Daughter of the Disgraced King (19 page)

He stopped and turned around. After what he’d just said, his
movements would certainly be reported to his father. Meeting with Sandor right
now would be disastrous—for Sandor definitely and possibly for Savyon, too.
That meeting would have to wait until Father had had a chance to cool down. Maybe
later he could find an excuse to go out to the stables and round up Etan to
carry a message for him. The old channels that Savyon and Cergio had used to
communicate secretly with Ailsa and Perion when they were younger might prove
useful again.

Savyon went to his chambers, instead. Maybe things would be
clearer after he’d bathed and changed into clean clothes. They couldn’t be any
more confused, at any rate. He stopped dead as he strode across his outer
chamber. Two letters lay on his desk, both bearing the Imperial seal.
Two
letters
from the emperor?

Savyon drew a deep breath. The bath could wait for a few
moments more. He sat down and picked up the first letter. Out of habit, he
checked the seal. No. It hadn’t been tampered with. He slit the seal and read
the contents, written in the clean, formal script of a court scribe.

I thank you for your letter regarding the attack on
Princess Ailsa while on her way here. Rest assured that I have taken steps to
ensure that nothing of the sort happens again to any passenger on the coach
line or any traveler along the Imperial Highway to and from Far Terra.

I have also been greatly disturbed by other information I
have received about the state of affairs in Far Terra. Your letter and other
reports I have had of you make me believe that you may be able to clarify these
rumors for me.  As it is imperative to have the best and most current
information before deciding on a course of action, I will be sending for you
and others to come to Terranion as soon as the seasons change enough to make
the trip bearable. According to the terms of the treaty, you should have been
here already.

There is no need to inform your father of this, unless
you choose to do so.

Below that was the signature
Emperor Eyvind
in a
different hand, evidently the emperor’s own.

Princess Ailsa
. Savyon smiled. His father would have
a stroke if he read that.

What reports could the emperor have had about him? That
could only have come from Ailsa. She was the only person he knew in Terranion.
She’d written about meeting the emperor and his family, but not about
mentioning him.

Savyon lowered the paper, smiling for what felt like the
first time in days. It wasn’t possible that the emperor had received his second
letter. Even the Imperial couriers weren’t
that
fast. But if the emperor
wanted information about what went on in Far Terra, if there was any hope that
he’d take a hand to straighten things out, then Savyon would be more than happy
to help. Going to Terranion, wonderful as that prospect was, was only icing on
the cake. If it was information the emperor wanted, Savyon could write and send
more letters in the meantime. He’d ride out to the first courier station to
post them so Father needn’t know about it.

His smile grew wider. No. He wouldn’t tell Father about any
of this. Let the emperor’s summons come as a surprise.

But what could be in the second letter? This one was
thicker. Savyon broke the seal and opened it. He gasped and turned it over. The
seal was the emperor’s, but the handwriting was Ailsa’s. What . . . ?

Dearest Sav,

The emperor kindly agreed to put his seal on this—well,
he agreed when his daughter, Princess Mayra, asked him—so I could write to you
without struggling to find a text I could use for our code.

Savyon sat back. Ah, that explained it. He read on. Ailsa
described working with someone named Jathan—he thought she’d mentioned him
before as a fellow student—to re-green a burned over area and how her first
useful magic had made her feel. And what she thought she’d be able to do for Far
Terra once she’d been trained.

Savyon lowered the letter. Without saying it in so many
words, it was clear that Ailsa was telling him that she couldn’t give up her
magic. Savyon pinched the bridge of his nose. Though it made him feel hollow to
think it, he couldn’t ask her to give that up. After what he’d seen, though . .
. the thought of her coming back to Far Terra as a mage left an ice-cold lump
in his gut.

He read through the letter again more carefully. Ailsa had
chosen her words judiciously. She suggested that there was some way that she
could be a mage and still marry him. Sav blew his breath out. Who could have
sold practical Ailsa on a fairy tale like that?

Then again . . . His lessons with Sandor had taught him to
think more long term. Much that would cause an uproar today was possible a
decade or two from now, if you started quietly—or sometimes not so quietly—working
toward it. Maybe . . . was it possible Ailsa might agree to
delay
becoming a full mage? Not give it up or the promise that it represented for Far
Terra, but just . . . redirect her energies for a time? Into marrying and
starting a family, perhaps. And then step into the role of mage when a way had
been prepared for her.

He picked up his pen to write back and propose this solution
to their dilemma. He set the pen down. No. The emperor had said he’d send for
Savyon to come to Terranion in just a couple of months. A few weeks. He could
wait that long and talk to Ailsa in person. Yes. That would be best.

Ailsa didn’t object to Jathan taking her hand as they walked
back from the Institute to Grandmama’s house for their first green magic lesson
since their return from the mountain lodge. While she could feel a slight
tingle rising from their joined hands, it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as when
he’d kissed her.

He hadn’t tried to kiss her again, or even be alone with her
after that interrupted encounter on the promenade, but he had picked up this
habit of wanting to hold her hand from time to time. It did no harm. Besides,
she liked the feel of her hand in his. Jathan released her hand as they
approached the door.

After what Grandmama had said before they left for the
mountains, Ailsa expected to go through to the garden for their lesson, but
Grandmama sat them both down at the small dining room table.

“We’ll go outside in a few minutes. Right now, there are a
couple of things I need to talk to you both about before we begin. The first is
to congratulate you. I’ve had reports about your work at the burned-over
ravine. That was very well done. In fact, it has been rated by an itinerate
green mage whose opinion I trust as level nine magic—”

Jathan whooped and jumped out of his chair. “Level nine!
Just wait ‘til Father hears that.”

Warmth spread outward from Ailsa’s chest, rather like when
she’d kissed Jathan. Level nine! That was more than she’d ever dared hope.
There hadn’t been more than a dozen level nine green mages in all of history.
Now there were two. When Jathan sat back down beside her, she had to restrain
herself from leaning over to kiss him again, to share this moment. She settled
for taking his hand, instead.

Grandmama noted their joined hands and frowned slightly. “The
emperor and the master have both been informed.” She looked at Ailsa. “The
master is sending a note to your parents, Ailsa. I’m sure neither of you will
be disappointed to learn that there will be no further tests in this class for some
time. You won’t be ready to be tested beyond the ninth level until you’ve had
more practice with your magic and learned more control of it. Like any other
exercise, you need to build up your muscles first.”

Ailsa wasn’t sure she’d heard right. “Beyond the ninth
level?”

Grandmama nodded. “It’s unlikely, but you’ve both moved up
through the levels so quickly that the master and I agree that further testing
is warranted. But only after you’ve had more training.” Grandmama took a deep breath.
“Now, the other thing I need to talk to you both about. I’ve also heard from
the empress about your . . .” She cleared her throat. “What she considers your
. . .”

Ailsa blushed. It was crystal clear what Grandmama was
trying to say.

“It was only a couple of kisses,” Jathan said. He squeezed
Ailsa’s hand. “Nothing inappropriate happened.”

“I’m glad to hear it, but that’s not exactly what I wanted
to talk to you about. Your mother had the impression—from your expressions, I
believe—that you’d experienced a . . . flare of your magic along with those
kisses.”

“Well, yes,” Jathan said. “Is that unusual for mages?”

“Not especially.”

“Then it was just our magic?” Ailsa asked. She didn’t know
how to feel about that. Relieved that she didn’t have to be confused between
Sav and Jathan? Or crushed that something that had seemed so special wasn’t?

Grandmama shook her head. “No. If you two felt nothing for
each other, your magic would not have responded. But . . . especially at your
stage of training, it’s not necessarily a clear indication of
how much
you feel for each other. Especially because you both have the same kind of
magic. That would have made the reaction stronger.” She smiled reminiscently. “It
can be a heady mixture when the magic tries to carry you away with it. Almost
irresistible.

“Now, I’m not making any comment—at this time—about what you
may or may not actually feel. I don’t think anyone knows that yet. Including—maybe
especially—you two. I’m not even saying that you shouldn’t kiss each other.”
Grandmama smiled wryly. “I’ve been teaching teenagers for too long to have any
misconceptions about how effective that advice would be. And I don’t personally
think it does any harm, anyway—just as long as you don’t get ahead of
yourselves.

“What I am saying is that both of you need to slow down. You’ve
haven’t even known each other for three months, after all.” She looked between
the two of them. “Just don’t get all starry-eyed and make any life-long
decisions or . . . do anything you can’t take back until you have a better
grasp on your magic and can gauge that reaction more accurately. That’s
something that will only come with more experience in using your magic. Agreed?”

Jathan blew out his breath and nodded. “That’s pretty much
what I’d decided anyway. Whatever is going to be between Ailsa and me—friendship
or something much more—I want it to be real. Neither of us should be confused
about it.”

So that was why Jathan hadn’t tried to kiss her again. Ailsa
bit her lip.
She
was definitely confused. Jathan hadn’t seemed to be,
but she surely appreciated that he was giving her time to figure things out.
She squeezed his hand and nodded to Grandmama.

Grandmama put her hands on the table and pushed herself up. “Good.
Now, let’s get out to the garden and start stretching those magic muscles.”

~

A month later, Ailsa and Jathan rode side by side, following
Grandmama on the elderly mare she’d borrowed for the day. Diamond tossed his
head, wanting to run, but this wasn’t a pleasure ride. A week ago, Grandmama
had declared that they’d progressed as far as they could in her garden and
started leading them on expeditions into the various parks that surrounded and
wove through the Imperial capital.

Ailsa sighed at the slow pace of Grandmama’s placid mare,
holding Diamond in check. “Maybe I should ask Mayra if I can borrow Silver for
these excursions.”

“I don’t think so. The grooms can keep Silver exercised. We
don’t want Diamond getting barn sour again, the way he was when you first rode
him,” Jathan answered. “Besides, when we’re done with whatever we’re going to
do out here, there may still be enough light for a real ride. Just you and me.
It’ll be our last chance for a few days. Mayra’s testing starts tomorrow. I’ll
be there as much as my studies allow, to support her.”

“I’ll come, too, when I can.”

“She’ll appreciate that. She’s really nervous.”

Ailsa smiled. “I’m sure she is. I remember my testing.”

“Funny. I wasn’t nervous at all.” Jathan winked across at
her. “Not at
your
testing, anyway.”

“Enough chatter,” Grandmama said, reining her mare to a
stop. “We’re here.”

They’d arrived at the edge of a bowl-like dell full of trees,
most of them oaks. But it was obvious from up here above the hollow that
something was wrong. The leaves of the trees near the center were more brown
than green. The brown transmuted to yellow and the amount of green increased
the farther from the center she looked, but Ailsa could feel that even the
trees near the very edge weren’t as strong and healthy as they should be.

“Today we’re going to do something different,” Grandmama
said. “These trees are diseased. Over the next days, we’re going to see what we
can do to remedy that. Working together, we should be able to save the trees on
the outside and even most of those a bit farther in. The ones in the very
center are probably already beyond our help and the groundskeepers will have to
remove them. To preserve our energies, we’ll be working about every other day.
Which is fortunate.” She turned to wink at Jathan. “Because the new master has
requested that we all attend your sister’s testing tomorrow, in case she turns
out to be another green mage, like your maternal grandmother.

“Now, to begin with, you will need to allow me to guide the
magic so we should space ourselves out around the edge of this bowl, as far
apart as we can go and still maintain line of sight. Once you grasp what it is
we’ll be doing, we can move farther apart.” She pointed off to her left. “Jathan,
you go that way. Ailsa, that way.” She pointed to the right.

Ailsa turned Diamond in the indicated direction. She checked
back frequently and when she knew the curve of the basin would take her out of
sight of Grandmama, she stopped and dismounted. At a nod from Grandmama, she
allowed her magic to build and sent it out across the dell. She felt Grandmama
take hold of it and begin to direct it.

Joining her magic with her grandmother’s didn’t have quite
the euphoric feel of working with Jathan. Then she felt Jathan’s magic in the
blend, and the feeling of exhilaration grew. Hmm. That was something she’d have
to think about later. She strongly suspected Grandmama had placed herself
between them to moderate their bond.

As Grandmama put their combined magic to use, Ailsa turned
her thoughts to watching what she was doing. The problem was in the root
system. Oak root fungus. She’d read about that but hadn’t seen it before. Their
magic seared the fungus where the roots were still viable and cut off roots,
burning them to ash in place, where they were too severely affected.

She’d never used her green magic to kill or even harm
anything before. This use of magic seemed strange, but it also seemed to be
working from what she could tell.

Unexpectedly, the magic faltered and rebounded to her. Ailsa
turned toward where Grandmama was standing—only, she wasn’t standing now. She
was prone on the ground. Ailsa jumped onto Diamond’s back and let him run his
fastest back to Grandmama. Jathan’s horse raced back along the rim of the
hollow from the opposite direction.

Ailsa’s stomach churned and her chest felt too tight to
breathe as she slid off Diamond’s back and landed on her knees by her
grandmother’s side. “Grandmama! Are you all right?”

Grandmama struggled to sit up. Jathan helped her. “I will
be. We all have limits to how much magic we can hold and manage. Those limits
are naturally higher for mages of a higher level. You are both at least level
nine. Even at your age, I was never above a level eight. It was simply more
magic than I could hold. Help me up.”

Ailsa and Jathan each took one of her arms and lifted her to
her feet. Neither let go until they were sure she wouldn’t fall again.

After a moment, Grandmama stood up straighter. “And let that
be a lesson to you when you join your magic with others’. There’s a reason why
the leader of a mage circle is usually the strongest. Though you two seem to be
fairly closely matched, which is why you were able to work together at the burn
without a leader.”

Ailsa thought back. “I think we came close when we worked on
that burned over area. At least, it certainly made us both giddy.”

Jathan nodded, not taking his eyes of Grandmama. “Can you
ride? Or should we send for help?”

“No, I’m all right now,” Grandmama said. She smiled weakly. “There’s
a reason I brought such an easygoing old mare. However, I think I will go home
and rest for a while.”

~

Ailsa stepped quietly out into the main room after seeing
her grandmother settled for a nap. Jathan sat at the dining room table with a
book open in front of him. She’d forgotten he was still here. Or that they’d
talked about going for a ride after their lesson.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Jathan. I can’t go riding this afternoon. I
just wouldn’t feel right leaving Grandmama alone here.”

He looked up with a smile. “I know. I feel the same way.”

Ailsa sat down next to him. “What are you reading?”

He half closed the book so she could read the title. It was
a botany text. Two others lay on the table within reach. “I was studying up on
oak root fungus. Might as well know as much as possible about what we’re
dealing with.”

Ailsa smiled back. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

“Good. Then we can study quietly together while not leaving
your grandmother alone.”

Ailsa read for a while and then looked up. There wasn’t
anything here she didn’t already know, but another question was beginning to
seem more important. “Jathan . . .”

“Hmm?”

She swallowed. “Joining my magic with Grandmama’s didn’t
feel at all like . . . like working with you.”

Jathan closed his book and looked at her. “I know.”

“What do you think it means?”

“Ailsa, I don’t know.” He leaned forward and kissed her very
softly and briefly. The magic built around them. “But I think it has something
to do with that and what it means.”

Ailsa sighed. “Me, too.” Now, if she only knew what that
meant. Sav or Jathan?

~

Ailsa consciously slowed her steps as she and Grandmama
walked toward the Institute. She hoped Mayra would turn out to be a healer, and
not just because that was what her friend wanted. The master was likely to test
for that first and green magic second. Ailsa really didn’t think Grandmama
should be trying to work
any
magic right now.