“Yet their hearts remained hard. Instead of banding together, humans fought each other. They squabbled over food, killed for prime caves. The world had changed around them, yet they had remained the same. Gramercy surveyed the world once again, distraught for his people. He wanted to show them a better way to live, a life beyond what they had known. So he selected the angriest, the most downtrodden, granting them a piece of his own heart so that they may feel as others felt, love as he loved them. These selected few learned sympathy and empathy—the first step towards kindness—and learned to teach others to feel the same. And it is said that ever since, every Q’atalian carries a piece of Gramercy’s heart that grants him the ability to feel the emotions of others, to be the balance of the world around them.”
I’d been just as spellbound as the boy and was a little disappointed the story was over. Xiaolang had a gift for telling stories.
“Did he make magicians too?”
“Not according to the story I was told,” Xiaolang denied. He quirked an eyebrow at me and Chatta. “Well? Did he?”
“Not according to any story
I’ve
heard,” I answered with a shake of the head. “Chatta?”
“Actually, no one knows why there are magicians,” Chatta admitted to Nolan. “We wish we did. If so, maybe we could influence more to be born.”
“What about Mages?” Nolan pressed, eyes darting between Chatta’s face and mine.
Such an inquisitive child. He and Trev’nor were definitely alike. “That is even more of a mystery. In all of history, only Chahir and Bromany have produced any Mages,” I answered, scraping up the last mouthful of food from my plate. “We do know that there are certain factors that are necessary for a Mage to be born.”
I could practically see Nolan’s ears perk at that. “What?”
“Well, inheritance. Their ancestor has to be a Mage. And the ley lines under them—”
“What’s a ley line?”
Oops. I’d forgotten he wouldn’t know. “Ley lines are like…um…” I had to think a second before I could come up with a simplified explanation he could understand. “The earth itself has power. You can probably sense that, can’t you?”
He nodded firmly. “It glows too. Not like animals do, though.”
Well, he was a Life Mage. Living creatures would be brighter for him. “For you, that’s true. Ley lines are like the living pulse of the earth. They’re long lines of pure energy. Okay?” When he nodded in understanding, I continued my explanation. “Anyway, the land has to have a certain amount of power where the Mage is born, otherwise they don’t awaken. And there’s some third factor, some other element, that makes a Mage a Mage. I think its sheer talent.”
“Otherwise everyone in a Mage family would be born a Mage?” Chatta hazarded, looking intrigued at this idea.
“Yup.” I put my empty plate aside, only then realizing that I had everyone’s attention. “I thought I mentioned this before….”
“Well, you did,” Shield responded wryly, “except for that last bit. Why talent, precisely? Why can’t it be something else?”
“Why do certain children inherit talents in a family, and others don’t?” I parried. “Why can my sister and I sing, and my two older brothers are so tone deaf dogs howl twenty miles away for mercy? There’s no rhyme or reason I can detect. It’s just talent.”
“Interesting,” Eagle noted. The wheels were obviously turning in his head as he considered the idea. “So what happens when a Mage—like you—has children in Hain? What are the odds then?”
I opened my mouth to answer and then paused when I realized I didn’t have a sure answer. “I’m not sure,” I admitted slowly.
“I don’t think the odds would be very good for a Mage being born,” Chatta finally stated. “From what you’ve told me, Garth, Hain doesn’t have as many ley lines as Chahir does.”
“It doesn’t,” I confirmed. “You’re probably right. I can’t envision that a Mage would be born in Hain, even coming from a Mage parent.”
Hazard grinned from ear to ear. “So when your wife’s expecting, everyone will make sure that you move to Chahir before the baby’s born…is that what I’m hearing?”
I hadn’t taken the thought to its logical conclusion so I was a little surprised by Hazard’s words. And then I realized that he was right and started smiling too. “You know, I’ll probably be told to do exactly that.”
“I can picture Guin and the Trasdee Evondit Orra ordering you to do precisely that.” Chatta shook her head in amusement. “All the other Mages will probably be given similar orders.”
I had no doubt about that.
Xiaolang cleared his throat. “All of this is interesting, but it’s already late and we need to get a very early start. We’ll continue this tomorrow on the road. Shield, I don’t like being in this Providence, so you’re taking first watch. Then Hazard, Eagle, Aletha, and Shad. I’ll take last watch.”
“We can stand watch too,” Chatta protested.
The look he gave her was rife with sardonic amusement. “Assuming I can wake you two up, I’m sure you could. But I want you both well rested, just in case. I don’t want tired magicians facing down energetic Star Order Priests.”
He had a definite point.
We all turned in. I noted with amusement that Nolan chose to snuggle in with Chatta to sleep. He didn’t explain his choice, but Chatta offered no protests and wrapped an accommodating arm around his waist as they snuggled in together. Didi chose to curl up against Nolan, half-chittering in a sleepy manner.
I settled in next to them, just in case I needed to throw up a quick shield. My body barely settled before darkness snuck up behind me and pounced.
I don’t remember anything after that.
~*~
When I awoke, I felt, if not well rested, at least rested enough to face the rest of the day. I rolled out of my blankets and prodded Chatta into motion first. She always takes a few minutes to actually wake up. Nolan woke up as I shook Chatta awake, blinking up at me with bleary eyes.
“Do we ‘ave to get up?” His words slurred.
“Yes, we do,” I answered patiently.
He made an inarticulate noise of consent and started pulling himself up. He was barely sitting when Aletha appeared and picked him up. “Come on, Nolan, I have some breakfast waiting for you.”
Looking rather cheered by this idea, he agreeably went into her arms.
I set Didi on the task of waking up his mistress (thereby shifting Chatta’s ire to him instead of me) and went to get my own breakfast. I found, without any surprise, that Hazard and Eagle were still struggling to fully wake up, Shad and Xiaolang were ready to go, and Shield was still eating. Morning people were notoriously consistent people.
It probably took a half hour to get everyone up, moving, and to pack up the camp. I was very careful to search the road in different directions, looking for anyone traveling, before we ventured out.
“Garth,” Xiaolang called as I swung myself onto Night’s back.
Obligingly, Night trotted over to him so we could talk to each other without yelling. “Yes?”
“I want you to focus on the roads today,” he ordered with a worried glance toward the main highway. “If you feel anyone within a mile of us, we’re going to duck off into the woods. I don’t want anyone to see us leaving Chahir.”
Considering we were skulking about with the Crown Prince, that was a very good idea. “Understood.”
“And be ready to take us down to the earth path at a moment’s notice,” he added with a worried frown. “I prefer getting out of here without triggering any alarms, but safety is more important than stealth.”
I could agree with that, too. “Right. Who’s Nolan riding with?”
“Me.” Xiaolang aimed an exasperated look at Hayate, who had twisted his long neck around to look up at his owner with pleading eyes. “Hayate will never let me hear the end of it otherwise.”
Hayate brightened, delight radiating from the tips of his ears to the flare of his nostrils. “Boy ride with us?”
“Yes, you infernal creature, Nolan is riding with us.” Fond exasperation heavily colored Xiaolang’s tone.
Hayate twisted his neck again, this time at such an angle that it looked like he was going to break his neck, looking around. “Nolan? Nolan? Come ride!”
Nolan appeared from behind Shield, trotting as fast as his little legs could carry him. He appeared just as delighted as Hayate. Apparently the adoration was mutual. With no hesitation, he grabbed Xiaolang’s proffered hand and swung himself up to sit in front of the Captain.
I could swear Hayate started purring.
“We’re going to have a fight on our hands when it comes time to leave Nolan at the Palace,” I muttered to Night.
“
No kidding,
” he responded dryly. “
From Didi, too. Personally, I’m more worried about Didi’s reaction. He’s sneakier about getting revenge.
”
Now that was a worrying thought. I made note to grab several puzzle toys from Trev’nor before we left for Chahir again. Otherwise there would be no living with Didi.
~*~
Off and on during the day, I would take a break and let my poor aching head rest. Searching constantly around me was not easy. When I focused on the team, I realized that Nolan was firing a thousand questions at Hayate and Xiaolang. Seriously, if I hadn’t known better, I could swear that Trev’nor and Nolan were related. Xiaolang was patiently responding to every question he was given. So was Hayate, in his limited speech. I wasn’t surprised to see that Didi had at some point decided to ride in Nolan’s lap.
Late that afternoon we reached the Chahir-Hain border. For caution’s sake, we travelled another mile past it before Xiaolang had me drop everyone onto the earth path and shoot straight for the Palace. Nolan was fascinated by this. He kept studying the walls, and shooting questions in my direction on how it worked. For a child that was deprived of all magic his entire life, he was soaking it up like a dry sponge now.
We surfaced in the main Palace courtyard, as usual. Fortunately, at this time of night, no one was about to catch our entrance.
Xiaolang took a deep breath and released it, obviously relieved. “I can’t believe we managed to get all the way here without getting caught. Good work, everyone. Shield, take the team and set them up for the night at the Ambassador Inn. I’ll meet you there later.”
Shield gave him a salute and started shooing people in the right direction.
“Hayate,” Xiaolang bent a firm look on his dragoo. “You go with him.”
Hayate started giving the most pitiful whine I’ve ever heard. “Go with boy!”
“No.” There was no room for compromise in that word.
Hayate must have sensed that arguing further would get him nowhere, for he heaved a mournful sigh and reluctantly turned, trudging after Shield.
Nolan heaved just as mournful of a sigh. “Can I play with him again later?”
Xiaolang seemed torn between laughing and throwing his hands up in the air. “Very likely, Nolan. We come to Hain from time to time. For now, though, we need to focus on taking you to King Guin.”
Appeased, Nolan took the hand that Xiaolang extended him and walked willingly into the Palace. Didi rode on his back, shooting smug looks in Hayate’s direction. Chatta, Night and I followed at their heels.
At first, we went looking for Guin in his usual haunts. No one had seen him in those areas for several hours, however. We finally nabbed a passing page to figure out where the King was. He was reported to be in the Queen’s Garden.
As many times as I’ve been in the Palace, I had never once had the opportunity to step into the Queen’s Garden. It was a notoriously private retreat for the royal family, and only those with the most urgent business were allowed to intrude.
I think towing a foreign prince into Hain was considered to be urgent business. Xiaolang apparently agreed as he did not hesitate in leading us directly into the garden.
I looked around as we entered through the main door. The area was fairly large, walled in on all sides. It was still somewhat early spring, and so there wasn’t much growing yet. I saw a lot of tentative leaves and new buds but no actual blooms. Still, the area was nicely sculpted with mature trees and well-tended bushes and flowers. In high summer, it would be gorgeous.
Guin was seated on a bench, his arm wrapped around his wife’s waist. Judging from the informal dress both monarchs were in—that of simple cotton clothes with no frills or lace—they were apparently enjoying a private moment. I’d rarely seen Queen Chaelane—our spheres didn’t tend to overlap much—but the few times I’d met her, I’d gained an impression of a strong and intelligent woman. She was five years younger than her husband, with looks that ran more toward classically elegant than pretty. Really, with her prominent bone structure, willowy frame, and dark coloring, “striking” would probably be a better description. The only thing that marred her elegant air was the braid of honey brown hair that lay over one shoulder. They both looked up in surprise at our entrance.
“Garth, Captain Xiaolang, Chatta,” Guin greeted, gaining his feet. “Now this is a surprise. You just went into…” his eyes finally found Nolan and went rather wide. “Ah. I see Vonlorisen found you, then.”
Xiaolang was the one that answered. “Yes, Your Majesty. We brought Nolan out of Chahir yesterday.”
Guin nodded in acknowledgement and gave a proper bow to Nolan. “It’s nice to see you, Vonnolanen.”
“And you, King Guin,” Nolan responded with a return bow. “Our thanks from the Von family for your aid.”
Seriously, just when do they start teaching formal phrases to royal children? No six year old should be able to say something like that so smoothly.
Queen Chaelane rose and approached. “Your Highness, won’t you come sit and take some refreshments? I’m sure your journey here was very hectic.”
Nolan aimed a smile at her that had lethal charm to it. “Just Nolan is fine, Your Majesty. And thank you. I’m very hungry.”
Chaelane immediately softened. “Thank you, Nolan. Then you must call me Chaelane, all right? Good. Come sit down and eat.”
Two seconds. It took exactly two seconds for him to win her over. I eyed the two of them sitting there on the bench through narrowed eyes. I had anticipated that after we explained everything to Guin that I might be able to talk him into letting Nolan live with Alan and Leigh with Trev’nor. After that exchange, though, that idea would go over as well as trying to feed a cat soggy bread. Chaelane would throw a fit.