by Lexy Wolfe
Nolyn's laughter eased until he sighed, his exhaustion showing. "Leave it to Ash to find a way to protect Forenta from a distance." Sighing heavily, he straightened away from the root he leaned on. "Forgive me. I am forgetting myself, Unsvet Guardian Valerian. Forenta is honored by your presence and I am grateful beyond even the most extreme measure for your welcome if unexpected assistance." He held out a hand in greeting. "I am Nolyn Lirai, Edai Magus of Verusia, second to Se'edai Magus Ellis Avarian and first chair of the Edai Tredecima."
"Wow," Tobias said after several heartbeats of silence. "You weren't kidding when you said Forenten talk a lot, Valerian." Valerian cleared his throat, arching an eyebrow at the healer. "I mean, er." The young man turned bright red as both Nolyn and Valerian guffawed, even Ana hiding a timid smile behind her hand as she averted her gaze.
Chapter 7
As the last of the day's sunlight faded, mages walked through Ithestra, forcing sunstone lanterns to their natural daytime brightness. Bright bright points of light brightened under the green canopy of the ancient giant trees like stars settling to rest in their branches. Valerian leaned on the rail of the balcony of the Se'edai Magus's private academy chambers between Nolyn and Ellis, watching the nightly spectacle. "It is like the stars drift down to rest in the Knowing One's branches," the Vodani man stated in quiet admiration. He looked to Ellis. "You have a beautiful city, Se'edai Magus. It has been quite some time since I was last within Forenta's territory. I had forgotten the beauty of Her land."
Ellis looked curious. "You had been to Forenta before?" The man explained to Valerian's puzzled expression. "Ysai had turned away Fortress for fifty years. And the Se'edai Magus before her limited their entry into Forenta before then."
"Oh, believe me, I remember the restrictions placed on Guardians." The Vodani smiled thinly. "I am over a century and a half old, Master Ellis. It was a century and some when I was still accompanying my mentor as a new Unsvet when I first came here. It was wonderful to hear from Dusvet Almek that you lifted such restrictions. Unfortunately, until the passes into my mistress's territory have cleared, there will not be any great influx of Guardians flooding your lands."
"It is been a relief to know that Guardians are aware you are once more welcome within our borders. I was dreading the time it would take for my messenger to arrive at Fortress and then for word to return." Ellis sighed heavily. "It was a dark time in our history when we turned our back on the Timeless One's mortal servants. I pray She can forgive us for our foolishness."
"She does not cast blame upon anyone, Se'edai Magus," Valerian replied, his voice gentle. "In Her eyes, it is better you discover the problem for yourself than have the solution forced upon you. And to be honest, we had not yet received official word when the Dulain sent me. He decided to go ahead and send me on despite no formal invitation but on the Dusvet's word a messenger was likely in transit. I may even have passed your emissary on the way. The Dulain knew that I'd put duty to the Timeless One before that worn out propriety about respecting Forentan sovereignty."
Nolyn looked curious, then frowned. "If you are so devoted to the Timeless One's edicts, why did you not come before now?" he demanded. "Do you know how many Forenten have suffered or died because we had to defend ourselves against that which we could not? How much Ash Avarian suffered facing things like that… that thing that near killed me today?"
The Vodani Unsvet tilted his head to the side, arms crossed as he studied the Edai Magus. "The thing is, Edai Magus, you did manage to defend yourselves. Granted, it was costly and ugly. But for those untrained in such things? What your people were able to accomplish was phenomenal. It shows how adversity has only strengthened the magefolk." Waving one hand, he added, "And you were not alone, being neglected by Fortress. Desantiva has also suffered."
"I don't care whether you neglected someone else alongside Forenta," Nolyn seethed, glaring at Valerian who took a half step back at the Forentan's surprising exhibition of vehemence. "Am I supposed to feel better that the Desanti suffered Fortress's neglect with us? Coupled with what we did to them during the Great War, your neglect just makes it worse. The Timeless One is of the ancient trinity! Fortress could have demanded—"
"Nolyn," Ellis cautioned, holding up a hand to keep the man from saying more in anger. "Remember your objectivity. Unsvet Valerian has a point. Strength comes not simply from adversity, but from facing it. Ash has had more than his share of adversity and like it or not, it has made him one of the strongest mages to have ever lived." He sighed. "Both Forenten and Desanti suffering has been of our own doing. Fortress did not turn away from us. We both turned away from Fortress."
"Desantiva turned everyone away," Nolyn replied sourly, arms crossed.
Ellis smacked the railing, staring hard at Nolyn. "Because of Forentan hostility, just to hold onto the tatters of their civilization. We were the cause of—"
"For good or ill," Valerian interjected. "The world is as it is now. The only thing looking to the past is good for is to see why things happened so we can encourage or discourage them from happening again. And to understand why things are as they are." The Vodani sighed gustily. "Each one of the four nations has had a hand in our collective history. None of us are innocent. Not even the Guardians of Time who should have remained outside the nationalistic sniping." He shrugged helplessly. "It does not matter if we bear divine marks. We are still human and mortal."
Ellis closed his eyes a moment, then turned his gaze towards the sparkling lights of Ithesra proper through the heavy greenery. "Now we must find the path forward and choose wisely. We must find a way to repair relations between the mages and the warriors."
"How?" Nolyn asked in resignation. "There is so much to do just within our own borders among our own people and those of us who see beyond the day to day needs are so few."
"We start by doing." Valerian shook his head, then brushed the hair out of his eyes. "You are young, so it is hard to see how much impact little things we do can have. Some are meaningless, certainly. But," he added as he looked towards the younger folk seated inside, "some things... a chance encounter, a kind word at the right moment to the right person... that can mean a world of difference."
< —- * —- >
Inside the Se'edai's chambers, Tobias sat with Zoe and Ana, both raptly listening to the Voice of the Oracle Stone as she spoke with animated gestures. "And then when Taylin healed the horrible scar that had made Dessa mute since she and others were attacked, she discovered there was a strange darkling that was attached to her and she tried to warn Almek. But she was so tired she passed right out and then Almek realized what she was trying to tell him and they found it hiding in the mirror in her room. It was mean and Almek was almost not strong enough to defeat it alone but he did but it stabbed her right through the heart before Almek banished it." Zoe crossed her arms. "Ash was really angry about her dying, too."
"She… died? That is... so sad," Ana murmured, her eyes fixed on her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "I could not imagine a master being upset about a servant dying."
Zoe hmphed. "Illaini Magus Ash is a good man! He takes care of everyone whether he likes them or not and he had known Dessa since they were young. I heard Masters Bennu and Ellis wanted to her to marry Ash, but after the attack, she could not bear a man to touch her, and barely could handle Ash's touch. He took care of her for a long, long time."
Tobias sat back with a gusty sigh. "Wow. Taylin has had such amazing adventures! And she could tell there was a darkling? I hope I can be as good as she is someday." He glanced towards the balcony. "That’s why when Unsvet Valerian came to the temple asking for a healer to travel with him, I knew I had to help. I mean, if Taylin got so good adventuring, maybe that's the trick of it."
Pulling her legs up under herself as she crossed them, Zoe tilted her head, her expression curious. "Well, you have to be good enough if your temple let you go with the Unsvet."
Tobias turned red, his expression sheepish. "Grand Master Arman... did
not exactly allow me to go. He... um, he doesn't know I am here." Ana looked up in surprise, dropping her eyes a heartbeat after, as if afraid she would be yelled at. He cast his eyes down in shame. "I'm nowhere near as strong or as good as Taylin. I'm just a journeyman. She is a master. Taylin is the best! She can even heal injuries that are too old for anyone else to heal."
Ana stated in her hushed voice. "Mastery grants freedom. No one can tell a master what to do, unless the master lets them."
"Yeah," Tobias said wryly. "That's why the temple could not tell her she couldn't leave, even though Master Arman expressed strong disapproval and came as close to ordering her as he dared." He sighed. "I was listening in while Valerian talked with him and the rest of the council. I... went to him at the inn he and Ana were staying at and told him I would be his healer companion. If he wanted me. And he accepted." He scratched behind his ear sheepishly. "I am sure the temple has noticed I'm missing by now."
Zoe leaned forward, eyes wide. "Wow, you are disobeying your temple to help Fortress? You are so brave!"
He wrinkled his nose briefly. "I don't know about brave." Both Zoe and Ana looked at him, confused. "And I don't know that I'm doing it to help Fortress. I mean, sure, it is helping Fortress, if Valerian feels he needs a healer tagging along with him. Even if I am only a journeyman healer and not the master he wanted. I want to be as good as Taylin, so I'm doing what she did, because whatever she did must be how she could become so good. She would always sneak out of the temple to help people who could not come to the temple on their own, so that is what I would do, too. And she left with the Dusvet, but since there is only one Dusvet, and he already had Taylin, I couldn't do that. An Unsvet should be just as good, right?"
Rocking a bit, holding her crossed ankles, Zoe made a thoughtful noise. "Maybe it isn't so much what Taylin did, but why she did it. Or maybe it's both things. What and why." She smiled brightly at him as he regarded her with bewilderment. "Well. I don't know for sure, myself. But it is something to think about, don't you agree?"
"Tobias, Ana," Valerian stated as the three men returned from the balcony. "Edai Magus Nolyn has invited us to stay in his home while we are in Forenta. There will be plenty of opportunity to visit with the Voice of the Oracle Stone once we have gotten settled in. I do not plan on heading out for a few days yet."
"You are certain you won't need me to accompany you when your journey takes you around Forenta?" Nolyn asked.
"You can come with if you want, Master Nolyn, but I do not wish to disrupt your routine any more than I have." Valerian smiled. "I'm quite able to survive wilds and civilization both, thank you. However..." He reached into the large pouch at his side, pulling out two smaller ones made of the softest suede, tossing one to Nolyn, the other to Ellis. "Keep that with you. It will allow my arrowhawk to locate you should matters change or I need to send a message. And I can keep you updated on anything I learn."
Nolyn dumped the simple necklace into his palm, nudging the nondescript, wire-wrapped stone pendant. "What is it?"
"It is useful." Valerian smiled a little. "I'd tell you more, but it is rather a closely guarded secret of my native people. I would not wish to incur Vodanya's wrath." Turning his attention back to his two companions, he said in cheerful tones, "Come along, Tobias, Ana."
Zoe noticed the look Ellis was giving Nolyn, and the one Nolyn returned. She suddenly hopped up onto her bare feet and said with youthful exhuberance, "I will walk you to the front hall through the prettier halls! I bet you have never seen anything like them!" Taking Tobias and Ana's hands, she walked out, chattering about how pretty the gemstone vines were in one of the halls. Ana just stared between Zoe and Valerian, dumbfounded about having another mortal servant of a god touching her.
Once the door shut, Ellis looked at Nolyn, his expression stern. Nolyn growled under his breath. "Not the apprentice topic again."
"Yes, the apprentice topic again," Ellis replied, his irritation matching Nolyn's. "I have been patient because I know losing your last student in the lupine attack hurt you deeply, Nolyn. But you are my second. Master Draustus Oberlain has become increasingly vocal about the breech in the goddess's own laws. Not to mention how unmanageable your responsibilities are becoming because you also refuse to build your circle. Continuing to put off choosing both does more than set a bad example, it is hindering you. It would not be terrible if you would have already had apprentices or journeymen in your responsibility. But it is especially damning when you do not have even one apprentice. It is part of the goddess's edicts that masters pass their knowledge to their students! To as many as possible, preferably, but quality over quantity is acceptable."
"Tell the Edai Magus of Gallilae to take a flying leap. He does nothing productive. Gallilae had been abandoned since you and Bennu erected the Andarian barrier. The unnatural fire that destroyed Andar and damned near killed Ash made Draustus more worthless than the rest of the Oberlains. I do not have time to interview legions of people, Ellis," Nolyn stated with seething impatience, crossing his arms. "Nor time to herd students though the wilds chasing darkling-infested monsters, trying to keep them and everyone else safe while not getting myself killed in the process! Without Ash here, I have had to—"
"That was before Unsvet Valerian showed up! And the other Edai Magi are well capable of getting off their slacking backsides to take care of their regions." Blue eyes flashed in annoyance as Ellis waved his hands. "I cannot ask the great mother to remove anyone from the Tredecima for not following Her edicts if my second is also not following them. You know they will demand the same punishment accorded to you as them, even though their transgressions are far worse." He glared. "I would dearly love to remove an Oberlain from the seat for the Avarian's ancestral home of Gallilae. But, I will not allow my decisions to be seen as anything but neutral. Forenta does not need to be distracted by the rivalry between the Avarian and Oberlain families."
Nolyn scowled. "Fine. Fine! Send over the assessments of some of the more promising students. I'll look at them."
"And then we meet at Naveene's Rest to discuss which ones you will interview," Ellis stated, arms crossed. "The evening of the day after tomorrow."
"What?" Nolyn stared, aghast. "You can't expect me to choose so quickly! A good fit cannot be rushed."
"I trust your instincts, Nolyn," Ellis replied, his demeanor implacable. "As does the Knowing One, else She would not have chosen you to be an Edai Magus." He crossed his arms. "Your reluctance is causing strife among the academy students. Being an apprentice to an Edai Magus is a high and coveted honor. The longer you put it off, the more ruthlessly competitive the potentials will get with one another until you've settled the matter once and for all."
Nolyn pinched the bridge of his nose. "To put it bluntly, Ellis, I suck at dealing with people. Worse than Ash. How the hell will I know I found the right one? I got lucky with—"
Ellis put his hand on Nolyn's shoulder, his mood gentled. "You will know when you meet the student who would suit you." He waved a dismissive hand. "Now go. Zoe will talk those three to death if she has a chance. And that poor girl looks like she's about to faint from shock having our goddess's mortal servant manhandling her."
"Some days, you make me crazy, Ellis," Nolyn growled as he stalked out and slammed the door behind him.
Ellis's frown waxed into a paternal smile of amusement. "You used to say the same of Ash. I'll take that as a compliment. Now, let me look over these assessments one more time." He sat in his large, plush chair, pulling out a stack of papers. He made thoughtful noises to himself as he leafed through them. "Yes. Yes, I think this one will do." Tugging one out, he considered it with a smile and set it aside separate from the rest.
Chapter 8
"Miss Kelafy! We have guests!" Nolyn called as he walked into the large common room after the three newcomers. He hid his smile of amusement by turning to shut the main door as Kelafy emerged from the kitchen via the dining room.
"Unsvet Guardian!" Her exclamation
of surprise drew out several other servants, many peering around the edges of the archways to stare at the trio. "Master Nolyn, you horrible man, why did you not send word ahead to warn me? I could have made sure we had prepared the house in accordance with his status!" She turned and shot a look that silenced the explosion of all the loud whispering of surprise and awe.
"Sorry, Miss Kelafy. The meeting with the Se'edai Magus ran long and by the time I could have reached a messenger, we would have overtaken him anyway."
Valerian, quite amused, offered his hand to the older woman. She reflexively responded and turned a brilliant red as he kissed her knuckles in a flamboyant gesture of gallantry. "It is an honor and pleasure to meet you, Miss Kelafy. The stories of your beauty pale in comparison to the reality before me." The tall Vodani's grey green eyes twinkled.
"Edai Magus Nolyn, what have you been telling...?"
Nolyn held up both hands in a warding gesture of protest. "Don't blame me, Kelafy. I only mentioned your name as we arrived."
"The Dusvet's stories about you were inspiring," Valerian added in an attempt to be helpful. "Indeed, it was he whose words about you moved me to break the decades old edict to wait for an invitation to enter Forenta's borders." Nolyn arched an eyebrow at Valerian who winked when no one else was looking.
"And a good thing, too," Tobias chirped cheerfully. "That was a mean creature we saved Master Nolyn and his people from."
"Creature? Saved?" Cheeks still flushed, Kelafy's flustered attention focused and crystallized onto Nolyn, her eyes falling to the tatters of his sleeves and vest. "By the goddess, how could I not have noticed?! This will not do at all. No, not at all." She snapped her fingers imperiously. "Kelli! Go fetch a new tunic!" The young woman bobbed a curtsey before hurring down a hall.
Valerian sighed, rolling his eyes as the woman descended on the poor master mage. He drew Tobias back and out of the way of the servants, Ana pressing herself against him, eyes wide in both fear and awe. The Vodani leaned against the wall as the headwoman barked orders to the other servants, putting a reassuring arm around Ana. The Guardian watched in bemusement, the healer and young woman taken aback at the quite forward manhandling of the master of the house.