Life Legacy

by Vlad ben Avorham

  He feels her stiffen, “Yes, Hold on.” She slides eel like up over his broad chest and straddling him she concentrates. He realizes he’s holding his breath. Those dreams are fine if they are just dreams, but if someone is trying to manipulate him, he needs to know. Sha slumps a little, then smiles down at him. “All clear, the only one besides me who’s sent you dreams seems to be Echal.”

  He let out the breath he had been holding. “Oh, ok that’s good. I know about Echal, he always seems to come in like he’s barging into a room without knocking. With you it is sometimes hard to tell if it is you coming in a dream or if I’m just dreaming about you. This dream last night was kind of like that. I was having a nightmare, our trip to see your Elven relations was a running disaster. If it’s just the normal concerns about meeting new people, then that’s fine but if someone was trying to sabotage that meeting...” He trailed off thinking of what that might mean.

  Sha spent only a moment thinking of who would want that herself before she firmly took his bald head in her hands and made him look her in the eye. “They’ll love you, because I love you, or I don’t need them. Understand?”

  Pavel laughed. “You know it doesn’t always work out that way, love?”

  Sha shook her head. “Shh. I love you.” Then, with a wicked grin, she slid up his chest. “Now you love me. No more arguments.”

  What else could a man do?

  Maps

  Galan had decided to spend the next couple of days exploring the King’s map room. Angvar wanted to head back to the brothel, but he figured Galan was probably right this would be more useful long term and have less of a chance at having to fight their way out. Newer maps were great for this trip, but for looking at the path they had taken last year, he would need more than was easily available.

  The old man in charge of the map room grumbled about them, but once he checked with the seneschal he grudgingly granted his guest more access. Galan and Angvar were pouring over piles of dusty parchment when a clear high-pitched voice called to them at just over a whisper. “M’lords. M’lords.” Once she saw she had their attention, she put her fingers to her lips for quiet. She looked around and saw the old man at the other end of the long room putting away maps they had requested earlier. “He must not know that I told you about them. Ask him for the latest cache of maps found in last year’s renovation of the guard towers.” She ducked back between the racks of maps as the old man approached.

  Angvar looked at Galan. Galan shrugged. “Why not?” Angvar cleared his throat. “We will also need the maps found while renovating the guard towers.”

  The old man looked as if Angvar had asked for the crown jewels. “I’m sorry M’lord. I know that Seneschal Gregor said ‘all due assistance’ but those maps are old and fragile. Even unrolling them could damage them. I will certainly need more than ‘all due assistance’ to justify that.” He looked around the room in an effort to see who may have told us of their existence.

  Galan spoke up. “Angvar, please fetch my mother. Perhaps the command of Tzadi Dutchess Mirron will be enough to get you that authority.”

  The old man cringed, but didn’t change his stance. I waited patiently while Angvar went for Feylynn.

  Time stretched on, and Galen began to wonder if he had overplayed his hand. Still, he waited and worked through the maps he did have access to. Then, over an hour later, mamma did walk through the map room doors, with the King himself on her arm. The old man stammered and stuttered as royal commands were issued to have the maps brought forth. I didn’t see Angvar. They brought the maps up in these amazing water tight cases. Once opened the maps that were brought out were printed on the thinnest material I could ever imagine. Yellowed with time they were still transparent. Amazed, Galen looked up and noticed Angvar standing by the map racks with the young woman who had clued them in to this treasure.

  “Your Majesty, may I request an assistant from your map room staff to assist as we try to assess this find?” Galen asked.

  “Certainly we must make sure this knowledge is preserved.” He said with a smile.

  Galen pointed to Angvar. “Why don’t you bring that one over here, she’s as good as any.”

  The old man spluttered a bit more, “M’lord my granddaughter is a fine apprentice, but she has only two years of experience. Surely someone with more knowledge?”

  The King smiled. “Granddaughter, Myron? I would say that should make her the perfect person to convey my wishes to your staff that all efforts are made to make these maps available to be copied so that the originals may be preserved and the information made available for use.”

  Angvar smiled. The young woman purely beamed. Galan thought she was pretty enough, even though she wouldn’t be to his taste. By the look in Angvar’s eye though, he felt fairly certain she already had suitor enough.

  Galan looked over at her as she drew up to the table. “So what do we call you?”

  She smiled. “My name is Sophia, M’lord.”

  The King was still trying to focus his eyes on the maps. “The detail is so fine, and there appears to be writing but it’s too small to be certain. Yes, this is important. Tzadi Feylynn, please assist your son in whatever way he might need. These may have been created in the early days of the keep. I do not recognize the material used in the maps or for their case. This is a magnificent find.” and just like that he was off to attend to other matters.

  Growing Up

  Changes

  Esta was really not happy with this trip. Oh, she had been shopping and got a beautiful new dress, and even a little jewelry. She found that she really had no one to play with. Galan was too busy working on the maps project. Sha was too busy working on the Pavel project as she called it. Her mother wasn’t one to play, and all the children in the castle either treated her like a noble and wouldn’t just have fun, or thought she was too old to play their games.

  She still enjoyed her dolls and playing with other children, but if she wasn’t going to find true acceptance among them, maybe it was time to think about growing up. She really wasn’t sure that she wanted to do that, but sitting here alone except for the servants in her mother’s apartments wasn’t any fun either.

  The magic lessons were fun, but Mamma insisted no more than two hours a day. She was actually getting pretty good too. She could make glow rocks which would stay lit for days, and she could light a candle or even a fire in the hearth without any tools. She could also do boring but practical stuff like make any water safe to drink and find any kind of plant you want. She was no great Tzadi, but it was still fun to learn and play. So after those two hours were done, usually right after breakfast, she was back to long boring days.

  She had tried spending some time with the older girls watching the soldiers train. Ok some of them were cute, and she even understood the butterflies that the other girls were talking about but it seemed like such a silly thing to waste a whole day on.

  So it was that she found herself trying to read the latest book she had pulled from the King’s extensive collection, ok the story was interesting enough but whoever wrote it down just was the worst. He would spend pages talking about a rock or a leaf but when something interesting like a fight would happen, he would just list the wounded and the dead with no story behind it. Her mind had wandered from the book's pages yet again when she heard the secret panel in the wall click and slowly open. A boy about thirteen or maybe fourteen backs into the room and all but closes the door with his ear up to the crack. She can’t see his face but he’s scruffy and dirty like he’d been crawling through dusty passages behind the walls. She gathers up her will and waits for him to turn around.

  Sure enough, once he is certain that whoever is trailing him has passed him by he turns around. Esta let loose the spell she had been holding and just like she would light the fireplace she blasted the gout of flame directly into his face. Fortunately, the spell wasn’t really designed to be a weapon and only severely singed his eyebrows, and of course got his full attention. �
��Who are you and what are you doing sneaking into my mother’s apartments? You better answer me or so help me, I’ll burn the flesh right off your face!” Esta bluffed.

  The young man jumped back and banged his head on the wall behind him. With his eyes watering and the smell of singed hair fresh in his nostrils, he could only assume he had intruded on a dragon. “Please don’t burn my face off! I’m not here to hurt anyone I just wanted to get away!” He was talking fast and on the point of blubbering. Still Esta thought he was holding up fairly well considering she knew his eyes weren’t quite working yet.

  “Who are you? Start with that and maybe I’ll even help you get away.”

  “I am Ivor, son of Bjorn the Fair Haired. I’ve been given as an exchange of hostages for the Alorn Kingdom, and I was just trying to get a day off from my tutors.” Blinking furiously he was starting to get his eyesight back. Esta saw his eyes focus and his jaw drop. “You’re not a dragon. You’re beautiful!”

  Esta raised her hands again as if she were casting another spell.

  Ivor’s hands went up to shield his face. “Hey, hey, that’s no way to respond to a compliment.”

  “It is when strange men are sneaking into my room.” She said levelly.

  “Oh, but I’ve already explained that! Enough with the face melting, already. I’ve only got the one such as it is, and I kinda need it.”

  She couldn’t help it, he made her giggle. Then he smiled at her and through the dust and the soot she could see a reasonably handsome young man. Maybe fourteen or fifteen a little peach fuzz attempt at a beard and sand colored hair. What really caught her attention was the most amazing violet colored eyes. They were a shade she had never seen before.

  When Ivor heard her giggle, he knew he was mostly out of the danger zone. With women one could never be certain, but he flashed her his most winning smile and hoped for the best.

  Esta shook her head, he was too much. “Go, the water closet is that way. Clean up and we’ll see what we’re going to do with you after that.”

  Eureka!

  Sophia had not expected things to go like this when she told the young nobles about the new find. She just had hoped to get a little better look at them than she had been allowed to see so far. Instead, now all eyes are on her. The king himself knows her name and sends advisors to her each day for progress reports.

  The other thing is Angvar. She hadn’t ever really thought about men who were out of her station. Why hope for something that you can’t have. Then there is Angvar. He is so supportive of her. He was the first one to ever have faith in her. He thinks she is smart. She recommended sandwiching the fragile maps between glass panes, and he shows up the next morning with two panes of glass and tests it. She mentions a magnifying lens; he shows up with a master lens grinder. He actually values what she thinks, which is ironic, because he also runs his hands under her dress and caresses her though her shift, removing any capacity she may have for coherent thinking.

  Funny thing is he actually came up with the solution for reading the maps. She smiles at the memory, well we came up with it. She was spending the evening with him in his apartments. He had managed to talk her out of her dress and she was sitting just in her shift. She passed between him and the fire, highlighting her silhouette. He stopped her and while he was teasing her and tracing her lines with his fingers, he suddenly stopped and told her she was brilliant. Then gave her full credit for the idea of back lighting the transparent maps. She had to admit that she was the one who thought about showing them on the wall after noticing what the ceiling looked like.

  Looking at his sleeping form lying next to her, she started to cry. These last two weeks had been the best of her life, but she knew it wouldn’t last. He was his father’s heir, there is no way they would allow him to marry her. All too soon he would be off to follow his life, and she would be back to hers. It wasn’t fair; she knew he cared for her. She also knew that it wouldn’t matter. He would have his life, and she would have her memories. It didn’t seem enough.

  The Ivor Situation

  Esta was getting ready for a nap. Over the last couple of weeks she had found the solution to her boredom problem and his name was Ivor. Yes, it was silly, but his stories were all funny and once cleaned up, he was cute in a scruffy half grown way. He was excited to just be with her. Oh like every guy, he was always happiest when snuggled up in their private spot on the roof wrapped in his cloak exploring what a romantic relationship could be, but they also just enjoyed talking. I mean about everything. He told her about how is Fay mother, abandoned him to his father. She told him about growing up in the Ohio Valley. He shared with her the story of how his father got his name, Allorn’s have such harsh humor. She told him about how she was just kind of baggage for her family. Galan was training to be the next Duke, and Echal had barely stuck around at all before he ran off to the Red Spire. Even Sha, who was with them now, was so busy with Pavel and being the great Tzadi that she really didn’t have time for Esta. Even mamma was so concerned with trying to make up time with Sha, that she hadn’t even noticed that Esta had been sneaking out every evening to spend time with Ivor.

  Her afternoon naps had become necessary after staying up most of the night with Ivor. She had no idea how he was managing his studies and still spending every evening with her. She had barely gotten settled when her mother and Sha showed up.

  “Sleepy head, time to get up, we need you,” Sha called out in a singsong tone.

  “What’s wrong?” Esta asked, she couldn’t think of why they would need her.

  Feylynn swoops in and feels her forehead. “Nothing is wrong, but we’re about to do some casting and it will be a good experience for you to see it done, and we can use the extra energy. Are you not feeling well?”

  Esta considers for a moment claiming to be sick but she knows Mamma will just create some foul tasting medicine for her. “No Mamma, it just has been a habit I’ve gotten in to.”

  “Ok then, let’s get going. Pavel is already pulling together what we need. Get dressed, sleepyhead.” Feylynn was bustling around helping her daughter to get dressed.

  Panic

  Feylynn returned to her apartments early in the morning. She had planned to get a quick change of clothing and then see how much Galan had managed to get copied over. The maps were in amazing detail. Making allowance for erosion over the time span involved, the maps are more accurate than anything possible without very power intensive spells.

  She passed Esta’s room and decided to peek in. The bed was empty. That was odd. She checked the water closet, and then with the servants, still no luck. She started to feel the panic set in, her baby was so innocent and trusting, nearly anyone could have taken advantage of that. She hesitated only a moment before gathering in her will and casting a location spell. She found her immediately. She let out a sigh. What was she doing in that area of the old fortress? As far as Feylynn knew it was mostly abandoned. She looked around for a moment and then noticed the panel to the passage way was left cracked open. She opened the door and followed the well-worn path through the dust, and she continued to climb up and it wound it’s way up more stairs and she came out onto a small balcony area and there was Esta. Feylynn’s heart soared for a moment and then sunk as she realized she wasn’t alone.

  Feylynn saw red, she gathered her will and focused that rage as she yanked the young man up into the air with a levitation spell. She swings him out over the balcony rail.

  Ivor wakes up in mid air hanging over a twenty story drop. He wets himself. He starts to babble an excuse but Feylynn is having none of it. She lowers the power of the levitation spell, causing him to plummet downward.

  Esta is finally awake and terrified, “Mamma!”

  Feylynn reasserts the levitation spell at the last moment, dropping him only about six feet into the snow bank below. “That should cool him off! As for you, young lady!” She turns on Esta who has run to the rail of the balcony to check on Ivor. “What do you think you are doing sneaking
out in the middle of the night to cavort with some boy?”

  “We weren’t cavorting! He’s been my only friend while we were here! You can’t just do that! You didn’t even talk to me.” she said, grabbing his cloak and dashing for the passage.

  Feylynn followed, and the argument continued and got worse.

  Roads Become Passable

  What Did I Do?

  Angvar had gotten word that the roads had cleared and Feylynn was in a hurry to continue the journey. He was excited about seeing more of the world, but he really didn’t want to leave Soph behind. Of course she had heard as well and instead of spending more time with him she seemed to be avoiding him.

  He asked Galan what he did wrong and Galan just shrugged, “Women, who can ever figure out what they are thinking?”

  While Angvar agreed, it wasn’t really much help for him. He finally tracked her down in the map room where he knew she would be and he knew she couldn’t just make an excuse to go away. “Soph!” he called out as she turned to walk away. He ran to catch up to her. “Soph, stop, please.” She stopped but didn’t turn around.

  Angvar looked around, there were two other people in the large room. He really wanted some privacy for this. “Excuse me.” He said his voice sounding very loud in the quiet room. “Can I have a moment, please?” He gestured toward the door. They both looked to Sophia, and she nodded.

  When they were gone Angvar sighed, “Soph, can’t you even look at me? What did I do?”

  She couldn’t help it the tears flowed, “No I can look at you” she sobbed. “It hurts too much!”

  Angvar spun her around and knelt before her, “Soph, don’t cry. What ever I did, I’m sorry. I never want to hurt you!”

  She took a deep breath and composed herself. “You can’t help it. You have to go. You will go on your fantastic adventure and I’ll go back to my life here. The dream of the last month will go away. I knew it had to happen, but it hurts too much right now to think about it.”