Ascendant (10 page)

Carlana
hesitated.
“
You
say the boy is dangerous, yet you wish to bring him to the royal castle with
us? Isn
’
t that
inviting trouble?
”

“
Koren is
not
a
jinx. As long as his power is blocked, there will be no further incidents, I
can promise you that.
”
Paedris needed to have a long, serious, and likely uncomfortable talk with
Dragotil, the wizard who was assigned to Winterthur province. Dragotil was a
wizard of no great power, and, Paedris feared, apparently no great concern for
carrying out his duties. If Dragotil had been carrying out his responsibilities
properly, he would have discovered Koren
’
s
power when the boy was a toddler. Perhaps it was time for Dragotil to be given
another, less important task.
“
And
now I must cheat him again, for I dare not tell him the truth, until he is old
enough to begin controlling his power. As long as he is with me, there will be
no jinx incidents around the boy.
”

“
Then I agree he should
become your servant, Lord Salva. Ariana already wants to invite the boy to come
live with us in the palace.
”
Ariana had so few true friends to play with. The Dukes who ruled Tarador
’
s seven provinces all
wanted Ariana to be friends with their own children, and none of them cared about
Ariana the girl, only Ariana the crown princess. The reason they were now at
the castle of Duke Yarron, of LeVanne province, was so Ariana could meet, and
grow familiar with, the Dukes who would be her vassals when she became queen.
Carlana was always anxious when they were away from the royal palace, even
while guests of a strong ally like Duke Yarron. There was too much danger to be
found wandering around Tarador, even without magic-charmed beasts seeking to
feast on royal blood. Carlana was skeptical of her wizard
’
s claim that the bear had
been magically compelled by their enemy to attack her daughter, she thought it
more likely the boat had interrupted the bear
’
s fishing for its breakfast. Still, it would
be good for her daughter to have a true friend, a friend who had already proven
his loyalty and bravery. It was almost not possible to believe the boy was the
powerful magical force Paedris claimed his to be. Yet, he had saved the crown
princess, when the royal guards could not.
“
I shall have to think of a way to explain to
my daughter why she can
’
t
grant this Koren a knighthood. I
’
m
afraid she is quite taken with her rescuer.
”
Carlana sighed.
“
Why is life so blasted
complicated?
”

“
Life is-
“

“
Paedris, that was me
complaining, it doesn
’
t
require an explanation.
”
Carlana said irritably. She did not enjoy the responsibility of being Regent.

Paedris
considered explaining things to a thirteen year old princess to be a trivial
matter.
“
The
question we should ask is, what does it mean, that we find a wizard of such
power, in such a dark time of need? It cannot be a coincidence that this young
man arrives in the same place, at the same time, as a creature sent by the
enemy.
”

Carlana walked
over to the window, gazing out across Duke Yarron
’
s fields.
“
How long before the boy can travel? I wish to
return to the palace as soon as possible, if the enemy has sent assassins to
kill my daughter.
”

“
He should be out of bed
tomorrow, and if he can travel in a carriage, and he is careful not to exert
himself, he could leave in the next day. I agree you should depart soon, but I
will not be coming with you. I need to follow the trail of that bear, if I am
able, and see where it leads. For an animal, a large bear, to be controlled by
such a powerful a spell, there must have been a wizard somewhere with a few day
’
s distance. I do not like
the thought of an enemy wizard being in our territory.
”

“
And then the bear rose up,
like this,
”
crown princess Ariana raised her arms over her head, her fingers curled like
claws,
“
and it
roared RAAAR!
”

The girls
seated on the floor around her squealed.

“
But the boy wasn
’
t scared at all. He stood
right up in front of the bear, without even a knife in his hand, and that bear
ran away!
”

“
Ooooh!
”
The girls exclaimed.

“
He is the most bravest boy
in the whole kingdom-
“

“
The most brave, or the
bravest, Ariana, speak properly, please.
”
Carlana admonished as she swept into the room. The other girls rose to their
feet and curtsied to the Regent.

“
Hello, Mother. The most
brave, then. I shall grant him a knighthood!
”
Ariana, announced, excited. She picked up a
hairbrush and gestured as if it were a sword.

Carlana acted
quickly to stop her daughter
’
s
foolish plans. The last thing Paedris wanted was for anything to draw attention
to the boy.
“
There
will be no granting of knighthoods, at least not until you are queen, Ariana.
And knights must be boys from good families. This boy is a commoner.
”
She clapped her hands.
“
Time to go, girls, the
princess needs to rest.
”

Ariana pouted
as her friends hurried out the door.
“
I
feel fine, mother, Paedris healed me. See, not even a scar.
”
She pointed to her
forehead, where only the faintest red bruise showed where she had bashed her
head on a rock in the river.
“
I
really can
’
t
make him a knight?
”

“
No,
”
Carlana said, not being
entirely truthful. There were exceptions for granting knighthoods to commoners,
for bravery in battle.
“
Lord
Salva has offered to accept the boy as his servant.
”

Ariana knew a
job as servant to the royal wizard was something few commoner boys could hope
for.
“
He will
live in the castle with us, then?
”
She asked, excited.

“
In the castle, yes, not
with us in the palace. He would live in the wizard
’
s tower. Don
’
t get your hopes up, young
lady.
”

Ariana thought
for a moment.
“
If
I can
’
t grant
him a knighthood, can I give him a medal for bravery, and a feast in his honor?
”

“
No medal, and no feast.
”

“
No feast? But, but Mother!
That
’
s not
fair!
”
Ariana
sputtered.

Carlana
sighed.
“
Ariana,
try to think like the queen you will be, instead of like a girl. Lord Salva
believes that bear was sent by the enemy to attack you. We can
’
t let the enemy know they
almost succeeded. As far as most people know, you went boating, and hit your
head when you fell out of the boat. There will be no mention of this boy.
”

Ariana pouted,
her lower lips stuck out. She
’
d
been imagining a feast in his honor, with the boy wearing fine clothes, and him
kneeling while she touched his shoulder with a sword, and named him Sir
whatever-his-name the Brave.
“
It
’
s not fair. He saved my
life! Three times!
”

“
If you want to do
something nice for him, perhaps you should consider whether it would be healthy
for the him to let the enemy know who stopped that bear.
”

“
Oooh.
”
Ariana touched a finger
to her lips.
“
I
didn
’
t think
about that. The enemy would be angry with him.
”

“
Yes they would, and that
is never healthy for anyone. The best thing you can do for this boy is to let
him remain unknown, and bring him to the castle, where he will be under our
wizard
’
s
protection.
”

“
If he lives with the
wizard, where will his parents live?
”

“
Ariana, not every child is
blessed to have parents who care for them.
”
Carlana sat down facing her daughter, and took her hands in her own. While
Koren
’
s
magical power must remain a secret, she should tell her daughter how the boy had
come to be living in the woods alone.
“
Let
me tell you about this Koren Bladewell boy-
”

 "I'm
fine, truly I am, Lord Salva." Koren protested. "Look," he added
as he balanced on one foot, "I feel fine. You healed me amazingly,
sir." He was fairly itching to get out of the luxurious bedchamber, it
looked like a beautiful day. Outside the window, he could hear children kicking
a ball around, having fun in the fresh air. After spending months living
outdoors, exposed to the elements and dreaming of shelter, he now couldn't wait
to get outside again.

It was hard to
believe it was only yesterday that the wizard has rescued him from the roof,
and his life changed in ways Koren could scarcely have imagined. Koren didn't
know whether to be disappointed, or relieved, that there would not be a feast
in his honor; he had been very nervous about which fork to use. He'd seen a few
people use forks, of course, at the Golden Trout Inn, but he, and most people
he knew, ate with a knife. Perhaps the wizard had been joking, if wizards ever
did that? Koren didn't want to take chances on that, Paedris still seemed great
and terrible to him.

He was
absolutely disappointed that he hadn't seen the princess again, and didn't dare
to ask the wizard if he was ever going to see her again, for commoners didn't
expect royalty to pay attention to them at all. When he closed his eyes, he
could picture her face, that most beautiful face, even wet and terrified as she
had been when their eyes met, that day she fell into the river. It was likely,
Koren thought, that he would never see Ariana again, except from afar, if he
was lucky to be in the castle as she was passing by. Still, how many farmboys
from Crebbs Ford had ever met the future ruler of Tarador? Exactly one, he
thought with at least some satisfaction.

Paedris hadn't
told Koren, because Koren hadn't asked, that Ariana had been pestering the
wizard, and her mother, because she wanted to see Koren. To thank him,
personally. But mostly, truthfully, just to see the handsome young man who had
saved her life. The wizard had firmly informed the princess, through her mother
the Regent, that Koren needed to rest and recover fully, and that the princess
should do that same. Not that Paedris expected the princess to listen to him,
but she did listen to her mother.

"Mmm,
yes, very impressive, young man." Paedris responded distractedly, glancing
at Koren's balancing act while the wizard was measuring herbs for a potion.
"You still need to heal, which I can tell by the simple fact that you
slept nearly until noon today. This potion..... will, hmm." The wizard
held an herb bottle up to the window. "I haven't created this particular
potion in several years. Koren, can you tell me what that books says, it's open
to the page I need."

Koren walked
over to the book, and was silent for a minute. The wizard looked over at him;
the boy's lips were moving, and he was tracing words on the page with his
fingertip. Paedris was embarrassed for the boy, who apparently could not read,
and felt terrible that he had thoughtlessly put Koren on the spot. "The
boy can't read." Paedris whispered to himself. He should have considered
that many farmboys never learned to read! "Oh, don't bother, you don't
need to-"

"It says
one measure willow bark, two measures of, uh, does this say chamomile? I'm
sorry, sir, this handwriting is
terrible
. Can you read this?"

Paedris
scratched his head. "That
could
be chamomile, I think that's right.
Darn it, I can't read my own handwriting." He chuckled ruefully.