This is the sequel to the Assassin's Secretary. For those that haven't read that fanfic yet, it's best if you do. If you don't you may find this fanfic confusing. Scratch that, you I will find it confusing. I will give a summary of what happened if asked for it but really, I suck at summaries. Also, I will be making some revisions to the Assassin's Secretary when I have some free time (get rid of grammatical errors, that sort of thing). Enjoy? :P
Yelena POV:
This was possibly my living hell on earth. The confusion, the noise swirled around my like a relentless tornado, assaulting my senses with chaos.
"She's too old to be taught! Like people say, you can't teach a dog new tricks!" Roze Featherstone, the First Magician growled at Leif.
Leif had argued persistently with this mentor for the last 2 hours and seemed to have no signs of wanting to stop. If he was my brother, I would have a hell of a time trying to reason with him. Good thing he's not. "She has to be taught though, nevertheless. Even if you don't teach her any fancy tricks, you should at least teach her how to control her power! One of your duties as First Magician is to preserve the power source. With the magnitude of my sister's flame-out, the power source will be completely decimated, do you understand?"
I gritted my teeth. This was taking far too long. Why was I wasting time by doing this when I could have been with Valek? And why couldn't we get another person to teach me to control my so called power? It seemed that Roze and I definitely were not going to get along in the future and it would be best for us to stay apart to prevent any bloodshed. Because right now, I was very close to just whipping out my bow and tripping her pettily, First Magician or not.
But no, Leif had insisted as soon as we had reached the Citadel that we should go to his old mentor. According to him, Roze was the stuff of legend when it came to magic, and besides, who better to teach me than the First Magician herself?
Meanwhile, Roze had momentarily fallen silent and was now panting with either cold rage or frustration. "You're right, " she stated icily, her face hardening. "I know exactly what needs to be done."
Without another word, she closed her eyes. The pressure and feeling of magic filled the air, robbing the breath from my lungs. Gasping for air, I tried in vain to suck more oxygen inside, only to have it blocked by a forceful wall in my throat.
Trying to push it away, I tried to set my own magic against hers, like I had done to Mogkan. But I couldn't. Her magic was like nothing I had ever encountered before. It swarmed around me with force, pressing in my skin, creating a thick barrier. As sparks started to dance in front of my eyes, my scrambling fingers managed to reach my bow in my pack. Jabbing blindly, I hit a solid object and the blockage in my throat ceased momentarily.
Sucking in great gulps of air, I simultaeneously swiped at Roze with my bow to finish her off, but this time, she managed to dodge. By this time, Leif had her in a stranglehold and her face was turning red in fury.
"Release me instantly, or I will be forced to use my magic against you," she said emotionlessly.
"Give me your word that you won't harm my sister again."
"It's as you said! I am First Magician, therefore I will have to perform my duties. This girl is a threat to all of Sitia, especially to the magicians. If she destroys the power source, what defense will we have when Ixia decides to invade? There is a balance that must be maintained. They have the weapons and soldiers, we have the magic. Besides, she's probably also a spy for the Commander. Think about it Leif, killing her would be doing Sitia a service."
I gaped. Me. A spy? I began laughing. My first mission with Valek to General Brazell's manor had ended with me getting thrown in the dungeon during the first few hours I was there by the enemy. That would make the worse spy ever.
Leif let out a breath slowly through his clenched teeth. "Roze, give me your word now."
I raised my eyebrows at that and sat down on a nearby chair to watch the drama unfold. Obviously I had mistaken how self-deceiving that he could be. I mean, how far was he going to go with this?
Roze laughed scornfully, twisting to try to get out of his hold. "Or what? You'll set fire to my clothing?"She closed her eyes, concentrating, and I could feel the magic fill the air again.
Leif's lips flattened into a thin line and drops of sweat appeared on his forehead as he fought desperately to counter her attack. "Swear or I will inform Irys of your actions."
Despite Roze's bravado, I could see her face pale considerably. I guessed that the other Masters would never approve of killing a student without discussing the consequences and benefits of it first. The magic was immediately removed and she stiffened. Still, she forced out a short bark of laughter. "You really think that Irys, Bain and Zitora would believe your word over mine?"
"Obviously, since you're acting like you just commited a murder," I cut in. By the way that she flinched, I was almost convinced that that was what she had done. Who the hell was Roze Featherstone?
Shooting me a look of pure hatred, Roze jerked away from Leif. "She will always be dead to me, since that's what she should be. And I'm not going to go teach a corpse. Go find someone else to do it." And then, without glancing back, she floated through the arch of the doorway, her light blue skirt fluttering behind her.
"Great," Leif muttered. "Now what are we going to do?"
In the end, it was Fourth Magician, Irys Jewelrose, that agreed to mentor me. The remaining three Master Magicians had had a meeting to discuss what was to become of me. Zitora Cowan had only become Second Magician around a year ago, so she didn't have the experience or skill to take on a student yet. Bain Bloodgood was too busy doing research in his library on the benefits and dangers of a new drug called Curare to teach me anything. So it all came down to Irys, a tall woman with straight dark hair and eyes that matched mine.
Irys had told me to meet her tomorrow after breakfast in her tower at the Keep and to go to the stables to choose a horse for myself this afternoon.
"A horse?" I asked in confusion. Only the dignitaries and high ranking military officers in Ixia were permitted to ride horses. The rest of the soldiers had to travel by foot.
"While I know that most people don't ride in Ixia, as a student of the Keep, you will have to learn to ride. Once you are a trained magician, you will need to know how to get to places with people in need fast," Irys explained as she played with her feather quill.
"But...but..." I wasn't planning to become a magician! I was only going to stay in this forlorn, cold place until I gained control of my magic and then I would be able to join Valek again. I couldn't stop a small smile from flitting across my face as I thought about him.
The look on Irys's face stopped me from saying anything more. I didn't want to argue with her, who seemed like the only nice person in this place. Was Sitia always this hostile? No doubt it was due to the fact that people kept on accusing me of being a spy.
"We will talk about it later, yes?" Irys flashed me a warm smile as she opened the door and gestured for me to follow her. We came out of the building and onto the perfectly manicured gardens of the Keep, which were full of blooming, exotic plants that I had never seen before.
"I am happy to have a student of my own," Irys announced as we traipsed along the stone path. "You're my first, and I hope that you'll tell me if you think I'm being too harsh. I want to get this right."
"I'm your first student?" I asked. "I was under the impression that Master Magicians took more students than the other magicians that work at the Keep because, well, they're Masters."
"Oh no, Masters are frequently called to help the populace with the more serious problems so most of the time, we're gone on some mission or the other. Except for Zitora, of course, since she's young and inexperienced. We don't usually have the time to teach."
I tipped my head as I thought this over. "Why are you teaching me, then?"
Irys sighed. "I've known Roze for many years and we've worked together on a lot of missions. But I've never really gotten close to her. All I know is that sometimes she takes an intense dislike to some people and most of the time, there's no changing her mind. You seem to be the new object of her antagonism." Ha! That was an understatement. "You'll have to weather it out until she finds someone new to pick on. Meanwhile, you can come to me if you need anything."
By this time, we had reached what I supposed was the stables and after thanking Irys, I went inside. Creaking open the heavy wooden door, I breathed in the smell of straw and horses. Peering into the darkness, I looked for the Stable Master.
"Hello? Is anyone there?' I called out uncertainly.
A blond head appeared from the stall and gazed at me for a long time. "Hello," the man replied, staring at me.
I was confused. Why was he staring at me like some kind of candy? "Are you the Stable Master?" I asked.
The man emerged from the third stall, dusting the straw from his hair and clothes. Now that I could see him more clearly, I could ascertain that he was only one or two years older than me, with pale blue eyes. They were nowhere as blue as Valek's. The man smiled ruefully as he continued to swipe at some stubborn pieces of straw in his hair. "No, but I'm the closest thing you can get to that right now."
"Where is the Stable Master?" I asked tersely. I didn't want to just stand around the make small talk with a complete stranger, even if he seemed relatively friendly.
"Oh, come on, am I really such a bore?" The man strolled closer to me until he was only a two feet away. He flashed a grin. "Don't answer that."
I immediately stepped back, suspicious. What did he think that he was doing? "Thank you for your time, but I'm leaving," I said brusquely and I turned to go.
His hand clamped down on my wrist and I reflexively pulled out my bow, landing a solid blow on him with it. He managed to duck but had to let go of me. We stared at each other, and his eyes held a strange intensity that made me uncomfortable.
"I apologize," he finally said. "I just wanted to...er, show you some of the horses?"
I smiled rather stiffly and didn't bother responding. Obviously the man was insane and I had no intention of sticking around to witness anymore.
"Please," he said sheepishly as he looked away from me and ruffled his hair again. "Let me make it up to you."
My conscience forced me to follow him into the stable. He reminded me a little of Mek, who would always apologize immediately after we had a fight. Speaking of Mek, I wondered whether or not he had reached Sitia yet. The Commander and Mirela had promised to send him to Sitia after he finished identifying the orphans whose magic and souls that Mogkan had stolen. I just hoped that I would see him again one day and that he would be able to find his family successfully.
The stable was cramped and almost all the stalls were empty. The air had the smell of old straw and horses. "All the horses, except for the sick or elderly ones are outside grazing," the man explained after he saw my confused expression.
I turned to him. "I need to pick out a horse so I can learn to ride. Where should I go?"
"I'll bring you to the pasture right now," he said as he pushed open a back door to the stable. The bright sunshine contrasted drastically with the dim, musty stable and caused me to wince and cover my eyes with a hand.
When I got used to the brightness, I looked around in wonder. The hills were filled with free roaming horses of all sizes, colours and patterns. The man gestured to a closed off area to the left, telling me that those were the horses that were not yet claimed.
At his insistence, I climbed over the wooden gate and walked towards one of the four horses there. This horse had sable patches and the one thing that I had immediately noticed was the fact that she had blue eyes unlike any of the others. Eyes like a certain someone that I was also thinking of. Yes, I was definitely going to choose this horse.
"What's his...or her name?" I called out to the man, who was leaning on the fence and observing with interest.
"Never mind that, just choose another one," he said, frowning.
"Why?" I looked over the horse. There didn't seem to be anything wrong. The hooves weren't covered by horseshoes, but that could easily be remedied. The horse's colour was glossy and the mane was full and relatively tangle free.
"She's a walleye. Bad luck."
I scoffed. Bad luck because of eye colour? Shaking my head, I leaned in and let her sniff my hand. I then reached into my pocket and extracted an apple that I had had the foresight to bring. She chomped it down enthusiastically and leaned into me, nuzzling into my pockets to look for more treats. I took that as a yes.
I then led her to the man, who frowned in disapproval and looked like he was going to say something. Before he could, however, a student came running towards us.
"Cahil!" The boy who was running towards us was around 15 or 16 and panting with exertion. "I think there's something that's going to interest you! An Ixian spy is now in the Keep and she's supposed to come and choose out a horse today!"
Soo...what do you think?
Question:
Is it Irys or Iris? So confused.
