Adept

by J. P. Larson

  "Shut up!"

  "In the other, I do not allow you to wallow. I make you shower and have lunch with me. I make you study your magic. You don't even notice when you've fulfilled your service. You love and are loved. I see you smiling and laughing, and I see you in a woman's arms."

  "Whose?"

  "I'm not answering that part, Kia," she replied.

  "Eva's?"

  "I'm not answering. But I will tell you this. If I let you wallow, you are alone the rest of your life. You're miserable, and so is Lunia."

  "I'll send her away."

  "No, you won't. Not in that dream. So, you are done wallowing. I will not allow you to take that path. Do you understand me? I won't allow it."

  She let that sink in.

  "You may not be willing to do what I am ordering, Kia," she said. "Do you need an obedience spell?" It was asked kindly.

  "Your dreams didn't tell you?" I asked.

  "More dreams," she said. "Some with an obedience spell, some without. This is your choice."

  I sighed. "I'll go shower."

  But instead, I walked straight to her and laid my head against her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me. I didn't cry, and she didn't say anything. After a minute, I wrapped my arms around her, too. We stood like that for a while, just holding each other.

  "I'll behave," I said before pulling away, "but I'm not attending Sevendays. That's the agreement. Lunia and I will spend Sevendays in Nalori."

  "We'll talk about it over lunch."

  I pushed away. "No. That's the agreement."

  "That's the agreement," she said, "but we'll talk more about it at lunch."

  "I'm not changing my mind."

  "You don't have to attend Sevenday. We'll talk about what you'll do instead. Maybe I'll go with you, if I'm welcome."

  I nodded. "All right, then."

  * * * *

  When she said we were going to lunch together, she was serious. We sat across from each other at the far end of the journeywoman table. We got looks for it, but no one said a word.

  I didn't see Eva.

  "Loralai has been bringing her meals," Quartain explained.

  "You're letting her wallow but not me?"

  "I'm letting her wear herself out in her foolishness, but I'm not saying anything else about it."

  "Fine," I said. I wasn't too snarky.

  "This afternoon, we'll start with you showing me as much as you've learned so far, and then we'll evaluate. I'll be working you to the bone, so to speak, mornings, afternoons and evenings. We stop for meals, for exercise, or when your magic begins to run low. Do not run yourself so low you turn stupid."

  I nodded, and wasn't offended. I did turn stupid if I pushed myself too hard.

  "You said we'd talk about Sevendays."

  "You're not going to like hearing this, and the timing is miserable." She paused. "Or maybe it's not. The queen has taken a consort."

  I lowered my eyes, staring at my plate. "She has to produce babies," I said quietly.

  "Yes. But she is still your friend. She wants us to come to dinner tomorrow evening."

  "Will he be there?"

  "No. I need to tell you about another dream."

  I sighed.

  "It's not horrible. Well, one choice turns out very badly, one doesn't seem to turn out to be anything at all. In the first one, you try to seduce Hallamarie."

  "Do I succeed?"

  "Yes."

  "And?"

  "It goes badly, Kia, very, very badly. In the other, you don't try to seduce her, and the dream ends."

  I sighed. "I was going to seduce Marie tomorrow night?"

  "I think if I hadn't warned you off, yes, you were."

  "Maybe I should seduce you," I told her. She laughed, and I said, "I'm serious."

  She cocked her head. "You really are, aren't you?"

  "You'd be putty in my hands," I said.

  She laughed again.

  I sighed. "Do you have more bad news for me?"

  "Not today. Maybe tomorrow."

  I nodded.

  * * * *

  We had a lovely dinner with Marie. I asked her to change my hair to red and to call me Ruby for the evening, so she did.

  "I wish I could do this," I told Quartain. "I like this color."

  Quartain and Marie exchanged looks. "Kia," Marie said, "this is a spell that can be made permanent."

  "Really?"

  "I'll make a deal with you. When you can cast the permanence spell yourself, if you still want your hair this color, I'll do it for you."

  "You won't do it now?"

  "No."

  "Do you really think you need to bribe me to make me study?"

  "No," Quartain answered for her. "But we don't want you making decisions like that right now, so she's making a playful agreement."

  "Can I cast permanence on someone else's spell?"

  "Not directly, but you can if you use collaboration magic as well," explained Marie. "It's that much harder."

  I turned to Lunia. "What do you think? Do you like it this color?"

  "I like it any color you wear it," Lunia said. "This is a striking contrast."

  "Is that a polite way of saying 'no'?"

  She laughed lightly. "No. I think you should ask for purple."

  "I'm sorry," said Marie. "I can't do purple. I can only do the natural colors."

  "I thought you didn't want anyone knowing you could do this at all. Now the staff knows, and Lunia."

  "The staff already knew, and I trust Lunia won't tell anyone."

  Lunia smiled. "Your Majesty, you do realize I am still a citizen of Haltorda, don't you?"

  "Oh please," said Quartain. "You've considered Ordeen your permanent home since the day you met Kia."

  I turned to look at Lunia. She shrugged. "I was thinking of going home. Now I am home." She turned to the queen. "Your Majesty, would you tell me who to see about officially becoming a citizen of Ordeen?"

  Marie smiled. "In this case, you see me. Are you sure?" Lunia nodded. "Have you thought about this?"

  "For years," Lunia said. "I'm sure."

  "All right," said Marie. "Everyone stand up." We all stood, then Lunia squarely faced the queen. "Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Lunia Darkstep..."

  Marie proceeded to give Lunia an oath of citizenship and loyalty to the queen. Lunia repeated it. At the end, she told Lunia, "Kneel to your queen and kiss my hand." Lunia did so, then Marie lifted her by her elbows and hugged her fiercely.

  "Congratulations, Lunia," she said. "You've made me very happy tonight."

  We exchanged hugs all around. Lunia stood there, a little stunned, and then she wiped a tear away.

  "I'm treated here with far more respect than I was ever treated at home," she said. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Is that all it took?"

  "There's paperwork." Marie waved a hand at it. "I'll send it to the school next week, but it will be dated today. There will be a certificate. Some people like to frame them."

  Behind Lunia's back, I glanced at Quartain, and she nodded at me. Lunia's would be framed all right.

  We retired to Marie's sitting room. She offered us after dinner drinks. We stayed late, chatting like old friends.

  Which we were.

  But it became time to go. I fingered my hair and sighed. "I can't keep it, can I?"

  "I'm sorry. It is quite fetching," Marie said. "Are you able to dispel it?"

  "I can probably blast it out, but it hurts."

  "Oh, don't do that," she said. She leaned across the table and caressed my head once, pulling her spell away. My hair went back to its old, boring, brown color. I sighed.

  "I like your hair this color too," Lunia said.

  "It's boring."

  "It suits you," Marie said.

  "You're saying I'm boring?"

  "I'm saying it's a good color for someone who spends so much time surrounded by her plants."

  I had a hard time arguing with that.

  * * * *


  Quartain did indeed spend Sevenday with Lunia and me. Iladarta came as well. I bought small presents for the three of them as well as Jaagar and Nate. And when we found a shop that sold frames, I managed to buy one with glass for Lunia's certificate of citizenship. I gave it to her when she received her paperwork three days later, and she loved it. We hung it on the wall of our sitting room.

  Quartain was serious about the amount of time she would make me study. She gave me Sevenday off, but otherwise we spent most of our waking hours together. Thirteen days after Eva had told me she didn't love me, I made my first ready-spell spell.

  Hey, I never said that the magi were good at naming their spells. It was a spell that made one of my spells ready.

  I had wrapped the spell around my best tangle spell, thinking about Sevenday. It took me hours to complete, start to finish, and when finally it was done, I stared at it.

  Quartain wasn't paying attention. She was doing some sort of paperwork sitting at a desk we'd moved into place near the circle. And so I was staring at the spell for a long time.

  "Quartain?" I finally said.

  She looked over at me. I caught the motion out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't take my eyes off the spell.

  "Oh Kia," she said. I could hear the pride in her voice. She stood and walked all around my spell. "You did it."

  "Is it right?"

  "It's the only spell that looks like this, and if you do it wrong, it collapses. It's too complex for me to be sure, but it looks right. There's only one way to be absolutely sure."

  I stared at it. "I need your advice."

  "Of course, Kia."

  "Is this the right spell?"

  She squinted through the complicated ready-spell spell. "I can't see what you cast it around."

  "My best tangle spell."

  "Oh," she said. "How long does it take you to cast otherwise?"

  "Several minutes, I guess."

  "Is this the best one Iladarta can teach you? Or now that you can do the Mobius strip, does she have more for you?"

  "She says it's her best. She's heard of better, but she doesn't know any."

  "Then they're probably forgotten until someone discovers it again." You couldn't describe in writing how to make a spell, so the only way to learn was from someone else, or if you were good enough, to invent the spell again.

  "You said I can only learn so many. Is this the right one? Maybe I should learn a healing spell instead."

  "You're going to be learning better healing spells," she said, "some that take a very long time."

  "It seems like a waste to learn this one, though," I said. "Even if you make me go back to Sevenday, it's only for a few months."

  "You're forgetting something, Kia. You need to be able to defend yourself. I'm going to make you ready-spell your best defensive spells. Is this on the list?"

  I looked at her. "I can only use it when there are live plants around. It's worthless in the winter or inside."

  "You spend a great deal of time outdoors, Kia, and that isn't going to change. And while I know you don't want to be a soldier, battlegrounds are outdoors. Is this a spell you would use, if it were immediately available? How much power does it take?"

  I laughed. "Not enough to use a lesser spell if I can use this one." I had my answer. I walked over to my spell then stopped right at the edge. "What do I do?"

  "Poke it."

  And so I did.

  Like many of my spells, this one grabbed onto me and swarmed up my arm, through my shoulder, and then up my neck before boring into my head. I thought it would hurt, but it didn't.

  It was, however, deeply disconcerting.

  I felt the spell settle in, making home in my brain. I could feel it there.

  Waiting.

  "This feels weird, Quartain."

  "I know. It takes a few days to get used to it. Then you stop noticing except when you need it." She turned me to her. "Now I have to teach you how to use it."

  "We have to go outside for that."

  "Tomorrow."

  "You don't really think I intend to wait."

  "You're done in."

  "Let's go." I turned for the door.

  "The dinner bell is in a few minutes," she said.

  "I'm going outside to see if I can make this work. Are you coming or not?"

  She laughed then stepped forward and took my arm. "Of course I'm coming."

  We practically ran.

  We picked a section of grass near the large, outdoor circle. A few students walked past, but we ignored them. As long as they stayed on the path, they were fine.

  "All right. You can feel the spell."

  "Oh yes," I said. It felt like it was looming in my mind, ready to pounce.

  "Concentrate on that feeling and start to summon your magic. The size of the spell will be controlled by how much magic you raise. I would encourage you to keep it small."

  I did what she said. At first, nothing happened, but then I felt the spell rush down my arm and out my hand, and next to me was a copy of my tangle spell. I turned to it and stared at it.

  "Absorb that and do it again."

  "I want to try it."

  She sighed and nodded, so I tossed the spell at the grass. The spell bored into the earth, spreading out, and soon the grass was waving, hungry for one of my enemies. I turned back to Lunia. "It worked."

  "It did indeed. Do it again."

  I did. It took time, but the spell swarmed down my arm again. That one I absorbed. Then Quartain had me do it another dozen times. At the end, it wasn't instantaneous, but it was darned fast.

  "Wow," I said.

  "Congratulations, Kia," she said. "Please dispel that." She pointed to the grass. "Then perhaps you'll let me help you to the dining hall. You're a little pale."

  * * * *

  I want to back up almost two years in my telling. Upon returning to school after our summer trip that year, Eva urged me to reach out to Cleo Greeneyes, the woman who had tried to buy Marie's secrets from me. At the time I had thought she was insane, but she involved Quartain in the conversation, and Quartain admitted it was a good idea.

  "Cleo knows everyone. She's a horrible gossip, but was Marie angry when you told her about it?"

  "She laughed," I admitted.

  "Make friends with her," Quartain said.

  "I don't want to spend my time with anyone watching my words."

  "Tell her that," Quartain said. "She'll publish anything she can, but at the same time she has an impeccable reputation for honesty. If she promises not to publish something, she won't."

  "She'll play word games with me."

  "No, she won't."

  And so I had sent her a note, and we'd become friends of a sort. She had invited Eva and me to dinner from time to time, and she never published anything without my permission. But she did publish an account of gathering herbs, which she assured me was far more interesting than I would ever have expected.

  And so, I again dropped Cleo a note. "Lunia and I will be in Nalori on Sevenday. Do you know anyone with a sailboat?"

  "As a matter of fact, I do," came Cleo's response. "I know you wake early. Can you come for breakfast, and then we'll spend a day on the water?"

  And so, Lunia and I made a dawn horse ride to Nalori. Cleo had a very nice home on a hillside overlooking the ocean on the north side of Nalori. It was amidst a cluster of expensive homes, and the cluster shared a stable and stable boy. We turned our horses over to him and made our way to Cleo's front door. A maid let us in, and a moment later Cleo was greeting us.

  "Kia!" she said. "You look wonderful. Hello, Lunia." She hugged and air kissed both of us, rubbing her cheek against mine as she did so. I clutched her for an extra second, and she looked at me in surprise afterwards but didn't ask any questions.

  That was unlike her.

  "Breakfast is simple," she said. "I invited more friends. I do hope that is all right."

  "Of course," I said. "It was quite forward of me to im
press myself upon you."

  "Nonsense," she replied. "But tell me. Where is the lovely Eva today?"

  I hesitated long enough to provide sufficient answer.

  "Oh dear, I'm sorry," she said. "Is this a tiff or a breakup?"

  "A breakup," I said at the same time Lunia said, "A stupid tiff."

  Cleo stopped and turned to me. "Which is it?"

  "She said she doesn't love me," I said. "Please, Cleo, I'm here for distraction."

  "Eva is frustrated because she's afraid Kia is leaving her behind magically," Lunia said. "She is going to come to her senses."

  "It will be two weeks on Oneday," I said. "She harbors years-old resentment I didn't even know existed. Please, Cleo. Distraction."

  "Of course, Kia." She smiled and resumed our walk through her house. "I am very, very good at distraction, and we have a delightful day ahead of us. Now, smiles. I am about to introduce you to someone very important to me."

  We stepped into her dining room. There was a man somewhat younger than Cleo and a woman perhaps a year or three older than I was. Cleo led me first to the man. He was dressed expensively, clean shaven, and very manly, but I detected immediately he was both taken with and subservient to Cleo. "Kia Shortshadow, this is my dear friend, Alexid Moreland. It is his boat we will be sailing aboard today. Alexid, this is my friend, Kia Shortshadow, a journeywomen sorceress of Northmere School of Magic. You may have heard her name mentioned a time or three. And this stunning woman beside her is Kia's swordswoman, Lunia Darkstep."

  Alexid had a deep, baritone voice, and I liked him immediately. He clasped my hand, then Lunia's, and told us how pleased he was at the opportunity to have such beauty upon his boat today. He sounded genuine, and I thought it was graciously said.

  "What do you do, Alexid?" I asked.

  "Alexid is old money, Kia," Cleo explained. "He doesn't do anything."

  Alexid laughed first, so I thought it was okay to join him.

  "The real answer is far more complicated than that," he replied. "We'll have all day if you want to spend it hearing the answer."

  "She does not," Cleo said. "And now, I must introduce you to my reason for existence. Kia, this lovely woman is my daughter, Vanitia Greeneyes."

  "Please, call be Vani," she said. She stepped forward and brushed cheeks with me, then stopped, her hands on my arms, and whispered. "Mother has marked you."