by Derek Palmer
Inside the house I was then introduced to Mrs. Hansen, a wealthy widow who owned this building, and who had shares in some other businesses as well. However, it was easy to forget those things once you saw her face. A face that had probably once been very beautiful, but that was now ruined by several scars made with some sharp object, maybe a knife used for shaving. Even though the wounds had been healed long ago, the scars would be there for the rest of her life. My initial feeling was pity but it was soon replaced by anger. Anger towards the person who had done that to her.
Her gray eyes had been following me and I was quite sure that she was able to read my feelings without problems. Since Alva had not given me any warning, there had been no way to prepare for what I was going to see.
"A gift from my late husband. He didn't want other men to look at me longingly because of something he wasn't able to give himself."
Her voice was so calm and controlled that it almost gave me shivers. However, I was able to sense that there were more feelings behind that hard surface. Complicated feelings. Then again, there was nothing very complicated in the way I felt. The anger I had felt was replaced by something else - satisfaction. All the time those eyes were locked to mine. I nodded grimly.
"Saves me the trouble. I hope he knew he was dying."
Blunt. Cruel - and exactly what I felt! I was sure that she had been able to read those feelings from my face.
Mrs. Hansen sadly shook her head.
"Unfortunately not. He had a massive stroke one night and just didn't wake up one morning. I wasn't able to help, since I had been beaten unconscious and thrown to the carpet... "
"So, my friend Alva has told me that you have come here to study and would like an accommodation outside the common rooms."
What then followed was an interrogation, questioning everything over and over, again and again. Had I not practiced my stories with Bellcauniel and Hantaliel multiple times, I would have been in serious trouble. Finally, Mrs. Hansen sighed.
"For certain, you aren't telling me everything, young man."
I had to make a quick decision, so I took a deep breath, trying to look a bit pissed.
"For sure I'm not telling everything. A part of the agreement that made it possible for me to come here, was that I'll never tell exactly where I come from, or who my father is. I have no illusions that the lady of the manor could get my mother killed if her own secrets should come out."
I had been very careful now, not to add any magic push to my words, but now I hid some convincing thoughts behind the anger I tried to show. What I had seen about this place seemed way too good to be true, almost perfect for me. I wanted a room in this house!
"So, Stian, how many times have you been in the same bed with two woman making love?"
I was prepared for almost anything. Almost. But that question made my head spin and, for a moment, I wasn't able to form any coherent thought. I might as well have admitted everything, since I was sure that Mrs. Hansen was able to read it from my face. You didn't need magic, if you were good. Mrs. Hansen was good. Then Alva started giggling and Mrs. Hansen also smiled for the first time since I was there. A small smile which almost made one forget the scars. Almost.
"Sorry to disappoint you, young man but that's not going to happen here. I’ve had my share of men for this life - and a few more - from my late husband and my Alva isn't that way at all. With your background, I'm sure that you can easily understand the need of some privacy and all my other tenants value that, too. However, there's one more thing - how capable are you of defending yourself, if needed?"
Maybe I should have brought my weapons with me, after all. Even if they weren't allowed inside the city.
"Armed or without arms? Against how many opponents? When you grow up as a bastard, you'd better learn some things quickly."
Sorry, mother - but Hantaliel and Bellcauniel were sure that I'd need some explanation for my skills. However, from the look on Mrs. Hansen's face I knew that I’d got the room. I wanted to shout out for joy but decided that a small smile was enough.
During dinner I was introduced to the rest of the tenants, who apparently all knew about Mrs. Hansen and Alva. Two who probably were the most normal people there. Forgetting Stian, of course. What was common about them was that they were older; not really old, but older. They all were introduced only briefly to me, while I was the one who was put on stage. That, together with the former profession of one of the tenants brought another idea to my head. Now here in Aston I might be able to really go into a theater to see a play there. I had read about theater, and I even had the script of one play among the books at the Hidden Valley but I had never seen a real play.
"Stian, do you understand that once you move here you'll become part of our little family?"
During that one day at the restaurant, I had already learned something important. Of course, Hantaliel had also mentioned it, but since she had always kept some distance from other people, she probably had not really understood the real meaning of the 'family' -concept herself. For sure I didn't really understand it fully, if at all.
"Yes... and no. I mean that I understand that we, here, form a sort of family; but I probably don't really understand the concept, not in a way it's used here."
Old Miss Dahl snorted and looked at me.
"'A sort of a family' - young man, we are much, much more like a family here! Much more than any of those Royal families is a family, or than some of those business families are families. We are a family because we want to be a family, not because we share a common mother as the Royal families do. Even Mother Earth probably doesn't know about the real Royal fathers. Then those business families are all about business and profit, profit, profit, profit. Ready to stab your own family member in the back if it would help you get more of that profit."
Then she let out an exaggerated sigh and her almost manic presence suddenly turned into an overly sad one.
"As though my former friends at the theater were any different, not at all... but my friends here... Please notice that this young man here managed to use the word 'concept' in his response, without misusing it too badly. Maybe he'll become worthy of our little family since he probably already is smarter than most of the people at the University."
I could not help smiling after her speech, but I put my head down to hide my amusement and I responded only after I was able to look sad.
"Miss Dahl, I'm terribly saddened because I came here to Aston too late to see you on a large stage. I would have really liked my first experience of the theater to be such that I could have seen your talent shine there, on the stage where you certainly belong. Now I can only promise that I'll use my meager skills whenever and wherever possible to the benefit of this family, however unusual this family might be."
After saying that, I bowed slightly in her direction and the old woman smiled back at me.
"But thank you, young man! Were I decades younger I might have fully enjoyed all the admiration a younger man could give me."
Between and behind those words was such an amount of erotic tension that I could not help it, I blushed. Not much, but a bit. I smiled again and shook my head.
"Without any doubt I would happily have sacrificed my virtue and adored the ground you stand on, Miss Dahl."
That brought laughter from the other man from the table, Mr. Solberg.
"So, Hanna, you should be happy now. We have someone here who really appreciates your skills - and is also able to give you something back."
"Frode, are you trying to tell me that I'm playing some role here? Old, fragile woman like me?"
"No, Hanna. I'm just saying that you're being you - and this young man here seems to really appreciate that, just like we others do. Please, don't change."
"But thank you, my friend."
After dinner they all started asking me all kinds of questions. Somehow they already seemed to have at least some idea of what I had said before. So, in a way, it was Mrs. Hansen's interrogation multiplied. L
uckily my women had trained me well and the number of direct lies was as small as possible. We had tried to adopt as many parts of my real life in my story as possible.
"So, your plan is to pay one of the University high auditors in order to become accepted to the University, right?"
It was one of the identical Lykke twins who asked me that question. Lykke One, I decided inside my head. I looked back at them and nodded.
"Yes, I thought I had reliable information that there are at least two of them who can and will accept students to the University if they get a suitable compensation."
"May we ask how much is that 'suitable compensation'?"
That was the other of the twins, Lykke Two. I wondered if I could ever tell the difference between them since even their magical signatures felt the same. I hesitated for a moment.
"One hundred Crowns."
Mr. Solberg let out a long whistle.
"Wow. That's a whole lot of money, son - people have been killed for much smaller amounts. Does the man know that you are coming to see him?"
I shook my head. "Of course not. If he's capable of giving me access, what would stop him taking a hundred Crowns from me, getting me killed for twenty Crowns and then getting another hundred Crowns from somebody else who wants to join the University?"
"Ten Crowns. He'd easily get you killed for ten Crowns."
I wanted to say that I wasn't that easy to kill, but I really couldn't. Because of the magic I might be able to feel the threat close to me, but if I would be walking in a crowd, avoiding an arrow launched from a distance would be impossible. My thoughts we interrupted by the disapproving Lykke twins.
"Mr. Solberg, please. Our youngest family member doesn't need to know about all the unpleasant aspects of city life."
Then the first of the twins turned towards me. Lykke One.
"Young man, as an example how a family can help its members: Would you be interested to find out how you could get an almost full access to the University with something like thirty Crowns?"
"Of course I would, Miss Lykke. Of course I would. I just had no idea it would be possible."
"Actually it's very simple, young man. Do you think that those high auditors or professors themselves write any of the documents that go into the University archives? Or do they really write those access passes given to the students? Of course not, that kind of tedious job is well beneath them. I'm certain that we can get you safely in contact with a secretary who's able to add your name here and there and write you that pass. They can make sure that you'll be able to study almost everything."
Almost everything. Most likely meaning everything except Magic: how to become a feared Magician.
"Thank you so much, Miss Lykke, thank you."
"No problem, young man. This is how the family members help each other. You have some letter of recommendation, don't you?”
Yes, yes I do."
"Good, with that everything will be official. Once that letter has been registered, stamped and archived it will become an official document nobody will ever read or access again."
Then the other twin smiled and continued.
"Before you get too happy, we're sure that Mrs. Hansen here will be willing to use your help in all kind of tasks around this house."
"That will be no problem. I've been repairing and even building houses for years. Nothing this fancy, however."
After that the discussion turned into other topics and I still wasn't really able to believe my luck. Seventy Crowns could make quite a difference here even if it would mean some dirty or nasty jobs inside the house.
"You haven't told us yet what you have planned to study, Stian."
With that question Mrs. Hansen caught me a bit unguarded, since I had just noticed another thing that had been there at the back of my mind. Something very important, but now it would have to wait.
"At least agriculture - and trade."
"Why those two?"
"Simple, people have to eat - and most likely there will always be trade."
"I would have thought that farming is the easiest and the best way learn agriculture."
She was clearly taunting me, but I just smiled.
"Maybe so. But what if you want to try something new, something that isn't traditionally cultivated close by. Like some exotic herbs, some spices - or grapes."
That made her raise her eyebrows which also made one of the ugly scars more prominent. Once again I had an idea that her husband had died too quickly and easily. Of course I didn't say anything about that.
"Were that possible - especially if you could make some decent wine - you could become a rich man over the years. Until some noble or even the Royals took over the production."
"I guess that I would need support from some strong family then - or have some dummy noble as a figurehead. I'm sure that there are enough of them available."
Luckily they liked my arguments, and the discussion was soon turned into other topics starting from idiot nobles. Most importantly, the discussion moved away from me, since I was starting to feel the strain. Besides, there was one other thing. One very odd thing.
Once I was behind the closed door in my own room, I allowed myself to sense my surroundings a bit more than usual. I opened up my sensing quite a bit more and then I moved in front of my third-floor window. The pressing feeling that came to me from all the people on the streets and the other buildings was too much for me to be there without turning my sensing down. I forced myself to tolerate it for a moment before I took two steps aside. As soon as I did that, I started feeling easier and I was able to breath normally again. I knew that cats helped to nullify magic, but it seemed that some buildings could do that, too. One more thing to learn to be added to my already long list.
I fell back on my bed and closed my eyes. Suddenly there was an incredible urge to try if I could sense my connection with Fainauriel or Bellcauniel. I wanted to feel them, sense them - I wanted to touch, hear and make love to them! I wanted to play with those little girls, play hide-and-seek and just run with them. I opened my eyes and looked at the sloping ceiling and forced myself to calm down. I could calm down, because I had to! I also had to remember that even if the people around me were part of my new family they might not be my allies. Until things proved to be different I had to keep on thinking that I was here alone, surrounded by people who were either indifferent or my enemies. I'd better think all of them as enemies unless proven otherwise.
Hantaliel had warned me that this was going to be difficult. It was always hard for her - and she had been able to practice this for a much longer time and even she had normally been on a mission that had lasted longer than half a year. We had agreed that she'd try to come to meet me by the spring equinox, which was more than half a year from now. More than half a year. I closed my eyes again. I could always send some letters via Birgit, but that system could not really be trusted to be secure and I needed to be careful with what I wrote. More than half a year.
--
Chapter 14
The sisters were true to their word and the following morning, after breakfast, we prepared to visit the University for the first time. In theory, I knew where the University buildings were located inside this city and I was sure that I would have been able to find my way there. However, walking through the morning streets with these odd Lykke twins was really an experience.
The twins were able to sit in silence for ages, but if they decided that it was time to talk they could be as bad as old Miss Dahl. Except that there were two of them. While walking by myself I usually kept my distance from other people and used a direct route whenever possible, but with the twins, it was totally impossible. We zigzagged from one place to another while the twins showed me the good places to go shopping and also the sellers to avoid. I did my best to remember all the names and places. Then, without any warning we came into a plaza where there were some hopeful people selling all kinds of food you could take with you - and then there was the University. The Universi
ty.
I had seen houses that were higher than the University main building with its three floors and I had seen drawings and pictures of the Royal palace, but the University main building felt more impressive to me. First of all, the building width was several blocks to both sides and, because of the plaza, you could see the whole front of the building. Not only that, as we had entered the middle of the plaza - just in front of the main entrance - there came a feeling that the massive building was looking at you. Evaluating you, checking if you were a person worth entering the building. I turned away from the building and looked at the twins, who were looking at me.
