Cora nodded in satisfaction. Half-way out of her chair she paused. “Should we tell the King and Queen?”
I wasn’t sure about that myself. After a moment’s thought, I realized that definitely wasn’t the right approach. “No. I think we should have Nolan tell them, with Trev’nor standing by his side.”
“Nolan and Trev’nor?” Cora repeated in surprise.
“Yes, Nolan and Trev’nor. Maybe if the boys learn that there are consequences to every action, they’ll think twice next time about meddling in someone else’s lives.”
Cora considered that for a moment, rolling it over in her mind. “Genius. That’s pure genius. In that case, can I be a fly on the wall? This is one conversation that I don’t want to miss.”
“I don’t think that’s wise,” I responded blandly, but seeing her point. “But I’ll have Chatta put it into a memory crystal for you so you can watch it later.”
She grinned at me mischievously. “You’re a true friend, Garth.” Cora headed for the door, and then turned back for an instant, reaching for my forehead with her finger. The headache that had been brewing inside my head since she walked into the room was suddenly gone. I love Life Mages! A true friend indeed.
I shooed her off, smile fading as I realized I had to come up with a good argument for a pair of six year olds on why they shouldn’t always poke their noses into other people’s business. Considering my own history…that was going to prove challenging.
~*~
Neither Trev’nor nor Nolan would be out of school until later that afternoon, so I had a little time to kill. Or so I thought. Somehow, I wound up behind my parent’s house with a large bottle of shampoo, buckets of water, and a wet nreesce. Night stood in front of me, soaped up on one side, head dropped in pure pleasure.
“Garth?”
I turned, hands covered in soap suds. Night gave a squinty glare at whoever was interrupting his treasured bath-time. He was wickedly enjoying every moment of the bath he had conned me into giving him. I was going to need a bath myself by the time I was done with him, probably two. Asla stood just outside the back door, another bottle of shampoo in her hands. “Thank you,” I said nodding toward the other bottle. “I was almost out.”
She smiled and walked forward, putting the bottle near the bucket of water at my feet. “Well, he is a big nreesce, after all.”
She didn’t have to tell me! I’d been scrubbing here an hour already, and only had half of Night washed.
“Every time the team is here, my children are just glued to Xiaolang,” she noted with a slightly perplexed smile.
“Well, I’m not surprised.” I started rinsing the area I had just washed, before the soap could dry on Night’s hide. An itchy nreesce was not something I wanted to deal with. “Xiaolang, as a Q’atalian, is very good with people. And he’s used to children, as he has a lot of nieces and nephews and younger cousins.”
“So he has no children of his own?” That seemed to surprise Asla as there was an incredulous tone to her question.
“No,” I answered casually. “He’s not married.”
“Isn’t that rather odd for a man of his rank?”
I hadn’t thought about that until she asked. “Well, I suppose. But he’s really not very old, despite his rank.” And I doubt he’d marry someone without some kind of precognitive intuition. Xiaolang was not casual in his relationships with other people, and I had never seen him interested in any females at all.
Asla considered this with a slight frown. “How old is he?”
“Twenty.”
Her jaw slowly dropped open. “He’s a year younger than I am?!”
I hadn’t done that particular mental arithmetic, but he was, wasn’t he? “Pretty incredible, isn’t it? He was promoted to Captain at sixteen. He’s due for another promotion later this year, actually.”
Asla had the oddest look on her face. I couldn’t begin to decipher it. “Why is a Q’atalian so adept at warfare?”
“Because he’ll do anything he has to, to protect the innocent,” I answered quietly. I let my wet hands rest on Night’s side and turned to look at her. “I won’t tell you the story of how he became an Ascalon Captain. It is not my story to tell. But I will tell you this—he will sacrifice anything to protect the people around him. That’s what makes him such a good Captain. And that’s why your children are so comfortable with him, trust him so completely. They sense, at some elemental level, how he feels about them. They know they can trust him, and rely on him.”
“As you do,” she noted softly.
“Yes,” I agreed. “I trust him with my life.”
She nodded, satisfied, and went back into the house.
I rubbed my chin with a soapy hand, wondering just what that conversation had been about. It felt like Asla had been digging for something…some sort of reassurance. Surely she knew how much I trusted the man. I wouldn’t have let him anywhere near my family if I hadn’t. So what was it she had wanted? And what answer had I given her, to let her leave with that satisfied smile?
“So the interest is mutual, eh?” Night twisted his head to stare after Asla, a speculative gleam in his eye.
Huh? Mutual? I felt like someone smacked me in the back of the head with a wet tail. “Wait, Xiaolang and Asla are interested in each other?!”
Night sighed. “It worries me sometimes that you’re so totally oblivious, it really does.”
I started reviewing all of the times I had seen Xiaolang with Asla, trying to figure out where I had missed seeing what Night saw. Now that I was thinking about it, she had always been comfortable with him from the first time they met…and he had been very attentive. “…okay. I guess it was staring me in the face, I just didn’t see it.”
“Yes,” Night agreed dryly. “Why don’t you think and ponder while your hands are scrubbing my shoulder.”
I dutifully resumed his scrubbing, still thinking. Perhaps I needed to have a little heart to heart talk with Xiaolang.
After my talk with Nolan and Trev’nor, that was. When did I become the neighborhood councilor!?
~*~
After Night was washed, dried, and brushed, I decided I had put off the inevitable long enough. With marked reluctance, I headed off to the Palace, in search of the two prime mischief makers. It took a while to hunt both of them down, as they were—for once—in different places. When I finally had them both, I escorted Nolan and Trev’nor away from their foster parents. In a dusty, seldom used part of the Palace, where we could have a private conversation, I patiently explained to them why their good deed was a bad idea.
After a half hour of explaining, and driving home stern warnings, I was finally satisfied that they knew they had interfered where they shouldn’t. They might not completely understand why, and I didn’t really expect them to until they hit about fifteen. When I was satisfied that it was firmly drilled into their heads, I decided it was time for the fun part.
Well, for me it would be fun. Doubtless they didn’t view it that way.
I frog-marched both of my charges into Guin’s personal study. I had sent word to Guin and Chaelane that I would be coming back with both young Mages, and they would need to hear what they had to say. As we entered the study, both Monarchs were sitting, waiting patiently for our return.
I hadn’t explained the reason for our visit, so when we walked into the room, I was met with some very curious looks.
Both boys froze only a few steps inside the doorway…and stayed frozen, unable to say a word. Perhaps they thought they could bolt for the door, if they weren’t too far away.
I masked my blatant enjoyment of their discomfort behind a genial smile. “Nolan, why don’t you start, as this was initially your idea to begin with?”
“Um…” he cast me a pleading look, like a drowning man looking for something to hang on to. I had no sympathy for him, and just smiled back in return. Hangdog, his shoulders slumped a little and he said to the ground, “I did it.”
A little too gener
al, there, my young friend.
Chaelane came and knelt in front of him, trying to catch his eyes. “Did what, Nolan?”
“Made you pregnant.”
Guin choked, and sounded like he was going to cough up a lung.
Chaelane’s eyes went very wide, “…what?” looking at me for an explanation.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. I probably should have stepped in and clarified his choice of words at this point, but…this was far too entertaining.
Trev’nor, being the nice kid he is, tried to help Nolan out. “See, we were talking, and figured that you should have kids. And you said you wanted some, and couldn’t. So Nolan and I went to see Cora—”
“And she explained how babies are created,” Nolan inserted helpfully, catching the spirit of the moment. “Cause I wasn’t quite sure how it worked.”
“—and Nolan saw something was wrong with you, here,” Trev’nor pointed in the general direction of his navel in demonstration, “and fixed it so you could have kids.”
“Two kids,” Nolan clarified, “as I heard that having babies is real hard, and we figured you might not want to go through that more than once.”
Chaelane’s legs gave out at that moment, and she landed on her rump with a soft thump. Judging by the expression on Guin’s face, he was about ready to fall out of his chair too.
It took a tremendous amount of effort, but I managed to keep my face straight and my voice level, instead of busting out laughing like I wanted to. “I’ve already explained to both of them what the consequences could be for…er…dabbling like this. I’m certain they wouldn’t dream of doing it again. Without permission, that is.”
Chaelane, after a few moments of doing a splendid impersonation of a landed fish, managed to find her voice again. “You said something was wrong with me here?” she pointed at her own stomach.
“Not wrong…” Nolan paused, face scrunched up in a thoughtful way, trying to find the right words. “Just not right. You weren’t glowing like you’re supposed to.”
Guin finally rose from his chair and came to kneel at Chaelane’s side. He put a hand on Nolan’s shoulder, and another on Trev’nor’s, looking them both in the eye. “Boys, I wish you had talked to us about this first. Garth is certainly right in that. But all the same…thank you. Thank you for what you did.”
Relieved at this praise, they lost their hangdog expressions and lit up the room with their in smiles. The smiles grew even more when Chaelane hugged them both tightly to her for a long moment, slowly rocking back and forth with them in her arms.
Over their heads, Guin gave me a sardonic quirk of the brow.
“I couldn’t resist,” I admitted to him with an unrepentant grin.
“I noticed,” he drawled.
“It was for a good cause,” I pointed out helpfully.
“Which is the only reason you’re getting by with this,” Guin responded dryly. “Are there any other surprises you want to spring on me?”
“Not a one,” I denied cheerfully. Deeming it wise, I gave both Monarchs a bow, and beat a hasty retreat before Guin could think of an appropriate punishment for my teasing.
~*~
That evening, I went to the appointed meeting with Chahir’s magicians with dragging feet. With all of the distractions I’d had today, I’ve never sat down and really thought about what I was going to say. It was probably just as well. Even as I tried to think about it now, I drew a complete blank.
I looked at the sea of faces all turned toward me expectantly, recognizing at least half of them as people that I had personally helped bring into Hain. The other half had made it here on their own initiative, trickling in over the border for the last two years. Still, every magician here was from Chahir, and they had all experienced the harsh censor of their government, because of their magical talents. What could I possibly say now would make this request any more easily accepted?
Why I had been chosen to speak to them, I simply couldn’t understand. I wasn’t a man of many words. I’d never been particularly good with them; they just seemed to get in the way when I had something important that needed to get done. How was I suppose to cobble together something persuasive enough to convince these people to return to the country that had a blanket order for their immediate execution, even a year ago? It seemed an impossible task to come up with anything appropriate. My strength is brawn, not finesse!
One thing I was sure of. I might not be able to summon up the best words, but saying nothing at all made my failure assured. I took a deep breath, found my center place and forced myself to sound calm.
“I asked you here today to share word of a new development, and make a request of you.”
That got the people’s attention. They might have been paying attention to me before, but they were absolutely riveted now.
“I’m sure you have probably heard rumors that Vonlorisen’s grandson, Vonnolanen, is a Life Mage. I will confirm that for you now—he is indeed a Life Mage, and one that I personally brought out of Chahir.” I paused, as people were murmuring to each other, a buzz with such startling news. After they quieted down again, I resumed, “I did not spirit Nolan out of Chahir, like many of the rest of you. Vonlorisen summoned me to the capitol, in secret, and entrusted his grandson to my care. The King made me a promise that by the time Nolan acquired his full stature as a Mage, Chahir would be able to accept magic openly once again.”
If hearing that the King’s grandson was a Mage surprised them, hearing this promise stunned them into silence. It was so quiet my own breathing sounded loud. I decided to keep talking, just to break up that unnerving stillness. “He has remained true to his word. The Star Order is no longer officially sanctioned by the government of Chahir, it has been disbanded and its members stripped of magic. The Queen, one of their staunchest supporters, has been sent into exile for the rest of her lifetime. The laws regulating magic in Chahir have been rescinded completely. Now, all magicians are welcomed by the government, and their right to both safety and liberty is the law of the land.”
That had everyone talking again, rapidly speaking at an energetic volume between each other in small groups. Krys took a step forward, catching my attention. “Garth, what about the people? How do the average citizens of Chahir feel about this?”
There it was, the bottom line. “That’s trickier,” I admitted with an honest report. “Some of them are for this change, some of them are not. Most of them are just confused and a little scared about what they’re supposed to think, and feel. Magic has been demonized for so long; it will take some time to change people’s hearts and minds.”
Krys looked down for a moment, frowning as he considered what I had said.
“And what’s the request you’re making of us?” Jenna slipped around two people so that she could stand near me at the front of the crowd.
This was the part that was so hard for me to say. I had to say this right, or everything could fall apart before it could even get a fair hearing. The stress was making me a little sick to my stomach. “Vonlorisen is proposing to build a magic academy in Chahir.”
I heard several people shriek “What?!” in the crowd. I tried to hold my face passive, but my lips twitched a little. When you put it like that, it did sound impossible, didn’t it? Vonlorisen and magic, it was almost like saying that the sun was going to rise in the west tomorrow.
“Vonlorisen wants to build a magic academy in Chahir,” I repeated a second time, a little louder. “And he’s requested that King Guin provide him with magicians who can serve as Instructors.”
A strong wind could have knocked every person flat on their face. I charitably allowed them a few seconds to gather their shattered wits. When Guin had told me, I had needed a few moments to let that sink in, and I had already known about the major changes Chahir was going through. “The King has no magicians that he can spare for such a task—but he has given the magicians born in Chahir the option of whether they will return home or not, to answe
r Vonlorisen’s request.”
“That’s what you’re asking,” Cora breathed, her hand held up to her throat. Her voice was so soft I barely heard her. “You’re asking us to go back.”
The time of reckoning had arrived. I swallowed nervously, and straightened my shoulders, keeping eye contact with my audience. “Yes.” I said simply, no preamble or enforcement to go with that one little word.
Everyone started talking all at once again; some of them were even trying to yell something at me over the din. Their voices overlapped each other so much, that I couldn’t pick out more than a word or two at best. I tried raising my hands, asking them to quiet down, but I didn’t have the lung capacity to shout down forty plus excited people.
“QUIET!” The word rang out like a shot.
But apparently, Jarod does.
I turned to give him a grateful look—only to freeze when I saw the expression on his face. His eyes were narrowed, intent, but unfathomable. I couldn’t tell if he were simply thinking about what I had said, or enraged by it. “Jarod?”
“Why are you asking this of us?” His voice was hoarse with intense emotion. Was it anger, or shocked disbelief? “You expect us to go back to a country that actively hunted us down, and tried to kill us?”
I couldn’t blame him for asking that question. I couldn’t blame him for feeling furious and betrayed. I didn’t have the words to erase any of the pain he lived through. I had lived through it too. I just had the truth—whether it would be enough or not, I wasn’t sure.
“Jarod, this is a hard thing that I’m asking you to do. I understand that. But try to see things the way I see them. I escaped from Chahir, with what little bit I could carry, just as many of you did. I was seeking safety for myself, and training for my magic that would keep other people safe, here in Hain. I did not have to go back into Chahir. I could have stayed right here in Hain for the rest of my life, without ever having to face that danger again. That wasn’t the choice I made. I went back. I went back for you because I knew what you were up against. I went back for you, because your life and your magic was more important to me than my own.”
Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 23