White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) (12 page)

“So you are really a che’ther? Aw, and I thought you were just a little strange before,” laughed Katya as the reality of the other girl’s situation began to settle into her mind. She had seen a che’ther in the tournament change and another created a tail during a battle, so it wasn’t impossible to imagine for her. At Cheleya’s look of disappointment at being called strange, she impulsively hugged the girl saying, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You are so sweet and adorable. I really like you, Cheleya. I’ll keep your secret. Trust me.”

Pulling away, she suddenly blushed realizing the other girl only had her silk bottoms and only her bra and bottoms separated her from being naked as well. “Anyway, we should probably get dressed before someone misses us.”

Piotr returned the bird to his friends under the porch roof before releasing its mind while still in shock at what he had heard. It had been more of a show than expected, but the boy had also heard every word as well.

Looking at his brother and then Job, who were both equally wide eyed, he asked, “Did you hear that?”

Grinning back, Niklaus retorted, “More importantly, did you see them? Cheleya was almost completely naked and so gorgeous!”

Job shrugged at that point and said, “I think I like my girls with a little more on top.”

“Your girls? Come on, Job, what girls have you had so far and gotten to see like that?”

The other boy frowned slightly and confessed, “Well, I haven’t seen any like them, but still you know what I mean!”

“Guys, did you miss what they were talking about?” Piotr asked in shock that they could still be talking about the nearly naked girls in their room.

Niklaus shrugged and replied, “I couldn’t hear anything beyond what was going on around us here. How about you, Job?”

The other boy shook his head and added, “Closing my eyes I could see fine, but open my eyes see more of what is down here. Maybe if we had covered our ears, we could have heard what you did. Why what did they say? Were they talking about us?”

Piotr wasn’t sure that he should share, even if one of them was Niklaus. It had been Cheleya’s secret and only Katya was supposed to know. He had not only watched them undress with the others, he had overheard something that he shouldn’t have.

With both boys looking at him expectantly, Piotr lied, “Well, it was just about how pretty they were and stuff; but it was pretty surprising to me.”

Niklaus shrugged and retorted, “Ah well, I’m sure it wasn’t as important as seeing those two undressed and hugging each other. Wow.”

Job nodded and the two began to walk ahead of Piotr to reenter the inn.

Glancing to the little bird, Piotr said aloud, “This is just between you and me then, my friend.”

With a chirp as if the creature accepted his vow, the boy went inside to join the others.

As the boys sat beside Qeyr and the other girls, Piotr looked to Kel’lor still brooding at his table as he waited for Cheleya to return. He was really a mar’goyn’lya, the girl had said, and she was a che’ther, a gargoyle and dragon by human terms. They were going to White Hall, a school for wizards, and according to Cheleya someone had approved her submission in Hala.

He wondered if the ambassador had admitted what the girl was before the person giving permission signed that document. It was a possibility that she had been admitted falsely. Should he tell someone? This curse was her secret and Katya said that the girl was sweet and naive. Was she really a spy instead?

The gargoyles and dragons of Mar’kal were supposed to be allies to Southwall. Would they bother to sneak someone into Southwall like some human wizard of the Dark One who had been sent by someone to spy on them?

Being unsure of what to do, Piotr sat in his seat facing the giant. Placing his hands in the triangle used to enter an animal’s mind, the boy played with the feel of the other man’s mind. It felt different and was a wall to his magic. Aiming at some unknown man sitting at another table who happened to be looking his way, he noticed a difference. Humans were immune to this type of magic as well, but the two minds had felt different.

Testing one last human, Piotr nodded to himself and noted that both regular humans felt the same. Ardost turned and the boy felt the same for him as the other humans. Magic or not, there was a difference from those who were real and the one that was an illusion.

The two girls returned looking beautiful. Piotr would have been surprised if every man in the room didn’t look at them. Cheleya was in a vibrant blue dress which brushed the tops of her knees. Katya’s dress was black with golden highlights of filigree around the neck and on her sleeves. A leather belt treated to look like it had gold highlights broke up the black around her waist. Her skirt was only slightly longer as it touched the tops of her shiny, black boots that came to mid calf.

“Wow, they look almost as good that way,” Niklaus stated in admiration. The girl’s had pulled their hair back with gold clips revealing their faces more and the graceful line of their necks. Katya had earrings of gold to match her outfit. How a girl raised on a farm had gotten them was beyond Piotr, while the other boys didn’t seem to care or even notice such things.

Job nodded, though his eyes seemed to stray to Briahnna from time to time while they sat. Apparently, Piotr thought, the girl was more his type. She was still young, but certainly was a little more buxom than the other two slim girls.

Iris leaned closer to him and said, “They certainly look ready to find someone to dance with tonight. I thought that they had tried to look beautiful yesterday, but apparently I was wrong.”

Looking at the apprentice, he replied, “They put on pretty dresses and made up their hair. I’m sure that any girl seems fancier that way.”

Iris took both of her hands and pulled her hair into a ponytail and asked, “You think I should do that too?”

Other eyes and ears had caught the exchange and expectant smiles were covered by hands quickly. Most probably wondered if the young boy would answer incorrectly with such a dangerous question.

“You would look nice either way. On a hot summer night, it would certainly keep you cooler while you dance. Isn’t that why girls tend to do that?” he asked playing at his inexperience with girls.

Iris’ smile didn’t change with the answer, but his question made her think. “I guess that would be a good reason. So you’re saying to wait until its warmer then?”

Wizard Qeyr intervened and said to his apprentice, “Come on now, girl. Don’t tease the boy like that. He’s only thirteen...”

“Fourteen,” Piotr corrected with a shrug, but didn’t know why he bothered to remind them other than that the wizard was wrong.

“Ok, fourteen then and I am thirty and still can't answer questions right for a woman.”

“I am not surprised,” the girl replied sarcastically making those around the table start to laugh before they could think to try and avoid embarrassing the wizard.

Groaning, the wizard looked to Piotr and asked, “See? Women will try to trap you with their words. Even those without magic are spell casters of a sort. Her type,” he gestured to Iris who frowned being called a type, “are the most dangerous. They actually do have magic.”

“Thanks, Master Qeyr,” the girl managed to complain despite the words she used.

Piotr could see the problems girls could cause, but if it was the right one, his father would probably tell him that it was worth it.

Chapter 7- Change of View

Piotr half surprised Iris, by asking her to dance almost as soon as the musicians began to play.

“Are you getting braver so soon?” the girl teased leaning close enough to his ear to feel her breath with each word. He didn’t know if it was on purpose or not, though she was an air apprentice and could certainly have factored such a thing into speaking with him so intimately.

Maintaining their closeness to hear without having to shout over the music to be heard, Piotr tried to aim at her ear in a similar fashion to see if she would notice. “I’ve known you for a day and a half. You’re also my dance instructor, so why do I have to be brave to ask you to dance?”

Iris pulled back and pursed her lips before complaining, “So I am just your dance instructor now?”

He tried to shrug as they moved and nearly messed up the flow of their dance. “Well, if you are fishing for compliments, I might add that you are a pretty, dance instructor; if that helps?”

Getting the girl to blush for his effort made him smile looking satisfied with himself. Iris was older and liked to tease him, which made Niklaus and Job think that she liked him. The more he interacted with the apprentice, the more Piotr had to admit that he liked her too. He might be willing to say that to her, but the boy refused to give his twin the satisfaction just yet.

“Well, I like it better than just a dance instructor, I guess,” Iris said with a little frown.

Deciding to push his luck a little further, Piotr stated, “My brother thinks that you like me.”

Turning even redder, Iris had to take a moment to answer as she became flustered by the direct question. After a moment to try and calm her mind, the girl replied, “Of course, I like you. You’re a nice boy and it’s my job to be nice to new recruits in turn.”

“Oh, so would you like to go dance with Job and Niklaus next then?” he continued to test the older girl. While his brother had always been the one to be able to talk to the girls in Delanne, Piotr had less contact with them even before he had realized that he had magic. He had been a watcher, but something about the apprentice had made him bold as she had first mentioned as they danced.

A slight frown wrinkled her brow and then she realized that the boy was just teasing her. “I take it back. You are not a nice boy. You are a tease.”

He laughed at her frustration and shook his head. “Sorry, but I couldn’t resist.”

One dance ended and the next began. Piotr spied Katya dancing with some older man and looking unhappy whenever he wasn’t looking. He guessed that the girl had hoped to find somebody younger to dance with instead, but even her pretty dress wasn’t enough to avoid some of the older regulars. Of course, being just thirteen, she was unlikely to find many boys around her age in an inn to dance with outside of the ones brought by the search team.

Cheleya had been talked into a dance by his brother. Though the twins were not likely full grown, still Niklaus looked massive compared to the petite little girl. Piotr clarified in his mind thinking ‘dragoness’, but she was also a girl too, he thought.

“Is there someone else that you want to dance with?” the girl asked looking a little disappointed that Piotr was looking around instead of at her. For Iris, the thought was almost embarrassing being older than the boy by a few years, but she couldn’t help liking Piotr and wanted him to like her as well.

“Just keeping an eye on my brother. If you think that I am a tease, he can be far worse.”

Noticing Iris tense at his words in worry, Piotr laughed trying to ease her mind. “Not anything bad, but he does like to have fun. Sometimes he gets into trouble though.”

“You don’t paint a very good picture of your twin. Maybe I need to let Qeyr know to keep a close eye on him?”

He shrugged trying to play it off and replied, “Well, no more than any other teenage boy, I suppose. Myself excluded, of course, because I am nice. Remember?”

“Right,” she retorted looking less and less like she believed him. “So I need to remind Master Qeyr to keep a closer eye on all of you.”

“Well, you have your eye on me right now, so maybe just the other two,” he laughed.

Groaning at him while shaking her head, Iris tried to pay attention to the dance and avoided giving him a chance to tease her more for awhile. The girl still couldn’t understand how easily Piotr managed to get under her skin.

After several dances, they retreated to drink from their mugs and he noticed Katya freed up long enough to sit beside Vord. The girl looked like she wasn’t enjoying her night and Piotr was surprised that Niklaus hadn’t found a way to dance with her as well as Cheleya.

At the festival dances in Delanne, the boy had often changed partners to dance with as many pretty girls as he could; though perhaps releasing Cheleya for even a moment would cost him any more dances with the stunning blonde for the rest of the evening with all the men watching her.

“If you don’t mind, I think I will ask Katya for a dance. She looks like she has had a bad night.”

Iris looked confused as to whether she should feel disappointed that he would want to leave her and happy that he would try to make the other girl feel better. Still she had to ask, “And you think dancing with you will make it better?”

He shrugged and replied, “We danced last night and she seemed to like me better than dancing with an old man.”

“Well, that settles it then. I guess you are a slight step up for her,” the apprentice nodded with a grin as she took a seat beside Qeyr.

Piotr took his leave to go check on Katya. The younger girl looked up at him with a warm smile. “So you finally came for a dance?” she asked hopefully.

Nodding in turn, the boy offered her a hand up even as the song was starting to wind down. “Well, you are dressed so nice, that I thought I would hate myself if I missed a chance to dance with you tonight.