Balancer (Advent Mage Cycle) (32 page)

Since everyone was very well established at the visitor’s building on the palace grounds, no one had moved from there, even though they were only writing after-action reports now. I found them scattered throughout the main floor, in every conceivable pose from sitting upright properly at a desk to lounging on the carpet with a pillow tucked under their arms.

When I entered, they waved in acknowledgement or called out a greeting, but Xiaolang was the only one who actually put his pen down and came to talk to me.

“How goes it?” I asked.

“We’re almost through,” he answered with a tired smile. “Hence everyone’s single-minded focus right now. We think we can actually finish this sometime tomorrow morning. And you?”

I gave him a brief overview of the academy planning and the wedding circus that I would be involved in. Actually, speaking of a wedding, I was supposed to ask “You will be in my wedding circle, I hope.”

“Of course,” he assured me, his weariness dropping away for a moment. “I am delighted you asked.”

“It’s more of a demand,” I admitted teasingly. “Someone has to have the skill to keep me from losing my mind during all of this.”

He laughed aloud and clapped me on the shoulder. “You can count on me. Just tell me when to expect the event. I want to take my team home for a few weeks, at least, but I will come in a few days ahead of the wedding and help you with preparations.”

“And to spend time with Asla.” I didn’t make this a question.

He abruptly froze, giving me a sharp look. “What?”

I met him look for look. “Well, it’s my sister Asla that you want, right?”

He blinked, in a rare show of surprise, jaw visibly dropping open a little. “I didn’t think you were
aware
of my interest in her.”

“I wasn’t,” I conceded with a slight shrug, “until Asla came to find me and…well; she was attempting to casually pump me for more than superficial information about you. That’s when it hit me right between the eyes, and I made the connection.”

I had Xiaolang’s complete and utter attention now. “What information? What did she want to know? And what did you tell her?” It seemed to just spew out of his mouth in one long rapid fire sentence without pause.

If it had been anyone but Xiaolang, I would have enjoyed entertaining myself with a good helping of teasing at this moment. However, he was the one person that
hadn’t
teased me about Chatta. I felt honor bound to return the favor, and give him a straight answer. “I think she was poking around for reassurance more than anything specific, actually. She wanted to know if she could trust you. I trust you implicitly. You often hold my life in your hands on a daily basis, and I told her so. I also told her that you would always do everything in your power to protect and defend the people around you. That’s what makes you such a great Captain, and an even better friend.” I hadn’t realized it until this moment, but everything I had shared with her could be boiled down to just one crystal clear fact: Xiaolang was the polar opposite of her previous husband.

Xiaolang blew out a long relieved sigh, and let his head roll forward slightly, as if it were suddenly released by some great burden. “Thank you,” he said simply. “It’s…been difficult, more difficult than I could ever imagine. I’ve known since the first moment I laid eyes her that she is meant to be with me forever. I used to think other men who spoke about love at first sight were weak minded and easily impressed. I can see now that I owe each and every one of them a profound apology.”

I tensed slightly, staring at him. I’m sure my expression was incredulous. “Precognition?” was all I could manage.

“Indeed.” He ducked his head a little, a faint blush slowly climbing out from under his collar, and coloring his cheeks. “I saw it so clearly…I’ve never had an impression as strong and clear as this one. It was as if I was watching something in a data crystal that had already happened. I’ve been fighting the urge to just grab her up in my arms and hold her tightly to me ever since. I’ve been afraid if I ever did, that it would be impossible for me to let her go. But that’s not what she needs right now…not now.” Xiaolang slowly trailed off that last part of the sentence for a moment, as if lost in thought. “After all of the trauma she went through with her first husband, she is not ready to even consider a serious relationship yet, much less a marriage.”

I ran the conversation with Asla through my head again, looking for what I needed. “I wouldn’t leap to conclusions on that subject just yet, Xiaolang. I’m certain she’s more than leery about men, relationships, and marriage in general. But
you
, you’re a different horse entirely, in a class all by yourself. She would never have had the courage to approach me, and asked questions that she did, if she weren’t just as interested in you as you are in her.”

His mouth opened, paused, and then closed again. “I hadn’t… She seems to have been opening up to me more, recently, but I have been trying to keep a comfortable friendly distance, and not frighten her. I didn’t dare even start to get my hopes up.”

I clapped him on the shoulder in reassurance. “It’ll be fine, Xiaolang. You’re exactly the opposite of that fanatic she was married to, which is precisely what’s attracting her, I think. Besides, Night confirmed that he thought the interest was mutual too.”

“
Night
said that?!” Xiaolang looked distinctly heartened by this tiny delicious morsel of information, savoring every syllable. “Well. That
is
very reassuring.”

I tried not to smile. So even empaths needed a healthy dose of reassurance now and again, huh? “I thought it might be.”

“Well.” He shook himself out of whatever fantasy caught his mind for a moment. “In that case, you can expect me a good
week
before your wedding.”

I didn’t doubt it. “I’ll let the Wedding Sergeants know. If you want a quick ride, I’ll come pick you up.”

He gave me a very knowing look. “I heartily doubt you’ll have the time to come fetch me, but I thank you for the offer. But now, I sense you need to get back?”

“Too many tasks, not enough time,” I groaned.

“Good luck,” he offered in complete sincerity. I’d have preferred mocking sincerity at this point, since his sincerity only emphasized that the situation really
was
that difficult.

With a casual salute, I turned for the door, and home.

Chapter
Twenty-Two: Consequences

When I went to my parents’ home that evening, I wanted nothing more than some peace and quiet. I was barely through the door when I saw my sister coming down the stairs. Kaydan was dressed in a Hainian style dress out of some dark blue material that accented her nice figure. Worse, she had her hair done up in soft curls and a cloak over one arm. It was obvious that she was going out on a date. I experienced a moment of sheer panic. What was my barely sixteen year old sister doing dressed like
that!
What were my parents thinking?!

“Kaydan, where are you going?”

“Oh, I have a date.”

I wanted to protest that she was too young to date, but I didn’t dare. After all, I had traveled to Hain on my own at sixteen. That was several times more dangerous than a simple date. I side-stepped that possible trip wire and went on to a different question. “With whom?”

At this, she hesitated for a moment. “With Roarke.”

For a moment the name meant nothing to me. And then it clicked in, and landed on my head like a boulder. “Roarke
Kartal
?”

Her wary expression deepened significantly. “Yes.”

“No!” My protest was instinctual and immediate.

“He’s sweet to me,” she protested.

“He’s an egotistical, self-absorbed, know-it-all narcissist,” I retorted flatly, running out of adjectives to describe him. “Don’t tell me otherwise, I’ve worked with him and I know better.”

“Well, he’s not like that around me,” she maintained stubbornly. “Besides, Mom approves of him.”

Kartal had obviously unleashed a lethal amount of his cloying charm on my mother. I couldn’t picture her letting him in the house otherwise. “And Da?” Surely my father wouldn’t be taken in by his smooth forked tongue.

She hesitated. “Well, he’s allowing Kartal the opportunity to prove his good intentions.”

I interpreted this information without any trouble. Da didn’t like Kartal either, but had been overruled. Well, at least someone was on my side. I scraped the bottom of my meager barrel to scrounge up enough patience to reason with her. Arguing would get me nowhere, and just push her farther in Kartal’s direction. “Kaydan, I’ve worked and lived with the man off and on for two years—”

“And you both have the absolute
worst
impression of each other,” she interrupted in exasperation. “He’s dating me in spite of the fact that you’re my brother.”

I was actually oddly impressed he was willing to date her at all. “Kaydan—”

“Garth, aside from his personality, do you have anything concrete against him?”

I sighed. Aside from Kartal’s ego, which was big enough to flood large warehouses, he was a pretty good catch. There was no doubt that he was talented, and he was from a good family. My sister apparently knew this. “I’m not going to convince you to drop him, am I?” I wondered what she would do if I opened up the earth and he just disappeared before he could reach the front door?

“No.” She shrugged, a smile tugging at her mouth. “But I promise that the minute he makes a major mistake, I’ll let you beat him up.”

Cold comfort, but I’d take it. “Fine.”

There was a knock on the door at that moment. With the magical aura on the other side, I knew who it was without looking, so I opened the door with a trite, “Good evening, Kartal.”

He eyed me suspiciously sideways, probably to see if I had a weapon in my hands. “Rhebengarthen.”

I matched him look for look. “I believe Kaydan is ready.”

Now he looked wary and perhaps a little confused. “You have no objections?”

“Apparently not my business; I’ve been overruled. Just know that the next time we find an occasion to fight, I won’t limit myself to fists.” I was sure he would understand the veiled threat. All right, so perhaps it wasn’t so veiled.

He gave me a mocking bow. “Understood.”

Kaydan shot me a look that would melt glass as she went out the door, obviously not liking my threatening her boyfriend. Tough. It was my prerogative as her older brother to keep the wolves in line.

I closed the door behind them, feeling like my headache would overwhelm me soon at this rate. Even my senses were becoming skewed and unreliable, as I could have sworn that Kartal was touched with earth power—

No. Wait. That wasn’t it!

I snapped around and nearly tore the door off its hinges, I opened it so quickly. “Kaydan! Get back here immediately!”

She stopped in her tracks, barely five feet from the door, and turned just enough to glare at me over her shoulder. “I don’t want to hear another word—”

I negated her protest with a chop of my hand. “That’s not it. Kaydan, you’re a Mage!”

She looked at me as if either her ears were lying to her or I’d lost my mind. In her present state of mind, probably the latter. “What did you just say?”

“You’re a Mage,” I repeated, still in shock myself. “An Earth Mage. You’re barely awake at the moment, which is why I haven’t felt it before this.”

Kartal was studying her through narrow eyes, like he was seeing her for the first time. “That magical aura isn’t the result of some potion or spell?”

I blinked. “Is that what you thought it was?”

“Mages usually appear at fourteen, not sixteen!” he snapped defensively. “What was I supposed to think? And why is she awakening
now
?”

“We can figure that out later. We need to see either Doss or O’danne.
Now
.”

Neither one of them were arguing with me. I dropped us onto the earth path and took off for the Academy so fast the earth shook in my wake. We surfaced seconds later. The ground was still solidifying when Kartal shot off in the direction of the administrative offices. Kaydan and I were hot on his heels.

Doss’s office door was closed, but O’danne’s was open. He looked up, startled, half out of his chair as we all barged in. Whatever he was going to say changed, when he paused really looked at Kaydan. “Garth, what did you do to your sister?!”

How can this possibly be my fault? “This isn’t my doing, sir. She’s a Mage—an awakening Earth Mage.”

O’danne snatched a box from the top drawer of his desk, and took a crystal triangle from its depths and held it up in front of Kaydan. The triangle glowed a rich brown and green. He had to swallow, twice, before he could speak. “She’ll be as powerful as you.”

Kaydan’s knees buckled, refusing to hold her up any longer. Kartal and I both automatically reached out and caught her by an arm.

“Why?” she asked hoarsely. “Why now?”

Good question. I started running through everything I knew to see if I could come up with an answer. She obviously had the genetics and the talent for it; otherwise her gift would not have emerged. And obviously she was close enough to strong leylines in Tobadorage as I had awakened there…leylines.

“Leylines,” Kartal and I said at the same time. We gave each other exasperated looks. There didn’t seem to be enough room in here for both of us.

“What?” Kaydan demanded, looking back and forth between us.

Kartal was busting to tell her. Rather than try to talk over him, I motioned for him to go ahead.

“You know about how Mages are born?”

She nodded impatiently. “Because of genetics and talent. You told me. But why am I awakening so late?”

“You missed one,” he corrected. “The strength of leylines you are near are also very important. You obviously grew up near the right leylines, otherwise your brother would not have awakened. But Kaydan, the effect of those leylines on your development changed nearly two years ago, when you left Chahir and moved here.”

“Hain’s leylines aren’t as rich as Chahir’s,” I offered quietly. “That’s probably why it took a little longer for you.”