White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10)

by Donald Wigboldy

  “I mean Cheleya and Katya are never going to be alone with their guardians along. At least you can get to talk to Iris a little bit on the road, but can you tell me that trying to ride and talk with everyone around is very easy?

  “You’re a shy guy. You don’t need that pressure and I am sure if you keep working on her, Iris will want to be your girlfriend.”

  “She’s not...” Piotr stopped as he realized that arguing with Niklaus always led to him doing what his older twin wanted anyway. “Fine,” he sighed, but added, “I am not guaranteeing anything. Let’s go outside and see if I can find an animal that can even search like that.”

  “There were birds sheltering in the eaves above the porch when we got here,” Niklaus stated already having a plan in mind.

  The three boys all quickly moved to go outside. Piotr spotted four sparfinches huddling together where his brother had said. Moving a little closer to the birds did little to worry them as these creatures were obviously used to men being around the inn.

  “You two need to prop me up or I might fall over. If I sit on the porch it will look too suspicious,” the boy said looking at the wood planks making up the porch floor. There were scratches from benches that must have been put in storage for the winter. It was an unfortunate circumstance for the boys as Piotr needed to avoid looking suspicious while using his magic. It was also impossible for him to control his body when his mind was tied to another creature’s vision at the same time however.

  Niklaus and Job stood beside him as they leaned against the wood siding considering the birds and the people moving in the street. Since it was cold and the sun was on the verge of setting, it was fairly quiet; but there were people moving to and fro even so.

  “Can you share your visions?” Nik asked out of curiosity. He had never thought to ask before, but the boy hadn’t known that he had any magic potential either.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never tried,” his twin replied. “Maybe if you two are touching me to hold me up I can try to pass it on to you two as well.”

  “You can do that?” Job asked in surprise, though Nik had just asked his brother to try. Magic was foreign to all three of them, even though Piotr had the strongest grasp of what might be possible in their future.

  Placing his hands in his triangle, the boy picked the bird which he noticed watching them closest. Catching its eyes, Piotr quickly found his vision switch. His brother caught his arm as the young wizard’s body went slack. Niklaus placed his left foot against his brother’s shin to straighten the leg and help hold the weight. Job noticed the movement and adjusted to Piotr’s lack of balance similarly.

  Seeing the boys' eyes turn to the birds trying to figure out which one Piotr was in, he tried to pull their vision into the bird as well. It felt strange and both boys shook their heads in confusion.

  “Ah, Piotr, that is so weird. I can kind of see us and you at the same time.”

  Job nodded blinking at the strange double vision.

  “Try closing your eyes,” he mumbled from between them and watched the movements feeling awkward as he watched his body trying to communicate.

  Both boys did as he suggested and they nodded.

  “Nice,” Job said with a smile.

  “Ok, we’ve got you, Piotr. Now go see if you can figure out where their room is,” Niklaus said seeing the three boys from above. It wasn’t the same control as his brother had or quite as vivid, but the shared vision was clear enough while closing their eyes.

  “You might have to try and watch the door at the same time,” Piotr stated taking flight.

  Niklaus tried opening his eyes as the bird flew and had to quickly close his eyes again or he would lose his balance.

  The world shifted for the boys all watching from the bird as it flew.

  Piotr guided it as best he could. The sparfinch had a small brain and wasn’t a perfect fit for his control. He missed Bandit from that point and wondered if the rabbit could stay out of trouble now that he was gone.

  Even that stray thought made the bird veer slightly from his objective of looking through the windows of the two story inn. They knew that the girls were upstairs, since they had climbed them earlier; but he had no idea which room might be theirs. Asking would have made it obvious that they were up to something and from outside it might not have made it much easier anyway.

  On the other hand, Piotr knew the room he and the other boys were in and had seen where Magnus and his wizards were also. Each room was off of the central hallway, so that meant the girls were most likely on the right side of the building as they entered the door. With that bit of news in mind, the bird flew and hovered before each window looking in for just a moment before moving to the next one.

  When he spotted the girls entering the second to last room, Piotr made the creature land on the sill. Neither Cheleya not Katya seemed to notice as they brought in older girl's packs.

  Katya took one pack for her friend as she led the way to the room next door. Both girls had two packs each, but Katya had already put hers to one side by a dresser. They had only been one room away, but now they would be rooming together with Iris and Briahnna as well.

  “This should be fun. Have you ever roomed with a bunch of girls before?” the younger girl asked of Cheleya who was a bit of an enigma to her. The older girl seemed to have a certain amount of wisdom and knowledge that made the younger girl wonder, but there was also a certain naiveté to her as well.

  “The friends I made on the way to Hala slept in the same room with me sometimes,” Cheleya replied as her green eyes seemed to sparkle in the lamp light supplied in the corridor. “My friend Colbie and I had to share a bed in Hala. We stayed in the Two Circles Inn. It was marvelous. We had our own bathroom with heated water. Colbie and I could fit in the tub at the same time.”

  Entering Katya’s room, which was now being taken over by Cheleya and two other girls, the younger girl looked confused as she asked, “You two shared the tub?”

  “She helped me wash my hair and didn’t want to wait her turn, so we shared. It was more than enough room for us. She is no bigger than you.”

  “Well, I guess you are good friends then,” Katya said pointing to the far bed. There were two packs on it already. “Iris and Briahnna have that one and we’ll share this one, if that is all right?”

  Cheleya nodded happily and asked, “I have the proper clothing for it according to Colbie. She helped me find undergarments that she says aren’t... scandalous, I think was the word was that she used.”

  Looking at the girl questioningly as Katya moved to open the wardrobe to pick out a dress from those already hung up there, the girl asked, “You had scandalous underwear before meeting her?”

  “I didn’t have any.”

  “What!?” the younger girl exclaimed. Whether living in the country or the city, no one dressed without the proper underwear, or so she was given to believe by her mother. “How could you not have underwear?”

  Wincing at the question, Cheleya wondered if she had made an error in admitting such a thing to the girl she thought was her friend. Since Colbie and the others from Staron had returned home, only Kel’lor knew of her past. She was unsure if she should trust Katya with that secret yet, but it probably didn’t really matter.

  “My race doesn’t usually wear any clothing. Our bodies don’t make it very useful and I can’t imagine trying to dress like you humans do with those bodies.”

  “What are you talking about, Cheleya?” the younger girl stopped looking in the wardrobe as she began to wonder if her friend was crazy.

  Cheleya paused as she had begun to rifle through her pack for the clothing she wanted to wear for a dance.

  “Can you keep a secret for me, Katya? I mean, it isn’t a complete secret from everyone, but no one aside from Kel’lor knows of it here. I would like to tell you, if you think that you can keep it for me.”

  Intrigued by the idea, Katya was pretty sure that she could keep Cheleya’s secret. After all how bad c
ould it be, she thought and said, “I’ve never given away anyone’s secret before, so I think I can.”

  “Have you noticed the amulet around Kel’lor’s neck?”

  The younger girl nodded.

  “Our people use them to look human. Kel’lor is a mar’goyn’lya and I am a che’ther.”

  Eyes narrowing skeptically, Katya asked, “You’re a dragon?”

  Making a bit of a face at the human name for her race, a term both derogatory and over reaching since legendary dragons were quite different from her race; Cheleya still nodded. She pulled up the sleeve of her pink blouse and held her arm out to the younger girl to look at closely.

  “What am I supposed to see?” the girl asked missing what Cheleya thought she was showing her.

  Sighing, she replied, “My friends told me that, since I had limited knowledge of humans, I incorrectly made my form. Other than the hair on my head, the rest of me has none.”

  The dragoness pulled Katya’s sleeve up and compared their arms. Even though the younger girl was blonde and had very smooth skin, an occasional little blonde hair could be seen catching the light.

  “You don’t have an amulet,” the younger girl said still disbelieving. She could imagine that there were certainly other humans that would have a similar condition to the older girl.

  Cheleya moved to her pack and pulled out a blue sundress before pulling the blouse over her head. Surprising Katya with a bare upper body, the girl continued her story as she kicked her boots free. “I had an amulet and still do. That brings me to the secret I need you to keep.”

  “Being a dragoness wasn’t your secret?” Katya asked in surprise.

  Gesturing to the younger girl, Cheleya asked innocently, “Weren’t you going to change before dinner?”

  Katya unbuttoned her blouse and retorted, “You were saying something about a secret?”

  Cheleya was only clothed in a pair of silk bottoms, but seemed completely comfortable in her skin as she paused to answer the question. “My dragon magic master was a human, who was also a spy for the Dark One. He stole from the Academy, but I walked in on him during the act.

  “In an attempt to blame me for the theft, Malaketh broke my amulet with a spell attaching the pieces to my bones.”

  The girl touched her forehead, collar bone and ribs before turning around to point at a part of her spine.

  “Now I am trapped as a human. Well, a friend managed to connect the pieces with his magic when I am this size, but when they get further apart as a che’ther or dragon, the power will wear off quickly and force me back into this form.”

  Katya had seen a girl in the tournament wearing a necklace as well. The girl had been pretty and looked completely normal beyond that. During her battle with one of her brother’s wizards, the amulet was knocked loose causing her to turn into a dragon in the ring. She was too large to stay in a twenty foot ring counting her tail.

  “That other girl in the tournament...” she started.

  “Isstmira,” Cheleya confirmed with a nod, “uses an amulet as well. A che’ther is far too large to visit one of your cities or stay in one of your inns as a dragon. We use the amulets to transform to human, so we can fit in and join you for things like the tournament on your terms.”

  Katya stopped nearly as undressed as the other girl in her shock. “Wait, you really are a dragon trapped in a human body? But you are so pretty.”

  Moving closer to Katya, Cheleya held up her hair and said, “Smell that?”

  It was the sweet smell that Katya thought was amazing and made the girl smile and close her eyes. “What is that? If it’s perfume, can I try some?”

  Shaking her head, Cheleya held up an arm to let her find the scent there as well. “The amulets tend to enforce characteristics of the users, I was told. I like people and wish to make friends. Being smaller, this scent makes people both like me and want to protect me. Kel’lor wants to be big and a bit scary as a human, because he would rather be a mar’goyn’lya, but my brother takes the form to help blend in and protect me; though I suppose like a lot of our people he kind of misses the point and remains too big to really blend,” she said with a giggle. “Anyway, that is my curse and my secret. No one in Hala could really help, so Ambassador Theress got permission for me to go to White Hall to learn and maybe find someone who could break the curse spell.”

  “So you are really a che’ther? Aw, and I thought you were just a little strange before,” laughed Katya as the reality of the other girl’s situation began to settle into her mind. She had seen a che’ther in the tournament change and another created a tail during a battle, so it wasn’t impossible to imagine for her. At Cheleya’s look of disappointment at being called strange, she impulsively hugged the girl saying, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You are so sweet and adorable. I really like you, Cheleya. I’ll keep your secret. Trust me.”

  Pulling away, she suddenly blushed realizing the other girl only had her silk bottoms and only her bra and bottoms separated her from being naked as well. “Anyway, we should probably get dressed before someone misses us.”

  Piotr returned the bird to his friends under the porch roof before releasing its mind while still in shock at what he had heard. It had been more of a show than expected, but the boy had also heard every word as well.

  Looking at his brother and then Job, who were both equally wide eyed, he asked, “Did you hear that?”

  Grinning back, Niklaus retorted, “More importantly, did you see them? Cheleya was almost completely naked and so gorgeous!”

  Job shrugged at that point and said, “I think I like my girls with a little more on top.”

  “Your girls? Come on, Job, what girls have you had so far and gotten to see like that?”

  The other boy frowned slightly and confessed, “Well, I haven’t seen any like them, but still you know what I mean!”

  “Guys, did you miss what they were talking about?” Piotr asked in shock that they could still be talking about the nearly naked girls in their room.

  Niklaus shrugged and replied, “I couldn’t hear anything beyond what was going on around us here. How about you, Job?”

  The other boy shook his head and added, “Closing my eyes I could see fine, but open my eyes see more of what is down here. Maybe if we had covered our ears, we could have heard what you did. Why what did they say? Were they talking about us?”

  Piotr wasn’t sure that he should share, even if one of them was Niklaus. It had been Cheleya’s secret and only Katya was supposed to know. He had not only watched them undress with the others, he had overheard something that he shouldn’t have.

  With both boys looking at him expectantly, Piotr lied, “Well, it was just about how pretty they were and stuff; but it was pretty surprising to me.”

  Niklaus shrugged and retorted, “Ah well, I’m sure it wasn’t as important as seeing those two undressed and hugging each other. Wow.”

  Job nodded and the two began to walk ahead of Piotr to reenter the inn.

  Glancing to the little bird, Piotr said aloud, “This is just between you and me then, my friend.”

  With a chirp as if the creature accepted his vow, the boy went inside to join the others.

  As the boys sat beside Qeyr and the other girls, Piotr looked to Kel’lor still brooding at his table as he waited for Cheleya to return. He was really a mar’goyn’lya, the girl had said, and she was a che’ther, a gargoyle and dragon by human terms. They were going to White Hall, a school for wizards, and according to Cheleya someone had approved her submission in Hala.

  He wondered if the ambassador had admitted what the girl was before the person giving permission signed that document. It was a possibility that she had been admitted falsely. Should he tell someone? This curse was her secret and Katya said that the girl was sweet and naive. Was she really a spy instead?

  The gargoyles and dragons of Mar’kal were supposed to be allies to Southwall. Would they bother to sneak someone into Southwall like some human wizard of th
e Dark One who had been sent by someone to spy on them?

  Being unsure of what to do, Piotr sat in his seat facing the giant. Placing his hands in the triangle used to enter an animal’s mind, the boy played with the feel of the other man’s mind. It felt different and was a wall to his magic. Aiming at some unknown man sitting at another table who happened to be looking his way, he noticed a difference. Humans were immune to this type of magic as well, but the two minds had felt different.

  Testing one last human, Piotr nodded to himself and noted that both regular humans felt the same. Ardost turned and the boy felt the same for him as the other humans. Magic or not, there was a difference from those who were real and the one that was an illusion.

  The two girls returned looking beautiful. Piotr would have been surprised if every man in the room didn’t look at them. Cheleya was in a vibrant blue dress which brushed the tops of her knees. Katya’s dress was black with golden highlights of filigree around the neck and on her sleeves. A leather belt treated to look like it had gold highlights broke up the black around her waist. Her skirt was only slightly longer as it touched the tops of her shiny, black boots that came to mid calf.

  “Wow, they look almost as good that way,” Niklaus stated in admiration. The girl’s had pulled their hair back with gold clips revealing their faces more and the graceful line of their necks. Katya had earrings of gold to match her outfit. How a girl raised on a farm had gotten them was beyond Piotr, while the other boys didn’t seem to care or even notice such things.

  Job nodded, though his eyes seemed to stray to Briahnna from time to time while they sat. Apparently, Piotr thought, the girl was more his type. She was still young, but certainly was a little more buxom than the other two slim girls.

  Iris leaned closer to him and said, “They certainly look ready to find someone to dance with tonight. I thought that they had tried to look beautiful yesterday, but apparently I was wrong.”