Eventually the day of his leave-taking arrived, and Will said his sad farewells to Selene. They’d spent the previous days and the evening before reaffirming their love and repeating promises to one another, so when he finally stepped out the door, they both kept it brief as they tried to keep from turning the moment in to a tearful event.
“I don’t want to go,” he said as he wavered at the door. Their carriage waited for him in front of the house.
“I know,” said Selene, her voice tight. “But we can talk whenever you have a spare moment.” She patted her chest as a reminder of the heart-stone enchantment.
“It takes turyn from both ends. I don’t want to exhaust you.”
“I don’t care. Talk to me anyway,” she insisted. “Besides, you won’t be lonely. You’ll be surrounded by people.”
“I’m lonely whenever you’re not with me.”
She pursed her lips. “Liar. You’ll be among friends. Janice will be there, not to mention Eric and Tiny.”
A sly look appeared on his face. “I notice you mention Janice first. Are you worried?”
It was her turn to look smug. “Not at all. I’ve planted someone close to you to make sure you remain faithful.” She paused for a second, then playfully added, “Oh, and I trust you—of course.”
He laughed, raising his brows. “A spy? Dare I wonder who it might be?”
“You’ll understand soon,” she replied mysteriously. “Think of her as a surrogate in my place. Someone to look after my interests.”
“Her?” Now he really was puzzled. “What are these interests you speak of? Isn’t it counterproductive to send a woman to guard your husband’s chastity?”
Selene snorted in a decidedly unladylike fashion. “Hearing you say ‘chastity’ is hilarious!” she teased. “My main interest is in keeping you safe and sound. You’ll understand when you meet your assistant.”
“Assistant,” he repeated, turning the word over in his mouth.
“Bodyguard, whatever you prefer.” She ran her hands down his chest, smoothing his tunic before rising on her toes to deliver a final kiss. “Now, go—before I break down in front of you.”
Will’s eyes started to water. “You’re not the only one—”
Selene closed her eyes tightly, scrunching up her face. “Go!” Then she stepped back and started to shut the door. “Good fortune and fair weather, my love,” she said huskily, repeating a traditional phrase before closing it firmly.
Keeping his lips tightly together, Will turned and went to the carriage, and as he went he tried to dampen his hearing—so that he couldn’t hear the woman crying on the other side of the door. Once he was ensconced in the privacy of the carriage, he let his own emotions run their course for a short while.
The year ahead seemed like it would be his longest yet.
Chapter 23
The carriage stopped at the main cathedral, where it would meet up with one of the last companies to leave the city, along with several other wagons, carriages, and some of his administrative staff. His clerk, Lieutenant Renly, boarded the carriage then, followed by two more figures he hadn’t expected. One of them he recognized immediately.
“What are you doing here?” Will demanded, his voice taking a more severe tone than he’d intended.
Laina Nerrow pushed her hood back and gave him a sharp look. “Selene said she’d explain, or are you already slipping into your dotage?” She moved in and took a seat beside him, while the woman behind her, Darla, entered and sat next to the lieutenant opposite them.
He understood immediately. “Oh, you’re the chaperone.”
His sister glared at him. “I am not a chaperone. Officially I’m here to help as a liaison between the military and the Mothers of Terabinia, but my main purpose is to make sure you get home in one piece. Think of me as your bodyguard.”
Will rubbed his chin, imagining his fierce sister following him around the military camps. “More of an enforcer,” he pronounced finally.
Darla’s stoic expression broke, and a stifled laugh escaped her lips. Laina scowled, then replied, “Enforcer? What’s that supposed to mean?”
He smiled. “You’re more of a thug. I can set you to punish those who annoy me.”
Laina growled, prompting a tiny, mocking ‘bark’ from Darla, who looked at Will with obvious agreement. He laughed, Laina snarled, and poor Lieutenant Renly stared uncomfortably out the window, unsure how to respond in the presence of what was obviously a family conversation.
Will mulled things over, deciding Selene’s choice made more sense than anyone else he could imagine. His sister’s loyalty, both to Selene and to him, was unassailable, and her magical ability was better than most of the sorcerers he’d trained, not to mention Laina had more than one elemental. With Darla along as a bonus, Laina was better protection than any soldier or sorcerer Will could think of, plus she had the benefit of being well versed in politics and the inner workings of Terabinia’s nobility. Add to that the fact that he could trust her completely, and short of Selene actually being there herself, Laina was the perfect choice to accompany him.
After a while everyone grew quiet, and Will found himself mulling over the time it would take to get to Barrowden—seven days. If he traveled with Tailtiu, he could make the journey much more quickly, from a few hours to most of a day, depending on how much risk he was willing to tolerate. Instead he would be trapped in a carriage with three people for the week.
Laina he didn’t mind. Outwardly they fought, but ever since the experience of merging and separating their souls they both felt better when they were together than when they were apart, though neither of them would readily admit it. Darla was a complete failure as a conversationalist, however, and Lieutenant Renly was so awkward socially that it only made matters worse.
It came as a relief when the clerk produced a deck of cards and they were able to pass the hours with games rather than conversation alone.
That evening they stopped at a wayside inn. Such businesses were common along the main arteries that led from the capital out to a distance of several days’ travel, and one could usually find accommodations even if there wasn’t a proper town nearby. Will and Renly shared one room while Laina and Darla had another. The coachman had to sleep in the carriage, something that Will thought was unfair, but everyone looked at him as though he’d grown two heads when he suggested they rent a third room.
After the evening meal, Renly and Darla stayed downstairs to enjoy a few drinks in the common room, but Will retreated upstairs to run through as much of his spell practice as could reasonably be done indoors. By necessity he’d have to forgo the range practice.
He was only fifteen minutes into the multitude of spells he practiced daily when a knock came at the door. It was Laina. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Spell practice.”
“While we travel?”
He nodded, and Laina’s lips pursed thoughtfully. “How long does yours take?”
Mine? “Have you been practicing too?” he asked.
“Ever since the family had to take refuge at your house,” she explained. “You were so serious about it—every day—even when everything else had gone to chaos. The vampire catastrophe sort of underscored the importance too.” She lifted her chin and repeated her question, “So how long does your practice take?”
“A little more than an hour and longer if I have a good place to work on my aim. When I can, I try to spend an hour on that as well.”
She frowned. “An hour? What spells are you practicing?”
“All of them.”
Laina cocked her head to one side with an expression that said she felt he’d said something ridiculous. “Be specific. It would be impossible to practice every spell in a single day.”
“Every spell I’ve learned.”
“Why the hell would you do that? Is your memory that bad? Besides, most of them you could simply look up if you needed to remember.”
“Maybe not. Besides, by
practicing them at least once a day I’ll eventually be able to instinctively cast them. That’s the real goal.”
His sister walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I think we’re miscommunicating. You mean you practice all the battle spells you know, right?”
Will smirked, then demonstrated his greatest accomplishment. A mild wind came up and swept around the room and over the two of them, cleaning their clothes, bodies, and the room itself. He still wasn’t sure why he’d become capable of reflex casting Selene’s Solution, but since it was eighth-order he knew it would impress. Laina’s eyes went wide with shock and she shot to her feet. “Shut the door!” He frowned and started to do so, but she waved her hands at him. “It’s just an expression.”
“Ahh. I was wondering, since most people don’t realize we’re siblings, it might be considered odd.”
She ignored his comment. “How many spells can you reflex cast?”
Will counted fingers. “Five so far.”
“Five? Even some of the teachers can’t do that many, and that’s after decades!”
“It’s just a matter of repetition and practice.”
“How many are you planning to master that way?”
“As many as possible. I figure if I keep working at it like this, an hour a day, I should be able to reflex cast several hundred someday.” The disbelief on her face was obvious, so Will figured it was probably time to have the talk. Taking a few steps, he closed and locked the door, then he erected a force-cage within the room, sealing them inside and limiting the transfer of sound.
Once upon a time Laina would probably have demanded an explanation, or possibly taken such acts as a declaration of war, but those days were long gone. Beneath their abrasive interactions, neither Will nor his sister had anything less than complete trust in each other. He sat down on one bed and gestured to the other across the room.
She ignored him and sat beside him instead. “This way I can reach you more easily when you say something stupid,” she said, making a fist with one hand.
Will laughed, but his features quickly became serious. “You know I’m going to live a long time, don’t you?”
“That depends on who you irritate,” she joked, but when he didn’t laugh, Laina responded more seriously. “Selene mentioned wanting to live longer, but she didn’t really clarify exactly what that meant. Did the old wizards really live that much longer? Surely some of it was exaggerated.”
“Eight times longer,” said Will simply. “From the day I completed the third compression, I can expect approximately eight years for every one year I would have previously had. I’ll likely last at least six hundred years and it’s possible I could make it nearly eight hundred if I’m extremely long-lived.”
Laina stared into his eyes without saying a word for almost a minute, studying his expression. Finally, she responded, “You’re being completely honest.”
He nodded.
“You told me about the compressions before. It depends on the number, doesn’t it?”
“First-order means your source only releases half the turyn it normally would have—that doubles your remaining years—and second and third halve it twice more, allowing one to live four or eight times longer, respectively.”
She took a long slow breath. “That really gives a person something to think about.” Looking around, she waved her hand at the force-walls surrounding them. “You think this needs that much privacy?”
“Probably, but mainly I didn’t want Darla to hear if she was nearby,” he told her.
Laina raised one brow. “She and I don’t keep secrets from each other, Will.”
“That’s up to you,” he responded. “This is one you might want to keep, at least until you decide.”
She put her lips together, then after a second something flickered behind her eyes. “Oh.”
Will nodded sadly. “Depending on how far you get in the training, you could live a very long time, and most of it will be without her.”
“That’s why Selene was so determined to succeed at that third compression,” agreed Laina, then her eyes focused on his once more. “If it’s as hard as she described, she might be the only person you know who manages it.”
“I think most can succeed at second-order if they don’t give up and they’re given proper training, so long as they aren’t too old.”
“Still, it won’t be a lot of people, and you’ll outlive them by several centuries. You could spend the last half of your life without family, friends, or anyone who really remembers you from your youth,” said Laina somberly.
“Better than dying, though.”
She stared at her hands. “Maybe, but it seems really sad somehow as well. My parents are too old, aren’t they?”
“Definitely. Selene might have been on the verge of being too old. You probably still have a year or two to decide.”
“Whether to grow old with Darla and leave you and Selene to survive alone, or to stay young and watch Darla age and die without me.” She paused, then asked, “What about Tabitha?”
“She’ll have the same choice.”
Laina shook her head. “I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse.”
“From what I’ve been told, the biggest danger for third-order wizards was suicide,” said Will. “Many of them became increasingly isolated as their friends and relatives died off.”
She took his hand and squeezed. Will felt a moment of vertigo as his spirit tried to leave his body and rejoin the half residing within his sister. It took him a moment to focus his will and stabilize himself. A side effect of my practice at astral projection, he mused.
Laina had felt something, for she winced as he stabilized the boundary between their souls. “Was that?” she asked.
“Probably. I’ve been working at controlling my ability to leave my body, but it looks like I’ll need to be careful around you,” he answered. Glancing over, he noticed she was chewing her lip.
“It’s not going to be easy for whichever one of us is left behind, is it?”
He understood what she meant immediately, but he tried to assuage her worry. “We don’t know that. Arrogan said it will probably improve with time, as our souls diverge and become more distinct and unique.”
“Time as in years—or decades?” Laina replied sullenly. She released his hand, then reached over with her other hand and pinched herself on the arm. Will jumped slightly as he felt a phantom pain in his own limb.
It wasn’t as strong as if he’d been pinched himself, but it was definitely noticeable. He’d experienced a lot of similar phantom sensations since the day they were separated, but he hadn’t mentioned them to anyone other than his mentor. “I don’t think it’s as strong as it was in the beginning,” he observed.
Laina scratched her head. “I can’t tell a difference.” Then she rose to leave.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Practice. Once again, you’ve made me feel like I’m not doing enough.”
He rose to follow her. “I want to see the armor you packed.”
“It’s still in my trunk on the carriage. No point in dragging it up here.” Reaching into her bosom, she drew out what he’d thought was a pendant but was in fact a key on a chain. “You’ll need this to open it.”
Will waved a hand. “I won’t need it.” Leaving her to her self-imposed practice, he went downstairs. Along the way he smoothed his turyn in the way that he’d learned from watching Darla, but he didn’t use any other spells to hide himself visually. None of the people in the common room looked up as he passed through. Even Darla failed to notice him from her seat next to Renly at the bar.
Outside, he passed several men standing about but none of them glanced his way or seemed to pay any heed to his presence. Out of curiosity he moved closer to them, and when even that failed to elicit a response, he deliberately stumbled into one fellow. What ensued was almost comical as all three of the strangers were startled. Interestingly though, none of them were shock
ed or frightened, as they might have been if he had dismissed a camouflage spell. It was more as if they had been aware of him on some level, but their minds had failed to pay any significant attention to him until he had forced them to respond.
Overall, he was pleased. The assassin’s technique might not work in certain circumstances, but it seemed more versatile than his camouflage spell, and unlike it, it would never draw extra attention to him if he did get noticed. In combination, the two things were probably even more effective.
The inn didn’t have a carriage house, so while the horses were stabled away, their carriage was merely parked beside the building. Will walked to the back and undid the straps that held their travel trunks in place and carefully unloaded them so he could open Laina’s. He noted it was uncharacteristically heavy, as his own might have been if he had packed anything significant within.
The top layers were mainly clothing, blankets, personal items, and a box that held several pounds of expensive soap. Obviously, she’s got her priorities straight, thought Will, smiling wryly. He hadn’t packed any for himself, since it seemed like an extravagance. The soldiers made do with the meager supplies of cheap soap they were given once a week; the rest of the time they got by with sand, ashes, or a simple rinse if enough water was available.
Will had lived it himself, although now he was grateful that he could use Selene’s spell to handle such matters. Still, a proper bath is always welcome. He felt guilty almost as soon as he thought it, considering the privations the men of the rank and file had to endure.
Digging deeper, he found a heavy sack of oilcloth wrapped inside a layer of soft leather to keep the oil from getting on everything else in the trunk. Withdrawing it and removing the armor within, he let out a soft whistle. Someone had spared no expense. Laina’s armor was entirely functional, and only decorative in the sense that it had the visual appeal of something clearly crafted by a master armorsmith.
The mail was riveted and would be heavy when combined with the padded gambeson, though it saved some weight in that there were plate greaves and cuisses. There was no breastplate, but that might have been too much for Laina’s small frame without modifying the mail to reduce weight in the areas it would have covered. There was even a domed helm.
Disciple of War (Art of the Adept Book 4) Page 21
