Alec the Wanderer: Generations of Eredwynn #4 (13 page)

We laughed, finished our meal, paid and tipped the staff and headed back to the castle. On the way, Carol called to me, “We need to stop by the dorm for a few minutes. I want to wash some of this grit off and I’m sure the girls do, too.”

I nodded my agreement and altered our course slightly. We landed on the roof of the dorm and made our way inside. I followed the girls in and almost ran over Barbara when she stopped short. “Hello everyone! I’m glad I caught you all together, it will save time with the introductions. I’m Alice.”

Carol went to her and hugged her. “Hello, Mother, we wondered where you were hiding. Alec has mentioned a couple times that you’d be interested in meeting these girls. This is Amanda and Barbara, our Consorts! We met them on our short visit to Father’s realm and couldn’t leave them behind. Girls, this is Alec’s mother, Alice. She’s one of the sweetest ladies you’ll ever meet, nothing like that mean ol’ Alec!”

The girls nodded to Mother and she went to them and hugged them both. “You must be quite special if Alec took you as Consorts! He’s sworn all his life that he’d never have even one. But, he also said that he doubted that he’d marry. Carol changed that for him. This makes me even happier about the project I started after you two went off on your trip.”

I gave a questioning look and asked, “What have you been up to, Mother? I can see a secret behind that smile.”

“All I’ll tell you is that Raven and I are working on a wedding present for you and your family. It’s not finished yet and I’m not giving up any more, so you can just drop it now. I heard that there was a bit of excitement at the range today. Carol, are you okay after casting a spell that powerful? It didn’t drain you or anything, did it?”

Carol smiled and shook her head. “According to the family expert, Davie, my magic won’t get drained as long as there is air. I do think that I’ve made everyone here a bit afraid of me, though.”

Mother hugged her again. “Just be yourself, sweetheart, and they’ll get over that fear. From what I was told, you may have saved the lives of my son, Alba and over a dozen trainees. David and Isabel have heard about it and want to have a dinner in your honor tonight.”

Carol blushed. “I didn’t do anything that anyone else on the range wouldn’t have done if they could have. I just happened to have the right spell for the job and reacted. I wasn’t wanting any special treatment.”

I laughed. “They’ve just realized what the girls and I already know about you, Carol. You’re a wonderful and special person and deserve to be recognized for what you did today. Now, you and the girls can go clean up and we’ll see about getting them tested.”

The girls went to the water closet and Mother walked to where she could whisper to me, “The intensity of the spell that she used must have been incredible! Blowing apart the stones just after they solidified is something that I wouldn’t even try. You know that when the magic compacts those stones, they are very hard, and that’s part of why they cause so much damage. I bet your young lady would rival even Davie!”

“Mother, she is gentle, loving and caring. The first thing she did after her spell was comfort the expert that had made the mistake. I don’t think that I want to take her to Gormesol, though. If Seth’s healing magic caused that little cult group he had, imagine if people saw what she could do! She could single-handedly have an army turn tail and run!”

“Gormesol isn’t the only place that something like that could happen. Now that she’s seemingly obsessed with your Father’s realm, it could happen there, too. You have discussed all this with her, I’m hoping?”

“Of course; we don’t use magic around people unless we have to and then only hidden spells. She had to stun a man, and you could barely see the flash from the spell. The girls thought she had used some kind of machine on him.”

“Very good, then; I’ll see you and yours at dinner. I love you, son.” She slipped out the door and was gone.

Chapter Twelve

W
ith the girls all cleaned up and ready to attempt the test, we flew from the roof to the range. Alba had gotten things settled back down and came to meet us.

She hugged us all and then asked, “What brings you back so soon? I thought your girls would be terrified of magic now and would want to stay away.”

I laughed. “Actually, they were wondering if you’d be willing to test them. They thought that having magic of their own would be nice. Carol and I would both be willing and able to teach them if one of them does pass. We’ve explained the odds to them and they’re ready to go.”

Aunt Alba turned into Instructor Alba in a blink. “Ladies, why don’t you follow me over here where we won’t be bothered by the trainees. I’ll test you both at the same time so I only have to go through the explanation once. The most important part to pay attention to is the instruction on focus and intent. You got a good example today of what can happen when your focus isn’t what it should be. We won’t be working with anything as scary as that was, but starting with a good focus early is a good habit to develop. Intent is what makes it all happen, understand?”

My girls nodded cautiously and I knew that they partially understood. I knew Alba and knew that she’d make everything clear before the actual test began. Carol and I watched as two fist-sized rocks were placed in front of the girls. They were given the new and improved instructions that seemed to be revised monthly. My Aunt was a bit of a perfectionist.

Finally the girls were told their activator word and allowed to make the attempt. As they focused, their hands crept toward each other and they laced their fingers together. Both rocks suddenly jumped into the air and began to glow red hot. Alba scooted on her backside to get away from the heat that she could feel through her
shield
. The girls looked at each other and grinned.

I shook myself into action and applauded. “Well done, ladies! Now go ahead and drop the rocks. I’d like to see something.”

Alba jumped up, shaking her head. “Not this time, young man. I stood by and waited for all your tests once.” Then Carol and I, and most the wizards in Eredwynn heard,
“Davie, I have a situation that needs your attention right away. I’m at the range by Wizard’s Castle.”

A brightly glowing mage popped in beside Alba within seconds. “What’s the matter, Mother? Are you all right?”

Alba took a deep breath and spoke with a strained voice. “I would like for you to see what these young ladies can do. You should relax a bit, because your glow is frightening them and they won’t work as well if they are scared. I might quit taking Alec’s recommendations after this!”

Davie walked over to Amanda and Barbara. “Good afternoon, young ladies. I’m Davie, Alba’s son. I guess you were taking the magic test and something unexpected happened. Would you mind doing that again for me?”

They looked at me for reassurance and I gave them what I hoped was a comforting nod. They walked back over to the test area and sat down with Davie right behind them. They sat staring at their test stones for a couple minutes before I decided to have them try something.

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but if I remember right, just before the stones floated last time, you were holding hands. Maybe you could try that again and see if it would work better for you?”

The girls shrugged, joined hands and turned back to the rocks. The stones jumped into the air as soon as they began to focus. They then turned red hot as the focus was maintained. Davie had seen enough. “Thank you very much, ladies. It is a great honor for me to meet you. The centaurs have legends of Pyromancers, but there is very little known about them. Someday I’d like for you and your family to come to my castle so I can learn more about you.”

The girls nodded shyly and came to stand by me. I smiled at Davie. “When you invited them and their family, you didn’t know who you were inviting! I’d like to introduce Amanda and Barbara, my Consorts. We’d love to come visit you some time but for the time being, what can you tell us?”

Davie chuckled and asked, “Have you tried to see in their minds like you did with Carol when she found her ability? That would be the first thing that I would suggest. The legends say that when pyromancers are discovered, they will always be in pairs. It’s almost as if one is heat and the other fuel, like a fire would need. When they are new to their powers, they have to be connected, which is why the girls had to hold hands. As they become accustomed to using their magic, they will be able to work alone. Because Carol asked on her visit to Perlsea, I just thought of this. Their magic will recharge more quickly during the day, in the sun, and slowly at night. There was no record of being drained and incapacitated, they just can’t do magic when they aren’t charged.”

I looked behind me and saw that my father, mother, aunts and most of my siblings were on the range. Alba’s panicked
telepathy
had brought everyone who could get away from their duties. I laughed, while shaking my head. “Aunt Alba, if you wanted a family reunion, you could have sent letters. But this will save me some trouble in the long run. Everyone, I’d like for you to meet my wife, Carol. And these lovely ladies are our Consorts, Amanda and Barbara. Yes, the wanderer is married with Consorts.”

There was applause and some laughter. The crowd began to break up as they realized that the world wasn’t coming to an end. I was impressed by the amount of power that had been summoned by that one thought from one of the founders. I went over to Davie and Alba. “Davie, there is supposed to be a dinner tonight and I hope you’ll stick around. I think that I’ll take my family up to my room and talk to them. If I can reach their minds, like I did with Carol, it would be very helpful. If you’re still here, you could help if I run into anything I need assistance with.”

Davie nodded and replied, “I’d be happy to, and I hope that I get the chance to examine your Consorts myself. The centaurs would be very interested in studying them, too, if you find yourself in southern No Man’s Land.”

I laughed. “I’ll have to check with Carol to find out what my next travel plans are. That’s something that I didn’t know would happen when I got married; I knew there would be changes, but didn’t know that my wandering would be directed!”

Alba and Davie laughed and I turned back to the ladies. “Carol, let’s fly the girls back to our room. You and I can see if they can mind-link and learn that way. It would really help and would shorten our stay, and you know how I feel about staying in one place.”

Carol smiled and nodded. “I do know and I’m getting to be as bad about that as you. I want to go back to Vegas and see if we can help some more girls. I don’t think that we’d take any more Consorts, because these two were a special situation and I fell in love with them quickly. But we could put girls on buses or help them find new homes.”

I chuckled. “So Tabitha is going to save all the girls in this realm and you’re going to save the girls from Father’s. Sounds like a worthwhile plan and now that we know what the place is like, it won’t be as scary. Besides, we’ll have tour guides with us next time.”

We flew back to the room and we all sat on the bed in a circle. I explained what we were going to attempt and we joined hands. I felt my consciousness meet with Amanda’s and then with Barbara. I found Carol and our four minds joined as one. The girls were understandably nervous and giddy when they felt others in their minds, but Carol and I calmed them quickly. We showed them their minds, and were happy to learn that their magic was similar to Carol’s. She could teach them all the basics with ease, in a way that I couldn’t even understand. They had a fiery section, similar to Carol’s cloudy mist, in their minds and there was a section of knowledge that we couldn’t even touch. The purity of that part of their minds made us back off. They were taught the basics such as
shield
,
fly
and
healing
. They taught themselves to use
telekinesis
without the heat, which I thought was a very good idea. We each retreated back to our own minds and I opened my eyes.

Aunt Della and Lia were standing by the door, waiting for us to unlink. When Della saw that I was myself again, she commented, “You do realize that your Aunt Alba has sworn off testing any more young ladies that you might bring to her. The shock of you bringing three elemental users in barely a month has her shaken. Now, as the oldest elemental user in the family, I should be introduced!”

Barbara giggled. “She’s so cute! And the ‘oldest’ at that! Come here, sweetie, and sit by me. I’ll introduce my sister and me to you.”

Della grinned and looked at me for support. “Barbara, this is my Aunt Della. She is a Naiad, or a water sprite. She has a son that is quite close to my age, and rumor has it she’s pushing a hundred years old, but a gentleman would never ask her age.”

Barbara looked at Della then back at me. When it dawned on her that we were telling the truth and not joking with her, she buried her face in her hands and started crying. “Alec, it’s getting to me again! I don’t know how I’m going to get used to the strangeness of this place or quit making a fool of myself.”

Carol hugged and comforted her while Della climbed on the bed and then took over the comforting. She told Barbara, “You shouldn’t feel foolish, hun. You were being very kind to someone that you thought was younger than you. That shows you have a good heart, fitting for someone of the fire element. Carol, I told you that your element stood for intellect. The girls’ element represents purity and cleansing. Once they learn their powers and can operate on their own, they should easily rival Chloe as healers. I’ll bet that even in the short time that you’ve known them, you’ve discovered that they feel emotions deeply. When you think of a fire, you see the flames flicker and the wind blows it whatever way it chooses. When a fire is let loose, it can create its own wind and direction. Alec, your job and Carol’s job will be to help them find the right direction and not let anyone else blow them from the course they choose for themselves. Do you understand?”

“You’re as cryptic as always, my dear Aunt, but I usually find out what you mean. Carol and I have both fallen in love with these young ladies and will do our very best by them. If there is anything that you think that you could teach them, they can link.”

Della nodded and turned to the girls. “Would you two mind holding hands with a little girl for a few minutes?”

Barbara blushed and took one hand and Amanda took the other. Their eyes took on the glazed appearance of the link, and we waited.

After a short time, their eyes cleared and they both hugged Della, thanking her repeatedly for whatever information she’d passed on to them. They didn’t realize the honor that they’d been given by linking with the Naiad; she rarely did that with anyone.

Della hopped down from the bed, excused herself and
ported
with Lia back to the castle. Carol and the sisters took off for the tailor’s so they could dress for dinner and I laid back, wondering about life’s strange twists. Carol wanted to go back to Vegas and we could do that tomorrow. I’d be recharged enough by then and the open desert would be a good place for the girls to learn magic. I’d take gold again and leave the cash for someone that didn’t know the ropes. If Amanda came to my room tonight and was even half as exciting as her sister had been, my magic would most certainly be charged.

I got up and laid out our packs. I checked our dried rations, bedrolls and tents. I considered only taking the four-man, but decided to take them both. If we found girls that needed shelter, we wouldn’t want to be that crowded. I looked forward to another trip to that realm, but would veto the idea of taking more Consorts. I was ‘the wanderer’, and not some family man that was going to settle down with a wife and a bunch of Consorts, like my brothers had. Well, at least not in the near future. Someday I might want to have children, and they would need a stable environment. I decided to be more faithful in my usage of the birth control spell, as I always had been with the working girls I’d visited in the past.

The girls returned while I was finishing packing and grinned when they saw what I was doing. Carol came over and put her hand on my shoulder. “So, are you going to let me go back to Vegas and see who else will accept help?”

I laughed. “Am I going to ‘let you’ go? I’d never keep you from doing anything that wouldn’t hurt you. Yes, I thought that we could go back tomorrow morning. Let’s dress and go do this dinner thing. Then we can come back here and I’ll go back to James’ room and see if any company shows up.”

I winked at Amanda, who blushed. “Carol is already expecting me to go to James’ room, too. I wouldn’t want to crowd her and Barbara, so you’ll have to scoot over to make room.”

“Well, since you’re twisting my arm like that, I guess we can fit both of us in that bed. But dinner will be starting soon and its bad manners for the guest of honor to be late.”

The girls quickly disappeared in the direction of the water closet with their packages from the tailor’s. The giggling commenced, and I knew dressing was underway. I dressed in my least road weary clothes and was content. I was sure that if I ever dressed up like a noble that no one would recognize me! I’d been wearing the same style of clothing for as long as I could remember.

The girls came out wearing matching light blue dresses that were suited to a fancy occasion. We fell in line and trooped up to the roof of the dorm. I turned and smiled to the sisters. “We taught your minds how to
fly,
but you’ve never tried any spells other than
telekinesis
. Would you like to fly down to the courtyard? Carol and I can coach you and catch you if something were to go wrong.”