A Question of Power (The Fire Chronicles Book 2)

by Susi Wright

  It was a stone pitcher containing water, exploding into a hundred shards with a spray which saturated one wall and a large area of floor. And it had been thrown deliberately! Espira had sensed her tutors there in force. Even in her confused and angry state of mind, she had rightly expected some form of reprimand or control, reacting by immersing herself in full rebellion. She was now able to manipulate any object made of natural elements, in addition to all the pure elements – except, thank heavens, Fire. That she was becoming so violent, was beyond a worry and they had all decided that whatever it might take, she must not be allowed to continue this way.

  Focussing as one, with Fralii protected in their midst, they burst into the chamber. Seven calming influences converged at full strength, enveloping the child in assurance, encouragement. She knew what they were doing. She did not like it. She liked being the powerful one! Throwing her head from side to side, she stubbornly resisted, managing another missile – a jarful of stinging bath salts aimed at their eyes in an attempt to break their steely focus. But these were all Elites and working together they were nothing less than formidable. Expecting something, they all avoided the airborne crystals. One of the elders gathered and replaced them neatly in the jar, and the seven tightened their circle of influence.

  With a heavy sigh, Espira succumbed, pouting fiercely. She regarded each one in turn with unhappy eyes, the rainbow colours clashing like a storm in their depths reflecting her tumultuous emotions. It was several heartbeats until a safe calm levelled the waters. She seemed to relax, not quite happy, but not angry either.

  Aleana and the elders were too wise to relax. This battle was not yet won. They were going to try something that had never been tried before. . .

  The morning after the feast and the Telling, the corridors, kitchens and courtyard were once again abuzz with hopeful excitement and speculation as to Prince Rolin’s decision. Word had gone around the palace that the royal address would be immediately after morning porridge. Everyone had taken a small scoop of oatmeal in a wooden bowl, eaten it quickly and cleaned the bowl, ready for the next shift. The entire proceedings had been completed with speedy efficiency, inside of an hour, and people were already gathering in the square to wait for Prince Rolin to appear. The Lealanders hoped their new leader would ask them what they all wanted, just as his father would have done. The majority had been fascinated by the Telling – Lord Luminor seemed to inspire hope just by being there. There was no doubt that the tyrant Xian was gone and many, for that reason alone, felt inclined to give their vote of confidence. However, some were still suspicious, even after the tale of the battle was told. For one thing, no human had ever seen this dragon. ‘The Gaians could have made it all up!’ said the cynics and they also wanted a chance to voice their objections directly to the prince. Speculation aside, one thing was certain —as certain as death. Not everyone would be happy with the outcome!

  Nevertheless, a contagion of hope had spread to most of the people here. Melu was still being approached by curious individuals who had missed out meeting him the night before, pounced upon as soon as he showed his Morvian face in the square. But he soldiered on in his uniquely appealing way, passing up no opportunity to promote the cause. He was even able to do this while eating a bowl of porridge at the same time.

  Sumar had risen at dawn, in a wonderful mood, taking great pleasure in procuring three modest bowls of oatmeal for Saria and her parents. He had not been hungry, still feeling content from the previous evening. The four had sat companionably in an early patch of sunlight, on the slightly warmed cobbles of the square, Sumar watching somewhat indulgently as Saria and the frail Rosal and Jon ate their meal.

  “When do we leave for Baram, Sumar?” queried Jon. His eyes crinkled in friendly regard as he squinted slightly in the sunlight. He had not spoken much since they met.

  “Yes. . .when?” added Saria, putting down her bowl and turning her gaze expectantly towards their new protector.

  Sumar masked his enthusiasm as he made the suggestion, schooling a smile that threatened to be all-too-brilliant to one of mild pleasantry. He directed the answer to all three but kept his gaze trained on Saria. “Dear friends, we can leave. . .as soon as you like, after tomorrow. Rosal and Jon, bearing in mind your state of health, you may choose whether we go by air-cloak or samblar. I have permission from Commander Stolis to take a few animals after they have rested one more day. I will be the only guard you need – we will not take soldiers. They are needed here!”

  Jon glanced at his wife. “Then I think – for Rosal’s sake, we will go by samblar.” She tut-tutted, putting on a brave face, but did not object to the idea. She knew as well as Jon, that she could not fly. As it was, she hoped to last the journey.

  “So it is settled. We leave at dawn the day after tomorrow!” Sumar was mightily pleased, whatever their choice. He could not remember many times in his life when he had been quite so!

  Xandor awoke, refreshed and feeling he had slept like the dead, though suddenly thinking sadly of lost brothers, perhaps that was an inappropriate comparison. But even those memories could not dampen his mood. For the first time in weeks, he felt free of the weight of duty, released from any obligation to Saria. For the time being, he had also been relieved of his combat duties, free to let his thoughts roam. And, without the restraint of guilt, roam they did – straight to the memory of a pair of flaming amber eyes, offering so much. . .which he hoped was still his for the taking.

  There was still the audience with Lord Luminor, but he did not feel the same trepidation now as he had in the bath house. As he made his way promptly to Luminor’s chamber, he nursed a good feeling in his gut. Yesterday, Sumar’s positive acknowledgment had boosted Xandor’s confidence that he had acted with wisdom in the matter. He hoped even Luminor would approve!

  Luminor opened the door before Xandor knocked and invited him in, locking eyes with him in an unreadable expression. He gestured to a chair. Xandor considered that being asked to be seated was a good thing.

  He was only left guessing for a couple of heartbeats, before Luminor smiled knowingly. “You have surprised me. . .”

  Xandor knew that to be hardly possible as he bravely kept eye contact.

  “You have chosen to leave behind some of the old traditions, then?” Luminor looked more serious.

  “No one has been hurt by it, my lord, as you would already know.” Xandor raised his chin a notch. “These are new times. Everything should be new!” He remained fiercely loyal to the cause.

  “I know you have resolved the problem, young brother. You seem quite inspired of late!” Luminor’s half smile returned. The atmosphere became encouraging.

  Xandor’s eyes widened in mock adulation. “I find, my lord, that one look from you. . . always tends to inspire me to great things!” He grinned audaciously, well aware that flattery meant nothing to Luminor.

  “No, brother Xandor. I must say, the credit here. . .is entirely yours!” Luminor allowed a certain amount of admiration to twinkle in his eyes and, with a smile of approval, he concluded the meeting, gesturing for the young warrior to accompany him through the door. As they walked, a gong loudly announced the commencement of the royal address in a few minutes. Everyone would hear the prince’s decision. Luminor felt positive about it, despite sensing some reservations. He didn’t want to be late. Tardiness suggested weakness of character and Gaians had long-prided themselves on never being late for anything. Anything within their power, that was.

  Everything, it seemed, was a question of Power, in one form or another!

  True power was a question in itself.

  Those weighty reflections in mind as he walked, Luminor suddenly thought of his errant daughter, whom he gravely feared to be far too powerful for her own good. He wished for magic which he did not possess. To be in two places at once!

  CHAPTER 50

  Equilibrium

  It had been Aleana’s idea to call on innovation to solve this new challenge. She and the other elders w
ould attempt to use their collective mind, in an appeal to the Guardians to issue an edict which would suspend Espira’s powers long enough for her training to catch up, or for Lord Luminor to return, whichever happened first! There had never been cause to attempt the removal of talents before. None of the Elite here had the power. They needed all the assistance they could get. Even Serafina would put her budding mental powers to the test, adding weight to their call. A request for such an edict had never before been tried. This hybrid girl-child of the Lord of Fire and her antics had presented them all with an unprecedented challenge.

  It was a long-shot, but they had intuition on their side and faith that the Ancestor’s would indeed answer their plea.

  Although all reason had gone out the window, as with any normal toddler gripped by a tantrum, Espira’s sheer exhaustion and the combined powers of the benevolent group surrounding her had created a few moments of calm in which to send out the appeal for help.

  Fralii was left to observe and guess, for not a word had been spoken since they had entered the room. She was becoming increasingly comfortable with this Gaian trait, which she had originally found irritating. It usually meant that things were under control, so she had learned not to worry.

  The seconds dragged into minutes, the minutes towards an hour. The silence continued. Fralii could not help feeling a little tense, unsure of how this help, if it came, would manifest itself. But the love and respect she had for Aleana and the others was enough to lead Fralii to believe that her daughter would not be harmed by any of this.

  There was a sudden shift. Even Fralii felt it. An invisible weight lifted. At the same time, all seven elders slumped face-down to the ground, leaving Fralii the only person standing. She froze. Her eyes flicked to Espira lying peacefully on the cot. Asleep. Somehow she knew it was as simple as that, but remained motionless, except for the anxious cast of her eyes over the prone Gaians.

  Slowly, one by one they stirred, coming out of what Fralii could only guess was a faint or trance caused by the effort of their endeavours. Each had a slightly different reaction to the experience. Aleana sighed, pulling herself tiredly on to a chair, utterly spent. Two of the others were rubbing their temples with a headache. Another elder winced as he massaged the back of his neck. Zoltor, one of the most well-respected of the Elite in the Capital, stood somewhat shakily to his feet with a chuckle, quickly assuring Fralii, “No ill effects. . .Thank the Ancestors! Fralii, my dear, all is well. The child will sleep for a while. My word. . .but it was interesting!”

  Serafina stood with a smile, her amber eyes taking on a fiery glow, removed the fastening from her hair, which had been applied for expediency, and shaking out her waist length silver locks, laughed with sudden abandon.

  “By the Stars! I love being Gaian!”

  Well – you are all very lucky! thought Fralii, as she left all the sentient members of the group to their reorientation and turned her watchful eyes to Espira, prepared to wait as long as it might take for her to wake. She trusted that Aleana had already ensured the newborn, Ardi, would sleep for several hours yet.

  As it happened, she didn’t have to wait long. Ten minutes later, Espira woke, blinking to focus on her mother. Her eyes looked strangely calm. Then tears began to well, the corners of her mouth turning down, as she stared into Fralli’s eyes.

  “Mama! What has happened?. . . my magic has gone – ” she sobbed once. “I know it!”

  Fralii was certain she did not have any answer, let alone the right one, so she gently pulled Espira into her arms and hugged her tight. The bewildered child snuggled close, seeming for the present content to leave things unsaid, simply grateful for the love of her mother. Perhaps this was still the effect of induced calm, perhaps the absence of those chaotic talents, or perhaps both. Certainly, this was a far preferable state of affairs than yesterday! There appeared to be some balance.

  At least now. . .they had time to sort it all out.

  “. . .So, bearing in mind everything we have endured in recent weeks, I am slow to trust. The Alliance which Lord Luminor offers sounds impressive – almost too good to be true! I know I am young, and this responsibility has come suddenly, but I am ready to make sure the people of Lealand are safe. My father taught me well, to use my head just a little more than my heart. My advisor, Captain Rendel, has also urged me to exercise the utmost caution. . .”

  After all Prince Rolin had just said about the negatives of committing to any treaty, it was starting to sound to the people like their prince had let his father’s man, a very protective advisor, influence his decision against joining the Alliance. Or accepting Luminor’s kind offer of help. Or both. Disappointment stung. Most could see a much longer road ahead to rebuild their lives without either; they had thought there really was little choice.

  “There is an army, six hundred strong, outside the palace! Those soldiers, though they share our human heritage, seem loyal to Lord Luminor. With my army decimated, they outnumber us by many hundreds! Nevertheless, it seems I am being given a choice, for which I am grateful, but I regret that I am unable – ” The least hopeful had begun to shake their heads and walk away in disgust, without waiting to hear the decision they thought would most likely doom them all, one way or another.

  “. . .to come to a final decision, out of respect to my late father, without first. . .putting it to a vote!” All ears pricked at that, most so thankful they cheered.

  “So, a show of hands will do! First those in favour of joining the Alliance and accepting Lord Luminor’s help?” suggested Rolin. A second vote, if it became necessary, would be for not signing as a member nation, but accepting the help anyway.

  An overwhelming majority of hands went up straight away, some more hesitantly, but this vote did not need counting. A few rallied to the second choice, but they were easily outnumbered by the first. Even fewer voted for neither. Bravely ignoring the vehement grumblings of half a dozen cynics, Prince Rolin smiled and raised his own hand with the final decision.

  Luminor was elated at this historical decision. “Prince Rolin, perhaps we can draw up a suitable agreement between us. Do you have good scribes among your people who can help with this? Please bring Captain Rendel to the table. I must tell you – you are the first nation outside of Baram to join the Alliance! We must do this right!”

  He now knew, more than ever, that this quest went beyond the dream of one man and his ideas on how to fufill an ancient Gaian prophecy. This was truly the destiny of All-Living. He would play his part as always, with a true heart. And Destiny would have her own way!

  Prince Rolin, Lord Luminor, Commander Stolis and Captain Rendel, together with Melu and two scribes of Rolin’s choosing, were closeted for several hours in the meeting room, while the agreement was drawn up and signed.

  “I hope that this seals the security of all people under its banner!” said Luminor putting down the quill after signing. He pushed back his chair. “Beyond paper and ink, Prince Rolin, I hope our friendship is sealed in the Stars!”

  “Yes, I believe we are friends, Lord Luminor!” The prince smiled with a dry humour, characteristic of a much older man. “Apart from the droll fact that what is left of my country, after a scourge of black magic and Fire, is now about to be over run by an army. . . .of sorcerers and their weird friends!”

  Luminor laughed. “I can begin that process, if you like, as soon as tomorrow morning!” Despite the lightness of the present mood, everyone in the room knew the urgency of the situation. Luminor’s expression and manner quickly became business-like. “The samblars are rested, so I can send three battalions of soldiers out to scour for survivors and set up temporary camps. The supplies we were able to bring from the Capital will not last long. Several hunting parties will have to go out immediately.” He did not expect any objection to that logic.

  “Of course – do as you will! The plan is a sound one. It is the same as mine!” said Prince Rolin, still smiling speculatively. Surprisingly, he did not feel at all threatened
by Luminor’s suggestion. He knew the Morvian, Melu, also had peculiar talents. He supposed a human would always be left guessing. . .just a little!

  As soon as the official party emerged from the meeting room, the action started. The two military officers, Stolis and Rendel began organising their men into search and hunting parties. Some of the available samblars were reassigned to those individuals who were going further afield. Others were hitched to a few wagons that were found intact in the storage barns and stables of the palace. Sadly, there had been no riding animals found in the palace livery after Xian’s conquest, though Prince Rolin had said his family owned more than fifty. It seemed all the surviving samblars that had belonged to the royal family had been eaten! There was local work aplenty, fetching timber from the hills and starting to rebuild a few houses so the palace would not be so crowded.

  Gaians who, under Xian’s rule, had wrongfully taken over some of the Lealanders sleeping chambers, willingly moved out into the more familiar Gaian tents which had been erected by soldiers. New clans-folk joined Luminor’s warriors, sleeping outside the walls next to the Baramese camp, and they had to admit, they really felt far more at home in the fresh air than they had in the palace anyway.

  The need to survive quickly created an equilibrium of co-operation. To the Lealand humans who had witnessed and suffered Xian’s terrible magic, it really came as no surprise when within hours, Gaian warrior’s were practising their special talents, moving earth to level building sites and turn up fields, creating wells from springs that had previously lain undiscovered deep in the underbelly of the city, and of course moving from one task to another as fast as the wind by air-cloak! Only the strongest humans were still alive here and they put their backs into simple labour just as they had always done, proud of their own skills as carpenters, builders and farmers.

  Three battalions of mounted Baramese soldiers and some Gaian scouts left the following morning, at first light, not long after five hunting parties had fanned out in different directions into the wastelands in search of game. The general mood was buoyant and hopeful, most choosing to ignore the two small groups of dissenters, who also left the palace in different directions. Both groups had chosen to break away for different reasons. Ten angry Lealanders who had been so dissatisfied after the voting, they had withdrawn their fealty to the royal family, stolen rations and sneaked out through the tunnels in the night, and a small radical Gaian clan who preferred to be on their own, rather than in a growing and slightly confronting, mixed-racial group like this; they left in the light of day, unashamed of their choice.