Chapter 9

I staggered through the hustle and bustle of the afternoon, toward Gastwirt’s Inn. I was still dealing with shock from the results of Astoria’s affinity assessment. My subsequent failure in attempting to convince her, to drop her desire to enlist with the Order of the White Mage, was also playing on my mind. However, there was something else that bothered me.

Judging from Pendragon’s reaction, Astoria’s results were extraordinarily uncommon.

It is my understanding, that fully fledged mages, usually hail from certain mage families. This much is evident by the many books that have been written on the subject.

It is widely known, that these families are all closely associated with the Order of the White Mage and are given special benefits by the Verdant Royal Family. Especially if they give birth to someone that has a high affinity with one of the 4 elementals.

I can assume that Pendragon and his fellow mages, were sent out to find people that would prove to be useful in the up and coming war. Said people, would primarily be taught to use basic feats of magic. The kind of magic that people with just the right level of affinity, but not enough to be a fully fledged white mage, could learn to use.

It’s safe to say, that they would not expect to find anyone that exceeded the criteria that was set. Let alone someone that would be able to learn a level of magic that eclipsed what they had in mind for the recruits.

Pendragon was already impressed, when Astoria demonstrated a 50% affinity with the fire elemental Jinn. When the crystal confirmed that she had an affinity with another elemental, the threshold that Pendragon was informed to look out for, was probably exceeded.

Ergo, I can gather that Astoria’s results, do not tally with what Pendragon expected of the general populace and therefore, there is a strong possibility, that she is somehow related, to one of the mage families from the Order of the White Mage.

I continued to ponder the possibilities and finally arrived at the Inn. I would normally knock first, but Gladus had a lot of explaining to do, so I nonchalantly opened the door.

I spotted Gladus, serving mead to a table of fellow villagers, they must have stopped by to guzzle down a few frosty cold ones, after a long day. I made eye contact with Gladus and signaled for her to meet me in the kitchen, away from prying ears and eyes.

“Well, how’d it go lad?”

“I’m sorry Gladus, but Astoria demonstrated a level of affinity, that exceeded our expectations.”

Gladus grabbed a nearby chair and sunk into it.

“I knew it.”

She placed her hands on her face and sat in silence.

“Knew what? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“W-what about ya lad?”

“Eh?”

“Affinity, what was it?”

“Oh, um, well, I suppose you could say that it wasn’t quite, what we expected either.”

“Ey?”

“I have zero affinity with any of the elementals.”

Gladus looked up at me with a look of confusion.

“That can’t be possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“Cassandra, Cassandra said, that ya’d inherit her power.”

Cassandra? That was my late mother’s name. Gladus continued to stare at me with a look of confusion, but soon turned away.

Gladus sighed deeply and proceeded to reveal the truth about her lineage.

“Ya see lad, my Gran were a mage. My family come from a long line of magefolk.”

My suspicions about Astoria, were somewhat confirmed.

“When I were a wee lass, my Gran told me, that she had fled her family. She never explained why, but she said that my late Grandad had summit to do with her desire to leave. Ya see lad, marriage is important for magefolk. Only thru marriage, do ya keep the strength of affinity alive. It were my Gran’s decision to marry a normal person, that ensured that my Ma and me, would lack the affinity to be proper mages.”

“But if we go by that logic, then Astoria, should also lack the required affinity. ”

“Aye, I had thought that ta be the case. It were when Astoria discovered the news of her Pa’s passing, that her power manifested. It shook her lad, she lost control. The fireplace erupted and a huge gust of wind sent all the tables flyin. The lass soon collapsed, but awoke with no memory of what happened.”

I was stunned. Gladus was supposedly from a mage family and Astoria had somehow awakened to her latent abilities, when she was hit with the shock of her father’s death. This was all too much to take in.

I grabbed a nearby chair and collapsed on it. Wait, there was still something that needed answering. Gladus seemed to be struggling with coming to terms with the fact that Astoria was a mage, but there was something that she had yet to answer.

“Gladus.”

“Aye lad?”

“You said that my mother thought that I’d inherit her power, what did you mean by that?”

“Oh, ya see lad. When Cassandra came ta this small village, she lodged at the Inn and she somehow knew that I were descended from magefolk. I initially thought that my Gran’s family had tracked me down, but she soon explained that she were just a traveler passing through, and had fallen in love with the view and valleys in this region. She even claimed that she were considering settling in a local town or village. It didn’t take long for her ta decide ta settle down here though. She met ya Pa and fell for him pretty quickly ya see. They eventually married and settled down on Hemlock Farm. The farm were sterile, it were known to be a dry and fruitless land. But when ya Ma started living there, the land suddenly became moist with life. It were this, combined with Cassandra’s knowledge of my lineage, that made me confront her about also being magefolk. She never confirmed my suspicions, but also never denied them. When she fell pregnant with ya, she would always confidently say that her child, would also inherit her ability to bring life to barren and desolate land. I just put two and two together and assumed she were talking about having an affinity with the earth elemental, Gnome.”

Gladus sighed deeply again. It seemed like she no longer wished to say any more.

It was now a given that Astoria would leave with Pendragon. The validity of Crowley’s threat was still uncertain, but the amount of time we had to play with, before a potential war broke out, was unknown.

I was certain that Pendragon would take Astoria to the Mage Academy, to rendezvous with the other recruits and begin training to use the power of the elementals. Astoria, would without a doubt thrive in that environment and eventually become a fully fledged White Mage.

I could understand why Gladus prefered her only child to stay away from any sort of danger as well as the Order of the White Mage. However, in spite of how she felt, there was no way that Pendragon was going to allow a willing prodigy like Astoria, to slip through the net.

I sat in silence and stared at the wooden barrels of mead. My mind began to wonder and I even pondered whether I should take a swig to lighten my mood. The moment I began reaching for the nozzle of the barrel, I remembered something.

The wooden box containing my mother’s belongings

I had no idea what I’d find in there, but maybe, just maybe, I’d find something that sheds more light on the current turn of events.

I informed Gladus about what I intended to do and rushed back home.

I hoped that by checking the contents of the box, I could potentially learn more about my mother and myself.