Respect began to build in her. She knew that for a mage to call this much heat in the middle of a storm-tossed ocean would take lots of power. The clash of the elements alone should have prevented the woman from doing all but the most basic tasks with her fire element.
Ciardis looked down at her hands, curious to see if the waves of heat were visible in the cold, miserable, gray morning. She couldn’t quite contain a gasp of astonishment, which she quickly turned into a cough into her fisted right hand.
Ciardis watched in fascination as the heat emanated off the woman’s skin and flowed with perfect control into her own body which welcomed it. Looking closely at the woman’s magic, Ciardis traced the magic to the core. It was as bright as a sun, even on such a dreary and rainy day.
Snapping out of her reverie, Ciardis remembered that the woman had come over to question who she was. Although it felt more like an issue of confirmation than a query.
“Yes, and you are?”
“Linda Firelancer,” the woman said in a low voice that barely echoed over the crash of waves on the ship.
There was nothing in the woman’s tone that said she bore Ciardis any ill will or why she’d walked over. But that name was enough to still Ciardis and bring back flashing memories of the night Damias had died at the hands of the Princess Heir – hell bent on killing Ciardis and those with her for interfering in the inheritance rights.
As she stared at the woman before her, chestnut hair falling in waves and gentle hands still capturing Ciardis’s own, she didn’t quite know what to think of the sparks that blazed in Linda’s eyes. Was it the spark of retribution or the sign of a fiery soul? In her mind’s eye Ciardis could still see the woman’s magic rippling across her hands in an intricate dance. The same heat could turn into a fiery inferno and incinerate Ciardis into a pile of ash, if she had been so inclined.
She hadn’t, although Ciardis wasn’t so sure she would have made the same decision, had she been in the woman’s place. The silence stretched with a grim tension that could not be overlooked.
Ciardis bit her lip anxiously as she searched the eyes of the woman whose husband she had watched die.
Finally she said, “I’m sorry for your loss. I sent flowers... Damias was a wonderful man and instructor.”
“Thank you, I loved him with all my heart.” Careful and considerate.
“I hope you know that I did everything in my power to help him. We were ambushed and neither of us could have anticipated how the night would unfold.”
“I wish I had been there. Princess Heir Marissa would not have survived the night,” Linda said with a coldness that made Ciardis think that she might have ice rather than fire running through her veins.
“Yes,” said Ciardis, “I...would have wished that, too. I wanted to greet you at the funeral, but...”
“I wasn’t there,” said Linda with a small shake of her head. “I was still on the emperor’s assignment when I heard the news. I have made my peace in my own way—honoring his life at the shrines along the road.”
Ciardis nodded in understanding as Linda stepped away.
“It was good to meet you, Ciardis. I wanted to give you my greetings personally and extend an invitation to converse further about what we had and still have in common, but for now you should join the Prince Heir,” Linda said as she turned to take her place with the honor guard.
Ciardis nodded as another streak of lightning cracked overhead and the ship swayed in the ocean. As she turned toward Sebastian, she caught a glimpse of the Weather Mage frantically whispering to himself and pouring magic from his hands out into the surrounding ocean. The ship soon stopped swaying and the man visibly wiped his brow in relief.
Walking toward Sebastian, Ciardis noted with gratitude that not only was she warm, but her clothes were also perfectly dry. Tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, she glanced over at the Fire Mage in appreciation.
Then she took her place near Sebastian’s side: to his right and two steps behind, as protocol demanded.
The honor guard, generals, and other courtiers arrayed themselves around them, and behind all of those on the dry deck the Imperial soldiers stood at attention in the rain. Ciardis frowned in dismay. She might not be as close to Sebastian as she once had been, but at least she could get him to listen to her.
Keeping her voice low, but loud enough to reach Sebastian’s ear, she said, “Why can’t the Weather Mage extend the bubble just a little? It’s pouring rain and the lightning is worsening. The soldiers are getting soaked and must be freezing.”
Sebastian stared straight ahead at the turbulent sea, the deck only moving slightly under their feet. Another effect from the Weather Mage no doubt, she mused.
“And their armor will rust!” she added in an attempt to show a practical reason for her concern.
“Their armor is weather and heat resistant. They’ll be fine; as new officers, they need to prove themselves to their leaders,” Sebastian said. He didn’t turn his green eyes on her but she imagined they were hard and distant as they watched the water churn in the dark storm outside.
“Oh, yeah, standing in the pouring rain is a great way to prove your worth.”
“It shows discipline and fortitude.”
“It shows mindless sheep and a leader who doesn’t care for the comfort of his troops,” Ciardis retorted.
“Enough,” came a baritone voice from the Prince Heir’s left. Ciardis cringed but continued to stare straight ahead. She wasn’t yet ready to give up on this topic, but neither was she willing to argue with the second-in-command of the Imperial forces.
From the corner of her eye she saw a small tic in Sebastian’s right eye. Good, he’s irritated, she thought. He should be!
For the moment she watched the harsh play of wind and rain as it struck the wind barrier encasing their little group. She smoothed her pursed mouth into a more acceptable smile and awaited their guest with composure.
It wouldn’t be long now.
Chapter 2
Out of the distant sky a roar sounded. It was the kind of roar that heralded trouble and made Ciardis itch for a decent crossbow. Over the last two months she had been expanding her Defense tutorials to include archery, practice with a staff as well as a glaive, and the all-important fan. She’d been taking archery lessons with the Weapons Initiates of the Imperial Guard. She knew the guard as a whole regarded her fumbling attempts to load the arrows into the crossbow with amusement. Most of the men there had been knocking arrows and hunting game since they were children. The fact that her arrow wobbled and struck dirt more often than it hit a target didn’t help, either. But her aim was getting better every day.
But regardless of her clumsiness, knocking the arrow, and getting off a shot, even she couldn’t possibly miss a target this large. With a roar like that, it had to be as big as the ship. A sea monster, maybe? But no, the sound had come from up above. And of course if she so much as twitched out of step, she’d never hear the end of it from Sebastian and the Companions’ Guild leadership. Protocol was everything to them.
Her heart beat fast as she strained her eyes to pierce the clouds in the sky. It was an overcast day, and it was hard to see anything farther than ten feet in front of the ship with such a heavy rain. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something, a glint or glimmer on the eastern starboard. She kept looking out of the corner of her right eye. She really wanted to just stuff the protocol and turn to the right, but damned if she did it before anyone else did.