HALTED Chapter 9
After they left the merchant and his son by the roadside; they rode in silence again.
He was sitting in front again, letting Bingha maintain her own, rolling gait. They were in no hurry now to return to Highever; it was hardly midday yet. The sun was burning down on them; the last fragments of summer humming in the air.
Though they were moving so slowly, Elissa's arms were wrapped tight around his waist. She obviously had some thinking to do, and he was satisfied to just enjoy the occasional squeeze of her arms – though he couldn't feel her as well as he would have liked.. Maybe he should have worn his leather armour after all...
"Duncan?"
"Yes, pretty Lady?" Another delightful squeeze from behind, accompanied by a pleased sound.
"Do you think it would be too soon to stop for lunch?"
His stomach immediately answered that, rather loudly – Elissa grinned and said "I guess not, so lets find a good spot – if we turn right at the crossing, we can sit overlooking Lake Mnomaha."
"Sounds good to, lets do that."
They had a delicious lunch on a hill overlooking the lake, but they still didn't talk much. She sat on the ground, arms resting on her knees and took a heavy sigh. He sat down next to her as close as he could, but resolved not to interrupt or disturb her thoughts.
She looked out over the lake, then closed her eyes for a moment and began.
"You've probably already guessed, that I don't have a very.. natural attitude towards magic, or more precisely: mages and the tower?"
He nodded "Yes, I've gathered as much."
When he didn't say anymore, she sighed and turned her eyes at the lake again.
"Well, in the view of the things you've told me, I can safely tell you why, I think."
Another brief pause. Then:
"I'm a mage!"
He must have made a disbelieving sound, as she quickly continued:
"No, not really a mage – but no apostate either. I'm not really trained or anything, I.. can just do a little magic, thats all."
She then sent him the saddest eyes, and despite his resolve not to disturb, those eyes made him want to comfort her right away.
"But Elissa, that's - " her soft fingers on his mouth stopped him.
"No – don't say anything yet, I would like to tell you.. how it all happened."
"Yes please, I'd like you to" he then had to settle for.
"It first showed, when I was twelve, and I was.. well, terrified of course. Nan had always told me plenty of scary stories involving mages and their.. their awful magic.
But what really frightened me I think, was that it didn't feel wrong at all when I used it the first time.
You see, Droolya was just a little puppie at the time, and we were playing in the garden, Fergus too..We had been pulling up buckets of water for a dam Fergus was trying to build – when somehow Droolya fell into the well.
It was deep, I could scarcely see her down there in the dark, and Fergus went running for father - mother was away visiting some friends at the time.. I just stood screaming down that well, and I was wishing.. wishing that I could get her up somehow.
Oh, I tried throwing down the bucket; hoping she might climb into that – but all I did was making it worse. The bucket hit her, you see, I could have killed her – and she started going down, her little paws were paddling frantically in the water and scratching at the stone walls, trying to get a hold.. But she went down again and again, and suddenly she stopped coming up...
And then.. then I just closed my eyes and stretched my arms as far as I could down the well.. and I pulled! And I had the most sensational, tingling feeling all over my body – but mostly in my hands, it felt so powerful, and foreign, and yet.. it felt very familiar too, like it was something that was meant to be, something enevitable and natural, like when I touch.."
She suddenly glanced up at him, her expression strange – ashamed or scared? Duncan wondered. Then she turned her eyes to her feet, and he didn't dare to ask.
"At last I opened my eyes, and I already knew that Droolya was saved – and there she was, hanging in the air a few feet below my tingling hands, looking up at me."
She made an imitation of a joyful little laugh.
"Oh, she looked so miserable, I can't tell you! And I actually started laughing at her because of the look she had in her little puppyface.. and for a splitsecond I feared that the pull would disappear, but it didn't at all – if anything it just got stronger, and I pulled her right up into my arms.
And then I sat down with her, my back up the well.. and that strange force or power just seeped right out of me again, leaving just a little tingle behind, faint bells in the air.
Droolya started to lick my face, and I was still laughing.. and she licked the tears off my face – I was crying too, out of joy and fear both. I guess.. I was just being hysterical, right?"
She looked to him for confirmation, but he cupped her cheek in his hand and said
"Not at all."
She nodded, seemingly content with that answer.
"Well, it didn't really feel like hysteria – but father certainly seemed to think it was.. When at last he and Fergus came out, I blurted out the whole story to them. Father went pale as a sheet, and Fergus looked like he wanted to throw up. I.. well, the way they reacted really scared me, so I just closed my eyes and began screaming really loud.
And then.. and then father scooped me up in his arms, and started running inside with me – yelling at Fergus to 'hold the dog, hold the dog'! Droolya was howling along with me - poor Fergus, he really got a fright! And while father ran with with me, he kept saying 'oh pup, oh pup'...
Of course I knew it was his pet name for me, always had been - but somehow I connected it with little Droolya. And I began to think that she had drowned in that well, that I'd never really saved her at all.
And then I started screaming even louder, this time for my doggie; though I couldn't speak her name for some reason, it just poured out of me in inarticulate howls. Of course father didn't know, he just heard the screaming, and it must have scared him witless...
He put me into bed, as if I was sick.. and the way he treated me, I was beginning to think so too.
I lay in my bed for days, and only Nan and father tended to me. I slept a lot, I guess I had a fever - and every time I woke, I started screaming for Droolya again, but still not able to use words."
She thought for a while, staring into the air.
"Then mother came home, and of course she didn't understand anything – I'm pretty sure father never told her about my.. magic. Not then, not later. How he managed to keep it all from her.. I have no idea.
Well, as it turned out, it was quite lucky he didn't tell her - in a strange sort of way. You see, mother simply concluded I was upset about Droolya, and finally brought her to me.
And that was all it took; everything back to normal. I was up and running about in no time, happy as ever!"
She glanced up at him, and though he remained silent, she must have caught the glint of doubt in his eyes. She sighed and said:
"No, of course I wasn't, not quite. For one thing, I couldn't let go of Droolya – every time they tried to put her in the kennel or lock her up for the night, I started screaming right off.. ha, lots of screaming that spring!"
He just stroke her cheek and smiled softly at her sad attempt at lightening the story up.
"Well, of course they quickly gave in to that kind of terror, and Droolya was with me at all times from then on."
She took his hand and gravely said "today is the first time we've been apart for a whole day – oh, don't look that way, you had no idea of knowing. I reckon its about time we learn to be apart. Besides, she could never have run this far, and I did so want to go with you!"
His heart skipped a beat, but all he said was "I'm so very glad you did."
"Oh, so am I – and very happy to finally tell someone.. no, tell you about this whole thing. Now, where was I?
...That first year after it happened... I grew very quiet and jumpy, and though I talked the whole thing over with father several times later, none of us mentioned it for a whole year. Father let me start learning rogue skills, and I.. endulged myself in training, but it was constantly on my mind...
If it hadn't been for Fergus, I might still have thought it was all a dream..either that, or I would have become.. well, mentally unstable."
Duncan squeezed her hand tight.
"But Fergus - bless him - kept wanting to know what really happened that day, and his persistence.. Maker, sometime he was about to drive me mad with all those questions!.. but in the end, it forced me to really remember the pull, and when I finally told him all about it, he went straight to father and demanded he did something – and he didn't talk about turning me in to the tower!"
Duncan asked "how old was your brother then?"
"Oh, he must have been 15 or 16.."
"I understand now why you're so fond of him" he said admiringly.
She beamed at him "Yes, wasn't he magnificent?! Oh,and it's not that father was weak, not at all as it turned out. He was just scared to loose me.. When Fergus forced him to act, he took us both to his study."
She made a faint smile at him "and not to tell us to behave, or force promises from us – not this time!"
Duncan couldn't help but feel somewhat embarrassed, though he smiled back at her. The image of the ranting teyrn was still very vivid in his mind. He couldn't quite believe it happened only yesterday.
AN: Yes, I know, not fair to cut the chapter here – but Elissa obviously has to get so much off her chest! Next chapter is almost ready, and will be up in less than a day though, I promise!
I can't manage to thank every reader, favorizer, storyalerter etc – but all of you should know: I'm SO grateful!
My way of thanking my wonderful reviewers will still be to use their nick (or part of it) as names for various things in the story along the way – so review, and I'll do my best to use all names. Is that a kind of blackmail to get reviews?.. Oh well, so be it!
Nicks mentioned so far: Erynnar(sweet buns), Bingham Vance(Bingha the horse), Chellybaby(Fergus' horse), Mapachita(a breed of rabbit), mnomaha(lake in this chapter).
