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

by Donald Wigboldy

  He knew of enough old men who didn’t seem to like children in Delanne, but there were also grandparents who couldn’t seem to get enough of them.

  Shrugging, the boy replied, “I don’t know. There are certainly pretty girls at the school and there are girls who I enjoy spending time with, but there isn’t much going on beyond that.”

  Zieran looked slightly disappointed and commented, “That’s unfortunate. I thought by your age you might be more interested in girls.”

  “I’m a little busy taking care of bears and learning how to be a wizard right now,” Piotr replied sarcastically.

  Shaking his head, the wizard remarked, “When I was a novice there were several girls that I thought were interesting. Studying and learning magic never ends, Piotr, but you can live a life beyond the books and zoo.

  “One of the chief worries most people express is what kind of life they can have as a wizard. Southwall sends you here and there all the time. There are missions north of the wall where there is a lot of danger, or manning the wall towers, or any number of services you will be asked to do for the kingdom. If you don’t find a reason to protect it, then you might falter when the time comes to be strong.”

  Piotr’s eyes strayed to the side of Zieran’s face since the wizard was guiding the team of horses for the cart and looking ahead of them. He wasn’t sure if the older man was just messing with him. It wasn’t out of character for Zieran to tease or joke around, so being serious like this was more unusual.

  “Wouldn’t protecting my home and family be enough?”

  Zieran glanced to the boy with a sad smile and he countered, “You were taken from that home and your family to attend school. For some, the time away makes a barrier in their hearts. Unless someone was to die or something grave like that, you might find your heart hardened to them more than you think.

  “That’s why I was asking if there was anyone you liked. A nice girl to kiss and hold makes it easier to remember why you are working so hard.”

  Piotr frowned and shook his head. “Right now I am working hard so I can understand more magic. I’m also only fourteen, so I am barely past thinking girls are blah. Give me a break, Zieran.”

  The two wizards were quiet for a moment when Piotr decided to try and put the elder wizard on the spot in turn. “So does that mean you have a girl... woman that you fancy, Zieran?”

  Laughing loud enough to bring several stares from the mages and soldiers riding nearby, the wizard retorted, “Well, I told you already that I was into girls at your age. That doesn’t go away.”

  “Old people seem less like that, especially old married people, but I guess that they should only fancy the one that they married anyway.”

  Zieran laughed at the idea and asked, “Well, how old do you think I am? I’m not married or that old. Thanks a lot, kid.”

  “Old people would call me kid,” chided the novice once more with a grin.

  His mentor grunted in annoyance as they continued along the road passing time chatting. Occasionally one of the riders that he knew would move close enough to talk as well, but the lunch break came and Niklaus hadn’t bothered to talk to his brother. Piotr didn’t take it personally. He watched his brother riding along speaking with his friends to one side while their mentors tended to watch the countryside more than their students instead.

  Horse riding was important to learn and they had little enough time to do it in White Hall, if they didn’t have a riding background. Niklaus had ridden a bit on their farm, but most of their horses were used for pulling carts and other labor. Going for a ride with the animals wasn’t as practical as some might think, but still both boys were comfortable around horses enough to ride.

  Some of those from the cities appeared less comfortable, especially at the start. Though by lunch, experienced riders and novices were both rubbing at sore bottoms and legs. They were roughly half way to the woods chosen for the release of these animals. Most had been found there or nearby, so it was home, though he had been told Bo in particular had been pretty young when they had found the bear after her mother had been killed by hunters.

  Apparently one of the nature wizards had been around to save Bo, but had been unable to do anything for her mother. Whether she had any siblings hadn’t been told to him, and Piotr hoped that the bear would be able to return and find a reason to stay this time. Few of the wizards in charge believed that she would ever be able to acclimate to the wild again, but they still tried and hoped.

  Piotr let her out to stretch and drink from a small stream within sight of the road leading east. His magic held her loosely to make sure the bear didn’t panic and hurt anyone, but Bo was pretty calm most of the time anyway. The bear had been entrusted into his care, however, and the boy would do his best to meet that trust.

  Feeling the presence of others walking up from behind, Bo turned before the novice did and spotted Niklaus coming with Xara and Jeraan. The other two mages were both blond making his dark haired brother stand out even more.

  “How are you guys doing with the ride?” Piotr asked curiously noting slightly different walks from each of them. He was a bit sore from sitting as well, but the novice could shift his feet or even stand while they continued to make their way to the forest.

  Xara was the first to answer as the tall blonde shook her head while her hands were noticeably on her rear, “I thought this was supposed to be a short ride. It feels like we’ve ridden for hundreds of miles. My legs and butt are screaming with pain already.”

  If they had ridden even thirty miles, Piotr would have been surprised. The ferry alone had exhausted more than an hour loading and unloading everyone from the city to the far shore. To his surprise, Jeraan was nodding his agreement while Niklaus shrugged as he laughed, “I didn’t think it was that bad, but I am glad to have a break from my horse. We’re probably going to smell like them for a week even after taking baths.”

  Piotr snorted, “Well, you probably only take one bath a week, so that is pretty likely.”

  Letting out a giggle, Xara covered her mouth and turned away from the boys as Nik countered, “Well, I went to the bathhouse one too many times awhile back and we all know how that turned out.”

  Piotr rolled his eyes. “You deserved the punishment for that one. You’re just lucky that Katya didn't do something really cruel to you with her magic.”

  Again it was Xara who answered looking troubled, “She certainly seems powerful enough. Did you hear that they have had to put a limiter on her magic for fear that it would lash out uncontrolled? Can you imagine if she were let loose like a wilder with the ability to influence your mind or control it? She could make people into puppets to do whatever she wanted or maybe shut down their minds. Would that kill someone even?”

  Piotr wanted to sigh as the girl added drama where he felt it didn’t need to be. “Katya has a lot of control already, so I wouldn’t worry about it; besides the same can be said for any wizard or battle mage. If we don’t exercise control, anyone’s magic could easily hurt someone.”

  Pointing to Krevahs, who was trying to figure out the proper way to tend to his horse under Falcon Eyrk’s supervision, he asked, “Can you imagine if Eyrk didn’t keep a tight rein on Krevahs? What kind of damage could he do? Even if his magic is under control because it is less than a wizard, with his physical strength and the addition of battle magic; he could bully and kill most people probably without bothering to even cast any fireballs if he was in a bad mood.”

  It was Niklaus who replied first as the three mages all frowned, “That would be a scary thing.”

  He looked introspective as the elder twin added, “At least with Katya, I know she is a good person. If her magic were to get out of her control, she would probably cry and do what she could to make up for it.

  “I don’t think Krevahs has learned how to care about others.”

  Looking to his brother, Niklaus asked, “This conversation makes me wonder. What do they do with wizards and mages who don’t work out?
Surely there can’t have been hundreds of years of magic, both before and after the rise of Southwall, where no wizard turned evil or at least desired power like a warlord or king. Is there a spell that could be used to drain a wizard of his or her power? They certainly couldn’t leave them safely in a cell somewhere.”

  “Are you worried that they are going to lock you up for peeping at naked girls?” Piotr laughed in a quick, sarcastic way. While they hadn’t discussed the prank and subsequent penalty coming from being caught, Niklaus knew that his brother hadn’t been happy to be drawn into his brother’s mind. The elder twin still believed that Piotr liked what he had seen, but hadn’t confronted him on it.

  “If that was all a man needed to do to be locked up, there are enough men who would love to see a pretty girl like that. A whole room full of them is even better, though I really didn’t get much of a chance to enjoy any of it that day.”

  Noticing Xara looking uncomfortable with where the conversation had gone, he placed his arm around the blonde’s waist and pulled her closer in a friendly way and said, “I’m not saying that I wanted to do more than just look. A beautiful woman is like a piece of art to me, but I would only want to be with the right one, Xara. Don’t over think it. It was meant to be a prank, but I hadn’t planned on being caught by a coercer.”

  The last was said with a complaining sigh. The girl seemed mollified by his answer making Piotr wonder how his brother could get away with such a thing. He would have thought that his brother would be unable to build trust with any girl after his prank, but he had seen him at the dances since with several different girls including Xara and Uliya to a lesser degree.

  Piotr was also surprised at the derogatory term for the wizard. “I don’t think they like being called coercers, Niklaus. They are diplomacy wizards. You had better make sure not to say such things near a mentor or any full wizard.”

  Again his elder brother shrugged the thought off without concern. “I learned the term from her and the other diplomacy wizards. It’s certainly a shorter name using coercer, though I know it is just one kind of spell that they train to use.”

  Pausing Niklaus pointed to the stream and asked, “Have you forgotten about your charge?”

  The bear had wandered away from the nature novice while the four talked after drinking her fill. Piotr didn’t even turn as he felt his magic tied to the bear.

  “I can feel her. I set a binding spell on Bo that lets me know where she is. Through that I can also choose to control her movements without even using another spell.”

  The three mages looked confused by the spell and Niklaus asked, “You can already do all that? Is it because you are a full wizard or because you started using your magic several months before they found you? They say that is part of why Katya seems to be pretty talented also.”

  Shrugging at the mages, Piotr chose to turn as if to look for Bo. Like he had said, he knew where she was by magic, but it was a spell that was beyond the training of battle mages. Of course, shape changing was supposed to be as well, so maybe his brother could learn the magic if he truly wanted.

  “They also say wilders have difficulty learning proper wizard spells. The more bad habits a wizard forms before being found can change how good they actually become.

  “From what I have heard, Katya was found pretty early by her brother... a battle mage. The wizards didn’t find her in a search, but when he returned home for a visit. If you could feel her aura though, it is pretty strong.

  “She’s smart too, so with some control, Katya could be something amazing in a few years.”

  Xara looked at the novice’s face with his slight smile and asked, “Do you already think she’s amazing maybe?”

  Giving a sigh of disgust, Piotr looked at the girl. She was pretty as well, but always seemed caught up in the orbit of his brother. It wasn’t that he cared for her in that way, in fact, the novice still wasn’t sure he knew what that feeling would be like.

  He had thought Iris might have been that for a moment, but there were too many things pushing them away to think of her as more than a friend. Katya and Uliya were both attractive and he enjoyed spending time with them, but no girl felt quite right to him so far.

  “Now you’re sounding like Zieran. He was trying to act like my big brother and wanted to know if I had a girlfriend.”

  “And do you?” Niklaus laughed almost positive that he knew his brother’s answer. When it came, he wasn’t surprised.

  “No, who has time with all our studies. Besides, I’m not as good with girls as you are and you know that.”

  Nodding to Xara, Niklaus pretended to explain as if the words were needed, “My brother’s always been quiet and good with animals, but he never had any girlfriends growing up. He might blame being on a farm for that, but Piotr’s kind of quiet with everyone, even me sometimes.

  “Now his time is all spent on studying and such, but I think he has his eye on a girl or two even if he isn’t saying so.”

  “Iris would be nice for you,” Jeraan stated remembering seeing the two dance a couple times.

  Looking back towards the horses, Uliya was coming towards the four. She had been held back by her mentor. Piotr had noticed the long conversation between the two, while the others had been able to break free to go to the stream while their mentors led the horses to water further downstream.

  A small smile crossed Xara’s lips as the girl said, “Uliya would be a good girlfriend for you, I think. She’s nice and likes you too.”

  Piotr noticed a smile on the approaching redheaded cadet’s face as she approached her friends. He liked her too, but again wasn’t sure about being more than a friend to the girl. She was also in training as a battle mage so the long term idea of such would be hard, Piotr thought already talking himself out of the possibility.

  Niklaus noticed his eyes and slowly began to shake his head as if he could read his twin’s mind. He said nothing, but they all greeted Uliya before she joined their earlier conversation complaining, “All this riding... they should have sent healers along too. We’ll be so sore by tonight that I won’t be able to sleep.”

  Jeraan interjected after the girl’s disruption, “By the way, do you know how much farther it is? Are we supposed to release the animals in the morning or tonight?”

  “From what Zieran said, I think it’s about two more hours’ ride from here. There are some lakes feeding streams and the start of a couple rivers that run all the way to the coast. The land is supposed to be covered in forest, while there aren’t many farms for miles and the nearest major town isn’t much closer than White Hall.

  “We’ll keep the animals safe on the carts tonight and release them in the morning, though we’ll have to see if all the animals are willing.”

  Uliya grinned and pointed at Bo who had returned to the stream and was watching the water while a few small fish darted away from her shadow. “I hear that the wizards have been betting on whether you can get the bear to actually stay this time. She’s supposed to be a wild animal, but that bear hasn’t been willing to give up her easy life the last four times they’ve tried to set her free.”

  “Maybe you can try to help him,” Xara offered as she tried to push the two together once again.

  Uliya had missed that conversation, but turned to look at Piotr with a hopeful smile and asked, “I don’t know what I could do, but if you need help I’d be glad to do whatever I can.”

  A call from the main group drew their attention away. Lunch was being set. If they were going to eat, they had to return to do it now.

  As they walked back, Piotr said to Uliya, “Who knows? I might need your help. We’ll see,” was the most that the novice would commit.

  She was pretty though, Piotr thought distractedly.

  The green line stood up from the land as they closed in on the Cherantir Forest. After a little over two more hours ride, the company of trainees from all three disciplines was all ready for the ride to be over. While the mentors were veterans, they di
dn’t ride regularly while teaching in White Hall either; so they were feeling the affects of the long ride as much as their students.

  As they neared their destination a trail of dark smoke rising up from south of the forest began to draw the attention of them all, but the teachers were the ones who began to have discussions related to the unusual phenomenon. Where there was smoke, there was fire, the saying went; but to the south was a land covered sparsely by farmers and those raising cattle or sheep. To see such a thick column of smoke at this time of year was worrisome. In the Fall, there might be fires from those burning leaves, though most farmers preferred using the material as mulch for their fields.

  Summer had barely begun and there had been no drought. Fire would have to be started intentionally for such a thing to be seen from so far away.

  The teachers began discussing the smoke and what they should do about making sure that there was no concern. It was quickly decided that most of the mages and soldiers would head towards the smoke to discover what was happening. They had only brought four wizards along to take care of the animals. Piotr and a novice named Banty were joined by their mentors. They would be guarded by Niklaus and Uliya with their trainers and just two of the ten soldiers.

  Being nature wizards in an area deemed safe, even that many protectors had been argued as being unnecessary by the wizards as much as the rest. Still, the others split from the smaller group heading as quickly as they could towards possible danger.

  Zieran spoke with his student as they brought the cart to a halt beside the other and started to set up camp, “This wasn’t supposed to be a trip needing scouts. Normally an air wizard or earth wizard could scout on the winds to see what was going on over there.”