Perilous Travels (The Southern Continent Series Book 2) (25 page)

“I don’t know,” Grange answered. “I don’t know.  Let me go check on Grace.  Stay with Shaylee, please,” he begged unnecessarily.

He went over to see Grace, checked her in the same way that Layreen had checked Shaylee, feeling the warmth of her forehead and cheeks, and finding the pulse in her wrist.

There were soft voices speaking, he suddenly realized.

Did that truly happen?
one of the jewels asked.

Is it the sign?
another asked.

Quietly,
Ariana’s voice was distinct. 
He is aware.

“What are you talking about?” Grange asked.

Nothing you should consider now.  Take care of your friends,
Ariana said.

“Will they be okay?  Will Shaylee be alright?  Why is she glowing?” Grange asked.

There is hope for our cause
, a jewel reverted to the earlier conversational topic that was unknown to Grange.

I thought there was always hope with this boy
, Brielle’s voice asserted clearly.

“What are they talking about?  What happened?  Tell me what this is about!” Grange demanded loudly.

“Who are you shouting at?” Layreen asked from a few feet away.

There were many things that happened, but nothing is seriously harmed,
Ariana spoke gently. 
You were distracted when you should have been focused, and your mind wandered far, as did your heart.

The glow on your friend – and you – will fade away in just a few minutes, and there will be no long-lasting harm
, Ariana told him. 
If you touch the end of your wand to each of the sleeping ones, they will arise more quickly.

“Just touch it to them?” Grange asked.

Yes,
a jewel confirmed.

Grange saw his wand lying on the floor where he had dropped it.  He stretched over to pick it up, then gently touched the tip to Grace’s chin.  A small spark jumped across the gap between the two points, and Grace’s hand rose suddenly to slap at the annoyance.  Her eyes opened with a dazed look, as she stared uncomprehendingly at Grange.  The film of confusion slid aside, and she looked alarmed, then sat up abruptly.

“By the goddesses I love, that was unbelievable!” she exclaimed.

“Do you feel okay?” Grange asked as he started to rise, anxious to go over and see Shaylee.

“I feel like a herd of horses just trampled me,” she said, then paused before she raised her voice.  “Grange!  You’re glowing!”

Grange turned his wand around and touched it to the center of his chest.  There was a spark, just as Grace had experienced, and a sting like a small insect bite.  The glow around him was immediately extinguished.

“Is everything alright up there?” Grange recognized the voice of Clientes, the majordomo, calling, undoubtedly checking on behalf of the queen.

“It will be in just a second, Clientes,” Grange shouted in return as he spun around to Shaylee, then gently placed the tip of his wand upon her elbow, as her mother held her hand.  She too suffered the spark, then the glow around her disappeared as she reflexively rubbed at the spot of the spark, just before she opened her eyes.

“Mother!  What are you doing here? Grange?” Shaylee’s eyes shifted from the one of them to the other.  “What’s going on?”

“I was expelling energy from my wand, and it made you unconscious,” Grange told her.  “Do you feel okay?”

“I’m just a little unsteady, maybe,” Shaylee said, sitting up.  She looked over Grange’s shoulder, and saw Grace struggling to stand up and dust herself off at the same time.

“Maybe I better go back downstairs,” she told her mother.

“I just wanted to come up to say good night and good bye,” she told Grange.  “Since you snuck out of the dinner so quietly.”

Layreen stood up.  “I’m going downstairs, since everything seems alright.  You come down when your good byes are finished,” she told her daughter.  She bent and gave Grange a peck on the cheek.

“You be good, and be careful,” she told the boy.  “I expect I’ll hear more about you in the coming days,” she turned and left the rooftop.

Grange helped Shaylee to her feet, as the girl turned quiet, confused by the circumstances, and the presence of Grace.

“I know they say you’re going on a long journey soon,” Shaylee said after a pause.

Grange took her arm, and led her to the edge of the roof, away from Grace, where they had more privacy.

“I’m going away, and so are you,” he told her.

“I wish we were traveling together again, and not just so you could make the boat move by itself!” she told him with a smile.

“I wish the same thing.  I’ll come back here after the journey is over,” he said.  “Maybe we can meet again then.”

“Mother says we’re not likely to return to the palace for some time,” Shaylee answered too quickly.  “I wish we could meet again.

“I’m going to miss seeing you Grange,” her voice changed, growing more emotional.

“Thank you for saving my life,” Grange answered, remembering the water rescue scene he had watching during the explosion of power from his wand.  “Take care of yourself.  You mean the world to me,” he found that his hands were on her shoulders, and their eyes were locked on each other.  He let his face drop down to hers, and they kissed passionately.   The kiss was one that was liberating and arousing and joyful.  It felt wonderful to let his longing for her turn into a physical event, and it was fulfilling to feel her kissing him with just as much gusto.

The kiss ended, and their lips parted, as they grinned foolishly at one another.

“Shaylee?” her mother called from the ground below.

“I have to go,” the girl said.  Her face rose and pressed against Grange’s, delivering another satisfying kiss, then she stopped, smiled smugly, and said good bye.

“Someday, I’m sure, we’ll be together,” she told him.  “You’ll come back to Waters End when you’re done with your journey.”  She left then, lightly running to the stairs and down them, on her way to rejoin her mother on their last night at the palace in Kilau.

Grange remained standing still in the garden, thinking about the kisses with the girl, until Grace’s voice intruded upon him.

“Grange? Are you coming back?  We need to talk,” she said.

“Here I come,” he told her, and moments later they were together again at the table where they had worked on the wand.

“That’s not the way that was supposed to happen,” Grace told him.  “I’m not going to try to teach you anymore.  You’ll have to wait until you see Master Brieed, and tell him about what you did with your wand.”

“If things had gone normally, what would be the next step?” Grange asked.

“At the next full moon, you’d have to refill the wand with energy while standing under the moon, with your blood and a virgin’s blood coating the wand, just like we did tonight.  Except not just like this, obviously,” she corrected herself.  “That will do a few things, such as binding the wand to you in particular.  Until you seal the wand to yourself only, it could discharge energy for anyone, because you haven’t instructed it to only respond to you.

“I don’t know what it is about you, but you’re different,” the girl said in a more conversational tone. 

“And don’t try to use the wand in the meantime,” she added.  “It would be unpredictable, especially under your control.”

Although he privately agreed with her assessment, he bristled at the spoken judgment, and vowed to discuss the matter with the jewels later, to get a better-informed opinion.

“Is your girlfriend gone?” Grace asked casually.

“She’s not exactly my girlfriend,” Grange answered.  “But she’s as good as gone anyway.”

“Let’s turn in for the night.  I’m going to, anyway,” Grace said.  “I need it.”

And so they returned to their quarters, everyone in their path giving them a wide berth along the way.

Chapter 17

Grange was at the harbor in the morning to watch Layreen and Shaylee paddle away, two accompanying canoes of men pulling away from the dock with them.

He felt sleepy, after a bad night’s efforts to rest, and he felt as if he was watching a chapter in his life close permanently as the two women disappeared from sight.  His few short weeks in Waters Edge had been the most serene and peaceful that he had lived.  His mind had raced all night long on a circular track, first thinking about kissing Shaylee, then thinking about the discharge of power from his wand, the peculiar performance that Grace and the jewels had both commented on.

“My lord?” Clientes was behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.

“The Queen is at breakfast, my lord,” the majordomo told him.

Grange stared at the man, waiting for the rest of the information he wanted to impart.

“That is an invitation for you to join her,” Clientes said politely.  “She wishes to understand what happened last night with all your stupendous pyrotechnics in the sky.”

“I’m not sure I know,” Grange answered.  “Perhaps Grace would give a better answer,” he suggested.

“The lady wizard has been invited as well, if you’d like to join us, now,” the palace official hinted.

Clientes led Grange back into the palace.  “I’m not really dressed to see the Queen,” Grange pointed out as they entered the personal residence portion of the palace, where Grange had never been before.

“That’s not a problem in these unofficial conversations,” Clientes assured him as the majordomo held a door open and invited Grange to enter.

The room he stepped into was small, the size of an ordinary room in an ordinary home, and the Queen sat at a table with her meal in front of her, as Grace stood across the table.

“It’s my fault, your majesty,” Grace was saying as Grange entered the room behind her.  “I was attempting to help the boy develop a wand, and the procedure didn’t go as planned.”

“No,” Grange interrupted her, stepping forward.  “It was my fault.  Grace was simply helping me, without realizing that I am unusual.  I made the process go awry.”

“In what way are you unusual?” the Queen asked.

Grange hesitated, then cautiously plunged forward.  “I have extra abilities beyond the ordinary wizard.”  He lifted his arm and showed the two remaining jewels that were still embedded in his flesh.  “I have been befriended by these jewels and others, who have great powers and knowledge, to help me.  I think perhaps their presence made my wand activity go slightly astray.  But no one was harmed,” he added.

We did not interfere with the wand,
one of the jewels said indignantly.

You’re a bit presumptuous to say that we’ve befriended you,
another one said. 
We are certainly overseeing you, but friendship?

Ladies,
Ariana’s voice was cool and controlled. 
Leave him alone for the moment
.

“I knew about the jewels,” Grace said thoughtfully.  “I don’t think it was them.  It was something else, something in you, Grange, I think,” Grace responded.

The girl is more perceptive than I realized,
Ariana commented to the other jewels.

“Is this going to happen again?” the Queen asked.  “My court and my people will ask many questions this morning about whether having a wizard at the palace is a good thing, or a dangerous thing.”

“It will not happen again,” Grace said confidently.  “Grange and I will not work on his wand further, and he will leave soon anyway, on his voyage with your trader friend.  When he returns, he will need to go back to Palmland to finish his instruction there with Master Brieed.”

“So we can describe last night as a one-time training activity?” the Queen asked.

“Yes, your majesty,” Grace answered, then gave a small curtsey.

“And in the meantime, the two of you are going to go out far and wide, performing your healing music for as many people in the city as possible?” the Queen asked.

“As soon as possible,” Grace agreed cheerfully.

“That will be all then.  You’re both dismissed,” the queen told them.  “Please bring some additional jam for this toast,” she turned to the servant who stood nearby.

Grange and Grace bowed their way out of the room, back into the hallway, where Clientes was awaiting them.  He silently walked them out of the residential sector of the palace, and set them free.

“I’m going to the armory to practice,” Grange said when the two of them were alone.

“Only for a little while,” Grace said sternly.  “You heard the Queen – we’re going to go out and perform music around the city today.  And after that, I’d like for you to help me create lighting amulets, to give to the nobles at court as gifts,” she said.

Grange agreed, then found his way to the armory, where he was hesitantly invited to join in sparring with the palace guardsmen and nobles.  He quickly proved his ability to compete, and found time passed quickly, a point that was delivered when activity in the armory came to a halt, as Grace entered the hall and stood looking at Grange with her hands on her hips.

He apologetically withdrew from his match and accompanied the girl back to her palace quarters.

“That place stinks, and you aren’t anywhere near fresh yourself,” she told him bluntly as they walked.  “Take a fast shower as soon as we get to the rooms, so that I don’t suffocate while I spend the next half the day with you.”

Grange bit his tongue, aware that she was correct, and aware that he had stayed at the armory longer than he had intended.  When they reached their portion of the palace, Grange immediately entered the shower, then paused momentarily when he heard the door to the bathing room open.

“Here are some clean clothes for you,” Grace announced, before he heard the door close again.

When he finished the shower, he found a long, white robe, and when he left the room, he found Grace wearing a matching dress.

“I thought we ought to look mystical for our performances,” she explained with a hint of apology in her voice.

“We're going to look the part?” he asked.

“After last night, I need to make people think I can do something special,” Grace admitted.  

“I'm sorry about last night,” Grange apologized.

“You mean you didn't do it on purpose?” Grace responded, drawing a grin from Grange. 

There were no further words about the clothing, and they instead went on a tour of the major temples in the mainland city, visiting each and performing songs suitable for each deity.

When they reached the temple to Miriam, the goddess of domesticity and tranquility, Grange paused and genuflected at the altar, thankful for the goddess’s assistance and her creation of the blue-tinged sword that was so lethal to demons.

“Thank you, my lady,” he whispered his appreciation.

“You must be sure to use the weapon – and all your skills and weapons – when the time comes,” the goddess replied firmly, in a voice that every worshipper in the temple heard.

“Did the goddess speak to you?” a priest who was near him immediately asked.  “Has great and kind Miriam spoken to you?”

Grange was astonished by the public pronouncement.

“What was she talking about, do you know?” someone in the crowd asked loudly.

“She has spoken to me before,” Grange didn’t know what to say.  “She believes I will fight battles in the future,” he added.

“What weapon did she mean?” the priest asked.

“It’s my sword,” Grange drew the weapon from its sheath.  The priest and others had looked on disapprovingly when he had first entered the temple carrying the weapon, but now they all looked eagerly for a glimpse of the sacred device that had been blessed by their goddess. 

Grace shook her head in bemusement at the unexpected scene.  Her eyes and Grange’s locked, and she raised her chin, a nod with direction that Grange understood.  He held the hilt of the sword with both hands, then raised it over his head, making the small crowd around him murmur in appreciation, then in surprise, as the jewel at the bottom of the hilt, Ariana, began to unexpectedly glow.

Do not forget your mission
, Ariana’s voice sounded in Grange’s ears. 
The time of the great battle draws nearer, and I sense that another set of challenges is almost upon you
.

Startled, Grange let the sword drop slowly, as he considered Ariana’s warning.

“We will start our performance for you, now that the display of the goddess’s favor is complete,” Grace’s voice penetrated Grange’s bemusement.  Still holding the sword in his hand, he gently bumped through the idolizing ring of worshippers to rejoin Grace, and to begin their musical performance.

After the performance, when the two of them were finally alone back at the palace, shortly before sunset, Grace turned to Grange.

“And what was that with the goddess?  How many hidden secrets do you have?” she asked.

“Not too many,” Grange answered cautiously, uncertain how much Grace really did know after his various mishaps and adventures.

She snorted in exasperation, then left him alone in his room as she went to remove her performance costume and prepare for dinner.

For the next several days, Grange diligently worked with Grace performing musical treatments for the city and the palace, as well as spending time creating amulets to produce light, trinkets that Grace distributed to the members of the Queen’s court to demonstrate her usefulness.

And then came the day when Clientes informed Grange that he was expected to ship out with Asloe’s trading convoy on the following morning tide.