A/N: Here's the next chapter (sorry for the wait!!), from Numair's Pov, as promised. It's kind of random, but I hope you'll enjoy it!
Thank you to Blackheart Feather, Amaya130, Starling Rising, Ace Ryn Knight and Lawis Justice for reviewing the last chapter!!
Chapter 2: Lupa the Wolf and the Welcome Ball
"We were right. This girl does have wild magic, and more powerful than we've ever seen before, more powerful than we'd dared to hope." My father stood behind his mahogany desk, hands clasped behind his back, wearing a look of extreme satisfaction. "With training there will be no limit to what she will be able to do. We must be grateful that she accepted our marriage proposal. This child will bring her fantastic gift into our family and she will pass it on to her children so it may live on in the family. And combined with your gift no one will be able to deny the power of the Salmalíns." I clenched my jaw to keep from saying anything stupid. If only he could hear how ridiculously power hungry he sounded.
"I can't see any common girl turning down a chance to become a noble," I said bitterly. "Father, please, I'm already in love—," He silenced me with a hard look.
"You mean that Kingsford woman? Numair, you must think about the family. She would do us no good." He turned away from me, clearly signaling that there was nothing more to be discussed on that topic, but I wasn't done.
"Father, Varice has the gift, and she's a noble, unlike this northern commoner. I hear she's a bastard at that. Varice has money. Wouldn't that bring some good to the family?" My father turned towards me again, his face turning an interesting shade of puce beneath his light tan, and I knew I had gone too far. I could almost hear him counting to ten while he drew deep breaths and calmed himself.
"You of all people should know what wild magic can do for the family, Numair, just as you should know better than anyone else that her being a commoner changes nothing." I ground my teeth together hard; he had me there. The Salmalíns had take me in when I had been no more than a university student from Tyra. "Now, you should go get dressed for the welcome ball. I know how long you take to get ready, and I want you to look your best when you meet your fiancé." I recognized my dismissal and obediently left the room.
She was pretty, no doubt about it, but she wasn't Varice either, I thought, looking her over discreetly. A few strands of her smoky brown hair had escaped the tight bun that bound the rest of her fiery mane, and framed her face. Her pale blue silk dress hugged her slight figure nicely and brought out the sapphire in her large, long lashed eyes. The vulnerability that her full mouth showed was defied by her stubborn chin and the callouses on the small, pale hand I held in my own.
"It's an honour, Veralidaine." I said, bowing over our interlaced fingers and brushing my lips lightly over her knuckles. A slight blush touched her cheeks, but her gaze remained stubbornly locked with mine. She was definitely different from any woman I had ever courted, I decided, though I didn't know if that was good or bad. Her only response was a tight lipped smile and a bobbed curtsy.
We both took our seats at the head of the table, waiting for the evening meal to start. My father rose, looking grand in his red mage robe, not unlike the black one I wore my self. The small gathering hushed and waited for him to start what I was sure would be a long speech.
"First off, I would like to welcome Veralidaine to our family and thank her for making the long journey from Galla so she could join us here tonight." He smiled at the girl from across the long table, and her cheeks flushed pink. "I would also like to take this time to wish my son Numair and his beautiful fiancé a long, love filled marriage. I am sure both of them, and there future children of course, will bring much pride to the Salmalín family." He raised his glass, and we all toasted. The speech had been unusually short for my father, but perhaps it was because he had noticed Veralidaine's embarrassment, for it was hard not to notice. She blushed a colour very close to scarlet when he mentioned future children, though I wondered if perhaps that was from anger rather than embarrassment, for she seemed no more pleased about our engagement than I was.
My father clapped his hands and immediately the slaves emerged, bringing dishes of food and placing them on the table.
I cleared throat, trying to break the tension that had settled over the family. Veralidaine was still staring at her plate, her shoulders trembling softly and the look on her face filled with rage.
"Are you all right?" I asked softly. She raised her head and glared at me. The phrase 'if looks could kill' ran though my head.
"You keep slaves." It wasn't a question, but I still nodded.
"Most people do," I said. That was a bad choice of words, I realized too late. She looked away from me, her hands gripping the edge of her chair so hard her knuckles went white.
"That is--," she paused to take a few deep breaths. "Sick." I chose not to respond. I hadn't like the practice much either when I had first come to Carthak, but in time I had grown used to it, even dependent on it.
Veralidaine had started hyperventilating slightly, so I decided it was time to talk about something else.
"Would you care for duck?" I asked, pacing her a platter. She speared a piece of the meat and started eating it quickly, not bothering to cut bite size pieces off it, but instead ripping chunks off with her teeth.
"Hungry?" I asked, not sure whether to be disgusted or amused. She glared at me again, though more in annoyance than anger this time, and I couldn't help but crack a grin. I started nibbling at my own food.
"How much do you know about wild magic?" I asked, changing topic.
"About what?" She frowned.
"Wild magic. The magic that connects you to animals," I explained.
She put down her food and glared at me. Again. "I don't. Have. Magic," she said slowly as if I wouldn't be able to understand if she spoke any faster. "I have knack with animals, is all. I don't know why everyone thinks I have magic, but you were mistaken, believe me, I've been tested, so why don't you just send me back home." Her voice grew steadily louder with each word, and by the time she was done the whole room was staring at her. She blushed, but met their stares with her own angry glares until everyone had gone back to their previous conversations, or at least were politely pretending to.
"But you do have magic. It would take a skilled mage to see it, but it's there."
She glared at me, but didn't argue. I stared back at her, refusing to back down on this one, until she glanced down at her plate of half eaten food. Neither of us said another word throughout the rest of the meal.
When everyone had eaten their share the tables were pushed aside and the music started, soft and beautiful. I nearly groaned.
"Would you care to dance?" I asked, trying not to look too grim. Dancing was about the last thing I felt like doing, especially with this girl, but I knew well what was expected of me. She, however, looked away, her face growing redder yet and muttered something to quietly for me to catch.
"I beg you pardon?"
She glared at me. "I can't dance."
I started at her for a moment. "You can't dance?" I repeated.
"I was never taught," she said though clenched teeth. I nodded slowly. She really was a country girl.
"It's not hard. It's all in the leading," I assured her. "I'm sure I can teach you." I placed my right hand gently around her slim waist. "Put your left hand on my shoulder," I instructed, then extended my left arm and took her free hand, my grip feather light. "Now just follow me." She obeyed, and we waltz easily across the room. Her movements were surprisingly graceful and she didn't step on my feet once, like I'd expected her to.
"See? Not so hard, hmm?" I said. She smiled up at me, the first real smile she'd yet offered, and I was struck by the change. She looked so alive, the way her eyes were lit up by a soft spark of happiness and her cheeks held a warm, rosy colour, not from embarrassment but pleasure.
Then she looked down to correct her feet and the moment was lost, her smile faded, replaced by an emotionless mask. I sighed, resigned.
As the song ended she disentangled herself from my arms, stepping away from me quickly, and I was slightly stung by her rejection.
"My feet hurt," she said, by way of explanation. I nodded.
"Will you join me for a walk in the garden?" I asked, offering my arm. For a moment I thought she would refuse, but then she nodded, though she ignored my arm. I led the way across the dance floor, towards the glass double doors at the back of the room that led to the garden. We walked along a trail that led between the rose bushes, stopping every now and then to smell a flower, until we reached a bench that overlooked a small pond.
She sat down and rested her head against the back of the bench, looking exhausted. It was, after all, only her first day here, I reminded my self as I took a seat beside her.
"How do you like Carthak, Veralidaine?" I asked politely.
"Daine. Just Daine. Veralidaine's a fair mouthful."
"Very well. Daine then. How do you like Carthak?" I repeated.
She sighed and closed her eyes. "It's nice. Very hot," she said, then, after a pause, added, "Hot and clammy. I'm sticky with sweat, and this dress is giving me a hard time; I can barely breath, it's so tight. And you keep slaves. That's disgusting. Especially the mutes that picked me up at the docks. Disgusting. But other than that it's all very nice." She had kept her eyes closed the whole time she spoke, but now she cracked a lid, to see my reaction to her rant, I thought. I wasn't sure whether to be offended or amused. After struggling with myself for a few seconds I let a grin form on my lips.
"That's an... interesting way of viewing things," I commented. She sighed and closed her eyes again. An awkward silence descended upon us, though Daine didn't seem to notice. She remained motionless, eyes closed while I fidgeted nervously with the collar of my robe.
"Say something," she demanded after a moment. So she had noticed. I chuckled.
"What do you want me to say?"
"Anything."
"Well," I thought for a moment, tilting my head back to look at the heavens. The sun had set and the clear, dark sky offered a brilliant display of the stars. "Have you ever heard the story of Lupa the Wolf?" I asked. When she shook her head I went on. "See that constellation--."
"That what?" she interrupted.
"Constellation. Group of stars that form an... image." I created an identical copy of the of the twelve stars in my black gift, and connecting the dots to form an image that her untrained eye wouldn't have to struggle to locate. "That's Lupa the Wolf--."
"That's a wolf? Looks more like a bunch of lines and dots to me."
I ignored her and went on. "Lupa was a young she-wolf that lived in the forests of Scanra. One day when she was hunting she saw two deer antlers. She decided that a deer would make a perfect meal, so she attack it. But it wasn't a deer; it was Weiryn, the god of hunt, whom she had confused with a deer because of the antlers he has on his--."
"That's fair ridiculous," Daine interrupted again. "A wolf would be able to smell the difference between a deer and a god. Beside, wolves hunt in packs, not alone, unless they're outcasts, and one lone wolf could never bring down a deer on its own."
"Do you want to hear the story or not?" I demanded. I took her silence as a yes and continued. "So Lupa attacked Weiryn, which he wasn't too happy about. He threw her off him and killed her for her disrespect. But the wolf god Old White and his mate Night Black were angry at Weiryn for killing Lupa, and that led to a fight between them. So the wolf gods brought their case to the Court if Mithros and Mithros agreed that Weiryn would have to do something in turn for the wolves. So Weiryn threw the body of Lupa into the heavens were it became a constellation so that Lupa would always be remembered," I concluded. "Of course, there are different version of the story. Some say that Weiryn made Lupa a constellation as a warning to other young wolves not to attack him another time, but I personally think that the first version is more entertaining. I doubt there's much truth in it though, for, as you said, Lupa would have been able to smell the difference between a god and a deer. But it is an ancient Scanran myth that I find fascinating. The constellation of Lupa it self can be hard to see because it has no outstandingly bright stars, especially here in Carthak. I would assume it's easier to see in Scanra, as it is a Scanran myth. In fact, most people here haven't even heard of Weiryn, as he is a minor god that mostly appears over Scanra, Galla and northeastern Tortall. But you're from Galla," I remembered. "Have you ever heard of him?" I turned to look at her when she didn't answer. Her head lolled a little towards me and her breath was deep and calm, her eyes still closed.
Sighing, I rose to my feet. It wasn't the first time my scholarly interests had put someone to sleep. Not wanting to wake her, I gathered her carefully into my arms and carried her past the ball room, that was still crowded with waltzing couples, using one of the many back doors to reach the room I knew to be hers. I lowered her slim frame to the massive bed, took of her delicate shoes and placed a thin blanket over her.
"Goodnight Daine," I whispered, then silently let myself out of her room and closed the door behind me.
A/N: Lupa the Wolf is a creation of my imagination, but her constellation is based on Lupus, which is a real constellation. An image of it can be found on my page.
The next chapter shouldn't take too long for me to get up as long as you review!