Mage Queen: Dark Sculptor Novel 03

by D. R. Rosier

  I pulled out my knife and cut off another small piece of my armor, the women studied me for a moment but didn’t say anything as I stripped off all the extras giving me a base organism that could change shape, grow to repair itself to a ring size, change color, and bond to the holder.

  Then I dove in and made the change. I’ll admit for the purpose of historical accuracy, that I may have possibly flinched away, and then slowly relaxed when nothing exploded.

  I looked at Karana, “What do you see, beautiful.”

  She smiled at the compliment, and she truly was. All of her, inside and out, even her frailties. That was the moment I finally admitted the truth to myself, when I felt my heart fill. The desire was there, strong as ever, and her flirty extrovert nature, but I’d gotten used to walking around with half a chubby most of the time. Point was, it was in that moment on the sixth day of our trip, mid-afternoon while conducting magical experiments that it hit me like a ton of bricks.

  I was in love with Karana, my exotic ebony beauty. She was all willowy, predatory, and seductive grace on the outside, and a powerful woman of deep conviction and power on the inside. It would be hard to let her go, but I knew I’d have to if she didn’t choose me. It would destroy me to see her wilt inside, and have her light go out as she was filled with regret, resentment and blame over the years for giving up her home.

  Not that I ever could or would force her, but I wouldn’t push or put pressure on her either. I also knew I needed to tell her, just not now. Point was, I would make sure it was her decision, not made in a moment of passion due to our shared chemistry. Love wasn’t selfish after all, and my own convictions could control the chemistry and desire between us, no matter how strong it felt. Her joy and happiness meant far more to me than the needs of my own body, or heart.

  Karana didn’t seem to notice my moment of self-discovery, she studied the small version of the armor in my hand.

  “It looks like a non-mage human to me. The magic is flowing in and out of it.”

  I nodded, and concentrated on changing its shape and color.

  Nothing happened, and I narrowed my eyes. The bond was gone too.

  “It seems when the abilities were created, part of the ability was to grab and control all magic in the body, and then use it when the ability was triggered, so it stopped the flow. Normal humans don’t have a pool in their aura, and even if they did they couldn’t use it. So the magic talents compensate by making a pool in the body instead, by using a dam for the magic.

  “This organic armor in my hand will probably die soon, if I leave it the way it is now, magic isn’t being gripped, so the bond died. That means it needs a little magic on its own, constantly. I bet abilities are similar in that way, without a constant grip on the magic, the ability probably won’t interface right with its host’s mind.”

  Regina tilted her head, “So how do we fix that?”

  I frowned, “We’d have to make the magical management a lot more complicated, so it only draws off a little magic, instead of a lot to maintain a quiescent state, and then when the wielder of an ability uses it, it would have to grab the rest. Then any mages born would be mages, and most of them would have an ability as well. But, it’s going to take a lot of experimentation on this little guy to get it right, before I’ll even consider trying it on a human.”

  I restored the previous DNA configuration and it woke up and twisted around my left pinkie at a thought.

  “My guess is the mage didn’t know he’d caused the issue, and when the first flesh sculptor started making other abilities he used his own magical framework as a guide to powering other abilities, and it snowballed from there.”

  Well, I went with the feelings thing again, and asked my magic for exactly that, the organism would only draw the magic needed to perform its functions and wielded magic, letting the rest go through.

  It came back with an answer that was complicated, and long. It was the difference between total power management and subtle scale, the latter of which took a lot more information to accomplish. I took about a half an hour to study the details of it, and then I implemented it on the ring.

  “How about now?”

  Karana said, “It’s circulating magic again.”

  I nodded, and tried to get it to move, it worked, and as far as I could tell all its other magical functions like growth and health were working perfectly. I added in the pointer spell, and then activated it. A laser pointer shot out in front of us.

  “Now?”

  Karana said, “Still circulating, but it’s down to a trickle.”

  I nodded, “That makes sense, a laser pointer isn’t a demanding magical spell, but this organism is rather tiny. The stronger spells would draw on its host’s magic.”

  Regina asked, “So you fixed it already?”

  I frowned, and dove into Regina’s DNA, already knowing what I was going to find.

  “On the contrary, I just proved it can’t be fixed.”

  Karana raised an eyebrow.

  “This is a simple multicellular organism with no differentiation whatsoever. It’s why I could put so many spells in my ring, there’s a lot of junk DNA not in use I can swap out with active DNA for my spells. There’s enough room to add hundreds, if not thousands of spells activated by thought in this small organism. It’s also one of the reasons it’s virtually immortal and will never die, if DNA corruption occurs in any of the cells it’s self-corrected by all the other healthy cells.

  “Humans and Elves are different, and far more complex. It’s why they can only have one ability, instead of several at once. The child only inherits one of their parents’ abilities, not both. There just isn’t enough room in the DNA to insert more than one safely. The magical management DNA fix is too complicated and long to safely add to your DNA, so maybe it wasn’t a mistake after all, but just the way it had to be done. They probably just didn’t realize at the time it would breed out mages, because I doubt a mage would have agreed to be experimented on.”

  I looked between them both, and Saria who was listening closely now as well.

  “In short, we can’t fix the problem, it’s impossible. If I tried this fix on a human, they would die. The only option is the workaround, either a device I make, or an actual flesh sculptor will be required to find and free the abilities of mages, by suppressing their abilities. Well, there is one more option, we could undo it all, but I don’t think that’s a good option, or one the people would be willing to take. The health and longevity of the human race would plummet without the abilities.”

  I sent magic into my pinky ring, and removed the organic pointer spell, and returned it back to its base form, including magical management. Then I added three spells. One was always on, detecting a mage, the second one suppressed an ability, the third one switched it off permanently. Anyone could use it, the desire to see if they were a mage would suppress their ability, the desire to turn off their ability permanently would also do so. Assumingly, anyone that wore it wouldn’t desire their ability gone without proof they were a mage first, but just in case there were stupid people out there I added a fourth spell, to switch a disabled ability back on, and therefore make it idiot proof.

  It was all easy enough, since it was all things I’d done before. Since the ring’s spells were controlled by the wearer, it couldn’t be abused by anyone wanting to remove another’s ability either.

  Then I took out my knife and cut it in half. They were still tough, but it was small and it wasn’t that hard. I tossed one of them toward Karana, and then put the other one back on my finger as it regrew. She snatched it out of the air easily.

  “That object will glow, like it is now, if a mage is holding it,” I explained the other desires needed to trigger the three other spells in it.

  Karana frowned, “So you’re going to tell the queen about your potential?”

  I nodded, “She can either out me, or claim it’s a discovery of her own making. My coin is all on the fact she’ll want to keep it to herself,
use me for other stuff like this, but keep it a secret from most. Or not? I don’t know. Either way, she can cut up seven of them and have one sent to each of her cities to find all the mages. The one I gave you should be split for Amathyr and Lelmalond, if you… or when the scouts go home at the end of our mission with the sixteen-elven woman, they can take it with them. This issue is too important to ignore, simply to hide my true power. I still don’t want it known, but at some point the cost in keeping it a secret is too high.”

  I held up my finger with the weapons ring, “Defending our lives is one such reason, and I believe ensuring the mages aren’t bred out of humanity on this world is even more important than just my life.”

  None of them argued, but they did look worried about me.

  “Or ours,” Regina said.

  I shook my head and smiled, “Not sure about that one.”

  Regina hit my arm, but she also blushed and smiled.

  Karana shook her head, “You need to stop giving out priceless gifts, or people will take advantage.”

  I smiled, “It is priceless, but some things are more important than coin. I’ll make coins on healing back in Eastguard and when I travel, and in fixing talents or bodies gone wrong from genetic defects and diseases, that last isn’t something I can duplicate with a spelled object since the solution is likely to be unique in each case. If the queen or your people want other devices from me of lesser facility, I’ll charge through the nose for them, and make sure they’re not easily copied like the elven armor. In fact, that ring I just gave you is the only thing I’ve made that’s easily copied, since I removed that protection. The rest of the stuff I made won’t be split successfully without a flesh sculptor to suppress that function during regrowth, and none of those will work for anyone but who I made them for.”

  Regina looked concerned, “What if she wants weapons?”

  I frowned, “I don’t know, I’m hoping she won’t want to empower the weak enough to challenge her. I am opening a can of worms, and I’ll deal with it as it happens the best I can. I can think of other things that would be useful and not hurt my conscious.”

  I knew I just pulled a reversal on some of my secrecy plans, but the mage thing was too important. Mages on this world were essential, I felt it was worth the risk. Knowledge was power as well, I was banking on the idea Sera wouldn’t want to share the truth of where the rings came from.

  Regina asked, “Like what?”

  “Some of the home luxury and automation stuff we’ve talked about. Then maybe cuffs that will neutralize an ability when worn? It would open up the possibility of non-lethal responses from the guard. Umm, lots of stuff.”

  Saria nodded, “My advice is wait and find out what she wants from you first. Then use the mage discovery and fix to butter her up, and then offer her a different alternative to whatever she wants. Don’t give her any ideas about what you can do either, let her ask.”

  Karana said, “I agree.”

  Regina smirked, “Me too?” she said with a shrug.

  I nodded, “We should focus on the elven women first anyway, but I agree. I’ll wait to see what she wants first. On the off chance she doesn’t really want anything but to return the elves humanely, I’ll let her know before we leave.”

  Yeah, the chances of that were small, but there was a chance. We all changed the subject at that point, and we spoke of other things for the rest of the day’s ride.

  Chapter Fourteen

  We were mostly done setting up camp that night when I broached the subject that’d been on my mind ever since my moment of self-discovery on the road earlier. The fire was up as was the tent I shared with Saria and Regina. I was helping Karana set up her tent, while Regina was cooking dinner, and Saria was off in the forest hunting and practicing the new spells she was taught earlier in the day.

  When Karana’s tent was finished going up, my heart started to beat like a base drum as I reached out and took her hand. She gave me a startled look, and stared into my eyes as my throat closed up. I hated the feeling of vulnerability, but I knew the right thing to do was to tell her.

  “Karana, I don’t want to pressure you or anything, and I think we’re getting along even better than I’d hoped we would, but there’s something you should know. I don’t want it to influence your decision, except to the extent that you know the choice is there.”

  She swallowed nervously, and looked away which made me release her hand.

  When she turned back and looked into my eyes again, I saw desire, and fear. It was a painfully vulnerable moment, as I waited for her to speak. She wasn’t stupid, and I was sure she already knew what I intended to say and could see it in my eyes.

  She reached up and cupped my face, and then slid her fingertips down my face.

  Her sultry voice was a whisper, “I already know. I love you too, James. I think I fell in love with you a long time ago, that’s why I shut down in the first place. Getting to know you the last six days and spending so much time in your company has just made those feelings stronger, given them a more solid foundation to stand on and flourish, and they’ve grown roots into my heart and soul.”

  I gaped at her a moment, “That’s how I feel, except my words were a lot simpler. I’ve loved you for a while as well, but only admitted it to myself today.”

  She chuckled so sultrily that it sent a shard of pleasure from my ears, down my spine, and right to my manhood. The love I felt for her didn’t make the physical desire stronger exactly, but it made it far more complex, rich, and meaningful. I ached for her physically, but also for her happiness in my soul.

  As the declarations of love hung there for a few moments, I realized that didn’t mean she’d made her choice yet. She loved me, but she also loved her family, her career, and her home.

  “I just wanted you to know, to make an informed choice. It would kill me if you ever resented me for that choice. I want you, but I want you to be who you are even more, a fulfilled and joyful woman.”

  She put a finger over my lips, and then pulled it away with a sigh.

  “I know that too, you’re not perfect James, but greed or lack of empathy isn’t among your faults. I feel like a bitch for putting us both through this, but I’m not ready. If I could have both I wouldn’t hesitate another moment.”

  I tilted my head, “Can I ask you a very personal question?”

  She nodded, “I don’t promise to answer, but I won’t take offense.”

  I asked, “Why aren’t you already taken? I mean, I can’t imagine you were short on suitors back home.”

  She laughed, “In other words, why you, when the men of my own race have failed to get my attention for eighty years?”

  I blushed, I’d have to work on my subtlety.

  She bit her lip, “Saria has told you I’m a bit of a genius when it comes to magic, both in power and knowledge? At least, for my age.”

  I nodded.

  She said, “Mages tend to be intimidating to those around them as it is, you’re right that more often than not mages end up with other mages. It’s usually for that reason, such an imbalance of power in a relationship can be a strain, it takes a unique partner to overcome that difference of power. While you’re not a mage, you aren’t in the least intimidated by me, and your power as a sculptor and the tools you can make is a powerful equalizer. You’ll never be a mage, but your specialized spells are far faster for you to cast, and you can be as flexible as a mage given enough time to prepare for eventualities.

  “Mostly though, it’s the way I don’t intimidate you at all. Most men don’t see my body or face when they look at me, nor my strength of character and conviction. That’s all you see. Some men have gotten past that intimidation back home, but usually out of avarice for my power, both magically and politically. You… don’t give a shit about any of that, all you care about and love is me. You’re… unique in this world, perhaps it’s your lack of expectations, but you see mages as just other people, and not something apart. Is this making any sen
se?”

  I nodded in faux gravity, “You love me because I stare at your tight ass and long shapely legs every time you walk away.”

  She giggled, “Ass.”

  “Sorry, did I ruin the moment? Yes, and you’re probably right. Mages are just people after all. And you Karana, are a very special one. I’ll always love you, and wish you happiness, no matter what you decide.”

  “That easily?”

  I shook my head, “Nothing easy about it, but the most important things in life never are.”

  Her face grew serious, “No, they aren’t.”

  It wasn’t my intention, but I’d obviously and accidentally drawn a parallel to the sacrifice she’d have to make if I was the most important thing in her life.

  I changed the subject.

  “How is Saria doing?”

  Karana replied, “Very well for just two lessons, she’ll pick up the basics fast. She’s never had any formal mage training, but her older sister and both parents are mages, not to mention me, so she can’t have failed to pick up a lot of mage lore over the years. I imagine by the end of the week she’ll have a solid apprentice foundation, similar to five years of teaching and effort because of that. Minus the spell repertoire which will also come faster than usual. After that, she’ll slowly grow in power over the centuries, as she learns the subtleties.”

  “Not sure I really understand that part of things.”

  Karana nodded, “Mages use words to guide intent and organize the magic. An apprentice can cast much the same magic as an arch mage, if at less power, but their spell would be much, much, longer. Over time, certain concepts, intents, and even manipulating and organizing the magic directly into spell forms becomes possible, which means less words to form a spell. When a spell’s subtleties and concepts are truly mastered, it is built from pure thought without the need for words to organize the magic, and only one word is required to bring it into being. It also takes training the mind and deep focus, a random thought or concept in the wrong place could be catastrophic, and kill the mage or those around them.”