Guild Mage: Apprentice

51. Decisions

It ended up being Matthew who came down to find Liv, and by that point she'd cried herself out.

"Thought you might be down here," he said, clomping on down the last few stone steps. Liv scooted to one side, putting some distance and open sand between her and Cade. She glanced over and noticed that his shirt was obviously wet and wrinkled where she'd been crying. Matthew didn't look happy, and Liv didn't know if that was because of the scene back up at Acton House, or because he'd found her with Cade.

"Are they still arguing?" Liv asked.

Matthew shook his head. "They settled down after you told everyone off. I think you embarrassed them. I might have said a few words, too," he admitted. "Got to look after my sister, don't I?" He shot a glance at Cade when he said that.

"I don't know if I'm going to sign the paper," Liv said.

"Rust the papers," Matthew exclaimed. "I don't care what they say. You've been a big sister to me my entire life, and as far as I'm concerned that isn't going to change. Even if you are smaller than me, now."

"Thank you," Liv said, and couldn't help but sniffle a little bit. "I should go back up."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cade offered.

"I suppose you just happened to be down here," Matthew said.

"If you're asking whether I was hoping to catch Liv, yes I was," Cade said. "And then I heard her scream, so I came running. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Don't you two start fighting now," Liv said. "Give me a hand up, Matthew." She reached out, and he yanked her to her feet. Liv cast about for her staff, and realized that she'd left it next to the stone steps. That was stupid of her. She needed to be more careful. Cade turned to walk away, but she reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. "Wait," Liv said. "Come up with us. If I'm going to sort through everything, that means making a decision about you, also."

They found Baron Henry, Lady Julianne, and the two Elden men in the library, talking quietly. Liv paused in the doorway, but having Matthew and Cade to either side of her at least made it feel like she wasn't alone.

"Liv," Julianne said, "I apologize. We shouldn't have acted like that - at the very least we shouldn't have let you see us arguing."

The ambassador nudged Keri, the younger of the Eld, with his elbow. "We also owe you an apology," he said, as if at a signal. "I am not a diplomat; I've spent years fighting. That doesn't excuse how I've behaved, but perhaps it explains why I don't back down easily."

Liv looked around. "My staff?" she asked.

"Here." Baron Henry motioned to the hearth, and she saw the length of ashwood leaning against the stone. Liv walked over, took it in her hand, and then chose a chair only large enough to seat a single person, rather than a bench.

"First of all, I am going to meet my father if he comes," Liv said, gathering her thoughts. "I won't make a decision about whether to go north or not until after that. Now, I've always planned on going to college at Coral Bay." She turned in her seat to address the Eld, "You say there are things I can't learn there, that I can only be taught by our people. But are there things I can only learn from the mages' guild?"

"Aluth," Julianne spoke up. "If you choose to stay with the guild, as an adult, they will help you to imprint Aluth. And if you impress the professors - particularly Master Jurian - there's a second word of power, as well."

"I remember he taught it to Master Grenfell," Liv said. "Do you know what it is?"

"Cei," Lady Julianne answered.

"To Dream?" Keri said, leaning forward, with a frown. "I wasn't aware anyone knew how to use that."

"It is a recent development," Ambassador Sakari said. "A team including Court Mage Arundell brought it back from Godsgrave twenty-five years ago. Aluth, we could find you a teacher for," he decided, after a moment's thought. "But not Cei. That is something no one has shared with us."

"Alright," Liv said, making up her mind. "A few years at college isn't very long, especially for me. And I'd been planning on going anyway. I'd like to see Master Jurian again, and I can learn a word there I can't find anywhere else, apparently. I'm going to be doing that. I've also agreed to visit Al'Fenthia and spend a bit of time with Airis Ka Reimis Kaen Keria, once I'm done with college. What happens before I leave, and after Al'Fenthia, that I won't decide until I meet my father."

"Airis knew about you, and didn't tell me?" Sakari frowned. "I'm going to have words with him. Very well, he can teach how not to kill yourself with mana-sickness, if your father doesn't do it first."

Liv nodded. "I presume there's going to be a vote on what to do about the cults up north," she said.

"That's a reasonable guess to make," Henry said. "Unfortunately, after what happened at Godsgrave, there's a lot of families who think we shouldn't get involved in fights outside of the kingdom's borders. Too many promising young nobles and mages lost to rifts in Varuna."

"Then," Liv said, "Here is my proposal. I won't make a decision on adoption until I've spoken to both my mother and my father. It wouldn't be fair to them." Baron Henry and Lady Julianne nodded, accepting her decision. She turned to Cade. "Does that change your plans?" she asked. "If you don't want to court me anymore, no one here would hold it against you." A snort from Matthew put the lie to that, but Liv could deal with him later.

The ambassador and Keri shared a glance, and Liv told them the story of the woman who'd come to Castle Whitehill, eighteen years before, and stolen an idol. By the time she was finished, both men were leaning forward, listening intently.

"You're certain it was an idol of Ractia?" Sakari asked.

"Of course it was," Keri said. "I've seen enough of them, and they match the description. And only fools believe in coincidence. And that woman, Wren - you said she turned into a bat?"

Liv nodded. "Yes. But it wasn't instant - it was like there was something else, first. Like she collapsed into blood, and then that took a new shape."

"The Great Bats," Ambassador Sakari said. "The children of Ractia. It has to be. But I thought they were all killed in the war."

"A lot of things survived that we don't like to talk about," Keri said. "And we left Varuna for its own devices for a thousand years. I hear there's even a wyrm that's been sighted, and you know how much work was put into hunting those things down."

"She wasn't evil, though," Liv said. "She was kind, and she saved my life."

"Not even all the Vædim were what we might call evil," the ambassador pointed out. "The trinity sided with us, while Bælris simply left. But Ractia's children would have a hard time living beside any other people, due to the nature of their magic."

"I assumed they had a word of power that manipulates blood," Liv said.

Keri shook his head. "No. The Great Bats had a different kind of blood magic," he explained. "They were created during the war, to be soldiers, like Antris' machine soldiers and Iravata's wyrms. Instead of using mana, the Ractians fed on blood, and drew power from it."

"Fed on?" Liv asked.

"Drank," Sakari clarified. "They needed it to change shapes. At first they were designed to be scouts and skirmishers. They could track their prey in the darkest night, and drop down in a great flock, taking their human forms before anyone knew what was happening. While Antris' mechanical horrors held the front lines, the Great Bats would raid supplies, assassinate commanders, harry retreating troops."

"But as they started to lose," Keri said, "Ractia enhanced them. Made them more fearsome in battle. Her first experiment was Ghveris, the Beast of Iuronnath."

Liv shivered: Gretta had told her a few stories about the man-eating wolf monster. "Thankfully, he died a long time ago," she said. "But the rest of them can do that, also?"

"We don't really know," the ambassador admitted. "It was toward the end of the war, and both sides were getting desperate. If she'd been able to snap her fingers and make a thousand of those, they might have won. But this is an important thing to know, Liv. Thank you for telling us."

"Do you see why I think this boy is a bad idea, at least?" Keri asked her.

"I do," Liv said. "But I'm not sure I understand why you care so much."

The younger Eld turned away, looking about the garden. "You're important, Liv," he said. "I don't know how yet. But I saw you, years ago, in a vision. Don't ask me about it," he interrupted before she could open her mouth. "It's a sacred thing. Your mother should be the one to explain it to you."

"My mother is human," Liv pointed out.

"Yes, and your aunt is dead," Ambassador Sakari said. "Your father will decide what to do, but I suspect he will direct you to your grandmother."

"Another thing to speak with him about when he arrives," Liv said. She tried to keep her voice calm and not show how much her belly roiled at the thought of finally meeting him. "Is there anything else?" she asked. "I'm a bit exhausted."

"Yes." Keri turned back to her, reached into his robes, and extended his hand, with a necklace resting in his open palm. It was made of gold, set with a mana-stone, and on it were inscribed Vædic sigils. "We would like you to wear this."

"What is it?" Liv asked.

"A single use, triggered enchantment," Sakari explained. "Prepared by Inkeris. It will send up a signal if you are wounded, so that we can find you."

"My maid is going to have a fit," Liv said, before she accepted it. "Gold hasn't really been my color." It took a minute of fiddling to get the clasp open, but she needed Keri's help to close it again at the back of her neck.

"Good," Sakari said. "I'd like to do more, but there's only so much we can protect you, unless you come and stay with us at the embassy - which I assume you do not wish to do."

"I don't, no," Liv confirmed. "You'll send someone when my father arrives?"

Keri laughed. "I don't know the man, but I have a feeling we won't be able to stop him from coming as soon as he arrives in the city. You're the daughter he never knew he had."