Warlords Rising (11 page)

The Rikkana came back to her and
introduced, “Raya Becca, this is Chanda and Bala.”

Becca gave the Rikkana a weary
look. She had protested this, several times, but the Rikkana insisted that
raya
was the proper way to address her. Nolan had translated the title as meaning
‘lady,’ roughly. No matter how many times Becca denied this, and that just
Becca was fine, the Rikkana would not yield.

She gave up on the point for the
time being and focused on the two girls. They had to be sisters. They had the
same heart-shaped faces, wavy dark hair, and slightly prominent nose bridge.
Their smiles were identical too, sweet but shy, and a little nervous.
Considering Becca had leveled a good section of the city three days ago, she
couldn’t blame them for being nervous. Trying to show good intentions, she
smiled and gave them a quick bow. “I’m Becca. Hello.”

Melting under her smile, they
bobbed their heads to return the greeting.

“Food stores safe?” she asked
them. The building didn’t look impacted from here, but she could only easily
see about half of the area from here.

“Perfectly,” Chanda assured her.

That was reassuring. “All of it?”

They looked puzzled, although why,
Becca couldn’t fathom. She thought it a rather straightforward question.

The Rikkana stepped in to clarify.
“This is all.”

“Just this building?” Becca
spluttered. They hadn’t passed many farms coming in, granted, but surely this
building wasn’t meant to feed the whole town! Belatedly she realized that she
had spoken in Chahirese and tried to rephrase in her limited vocabulary. “Just
here? No more?”

“No more,” the Rikkana verified
carefully. “This is plenty.”

Becca shook her head firmly. “No.”
Making a snap decision, she turned to the three as a whole and demanded, “Show
me water. Well for town.”

Bala caught on first what she
wanted to see and gestured for her to follow. Becca went right on her heels as
they left the building and headed for the outer wall. They passed Nolan as they
walked, who was kneeling next to an injured dragoo with a pitiful expression on
its face. Becca called to him as she passed, “Meet me at the well over here
when you’re done.”

Nolan sank back onto his haunches
to respond, “Is there a problem?”

“I think so. But finish there,
then I’ll explain.”

He waved a hand in acknowledgement
and bent back to the dragoo.

Fortunately the well was right
around the next corner, so Nolan wouldn’t get too lost trying to find them.
Becca bent down to give it a thorough examination.

With no Weather Mage other than herself
in existence, there wasn’t a ready teacher for her. Garth had instead cobbled
together a curriculum of history books and two professors from Coven Ordan to
give her some idea of what she could do. She had been taught by both an Air
Mage and a Water Mage, and so had the basic teachings of both. She used that
knowledge now to trace the water source as far as she could feel, but
eventually she lost track of it. What she could feel did not seem adequate to
really supply a town of this size with enough water.

Frowning, she stood up again and
found Nolan right behind her. “Problem?” he prompted.

“Nol, I’m not liking what I see,”
she stated, gesturing to the well. “This is the main water source for the town,
but I wouldn’t think it could support more than half of this population
comfortably.”

Nolan leaned so that he could peer
down the well. “My water sense isn’t nearly as strong as yours, but it doesn’t
seem that deep.”

“It’s not. Also, I checked their
food storage, and what they call ‘food storage’ for a town is ridiculous. They
have about ten varieties of vegetables. That’s it.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You’re
kidding.”

“I wish I was. We want to do
something to make up for the damage we did here, right? Then I think we should
create an aqueduct system, a water reservoir, and create a garden with more
variety of fruits and vegetables. To them, it will seem like a luxury.”

Nolan flipped a hand up. “It
should be easy enough to do if the three of us put our heads and magic
together. Want me to call Trev’nor?”

“Yes. I refuse to leave for the
ruins until this is done.”

She had no argument from him. To
the three waiting women, he explained what they intended to do. It was funny to
watch their reactions because even though he spoke in their native tongue it
was clear they had no idea what he was describing. But then, how could they,
when they had never seen the like before?

Nolan gave up and said to her,
“I’ll get Trev. We’ll have to just show them; they don’t even really know what
the words mean.”

“I caught that. Go, go. I’ll start
studying the layout while you fetch him. We have our work cut out for us here.”

“It will take more than a day,”
Nolan agreed. Then grinned.

She knew that look. “You’re
looking forward to playing, aren’t you?”

“What’s the fun of being a mage if
you can’t be creative?”

Creative? With plants? Oh dear.

Trev’nor greeted her idea with an
enthusiastic, “Great idea! It’s perfect for what they need here.”

“In other words,” Becca drawled,
struggling not to laugh at his enthusiasm, “any excuse to play in the dirt will
do.”

“Yes?” he responded as if this
were perfectly obvious.

Boys. Give them a dirt pile and
they were happy. “I’ve studied the area a little and I think I have an idea of
how to work an aqueduct in here.”

“Hey now, I’m the builder in the
group,” Trev’nor objected.

She pointed toward her own nose,
“And I’m the one that understands best how water flows.”

He had his mouth open for a retort
only to think better of it. “I see your point. Together?”

“Probably for the best. Since you’re
building the things. Nolan, do you have an idea of what we can plant out here?”

“More or less but some of it
depends on how much you’re going to build and where. Some plants require a lot
of space to grow in, others can’t survive in full sunlight, so I’ll need at
least partial shade for them.”

All valid points. “Follow along,
then, and let’s figure out how to do this.”

The Rikkana more or less came
along for the ride as the three mages went throughout the town and talked to
anyone willing to stop and speak for a minute. They asked many questions,
sometimes struggling to get their points across, as they tried to understand
just what the needs were for the town and where they could build without it
interfering in people’s businesses. Becca’s vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds
during this process as she picked up words here and there.

Chanda and Bala turned out to be
in charge of food storage for the town. Nolan pulled them aside and asked many,
many questions about their storage abilities. The girls seemed a little
enthralled with his politeness and looks as they would sometimes clutch each
other and giggle.

It did not go unnoticed that Nolan
seemed to appreciate the attention.

Half the day was spent talking to
the citizens and planning what could go where. Trev’nor wasn’t even able to
break ground until late that afternoon but of course an Earth Mage didn’t need
the same amount of time as a regular construction crew to do the job. He had
the water reservoir built and three aqueduct lines in place before the light
failed him.

Nolan got sucked back into healing
ailments but came back to the outer wall of the city and gave the area a long
look. “Trev,” Nolan intoned with an unhappy look narrowing his eyes, “you
didn’t change the soil for me.”

“Ah, oops? Wait, was I supposed to
do that first?”

“Yes,” Becca inserted with a roll
of her eyes. “It’s more time efficient that way, remember? That way Nolan can
be planting things while you build.”

“Ah. Double oops?”

Double oops, he said. The man
needed a keeper some days. “Too late now. I guess do it first thing in the
morning.”

“Sure,” Trev’nor agreed easily.
“I’m almost done, Bec, I think we can finish everything up tomorrow. You want
to call in a storm tonight and fill up the reservoir?”

“Not a bad thought. I’ll do that.”
Almost belatedly she realized that Sumi and another woman that she didn’t know
where standing nearby, clearly waiting to catch her attention. Waving the boys
on, she went over to the women. “Hello.”

“Raya Becca, this is Asha,” the
Rikkana introduced.

Asha looked like she was a
well-established matron that likely had at least five kids. She wasn’t
particularly portly but her face had a roundness to it that gave her a certain
charm. With a bow, she greeted, “Raya Becca. You will stay with my family.”

Oh?

Seeing her confusion, the Rikkana explained,
“It was her house that you stayed in the past three days.”

Ahhh. They had chosen a house at
random to sleep in. So Becca’s room was in Asha’s? “And the boys?”

“They have been moved to stay next
door.”

In other words, it was Not
Appropriate for them to sleep under the same roof as she did. Becca decided not
to bring up that she had camped out with them for nearly two weeks before
coming here. It was best to not trip into that dangerous ground. “I will be
glad to stay with you, Mistress Asha.”

They both looked relieved at this
response. “You are done for the day?” the Rikkana pressed.

“I am not,” she denied, trying not
to show any amusement at her impatience. “I have a storm to call. But after
that, I can go back.”

Asha and the Rikkana exchanged
looks and it was clear they were working out who would stay with her. Becca
didn’t even try to argue that she was fine by herself. Those words would fall
on deaf ears. “Ten, fifteen minutes. Tops.”

Since it was a short time, they
were more amiable, and the Rikkana indicated Asha could go back first. Then she
planted herself and made it absolutely clear that she was not leaving Becca’s
side.

That was fine as Becca wasn’t sure
she could find the house again in the dark anyway. To the boys, she said,
“They’ve apparently moved you two into the house next to the one we were in.”

They weren’t surprised by this
change—after all, they had just crashed it someone’s house; with the owners
back, of course they would have to move—and Trev’nor gave a flick of the hand
in acknowledgement before finishing up what he was doing.

Nolan and Trev’nor left, likely to
find dinner and bed, leaving Becca to work. She focused on the sky and
patiently called in the right wind currents, the right moisture, all
culminating in a storm that would give them steady rainfall through most of the
night. She wanted that reservoir as full as she could get it before leaving.
Having moisture on the ground for Trev’nor to work with in the morning wouldn’t
hurt either.

With her work done, she finally consented to go to bed,
which relieved the Rikkana. The woman must be dead tired running all over the
city all day. They barely got within sight of the door when Asha latched onto
her upper arm and pulled her inside. “Raya Becca, it is late,” she said in
reproving tones.

Becca bit back a sigh, or a groan, and went along. That was
another rule: a woman should not be out after sunset. “Asha, this place has too
many rules.”

“Good rules,” the older woman told her, still with that
frown on her face. “Protect you.”

“From what, exactly? You do remember that I can level this
city if I want to?”

“Protect your heart.”

And what in the world did that mean? Becca had no chance to
follow it up with another question as she was dragged into the house and
bombarded from both sides. “Whoa! Chanda, Bala, what?”

Both girls had visible hearts in their eyes as they looked
at her. The words nearly tripped out of Chanda’s mouth, she spoke so quickly. “We
heard. Raja Nolan is prince?”

“Trev’nor called him so,” Bala added, nearly vibrating in
place.

“Ah, yes. Nolan is Prince of Chahir.”

The girls let out high pitched squeals and bounced in a
tight circle, gripping each other’s hands and talking so quickly that Becca
barely caught one word in five.

Asha’s eyes were crossed. “Truly? A prince?”

“Only prince of Chahir,” Becca confirmed. Well, technically
his father was too. It was too much trouble to explain that and she let it go
with a shrug.

“Does not act like prince…” Asha trailed off uncertainly.

“No, he’s nice. Not arrogant.” Becca had to wonder what
their impression of princes were but if the government and warlord here had
been any indication, then they were not nice men. Certainly not the type to go
around healing people and talking with them. Seeing that Asha was worried about
this, she ducked her head enough to give the matron a smile. “Nolan came as
Life Mage. Not as prince. Treat him as mage. Yes?”

“But
is
a prince,” Asha responded, her sense of
propriety flaring to life.

Oh dear. Maybe Becca shouldn’t have said anything. “Is also
mage. He came to work as mage. Respect that.”

Asha visibly struggled but finally nodded reluctantly.

Seeing that she had a chance to break for freedom, Becca
took it and headed for the kitchen, finding that a plate had been made up for
her. After not eating most of the day, she was starving and ate it quickly up.
She had every intention of washing up afterwards until Asha elbowed her aside
and shooed her up the stairs. This was likely another etiquette thing but Becca
was too tired to ask and figure it out. Instead, she went up the stairs to her
second story bedroom.

The room was as she had left it. It barely had space for a
single bed, washstand, and a chest to put clothes into. She closed the door
behind her with a nudge of the hip before stripping down, then washing with the
tepid water from the washstand. Running around in a desert didn’t make a person
sweat, not really, but it did leave traces of sand on the skin that was
uncomfortable to sleep in.

Pulling on a loose slip, she crawled into bed, leaving the
covers pooled around her waist. The desert had extremes of hots and colds. It
was scorching hot during the day, very cold at night, but after sunset like
this was a middle ground to where it still retained some heat. She’d need the
covers later but not right at this moment.

Laying back, she pillowed her arms under her head and stared
sightlessly at the ceiling. Absolutely nothing about this trip had gone to
plan. First capture, then fighting to get free, and now having to convince
people that she hadn’t come in to conquer their city. Well, no, Sumi more or
less believed them. Really, if she had to pick an argument to win, it wasn’t
that one. Trying to convince them that magician didn’t automatically mean
‘slave’ had been a more than uphill battle. The people here seemed to think
that the three Chahirans were an exception to the rule because they were a
different type of magician. Mages weren’t slaves. Witches and wizards were.

It was like trying to argue that magic wasn’t evil in Chahir
all over again, it was so engrained in Khobunter’s culture. Becca felt like
screaming.

The only saving grace was that the people of Rurick did
understand this: they were not to try to enslave the magicians again. They
would have three very upset mages if they did and they wanted to avoid that at
all costs. Becca could live with that, for now. It did beg the question,
though, of what to do later? Obviously they couldn’t just charge into a city
and release the slaves and then go on their merry way expecting all to be fine.

Agitated, she flopped over to lie on her side, staring at
the wall instead. This might be a moot point, at least in the near future.
Trying to set up several magical academies here in Khobunter would be near
impossible. The Trasdee Evondit Orra would likely want to just relocate all of
the magicians from here and train them in Hain, or in Chahir, which would be
the more sensible approach. She envisioned Garth’s reaction when he had several
thousand students come into Strae and snorted laughter. Oh dear. He’d be torn
between elation and panic.

Honestly, none of these were really her problems to fix.
What she should do was go investigate the ruins, get answers, then report home
on what they had found here. After that, she would go back to searching for her
weather-tampering magician and free any slaves that crossed her path in the
process.
That
was her task.

Putting aside the questions she couldn’t solve, she closed
her eyes in a determined way. She had to get up early tomorrow to travel to the
ruins and it would be best to get a full night’s sleep. Trev’nor was a
notorious early bird.

As she slipped into sleep, one more errant thought floated
through her mind. She hoped, wistfully, that she would be able to meet up again
with everyone at the Academy after she returned home. She’d made friends with
them, these past two weeks. It would be fun to show them what being a respected
magician was like out in the rest of the world.