The Bronze Mage (13 page)

The biggest change for Tabitha was that her tutoring had ended. Her previous efforts, coupled with her parents' observations during their trip north, had paid off. The king and queen had finally given up on making Tabitha an ambassador anywhere. The field marshal wanted to keep her on as his assistant, but he also had a new position for her. She was to assist in the arms and horsemanship training of the newest pages. He felt that personal knowledge of the knights would be helpful, and this would bring her into contact with the other instructors and all the boys and young men training to become knights.

So now her mornings were spent with the field marshal and her afternoons and evenings were spent with the pages and knights. As the training halls were located about a mile south of the castle, Tabitha ate her lunches and dinners with them, as long as there were no state occasions she needed to attend. After dinner, she received personal training from the other instructors. This should have been bliss. It was certainly better than talking to politicians. She felt she was finally making a place for herself. And yet....

The mage who served as the knights' magical theory instructor was a veteran of the conflict with James. He was fascinated by the spell on Tabitha. According to the description he gave her, the spell was continuing to grow, albeit slowly. He couldn't tell what kind of a spell it was, but it made him nervous. He mostly avoided direct contact with her, but she caught him watching her frequently.

She continued to find James in her dreams nearly every night. If he was real, she wondered why he chose such an unreliable method of keeping track of her.

When winter solstice came, Melanie returned from school for a visit. She talked non-stop about what she was learning, how well she was doing, and all that was happening in the lives of her friends. Tabitha realized what was missing in her own life: She hadn't made any friends. The other instructors were courteous to her, and were even beginning to respect her a little, but they kept their distance socially. After all, she wasn't really one of them. She was a girl, a princess,
that
princess. Not an equal. Certainly not a friend.

None of the knights were interested in courting her either, though several were of high enough rank that they could. Not only was she not what they expected of a wife, but there was still the shadow of a mage over her. The spell was common knowledge. So was King Fenril's plan to betroth Tabitha and James. How that had gotten out, she wasn't certain, but she suspected King Fenril himself. If his goal was to build public pressure for the match, it was working. Most Vals were perfectly willing to sacrifice their princess if it would keep Mage James happy and out of Valstadt.

Tabitha also realized that she wanted to travel. The field marshal never traveled. He was too busy at home. Unless there was a war, she might never again leave Valstadt. She wanted to see the western ocean, the northern mountains, even the eastern swamps. All of the places James had described to her. She loved the forests near her home, but she wanted to see more. Tabitha mentioned this at dinner one night, when Melanie was relating a trip she had made to the beach, collecting sea stars for study in her healing classes.

Melanie responded, "You should come visit me in the spring. It would be beautiful then, and a lot easier to explore the countryside once the weather is milder."

Their parents agreed, perhaps too quickly. Tabitha suspected they were hoping she'd catch the eye of someone while she was there. King Langston had three eligible sons. A match with any of them would end the pressure from King Fenril.

She hadn't heard from James since his appearance on her trip home from Xentia, a meeting she'd never mentioned to her family. His overt protectiveness had left her wondering if he might yet court her. So as the weeks passed and the plans for a short visit with her sister morphed into more formal arrangements for a year-long stay at Hinlith castle, Tabitha continued to hope the plans would be interrupted. But when spring came, she found herself traveling to Westphal.

SEVENTEEN

Westphal

The first weekend Tabitha was with them, the entire royal family of Westphal rode down to the beach. The sun was bright, the breeze grew as they neared the coast, and her hosts were friendly and talkative. After a while Tabitha recognized that the shift in hue past the cliffs they were approaching was the transition from sky to water. Once she did, it took all her resolve to keep the snail-like pace set by Princesses Carissa and Irene. When the road they were on emptied into the coastal road, Tabitha walked her mare across it , so she could look down at the shore. Watching the surf was amazing. The crash and drag of the waves mesmerized her.

Within weeks, Princess Tabitha was a comfortable resident in the castle at Hinlith. As a girl who'd never had close friends, she was amazed at how easily she slid into Westphal's royal family. At first she wondered if they were just being polite to her face, but slowly she came to trust their kindness as sincere. The two girls were near Tabitha's age and were entertained by the novelty of Tabitha training with their father's squires. They asked a million questions about Valstadt and loved hearing about her childhood and family. Tabitha was careful to leave even James's statue out of her stories, but they never asked her about him. It was as if that whole incident had never happened.

King Langston was nothing like Tabitha's father. He was very tall and thin, slightly stooped. Not a handsome man, but he had a contagious smile. He made more suggestions than commands. As often as not, he deferred decisions to Philip, his oldest son and heir. Perhaps because of this, Philip seemed much older than his 28 years. He was confident, knowledgeable and decisive. Nearly as tall as his father, his frame was straighter, not muscular but trim. He seldom smiled, but was rarely cross either.

William, the second son, couldn't have been more different. He was twenty-three, handsome and athletic. His main occupation seemed to be flirting with every eligible girl in Westphal. Tabitha wasn't certain if she should be insulted or relieved that this didn't apply to her. From the beginning, he treated her just like another sister, which meant he was a merciless tease. It wasn't particularly flattering, but it made her feel at home.

The youngest son, Cameron, was twenty. He also had an athletic build, but he loved to read and talk politics. When Philip was around, he and Cameron were often together. He, like Tabitha, was training with the squires, though with the older group and not by his own choice. He did love riding horses, so he and Tabitha spent most evenings racing and exploring the countryside. He knew every yard of the land surrounding the castle and was happy to have someone explore it with him.

Carissa was the next oldest. Just a year older than Tabitha, she was as consumed with the nobles' sons as William was with their daughters. Because of this, her other obsession was her appearance. She knew more about Val fashion than Tabitha did, and was pleased to help her guest make the modifications necessary to blend in better with Westphal's latest styles. She very quickly adopted Tabitha as her pet project, putting herself in charge of her guest's wardrobe and hairstyles, introducing her to other young men and women, explaining the various political and family connections that were important or useful. Tabitha learned more from her in a few weeks than she had in the months her parents had assigned her to the Westphalian tutor.

Irene was shy and very smart, but frail-looking. She preferred to stay indoors and was visibly uncomfortable in crowds. Yet among her family she was the one who took over the role her mother had vacated in death.

Between training in the mornings and riding in the evenings, Tabitha saw Cameron the most of the siblings. She felt close to him, and imagined he felt the same. Of course, they were never alone. When they were riding, King Langston provided protection for both their persons and their reputations in the form of a guard. It hardly seemed necessary. Cameron had made friends with tradesmen and farmers alike. Besides, he not only rode armed, but had taken up the habit of providing Tabitha with a weapon during their excursions after he'd learned her guards at home had done likewise. With both Cameron and Tabitha bearing arms, the guard seemed redundant.

As for honor, Cameron, like his brothers, treated Tabitha the same as he treated his sisters. Despite the time he and Tabitha spent together, he never even offered her his arm, much less a flower or a kiss. The lack of preferential treatment didn't stop Tabitha from daydreaming, though. Cameron was the first boy she'd ever spent this much time with. They got along well, laughed at each other's jokes, challenged each other's abilities. Sure, he was always talking history and politics, but it almost sounded interesting coming from him. Cameron even enjoyed the riding tricks Tabitha used to practice with her brother Jerrold, before she lost him to his duties as crown prince. The guards didn't appreciate them standing on their saddles while trotting, or hopping from one mount to another, but the thrill was worth the scolding.

By mid-summer, Cameron began showing up in Tabitha's dreams, but she had no doubt he was imaginary. It was awkward when she happened to be dreaming some crazy adventure with Cameron and suddenly saw James. Under the mage's disapproving glare, Cameron sometimes morphed into Melanie the way characters in a dream sometimes do. The few times she dreamed something more romantic, the embarrassment of seeing James watching woke her.

Tabitha refused to acknowledge that there was anything significant about James's dream presence nor did she report it to Mage Edgar, the court mage of Westphal. She had never mentioned it to Mage Crandall either. While she had to admit it was unusual that James had been showing up in her dreams nearly every night for a year, she assured herself it didn't mean anything. Besides, it would be humiliating to have a court mage think she really was just dreaming of James so often. Especially if it was true.

No romantic interest in Tabitha was shown by the other young men around Hinlith Castle either, although they practically mobbed Carissa. Even Irene had a few discrete admirers and she was yet fifteen. Carissa was no great beauty, but she was pretty and she had the knack of convincing whomever she was with that he was her favorite. Irene was beautiful and delicate, as well as sweet and gentle. As for herself, Tabitha was unsure whether the young men were put off by her plain looks or her less-than-feminine manner. The cause hardly mattered. It was just like home. Except that neither James nor his spell on her was ever mentioned by anyone other than Mage Edgar. For this Tabitha was extremely grateful.

Mage Edgar broached the subject of the spell the day of her arrival, and nearly every day after that throughout the summer. The Court Mage of Westphal was trying his hand at removing James's spell, rather grudgingly. Tabitha's father had requested his help and she came with high hopes for his success. Before she'd left home, Mage Crandall had informed her that Mage Edgar had taught spellcasting at the College of Magic. Actually, Edgar had taught both Crandall and James himself, as Mage Edgar informed her when she first met him.
 

"Don't know why no one makes him clean up his own messes," the older mage complained. "He's certainly old enough by now." Later, she overheard him mumbling, "If he's reformed enough to hold the position of a court mage, he should act like one. Stop collecting girls like they were knick knacks." Another day, he addressed Tabitha directly: "Why don't you just go back to him? Stay there until he takes the spell off. If he won't, make him marry you. Every fool girl wanted to marry him before. It'll either scare him into removing the spell or you'll be the envy of the female half of the Xentian court."

His mumbling complaints and condescending lectures were the closest they came to talking, since Mage Edgar definitely lumped Tabitha in with the "fool girls".
 

Her only distraction while she was in his study was trying to keep track of his ever-changing assistants. The court mage of Westphal seemed to think magic sensers and mages-in-training only slightly more sentient than he thought her. As a result, every few days she was greeted by a new face when she braved his door.

Tabitha's summer schedule was simple. She trained in the mornings with the squires, relegated to the younger group by King Langston's caution, then returned to the castle with just enough time to bathe and change before having lunch with her new friends. After lunch she was banished to the court mage's study, where the hours dragged. Whether he was trying stronger spells or just cared less for her health, Tabitha usually left feeling nauseous or dizzy. Although she refused to allow her stomach's complaints to stop her from riding with Cameron in the evenings, it did interfere with her dinner. Irene pressed her to eat more of the bland foods she could stomach, Carissa and William teased. They pretended she was feigning her nausea to keep her figure trim for various nobles' sons, who were always just within earshot at the time. At first this embarrassed Tabitha greatly, since she felt certain everyone knew she'd been sent here to find a husband. By the third week she couldn't help laughing along with them. Cameron usually managed to change the subject before it got too out of hand. None of them asked why she spent so much time with Mage Edgar. Tabitha assumed they knew, but was amazed that they were unconcerned by her "condition." It had taken so long for her own countrymen to accept that she wasn't somehow contagious.

Months passed without any weakening of the spell. Mage Edgar's complaints continued.

"Why would he waste a permanent spell on a girl?" The older mage was inspecting the spell while Tabitha tried to keep down the latest concoction he'd given her. "Jonathan!" This was his current assistant. "Look at this! Do you see how intricate the weaving is?"

Jonathan was a young man on loan from the mage school. He was Melanie's age, tall, with naturally dark skin and a mischievous smile. He studied the area near Tabitha's shoulder which his mentor indicated. "How is he able to achieve that density?" the young man asked.