“Oh to have been a fly on that wall,” Elzen sighed making the matter even worse for the falcon.
The other men hearing the conversation looked at the attractive women mentioned curiously adding to the heat Rilena was suddenly feeling. Just to avoid the embarrassment of being caught blushing while being embarrassed mercilessly by her friends, the mage stood from the table before hurrying over to talk to Garosh.
Looking up in surprise, the giant started to stand thinking that she wanted to take a seat beside him. Her hand rested on his shoulder stopping his movement, which would only have added to the color in her cheeks.
“No need for that, I just came over to ask you a quick question for a friend of mine,” the girl said quickly.
“What question is that? I have been answering many of late,” he asked looking at her more intently than she appreciated at the moment.
“Well, Elzen says that when the Grimnal was around he had told everyone to look out for babies with white or silver hair. Supposedly, Lord Aramathea was born that way and maybe that means such births signaled an immortal. So my friend Teven was curious if that was how you were born,” the girl spoke a little quickly as her nerves got the better of her. It was still less embarrassing than talking about her being naked in a bath with Teven and Zerra at least. Even after going to the communal baths a few more times, the girl felt a bit uncomfortable going even to meet her friends.
Looking surprisingly thoughtful at the question, Garosh finally shook his head as he answered, “I am not sure if my birth counts. You see, warlocks use large tanks to grow many of the races separate from mothers. The tanks act a womb and the products are often removed as adults.
“While I had silver hair when I left the artificial womb, I was already a teenager in growth, so I couldn’t really say much about being a baby. They never confirmed the other donors in my creation, though the emperor must have been one as they looked for a new body for him to take.”
The various pieces of information in such a short amount of sentences nearly overwhelmed the mage. “You were grown for the emperor to take?”
Shrugging, the man gestured to the open place beside him. Understanding the feeling of discomfort from not only looking up from his seat, though he was so large they were fairly close to each other’s eye line, but having to twist in his seat to look at her; Rilena sat beside him. As she did, the girl only placed one leg over and straddled the bench to find her eyes having to look up at his as usual.
“The emperor’s current body has been sick for a long a time. His power and the passing of millennia have caused it to wither. If they find nothing worthy of his strength, and maybe even if they do, he might die after over a thousand years of life.
“I can believe that they might have experimented with the Grimnal’s tissues, but I don’t know if it ever worked or if they are in me at all. Just because I am large, I have heard many people of Southwall suggest that he would be one of my ancestors. Whoever I am made from, I was rejected as a possible host, though the emperor imparted some of his magic into me to carry. While I hold great power, wielding it has never felt comfortable for me. I don’t think without the emperor’s gift, I would have any magical ability at all.”
Rilena sat silently for a moment wondering at the concept of a dying emperor and people being created like they were being raised like vegetables on some bizarre farm. As she sat, the tables began to be moved to the side for the night’s dance. She stood to leave, but Garosh grasped her arm preventing her from leaving his side. “Would you dance with me for the first dance? I have heard that you are quite a graceful dancer and have seen you that you appear to be the last few nights for myself. Perhaps you could teach me?”
What should have probably sickened her was less of a blow to her heart than she would have thought. Instead of denying the giant, the girl found her head nodding as she agreed, “Sure, but step on my toes with those big feet and I will hobble away on you immediately.”
Smiling at the joke, which was probably half true as well, Garosh slid his hand to hers to stand with her. Rilena’s eyes widened slightly as he bowed over her hand to kiss the back lightly. “Then I need to help clear the floor quickly, if I am to get a chance to avoid your feet.”
Backing away as the giant urged the others from the table, Rilena found her friends again even as they stood waiting since their table was one of the first to be moved. Teven looked eager as if she were a research wizard waiting on the results of her experiment, while the others looked a little more doubtful having witnessed Garosh’s kissing of her hand.
“So?” Teven questioned her blue eyes brightening enthusiastically.
“He was grown in a tank and came out as a teenager with that color hair, but he doesn’t know if that counts or if it changed while he was grown,” Rilena relayed the odd information back to the others.
Rodgren scratched the top of his head in confusion repeating her words, “He was grown in a tank?”
The girl shrugged as she added, “Apparently that is one of the ways the emperor has been able to continually churn out new soldiers. They grow some of the orcs, goblins and others in these tanks. The emperor’s body is apparently dying after so long, so Garosh was an experiment using tissue from the emperor and other sources that he doesn’t know for sure.”
Teven actually appeared disappointed as the music began. “I was hoping he would have known for sure,” she sighed.
When Garosh started towards her, Elzen pointed in his direction warning, “He’s coming this way.”
Sighing almost like Teven, “I said I would dance with him for the first song. Supposedly he doesn’t know how to dance, so be ready to heal me, Elzen.”
Most of the group laughed at the girl’s luck making Garosh raise an eyebrow in confusion, but the man bowed to Rilena and asked, “Would you do me the honor?”
“I already said yes,” the mage replied less than lady like. She would have thought her falcon uniform would have let any man know that she was far from a true lady.
Drawing her to the dance floor, the giant ignored the slight and as they set their hold, he asked, “Is this right?”
Rilena had danced with tall men before, but Garosh was enormous. While slightly above average for a woman of Southwall, the girl would have had to stretch for his shoulder and instead placed her off hand along his upper arm. By the same token, the giant’s hand that should have been by her waist found its way slightly higher and potentially improper in its touch. The girl suffered through reminding herself that it was just one dance.
To her surprise as they began to move with the music, their bodies were very well in sync; and for all his size Garosh was not only light on his feet but amazingly he didn’t step on her toes at all. She wouldn’t call him the best dancer she had ever partnered, but if it truly was his first time he seemed to be a natural.
“You’re sure that this is your first time?” Rilena asked looking up from his chest so close that it almost hurt her neck. She nearly stepped on his foot from the attempt.
“Ensolus rarely has dancing in the emperor’s citadel. I don’t know why, since I believe some of the taverns and inns might host such things. I have never been, but I have been watching your people as closely as I could as I hoped you might be willing,” admitted Garosh without looking down as if by not looking he proved that he was a better dancer, or maybe from not wanting to try and look at her from so close.
“That sounds like a boring way to live,” the girl said sadly. It was no surprise to her that the darkness brought to the world by the emperor would have repressed such entertainment.
Avoiding a shrug that would have disrupted their tenuous holds, he replied, “There are other forms of entertainment, but I think the joy your people have is missing at least from the heart of the city. Soldiers enjoy fighting and training. Warlocks duel each other and there are those who go out to the taverns and inns as I said.
“I have just been too busy in my duties serving the emperor until now
to go see what I was missing.”
The song came to end and Garosh stepped back. “One more?” he asked.
Shrugging her answer, Rilena judged that having not been stepped on warranted a second dance. She didn’t know who would come to her otherwise, so at least this seemed safe especially with a healer in the room.
It wasn’t until after the fifth song that Rilena decided to separate from the giant. He looked a bit disappointed and she had to admit that she had certainly had worse partners, but the girl needed a break from Garosh even so. Something bothered her that she could spend time with him and not find anything to hate. It was a feeling that she wouldn’t have believed only a few weeks before, but it was true that she had been able to put the hate behind her even if Rilena couldn’t completely forget to keep it from her mind entirely.
Elzen found the mage and drew her into a dance. His eyes held worry, and Rilena nearly laughed as she realized that her gaze was even with the boy’s.
“It went alright apparently. You danced with Garosh long enough,” Elzen stated without judgment.
She nodded, “I’ve been trying to let the past go. I guess some things can only be chalked up to being casualties of war, but I don’t want to talk about that because I was letting go, right?”
Having danced with the short mage before, she noticed that like in his ability to fight, his feet moved impeccably. He was one of the smoothest dancers Rilena had ever been with and she felt safe after knowing him for so long. The girl was able to confess without worry, “For such a large man, he was actually quite good, even though he tells me that he hadn’t danced before. I guess being able to enjoy that is progress.”
Elzen grunted without committing, but reminded her, “We have to watch him until midnight again, by the way.”
Groaning at the thought of another odd hour guard duty, the girl nodded as she looked at his green eyes right before her face. It was a slower song and though some dancers would maintain more distance, the two friends were as close as many of the lovers. Their timing and motion always seemed to work together and that made Rilena wonder not for the first time, if she could ever have deeper emotions for this young man. He was always there for her as only Sebastian had been before him. That mage was just a friend, more like a brother than something more, but was Elzen the same?
“As long as the others don’t mind watching over him, we get to keep having fun, right?” the girl queried again rhetorically and smiled.
“First, you were my dance partner and now my guard,” Garosh stated as he pulled off his boots sitting on the side of the bed. “If you really have to watch me so closely, there’s more room in the bed.”
Rolling her eyes, Rilena countered with little venom, “You weren’t that great a dance partner, Garosh. Sleep alone and maybe I’ll forget you ever said that.”
She could feel Elzen and the other guards tensing at the unwanted solicitation.
With a sigh, the big man replied, “It was a joke, but truly this continual watching me try to sleep must be as uncomfortable for the lot of you as it is for me. I haven’t had people watching me sleep since I came out of the birthing chamber. If I had ever wanted to jeopardize the trust I have been trying to build with your people, I could have done it by now.”
“You think that you could get away with something while two battle mages, two wizards and a handful of Southwall’s best soldiers are within steps of you?” Elzen spoke up from where he once more leaned back against a wall. To keep awake, most of them would try to remain standing over the four hours before the squads changed. “You wouldn’t be able to get any spell off while I am here, or have you forgotten the training yard?”
Garosh stood to pull off his shirt. He was incredibly warm blooded and even though the day had been warmer as spring was knocking at Windmeer’s doors, it was still a bit chilly for Rilena’s taste. The giant patted the air between them and answered, “I have not forgotten, my little friend, but remember that you aren’t always here, not that I have any doubts that most of the other guards wouldn’t be as skilled. Still, a truly resourceful wizard with sufficient power and skill could have escaped or caused mischief by now. I assure you that I didn’t come here with any such thoughts in mind.
“I have gained enough respect for your battle mages though. First there was that Sebastian I keep hearing about and wish I could have actually met. His extraction of your trio was outstanding and, of course, Elzen here proved that he is the better fighter as well. It really is a shame that I could not have met the man who is revolutionizing your battle mage corps.”
Rilena shook her head. “He isn’t revolutionizing it. Sebastian is just coming up with new spells. Without the ravens and other officers, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish as much, plus they pushed him to grow in the first place.”
Again the giant put out his hands as if to ward off the refusal of his compliments. “I miss spoke. He is an important part of the change, however. I think that much we can agree on here. After all, I keep hearing how he has managed to get your wizards to start working with your mages in a way that is new, or have I heard wrongly?”
“Just go to bed, Garosh,” Elzen ordered pointing towards the large bed. One of the biggest mattresses in Windmeer was there and still the giant made it look small. “Arguing over this isn’t letting me hear your snoring, which I, and I think I say for everyone here, we truly enjoy hearing every night we’re stuck here.”
Sliding into bed, Garosh nodded to the mage and said, “Well, I certainly would hate to ruin your guard time, while I am trying to sleep like a normal person.”
The man’s eyes found Rilena one last time before lying back and pulling his covers over his shoulder and turning away towards the far wall.
Rilena was often amazed that the giant could ever sleep with people watching over him. She wasn’t sure how exhausted she would have to be to do the same every day. The guard was set and now the ten guards inside the room had to wait for their relief.
Ensolus
“Are you ready?”
Acheri looked at him as several men dressed like falcons of Southwall waited patiently in the gate room. It was a small assembly compared too many of the portal teams that had passed through there, but it had to be to accomplish the mission.
“Kolban still wants to do this even after the warning bells?” Palose questioned the girl more from nerves than believing the mission would be halted even for the warning bells that had rung through Ensolus the day before.
Sighing as the girl could see through the question as a means to procrastinate, Acheri pushed a lock of dark hair back over her ear as she contemplated answering his question. Though her hair was tied back in a pony tail and she was dressed in a black dress which was a rare color for her, that one lock of hair had plagued her three times since Palose had met up with her and the team of assassins gathered in the chamber.
“The warning bells are for some island that was important just after the Cataclysm as your people call it. Even if it is important, Kolban has other people that can handle that. You have your duty here or has your conscience suddenly turned you soft for the people of Southwall? Has your heart turned from your new home, Palose?”
Frowning at the jab, the mage retorted in annoyance, “Of course not. If it had I wouldn’t care about those warning bells and I wouldn’t be here to start this gate either; since I can leave anytime as you know.”
Squeezing his chin, Acheri shook his face like a mother teasing her small child. “Don’t go getting testy on me now, Palose. Not when I still really enjoy having you around.”
To his surprise, the girl pulled him down close enough to kiss him full on the lips. If she wasn’t just messing with him, then Sylvaine might be right about the princess being interested in him for more than just the novelty of being a resurrection man or for his portal points. He couldn’t even tell Sylvaine for now, since she had been sent out along with her mistress in a team of twenty for some mission that she couldn’t tell him about as usual.
It was her first mission since the trip to the Dimple Mountains and likely to be the first of many as the snows should soon be over even near the Dragon’s Spine.
The one thing that troubled him was that the mission seemed rather sudden and yet was oddly close to the time that Acheri had been acting jealous of his gift of the touchstone necklace she had noted on the apprentice. Palose just hoped he was worrying over nothing and that Sylvaine would be safe. He had found that his feelings for the apprentice had grown more, since her trip to the fortress. A special twin stone sat in his pocket at all times now. It would tell him if Sylvaine were in trouble or otherwise harmed. With its magic, the mage could be a portal away from helping the girl, though he knew that rushing in to help would only hurt her chances in Ensolus in the long run.
A slap to the side of his face from the princess knocked him out of his reverie started by the unwanted kiss. Unwanted, yet he hadn’t exactly fought back even as he told himself that she was the princess and could do what she wanted, even stealing a kiss.
“Fine,” he grunted as the mage turned to face the gate point designated on the floor in front of him.
The portal spell that he used was the one that transported one or two people normally. With his stolen strength garnered from Atrouseon, Palose guessed that most of this team could walk through without fear of loss, but Acheri was there as well to assist. The sliver of power gifted to the girl from the emperor dwarfed his magic like an inferno to a candle or maybe now a campfire with his added power.
When her magic added to the gate, the door that was usually only a little wider than he was grew to six feet wide in a blink. The mage knew that she wasn’t even trying compared to what she could truly do. Wondering if he was truly even needed for his part in the magic, Palose stepped out of the way as the six men hurried through the portal. Once through, Acheri and the mage followed.
Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 41