Jaunten (Advent Mage Cycle)

by Honor Raconteur

  Busted buckets!

  I'd seen for myself that unbraiding this again would be nearly impossible. I'd most likely have to cut it out.

  A terrible suspicion started to seep into my mind. Quickly I rolled up to my feet and crossed over to Chatta, eyes scanning her hair swiftly. Almost instantly my suspicions were confirmed. She too had an elaborate braid in her hair, this done with white ribbon. Actually now that I got a good look at it, I rather liked it. Very unusual of course, but the stark white twined around Chatta's dark hair looked rather attractive.

  Well, if they had put a braid in my hair and Chatta's…would they dare to do it to Kartal as well?

  I tiptoed over to Kartal's sleeping form and peeked.

  Then I had to clamp both hands over my mouth to avoid waking the camp with my peels of laughter.

  Oh they had indeed decided to give braids to Kartal as well, but apparently ribbons had been vetoed for whatever reason. Long blond hair had been elaborately weaved all through Kartal's hair. I had a suspicion that it was from Sunny's mane or tail, since she was the only one with long blonde hair in the vicinity. And it wasn't just one braid; oh no. From my position I could count five individual braids.

  Oh boy! Now this was sure to be interesting.

  I stood there and debated with myself on whether to wake up Kartal now, or let him wake on his own. He'd have a conniption when he did wake up, that was for sure!

  No, it would definitely be wiser to let the matter lie a little longer. I snuck back over to Chatta's side and quietly woke her. She blinked up at me blearily, using one arm to prop herself up in a semi-sitting position.

  "Garth?"

  I shushed her, not wanting to wake anyone else. Without a word I pointed to the braid in my hair. Her eyes went wide, and then she started quietly snickering.

  "That's…cute."

  Men are not cute, curse it. Arching a sardonic eyebrow at her, I picked up her braid and waved the end of it in front of her nose. She stared at it in open-mouthed astonishment for a moment before frantically feeling along the braid.

  "Cute," I repeated softly, dry humor heavy in my voice.

  "How does it look?" she inquired anxiously.

  "Interesting, actually. You'll probably set a new fashion when we get back." I hesitated a moment, giving Kartal's still form a glance over my shoulder. Chatta could probably get by with this, but I didn't see Kartal being able to do the same thing.

  One of the things that I love about Chatta is that she's quick on the uptake. She quickly sat up, horrified understanding dawning on her face. "Did they do the same thing to Kartal?"

  "Worse," I informed her with, I admit it, malicious glee. "I think they borrowed a few strands of hair from Sunny's tail and weaved highlights all through Kartal's hair."

  "Great magic," she breathed shakily. "He's going to have a conniption."

  "That was my thought too," I admitted. "Is there any magical way to undo this?"

  "I'm not an authority on hair," she muttered thoughtfully. "A simple unraveling spell might work, but I'm not sure."

  As long as there was a way to undo this, I was pretty sure I could keep Kartal from killing either boy or Meuritta. I knew we couldn't do it manually, so if there was any hope, it would have to be with magic.

  We didn’t have time to plan anything out or discuss it further. Kartal snorted slightly, groaned, and then sat up blearily. I felt like I should take some sort of preventive action so that he wouldn't discover the braids for a little while longer, but I had no idea what to do. I just watched with helpless resignation as Kartal ran one hand through his hair…and froze when his fingers caught.

  He looked up, saw us both watching him, and suspicion hardened his features. Without a word to us, he lifted his wand and conjured a mirror before looking all around his head. I knew the exact instant that he saw the braids because he cursed loudly. "Shrieking hinges!"

  Before he could start hurtling curses or hexes, I lifted a hand. "Calm down, Kartal. It’s not just you. We all got braids of some sort. We'll just use a spell to undo them."

  "I'm sure its part of his culture," Chatta rushed to add. "I mean, every Tonkawacon I've ever seen has braids of some sort. We'll just explain things to him."

  The Wizard didn't appear to be very appeased by our words, but he couldn't in all good conscious murder a four year old boy either. I was hoping for Didi's sake that he hadn't been involved. He probably had, but I was still hoping; otherwise the Meuritta might not live to see tomorrow.

  ~*~

  By the end of the day, Kartal's dark mood was so thick that you could almost see it hovering like a black cloud over his head. We'd thinned out the stallion's tail of some hair and had Trev'nor braid it together so that we could experiment with it. Every spell that Chatta or Kartal tried had no effect, or worse, the wrong effect. Most of the spells just tangled it even more. My attempt at it had untangled part of it—and destroyed the other half.

  I was definitely going to have to practice the fine art of control. I was using way too much power and effort when I attempted to do something.

  Needless to say, Kartal was not happy. Trev'nor was sad too because of the Wizard's reaction. Apparently the little boy had thought it odd that none of us has braids—they are apparently a sign of independence in his culture. All adults have them, and he had attempted to rectify the matter by doing it himself. When we explained the cultural difference, he was rather remorseful, but not helpful with ideas on how to undo it. Because my braid had been done with two satin ribbons (instead of just hair that likes to tangle), he had eventually been able to unbraid it. He worked patiently for several hours before I was free of the ribbons... Chatta, after watching that, had taken mercy insisting that she liked her braid, and would just keep it. Trev'nor felt a little better about the situation, since some of his handy work was approved.

  I went to bed that night with the thought that maybe I should put another individual ward around Trev'nor and Didi—just in case. Kartal probably wouldn't kill either of them, but getting some revenge might be a little too tempting. Especially after receiving all of those amused looks from the people that we had passed on the road today.

  Trev'nor had proven to be a proactive sort of person. If he saw a problem, then odds were that he would take steps to correct it if he could. I should have expected that and planned accordingly, but…I didn't.

  What can I say? I just wasn't thinking far enough ahead.

  When I woke up the next morning, there was evidence left behind that, again, not all was right in the world. Near the fireplace was a bowl filled with what looked like some sort of dried paint. Suspicious, I rolled silently out of my bedroll and tiptoed over to Kartal.

  My instincts were right on the button. Sometime during the night, Trev'nor had dyed those yellow braids of his purple.

  A very flamboyant purple.

  Great magic, but this was not going to go over well.

  It was just a hunch on my part, but I was guessing that Trev'nor had decided to change the braids since Kartal obviously didn't like them. He couldn't take them out without cutting them off, so he'd gone with what he thought was the next best thing and simply changed their color.

  The kid's heart was in the right place, but his methods….

  I woke up Chatta again. I don't know what my face was doing, but it was obviously cluing her in that something was wrong. Again. I pointed silently at Kartal.

  She took one look and groaned, eyes pinching shut. "Purple?"

  I just nodded in a very resigned fashion. Somehow I doubted that trying to wash it out would do much good, and I honestly wasn't sure which was worse at this point, the purple or the blond. "Know any dye spells?"

  "Not a one," she groaned.

  An idea slowly started to seep into my brain. Cautiously I asked, "Chatta, do you know any spells that make hair grow?"

  "Well yes, but—” her mouth closed abruptly as she realized the same thing I did. We couldn't unravel the braids, but we could cut t
hem out, and then re-grow the hair.

  I grabbed the small knife out of my belt, and she snatched up her wand; and then we went to work.

  It was a little tricky cutting out all the little braids without waking Kartal, but I managed it somehow. Chatta went to work with the spells, encouraging the hair to grow out again.

  That's where things went a little wrong.

  The hair was either not growing quite long enough, or way too long. I could tell by Chatta's frown that she wasn't doing it on purpose, and couldn’t quite put her finger on why the spell wasn't working correctly. It was her recent lecture to me about my hair that provided an explanation.

  Kartal was a Wizard, therefore he had magic in every cell of his body, up to and including his hair. Chatta was attempting to alter that hair with magic, which clashed with Kartal's inherent magic, stumping Chatta's efforts.

  She finally gave up and sat back on her heels, giving me a helpless shrug. She'd tried; it just hadn't worked as well as we had planned. Well, at least this way Kartal could just get a haircut, and be back to normal.

  Kartal chose that moment to wake up. I still had the dyed braids in my hand, which caught his immediate attention. He took one look at them and froze.

  "He dyed them purple?"

  I just nodded, not knowing what to say in this situation.

  Kartal's forehead scrunched up in a frown. "You cut them out." His eyes darted over to the wand still in Chatta's hand. "And dare I hope that you've restored me to my former self?"

  Chatta winced. "I tried."

  Poor Kartal was fatalistically resigned by this point. "The spell didn't work right, did it?"

  Her smile was very sheepish.

  "For the sake of my mental health," Kartal muttered in a level tone, "I'm not going to look. But we're stopping in the first town, and I will see a barber."

  "Wise idea," I agreed faintly. Mentally, I was making plans to put up some kind of a shield around Trev'nor's bedroll tonight, just so he couldn't cause any more mischief of this nature.

  Chapter Fourteen: Conflicts

  It was such a relief to be back in Del'Hain.

  After days of traveling through empty countryside and camping most nights out under the stars, I truly appreciated being back in a big city.

  We'd stopped in a way station half-way there and were unsurprised by the message waiting for us. Kartal had orders to return to the peninsula and help with the clean up of that area, now that the water had drastically receded. Our earth patch apparently was working quite well. Kartal split up with us at that point; rather cheerfully, I might add.

  Escaping from Trev'nor and Didi probably had something to do with it. It's funny how a small four year old boy and a Meuritta can make a Wizard prodigy a nervous sleeper.

  Separating from Kartal was a relief for me too, in some ways. We could work together now, without wanting to kill each other, but he still wasn't the best traveling companion. And I didn't have to worry as much about a certain little boy or mischievous Meuritta. Chatta and I were much more tolerant with their pranks, and culture clashes, than a certain Wizard.

  I spent much of the journey explaining things to Trev'nor. He had a working knowledge of Hainish, thankfully enough, so I didn't have to teach him that. He had a million questions about magic, some of which I couldn't answer. Chatta helped me when she had the answer, but sometimes even she was stumped. What I found interesting was that sometimes Night knew the answer.

  I had noticed that as Night grew, he could draw more and more on the knowledge of the Jaunten. Not only the knowledge that he inherited from me, but also from his mother. When I had turned Advent Eve Jaunten during Night’s birth, I had changed both of them. What she knew joined the memory of the blood and that knowledge had been passed down to her son. Apparently Advent Eve had seen quite a bit of magic worked in her lifetime. I made a mental note to myself to sit down with Night sometime in the near future and figure out just how much my Nreesce knew.

  We chose to travel by boat on the last stretch of the journey, which put us almost directly into Del'Hain. We'd barely gotten our feet on dry land when there was a hail from nearby.

  "Rhebengarthen!"

  I turned to see who was calling me. From a nearby street came a familiar figure, walking quickly in our direction. Val Haben. My eyebrows rose in sharp surprise, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he knew to find us here. Granted, we had sent a message ahead of us saying that we should be arriving soon, but….

  By this point, I was within hearing range so I called to him, "How did you know where we were?"

  "Kartal said you'd probably take a boat back!" Haben answered in a voice meant to carry over the crowd of people all around us. "I've had people keep one eye on the docks since yesterday."

  I felt a little fission of alarm dance up along my spine. "Something wrong?"

  Val Haben was now only a few feet away from me, so it was easier to hear his response. "Kartal said that you've found another Earth Mage."

  Ah. That was the reason. I should have expected that, I suppose. "Yes." Turning, I found Trev'nor standing right behind me, and gestured for him to come around so that Haben could see him. "This is Trev'nor."

  Haben was not a man to really show surprise, but his eyebrows rose slightly when Trev'nor came in sight. "This is the other Earth Mage?"

  My head tilted slightly as I considered his reaction. What had he been expecting? "Yes."

  Haben closed in the distance, stopping only a foot away before he sank to one knee. Even then he was taller than Trev'nor by a head. "Hello, Master Trev'nor. I am Val Haben, Head of the Jaunten."

  Trev'nor put both hands over his heart. In an adorably cute and formal tone he responded with child-like seriousness, "I am Trev'nor; a pleasure to exchange names."

  Haben had apparently never heard the traditional greeting of the Tonkawacon because he blinked slightly before he caught himself. "A pleasure to meet you, Trev’nor." Turning back to me he said, "The Trasdee Evondit Orra is demanding your immediate presence, along with the boy."

  I hadn't really expected anything different and nodded. The Trasdee Evondit Orra had been nearly frothing at the mouth when I showed up, and they were sure to be beside themselves with ecstasy at the discovery of a second Earth Mage. "Let me get everyone unloaded."

  "No need; I have everybody!" Chatta called from behind me.

  Turning, I looked and discovered that while I had been talking to Haben, she had gathered all of our bags and put them on Night. Didi was cradled in her arms, apparently content to play with a new puzzle box. As I watched, she handed off the horses to a handler to be delivered to the school. I smiled at her in thanks before nodding at Haben. "Lead the way."

  Ten steps down the road, I realized that this wouldn't work. Trev'nor was only four, and he was nearly running trying to keep up with our pace. Grown-ups didn't always see such a tiny boy; he had to dodge people, carts, wagons, and horses so he wouldn't be trampled. I stopped long enough to scoop him up and put him on my shoulders. He jerked in surprise, but put his hands on either side of my head to keep his balance. "Better?" I asked him.

  "Yeah, I can see things now!" he responded enthusiastically. "What's Jaunten?"

  Apparently he was going to capitalize on his close proximity to indulge in Trev'nor's favorite game—A Thousand Questions. As we walked, I explained what the Jaunten were, and that I was one. He seemed fascinated by the story, and I wound up telling him more than I had planned on. The fact that I had accidentally made Night a Jaunten, as well, was particularly fascinating for him.

  "So can I become Jaunten too?" he bounced a little in enthusiasm, jostling my head around.

  "Uh…I suppose." I certainly didn't see any harm in it. "But that's something I want you to decide when you're older, all right?"

  "Why?"

  That was one of Trev'nor's favorite questions. This time, I hoped I came up with an answer that would satisfy him. "Because I want you to make absolutely sure you want it before you're
made Jaunten. Once you are one, you can't change back."

  "Is it bad being Jaunten?"

  I just knew he'd ask that. I hesitated, trying to figure out a way to explain conflict of interest to a four year old. Chatta, bless her, came to my rescue.

  "It's not bad," she spoke from my elbow. I felt Trev'nor twist a little so he could look at her. "It's just complicated. You remember how Garth told you that the Jaunten serve the King?"

  "Uh-huh," Trev'nor agreed.

  "Well, Mages don't necessarily serve the King. They serve the Trasdee Evondit Orra, the magic council. Garth is a Jaunten, so he must obey the King's orders; but he is also a Mage, so he has to obey the Trasdee Evondit Orra, too. Sometimes their orders may conflict with each other. It makes it hard for him because he has to decide on whom to obey."

  Fortunately, I haven't been forced to choose one over the other. Yet. I didn't expect that situation to last long, but I was enjoying it while it did.

  "So why can't I be Jaunten?"

  Apparently Trev'nor hadn't made the connection yet. I blew out a breath and broke it down for him. "You are an Earth Mage, Trev'nor. That means that you will have to obey the Trasdee Evondit Orra. If you're made into a Jaunten too, then you'll be in the same situation I'm in. You'll have to decide whom to obey. I don't want you to be put in the same situation unless you really want to be Jaunten."

  "Oh." There was a long pause in which the four year old seriously contemplated the idea for a while. "I think I want to be Jaunten anyway."

  "If you think that way in a few years, I'll change you myself," I promised. "But for right now, let's focus on what we're going to do with you."

  "Why? I'm living with you."

  "Er…I'm not sure about that, Trev'nor." My life was not suited to raising a four year old, and probably wouldn't be for a few years. My talents demanded that I be on the move to different areas to solve problems, and all of that traveling would be hard on a young child. The problem was, I wasn't sure what the solution would be either.