"When I saw you do it, it startled me badly," she said with a pointed look in my direction. "I felt like my heart leapt up into my throat. Is it dangerous?"
Oops! I hadn't meant to scare her. Sometimes I forgot that my family wasn't used to my abilities yet. "No, not at all dangerous," I assured her earnestly. "Most people don't like the feeling of having dirt and stone all around them, but it doesn't bother me. I think it's actually safer than traveling above the ground. After all, I don’t have to worry about bandits, bad weather, conditions of the road, or traffic. And it's much faster, besides."
She gave another thoughtful hum, which didn't agree or disagree, and a look that said she had her own reservations on the subject, but she wasn't going to argue the point. I was perfectly willing to leave it at that.
Changing the subject, I said, "Since I had to pull Asla and Aral away so quickly, they'll need clothes and things of their own. Let me give you some money so that you can take them shopping."
My mother brightened at that. She loves shopping. "That's very generous of you, Garth. I'll take her out as soon as she's done talking to Arden. I think an outing would do her good."
The distraction would be good for her and her son. I hoped that Da could talk her into being adopted into the family.
But for now, it was definitely time to get out of these highly uncomfortable robes.
~*~
Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right.
Guin had indeed required that I come back into the political negotiations. The only thing that made this command bearable was that Chatta and Kartal came with me. Misery adores company, after all.
The location of the meeting was different this time. We were in a large assembly hall on the second floor. I suspected that the meeting was moved so that I couldn't pop up out of the earth and startle people again, but that could just be my paranoia. At any rate, there were two thrones at the head of the room, and long tables branching out on either side filled with aides, scribes, and the like. The back half of the room was just row upon row of tables and chairs.
Chatta, Kartal and I were on the right side of the room, about three rows back. The first half hour or so of the meeting, there had been the usual synopsis of why everyone was here, what the issues were, and the various stances that everyone was taking.
From that point on, it was nothing but boring speeches and arguments.
I knew how important the outcome of this meeting was, but I couldn't help but be bored. I was torn between fidgeting and falling asleep. Naturally, I had to come up with some way to keep myself from doing either, so I started picking at the bits of lint that were on my dark brown robes.
Once I had all of that lint in my hand, I had to put is somewhere, right? And what better place to put it than on Chatta's robes?
My best friend gave me a dirty look for piling the bits of lint on her black robes. In retaliation, she retrieved the lint that I had just deposited in her lap, adding a few odd strands of her own, and returned the favor.
I quickly collected it all back up, and shooed it back into her direction. It went downhill from there, with both of us depositing vestiges of lint on each other's robes, as fast as we could possibly manage.
Kartal leaned over and hissed, "Can you two possibly try and act your age?"
Kill joy! I reluctantly stopped, seeing that he had a point. I really shouldn't be engaged in a lint-war with my best friend, while attending a vitally important conference.
But that meant I was back to being bored.
Chatta and I exchanged a forlorn look, but dutifully turned our attention back to the speaker. He was still talking about how he couldn't possibly accept magical people in his province. Idiot!
"Chatta," I murmured. "Raise a silence charm, please?"
Giving me an odd look, she raised a silence bubble so that it covered all three of us. "What is it?"
"I just wanted your opinion on this," I answered. I gave a quick glance at Kartal, silently inviting his response as well. "How many provinces will accept Guin's terms?"
"Hm, hard to say," she muttered as she thoughtfully scanned the various lords and ladies in the room. "Some of them are devout followers of the Star Order, of course."
I nodded in understanding. The Star Order had been a small religion two hundred years ago, but that wasn't true now. They were wholly against magic of any sort, claiming that the source of magic was from "dark practices."
"Vonlorisen's Queen is part of the Star Order," Kartal offered off-handedly.
My eyes cut to him. I hadn't known that. Vonlorisen himself wasn't particularly religious in any way, but if his wife was a Star follower…that would definitely influence his politics. It would also give the Star Order more political power than I had imagined.
"Some of them still grimly hold onto the fear generated by the Magic War," Kartal continued with unfathomable eyes.
That war had done a lot of damage to my country, more than any person could have imagined. I could understand how the psychological scars from the war could have carried forward to some of the descendents today.
"And some of them are like Vonlorisen himself," Chatta added with a tight expression. "They are afraid of anyone having more power than them."
Unfortunately, I was afraid that they were both right. "Roughly a third of the Province Lords here will accept Guin's terms, I think."
Chatta let out a low breath. "Yes, I'm afraid you're right."
I looked to Kartal, but he shook his head in grim agreement. That was the conclusion that he had come to as well.
Like I said, sometimes I hate it when I'm right.
It was finally time for Guin to speak. Chatta dropped the silencing charm so we could hear him. He rose from his chair, facing the crowd with confidence. "My Lords and Ladies, I have come here to propose a rescission of your laws dealing with magical people."
There was a mutter among the crowd. Guin paused, staring them down until the room was quiet again. "I realize that this thought makes you uncomfortable. I do not ask that you receive people of magic in your country with open arms."
Although they are foolish not to, in my humble opinion.
"Whatever your views of these people, you must be aware that more and more of your countrymen are being born with magical talent. In the past year, I have accepted twenty-three people from Chahir, all of them with very strong magical gifts. Magic is returning to Chahir, whether you wish to acknowledge that or not. All I ask is that you show some mercy to these people. Allow them a period of grace, so that they may have time to safely leave Chahir."
Vonlorisen stirred at this point. "And how long of a 'period of grace' as you put it, are you proposing?"
"One month," Guin answered calmly.
People really started to talk then. Some even shouted out firm denials. One Lord was louder than the rest, and I could hear him clearly above the din. "You expect us to grant mercy to people who are in league with darkness?!"
I couldn't let that go unchallenged. I rose to my feet, looking at Guin for permission to speak as I did so. He nodded approval, so I took a deep breath and spoke as loudly as I could. "My Lords and Ladies, your attention!"
They quieted down, turning to look at me. Encouraged, I continued to speak. "For those of you who do not know me, I am Rhebengarthen, Earth Mage and child of the Jaunten."
There were audible gasps and whispers, which I chose to ignore.
"I was born in Tobadorage," I continued. "I have grown up hearing the very things that you have said today. They are not true! I never had any dealings with dark magic. I was simply born with the powers of a Mage. I did not have a choice in accepting this ability; I simply have it."
"You honestly expect us to believe that?" a disdainful voice called out. The room was too crowded for me to see who had spoken.
I tensed with anger, wanting to shake sense into these people. "Four days ago I rescued a three year old boy from being burned to death," I ground out. "His only crime was being born to a mother w
ith magical abilities. Do you honestly think a three year old child is guilty of practicing dark magic?"
That took a few people aback. I kept going, trying to not choke on my righteous indignation. "In Del'Hain, there is a five year old Mage like myself. Do you suspect him of such unholy practices? This is not some unnatural power, but a gift—as other people are born with gifts. You do not suspect people gifted with musical or artistic ability to be servants of some dark purpose! Why then should people with magical gifts be under such harsh suspicion?"
"Well said," Guin acknowledged with a smile in my direction. "And his point is a valid one, Lords and Ladies. We have many children in both of our countries with magical abilities. Surely they are undoubtedly innocent of such dark allegations? It is ridiculous in the extreme to accuse them of unholy practices."
I sat back down. I was sure that Guin would start hammering the point home.
Chatta squeezed my forearm and leaned forward to murmur, "Good speech."
"Thank you," I murmured back with a slight smile. "I admit I was making it up as I went along."
"It had some impact," Kartal noted. "I saw a few thoughtful nods as you were speaking."
Good! Maybe a few people were beginning to think for themselves, then.
I listened with half an ear as Guin continued to speak. I was more focused on the people that he was speaking to. I saw a few heads nod; some people were paying rapt attention—some people weren't. We might convince half of these people, but I didn't think it would be more than that. It would be an improvement, but I wasn't sure how much difference that would make, in the long run.
~*~
It was a quiet group that sat around Guin's table that evening. He had called Delheart, Chatta, Val Haben, Kartal and me into his private dining room for an informal dinner. After a long day of sitting in negotiations and meetings, we were all tired and dealing with brewing headaches.
Still, we had something of a victory. Today the laws on magic had been altered, to a degree. Anyone found with magical abilities had fourteen days to leave the country before they were imprisoned. Guin had managed to convince the assembled lords not to kill anyone with magical abilities, but to send word to him. He would dispatch an escort to pick them up, and bring them to Hain. In return for these alterations, several concessions had been made in trade. Guin looked satisfied, overall, but tired as well.
"You spoke well today, Garth," Delheart stated with a quick smile.
"Yes, you made my job a little easier," Guin acknowledged. His smile didn't reach his eyes.
I did an abbreviated bow from my seat to them both. "Thank you. I was just trying to help."
"If I was just sure that these new laws would be enforced, I would rest easier," Chatta sighed. She was listing slightly to the right in her chair, obviously tired and wanting nothing but to be horizontal for a while.
"So say we all, my dear," her father agreed with a troubled frown. "I think perhaps half of the provinces will observe these new laws. The rest will ignore them."
"I'm afraid you're right," Guin groaned. "Still, that alone is progress."
Yes, it was. We had all just hoped for more.
"Well." Guin sat up a little, and there was a familiar gleam of mischief in his eyes. "If they won't do something, then it'll be up to me. Don't worry about this too much because I have other plans in motion."
I didn't quite trust him in this maniacal mood…somehow I had the impression that I was part of his "plans." Still, I was heartened to hear that he wouldn't just leave it at this.
"We'll leave day after tomorrow," Guin continued, and before we could question him on these plans of his. "Kartal, Chatta, Garth—I expect you three to spend all of your time tomorrow searching out more people with any hint of magic in them. I want to take as many of them with me as possible."
All three of us nodded in understanding.
"Good!" Guin nodded back in satisfaction, finally starting to eat.
We all followed his lead, eating the food on our own plates. Even as I inhaled the delicious food, I made plans to get a full night's sleep tonight. I expected tomorrow to be a very busy day.
Epilogue
Chatta turned in her saddle, taking a quick look behind her, then started chuckling. "She's doing it again."
"I don't want to know," I told her firmly.
"Ah, Garth, but it's so cute!"
"No, it's wrong and disgusting," I corrected her irritably. "And I wish that I could shake some sense into her."
My best friend had the gall to start laughing again.
We were on the road again, traveling back to Del'Hain. I had been busy for the past two days, making sure everyone was packed up and ready to move, rescuing people with magical abilities, and helping Asla and her son Aral whenever possible. Between rescuing eight people and formally welcoming Asla and Aral into the family, it had been a very busy two days. Because of my distraction, we had been on the road for almost a full day before I realized that my sister had an unbelievable crush on Kartal. She was constantly pestering him—talking to him, flirting with him, batting those big googly eyes…ugh!
I tried talking sense into her, I really had, but I'm her brother—I have no clout.
There was only one thing that made the situation barely tolerable; Kartal was even more profoundly disturbed by this turn of events than I. We were both hoping that Kaydan would soon take a hint, and leave him alone.
Chatta, naturally, found the whole situation hilarious.
"Ah, young love," she sighed dramatically. "Kartal just gave her a look cold enough to freeze water, and she didn't even blink."
I started praying for patience. "I told you, I don't want to know."
She laughed again, but thankfully stopped teasing me about it. "What do you think Guin is planning?"
"I don't know," I admitted. I wish I did, though. Guin chortled like a goat with a new boot to chew every time that we asked what his plans were regarding the magical people of Chahir. I couldn't imagine what the man was up to. "I just have a feeling that I'm part of it, somehow."
"Oh I know you are," Chatta confided with a rueful shake of the head. "I overheard him tell Val Haben that you're not to be assigned to anything without consulting him first."
Oh glory. I had a feeling that I was going to be doing a lot of traveling in the future. Still, it was for a good cause. I didn't really mind. Much.
"Garth?"
I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes?"
"Do you think Chahir will ever change? I mean, stop fearing magic like they do?"
I thought about that. The first Chahiran King who outlawed magic had done so for fear of his people—the Magic War had done outrageous damage to the country and the civilian population. The second King had taken it further by chasing the Jaunten out. Some say out of jealousy for their wisdom and knowledge. Those two Kings had set a precedence that their descendents had followed. "I think if you ever got a different King on the throne," I said slowly, "one that perhaps had magical abilities of their own, then the country would learn to tolerate it. But I don't see that happening in the near future."
"Yes, that's my feeling precisely," she agreed with a rueful smile.
"Wouldn't it be nice if we could just conquer Chahir and put a King we like on the throne?" I asked dreamily.
"A nice, easy solution," Chatta replied wryly.
"Precisely," I agreed. "Think Guin would agree to it?"
"No," Night denied with a brief shake of the head.
My shoulders slumped. "Neither did I."
"It is a nice thought, though," Chatta consoled me, her voice vibrant with humor.
From behind us, I heard Guin's voice call out, "Garth! Come here a moment."
I exchanged looks with Chatta. "How much do you want to bet that he's going to tell me my main task from now on is to help rescue people out of Chahir?"
She shook her head. "I don't take sure bets."
"You too, Chatta!" Guin added.
Chatta groaned
. "Me too?"
I grinned. "Come along, Chatta," I cajoled cheerfully. "Our King is waiting."
She sighed as she followed me back to where Guin was riding, muttering something about "misery likes company." I pretended not to hear her.
She was right, after all.
For more information about this series (including the map for this world), please visit the website:
http://www.adventmage.net46.net/
Turn the page for a sneak preview of the sequel: Magus!
Chapter One: New Alliances
Sometimes he hated it when he was right.
King Guin of Hain stood looking at the large map of Chahir hanging on his study wall. He'd had it put there two months ago, just after coming home from the negotiations with Vonlorison. He had hoped that the new laws dealing with magic would take root in Chahir, but had been pessimistically aware that perhaps only half of the Doms in Chahir would actually do anything to enforce the new laws.
As it turned out, it wasn't even half. Perhaps a third of the provinces in Chahir were abiding by the new laws, no more.
There were still people coming in from Chahir, looking for sanctuary and training, but those people told of a hard and dangerous journey filled with dodging patrols and running from local law enforcements. What made the situation worse was that the provinces lying on the Chahir-Hain border were by far the worst offenders. Crossing the border was more a matter of luck than skill.
Guin found that he couldn't ignore the situation. He was always short on magicians, the need for their skills and knowledge always outweighing the people available. That alone would make him consider helping people out of Chahir, but it was more than that.
Killing someone just because of a talent they were born with was wrong. He knew that to the depths of his being, and he could not turn away from that knowledge or pretend that he had no right to interfere.
There was a knock at the door, and he turned away from the map, calling "Enter!"
Jaunten (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 33