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

by Donald Wigboldy

  “Aw, dang it!” The little blonde cursed as she let him go to add, “You saw me without my bra then. No fair!”

  Iris turned white and asked, “All of us?”

  He kept his eyes closed and nodded feeling very ashamed because he really liked Iris too.

  “Would you put your clothes on, Cheleya?” the apprentice asked wanting to sit down on the bed without having to look at the beautiful girl any closer.

  “Some people don’t believe that I am a che’ther until they see that I didn’t know to put hair... elsewhere,” the dragoness finished tentatively knowing from her friends from Staron that she wasn’t supposed to mention such things, especially in front of a boy.

  “I believe you. Just get dressed so I can try to think,” Iris sighed closing her eyes so she could sit.

  Katya seemed almost completely at ease with all of it and said, “I’m almost thinking that we need to get revenge like forcing him to streak through the town without his clothes or something.”

  “Please, don’t,” the boy said worriedly.

  Cheleya moved to release her spell on his clothes and Piotr found that his arms had gone to sleep as he tried to shake out the pins and needles as his blood flowed properly again. The pretty blonde pulled on her blouse and skirt quickly before waiting to put on the slippers since they would take only a second.

  Iris stood up and looked at the other three looking very serious. “Fine, Piotr, Katya, we must all swear not to tell Cheleya’s secret unless she decides to stop keeping it.”

  The apprentice looked at the pretty, little blonde and asked, “So why are you going to White Hall then?”

  Katya looked interested having never truly thought to ask her friend fully. She figured if it was truly important, Cheleya would tell her.

  “Since my mother hates magic and seeing me in this body always made her angry, I asked Ambassador Theress if he thought that I could go where the great battle mage Sebastian Trillon had gone to school. Perhaps I could learn how to be a battle mage, though it seems a lot like being a dragon mage in some ways. I also started to be able to heal, because it is so similar to alteration magic.”

  Iris was forced to ask, though Piotr did not know of that magic either, “Alteration magic, like what you did with the blouse?”

  Pointing at Piotr, Cheleya said, “Like when I turned his shirt to stone or changed the color of your blouse and made it the right size for you.

  “When I started making my clothes from a dead wizard’s clothing, I had to learn how to make my magic stitch it together and change the color and texture. Those things are part of alteration magic, but no one ever uses it in Mar’kal. They think that it is frivolous magic, so it isn’t taught.

  “Anyway, when I realized that what I was doing was similar to healing, I was able to do some of that as well. It is only a short step from making clothing mend to mending flesh.”

  Iris looked uncomprehendingly at the girl and asked, “So you want to be able to learn how to be a battle mage and how to be a wizard?”

  Cheleya shook her head in surprise at the question and replied, “I am already a wizard, well at least an apprentice in several practices. I can call all the elements, heal a bit now, and use dragon magic to fly and the like.”

  The three looked at her in complete shock, and asked as one, “You can fly?!”

  Nodding, the girl answered, “Ambassador Theress left it to my discretion whether your people were ready to learn our special magic. Our people were afraid that if your citizens learned that wizards could learn to fly, they would be afraid of the Dark One’s warlocks getting a hold of the magic to use against you.

  “I fought new creatures of the Dark One. Giant shrikes with magical powers that we think are warlocks using amulets to change like we do to human. If that is true, I think maybe it would be wise to teach your people how to use dragon magic as well. Your wizards and maybe battle mages can learn to fly and fight the creatures in the sky.

  Iris’s eyes were wide and she asked, “Could you demonstrate for us and let us see how you fly?”

  Cheleya giggled and nodded, “Of course, if I can trust you with my other secrets, then I might as well show you this as well.”

  Slipping out the back of the building, Cheleya hurried to the edge of Mera, which wasn’t that far since it was a small town.

  “The commands are as simple as those used by your battle mages, but actually mastering how to use the magic, especially flying, takes time,” the little blonde said as she turned to face them.

  With the red light of Turas shining on them from the eastern horizon, and the silver light of the first moon shining from just past its zenith as Gelinas led the way across the sky, the girl’s face looked pink and her light blonde hair as well. Even pink, Iris couldn’t help being jealous of the pretty girl. The dragoness didn’t seem to understand just how beautiful she was and as Katya had said, the girl seemed to have no qualms about her body image which was slim and graceful.

  “Dragon wings,” she called and large pink wings, not affected by the moon but color of her choice, appeared spreading from the center of her back.

  “Pink?” Katya asked with a grin and looked like she wished that she could create the same.

  Cheleya giggled and replied, “Well, they can be any color, but I tend to like red and pink. A lot of the time it changes with my mood, but I like them.”

  “They’re so cute!” The youngest girl nearly sang before asking, “Let’s see you fly then, if you’re allowed.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be allowed?” Cheleya asked with a shake of her head. “I trained for a year with a master to be able to fly. Since I was nearly done with my studies, I can fly any time that I want. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to since I joined Magnus’s wizards. It was part of my secret after all.”

  With a slight bend of her knees, her wings swept down stirring up the old snow still dusting the field. Lifting into the sky; Cheleya seemed to go through a dance as she maneuvered, twisting and twirling, diving and lifting as she pleased. By the time, she had landed the girls were beginning to feel cold and Iris wondered how the slim little blond could fly through the sky in just her blouse and skirt. The slippers and light cloth would do little to keep her warm, she thought.

  Returning to land by her friends with a big smile, the dragoness looked very happy. They didn’t realize that she loved to fly and had missed it greatly being grounded as they rode the horses west.

  “Can you fly with me?” Katya asked completely undaunted by the idea of flying without any protection should she fall.

  “Um, I can’t lift a lot, but I could probably take you. Much more and I would be afraid of dropping one of you. I won’t be able to fly fast or do aerial maneuvers for the same reason.”

  “I don’t care,” Katya said with a grin. “Whatever you feel safe doing, I would love to try it.”

  Iris was an air wizard and watching the two take off, she had a mixture of fear and a wish to fly as they were. Cheleya didn’t go far or very high. They could see that holding onto Katya was a struggle, since the two looked about the same size. The dragon’s wing had no trouble at all, however, as it was just the petite girl’s arm strength that was put to the test.

  By the time they landed, Katya was grinning from ear to ear and shouted, “That was so much fun! If you decide to train White Hall on dragon magic, I am signing up!”

  “You will be a novice and an apprentice for quite awhile, Katya,” Iris reminded the girl. A wizard’s training was long and few were elevated above apprentice in less than five years. Even Magnus, the tournament champion, had been training for five years before he was promoted.

  She didn’t want to quell the girl’s exuberance, however, and held such things to herself. On the other hand, Iris had ridden the winds with her mind and wondered with almost giddy expectation of one day learning to fly like a dragon.

  “Hmmph,” Katya waved off the idea and said, “If they require volunteers, then why can’t a novice or
apprentice be allowed to learn this as well? Cheleya’s my friend, so maybe that is as good a reason as any.”

  Iris smiled and tried to be gentle as she said, “Let’s get free of having a wizard keeping your power in check first. You’ll be powerful before you know it. Learning dragon magic will always be there, if that is what Cheleya and her people decide.”

  “Dragon scale,” the dragoness called on another spell and lifted her hand towards the silver moon. Red scales looking like rubies on her skin reflected like polished gemstones. “This magic can keep us safe. We used to use illusions to make our clothes, but if that magic fails, this spell will make you look like you are still covered in armor.”

  She lifted her blouse enough to see the red gem scales on her stomach.

  “Well, I think I can remember to put on my clothes, Cheleya,” Katya laughed as the four began to walk back to the inn.

  When they returned to the inn, the music continued to play and the dancers danced. While few noticed their disappearance, Kel’lor looked at Cheleya with a frown. Though he wasn’t her blood relative, the two were as close as siblings and the giant was very loyal to his little sister. When she disappeared, however, the mar’goyn’lya was also trusting that the little dragoness was trained well enough to protect herself as well.

  Darius caught Katya's eye, who simply smiled and waved to the wizard as the little group entered together. The youngest girl wondered if Cheleya’s curse had ever been brought to the immortal wizard. Darius had almost seven hundred years of learning magic to draw from, so if anyone would know how to reverse her friend’s curse, it was likely to be him.

  While Katya knew that it was Cheleya’s secret, she wondered if just asking if he knew of the transformation amulets would be enough to discover if he could help. Katya loved the pretty girl, who was so sweet and naive; but if the che’ther was unhappy having no choice in being a human, then she would try to help her if that was possible, while still doing her best to protect the girl’s secrets.

  Iris kept Piotr’s hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. She was surprised as a slow song began and the two moved closer together.

  “Katya is right though,” she said quietly in his ear as they danced comfortably despite the song.

  “About what?”

  “You got to see me naked and that isn’t fair.”

  Feeling his back stiffen with remorse and dread, the girl rubbed his shoulder saying, “I’m not threatening you or demanding we get even, like Katya threatened. I mean, it just sucks. A girl is supposed to be with a boy and wanting to be that way with him, not finding out that he has snuck a peek.”

  She sighed giving pause as the two swayed back and forth. Piotr didn’t know what to say, however, and waited to see what else Iris might have to say.

  After a few moments, the boy felt her chin resting on his shoulder and she said, “Well, I hope I didn’t disappoint you at least. I know I’m not as pretty as Cheleya and all that.”

  “I didn’t really try to pay attention to that really. In fact, Niklaus complained that we couldn’t really see very well from across the alley. Since you all were moving back and forth, the owl would accidentally move enough to block some of what he wanted to see.

  “You have to remember that I was actually watching to see if Cheleya would tell you her secret, rather than being a real peeping Tom. Seeing the other two like that so early in the afternoon was more than any of us expected during the day after all.”

  Sighing, the girl stated, “I’m not sure that I believe you.”

  “Would it be better if I told you that I did see everything like the color of your underwear?” he chuckled as Iris froze a moment. “I’m kidding. Maybe we should just drop it. I’ll make sure to not be able to find any birds to help fan their perversion on the way to White Hall. I promise.”

  “You better not. If you ever think you’re going to see me naked, it had better be in person,” she retorted and suddenly regretted her wording.

  “Really?” he countered drawing back a little to try and look at her face, but Iris looked away as she rested her head on his shoulder.

  All he could see was her rich, red hair as the girl slapped his shoulder lightly and complained, “I didn’t mean it like that. No more sneaking peeks at girls like that.”

  “Yes, Apprentice Iris,” he nodded holding back his laughter as the girl sighed again.

  The following day they rode out as planned. Without fan faire or demonstrations of wizardly powers, the combined groups rode towards White Hall.

  Piotr soon found himself caught between the two factions. There was his brother and Job on one side, who continued to pester him about trying to use his animal spell to spy on the girls again, and the girls, the intended victims of their spying. With the girls already aware of what they had done, Piotr was left to tell the others, no.

  While the nagging persisted, Katya and Iris were worth having his brother annoyed at him. Job didn’t truly care, since he was already happy just getting to know Briahnna from dancing and riding beside her. Guessing that the boy only joined Niklaus in asking because he wanted the older twin to be his friend, Piotr remained as friendly as he could while turning them down.

  “I can’t believe that we’ve stayed three more nights and you can’t find any birds to use to look at the girls,” Nik complained quietly.

  “The wizards have been keeping too close a watch now. I think that they might know what we did, so we can’t push it, Niki,” Piotr said without telling him which wizards now knew about it. Only Briahnna was in the dark as far as he knew, though they might have told her as well. He doubted the other girls had, however, since she had never gotten angry at Job for his part in the peeping.

  Emitting a low growl in complaint, Niklaus finally asked, “Do you think any of the girls caught on to you?”

  Piotr nearly wanted to laugh as the prank had apparently been put on his shoulders.

  “I couldn’t tell you,” he said honestly.

  They had stopped for lunch when the girls decided to get back at Niklaus for his part in putting Piotr up to it. Taking a moment to relieve himself behind a tree, the three girls pulled the other twin away making him look like a bit like he was their prisoner. While some of the wizards noticed the strange antics, when Iris called a powerful wind to knock Niklaus over causing him to moon the others, everyone turned to look as the boy cried out in surprise.

  “And that’s what you get for pulling pranks on girls!” Katya hollered at the boy as he pulled up his pants looking embarrassed.

  Some of the other wizards had questions as to what prank had been pulled, but the girls simply said that what they had done made them even.

  Later when they were riding, Niklaus looked at his twin and said, “So you couldn’t tell if they knew about what we had done or because they would kill you if you did?”

  Nik had a grin on his face looking very good natured about getting caught and humiliated.

  “The latter,” his brother admitted.

  “So that’s why those two dragged you off and they told Iris as well. I wonder why they didn’t tell Briahnna about Job?” Niklaus questioned his brother, who could only shrug.

  “That one I really can’t tell. I am surprised that they didn’t but maybe they didn’t want to hurt Briahnna over a prank?” he questioned.

  “So what did they do to you to make you talk anyway? Was it properly humiliating or did they give you something so good that you had to give me up?”

  “Mostly humiliating,” Piotr said, though he blushed thinking of Cheleya taking off her clothes while he was trapped in his. “They trapped me in my clothes and Katya interrogated me until she figured it out. She’s smarter than you might think she is. Even without magic, that girl is like a wizard; but I held out as long as I could.”

  They noticed the girls edging closer and stopped their conversation hoping not to get caught discussing it, but they weren’t clever enough to escape Katya’s calling them out.

  “
You can blame him if you want, Niklaus, he only gave in when I figured the whole thing out anyway,” Katya bragged with a mean spirited smile on her face. “Once I broke him down, he was putty in my hands though.”

  Piotr looked appalled as he looked at the girl and complained, “I was not. You guessed and I finally gave up trying to hide it. It’s not like you couldn’t have gone to Qeyr and gotten us in bigger trouble than we have with Iris.

  “I didn’t have anything left to hide by that time anyway.”

  “Except you didn’t tell me that they were on to us,” Nik complained, but couldn’t hide a little smile. Half the fun of a good prank was getting the credit for it in the boy’s opinion. Piotr on the other hand continued to look humiliated.

  Iris saved him by saying, “That was part of the deal for letting him go. If you knew that we knew what you had done, then you could have tried to protect yourself.” Pausing for a moment as she thought of how her magic had gotten him back, and that he was nearly clueless about magic; she shook her head, “Well, maybe not, but you could have tried.”

  Briahnna and Job were close enough to hear and the girl asked, “What did they do?” her eyes went to Job questioning.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Katya stated giving Job a knowing look that was hidden from the other girl.

  Job for his part simply shrugged and avoided saying anything that could incriminate him.

  Two days later, the wizards led their new recruits over a bridge across a massive river.

  For those who had never been this far west, it was an amazing sight. Nearly half a mile across in places, the Cadhalla River was a major waterway supplying water to nearly half of Southwall. Its origin was from the mountains well to the north of the massive wall known as North Wall. The need for water had the builders leave a space for the river to pass under the wall where a defense known as the Twin Towers guarded it.

  Only Cheleya and Kel’lor had seen a large set of bridges over the rivers of Staron on their travels to Hala that was similar, but that river was a mere stream in comparison, the girl thought.