by Kel Kade
“Because it’s so often that people run into random magi that are willing to share the apparently secret location of their citadel.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Go back and ask the queen? She seemed to favor you.”
“Given the king’s position, I feel I was lucky to escape the palace once. I’d not risk it a second time.”
“I wouldn’t want to go there either—bunch of slimy, back-stabbing snobs.”
Aaslo lifted his head toward the speaker, a young woman with short, dark brown curls that bobbed around her almond-shaped face. Her eyes were nearly black beneath thick lashes, and her sun-kissed olive skin lent her an exotic appearance. Beneath her black server’s smock, she wore a burgundy tunic that caressed her curves as it reached to her knees, which were covered by black hose. She leaned against the table and placed a hand on one cocked hip. “Who are ya talkin’ to?”
Aaslo glanced at the sack he had set on the table in front of the seat next to him. He said, “No one.”
The woman tilted her head curiously. “Yeah? I talk to myself sometimes, too.” She grinned. “I’m the best company.”
“She’s cute.”
“Shut up.”
“What?” she said, appearing more surprised than angry. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“No, I wasn’t talking to you.”
She twirled a curl with one finger as she said, “Uh-huh. Well, maybe your personal argument can wait long enough for me to take your order.”
“Great. You’ve known her for all of ten seconds, and she already thinks you’re crazy.”
“She’s probably right,” said Aaslo.
The young woman nodded. “I’m always right, but what am I right about now?”
Aaslo looked back at her. “Um, whatever I want to eat.”
“So, it’s up to me, then, is it? What about your friend?” she said with a nod toward the sack.
Aaslo glanced at the bag and back to her. “Can you hear him?”
She shook her head. “Nah, sweet lunatic. I’m pretty sure that’s a blessing only for you, but since you keep talkin’ to him, I figure he might be hungry, too.”
Aaslo groaned. “He’s not real.”
“Hey, now!”
“I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse,” she said, “especially considering you admit it. All right, I’ll be back with some food in a few minutes. It won’t be very good, and it costs too much, but you’re gonna eat it because that’s why you came here.”
Aaslo was left in wonder as she walked away.
“She’s strange.”
As he waited, Aaslo tried to remember if Magdelay had ever mentioned anything that might give him a clue as to the citadel’s location. It being east made sense, since it was supposed to be comprised of representatives of the twelve bloodlines from all over Aldrea. Somehow, he had always assumed it would be in Uyan; but, geographically, that made little sense. Then again, the citadel’s location might not have been chosen for convenience. He wondered if it had been built in a place of great power. He couldn’t remember her mentioning anything like that either—at least, not to him. He wasn’t the chosen one, though. Mathias might have known more.
“Sorry, I took those secrets to the bag. Ha ha! Get it, Aaslo? You know, since I didn’t have a proper burial or grave.”
Aaslo’s stomach churned. His guilt was threatening to bury him. He said, “I buried the rest of you. I even left you my sword.”
“Cromley said to use your head before your sword, and you left me without one.”
“I still have use for your head.” Aaslo buried his own head in his hands. “I can’t do this alone.”
A thunk on the table startled him. “Sounds like you could use alone time. Seems to me you’ve got some unwanted company.”
Aaslo glanced around to see who the server was talking about, then realized she was referring to Mathias’s ghost. “It’s not real,” he said again.
“Seems like it’s real to you,” she said. She leaned forward and proffered her hand. “The name’s Teza.”
“Manners, Aaslo. Don’t act like you grew up in the woods.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Teza. I’m Aaslo.”
She grinned and brushed a curl behind her ear, which he noticed had tiny little punctures lining the rim but no rings or studs. “So, what’s the deal with your imaginary friend?”
At that moment, Aaslo was glad to have someone to talk to who was alive, and Teza’s open personality made it easy. “He’s not imaginary.” Aaslo huffed and shook his head. “He’s not real, either. He’s gone, and I—I’ve taken up his standard.”
She paused and tapped her lip thoughtfully. Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, “Let me get this straight. Your friend’s dead, so you’re taking on his responsibilities?”
“Yeah, I—”
“Hey, bar wench, where’s our ale!” shouted a man from a table in the center of the room. Its occupants had gotten rowdier in the short time Aaslo had been waiting for his food.
Teza turned and hollered back at the man. “You’ll get it when I feel like bringin’ it, so shut your mouth and wait like a gentleman.” Teza turned back to Aaslo and rolled her eyes. “They act like I’m some kind of servant.”
“You’re a server in a tavern.”
She rolled her eyes again and rested her hand on her hip. “Well, yes, right now I am, but that doesn’t make me a servant.”
“Teza! Get in here, girl,” shouted a husky voice from the kitchen.
She nodded toward Aaslo’s food. “Best pay me now in case you decide to leave while I’m gone.”
Aaslo settled his bill, then dug in as the woman walked off in a huff. She was right. The food wasn’t good, and it was definitely overpriced, but it filled his grumbling stomach. Just as he pushed his plate away, the young woman tossed a bag on the table, plopped down in one of the other seats, and propped her booted feet on the chair next to him.
“So, where are we going?” she said.
Aaslo glanced around in confusion, then looked back to her. “Excuse me?”
She pulled a piece of crust from the hard bread he had left on his plate and popped it into her mouth. “Well, I figure if I’m coming with you, I’d best know where we’re going.”
“What are you talking about? Why would you come with me?”
“Since you got me fired, I figure you owe me.”
He shook his head. “I got you fired?”
“That’s what I said.”
“I didn’t get you fired.”
She leaned forward and patted his hand. “Look, I know you like to argue with yourself, but I’m an actual person, so you’d best make up your mind.”
“No, I mean, I didn’t have anything to do with you getting fired.”
“That’s your opinion, and I respect that, but you still owe me.”
“No, it’s not an opinion. It’s a fact. I had nothing to do with it, and I don’t owe you anything.”
She shrugged and sat back. “We’ll just have to agree to disagree. I can tell you’re a traveler, and I like your values, so where are we going?”
“What do you know about my values?” said Aaslo. “Look, unless you know how to get to the Citadel of Magi, I don’t need your company.”
Teza grabbed her bag as she abruptly stood. “All right, let’s go.” She took a few steps, then glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Well, are you coming?”
“Best get moving, Aaslo. She seems determined.”
Aaslo grabbed the bag and tied it to his belt as he hurried to catch up with the woman. “Hey,” he said as he drew up beside her. “Do you know where it is?”
She laughed. “Of course, but I don’t know why you’d want to go there. They’re worse than those snobs in the palace.”
“She’s lying. Why would she know?”
“No one else knows. It’s not on any of the maps in the library—”
“You
went to the library?”
“Yes. How do you know where it is?”
She raised a hand and waved toward her right. “It’s in the center of the city. Everyone knows where the library is.”
“No,” Aaslo growled. “I mean the citadel.”
“Oh, that’s easy. I used to live there.”
“What, like as a servant?”
She suddenly rounded on him, blocking his path, and that of everyone else who was flowing in their direction. She dropped her sack at her feet, stepped forward, and stuck a finger in his face. “I told you, I am not a servant!”
“Uh-oh, you’ve angered her.”
Aaslo held up his hands. “I’m just trying to understand.”
Teza leaned back and huffed as she crossed her arms. Then she grabbed her bag, flung it over her shoulder, and placed her hand back on her hip as she tapped her foot. “Fine, I’ll let it go because you’re cute, but don’t make me tell you again.” She abruptly spun and began walking as she spoke. “I was a student there.”
“You’re a magus?”
She twisted her lips and said, “I was a mage, like most healers, but they kicked me out and bound my powers.”
“So, you can’t use your power anymore?” he said.
“I can, but only in an emergency. They’ll know if I do, and they do investigate these things.”
“Why did they expel you?”
“Careful, Aaslo. That’s a sensitive subject, and she’s batty.”
“You know, most people are too afraid to ask. They said I cheated and stole someone else’s project.”
“Did you?”
“Of course I did! Stupid Gertridina did two projects, and I didn’t have any. She didn’t need both of them. The other would have gone to waste if I hadn’t used it.”
“Why didn’t you do your own project?” he said.
“Look, it’s not my fault that I’m not creative. I couldn’t think of anything, so I put it off. Then, all of a sudden it was due, and I didn’t have one. Gertridina should’ve been flattered that I used her work. It was kind of lame. I could’ve done much better.”
“But you didn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter. None of the teachers liked me, anyway. They all wanted me gone but couldn’t figure out a way to get rid of me because I was too good. I would’ve been top of my class, if not for their stupid projects.”
“But, the projects are the point of the classes, aren’t they?”
She shook her head and waved a finger in the air. “No, see, you’re as confused as the rest of them. The point was to learn to be a healer. It’s not like a patient is going to walk up to me and say, Hey, I need you to do a project.”
“But, the patient is the project.”
“Exactly, and I was good at healing patients. But the stupid masters said I had a terrible bedside manner. I hate most people, but you don’t have to like someone to heal them or be healed by them. Just shut up and get it done, you know?”
“Now she sounds like you.”
Aaslo nodded slowly. “Actually, that makes sense. So, how did you end up waiting tables in a run-down tavern in Tyellí?”
“How does any girl end up in a stupid place doing a stupid job? I followed a guy, of course. I met him after I got kicked out. He said we’d travel the world together. We took an evergate to Tyellí and then he stole my money and took off. Turns out he just needed my power to get through, since he was kind of weak.”
“What’s an evergate?” said Aaslo.
“They’re these portals that are scattered all over Aldrea. They’re like doorways that only magi can use. You step into one, cast a spell, and you come out in a different one. Distance is no matter.”
Aaslo wished he had been able to use an evergate to get to Tyellí. He said, “Why didn’t you use it to go home?”
Her expression was troubled as she glanced at him. “I was only allowed one evergate spell. I was supposed to use it to get home. So, I got stuck here, a complete stranger with no money and no way to get home. The truth is, I wasn’t ready to go home. How am I supposed to face my parents after getting kicked out of the academy?”
Aaslo thought about how Ielo would have reacted if he hadn’t wanted to be a forester. He said, “Your parents will love you whether you go to the academy or not.”
“You don’t know my parents,” she muttered.
Aaslo pulled her to the side of the road, then looked around and realized he had no idea where he was. He looked back at her. “You can use your powers in an emergency, right? Well, I have an emergency. I need to get to the citadel. Can you use this evergate to get me there?”
She shook her head. “No, absolutely not.”
“This really is an emergency. I promise, I’ll get the high sorceress herself to excuse it.”
Teza laughed. “The high sorceress would squish us both like bugs before we ever got near her. But, seriously, I can’t take you through. You’re not a magus.”
“So, I can’t use it, but can’t you take me through?”
“Oh, I could take you in, but you’d not come out where you wanted.”
“What do you mean?”
“The evergate connects to a magus’s power to send him or her to the designated destination. You don’t have any power, so it wouldn’t be able to connect with you. You would be tossed out in some random place. It might not even be on Aldrea. You could end up in another realm, or in a volcano, or in a void with no air. You might even get lost in the pathways until you died of thirst or starvation. You simply cannot take anything living through the evergate unless it has magic of its own.”
Aaslo rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You’re right. That sounds terrible.”
Teza grinned. “I like you. You tell me I’m right a lot.” Then she bounced on her heel and started walking again.
“Where are you going?” he said.
“We’re leaving. You said you need to go to the citadel.”
“I don’t have my things, and it’s a little late to be starting out. I was planning to leave in the morning.”
She paused and tilted her head. “Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Then she glanced down the road. “Um, where are you staying?”
Aaslo glanced down the road, too. “I have no idea where it is from here, since I don’t know where here is. I’m staying at the Forester’s Haven.”
She furrowed her brow. “That’s a strange place to stay. I’m surprised the old man let you in.”
“You know of it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Everybody knows of it. Well, come on. I’ll take you to it—unless there was somewhere else you needed to go first?”
Aaslo shook his head slowly. “No, I guess I just needed to find you.”
She smiled at him again. “Yes, I do like you.”
It turned out that the Forester’s Haven was not far, and Aaslo was sure the glances they received were not for him this time. Teza was quite attractive, and she held herself with confidence and openness. Unfortunately, that openness tended to explode on anyone who approached her.
“Did I ask for directions?” she shouted as she stared at the large man who had stopped her with just such an offer.
The man grinned. “No, but I wouldn’t want a pretty thing like you to get lost in a big city like this.”
“I think it’s you who needs to get lost!”
“Who’s gonna make me? Him?” The man glanced at Aaslo. “He doesn’t look too keen about standing up for you, or maybe he just knows what’s good for him.” The man reached out to tug on one of Teza’s short curls, and she abruptly walloped him with her pack. The man fell backward onto his rear. Before he could even sit up, a sword was at his throat.
Aaslo scowled at the sword wielder. He hadn’t seen the man approach and neither did he have a desire to see him again. Captain Lopin leaned over the offender and said, “You’d best be on your way. The good forester here doesn’t ruffle easily, but when he does, you’d not want to be at the end of his blade.”
The man looked up at Lopin, noting the palace uniform, then looked back to see several more of the royal guard waiting across the square at the entrance to the Forester’s Haven.
Teza looked at Aaslo. “You’re really a forester?”
The big man on the ground crawled away from Lopin’s blade, then got to his feet and took off down an alley. Lopin sheathed his sword and approached Aaslo, sparing a nod for Teza. He said, “For a man who rails against those who choose not to fight, you sure avoid it often enough. Would you have come to the woman’s aid?”
Aaslo crossed his arms. “If she’d needed aid, she’d have said so.”
Teza turned and harrumphed in agreement with a nod toward the captain.
Lopin looked at her again, nodded, then turned back to Aaslo. “I came to deliver your belongings you left at the palace.”
Aaslo rubbed his stubble and mused, “The captain of the royal guard is running errands?”
Lopin tilted his head. “Not as such.”
“I thought not. I left nothing at the palace that belongs to me.”
Lopin’s gaze flicked to Teza before he glanced back to Aaslo. “I think more at the palace belongs to you than you realize. Still, your clothes and a few other items have been delivered to your abode. The queen desires your company this evening. Shall I inform her that you will be joining her for dinner?”
“Ask him, Aaslo.”
“That depends. Do you know how to get to the Citadel of Magi?”
The captain raised a brow. “No, only the magi are privy to that information.”
Teza suddenly stomped Aaslo’s foot. “I told you I would take you! Do you think me a liar?”
Aaslo turned and chanced her furious gaze. “I think I just met you, and it’s awfully convenient that you know how to get to a place to which no one else is able to direct me.”
Teza raised a finger and opened her mouth to retort, then stopped. She dropped her hand and turned back to the guard with a shrug. “Touché.”
Lopin glanced between them. “I see. You have found yourself a guide, but I think it will be for naught. No one will help you with this mission. You should go back to your forest—after you see the queen.”