, do it. We can review other techniques later, but for now just do what feels comfortable. Don’t worry about over-stretching. You won’t be able to see outside the circle.”

  Jenna nodded. She closed her eyes again and began to focus on her breathing and relax. Once into a deep trance, she called the magic as she had at Sebastian’s healing. She left her body and was able to see the table from overhead. “Which marble?” she asked.

  “You choose.”

  “The center one then.” She directed her consciousness into the cup. “I can sense the presence of the marble, but the color is difficult to determine without more light.”

  “Yes. I can see it in the bowl. Here,” he said, as he lifted the center cup.

  “Red,” Jenna replied.

  “Excellent.” He lifted another cup.

  “Green.”

  “And the third?” He lifted the final one.

  “Violet.”

  “Good. You may open your eyes.”

  Jenna returned to her body and saw the three marbles on the table. She smiled, and they continued the exercise. Jenna lost count of how many marbles she “saw.” First she only identified the color. She found it somewhat easier with practice, and Lord Harcourt progressed to have her also sense the marbles’ locations and also that of other objects, but her vision never left the magic circle.

  “Have you found it?”

  Jenna was trying to find a magic amulet. Harcourt had suggested she be able to sense it through its magic. Jenna went into a deep trance and then felt a tingling sensation form behind her eyes. As her consciousness moved, the tingling sensation sometimes grew stronger and at other times diminished. She followed the sensation until she reached the target. “Your right pocket,” she said.

  “Yes,” he replied, sounding surprised.

  Jenna returned to her body, opened her eyes, and smiled.

  “Miss Mallory, this is an impressive display. You found almost every target on the first try, with increasing speed as the hour progressed. You also seem to have excellent stamina. Do you feel tired?”

  “Not really.”

  “Well, it won’t be long until you are scrying outside the castle grounds.”

  Jenna shrugged. “I’ve always been a quick study.” She began remembering the time she flew all the way to the Zidarian range.

  “Miss Mallory, you said you twice went outside your body prior to healing Sebastian. The second vision I believe to be real because you said you saw me, and I sensed a presence, but you said you traveled all of the way to the Badlands in the first. After your experiences here, do you think this was a true vision or just a dream?”

  Jenna thought about it for a bit, especially her encounter with the mage. “It seemed very vivid,” she replied. “I believe it was real.”

  “Are you sure? You appear distracted.”

  “Um…” Jenna bit her lip, but decided it was time to own up to what she saw. “I saw someone in the first vision.”

  “Someone at the palace?”

  “No, in the mountains.”

  “Mining, hiking?”

  “A mage. At least that’s what he appeared to be.”

  “A mage was wandering in the mountains?”

  “No. He was in a castle on the eastern side.”

  “I don’t know of any mages that actually live over there. It is rather cold and desolate.”

  Jenna explained more details of the vision and how the structure looked as if it were cut into the rock face.

  “Are you sure this was real?” Lord Harcourt stared at Jenna, brow furrowed.

  “Um, well I am still new to this, but it seemed just as real as the marbles under the cup.”

  “Then we might try to return there. This is most unusual.”

  Jenna gulped.

  “You seem frightened,” he added.

  “He had a knife.”

  “And he threatened you? Sensed your presence?” Lord Harcourt’s voice grew more urgent.

  Jenna nodded.

  His eyes wandered to the ceiling for a minute in thought. “Then we must attempt to see him again. Don’t worry. I can protect you, and we will do it when you are more confident in your powers.”

  Jenna just nodded some more. She was apprehensive about seeing the mage again, but knew if he were dangerous, Harcourt could deal with it far better than she could.

  As they both began to put away the implements they had used, Jenna remembered she hadn’t asked about the rogue mage Lord Harcourt had mentioned in their last conversation. She decided she would attempt to ferret out a bit more information. “This mage I saw couldn’t be related to the one you mentioned the other day? The rogue mind mage?” Jenna asked, quietly.

  “Oh no. As I said he was killed long ago, almost two hundred years now.” Lord Harcourt continued putting away the marbles.

  “What did he do to make people think mind magic was tainted?”

  Lord Harcourt stopped and looked at Jenna. “It is… difficult to answer that question directly. But let me ask you a question. Do you know how the Badlands were created?”

  “Just that they were created during the mage wars with Khazaran.”

  “He was part of it. The Badlands were created during the battle where he was finally killed. It also crippled Khazaran and left them with little remaining territory.”

  “He was Khazaran then?”

  “Half-Khazaran and Tower trained. When the Towers rejected him for a Tower Lord posit
ion he went rogue.”

  “Ah,” Jenna began to understand, but there was still much to learn.

  “Here,” said Lord Harcourt, as he handed her a book. “It is a basic history of magic written for young scholars. When you are finished, you may move on to more detailed histories involving mind mages.”

  Jenna accepted the book with thanks and left the training room. She headed to the main palace on her own. This time the Tower archway did not bother her, and she took off for the East Wing stables at a run.

  Riding was, of course, her favorite class. Because of her run, she arrived slightly early and was able to help Tobin saddle Bree. Jenna’s horse was happy to see her, though she felt slightly neglected. Jenna tried to send her reassuring thoughts, indicating that she had been busy.

  “Hello, Miss Mallory.”

  Jenna swung around to see Durand watching her. She smiled. “Hello, Master Durand.”

  “Eager for another lesson?”

  “Of course!”

  He smiled. “I actually wanted to thank you.”

  “Thank me for what? Is this about Kedar, the stallion?”

  “No, though I am glad you were able to calm the King.” He paused, and his expression softened. “I wanted to thank you for saving Storm.”

  “Oh.” Jenna was surprised.

  “She was my mount for many years. I trained her.”

  Jenna smiled. “Then I am even gladder I was able to help.” She paused. “Did you show jump with her at one time.”

  “Oh yes.” He began to beam then. “Those were good times.”

  “For Storm as well. She showed me. In fact, she is one of the most intelligent horses I have ever ridden.” Jenna regretted saying it as soon as the words left her mouth.

  “Ridden?”

  Jenna’s face went scarlet. She tried to think of words to say, but couldn’t.

  Durand chuckled. “It’s okay, Miss Mallory. I suspected you from the start, but your secret is safe with me. Though perhaps next time you could avoid impersonating my staff.”

  Jenna nodded briefly and was saved from continuing the conversation because she heard voices outside the stables. The other Ladies had appeared for their ride. Most of them merely ignored her, but she noticed Aylin still smiled.

  Jenna returned her attention to Bree, and soon all of the Ladies had mounted their horses. The training the Ladies received was quite basic in Jenna’s mind. She surmised that the goals were to learn basic control over the horse and give the Ladies enough riding experience that they could accompany the Hunt. Even so, she always enjoyed the chance to ride.

  Except this lesson turned out to be somewhat different. Durand had more help with him that day. He asked a handler to take most of the Ladies out to the park for an easy ride, but he asked Jenna and Aurelia to stay behind.

  “I want to offer both of you advanced instruction,” he said. “You both have had prior riding lessons and use the new Jenkins sidesaddles that allow you greater control of your horses.”

  Aurelia and Jenna both looked at each other. Jenna got the impression that Aurelia was just as surprised as she was.

  “What do you propose to teach us?” Aurelia asked.

  “Maneuvering at higher speeds and dressage, if you’d like.”

  “But not jumping?” asked Jenna, with a slight grin.

  “No, or at least not until I convince the Queen to allow it.” Durand’s eyes brightened.

  “I’m game,” said Jenna.

  Aurelia looked at her. “As am I,” she replied.

  “Excellent,” said Durand. “To begin, I want each of you to demonstrate what you have already learned. We will build from there. Lady Aurelia, you will start.”

  Jenna watched Aurelia ride for several minutes. She cut quite the striking figure in her red riding habit on her white horse. She was able to control him quite well, and Durand seemed suitably impressed.

  Then it was Jenna’s turn. Bree was happy to ride up to a canter and make tight turns, but Jenna found it was a bit strange to have to do so on a sidesaddle, even with the second pommel. She was still far more accustomed to doing it astride. Her mind-link to Bree helped enormously, though, and she was still able to repeat some dressage maneuvers.

  At the end of the lesson, Jenna rode over to where Durand stood next to Aurelia who had dismounted.

  “Well done both of you,” said Durand. “How many years of instruction have you had, Lady Aurelia, prior to coming to court I mean?”

  “Two,” she replied. “All on the Jenkins saddle.”

  “And you, Miss Mallory?” he asked.

  “Four, though I learned to ride astride.”

  Jenna saw raised eyebrows on both of their faces. “Your father let you take lessons riding astride?” Durand asked, now smiling again.

  “Well… yes,” Jenna replied. “Though I won’t pretend it didn’t take some convincing on my part.” She smiled.

  “Well, as I said, excellent job both of you, and I look forward to training you.”

  Aurelia and Jenna both led their horses back to the stables.

  “Durand is certainly fond of you,” said Aurelia.

  Jenna just shrugged. “We both love horses, I suppose.”

  Aurelia chuckled. “That’s true, but I should warn you.” She looked over her shoulder and began to whisper. “Accepting this training is not without risk.”

  Jenna’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t know Durand’s history?”

  Jenna shook her head.

  “He is the bastard son of Count Doros.”

  “Oh.” Jenna knew that bastard children were relatively rare among the nobility, and it was even rarer when they were acknowledged.

  “It makes him, shall we say, controversial, but he is still a knight, and…” Aurelia leaned in closer. “He used to train the boys to ride under Lord Fyrian, but when Lord Nigen showed up a few months ago and joined the training program Durand left. They didn’t get on well.”

  Jenna didn’t know quite what to say. If it were her, she wouldn’t get along with Nigen either.

  “Well, I say their loss is our gain.” Jenna sounded more confident than she felt.

  “Maybe, but—” said Aurelia, however, just then they both heard the sounds of the other Ladies returning from their own ride. Aurelia just shrugged at Jenna and was soon telling the others about her advanced instruction and her modern saddle.

  Jenna helped return Bree to her stall before heading to drawing class. She didn’t dwell long on Aurelia’s words, and for the first time, she was able to bear the normally tedious class with a smile.

  Chapter 11

  Jenna walked hurriedly up the steps to her dormitory, so much so that she actually tripped halfway through. She rubbed her ankle and clutched the hand rail as she continued climbing. It had been over two weeks since she had healed Sebastian, and she had just received word that there were letters from home waiting for her. She hoped one of them was from her grandmother and would finally clear up the remaining confusion regarding her magical heritage.

  When she reached her dormitory bed stand, she was happy to find not one, but two letters: one from her grandmother and one, at long last, from her mother. She thought about opening them then, but did not like the idea of others being able to walk in on her, so she took the letters and placed them inside the book on magical history that Harcourt had given her and headed straight to the palace library.

  Jenna had spent many hours there already and even waved slightly to one of the librarians as she entered. He waved her over and mentioned someone was waiting for her on the second level. This was surprising. She looked down at her letters, but decided she would meet the person waiting for her before reading them. She climbed the stairs and smiled when she saw Prince Sebastian there reading a book on magical theory. He stood up when he heard her arrive.

  “Miss Mallory, I was told I might find you here.”

  “Your Highness.” Jenna blushed slightly and curtsied
.

  “I wanted to show you some of the books on magic. I would have done it sooner but my… ‘recovery’ took longer than expected.” As he directed her toward one of the stacks, he leaned in closer to whisper. “In reality, I just think Mother was being paranoid about my injury.”

  Jenna merely smiled.

  “That is some powerful healing magic you must have,” he continued. “To be able to show Mother up is most impressive.”

  Jenna shrugged. “I still don’t really feel that powerful. It’s always just been there.” Jenna was only telling a half truth. She had felt more powerful as her sight had grown stronger under Harcourt’s instruction, but Sebastian didn’t know she was a mind mage, and she preferred as few people knew as possible.

  “Here we are,” he said as he stopped in front of some shelves. “This section here relates to magical history, and this one next to it is magical theory, which extends around to the other side of the shelf. Hmmm…” He rubbed his chin. “Where to start?”

  “Oh.” Jenna showed him her book. “This is what Lord Harcourt gave me to read. I’m almost done with it, though.”

  “Ah yes, good old Valenti. Nice overview but short on some details.”

  “You’ve read it?” she inquired.

  “Me, sure. I read that one when I was six if I remember right.”

  “When you were only six?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve read most of the books here, well all of the ones worth reading anyway. Many of the texts are just palace records of names and dates. I prefer the narratives. So, you’ve read the overview, what about follow up? Is there a particular period you found interesting?”

  Indeed there was, thought Jenna. She wanted to read more about the rogue mage, or the ‘Black Magister’ as she had now learned he was called, but that would probably raise suspicion, so she thought of something else. “Um, why don’t I start at the beginning?”

  “What? All the way back to King Maximilian?”

  “Uh, yes, but isn’t he just a legend?”

  “Pretty much. I think you can read versions of the legends of how he united the tribes and founded Sevalia in the mythology section, but there is a great history by a man who hypothesized there was a real king behind the legend. I thought it was here somewhere, but I don’t see it. It could have been in Mother’s collection.”