Wild Sorceress

by Margaret L. Carter

  "That suits me very well, Mistress."

  "Not understand?"

  "Fine. I'll take the room—full price."

  The woman smiled broadly and sent the tavern girl running off to prepare the room. She walked over to the cupboard and ran a mug of wine for Aetria. Returning to the table, she asked, “You eat now or later? Now, no people. Later, many people."

  Aetria sensed the woman's choice was now, so Aetria would not be a problem to work around later. She smiled sweetly at the mistress. “Later. Meet new people, become friends!"

  The woman sighed. “Perhaps, perhaps not. When ready to go to room, call for Jarleni. She take you to there.” The woman returned to the safety of her kitchen, murmuring to Jarleni as she passed her. Aetria guessed she had told the girl to watch Aetria and make sure she didn't steal anything. Aetria sat back in her chair and sipped the wine, finding it slightly warm and sweet. She tried to ignore Jarleni's eyes on her back as she let the warmth of the fire chase the chill of the trail from her exposed arms and legs, the wine warming her insides.

  So far, so good.

  * * * *

  When she returned to the common room for dinner, her appearance caused a momentary pause in the buzz of conversation. A few heads turned in her direction, and several people made a warding sign. She walked to the farthest table from the fire and sat down opposite its two occupants. The Hermanian merchants decided to conduct their business elsewhere. Aetria shrugged and waved for Jarleni to bring her wine.

  The young woman's memory of the tip received earlier made her quick to respond. While she waited, the sorceress tried to ignore the people around her, but was again conscious of their eyes on her. Within minutes, Aetria had food and wine on her table, and she focused her attention on the warm stew in front of her. The stew was excellent—warm, filling, spiced nicely to taste. The wine was cool, crisp, and slightly tart. She finished the bowl in a short time and looked up for Jarleni to ask for more.

  Her eyes locked onto a group of four men sitting directly across the room who were staring back at her. They were dressed in Hermanian army uniforms, but void of insignia. Mercenaries of some kind, Aetria thought, and armed. One of them got up and walked quickly to the front door of the inn, disappearing into the night. Aetria kept her attention on the other three.

  Jarleni brought more food and wine, giving Aetria a worried look as she noticed the men's attention on the Tierian woman. Jarleni headed quickly for the kitchen.

  Staring at people does not lead to friendly relationships, Aetria reminded herself. She returned her attention to the refilled bowl and started eating again. This time she savored the food instead of wolfing it down. She was mopping up the last dregs of the stew with a morsel of bread when she sensed a source being opened nearby. The shock of energy was so strong she felt as if it were sitting in front of her. She quickly turned her head in the direction of the exposed source and found herself staring at the same four men, only this time they were standing and watching her.

  When they saw her look up, one of them stepped forward and shouted angrily in Hermanian. “Gratha hidones, Coleni, sposuli kagh!"

  Alarmed at his anger and aggressive posture, Aetria jumped to her feet and moved away from the table. The men put their hands on their sword hilts, and their leader started to draw his. She reacted, her right hand darting forward, and a dagger flashed across the distance between them, burying itself in the forearm of the leader. He grabbed his arm and yelled in pain and anger. The other ex-soldiers started to move forward, and Aetria underhanded another dagger into the thigh of the soldier on the left of the advancing group. He fell to the floor with an oath, crashing sideways into the panicking crowd. She was reaching for the knives in her belt sheaths when a low-pitched woman's voice cut through the noise of room with surprising command and authority. Everyone froze.

  Aetria recognized the holding spell and started the counter, but decided against using it. If all in the room were immobile, then she was not in immediate danger, except from the speaker of the spell. Movement was not impossible in a hold spell, but it was definitely slowed. She shifted her eyes to look at the source of the voice. A Hermanian Magess was watching her carefully. The woman was no longer middle-aged, but not ancient. Her long hair was more white than brown, the skin of her face starting to wrinkle in the cheeks, the corners of her eyes and mouth long etched. Her eyes were black pools, deep in their sockets.

  By the Power, Aetria thought, a Tierian! Is it really she, the sorceress Coleni is terrified of?

  The woman spoke, in Tierian. “Show and identify yourself."

  Aetria dropped the glamor. Doing so did not necessarily expose her true self, as Tierians were known to practice elementary magic. Attempting to fool an actual Tierian would only make it harder for her to keep the truth from coming out. The woman's face did not register any emotion when Aetria's hooked nose and sunken eyes changed. Although she could not move, Aetria tried to project a haughty tone into her response. “I am Tierii Aetria Menhala v'Grelnes. And you are?"

  A slight lift of an eyebrow was all the recognition Aetria got from her formal name.

  "Tierii Chalinee Rhuhanii v'Nomeles."

  CHAPTER 11

  Aetria slowly bowed her head, as taught by her father, in recognition of respect for the ruling clan of Tieria. Of all the Tieri I have to run across, why must it be Chalinee, the defeated commander of the Hermanian Sorcerer Corps!

  Chalinee countered her spell and spoke a series of orders rapidly in Hermanian. The crowd shifted in place but did not move, remaining quiet before the Magess. Chalinee pointed toward the wounded men, and several Healers moved from behind her to assist them. One knelt by the man on the floor and looked at Aetria's dagger embedded in the man's leg. He asked a question in Hermanian. The Tierian sorceress looked at Aetria. When she didn't respond, Chalinee asked in Tierian. “My Healer wants to know if the weapon is poisoned or trapped."

  Aetria looked at the armed men staring angrily at her and said contemptuously, “I am not Kanchala or any of their spawn. My weapons are clean."

  Chalinee spoke again to her Healers. They deftly removed the weapons from the wounds and handed them to Chalinee. With one weapon in each hand, clasping them by their hilts, she slowly moved toward Aetria and pushed them forward to her. By doing so, she was clearly returning them to Aetria, in the Tierian style. Holding them by the blades would have chanced a wrist flick and death to Aetria. The leader of the men shouted something in protest, but did not move to intercept. Aetria took her weapons back. The daggers disappeared back into her sleeves.

  The Magess moved over to Aetria's table and sat down. The fear of exposure Aetria had felt at the beginning of this risky encounter began to subside. Caution, she chided herself. This is the most feared woman in Hermania.

  Chalinee switched to Delmathian. “Your Tierian is less than adequate, Aetree, Daughter of Tieria, Issue of Grelnes, Clan of Menhala."

  Aetria shot back angrily in the same language. “My name is Aetria, with the Delmathian ‘a’ ending, not Tierian ‘ee.’ I am Delmathian. My adoptive father was Tierian, and is now Delmathian. And yes, my Tierian is unused. My mother does not approve of its use.” She was angrier with her own self for feeling inadequate to this true daughter of Tieria than she was angry with Chalinee.

  "Grelnes will always be Tieri, whether he accepts that or not. You have a choice."

  Puzzled by Chalinee's last remark, Aetria decided to push her offense, as respectfully as possible, of course. “Why was I attacked? I was not doing anything offensive to anyone. I was peacefully eating my dinner when—"

  A slight smile on her lips, Chalinee cut her off. “If you insist on playing at Tieri, then you should expect our usual lot. You would have had your dinner disturbed even if you had not been mistaken for someone else. Your father should have taught you better."

  "Perhaps that is why he sent me on this journey. What do you mean by mistaken for some one else?"

  Chalinee looked away from h
er and back at the soldiers being tended by her Healers. The crowd was returning to their meals and studiously avoiding disturbing the Magess sorceress and her strange table partner. “I normally prefer to use my own people as guards. You would have not fared as well against Kanchala as you did with these former Hermanian Assassins. Although Kanchala trained, they lack the—how does one say—commitment. My fellow sorcerers and I were recently members of the Hermanian army. With our defeat, we were released from the army and returning to our lodge at Wendelia. We needed an escort. I hired our former Assassin guards. One of them thought they had found a traitorous sorceress by the name of Coleni."

  "I am neither a sorceress nor a Hermanian, so I could not have been either. What makes them think I was such a person?"

  Chalinee looked at her with slight disbelief. “Come now, Mistress Aetria, don't tell me that people in Delmathia don't occasionally use disguises—including Tieri who have been known to use illusionary magic to hide their true features."

  "I do not have the skills to make myself truly different. For that, I would have to be a sorceress. I only enhanced my visage to look more like my adoptive people. You are saying I was trying to disguise myself?"

  Chalinee smiled. “No, I would say more like misrepresenting yourself."

  Aetria flushed angrily, “I am Tieri, I can wear the clothes I—"

  The Magess stilled Aetria's retort with a hand wave. “Do you practice all the ways of our people? Can you speak with them without sounding like a child? For you, this is a façade. You have chosen to play Tieri for some reason, but at some time, you will have to pick and choose on which side of the fence you are going to stand. You cannot live a life of half-Delmathian, half-Tierian. Those people do not exist. But I am not saying this to force a decision; you will find that you will force yourself one day to do that. To answer your last question, you bear a striking resemblance to Coleni even with Tieri features."

  Aetria looked and truly felt stunned. Whether it was due to being caught in the act of trying to pass herself off as Tieri, or the revelation she would at some point in her life have to choose between her adoptive parents’ cultures, she was not sure. She made a quick decision to tell a partial truth to hide her discomfort.

  "You know, I am adopted,” she weakly responded, “and I don't know anything about my birth. This Coleni could be related in some way. You said she was a sorceress. Is that why they opened a source nearby, to see if I would react? Don't they know Tieri practice magic skills?"

  The Magess sorceress bent forward and spoke softly to Aetria. “The Hermanian people know as much about us as do the Delmathian people. Sergeant Ventler came to the lodge and told Sorcerer Tramontes, my assistant, that he had found a suspicious woman at the inn who looked a lot like our missing Coleni. He asked Tramontes for the loan of a source to use as you suggested. Tramontes gave him one, then reported to me.

  "When I asked why Ventler had thought the woman suspicious, he said she was dressed as a Tierian. I came over as soon as I heard, to prevent any embarrassment for one of our women, as much as to meet her. I arrived a little late to prevent the incident you just experienced. I apologize for that. And I am glad to have met one of my sisters, even though a reluctant one. Tell me, why are you are traveling in Hermania?"

  Aetria knew she had to be careful with her answer. She couldn't reveal her true position, because there was no likelihood of anyone cooperating with the chief advisor to the conquering general. The fact that she was seeking the reason why Pleates was so interested in the Logathians would invariably lead to a question of why she cared. Aetria didn't want it to be known she was defending herself against charges of being a wild sorceress, particularly in Hermania where their views about such things were even harsher than her Order's. Of all the people she had to end up talking to, the most powerful Mage in Hermania wasn't the one she wanted to get involved with. Coleni's fear of Chalinee was based on her experience with the woman.

  How do you lie to one who is so knowledgeable and dangerous? Aetria knew she had to thread enough truth in with her stretches of the truth to make her answer seem believable to the Hermanian Magess.

  "My father sent me on this journey.” Which is true. “He convinced me to go as Tierian because, although in Delmathia I was accepted as a merchant's daughter, in Hermania I would be viewed as a conqueror taking advantage of the war. It made sense to me. I knew Hermania probably held the Tieri in as much disrespect as Delmathia, but at least they would tolerate me. The reason he gave for sending me here was to find a new trading market, but I now suspect he had another purpose: to introduce me to the difficulties faced daily by his people.” Her father just might have had that as a reason, although she thought she already knew the difficulties he faced in Delmathia.

  Chalinee gestured to her assistant and pointed to her throat. The sorcerer rushed over to Jarleni to order wine. Chalinee turned her attention back to Aetria. “A new trade market? What kind?"

  Aetria leaned conspiratorially across the table and spoke as softly as she dared, forcing Chalinee to lean towards her to hear her response. “I think, gems or gold."

  Chalinee burst out with a quick laugh. “Here, in the Logathian mountains? You have been sent on a false quest, my dear. What makes you think such a market exists?"

  Looking at the crowd around them who seemed to be ignoring the seated women, Aetria looked back at the Magess, mistrust in her eyes. Chalinee sighed, then waved the crowd out of the room. The hurried rush to the door made it apparent they were only too glad to be gone. Only the two remaining escorts and her accompanying sorcerer aides remained, seated now at a table farthest from the two women's, but within clear view still.

  "Thank you,” Aetria said. “What I now tell you is to be held in strict closeness. I believe the Tieri call it, ‘Talupna Ani.’”

  Shaking her head, Chalinee wagged a finger at Aetria. “You can not evoke Talupna Ani between Tieri unless there is a sworn alliance between the two parties. This is a very binding vow, Aetria, and does not fit this situation. I think you only meant that it should not be repeated outside the Tieri clan. Be careful what you ask, my dear. Telling me something I could take advantage of and cut you out of the trade, just because you thought you had a deal with me not to speak of it, will anger your father very much. Perhaps justifiably, for not educating his daughter better in the ways of our people."

  Aetria clenched her teeth in frustration. She was getting tired of being reminded of her shaky status as a daughter of Tieri. “Forgive me my ignorance. It was a phrase my father and I shared when we didn't want my mother to know something we were planning. I didn't know it had a deeper meaning than that. Thank you for your warning. I guess I cannot tell you what I was going to."

  Chalinee reached out and touched Aetria's hand, the first real contact between them. “Daughter of Grelnes, I am a Magess of the Hermanian Order. I have not followed the trade path of my people for most of my entire life. When I chose to accept Hermanian training, I put myself out of the race for fortune. My Rhuhanii people would only be amused if I tried to solicit their aid to capitalize on your information. I will hold your secret."

  The touch bespoke familiarity, but it also conveyed kinship. Chalinee herself must have struggled with her choice of profession, exactly as her own father had—making a decision that separated herself from her people's way of life, as he had done to marry a Delmathian woman and settle down. No wonder she was trying to be helpful to an estranged adoptive Tierian woman. Aetria felt a flash of guilt for trying to keep the truth from Chalinee.

  "Thank you, Chalinee. My father, like any good merchant during a time of war, was supplying food and potables to the Delmathian army. I was his chandler, accompanying our wagon trains to the army's encampment and negotiating further trade. I got to know a Provisioner Sorcerer named Meloses rather well. We worked out a special deal. For receipt of privileged information, I, umm..."

  Chalinee frowned at Aetria. The corners of her mouth dipped low as she said, “Sel
ling yourself along with your goods is never a ‘good deal,’ Aetria."

  Taken aback, Aetria looked shocked. “Oh! You have that all wrong! The deal was he would pay me the full price of my bill, and hold back five percent for himself.” Aetria wondered if Meloses would really have done that, and smiled at the thought that he would probably have. Chalinee's puzzled look brought her back sharply to reality.

  "Not that I wasn't working another angle, you understand. Becoming the wife of a Provisioner sorcerer, who was creating a very nice ‘retirement fund’ for when the war ended, made a lot of sense to me. I didn't discourage him, but I did not allow the relationship to go to that point! He was rather portly, but sweet."

  "You showed uncommon good sense, Aetria. So you traded a small amount of profit for information, for which you expected to gain more money. Very sensible, but five percent is perhaps too much."

  Aetria gave her a sweet smile. “He was charging other traders that for no information—or misinformation at best. The things he told me over the years always turned out to be reasonably true, discounting rumors which always cloud the picture."

  "So you developed a useful source. Was he the source of your Logathian mountain gems? If so, you may have bitten on a rumor."

  "He was my source, but not of that information. We were ‘exchanging pleasantries’ a few months ago when he let slip that a major spy had been discovered in General Borlock's staff. I told him I had heard that rumor before and didn't think it would be of any value to me. He looked very gravely at me and said it was going to impact me greatly because, with the spy out of the way, the general would be able to end the campaign very soon. We would all be seeking another trade source. I was shocked and started to weep. Really I did; this was my family's major source of income. He became very solicitous."

  Chalinee refilled her glass, offering Aetria some of the wine. Aetria took some gratefully. Her throat was getting dry.