“No,” he smiled, “being finished with study and ready to live.”
The wind workers tore the first compositions and an unnatural wave sprouted beneath us, propelling the boat forward. Jasper gasped, swayed, and gripped the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white.
“Are you all right?” I leaned in close, but he gestured for me to back off.
I did so just in time for him to throw the top half of his body over the railing and lose the contents of his stomach into the water below. When he finished heaving, he weakly wiped his sleeve across his mouth and slumped down.
“So…” I said. “That living thing?”
“Highly, highly overrated,” he croaked.
I tried to suppress my laugh.
“Oh, go on and laugh,” he said without looking in my direction, and my chuckle broke out.
“I think I heard we only have about ten hours of this to go,” I told him.
He groaned and sank onto the wooden planks. “Wake me when this is over—if I’m still alive, that is.”
I shook my head and leaned against the railing, watching the riverbank flash past. The movement of the boat thrilled me, my stomach making no protest. Apparently I should consider myself lucky.
In some places the wide trunks of ancient trees came down almost into the river itself, while in other places stretches of level, grassy ground lined the bank. I saw no sign of any humans, though, and could easily believe the forest was as impenetrable as we had been told.
When I grew bored of watching the riverbank, I worked a series of compositions to test the workings of the wind workers. I treated it like an Academy exercise, crafting my own compositions to give me information about theirs without interfering with their functionality.
In the process I realized that every other mage in our delegation had now shielded themselves, so I spent some time crafting one for myself. I would want to maintain it indefinitely once we crossed into the Empire, so I couldn’t have it drawing too much power. The shielding function alone shouldn’t draw enough to be noticeable unless it was called into use, but I wanted it to do more than just shield. I wanted it to also monitor any compositions that interacted with me in a way that didn’t threaten physical harm, and to break down their purpose, as well as maintaining a latent awareness of the power in my general vicinity.
When I had finally crafted it to my satisfaction, I tweaked the actual composition to extend it to my brother. He had come on this delegation to protect me, but it was I who needed to protect him.
I had no way to know when we passed the border. I wasn’t entirely sure anyone had a way to tell. But when the trees finally petered out and fields spread before my eyes, I knew with certainty we had entered the Sekali Empire.
The wave that had propelled us upstream slowed, pushing us gently against a simple wooden dock. The members of both delegations stirred and began to file off the boat, some of them looking nearly as green as Jasper, although I hadn’t seen anyone else lose their breakfast.
“How’s Jasper?” Lucas asked me quietly, appearing from nowhere amid the movement.
“Alive,” Jasper said from where he still lay on the wooden planks. “Barely.” He cracked his eyes open, his whole body jolting when he saw who had joined us. Somehow he pulled himself to his feet and managed a shaky bow.
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
“It’s good to finally meet you, Jasper,” Lucas said.
Jasper looked between the prince and me. “And…and you, Your Highness.”
“Shouldn’t you be out leading the way?” I gestured vaguely toward the gangway.
“Perhaps,” Lucas said quietly, but he didn’t move. “That wasn’t here four years ago.” He looked at the dock. “They’ve built it just for us, I think.”
“A sign of good faith, perhaps,” Julian said from behind us. “That they truly do mean to open the border between Ardann and the Empire.” He nodded at Lucas. “Your Highness.”
Lucas nodded back. “Julian. It’s been awhile.”
“I just came over to check that all was well with my sister.”
Jasper, still unsteady on his feet, stiffened at the word. I slipped a supportive shoulder beneath his arm, and he relaxed again.
“Admirable,” said Lucas dryly before finally heading toward the shore.
“Let me guess,” I said to Julian as I helped Jasper move forward. “You want us to leave the boat together as a reminder of our connection for whoever has come from the Sekali court to greet us.”
“You know, I’m going to have to admit to Father I was wrong,” Julian said. “And I hate doing that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jasper asked with panting breaths between each word.
“I’m afraid I showed an unusual lack of foresight,” Julian said. “Not having had any interaction with our lovely Spoken Mage myself, I doubted whether she would be an asset to our family.”
I muttered something extremely rude which only made Julian laugh, with the result that we looked like a picture of family amiability as we stepped onto the riverbank. Lucas had already been swept away, but officials still remained to greet us.
Less power blazed around this new collection of Sekalis, but between them, our own delegation, the boat, and the residual compositions in the river, the area hummed with power. Between all the bowing, I had a glimpse of a variety of colorful robes—including both more pale green ones and some in a darker forest green I hadn’t seen before—and a number of commonborn guards in a uniform that included a long tunic of heavy leather. Before I could get a closer look, however, Jasper, Julian, and I were thrust into a comfortable carriage.
Jasper immediately positioned himself in a corner and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. The door opened again, and Jocasta climbed in before a shout rang out, and the carriage began to roll forward.
I scooted over to the window and peered out. A long row of mounted soldiers rode on either side of the string of carriages. Each carried a long wooden pole with a small yellow flag on the end that snapped in the light breeze. No doubt our cavalcade made an impressive display, although I also noticed that sharp looking spearheads tipped the poles above the flags. Decorative but also practical, then.
“Jocasta.” Julian gave my instructor a lazy smile.
“Julian. Why am I not surprised you managed to worm your way onto this expedition?”
“Because I was always your favorite student?”
“Hah!”
Julian grinned at his old instructor. “So, you’re here to ensure Elena and Prince Lucas continue their training, I hear.”
Jocasta glanced over at me. “I think we all know that Elena and Lucas are beyond the need of any training I can give them. And they’re not exactly in danger of failing their final exams. I’m here for optics, and nothing more. All mages must study for four years under the tutelage of the Academy—so here I am.”
This was news to me. So we weren’t to have lessons? My eyes caught on Jasper who had recovered sufficiently to open his eyes, and who was now gazing at me with a loaded expression. He had found me the night before to tell me that he felt no ill-effects of my energy skim. I didn’t need him to use words now to understand what he was trying to say. My official lessons might be over, but I had training of my own to continue.
I gave him a slight nod, and he shut his eyes again, leaning his head back. The rest of us also fell silent as we gazed out the windows at the passing landscape. To the north, I could see the beginning of gentle rolling hills, while to the south, the road bordered field after field of ordered grains. If I ignored the leather-clad guards and the yellow flags, it didn’t look so different from home.
We traveled for only a couple of hours before stopping for the night. I had expected that we would be hosted either in the grand estate of one of their clans, or in a large roadside inn. Instead we were ushered into a large, utilitarian wooden building that most closely resembled a military barracks.
“These wayhou
ses are maintained by His Imperial Majesty for the use of all official travelers,” a Sekali in a forest green robe informed us.
No one in the delegation complained, although most of the Ardannians had only endured such spartan conditions during their time on the front. According to Jasper, the Mage Council had deliberated for some weeks about who to send but had eventually concluded that the course least likely to give offense was to follow the example set forth by the Sekalis themselves. We had therefore come without guards, the group made up entirely of mage representatives from the different disciplines, the only exceptions being Lucas, Jasper, and myself.
When I emerged to eat the following morning, I ran into Beatrice.
“Elena, good morning.” She greeted me with a smile, but the expression quickly fell into a look of concern. “Are you all right, my dear? You look tired. Did you not sleep well?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine,” I said, although her words made me realize I did feel unusually fatigued.
Narrowing her eyes, she turned from me, her gaze making a direct line for my brother who already sat at one of the long tables consuming a bowl of porridge.
“Be careful about overextending yourself,” she said when she looked back at me. She placed a gentle hand on my arm. “We have no reason to fear the Sekalis mean us harm.”
I flushed. So she had felt the string of power that connected me to Jasper.
“I know we don’t, and I’ll be careful,” I promised her before hurrying in Jasper’s direction.
The journey itself had been more tiring than I anticipated, and my exercises exploring the wind worker compositions meant maintaining two shields had more of an impact than I liked. I was nowhere near exhaustion or burn out, but my steps had an extra lag, and my mind felt heavy and weary. Beatrice was right that this was no time to overextend myself. And with my new ability, there was no need for me to do so.
I would let Jasper decide for himself about his shield—one small way in which I could stop needlessly sacrificing for my friends and family and let them have a say in my decision-making. Sliding into the seat next to him, I lowered my voice to a faint whisper.
“Would you feel safer with a shield?”
He looked at me sharply. “Should I feel unsafe?”
I shrugged. “Not for any specific reason that I know about. But we don’t know much about the Empire. And everyone else has shielded themselves.”
He frowned. “I suppose I can understand that. And I’m not saying I like feeling exposed and vulnerable…” He abruptly put down his spoon. “You’re shielding me right now, aren’t you?”
I nodded and glanced around to see that no one had approached too close.
“I am, but I don’t know if I can keep it up on both of us when I’ll have other compositions to perform. Not without feeling constantly tired—a less than appealing prospect given we could be here for months. So, I was thinking…”
“Yes,” he said quickly, his eyes cautioning me against saying too much out loud. “Yes, I would be more than happy to do my part. And it will be excellent training for you, as well.”
I murmured, “Drain slowly,” under my breath, but the rush of energy that flowed into me was still too fast, so I cut it off.
“What about ‘glacially’?” Jasper suggested, and I rolled my eyes.
“That’s not how it works. I don’t need fancier words. I need more precision in my—” I stopped myself. “Never mind. I’ll try again.”
This time I spoke more slowly, interposing the mental concept of a glacial pace. But I wouldn’t give Jasper the satisfaction of actually speaking the word aloud.
“Drain slowly,” I whispered, and this time the flow trickled in, balanced against the flow of power that held his shield. It wouldn’t be enough if something actually challenged the shield, of course, but I still had plenty of power to draw on.
Could I link them? Somehow work the two compositions in conjunction so that if the shield required more power from me, my draining composition would take more energy from Jasper? It would need limits, though. If we did face danger at any point, things might start happening too fast for me to monitor his energy levels. Still…
“Don’t forget to eat,” Jasper said, standing up with his empty bowl. “There will be time enough to explore every possibility later.”
I grinned up at him. He knew me too well.
I ate quickly, distracted. And all too soon, I found myself back in the carriage and facing a full day on the road. We stopped at another wayhouse for the midday meal, and yet another when the sun began to set.
Beatrice found me as soon as Jasper and I entered the large dining room.
“Ah, there you are.” She peered at my face. “I just wanted to check on you and make sure you’re doing all right.”
“Oh yes, I’m feeling much better,” I said.
“Oh good.” She smiled. “Did you manage to sleep in the carriage? I never can, and it always seems ridiculous how exhausted I feel after a day of sitting doing nothing.”
“Oh yes, it’s more tiring than you’d think,” I agreed. “I’m afraid I’m not too good at sleeping upright either.”
“You aren’t?” She peered at me and then glanced across at Jasper, no doubt still able to sense the way my power surrounded him. A look of confusion crossed her face.
I kicked myself mentally. I felt significantly more awake than in the morning, thanks to the steady trickle of Jasper’s energy, but I should have hidden that from Beatrice.
“Elena!” Julian called for me from across the far side of the room, and I gratefully took the excuse to escape, Jasper trailing along behind me.
He stood with a number of Sekalis in different colored robes. The one in the pale green robe, a different man from the one who had been part of the delegation to Corrin, stood a half step ahead of the others, and he led them all in bowing to me and murmuring polite welcomes.
“This is my sister, Elena. The Spoken Mage,” Julian said. “I sat with them at lunch, and they expressed an interest in meeting you,” he added as an aside to me.
“We are greatly interested in your unique ability,” the green-robed Sekali said. “We have never encountered such a power in the Empire.”
“And neither have we in Ardann before now,” Julian said. “She’s one of a kind.” He put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed, as if we truly had the affection of siblings, and he was proud of me.
“I hope when we reach our capital, you will permit us to study you,” the Sekali said.
I hesitated, and Julian quickly stepped in.
“Of course Elena would be more than happy to do some demonstrations for your emperor and your academics. But if you wish to conduct any tests on her, that is a more complicated matter. We would need to know your intentions and discuss the matter with the head of our delegation. I’m sure you understand.”
“Certainly, certainly,” the man said, before bowing again and directing us toward the food.
“I’m telling myself you were trying to protect me, not control me,” I said to Julian as we took seats together at one of the long wooden tables. “But I’m not entirely succeeding.”
“You aren’t her keeper,” Jasper said with venom in his voice.
I nudged him with my foot. I had never heard him speak like that to a mage, and I didn’t want him making enemies for my sake.
Julian looked at Jasper with a cool expression and then turned to me.
“I’m neither protecting nor controlling you, if you must know. The Sekalis respect age and authority. You might be powerful, but you’re also young and have no official position. They will not expect you to be free to make your own choices on such matters. They would no doubt think it foolish of us to allow such a thing.” He glanced at me between mouthfuls. “And Ardann does not want to appear weak.”
Jasper shoveled in his food as quickly as possible, keeping his eyes away from Julian, but I ate more slowly, considering his words. If I had sat back and let those older and more
authoritative than me direct my life, where would I be now? Dead, quite possibly.
But, on the other hand, we had traveled through the Empire now for more than a day and had passed through several villages. The buildings—like the fields—had been neat and well-kept, and the people looked prosperous enough, moving busily through their day with calm focus. Their ways might be different from ours, but those ways seemed to have served the Empire well. Still, I was glad to know I would be returning to Ardann soon enough.
The chicken in my mouth turned hard and flavorless, and I could barely swallow it down. I would be returning to Ardann, but what of Lucas?
I surreptitiously examined the Sekalis eating at the tables around me, trying to imagine Lucas as one of them. As I looked, however, a frown slowly gathered on my brow. If my friends were right, and the mage with the strangely muted energy was dangerously ill, then a great many Sekalis must be equally in danger. And I must have been distracted indeed not to notice it before. All around me I could feel others just like him, including commonborns.
Chapter 13
By the time we emerged the next morning, I had noticed that the soldiers all had the muted energy, along with a small handful of mages. In this group, at least, it was only those wearing one of the two shades of green.
I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Jasper about it, however, and his mind was clearly elsewhere as he glowered across at our carriage and at Julian who stood beside it talking to a Sekali.
“Does he have to travel with us every day?”
“He’s my brother, too,” I said. “Officially. And he’s not someone you want as an enemy.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes. “He’s using you.”
I looked down the row of carriages. Now that I had noticed the strangeness of so many of the Sekalis’ energy, I couldn’t stop noticing it.
“Perhaps,” I said, distracted. “But then I’m using his family, too, remember? My allowance. My position at court.”
“You don’t need them. You’re better than them.”
I finally turned and gave Jasper my full attention.
Voice of Life (The Spoken Mage Book 4) Page 15
