“It’s a beautiful place,” Aletha observed quietly. “How much of it was made of magic?”
“All of it,” I answered slowly. At least, that’s what if felt like.
“You’re not far wrong,” Terran admitted.
“Terran!” A young woman separated from the crowd, running toward us. Her hair was thick, a rich mahogany, flying in every direction as she ran. She wore a simple black dress that gave no indication of what she was—but from the feel of her, I’d guess her to be an Elemental Mage.
Terran lit up at her appearance, walking forward quickly to meet her. He grabbed her when she was within range, swinging her up into a bear hug. “Liza! I swear you’ve grown again.”
She sighed happily, a large smile growing on her face. “I have! Two inches!”
“Good grief, girl, no man wants a wife taller than him! Stop your growing, now.”
“That’s not true,” she protested, pouting.
“Actually, it isn’t,” I agreed. Partly to tweak Terran’s nose, I admit.
She turned bright blue eyes on me, wide with hope and curiosity. “You like tall women?”
“Considering how short I am, my lady, it’s rather inevitable,” I drawled.
Shad started snickering. “Too true!”
“You have no room to talk, Cezza,” Chatta observed. “You’re barely taller than he is.”
“All of those vegetables my mother forced me to eat didn’t do an ounce of good,” he mourned. “I feel betrayed.”
Liza giggled. “I like these people, Terran. Some of them glow, too. Who are they?”
“Liza, this is Magus Rhebengarthen of Hain and his Nreesce Night, Witch L-Chattamoinita Delheart also of Hain, Captain Riicshaden of Chahir, and the Red Hand Squadron of Ascalon; Captain De Xiaolang, Lieutenant Shield Garbracen, Hazard Harewood, Aletha Saboton, and Eagle Sevar. Everyone, this is my sister Eliza.”
She dropped out of her brother’s arms in order to greet us with a proper bow. “We seek the balance.”
“They’ve come to borrow the pool,” Terran continued. “Where’s Raile?”
“Here.” Another man melted from the crowd, tall, with a hawkish look to him. He was fairer in coloring than anyone else I had seen so far, looking far more Chahiran then expected. He also looked ancient, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had actually been alive during the Magic War. His clothing gave no indication of what status he might hold, being a solid gray. However, I felt power from him—the power of a very gifted Wizard. “Welcome home, Terran,” he said, a sound of warmth in his gravelly voice.
Terran moved to meet him, clasping one of Raile’s hands. There was a great deal of fondness in his face. “Raile. How are you?”
“Old!” Raile responded with a broken chuckle. “But I’m still moving, which is a blessing. So.” Faded blue eyes focused on me with such intensity that I would not have been surprised if he could see the back of my head. “Magus Rhebengarthen, we’ve been looking for you.”
“So I understand, sir.”
He nodded, as if this didn’t surprise him. “I am Raile Blackover, Wizard and unofficial governor of this city.”
“Unofficial my left eyeball,” Terran snorted. “If you say jump, we start hopping.”
Raile ignored that and kept right on speaking. “I am glad you’ve come here. There are things you need to know. Follow me, and we’ll sit down somewhere comfortable.”
After that wild ride through the ocean, I was more than happy about the idea of sitting down. “By all means.”
“I’ll tell Mom that you’re home,” Eliza told her brother. With a nod toward us, she scampered away.
Raile turned, walking further into the city, all of us trudging after him. He was not a fast walker—frankly I was surprised he could still move—so we had a great deal of time to observe our surroundings and talk.
“This is a fantastic place,” Xiaolang observed to me. “Garth, could you do something like this?”
“Parts of it,” I admitted. “The basic structures of the buildings, the roads, fountains, things like that. But the finer details I’d have to leave to someone else.”
“Chatta?” he guessed.
“She could do most of it.”
“The metalwork would be difficult,” she observed. “I’d definitely want the help of an Elemental Mage or two.”
“I’d imagine that it would still take a while, though,” I ventured thoughtfully. Buildings didn’t come together overnight, magic or no magic.
“Oh, it took a while all right,” Raile chuckled. “In fact, we’re still building. We have to make room for the children, as they come.”
“Don’t take this question the wrong way,” Eagle said hesitantly, “but are all of the children born here magical?”
“Most of them. There are a few exceptions,” Terran admitted.
“Magic is largely genetic,” I explained tonelessly. “If there is someone in your family with magic—your parents, for instance—odds are at least one child will have magic as well.”
Sick understanding filled Eagle’s eyes. “Which is why Chahir normally executes the entire family if one of the children has magic?”
I nodded, unable to give a more vocal answer.
“That isn’t always the case, of course.” Raile gave me an unfathomable look. “Sometimes magic will skip whole generations. Rhebengarthen, you are the only magician in your family?”
“Yes.”
“Does anyone in your family line have magic?”
“Our family records only go back as far as the Magic War,” I replied with a helpless shrug. “Tobadorage—the city where my family lived—was burned to the ground at that time. We lost all of our history in that fire.”
“I suspect that was to your good fortune.” Raile had an odd smile on his face, not quite happy, but not displeased. “The Rheben family is one very rich with magic. At one time, they were advisors and teachers to the nobility.”
I stopped dead in my tracks, stunned by what I was hearing. “Are you serious?”
“Quite serious. My wife was a Rheben, you know. A very powerful Earth Mage, as you are. In fact, you have two living relatives right here in this city. Why did you think we were looking for you, boy?”
My knees wanted to give out on me. It had never occurred to me to wonder if there was magic in my family. Occasionally, there were children born into families with no history of magic in their blood whatsoever. Since no one in my family was born a magician since the Magic War, I assumed myself to be one of those people.
“Who?” I whispered hoarsely. “Who was it out of my family that went to the Isle of Strae?”
“I don’t rightly remember her name,” Raile admitted. “But we’ll go to Sallah’s and Aral’s house—Sallah is a Rheben, you see—and they can tell you. Actually, we’ll need to go there anyway. Its Aral’s brother, Don, that’s been using the pool to search Chahir. I imagine you want to talk to him.”
“Yes, we do,” Xiaolang declared.
“Thought as much.” Raile nodded to himself, continuing along the road.
“Garth?” Chatta was watching me closely. “You look like someone just knocked the wind out of you.”
“It certainly feels that way,” I murmured. Relatives? Here?
The rest of the trip passed in a daze for me. I was so caught up in trying to imagine how so much information in my family had been lost that I couldn’t begin to tell you much about my surroundings. I know that magic was a dangerous and forbidden topic in Chahir while I was growing up, but we still heard fairytales about it. We still heard stories, now and again, and knew of the history of the Magic War. So why hadn’t it been passed down, orally at least, that the Rheben family had magic in them? That’s pretty crucial information!
Night nudged me in the back when we turned off the road, bringing me back into the present. I blinked, switching mental gears, and realized that we were in front of a beautifully kept two-story house. It was largely made of wood and brick, w
ith a wide wrap-around porch on the lowest level. With it being in the heart of the city like this, there wasn’t much yard, but I could feel the magic in this place.
Earth Mages lived here.
Raile knocked out a quick rap on the wood before he opened the door. “You’re being invaded, Sallah!”
“Come right in, Raile!” a woman’s voice called back. There was the sound of quick footsteps coming from the back of the house, as if she were hurrying to the front door.
Raile waved everyone inside. I held back a little, looking at the doorway. It was so narrow, I wasn’t sure Night would fit. “Night?”
“I don’t think I’ll fit in there,” he said doubtfully.
“Think skinny thoughts,” I suggested with a sadistic smile. I told him he’d been gaining weight!
He shot me a dirty look. “Don’t forget, I know where you sleep.”
“You say that like I should be afraid.”
“You should be. After all, you’re a deep sleeper.”
You know, that was a definite point. I started to worry about myself. “Maybe you should stay out here?”
“Their grass is a little tall. I’ll cut it back for them,” he offered virtuously.
I shook my head in exasperation. The brat never stopped eating. You’d think he was a pig, instead of a horse.
“Garth!” Shad called in amusement. “Get in here!”
I left Night to his “mowing” and ducked inside. Everyone was already settled in chairs or on couches, and apparently already been introduced. Standing near the center of the room was a lovely woman in a simple blue dress, slightly rounded out with child. Her hair was dark, but her skin was so light that she could pass for Chahiran.
Raile, from his comfortable chair, cleared his throat. “Sallah, this is Rhebengarthen. Magus, your distant cousin, Sallah Bender, formerly Rhebensallahan.”
Sallah had a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. “Great magic, it really is you!”
Before I knew what hit me, I had my arms full of pregnant woman. Sallah was laughing and crying at the same time, arms around my neck.
Nonplussed, I caught her at the waist and steadied her before we both toppled over. Part of me was glad to finally see this woman I had heard about, another magician in the family—but part of me was a little uncomfortable being ambushed like this.
She must have sensed that, because she backed off a little. “I’m sorry, I'm just so glad to actually see you! Don showed us two years ago when you arrived, but then we lost you completely, and we couldn’t find you again, and we’ve all been so worried and frustrated.”
“I went into Hain,” I explained.
“We assumed as much,” she confided, expression lightening. “We did catch it when you came back to Tobadorage, and took your family out. Now that was a sight! I never thought to use stone like that before.”
Shad, being the brat he is, straightened in his chair and asked, “Now what’s this? I haven’t heard this story.”
“Don stored it in a crystal; we can show it to you later.”
I groaned. That was exactly what I didn’t want to hear.
“Crystal?” Shield repeated in confusion.
“Magicians can store knowledge or memories in crystals, so that other people can see them,” Chatta explained. She too, was very excited and curious. “I’ve heard this story before, but I’d like to see it too.”
I looked at her woefully. Did she have to encourage this?
Sallah couldn’t take her eyes off of me for long. “We were so surprised to see you—to finally have another Mage in the family. For so long, it’s just been us!”
“I never expected it,” I admitted. “All of the family history was lost—I was never told anything about the Rhebens being a magical family.”
“We’ll have a marvelous time filling you in,” she laughed. “And I can have a copy made of the family history book so you can take it back with you.”
I nodded gratefully. “Please? My parents are going to want every detail.”
“I’m sure,” she murmured in complete understanding. "I'm delighted to have everyone else here, too. We've been watching all of you—” she turned so that she could see everyone in the room "—and have been cheering you on from here as you rescued people. We also have some information for you, as well. Another Elemental Mage has appeared on the Chahiran coast. Don marked down his location so that you could collect him."
We all perked up at that. "I'd appreciate it if he could show me where on the map," Xiaolang said firmly. "Is this person in immediate danger?"
"It didn't look like it," she refuted thoughtfully. "He's usually by himself in the mountains. Still…he's so young. Perhaps eight or nine years old. I hate leaving him where he is for much longer."
Xiaolang and I exchanged glances. We hadn't planned on staying here for more than a day or so. But that might be too much time. "Wait or go?" I asked him.
"…wait," he finally determined. "We'll trust her judgment in this. One day shouldn't hurt."
"Sallah, where is Don?" Raile asked her mildly.
She blinked, realization dawning on her face. "Oh, shoot! He’s in his workshop. Wait, I’ll go get him.”
I didn't like the idea of a pregnant woman running around alone, so I followed her out the front door. "Night, will you go with Sallah?"
He raised his head from the grass, looking at her curiously. "Your cousin, correct?"
Sallah stopped dead when she saw him, mouth hanging. "Y-you're—”
I felt like smacking myself in the forehead. Of course, they hadn't been introduced yet. "Sorry. Sallah this is my Nreesce, Night. Night, my cousin Sallah Bender."
Night lifted one hoof and ducked his head, his version of a bow. "A pleasure, Sallah."
She bowed back, arms spread. "We seek the balance." The look she shot me was surprised and a little…uneasy, perhaps? I couldn't decide what that look meant. "You are very young to be trusted with a Nreesce, cousin."
I rubbed the back of my head ruefully. "Um, actually, I was there when he was born. He adopted me as his Rider when he was five minutes old." When I thought back on that night, I groaned. "I'd barely been in school for a day when it happened!"
The odd look on her face grew more intense. "How do you get into all of these strange situations?"
Night had the gall to snicker. "He has a gift for finding trouble."
I had this childish urge to stick my tongue out at him. “See if I feed you peanut butter anymore.”
He gave a disdainful toss of the head, dismissing the threat. “Where are we going, Sallah?”
She blinked, whatever thought she had been entertaining vanishing from her mind. “Oh, just down the street. I need to get my brother-in-law.” With a smile at me, she scampered down to the street, Night trailing at her heels.
I was watching them walk side by side when Terran came up from behind, coming to lean against the railing. “Rhebengarthen, I should warn you that I’m going to reveal who Night truly is.”
I shot him a look from the corner of my eye. “Is that strictly necessary?”
“Yes.” There was no compromise in his tone.
“Why?”
“For one thing, it means that we can stop searching for you.”
It was a valid point, so I couldn’t argue against it. Unfortunately.
“No one knows, do they?” he murmured, eyes trained on my face. “About who he really is—or who you really are.”
“Two people know, aside from us,” I answered quietly.
“Your friend Chatta, I assume?”
“…no,” I reluctantly admitted.
“No?” he repeated in surprise. “I felt sure…”
“I barely knew Chatta when Night adopted me,” I explained uneasily. “I wasn’t sure who to trust with the whole truth at that point. Besides…one of the last things that Advent Eve said to me was his name, and who could be trusted with that name. I just…” I blew out a breath, frustrated that I couldn’t find the rig
ht words to explain this. “I just feel that secret and sacred should go hand in hand.”
For a long moment Terran mulled that over. Then his eyes lightened, crinkling at the corners. “Trivoxor did well when he chose his Rider.”
I flushed slightly, shifting under that regard, not knowing exactly how to respond.
“But your secret isn’t going to remain that way much longer.” He spread his hands in a rueful gesture. “Prepare yourself, eh?”
“I think we’re both experienced enough now to handle it.” Hopefully. After all the hype that’s been attached to us, with my ridiculous reputation, this can’t be more than one more drop in the bucket, right?
Somehow, that thought didn’t quell the sense of impending doom looming in the back of my mind.
“Didi! Quit!”
I groaned. Now what had he done? I ducked back inside the house, looking for a small, winged creature that was soon to be on the Endangered Species list. Sure enough, he had found some elaborate afghan with bright patterns in it, and was attempting to unravel it. Chatta had her wand out, facing him down like she was in a duel.
“You put that down right now or I’ll zap you!” she growled, one clenched fist shaking in obvious threat.
Didi’s ears went flat in dejection, and he clutched the afghan even tighter. “Diiiiiiiii,” he said plaintively.
I thought this time might come, and I’d come prepared. Before leaving Del’Hain, I’d asked Trev’nor to come up with an elaborate braided puzzle for our winged friend. Trev’nor had taken great delight in devising a system of knots so complicated it would take weeks for Didi to unravel it all. I drew it out of my pocket with a smile of sheer anticipation. “Oh, Didi?” I sing-songed cheerfully.
Didi looked at me cautiously. “Di?”
“Trev’nor gave me a toy for you,” I informed him, presenting the knot with both hands. “He said that it would be nearly impossible for you to unravel this.”
The Meuritta’s bright eyes fastened onto the string in my hand like a starving man would eye a banquet. “Di!”
Knowing that I had a little under a second before I was pounced on, I started to put it back into my pocket. “Of course, if you want the afghan instead…”
Magus (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 21