The Awakening of Dreams, page 3
part #3 of Averot'h Series
“That's ridiculous,” I commented.
“And the most capable got the job.”
I was shocked. “You were tested and hired upon result of an exam? That's pretty–” I couldn't find the right word. “Harebrained.”
The boy nodded, evidently not knowing the meaning of the word. “Yeah. I was the best.”
I gave an unconvincing “Uhh,” and inspected him thoroughly again Had I missed something before?
Shaggy, scraggly, pimpled, and uncouth youngster.
There was nothing even remotely close to the best about Rohan.
“Let's go,” I concluded.
There are deeper mysteries left in the universe than him.
~
We walked along the river. I needed somewhere calm to describe the Council, its history and deeds, so Rohan would better understand what we were looking for.
When I finished, Rohan tapped his lips with his right forefinger. “So, you are basically saying,” he made a dramatic pause, “that your maternal grandfather killed your paternal grandfather?”
I sighed deeply and rolled my eyes. “That was not the main point of my narration, Rohan, and you know it!”
He smirked. “I know.”
I put my hands on my hips. “If you continue to mock me,” I said with a stern tone. “I'm going to teach you a lesson.”
“What lesson?” He smirked.
I crossed my fingers and he let out a squeal. He started scratching his body all over, accompanied by a mix of muffled laughing and squealing. He fell to the ground, shaking violently. “Please,” he groaned. “Please stop, Your Grace. I apologize!”
I moved my fingers and Rohan let out a sigh of relief. He hopped to his feet and swatted at his clothing. “Were those fleas?”
“Yep.”
He puffed.
I raised my eyebrows. “Lesson learned, Rohan?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
We resumed our walk in silence.
“Were the Ka'tans indeed so dangerous as you had described?” he asked eventually.
“I was not exaggerating, Rohan. Try to be adult for a while. They were lethal beyond your imagination.”
The boy let it sink in.
“All right. What will we do now? Do you have a plan, Leisha?”
“I'm working on it.”
In fact, I had no idea what to do. We had only one clue that led us nowhere.
“Tell me something about you,” I said. “I have seen your father. What about the rest of your family?”
Rohan raked his hand through his thick hair. “Well, my mother is a baker as well. I have two sisters and two brothers, I'm their eldest. Also, I have a million cousins; my mom has nine siblings. But they don't live in Averot'h, they are from Gedah. I visited them only once in my lifetime. They are merchants and seemed happy with their lives, though the city is rather boring.”
“Let's have a rest,” I gestured to a bench with a panoramic view of the city behind the river.
We sat down and enjoyed the scenery. “I was wondering,” I began, “if what happened at Unity Square was not an isolated accident, perhaps.”
Rohan nodded. “That's quite possible. If there is a Ka'tan, there would be people sacrificed as well, according to you.”
“Exactly. It wouldn't end with only one victim.”
All of a sudden, I had a plan.
“Rohan, do you have access to reports on public order breaches? More specifically, reports on missing or murdered people within the city?”
Rohan scratched above his ear. “I don't know. I have never asked for it. But I guess so.”
“So, get them, please, if there is a Ka'tan, his deeds will betray him. Do you stay at the bakery or at the palace?”
“At the bakery. I go to the palace for work only.”
“Fine,” I decided. “Then we will meet every day in front of the bakery, at nine.”
~
Later that day, I visited Unity Square. Recently, it had become my regular habit. I waited until dusk and embraced my father's pillar as if it were alive. I leaned my forehead against the cold surface.
“Dad, I miss you so much,” I sobbed. “I want you to return. Please. Please. Please.”
I let my tears drop to the ground freely. “I must tell you something. I think there's a powerful, new Ka'tan in the city.”
I whispered what I knew to the pillar and, for the briefest of moments, I thought it moved within my embrace. When I finished unburdening myself, I wiped my tears.
As usual, I felt relieved and composed again.
I have a plan. I know what to do. I can manage it.
~
On my way home, I almost became the victim of bad luck. The rain from the previous night loosened the brickwork of the building I was just passing by.
I heard a crack from above, looked up, and a shower of heavy bricks and dusty plastering hit my head.
Well, almost hit. My casual defensive spell diverted the falling stones a few feet away, saving my life for sure.
“Oh, that was close,” I muttered, thankful that my magic protection worked so well.
Cautious of high buildings now, I resumed my way home where I showered and quickly fell asleep.
CHAPTER 5
ONCE a fortnight, wizards meet at the Palace of Roses to discuss their matters. The assembly is chaired by three elected wizards, Triers, who formally carry out administration of the wizards' part of the city.
The Palace alone is a thirty feet high, sixty feet wide, and three hundred feet long rectangle of limestone encircled by rose gardens, paths covered with white gravel, and a handful of small ponds hosting ducks and swans.
As I approached the entrance, groups of wizards were already in muted conversation here and there. Since I knew most of the highest ranking wizards, and they knew me, we exchanged curt nods as I passed them by.
I spotted several friends from the Institute, both male and female. While the males were dressed conservatively in long-coats of grey or black, the women wore colorful and sometimes extravagant gowns without sleeves, accompanied by gleaming necklaces and elegant silver.
Today, I wanted to share my suspicions with someone who would believe and help me. At first, I considered Giz'mal, the oldest Trier renowned for his wisdom who supervised the field of justice.
But he has more important issues on his plate, I guess.
A second Trier, Le'ras, is a skinny middle-aged man with long, black hair and a somber look who weighs every word before he speaks. He oversees the Institute, though I meet him rarely there, and when I do, he seems strangely absent-minded. I shook my head at the idea.
Scratch him from the list.
Hence, the last choice my brilliant brain came up with is the third Trier, who mainly manages relationships with humans.
Valar.
Valar is difficult to describe.
He is tall, perhaps the tallest man I have ever met with the exception of my father and my brother. He is only twenty-four, which means he is the youngest Trier in its history. His hair is a shade of copper, long and twirling, and his green-blue eyes shine. The right side of his face is covered with a black pigment with pearl-white streaks, commonly known as the Sign of Darkness, an innate imperfection happening once in ten thousand times.
He must have endured a hard childhood, though he never mentioned it. When I closed my eyes, I could recall his wide smile, white teeth, sensuous lips, and bright stare penetrating my body.
Heh, didn't I mention he was difficult to describe?
Inside the entrance hall, I was greeted by tranquil music, and my knees buckled.
The same music as during the Feast of Fire.
I had to lean against an ornate balustrade on my left for a while.
The Feast of Fire is the most popular holiday within the city. On the shortest night of the year after dusk, wizards and humans gather at Unity Square and compete for the best fireworks display of the night. Humans employ gun powder, while wizards make use of magic. As a child, I was absolutely consumed by the event, and my father had me high on his shoulders, so I could better experience the light show above me.
However, fireworks are not the whole story. We dance and sing. We drink a lot and eat.
The last Feast took place five weeks ago, and it was the best holiday of my life. I had met a special wizard there, and we spent the night together, drinking, dancing, hugging and...
I sighed.
During my lonely nights, I recall every detail of that night. The moment we touched for the first time, the moment we kissed each other, the moment we left Unity Square for a more private place…
But that night was over.
I pulled myself together. I was not here to solve my heart issues. I walked through the rest of the entrance hall and under an arch into a gallery facing an auditorium some ten feet below. It was half filled already.
I checked my appearance in a mirror fittingly arranged at the end of the gallery. Today, I wore a long white dress with tiny red specks of flowers on it, and my hair was formed into a simple, but intricate topknot.
Of course, I hadn't forgotten a necklace, earrings and lip gloss.
Satisfied with myself, I turned away from the mirror and began descending the staircase to my right, when I ran into someone.
Damn! I must be more cautious!
“I'm sorry!” I started to apologize, “I–” I lifted my head and the rest of my words stuck in my throat.
I collided with Valar!
“Are you all right, Your Grace?” He smiled softly and took my hands in his as if to protect me from falling down.
It took me almost an eternity to regain my composure.
I smiled back. “I'm fine, Excellence,” I replied and batted with my long eyelashes. “I stumbled a little. Thank you for your concern.”
“You are welcome.”
He still held my hands, and I surely didn't mind.
Actually, I moved my left shoulder negligibly so that my dress slid down a little on the left, leaving my breasts almost exposed to his glance.
He didn't miss the opportunity, and for a briefest moment, his eyes grew yellow, the color of passion.
I took a deep breath and ventured. “May I discuss something with you, Excellence? Something I consider a matter of safety of the city?”
He nodded encouragingly, the yellow in his eyes substituted by neutral white. “Of course.” He looked around. I realized we had created a small traffic jam, and people were turning their heads toward us. “Let's go somewhere else,” Valar suggested, and gestured to the upper end of the stairs.
~
He took me to an adjacent, empty corridor.
“Now we can speak freely, Your Grace,” he said. “What precisely brings you here?”
I experienced a wave of slight disillusionment.
At the Feast, he called me by my name.
I still could hear his warm, breathless voice whispering into my ear when we were lying on the grass, so close to each other that closer was impossible...
“Excellence,” I decided to follow his formal tone, trying to hide my resentment. “I believe the city is under an imminent threat.”
Valar's brow wrinkled.
I searched for tenderness or passion in his eyes, for a hint of remainder from that night. It was still there, deep under the indifferent green, I could see it.
But I cannot bring it to the surface alone.
“What threat, My Lady?” he asked.
I briefly notified him about the murders and missing people, and that I was investigating it with a human appointed by the Minister.
He listened without interrupting. When I finished, he slowly nodded his head. “Thank you, Your Grace, for sharing this issue with me. I will take care of it myself. Meanwhile, I plead you to keep the story private. We don't want to cause havoc.”
I nodded. “I understand perfectly.”
He gave me a lopsided smile. “Splendid. Now, Your Grace, excuse me. I need to return to the auditorium. My duties are calling. Let your spells be clear and strong.”
He gave me a polite nod and left me rooted to the spot in the middle of an empty corridor, fighting back tears unsuccessfully.
~
I didn't know how I got out of the Palace. I hoped no one witnessed my tearful departure.
What did I expect?
Another fistful of fireworks?
The truth is, Valar and I hadn't met since the Feast.
Until now, of course.
Perhaps I wanted to preserve those beautiful memories of that night; perhaps I didn't want my dreams to be shattered by crude reality. I knew we both drank a lot of honey wine before he kissed me for the first time that night.
Yet my love for him was pure and genuine.
Clearly, the love is not mutual.
At home, I sunk into my sofa and sobbed.
I am such a fool! A naïve, hopeless dreamer!
I walked onto my balcony to take comfort from the splendid view of the city. I sat down on a stool with the soles of my feet resting against Kwazzo's warm skin, letting my frustration evaporate in the breeze coming from the river. Beneath me on the road, children played a catch game and a little farther away, fishermen tried their luck, casting their lines deep into water. The sky was brilliant and the smell of the ending summer intoxicating.
I felt I could breathe again.
This is not the end of the world, Leisha, I told myself. Tomorrow is another day.
CHAPTER 6
“FIRST of all, you have to learn our habits,” I told Rohan when we met in front of the bakery the next morning. “Or, at least, the very basics of it.”
We walked slowly to the south as I explained. “When you address a wizard, say Master and his name. Do not try to shake hands. We don't like our hands touched. Instead of shaking hands, just curtly nod. That's enough. Understand?”
“Yes, Master Leisha.”
I narrowed my eyes, not sure whether he was serious or mocking me.
“In my case, Leisha will do nicely. Secondly, wizards are not social creatures as you humans. We value privacy more than you do. That's why it might seem to you we are solitary, but it is perfectly normal for everyone who is not married. We don't unite on the streets, in markets, or taverns. Even lovers do not live together unless they marry. I will get to that later. Our fortnight gathering is the exception, of course. There, we discuss important issues, and after the gathering we part ways again. So, if you spot a single wizard flying at dusk, it is not a suspicious behavior at all.”
Rohan nodded with apprehension. “I got it. But you are never flying a tephir.”
“Well, I'm an exception. I like walking. But I have a tephir at home for emergency cases.”
I didn't want to dwell upon the topic. The truth was simple, though. My father made use of his tephir rarely as we used to walk everywhere together, to the river, to a healer, to a candy shop. It was originally his habit, and I only borrowed it from him.
“Then, there are our family customs,” I changed the topic. “We tend to have fewer children than humans, one or two, three at most. We don't celebrate any human holiday except for birthdays, but they are handled differently. The birthday person is not the child, but the parents, who claim credit for his or her birth. So, a child gives presents to their parents, not the other way.”
Rohan puckered his brow. “That makes sense, I guess,” he muttered.
“Marriage is a separate chapter,” I continued. “It's a highly complicated ritual with thousands of nuances, but you should know this: during the rite, magical powers of both individuals unite, and stay united until the death of one or both wizards. Therefore, each wizard can marry only once.” I made a face. “Unlike your kind.”
“Then, you must choose well,” Rohan commented.
I nodded. “As for other habits, notice we don't drink alcohol as much as humans do, though some of us are fond of wine.”
“What about you? Do you drink wine?” Rohan gave me a lopsided smile.
“I do,” I admitted. “Especially the red kind.”
“Can you cast a spell when you start feeling too drunk?”
I chuckled. “I don't know. I’ve never needed to try, fortunately.”
“May I ask you about what has puzzled me for a long time?” Rohan asked.
“Go ahead.”
“Why do wizards turn into sand after they die?”
“Why do humans turn into dust after they die?” I replied.
Rohan ruffled his hair. “Fair point.”
We talked some more about unimportant issues until we arrived at a botanical park.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” I stopped at a bench in front of a flowerbed. “I must teach you something to defend yourself.”
Rohan rolled his eyes. “I know how to defend myself. I attended Captain Haris' lessons.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I will show you.”
He led me into the shadow of several trees to avoid unwanted attention.
“Lean against me this way,” Rohan put his palms on my shoulders, straightened his arms, and began to push me backwards. I reached for his shoulders, propped of my feet, and pushed back.
After several seconds, he hissed: “Is that all you can do?”
“I'm not that weak!” I protested. Sure, I struggled to push him back a step or two, but he couldn't push me either. “I'm a wizard girl! I don't need physical strength. I have my magic!”
He gave me a crooked smile. “Magic isn't allowed now.”
Without blinking, he suddenly turned aside. Following inertia, I started to fall forward only to be caught by his arm around my waist. He twisted me in the air, slowed down my fall, and laid me down on my back.
I burst out laughing.
He climbed on top of me. Before I could throw him aside, he pinned my wrists to the grass beside my head.
I tried to move my arms and head up, but he forced them to sink into the grass easily.
I went red, knowing I was defeated and defenseless.
