by Taki Drake
In the Cards
by Taki Drake
A Story From the Vorcian Imperial Chronicles
Table of Contents
Title Page
Legal Stuff
Dedications
Chapter 1– Waterns of Barkin Prime
Chapter 2 – Homecoming
Chapter 3 – First Aid
Chapter 4 – Promise Kept
Chapter 5 – Preparations
Chapter 6 – Grandma
Chapter 7 – Quality Time
Chapter 8 – Birthday Gift
Chapter 9 – Seer’s Power
Chapter 10 – Thwarted
Chapter 11 – Other Gifts
Author Notes
Author - Taki Drake
Keep Connected
Legal Stuff
Copyright © Taki Drake, All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction of any kind is strictly prohibited unless written permission granted by the author.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Published by All Chaos Press
Dedications
First and foremost, this book is dedicated to my husband. His support and devotion have created an environment in which I have been able to dare to extend myself into new areas with the absolute certainty that someone will always have my back. Thank you, John. Thank you for your love and support, and being there in my life.
This book is also dedicated to the great group of crazy writers at Phoenix Prime. Those supportive, encouraging, and crazy indie authors have provided guidance, encouragement, and participation in my growth as writer of fiction.
None of this would be possible without the incomparable Ds, Dorene and Diane. Editors, beta readers, cheerleaders, and a bright spot in my life.
Getting the story to publish is the result of a ton of work from the All Chaos Press team. Thank you Ann and Sha for putting in the effort to keep me going!
My loving thanks to you all!
Chapter 1– Waterns of Barkin Prime
The sky-blue hue that was the uniform color for all Barkin Healers was the predominant color in the grand hall. The small dark-haired girl loved the color. It spoke to her of home and safety, like a warm pool of water that comforted the skin, offering warmth and buoyancy.
While strangers coming into the building might feel intimidated by the elaborate decorations and the wide expanses, the child was accustomed to her home and saw nothing unusual as she regarded the paneled or silk-clad walls and the intricately carved furniture.
Skipping happily down the empty hall, Corda made her way toward the family staircase that all of the children used. She was returning from an errand and was quite proud of herself.
I’m the oldest little in the nursery right now, she thought. It is so nice to be able to help Nanny by going and getting things instead of having to always stay in the nursery.
Filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment, Corda ran up the family staircase on dancing little feet. She was in a big hurry to get back to the nursery and report on what she had found out for Nanny. Without slowing down, she turned the corner and continued straight for the nursery door.
“Hah! I caught you! Now you’re going to get into trouble, Rugrat.” It was the voice of her second oldest brother, Pharyl, one that filled her with a sense of dread every time she heard his nasal tones. Hoping to avoid him, the little girl tried to speed up, but was snagged by a large, adolescent hand and yanked to a stop by a cruel grip on her braided hair.
“Let me go!” she cried. “Nanny sent me on an errand, and now I am supposed to go back to the nursery. You should not be bothering me.”
In the filtered light of the hallway, her brother’s otherwise attractive face was drawn in lines of cruelty. Corda suppressed a shudder knowing that if she showed fear to him, it would only make the situation worse. Knowing that she could raise her voice and call for Nanny was not much comfort.
The servants did not easily challenge the family members that were no longer in the nursery. While their nurse and instructors had authority over the children’s behavior in the classroom and playroom, in the rest of the house the older children were to be treated with the same respect that her mother and father demanded.
The only thing that my calling for help will do is to get Nanny into trouble. I either think faster to avoid getting hurt, or he’s going to get to play his games again.
Corda felt like two different people right then. The first one was ready to cry or scream, trying to get someone to rescue her. The second one wasn’t looking for anybody else to help her. Instead, she was searching for a solution that would get her out of the situation with body parts intact.
It was as if the little girl could lean one way, and the heat of her emotions would wrap around her, giving her the energy to scream loudly enough to get an adult to help. Corda thought of that part of her as a tiny girl, one that was too small and weak to help herself.
Leaning to the other side of her inner self was like being dumped in the cold water of a mountain stream. All the heat and turmoil of emotions went away, leaving calm logic and clear thoughts in its wake.
One way, I need to depend on somebody else to rescue me, while the other means I take care of myself. In a household with seven children, attention was always spread thin. From a very young age, she had known that if she wanted something done that there was a good chance, she would have to do it herself.
Deciding to take a more aggressive stand with her brother than she had before, Corda refused to cry. Instead, she turned to squarely face her brother, ignoring the pain of her scalp as he tightened his grip on her hair.
“Pharyl, you should be the one who’s worried about being here. I heard Father telling you that you have to pay more attention to your studies. Aren’t you supposed to be in the classroom with your tutor working on mathematics?”
“Shut up! I don’t need this stupid math! Of course, they’re going to let me into the Academy! After all, I’m a Watern, and we have been graduates of the Academy for hundreds of years.”
“I’m young enough that I don’t have classes during most the day, but if you want to get into the Academy, you have to get better at several subjects. Father told you that you have to pass tests, and your tutor says you have not been studying enough.”
Wrenching her hair braid one more time, the second eldest son of the Watern household stomped down the hall toward the main staircase. Corda kept her stance frozen until he moved out of sight. Only then did she feel safe enough to continue toward the nursery.
Just before she reached the sanctuary of the nursery, one of the many housemaids that worked in the household stopped her with a hand gesture. The maid was older than most of those employed by the Watern family, with a worn face and gentle eyes. Wordlessly, the woman adjusted Corda’s braid, smoothing it so that any disarray was erased.
“Thank you,” whispered the little girl. The maid simply nodded and continued on her errand.
Corda pushed the door to the nursery open and was immediately overwhelmed by noise and motion. One pair of twins was in the middle of a very heated argument over the use of some sort of color in the drawing that they were doing jointly. The other twins were sitting over on a sunlit window bench in their usual positions.
Ever since Jen and Jerry have been able to walk, they always sit next to each other. Even when they’re doing something like looking at a picture book, they seem to need to touch. The almost 10-year-old girl felt a stab of
sadness at the way that each pair of her younger siblings always had a companion. They all had someone that they could talk to, tell them anything, and asked them for their help. I wish I had somebody like that. Then Pharyl wouldn’t be able to hurt me like he does, the little girl thought to herself.
“There you are, lovey. Did you deliver the note to Cook?” The speaker was the comfortably padded and cheerful caretaker of the younger children in the Watern household. All of her charges called her Nanny, and none of them knew any other name. She ruled over the contained chaos of the nursery with a positive attitude and firm but loving manner.
She was one of Corda’s favorite people in the world.
“Yes, Nanny! I told Cook what you wanted and gave her your note. I was supposed to tell you, “thank you very much,” and that she would adjust the nursery menu to reflect your request.”
“Very good! You are such a helpful little girl, Corda. I was worried a little bit when it took so long for you to get back. Did you find something that you needed to do?”
Corda gulped a little before answering, “Pharyl wanted to have a discussion with me. It did slow me down a little bit, Nanny. I am sorry.”
“That is all right dear. How about if you, Jen, and Jerry come over to the table and we can go over the rank emblems of the meritocracy of Barkin Prime?”
Eager to show that they had learned the lesson well, the three designated children moved obediently to their seats at the table. Nanny proceeded to show them pictures of the different ranks of occupation, asking them questions about each one.
Jerry was excited, not only answering the questions about the different types of ranks but wanting to go into detail from everything that he had found when he was reading. The sight of her seven-year-old brother, with his chest puffed up and his face pink, reminded Corda of one of their yard fowls.
The little girl smiled as she thought of how the bird always took a deep breath and stood in a very similar way before it was ready to let out a large squawk. It was very hard not to laugh out loud as her brother continued to talk, but she knew he would be upset and even hurt if she showed him how amused she was.
Healer, Artisan, Artist, Maker, Bard. Jerry listed each of the disciplines that were recognized on Barkin Prime. His twin, Jen, reinforced his statements and added little comments of her own when her brother paused for breath.
Then it was Corda’s turn. Nanny had asked her to go over the ranking system, and the little girl was proud that she had remembered each of the insignias and the titles that went with them. It made sense to her that the indications of rank were the same across each of the disciplines and that each had their own unique color.
Corda had even drawn pictures for each of the insignia. She pointed to the blue tab that adorned the top of Nanny’s right shoulder and said, “The blue color tells us that Nanny is a qualified Healer. The single tab indicates that her ranking is less than Master. Its presence in her right shoulder identifies her as a Practitioner.”
Nanny clapped her hands approvingly, and said, “Excellent, Corda. That was very well done, and I like the drawings that you did.”
In response to the praise, the little girl smiled broadly and said, “Of course, the best color is blue. All Healers wear the blue of their calling with the insignia that tells everyone whether they are an Apprentice, Journeyman, Practitioner, Master, or Adept.”
Her brother decided to argue, saying, “I don’t know why you can make a statement like blue is the best. I’m sure the other disciplines think their color is better than ours.”
Before it could turn into a full-fledged argument, Nanny interjected, “It is understandable that Corda prefers blue. After all, the members of the Watern family have been Healers for centuries. It’s part of the family tradition, and the list of accomplishments that is posted in the Academy has many members of your family and many of your ancestors listed.”
Jen, the quieter of the twins, asked, “Are we always Healers?”
“Yes, dear. For some reason, the Waterns have never really included any other discipline in the core family line. You’ve had many different types of Healers, including those that specialize in bone structure, family function, and mental health. However, every single one of the Watern children that has attended the Academy and graduated has been a Healer.”
The twins looked at each other, seeming to have a whole conversation without saying a word. This time, it was Jerry that voiced the question in their minds, “Is politics a calling? Our father talks more and more about that, rather than the patients that he’s healed.”
Corda added, “Nanny, Momma is always talking about patients that she is seeing and how they’re doing, but Father doesn’t talk about that at all. Does that mean that he’s changing disciplines?”
“Absolutely not! Whenever you have an organization of people getting them to work together and getting anything accomplished requires politics. Your father is very good at that and so many of the Healers that don’t understand that environment leave it to him.”
Relieved, Jen said, “Oh! That is why he has his new title. I wondered why the people that come to the house no longer call him Master Healer. Now they are calling him Healer Secondus.”
Nanny’s face had an expression that Corda could not interpret and she noticed that the woman was swiftly straightening up their table, tidying the piles of the material and aligning the unoccupied chairs. She always looks like that when something has upset her, and she doesn’t want to talk to us about it. I wonder what we said that made her unhappy?
Standing up, the children’s caretaker announced in a bright voice, “I know that what I’m going to tell you is going to really please you. Your eldest brother, Bertor, successfully passed all of the tests at the Academy. He is coming home tomorrow so that your parents can have a party celebrating his accomplishments.”
Jen squealed, “Does that mean he’s a Master Healer now?”
Before Nanny could answer, Corda interrupted, saying, “No, silly. That means that Bert is a Journeyman Healer. He has to complete at least two years of healing in his specialty before they would consider awarding him a Mastery!”
Eyes downcast, Jen murmured, “I remember now. Sorry, but it would just be so nice to see him again. He always does wonderful things for us, and he doesn’t mind that we are younger than he is.”
Shepherding her charges over to get cleaned up for supper, Nanny reassured them, saying, “Your eldest brother is a wonderful young man. He is very fond of all of you and enjoys doing things with you. I am sure that he will continue to make your father proud and provide his support to all of his younger siblings.”
Chapter 2 – Homecoming
Corda was sitting in the window bench quietly reading a book on the history of their land when she heard the sounds that she had been listening for. Even from the second floor, the little girl’s acute hearing picked up the opening of the main door and the Butler’s respectful and pleased greeting to her eldest brother.
“Welcome home, Master Bertor! We were all pleased to hear of your Academy graduation. It is a complement to your illustrious house that you are now the latest Journeyman Watern.”
Dropping her book onto the floor, Corda took off at a sprint, hurtling over her youngest brothers and charging toward the main staircase. Sounding behind her was the voice of Nanny, calling out, “Corda! Please wait!”
All the little girl could think of was that her big brother, her favorite sibling, had come home. Totally focused on not letting one more second go without his comforting presence, Corda ignored slipping rugs and slippery stairs to arrive in a tumbling heap of exuberance at her brother’s feet.
Laughing, Bert bent over and lifted his sister up, hugging her and saying tenderly, “Slow down little one. I have not been gone that long.”
“Bert, Bert! I am so glad you came home. I’ve missed you so much. I have a lot to tell you, and you’re the best birthday present that I could ever have!”
Corda threw her arm
s around her brother’s neck and hugged him hard, burying her little face under his chin. Burrowing into the safety of his embrace, she murmured, “It is so lonely without you. No one else talks to me like you do. And no one really cares about what I do.”
“I love you, Corda. Always remember that. When I am not here, just think about the fact that even when I’m away from you, you are in my thoughts and my heart. Every day I’m away, I will send you invisible hugs and loves.”
“Every day?”
“I promise.”
Before Bert could put Corda down, the siblings' father and mother came into the receiving hall at a stately pace. The little girl felt her brother stiffen, and she realized that he was changing the way he stood. Carefully, the eldest son of the family placed his sister on her feet and released her.
Taking a couple of steps toward his father and mother, Bert spoke first, “Father and Mother, as you can see, I have arrived just this moment, safe and sound.”
With a disapproving tone to his voice, Ealtert Heson Watern IV, Healer Adept, greeted his eldest son and heir. “I see your hoyden of a sister has already claimed the first greeting. However ill-behaved she may be, my son we are pleased to welcome the newest graduate of the Barkin Academy for Magical Disciplines.”
The younger children’s mother, Aret, released her husband’s arm and came over to hug her eldest stepson, saying softly, “Journeyman Watern, the title has a lovely ring. Congratulations on not only your graduation but the high ranking that you earned.”
“Thank you, Lady Mother. The time away from our family was made easier by your thoughtful gifts each month. Not only I, but my three roommates also found them a pleasant break from the food they serve to all the students.”
Interrupting the conversation between his son and his wife, Ealtert looked at Corda and said in a cold tone, “Your behavior was unseemly. I thought Nanny understood to give you better instructions. Perhaps I should review her employment.”
Corda was horror-struck, and tears rose in her eyes. Before she could respond, her mother exclaimed, “My dear, please consider. Corda is only 10 years old. Actually, she is nine years old until tomorrow. As she is only a child, perhaps you can forgive her this once acting emotionally.” Aret stood with a calm but somehow beseeching look on her face as she waited for her husband’s response.