Chapter 8 — An Invitation

“What can we do for you, Miss...?” the man who was probably the innkeeper asked as she approached the common room’s bar.

“Leita,” Lightning-Sky-Eyes replied. “I’d like a room for the night and some news, if you’ve got the time.”

“Sure thing, Miss Leita. That’ll be 5 coppers.” The man gave her a pleasant smile. “I’ve plenty of time for a beautiful traveling mage. Would you like a drink to wash away the dust from the road?”

Hmm… maybe she would. “Something made from fruit. Surprise me.”

“I’ve got just the thing. Arrived from the capital recently. I hear it’s made from fruits that grow on the slopes of the volcanoes in the southern frontiers.” Reaching under the counter, the man pulled out a corked bottle shaped like a volcano and wiggled an eyebrow. “For you, only 2 copper a glass.”

Lightning-Sky-Eyes laughed and gave a faint smile. “Looks interesting.”

He set two small glasses on the counter and poured for both of them. “Think I’ll have some myself. So, what’re you looking to hear about?”

Lightning-Sky-Eyes took a sip of the offered drink. “Well, everything, really,” she said with one of her more charming smiles and added, “Though there are some young friends I was hoping to catch up with…”

She quickly found out that the foreign witch and the other academy students traveling with her had passed by just a few days ago. She had left too late to catch them before they arrived at the capital. But rather than be annoyed, she felt a thrill at the chance to gain an even larger harvest.

It had been too long since she traveled the world. Too long since she had such a grand stage to work her schemes and play her games. Too long since she hunted.

With her tribe shattered by the attempt to claim Vorshan’s Hills and her people now under the rule of Arengrade, the temptation to shirk all responsibility and wander for a decade… was strong.

But there was something she would do first. A vengeance and an opportunity too good to overlook. And one she’d need to act on before a new responsibility arrived.

Lightning-Sky-Eyes rubbed her hand over her abdomen. The Crysellian-style travel dress hid her condition, but she would have to hurry to steal that foreign witch’s power before her child became enough of a burden to make travel difficult.

Whether to gift the witch’s power to the child or to take it for herself was a matter she was still mulling over. The child’s bloodline was the culmination of over a century of careful planning. And because of that trice-damned witch killing Striking-Eagle, her plan for restoring the ancestor’s true power depended on luck that this one child would inherit the bloodline strongly enough. She could only pray to the Sky Dragon ancestor that the blood had bred true.

Failure would likely mean another hundred years of effort. Maintaining her youth and fertility this long was only thanks to how strongly she herself had inherited the dragon blood and the forbidden elixir made from the lifeforce of young ‘wild talents’—as the Crysellians call them.

She would hardly have to put in much effort this time.The academy in the capital would have plenty of unsuspecting prey for her to harvest. She almost laughed aloud at how easy the Crysellians had made it for her.

Ria thought for sure that Keira would choose the Dawn Chaser after hearing about its connection to her Order, but disappointingly, her light mage friend decided on doing more research instead.

Iselyn went with the ‘limited contract’ for her familiar’s binding as recommended, and they made sure to give Zephec scritches and a proper goodbye before they left the shop. Of course, Iselyn’s rude familiar made sure to rub in its victory.

No one complained when Tyrilenil’s spell effect faded and Malleron’s snide remarks could only be understood by Iselyn. By then, he had made himself at home riding on her shoulder. Iselyn nodded from time to time, and whatever the pair were discussing through the bond caused a creepy grin to appear on the dark-haired girl’s face more than once.

Ria was glad for her new friend. The girl seemed to be enjoying their outing more instead of scrunching her shoulders and trying not to be noticed.

A tea shop drew Ria’s attention as they were walking Iselyn back to the academy, and Ria convinced the others that they should stop for tea and snacks. Malleron showed Iselyn how to put her energy into the tea for him which was interesting to watch, though there was something obscene about the way the spriggan shivered while enjoying his energy-enhanced tea...

Ranger had been quiet for a while, so Ria mentally prodded him and only got back a response that he was thinking about something. Worrying himself in circles more likely. But Ria left him to it. Maybe he would get some kind of growth or further motivation toward training out of meeting the other familiars. She sure had found it an eye-opening experience.

All-in-all, Ria was fairly happy with how her morning had gone. That was until she saw the stern face Miela gave them upon returning to the estate.

“Thank you, Ethan. Please notify us when dinner is ready,” Keira calmly told the estate’s butler, but even Ria could tell her friend was cringing under her maid’s silent glare while seeing to the formalities.

“Of course, Young Mistress,” Ethan replied with a tone and face that were a study in polite neutrality, but he clearly read the mood and promptly excused himself to his duties.

“I’m sure you would like to change into more relaxing clothing after such an eventful morning, milady,” Miela suggested icily.

Shoulders drooping, Keira didn’t even try to escape. “If you would assist, I would be grateful.”

“As is my duty,” Miela replied causing Keira to wince at the reminder before the pair began their solemn march of doom up one of the foyer’s two curved stairways to the second floor.

“Would you like me to assist you as well,” a timid voice asked from over by the butler.

Ria smiled at the younger girl. “Of course, Ana. I’d appreciate that, thanks.”

The girl was the daughter of the maid and butler who took care of the estate. But there wasn’t anything untoward going on. Her parents were a couple assigned to be caretakers for the small estate that went unused much of the year. The other staff were the son, who was apprenticing with his dad, the cook, a gardener, and three guardsmen.

One of the guardsmen was an old veteran named Rallensi, and he handled training the other two who were seasonally rotated from Vorshan’s Hills. Fortunately, the other two, Guardsmen Harvin and Linder, who had escorted them and stayed on, were both guardsmen Ria was friendly with.

Even if it was a bit much for such a small staff to maintain, the walled estate was a beautiful and relaxing place, an island of quiet greenery and cheery spring blooms amid the bustle and crowding of the unbelievably large city.

Ria’s assigned room was more of a suite of rooms than a single room, having its own sitting area, bath, and balcony that gave a view of the beautiful back garden. Ana had arranged a stand for Ria’s large mirror and a decorative folding screen so she could change clothes without worry, even when entertaining guests.

The bed was large and canopied, and with the slight chill lazing through the open balcony doors, its feather-stuffed mattress and warm blankets called to her, but she had new books to study if she was to be ready for her classes.

Ria thanked Ana for her assistance helping her change. Having someone help her wasn’t really necessary, but just as Ria was learning the proper etiquette for interacting with and living among the aristocracy, Ana was also training to learn her job and ease her mother’s workload.

“Shall I do your hair?” Ana asked.

“No, it’s fine for now. But I think I’d like a bath before dinner. Perhaps you could help me with it then?” Ria offered as a compromise.

Ana’s face brightened, and the girl left happy after excusing herself to attend to other duties.

Interacting with the servants, forced Ria to think more about others and their responsibilities than she was used to. It all came so naturally to characters in the stories she read, but in reality, a single poorly thought out answer or request could create unnecessary trouble or even inconvenience the entire household.

Something as simple as “I think I fancy some starfruit juice…” could send a maid on a desperate search for starfruit at the market and put all the maid’s other important tasks on hold until a glass of freshly-squeezed starfruit juice was presented.

Ria let out a sigh. Thankfully, Keira’s maid Miela was good about intervening and turning their mistakes into teachable moments. How Miela could be so reliable and confident when the girl was only a few years older was a mystery. Honestly, Ria was a little jealous.

Tucking her skirt underneath, Ria sat down at the fancy writing desk and considered which subject to start with. Anatomy could wait, she didn’t have that class until later in the week. Practicing spells for her Elemental Magic class was something she could do anytime she had sufficient energy.

Ah! That reminded her.

She summoned her box of writing tools from the pouch and took out her hard-earned dragonbone brush, using it to store the energy she had recovered since the duel. Thanks to the time spent traveling instead of enchanting, her staff and phoenix quill were already almost full. Her pouch was approaching the limit of its daily uses, so she would have to be careful what she summoned or stored for the rest of the day.

Sliding the fancy box to the side, Ria returned to her deliberations, though a glance at Ranger lounging on the balcony with his head on his paws still looking troubled helped make up her mind, and the book for her class on familiars appeared on her desk.

A Practical Guide to Familiar Training and Development by Beastmaster Serithentil, Warden of the Grand Reserve.

A book by an Elven warden and beastmaster. She had been excited when she saw and purchased the book at the Grand Library—even choosing an expensive hide-bound edition.

Eagerly, Ria opened to the table of contents and, after skimming, jumped into the first chapter, a chapter detailing the advantages and disadvantages of the different familiar bindings.

The ‘caretaker’ and ‘limited’ contracts mentioned by Tyrilenil were both detailed. As were ‘standard’ and ‘soul-linked’ types which sounded closest to her bond with Ranger. The ability to share sight, affinities, and abilities indicated more in the direction of a ‘soul-linked’ bond though. There were other specialized bonds that she had no idea existed, such as ‘warbeast’ and ‘swarm master’ bindings which allowed empowering the familiar with a lesser risk to the soul if the familiar died.

A few unethical and unrecommended bonds were also mentioned: ‘Dominance’—a bond used for controlling exceedingly dangerous beasts; ‘Shared soul’—a binding that would result in a melding of the two consciousnesses; ‘Soul consumption’—a binding where the familiar’s soul would be consumed over time to empower the mage. Those last two sounded sort of like what Amilee did with her rituals.

The mention of soul-risk had Ria worried, and she skipped ahead to the in-depth discussion on ‘soul-linked’ bonds. Would her soul be damaged if Ranger died of old age? Or disease? Or if he died trying to protect her? What would damaging her soul even mean?

Soul damage was listed as one of the drawbacks of soul-linking and a reason why binding non-magical animals as familiars tended to be avoided. But Serithentil also noted that binding non-magical animals without a soul-link would be pointless as the link was important for empowering the familiar.

She read further as Serithentil detailed common consequences of the link being severed, and the effect varied greatly depending on the soul strength of the mage, the mage’s total energy pool, and the strength of the bond. For strong bonds, the effect could be as much as permanent paralysis of a limb, loss of affinity or spell casting ability, and even coma or death. Ugh. Had she made a terrible mistake?

Why would Luventi provide such a dangerous version of the ritual in his beginner book? Or was her bond stronger because of her spirit affinity?

Reading the next section brought her a modicum of relief. According to Serithentil, one of the benefits of the stronger bond (and bonds that strengthen over time) was that empowering Ranger would both help him to live longer and cause him to become more powerful as a familiar. It was just that the amount of energy needed from the bond would increase as his body became more reliant on magic energy to function.

The primary drawback of such an arrangement was the cost to her energy recovery rate, but Serithentil noted that for a powerful mage with sufficient spirit attunement, the familiar would effectively become immortal.

Checking the table of contents again, she flipped ahead to the section on Empowering one’s familiar and began devouring the information on empowerment methods, techniques, and exercises.

Jarrel knocked and poked his head in at some point, but seeing she was seriously studying he said he’d talk to her later at dinner.

“You had Ana braid your hair for dinner?” Keira asked with a laugh, when Ria joined the table.

“I thought it might be fun to try something different.” Ria turned her head back and forth to show different angles. “How’s it look?”

“Ana did a praiseworthy job. It’s much improved over the simple way you normally tie it up with a ribbon,” Keira appraised.

“I think so, too,” Ria agreed.

Her hair had grown longer than the length she gained crossing the wilds, so there was a lot more that could be done with it now, and because she was spending so much more time indoors studying, the color had darkened past even what she remembered it being in Shadewood. It seemed healthier and shinier too—almost metallic…

Her mind went to the blackening of the golden aura during her affinity test. Was it because of her affinity? Now that she thought about it… if her magic was becoming strong enough to affect Ranger, wouldn’t it be strong enough to affect her as well?

“I haven’t seen you make that face in a while,” Keira commented. “Did something happen this morning?”

“No, its nothing,” Ria assured her friend and was saved from having to explain further by Aeri and Arthur entering the room and hurrying to their seats.

“Sorry that we’re late, Young Lady Keira,” Aeri meekly volunteered.

With an amused grin, Keira motioned toward the cart being wheeled out by Ana and her mom. “No, I would say you are right on time.”

Aeri nodded and laughed nervously. “Seems so.”

“How was your outing?” Arthur asked.

While Keira was describing the familiar shop, Jarrel showed up with his hair still damp, but looking stylish in new clothes as he took his seat at the table.

Ana and her mother began serving the meal, bowls of steaming vegetable soup and seasoned steak plated with sauce and small bread rolls that had been twisted open and dolloped with whipped butter.

After they had each had a chance to sample the food, Ria volunteered for Jarrel’s benefit that she successfully registered for her classes, bought her books, made a new friend, and had a fun day.

Jarrel nodded through all of it then turned to Keira. “So, Young Lady Keira, how’d Ria’s day really go?”

“Why are you asking Keira when I’m sitting right here?!” Ria complained in disbelief.

“Because a certain girl with a knack for trouble has a proven tendency to leave out ‘inconvenient’ details,” Jarrel answered with hooded eyes.

“I only did that once!” Ria objected.

Jarrel raised an eyebrow.

“Fine, twice!” Ria pouted. “But the second time wasn’t on purpose!”

“Not two minutes after I left her alone so we could each join our respective Orders, she ended up in an unsanctioned duel with a second-year from House Ravelle,” Keira dutifully reported with judging eyes. “I don’t know if she got in trouble for it.”

Ria let out a groan of dismay and covered her face with her hands. Keira was definitely getting her back for not having to share in Meila’s private chastising earlier. Arthur and Aeri were engrossed in their meals pretending not to hear, so there would be no help from that quarter. Stupid unreliable mushroom head! Leon would’ve come to her defense!

“At least, you don’t seem injured.” Jarrel rubbed his brow in resignation. “So… did you get in trouble for it?”

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Keira set the question up far too well!

“I received a warning from the Administrator for Special Student Services,” Ria admitted as she timidly peeked out at Jarrel’s reaction.

“An official warning?” Keira groaned. “In your official record?”

Keira you’re not helping!

“Administrator Charise said I get two more strikes,” Ria tried, hoping to minimize both the seriousness and the coming punishment.

“The second strike puts you on probation! And the third gets you recommended for expulsion unless you are from a powerfully connected family!” Keira rebutted. “And last I checked, we aren’t a powerfully connected family!”

“Fine, fine,” Ria huffed. “I get it. I’ll be extra careful.”

“Did she injure the second-year?” Jarrel asked Keira. “Do we need to worry about retaliation?”

“No, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets challenged to more duels as a matter of second-year honor,” Keira sighed out and used her knife and fork to daintily eat a bite-sized piece of her steak.

“They won’t attack her outside the academy or go after you to get at her?” Jarrel worried.

Keira shook her head. “I doubt it. House Ravelle is usually too proud to make use of such tactics.”

“That’s good to hear, at least.” Jarrel breathed out in relief. “Even so, for the next few weeks while I’m busy during the daytime, I’d like all of you to not wander the city or academy alone and to take Miela and one of the guards with you anytime you go out.”

Ria groaned again. It was just like when Jarrel left her alone in Vorshan’s Hills back before Amilee’s trial.

“Ria?” Jarrel prompted.

“Fine,” she huffed. “I promise.”

Her fate sealed, Ria turned her attention back to the meal and attempted to recover her mood with the oh-so-tender and energy rich steak. Hmm… was it monster steak?

“Young Lady Keira, as you already know, I made a commitment to your father and grandfather to help see to yours, Arthur’s, and Aeri’s safety as well,” Jarrel stated and gave them each a meaningful look. “So, I’d appreciate the same commitment from the rest of you as well.”

“You have my word,” Keira offered. “Miela has already extracted the same promise from me earlier.”

Jarrel nodded, and the others also gave their word, though Arthur shot Ria an annoyed look for getting him caught up in her punishment.

“I’m appreciative of the protection,” Aeri added hesitantly then continued, “But I don’t understand why anyone would want to go after me.”

“It is not unheard of for friends, family, and servants of important Houses to be targeted for influencing or kidnapping in order to gain information, leverage, or a means of infiltration,” Jarrel explained and Aeri gulped.

“Speaking of influence,” Keira said with a wry smile. “I received an invitation earlier for myself, Ria, and a few others of my choosing to attend an afternoon tea with my aunt, the honorable Asara Vorshan, Vesali City Administrator of Projects and Planning, tomorrow at her estate.”

Ria swallowed what she was chewing and stared at Keira in surprise. “The one related to Duelleres?”

“By marriage, yes,” Keira answered. “Due to her position and her influence within House Novidus, it would be inadvisable for either of us to decline.”

Ria nodded. “Is this because of your letter about Amilee?”

“No, I haven’t sent it yet,” Keira denied and took a sip of her soup. “This is likely something else. She may have just wanted to see us before classes begin.”

“Ah, tomorrow’s the last day before classes,” Ria realized.

Keira turned to Aeri. “Aeri, you are attending the same school that Aunt Asara attended. This could be a critical opportunity for you.”

The red-haired girl went a few shades paler at the suggestion but nodded. “If you’re fine with me going, Young Lady Keira. I’ll try my best.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Aeri.” Keira gave her an encouraging smile. “What about you, Arthur?”

“Ah, I’d like to come, but I already made commitments with my Order tomorrow…” the mushroom-haired apprentice enchanter hedged.

“If you’re sure,” Keira allowed, but she had an eyebrow raised in suspicion at the veracity of his prior commitment.

Not only an unreliable mushroom head, but slippery too… though maybe this was a chance.

“Maybe we could bring Iselyn?” Ria suggested.

Initially Keira’s expression brightened then her brow furrowed as she considered. “Hard to predict how Aunt Asara would react to one of our friends being branded, but Iselyn is a regional sponsorship student. There is prestige in that, and it would be a good chance for Iselyn if the meeting went well.” Keira nodded. “Let’s do that. I’ll have Harvin arrange for a letter to be delivered to her this evening.”

“You already made friends with a branded mage? Was that before or after getting the warning?” Jarrel muttered.

Ria laughed nervously.

Jarrel rubbed his forehead with a grand sigh. “Make sure you take Rallensi with you.”

“You’re not coming?” Ria asked, surprised.

“No, I won’t be back in time.” Jarrel shook his head. “An important opportunity has been arranged for me by Lord Vorshan, and I can’t waste this chance.”