The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1

by Rachel Ronning

  “That man is evil,” said Maya with conviction referring to Gavin.

  “It could not have been that bad,” said Lucy.

  “Oh, yes it could.”

  “Maya, you have to learn to get used to spending hours on a horse,” said Justin.

  “Riding a horse, sure, but do we need to go over jumps or race at breakneck speeds down hills?”

  “Yes,” said Gavin simply, walking towards them and looking completely relaxed, and not at all like he had been racing a horse at breakneck speed all morning.

  Maya glared at him.

  “Justin, some healing would be greatly appreciated,” said Maya, looking pathetic.

  Justin shook his head.

  “Most of what you feel is tiredness and sore muscles. That’s not something to heal. Your muscles need to harden and get used to riding like that. If I heal that feeling, you lose any ground you gained today.”

  Maya knew he was probably right, but that did not make her feel any better. To take her mind off the soreness, she turned to Lucy.

  “How did your potions test go?”

  “Really well. I passed so I don’t need to take potions anymore.”

  “Good. I’ve decided not to spar today. I’ll watch for a while, but then I’m going to go take a shower,” announced Maya.

  “Nope, sorry,” said Gavin, “You need to be able to ride like that and then fight. You never know when you might have to do that.”

  “You make a good point,” responded Maya, “However, I know that today is not that day. I will do that next time.” Gavin was working up another protest, but Maya held up her hand. “One step at a time, Gavin. We can only push ourselves so far. Lucy just passed out of potions; I would not expect her to pass out of something else tomorrow. That’s too much too quick. Well, for me, this is too much too quick. I’ll spar tomorrow.”

  Gavin decided to let it go. He had forced her to ride pretty hard. Instead he turned to Darren and smiled.

  “I, on the other hand, am quite willing to ride hard and then fight. Shall we see what you have been learning?”

  Darren nodded, and they went to go get weapons.

  “Poor Darren, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into,” said Lucy.

  “I wouldn’t feel too bad for him. He’ll probably take a beating and be sore tomorrow, but he’ll learn something. So, shall I bring the lady a weapon?” asked Justin.

  “Please do.”

  “What shall we spar with today?”

  “I think I want to continue with my sword practice,” said Lucy. “I’m not half bad. I can always get better, and I want to work with it a little more before I start a new weapon.”

  Justin walked off and Lucy turned to Maya who had closed her eyes against the heat of the sun.

  “Did he really make you ride that hard?”

  “Yes, but I suppose it is necessary.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, it doesn’t do me much good to speak all the languages on Kinowenn if I can’t travel from place to place. The better you know how to ride in different conditions, the more likely you are to get from one place to the next.”

  Lucy nodded. That made sense. She was about to ask another question when Justin returned. He handed her a practice sword and they entered the yard, giving a wide berth to Darren and Gavin. Gavin was grinning and Darren was doing his best to keep up.

  Lucy and Justin faced each other and began to spar. They went back and forth for awhile, each testing the other’s skills. The sword was not Justin’s best weapon so he did not mind getting some practice in. That said, despite Lucy’s few lessons they were not that unevenly matched and both were beginning to breathe heavily. However, Justin also had a hard time letting a chance go by to test Lucy’s growing magical abilities and so the swordplay got more complicated.

  First, Justin tried making Lucy’s sword heavier. It took her half a second to figure out what was going on, and she managed to not only block Justin’s spell but send one back towards him to make him slower. Justin, who had been expecting her to block his spell but not send one back, did not block her spell in time to avoid getting thrapped across the shoulder.

  “I see you’ve learned a trick or two,” said Justin.

  “I see you can’t let anything be simple,” replied Lucy.

  So, on they fought. Lucy made the air around her as hard as stone so Justin’s sword reverberated off it. Justin made her slip then bent the light around himself and became invisible. Lucy couldn’t see him, but decided she did not have to be able to see him to turn his sword into a daisy. Justin became visible again, turned his sword back into a sword, and split his image in two, one on each side of Lucy. Lucy hesitated for a moment and reacted with thought, as she had been doing since the sparring turned dirty. Suddenly, both of Justin’s images had swords at their throats. Lucy had grabbed the swords from Darren and Gavin and put them there. Darren and Gavin, deprived momentarily of their weapons, turned to watch. Justin put darkness over Lucy’s eyes so she could not see. He did not count on the panic that this would cause. Lucy screamed in fear of not being able to see when weapons, practice or real, were involved and instead of removing the spell, which would have been much easier to do, she reacted again. Fire sprang from her hands and went in all directions.

  Justin jumped back just in time to avoid being fried. He immediately removed the spell so she could see again. Lucy felt very drained and collapsed. Everyone rush forward to see if she was alright. Her hands were burned. This happens to beginners who don’t know how to throw fire properly. Interestingly enough, the effect would have been much the same if she had shot ice from her hands. Too much uncontrolled power finds ways to leave marks. Lucy’s eyes fluttered open.

  “Perhaps we can take things slower next time,” she said with a weak smile to Justin.

  He nodded and took her hands in his, healing the burns. She was capable of so much. He needed to let her learn a little slower and learn control. He needed to curb his impulse to see how much she could do on instinct. If he didn’t, it was possible one of them could get badly hurt. Darren was looking at Lucy with a mix of concern and amazement.

  “I had no idea you could do that,” he said.

  “Neither did I,” replied Lucy. “I’m not sure I could again if I tried and I’m not sure I want to. I want to learn more control.”

  No one argued with that. Maya took over at this point and led Lucy back to her rooms. Both girls wanted to shower and perhaps take a nap before dinner. When they were out of earshot Gavin turned to Justin.

  “What were you thinking?”

  “I’m sorry. I started enjoying the challenge, and I let things get out of control,” said Justin.

  “I’ll say! You push too hard, Justin.”

  “You pushed Maya today,” said Justin in his defense even though they were two entirely different scenarios.

  “Yes, I did, because it needed to be done. Maya has to learn to ride better than she does. She won’t get better unless we push. We know Lucy can do amazing things when pushed. However, we have time to allow her to develop her skills other ways, and she shows every inclination of wanting to do so. Why must you push her? All you are going to do is end up making her afraid of her power. She needs to embrace her power not fear it!” shouted Gavin.

  “I know. I just get curious to see what she can do.” It sounded weak even to Justin.

  “Stop being curious. Be her friend, be her adviser, teach her control and how to do things without hurting herself. What if it wasn’t you here? What if someone else were playing that game with her? Someone who couldn’t heal like you can? If it had just been her and I, I would have had to carry her to the infirmary. Who knows what she could have done? She could have blown us all to bits! Then where would we be?”

  Gavin looked like he was about to say more but seemed to remember Darren was still standing there and closed his mouth.

  “I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again,” said Justin.

 
Gavin turned to Darren. “Shall we continue? I believe I was in process of showing you how real men fight,” he said with a grin.

  Darren grinned back, and they began to fight. Darren let the goading comment pass mainly because Gavin was that much better and Darren wanted to learn. Also, his mind was partially thinking about what had just happened. He felt like there was some vital information he was missing, but at the same time he was not sure he really wanted to know what that piece of information was.

  Justin walked back to his own room, chastising himself all the way. How could he be so stupid? That was twice in one day he had pushed her, and both times had backfired in ways he had not predicted. He knew he needed to work with her slowly. He just didn’t know how much time they had. He was halfway down the hallway when Eric caught up with him.

  “What did you think you were doing?”

  “It seemed innocent enough to start with, and I know it turned out horribly wrong. Don’t worry, I won’t do it again. Gavin already yelled at me and my inner monologue is doing a pretty good job of yelling at me as well.”

  Eric nodded. He had known Justin a long time and knew that there was probably nothing he could say at this point that Justin had not already told himself.

  “Quinn wants to talk to you,” Eric said in a low voice and walked off in another direction.

  Justin sighed. He had definitely made a mess out of things today. He turned and started walking upstairs to the tower where Quinn’s offices were.

  Chapter 18

  Dinner that evening was an interesting affair. The Dining Hall had been rearranged so that there was a head table on a dais where everyone could see. At it sat Althric and the members of his council that he had brought with him. He was decidedly average. Not too tall or short and somewhere between lean and well-muscled. He had mouse-brown hair, brown eyes, and no facial features that stood out. Lucy glanced in his direction and dismissed him.

  Lucy felt much better after her shower and was chatting with Maya who also felt better after a long soak in her tub. Lucy noticed that she looked like she had taken more care than usual with her appearance tonight. She supposed that even if Maya had no intention of accepting an offer from Althric, she couldn’t help wanting to look her best, just in case. Gavin was shoveling large portions of steak and mushrooms into his mouth. Justin was quiet and though not picking at his food, also not eating with his usual zeal.

  “Not much to look at, is he,” commented Gavin in between mouthfuls.

  “Perhaps not,” replied Maya, “but he could still be kind.”

  “You intend to meet him?” wondered Gavin.

  “Yes.”

  “What’s the point?” asked Gavin confused.

  “The point is that he is a ruler. I am aware that I am currently going to Kinowenn, but that doesn’t have to be forever. I want to make a good impression on every ruler that comes through. It never hurts to be polite,” said Maya. “and it always feels good to get an offer to be queen, even if you intend to turn it down.”

  Gavin shrugged. He would never understand Maya’s political skills or concerns. He relied on weapons rather than sweet words and empty promises. A good warrior was always needed, and as long as he had the respect of whoever he was in charge of, he didn’t care two figs about who ran the country. Maya believed politics were important and did her best to understand them and the workings of them.

  “You’ll come with me won’t you?” Maya asked Lucy.

  “What? No, I wasn’t planning on it,” said Lucy suddenly dismayed.

  “Why not, it will be good for you.”

  “Won’t he get the wrong idea?”

  “Not if you don’t let him.

  “Only if you want me to come,” said Lucy as Maya nodded in approval, “but let’s keep far away from the man on his left.”

  “Definitely,” said Maya in agreement.

  The man on Althric’s left could only be described as smarmy. He was a little man with dark hair, a goatee, and a mustache that curled up at the ends. He was dressed fancier than Althric and had an air of deceit about him. He looked like the kind of advisor that was waiting to poison the correct amount of people to be allowed to take control. However, at the same time, you could tell he deferred to Althric. So, he respected Althric, feared him, or simply did not have enough support yet to be openly condescending. In fact, it happened to be fear that kept the man in check, but he was still a man to watch out for.

  After dinner, the tables were moved to the sides to allow people to interact with Althric. Most people lined up to be introduced and then milled around pleasantly while Althric went from this group to that. Maya and Lucy were about half way down the introduction line. When their time came, they were polite and Althric kissed both of their hands. His eyes, however, were cold. In one look he assessed Maya’s talent with politics, but his eyes lingered on Lucy making her uncomfortable. Then they moved on.

  Maya was unimpressed. They stayed awhile and then left to one of the study rooms. There were plenty of willing or curious women, more than Lucy would have thought, and there was no point in staying. They assumed that their exit had gone unnoticed. It had not. Althric watched them leave and turned to the little man who had sat beside him during dinner.

  “I want her,” was all he said and the other man nodded.

  Lucy sat on the floor and Maya sat in a chair behind her braiding her hair while Justin worked on teaching her control. He knew she could make a ball of water so they worked with that to start with. They got two bowls of water. Justin would raise a little ball of water and Lucy would try to raise one that was the exact size. Then, they would float them through the air and place them in the other person’s bowl. Sometimes they kept the balls whole and floated them on the water while making the next one. It was relaxing and challenging. Gavin and Maya were impressed. Neither of them had the inclination nor the skill to do the exercise, however they did not mention that to Lucy. Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. They were all tired from the day’s events and went to bed earlier than usual.

  The next day was not nearly as taxing. Justin, Gavin, Maya, and Lucy went out for a ride. They kept it an easy one to be kind to Maya’s sore muscles, but it was still a long one. Maya winced every now and then but did not complain.

  Lucy loved the ride and had a lovely conversation with Ash as they went. Lucy told her about her potions exam. Ash told her what she had overheard from Maya’s horse from yesterday post-ride. Lucy tried hard not to laugh. Ash had a way of making any story seem funny. They both commented on the beautiful weather and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

  After the ride and after lunch, Maya and Gavin sparred, while Justin worked with Lucy again. First, they finished going through all the simpler spells in her book. She would get tested by Maryn, when Maryn had the chance, and then she could get the next book, provided she passed satisfactorily. Then, they went back to water exercises. Justin thought they were good because there was a lot they could do with water and it at least had Lucy working with an element. Working with elements was useful, important, and not everyone could do it. Learning how to control one element could make it easier when learning how to control another. Playing with water was less potentially harmful and less scary than playing with fire. He thought about working with air, but water was easier to see, so he decided to stick with that. This time they were juggling balls of water that were different sizes and colors. When Justin got bored with this, he tossed them in the direction of Gavin. Gavin laughed it off.

  Justin decided to try something. There was a dandelion white and ready to go to seed a few feet away and Justin floated it to his hand. He blew it at Lucy and she laughed.

  “Pick up one of the seeds,” said Justin.

  She did.

  “Now, put it on the ground with your hand on top of it. I want you to concentrate on feeling inside of that seed and make it grow.”

  “Make it grow?”

  “Yes.”

  Lucy shrugged and did
as Justin asked. The worst thing that could happen was nothing. So she concentrated. She reached down into the seed and found that it needed earth and water to grow so she gave it earth and water. It needed to be warm so she gave it the warmth of her mind and the earth, and she asked it very gently to grow. Lucy wasn’t too sure if anything was going to happen, but then she felt something moving under her hand and moved it out of the way. There, where the seed had been, was the beginning of a dandelion. She sent her mind to it and encouraged it to keep growing, and soon it was bright yellow and open. Lucy looked up at Justin and smiled.

  “Very good,” he said and smiled back. They were making progress.

  After dinner, Lucy went back to her room to read her intro to healing assignment. She could have done that in a study room with the others, but she thought she wanted some time alone. Lucy was used to spending time alone, and it felt weird but good to spend so much time with other people. Still, she needed some time to be alone with her thoughts. A lot had happened in the last few days. Lucy decided she could be overwhelmed by it or accept it and go on. She decided to accept it. The fire incident had been scary, but Justin had been careful to go slowly since, and she appreciated it. She formed two balls of water from the glass on her window sill and rolled them in her hands like Chinese Meditation balls. She was learning control, and that was what was important.

  For awhile, she thought about her family. She missed them, but not as much as she thought she would. Perhaps she would miss them more if she was unhappy. But she wasn’t unhappy. In fact, this was the happiest she’d ever been in her life. She was taking classes that fascinated her, and she was good at it. The school was implying that there would be a place for her in another world when she was done with her training here. That was certainly not something she had where she had come from.

  She knew her family wasn’t worrying about her and that helped too. Not enough time had passed yet for her family to wonder where she was, but maybe it was time to talk to Eric about what they should do. When she had fun in a class, she thought about how much she would love to tell her brother about it. Peter would have laughed hard at the pumpkin escapade. She wasn’t sure how she would explain all this to her parents or what their reaction would be, but she was sure Peter would support her. Lucy shrugged, whatever her options, she wasn’t going to get any answers tonight so she opened her book and began to read. After finishing her reading, she decided to go to bed, even though it was early. It wouldn’t hurt her to get some sleep, and tomorrow would be a busy day again.