We were almost to the city limits when I felt a lot of men converging on our location. Curses, I’d probably set off some sort of alarm that let them know a magic user was in town. I was betting that conversation with Chatta was the thing that tipped the scales, too. Busted baskets!
The wagon was too slow, there was no way we could outrun them. The street we were on now was plenty wide; I had the space necessary to defend us all if I needed to. And it would probably come down to that. “Da, stop,” I commanded as I silently signaled for Night to stop as well.
“Garth?” Da was watching me in worry.
“Soldiers,” I growled. They were close enough now that I could tell there was about two dozen or so.
“I don’t see anyone,” Mom ventured slowly.
“They’re two streets ahead of us,” I murmured absently. “Night?”
“You’re going to have to fight,” he told me with a toss of his head. “I can’t guarantee I can get them out safely with that many soldiers.”
Drats, I’d been afraid of that.
“Garth—” my mother’s voice cut off as the first soldier appeared around a corner. Her stare at the rapidly growing number of soldiers became incredulous. “How did you know they were there?” she asked me in a threadbare whisper.
“I can feel people farther away than that,” I answered flatly. “I was too distracted; they shouldn’t have gotten that close without me noticing.” And because of my inattention, I would have to deal with them somehow.
Twenty of them finally poured out into the open street. They quickly split up, coming in at a full run that slowed about ten feet away from us. I watched with a cynical eye, as they spread out in a semi-circle, blocking our path. One of them, judging from the red piping in the dusky brown uniform he wore, was the Squad Captain. He advanced a step in front of his men. “We have detected someone with magical abilities. Hand them over immediately, and your lives will be spared.”
Oh please. Spare me the lies. Without any encouragement on my part, Night took a step forward, drawing the captain’s eyes to me. I straightened to my full height, looking down at him coldly. “I am Rhebengarthen, Earth Mage and child of the Jaunten. Who are you to stand in my way?”
The captain’s eyes went so wide they almost flew out of their sockets. “There are no Mages,” he choked out.
“I am the first in over two centuries,” I agreed coolly. “Unlike other people you have hunted down, I am fully trained. Stand aside and let me pass, Captain, and your life will be spared.”
He held up a triangle that was eerily similar to the triangle O’danne used on me, over a year ago, to determine what magical strength I possessed. He actually gulped when he saw the triangle glow a dark brown, with a green hint around the edges. I don’t know how well versed he was in using that thing, but something clued him into how powerful I was. I was hoping he was smart enough to heed the warning.
He dropped the triangle back into his pocket, and his chin jutted out in a gesture of pure obstinacy. I knew then that he would not step aside. Without a flicker of expression I raised all of my shields and then extended them to cover the wagon, with a foot or more to spare on all sides. It was like a huge dome over our heads, glowing a dark green.
Several of the men jerked back with a surprised oath, true horror on their faces. I am sure they had never seen anything like my shields before. I was glad that they were actually visible to the non-magical eye. Color me sadistic, but I enjoyed their reactions.
Someone on the right side had more backbone than his companions. He took a mighty swing with his sword—and the force of the blow threw him backwards about five feet. I turned my head slightly to see the man crash against the side of a building head first, which knocked him unconscious. He sprawled out on the street—out cold. I turned back to the Captain and arched an eyebrow. “For your information, Captain, these shields can not be broken. Nor will I ever tire of holding them.”
“You will lower your shields!” he snarled furiously.
“No, I will not,” I countered icily. “You will move your men immediately, out of my way, or I will deal with all of you as I see fit. And Captain, I must warn you now; I have had no sleep this night and am not in the mood to play games. You would be well advised to move. Quickly.”
We matched glares, a silent battle of wills commencing. I counted to fifteen in my head, but it was obvious to me that the man was more stubborn than a mountain and wasn’t about to move. He was just stalling until he could either call for reinforcements (a likely possibility) or could figure out a way around my shields (an impossibility). I couldn’t afford to just keep the shields up all the way to the Palace—the magical signature of it would be like painting a target on my back. And I didn’t want them following me the entire distance either. I had to stop them here, but I didn’t particularly want to kill them either.
“Enough of this,” I growled. I extended my power into the earth, and asked the stone very nicely to cooperate. The cobblestone under the soldiers' feet melted like quicksand, quickly sucking them in until only their heads were visible. There were cries of alarm, and uncontrolled panic, as they fell into what, only a moment before, had been solid stone. I stopped it, and made it solid again just under their chins, leaving them completely trapped in the earth.
Some of them were actually wailing in open fear; others were just staring at me in horror. Being buried like this wouldn’t hurt them, so I paid scant heed to their reactions. Of the men directly in front of the wagon, I had the earth melt so I could shift them to either side of the road. I was angry enough to run over a few soldiers at this point, but…no. I had no desire to become like them. When we had enough room to move through, I dropped the shields and, with a sharp wave of my hand, urged my father to get the wagon moving again.
I paused long enough to call that triangle device from the captain's pocket. The earth around it shot it in my direction, which I caught in one hand. He watched me with terrified eyes as I broke the thing with only one sharp flicker of power. It cracked right down the middle. I flicked it onto the ground beside his head; I'm sure my expression said something like ''good luck finding any other magical person with your toy broken.''
We were a very silent and tense group as we left the city behind. It wasn’t until we were at least a mile outside of the city limits that my mother spoke at last. “What…did you do?”
“I just buried them.” I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I’m sure it looked forced. I was still angry with myself for letting people sneak up on me like that. “Someone can dig them out again.” It’ll just take a while to get the cobblestone up first… I decided not to mention that.
“And that glowing circle you put up over us?” my father asked in a shaken voice. His eyes were a little too wide in his tanned face.
“Mage shield,” I explained succinctly. “Well, to be technical, its a few shields combined. The one you can see is the weapons shield.”
“Why the soldier couldn’t hit us with that sword?” Xajen guessed.
“Precisely,” I nodded.
“Garth?” My mother waited until I was looking at her before continuing. “How…how powerful are you?”
At that, I had to shrug. “I’m not sure,” I admitted honestly. “I’m told that if I feel like it, I could probably move mountains.” And if I ever stumbled across a mountain range that no one cared about, I might try that theory out.
She gaped at me, mouthing the word "Mountains?" in a breathless way that showed I had clearly shocked her.
"I've never tried it," I continued, trying to soothe her out of her shock a little. "I probably never will. It's not how much power I have that's most important, but how I choose to apply it."
At that statement my father actually smiled at me. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Son. Power like that can go to a man's head."
"Never happen," I disagreed. "I have too many people to bring me down a peg." Even when I didn't need it.
My mother sudden
ly straightened. "You said to that captain that you are a child of the Jaunten. Surely you don't claim them? Considering what that man did to you?"
This was the price of skipping over the finer details—people misinterpreted things. "Tell you what, Mom. Let me start from the beginning again, and I'll tell you how Elis's actions saved my life."
Chapter Twenty-Two: Family, II
It probably had taken Night and me about an hour and a half to make it to Tobadorage, but with the wagon it took longer to make it to the capitol. It was mid-morning before we entered the main gates of the city. If they were on schedule, King Guin and his entourage had arrived last night, which meant that most of the citizens were aware he was here by now. I still didn’t risk calling Chatta with the mirror, until the Palace walls were within sight. I didn’t want to stir up more trouble than I already had. Guin’s visit here would be difficult enough.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to use the mirror, but I had a rough idea. I barely grazed it with a touch of power, praying that I wouldn’t crack it. I’d learned over the past year that having Mage power was nifty when doing things like moving large amounts of earth around, but if you wanted to do the more subtle and delicate magic, I was in trouble. A Witch’s or Wizard’s power was much better suited to everyday tasks than mine was.
After a moment, the mirror lit up a little and Chatta’s voice came through clearly. “Garth?”
“We’re in sight of the Palace walls,” I told her, and grinned when I heard a sigh of relief. “I had a little trouble leaving Tobadorage, but no one’s hurt. Can you send word to the Palace gates so they can let us in?”
“Certainly. Just hold on a moment, I’ll meet you there. Which gate are you approaching?”
I had no idea. I looked ahead of me for a moment and finally saw a name engraved in the gates themselves. “North gate.”
“Right. Be there in a few moments.”
It was only after Chatta retreated that I realized I had all three of my siblings leaning out of the wagon to see the mirror better. “Yes?” I drawled.
“That’s really neat,” Kaydan said with a soft whistle. Her eyes never left the mirror. “How does it work?”
“No idea,” I admitted. At their incredulous looks, I had to shrug. “A Mage’s power and a Witch or Wizard’s power are very different in some ways. I can’t make things like this—I can only use them. If you want an explanation on it, you’ll have to ask Chatta.” Or Kartal, since he had been in the King's party as well. Of course, he couldn’t be entirely trusted to make the explanation a nice one.
“I thought magic was magic,” Braeden objected.
“So did I…the first week of my schooling, anyway.” Then I’d learned the hard way that magic could be as varied as the people who wielded it.
We’d barely reached the gates when they swung open. Chatta was standing just off to one side, dressed in a simple dark blue dress that was obviously of Chahiran fashion. I blinked at seeing her in Chahiran clothes, but assumed she must be wearing it in an attempt to blend in. None of us felt like advertising we were from Hain, especially with our magical abilities. You could only stretch diplomatic immunity so far in this country. She lit up in a relieved smile when she saw me and started walking rapidly toward me.
I swung out of the saddle and stepped forward to meet her and got the anticipated hug for my efforts. Hugs from Chatta are really wonderful things.
“I’ve been so worried! What took you so long?” she demanded.
It was rather sad when she stepped back, releasing me from the hug, but I shrugged the feeling off and answered, “Sorry. It just took a while to explain what I’ve been doing for the last year, enough to satisfy them, and then a bit longer to pack everything up.”
“You said you had a little trouble leaving the city?” she asked anxiously.
“The city guard stumbled across us,” I nodded wryly. “But no one’s hurt, not even them.”
Her eyebrows rose at this. “That…sounds odd. What did you do?”
“I buried them up to their chins in the cobblestones.” I smirked unrepentantly, when she rolled her eyes. “What, it might be childish, but it worked, didn’t it?”
“Only you would think to do that, Garth.” Her severe expression was spoiled by her twitching lips.
Night had decided we needed to be interrupted at this point and pressed his nose into Chatta’s chest. As usual, she hugged him too. “Hello, Night. You’ve had quite the trip last night didn’t you?”
“It was interesting,” he answered in amusement. “Come meet his family.”
It was only then that I realized things had been entirely too quiet from behind me. I turned to look…and mentally groaned. Both of my brothers were eyeing Chatta, like she was some marvelous new toy they could play with. My sister was giving me an intent appraising look, no doubt about the whole hug thing. Both of my parents were studying me with that completely “parental look.” I sighed and resigned myself to a lot of teasing and questions later. “Chatta, this is my mother, Rhebenjaylan; my father, Rhebenarden, my oldest brother, Rhebenxajen; my other brother, Rhebenbraeden, and my sister Rhebenkaydan. Everyone, this is L-Chattamoinita Delheart, a Witch, and one of the dearest friends I have.”
Chatta dimpled at them prettily and gave a brief curtsey. “A pleasure to meet all of you. Please, come inside. I’ve had rooms set aside for your use while we’re here.”
I hadn’t even thought about where to put my family once I got them here. I would truly be lost without Chatta; she always catches those minor details that I regularly overlook.
My mother wouldn’t allow it to rest there, and climbed off the wagon. I quickly stepped forward to help her down, for which I was given a swift smile of thanks before she promptly turned back to Chatta. “It is a pleasure for us, L-Chattamoinita. Garth has told us much about you, and I know he considers himself blessed to have you as a friend.”
At this Chatta blushed, but she gave that special smile of hers again and waved away the praise. “It’s more the other way around, and call me Chatta, please! My full name is a mouthful.” She paused, head canting slightly to the side before adding thoughtfully, “You’re right, Garth, you really do resemble your mother.”
“Told you.” I shrugged. “I’m just grateful I didn’t get her height too.” I’m short enough, curse it.
My mother started a trend, and everyone in the family hopped out of the wagon to properly meet Chatta. I kept a watchful eye on my brothers as they greeted her, but with my mother standing right next to them, they didn’t dare start in on the teasing, yet. It was only a matter of time, though. I was sure to get an earful when Chatta was out of hearing.
Chatta organized us all and had the trunks we wanted moved into our rooms in the Palace. I knew from experience not to try and interfere—she was better at this sort of thing than me. I just stayed out of her way, until she pointed me in the direction she wanted me to go.
As we moved out of the main courtyard and toward the Palace itself, my father fell into step beside me and murmured, “Your Chatta is a force to be reckoned with, isn’t she?”
I nodded immediately in agreement. “She’s very charming about it, but she definitely knows how to get people moving. I’ve learned to just let her do what she wants when she starts organizing things. It’s much easier for me, and she’s better at it than I am.”
Amused, he nodded. “Rather like your mother.”
Now that he mentioned it, they were rather similar in that regard. The only difference I saw was that Mom gave you a certain pointed look, and Chatta smiled…and gave you a similar look. Okay, so not much difference. All the women in my life have strong personalities; I wonder why that is?
Chatta led us to a building completely separate from the Palace. Before we’d left, I’d been briefed about the trip, and only now remembered that Guin had a separate building on Palace grounds that technically was Hainian soil. An embassy, I believe were his words. That building must be it.
; It was just as formal in appearance as the rest of the Palace, made of solid grey granite that sparkled slightly in the early morning light. Even this early in the morning there were people beginning to mill about, and we were given a few curious looks. We probably wouldn’t have given anyone a second thought if it hadn’t been for Night following along at my heels.
Chatta entered through the main doors and immediately went up a flight of stairs to our right. I paused at the bottom, catching her attention. “Chatta?”
“Hm?” she turned slightly.
I pointed significantly to Night.
“Oh,” she said in understanding. She pointed her wand at my Nreesce and did a spell to float Night up the stairs so that he could follow us up without destroying the staircase.
The foyer itself was a statement of wealth and power, made of imposing columns and cool tile. My family was looking around in awe—I was so used to being in the Hainian Palace that I was only giving my surroundings a cursory look. I had other things on my mind.
Taking a few quick strides, I fell into step with Chatta. “Is everyone here safely?”
“Yes.” The look she gave me was full of amusement. “We managed to survive without you for a night.”
I gave her a wry look. “Very funny.”
“King Guin asked to see you when you got in.”
“Is he even awake yet?” I didn’t think waking him up would be a good thing.
“I was also ordered to wake him up when you contacted me,” she answered dryly. “He’s waiting for you now. Keep going down this hallway; it’s the door straight ahead of you. I’ll settle your family in.”
“Right.” I turned to my parents and inclined my head to Chatta. “I need to go see the King, so just follow her.”
“We’ll be fine,” my mother assured me. Amusement and exasperation danced across her face in equal measure. “You shouldn’t keep a King waiting.”
“I think he’s almost used to it by now,” Chatta observed with a growing smile.
I gave her a mock glare—but she was probably right. With a sardonic half-bow to Chatta, I lengthened my stride and made my way to the King’s chambers. Night, to my complete lack of surprise, followed me.
Jaunten (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 29