Summer is good…very good.
Sunrunner of Summer-Lol, I'm flattered. Sorry, but I was in Connecticut. I handwrote the chapter there though.
Chibi Chingo-First of all, thank you. I greatly appreciate your review, because it's really helpful in telling me where I have room to improve. The whole time thing…was awkward. Several things just had to happen the way they did for certain things to work. I don't, however, think that her presence as a knight was a problem. Unlike Alanna, Ileana doesn't expose herself as a girl. Gerry simply fades quietly into the background, except as a useful alias. So for all intents and purposes, Alanna is the first lady knight in however many years. Anyway, Ileana had to get trained, as well as meet a lot of people. The Prince-yes, he is out of character, and I realize that. I should have specified that at the very beginning, but I'm trying not to make it too outrageous. Some of the little things do need correcting, yes, but keep in mind that for most of the writing I'm not using the books. The 'is he a good kisser' thing-remember, when Alanna regained consciousness after the Tusaine War, she and Jonathan kiss, and Faithful tells them that Myles is coming. Go back to ITHOTG-it's in there somewhere. Yes, it does sometimes come across that Ileana is a Mary Sue of sorts, but I'm working on that.
Wildmage-*hands Wildmage cookie* Here you go. The whole romance thing…I'm going to. I thought I had already, sort of, but I'm going to more, later.
Bubblegum*girl-No, they will not end up together. *shudders at the thought* Thanks!
Shinigami Clara-The reason he was unfazed is because he's seen a great deal in his time as the Voice. As opposed to receiving all he did at the time of his initiation as Voice-see TWWRLAM-learning the identity of one single woman shouldn't be that big a deal. Thanks for the recommendations!
The Grand Mage
By dragonlady
Chapter Twenty-eight-Ceremonies
In the afternoon of the day that she healed Ali Mukhtab, Ileana spent more time with Kara and Kourrem. Since Alanna was busy, Ileana had interacted with her friend's apprentices as well as the shamans of the other tribes a great deal. Kara and Kourrem were giving a demonstration of their magic to some of the shamans as well as Jonathan, the Voice of the Tribes, Farda, and Halef Seif by the well. Alanna and Myles walked up to the group just as Kourrem brought one of Kara's wind funnels to the ground using thread magic.
"They must be initiated soon," a shaman called Umar Komm told Alanna, with Ileana, Jonathan and Myles listening attentively. "They know as much as any shaman."
Alanna protested, saying that her apprentices, or "chicks," were too young, and Umar Komm offered to come and look in on them as his duties permitted. "I can oversee the school of shamans while the young ones tend to the needs of the tribes," he said.
"I suppose I feel as if I would be deserting my post," Alanna said, and the shaman assured her otherwise.
"It is an honor that you have stayed this long, and no one believes that you will remain among us forever. You will always be welcome to return-all of you," the shaman added, his gaze taking in Ileana, Jonathan and Myles.
With that, Alanna had no choice but to agree to the initiation of her apprentices, and the date of the rite was set to the next full moon, in five days. Umar Komm then drew her aside, and the two of them began to talk in low voices. Myles gave Ileana a questioning look.
"Will you stop that?" she asked, exasperated. "It's not as if I know every little detail of what everyone says just from a few books."
I thought you knew
everything, Grand Mage, Faithful meowed innocently. Ileana glared, and Myles chuckled."Well?" Jonathan demanded impatiently. "What are they saying?"
"Be patient, my prince," Ileana said. "They're talking about Ali Mukhtab, and how his health is failing. They're also commenting on how Alanna's never communed with the Voice, and why. Excuse me." Not giving the men a chance to say anything more, Ileana returned to her tent, taking out the book she had brought back from her home-for even after so many years, she still thought of her planet as home.
*reading from book*
Umar Komm smiled. "…You are afraid you will lose yourself if you join with another-even if you join only in love, as with your Northern Prince…The lords from the north both love you, each in his own way. It would be a fine thing for our people if the Woman Who Rides Like a Man were to wed the Voice of the Tribes."
"And if I don't?" Alanna asked steadily.
His face was surprised. "Why, then you are still the Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and he is still the Voice."
*end of reading*
Ileana sighed, closing the book. There was no way she could tell that to Jonathan without him taking it the wrong way. In any case, she didn't want him to know. Alanna's life was Alanna's business, and that was that. Ileana put the book away and emerged from the tent, going to talk to Farda. Alanna had said that the Bazhir knew of some interesting healing herbs, and Ileana was just as much a healer as the Lioness.
Supper that night was fairly normal, tinged with excitement about the upcoming initiation of two new shamans. The villagers were greatly interested, seeing as Kara and Kourrem would be their only magic protection against the mages that many raiding groups had. Ileana loved suppers with the Bloody Hawk. There was always storytelling and singing, and she absorbed bits and pieces of the exotic culture with enthusiasm.
Later in the evening, Ileana saw Alanna exit with Halef Seif. Why-oh, of course. The adoption ceremony. Jonathan saw her looking.
What is it?
he Sent.You'll see,
Ileana replied.Tell me!
No.
Jonathan looked frustrated and annoyed, and Ileana managed to keep herself from laughing. But it was very satisfying to annoy her Prince, especially when he was acting cocky or self-centered.
Sure enough, after Alanna and Halef Seif returned, the headman went to the center of the circle. "Tonight the northerner called Myles of Olau, the friend of the Bazhir, desires to take Alanna of the Bloody Hawk into his tent as his daughter and heir. By our law, seven men must witness this rite. Who will witness?"
There were murmurs of surprise, and almost every man in the circle volunteered. Halef Seif picked Jonathan, Ali Mukhtab, Coram, Umar Komm-
"Halef Seif," Alanna interrupted, sounding a bit tentative, "I would like my apprentices to witness."
"And I would like to, as well," Ileana put in.
There were more exclamations of surprise, because Bazhir women were not legally permitted to witness in ceremonies of this kind. However, the apprentices were urged forward, and Ileana also rose to stand with the rest of the witnesses.
The murmurs ceased, and the headman went back to heating his knife by the fire. Alanna and Myles both held out their arms, which Halef Seif cut with the knife and then pressed together. Their intermingled blood dropped to the sand as the Bazhir uttered the ancient words of the adoption ritual.
Alanna grimaced as she was cut, the full importance of what was happening not striking her yet. But when it hit that she now had a father, a father who actually cared about her, tears fell down her face as she and Myles embraced, the surrounding tribe exploding with whoops and cheers.
Ileana, clapping with the rest, quietly left as the feast began. She went to sit on a nearby hill overlooking the desert, a slight breeze stirring her hair. Ileana was happy for Alanna, and for Myles, but she couldn't help remembering her own father. She wondered what he was doing now, or if he even remembered her, but after a while just let go and let the memories wash over her. Ileana knew she would be missed, and so after about a quarter hour returned to the feast, putting on a happy exterior with an ease that was the benefit of years of practice. She didn't notice that Jonathan was watching her as she rejoined the festivities.
Ileana left the celebration at the earliest possible moment, slipping away unnoticed. She returned to her tent and lay down on her bedroll, staring at the ceiling. Lost in thought and feeling sorry for herself, Ileana didn't even notice when she drifted off to sleep.
She was back on Earth, her family disappearing right before her eyes as Uusoae laughed hysterically. Tears falling unheeded down her face, Ileana reached out a hand helplessly as the Goddess sadly watched from a corner of the room.
"No!" she screamed, horrified. "No, no, please no-"
"Ileana. Ileana!" Someone was shaking her. "Ileana, wake up, it's just a dream-"
With a gasp, Ileana sat bolt upright, shaking like a leaf. She put her head on her knees, trying to calm down and failing miserably. Images of her family kept circling through her head, and try as she might, she couldn't seem to stop trembling.
Hands came down on her shoulders and pressed gently, and Ileana heard the sound of someone sitting down behind her. "Are you all right?" a voice asked softly.
"Yes…" The shaking finally stopped, and Ileana twisted and looked up-into a pair of amazingly close blue eyes. Jonathan's eyes. "Jon?" she asked, stunned, though she knew that it couldn't possibly have been anyone else. "How-how did you-"
He moved around so that they were facing each other. "I was coming back from-I mean, I was walking past the tent, and I heard you scream."
"Oh," Ileana said. Though the Prince's tone had been normal, she could tell from his eyes that he was still worried. Worried about her. She also knew that it had been Alanna's tent that he had been coming back from.
"What were you dreaming about?" he asked. Ileana looked down, and Jonathan reached out and tilted her head up so he could look into her eyes. "Tell me."
"My family," she replied shortly.
"It still hurts, doesn't it?" He looked as if he was seeing a whole new side of her.
"All the time," Ileana said, and tore her eyes away from his. The emotions she felt-caused by the Prince as well as the dream-threatened to overwhelm her, and she cast desperately in her mind for a way to change the subject. "How are things going with Alanna?" she asked, pushing the dream temporarily from her mind.
"Perfectly well, thank you." His tone of voice indicated that he knew exactly what Ileana had been trying to do. "Though our dear Lioness continues to be annoyingly reluctant to give me a definite 'yes'," Jonathan responded, a touch of arrogance returning to his voice where it had not been earlier in the conservation.
"What makes you think she'll accept?" Ileana countered, looking up and allowing some of her annoyance to show.
"Don't be silly. Of course she will. I'm sure the only reason she hasn't already is because of how busy we've all been lately, especially what with her and Myles." Ileana looked away again, the images she had been trying to block returning with full force. " Jonathan winced. "I'm sorry. That was tactless of me."
"No, it's all right," Ileana said, grimacing. "Maybe you should go before you have to endure more of my self-pity."
"Never that." There was an odd note in Jonathan's voice, and Ileana began to look up-then stopped.
Jonathan, already only inches away, was leaning toward her. Suddenly unable to breathe, Ileana remained still as he gently kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, Ileana," he said and quietly exited. Ileana lay back down and closed her eyes, but did not sleep for quite some time.
The day of the full moon-the day that Kara and Kourrem would be initiated as shamans-Alanna paid Ileana an early morning call. Very early. In fact, the sun had not yet risen.
"To what do I owe this honor?" Ileana asked, smiling and yawning.
"Why didn't you tell me that the crystal sword was made by Duke Roger?" Alanna demanded, shoving inside her friend's tent.
Ileana blinked. "It completely slipped my mind," she responded truthfully, cursing herself for forgetting.
"Oh," Alanna said, mollified. "Sorry."
"How did you find out?" Ileana wanted to know.
"Jonathan told me," Alanna replied. "He said he asked Myles."
"I really must look at Roger's papers sometime in the very near future." Ileana looked at her friend thoughtfully. "This whole thing really bothers you, doesn't it." It wasn't a question.
"Yes. " Alanna sighed. "I know he's dead, but it's always seemed like things aren't finished yet." She looked at her friend. "Does that make any sense?"
Ileana was trying to think of something to say when there was a cough just outside the tent. Both women turned as Umar Komm put his head around the flap.
"Your pardon, Highness," said the shaman, "but Alanna, the sun rises in a candlemark, and if I am not mistaken, you need to escort your chicks to the place where they will keep their vigil."
"Mithros!" Alanna yelped and hastily followed Umar Komm out of the tent. Chuckling, Ileana went back to sleep.
The rite of initiation that night was everything Ileana had imagined and more. First, Umar Komm read the list of the gods honored by the Bazhir. Then Kara and Kourrem had to go through three magical obstacles before Alanna and her fellow shaman declared the two former apprentices members of the Brotherhood of Shamans. There was an otherworldly air pervading the entire ceremony, and Ileana went to bed that night with a profound sense of awe.
Since she turned her duties over to Kara and Kourrem after they were initiated, Alanna was able to spend almost all of the next fifteen days keeping Ali Mukhtab alive, refusing Ileana's repeated offers of help. Jonathan was also extremely busy during that time, working harder than Ileana had ever seen him work before. But then, she couldn't begin to imagine how much one needed to know to become the Voice of the Tribes, especially for one who was not of the Bazhir in the first place. The "attitude" of the Prince's that both Ileana and Alanna despised, however, continued to manifest itself when the Heir was not in lessons. He only lost his composure in public once, though, in a whispered argument with Alanna. Ileana was very grateful that she was not a witness to that discussion, though she was a part of its aftermath.
After the lesson was over, Jonathan stormed out of Ali Mukhtab's tent, looking for someone to vent his anger to. Ileana, unfortunately, happened to be walking by at the time. "How dare she?" the Prince raged, walking over to her. "How dare she say I'm spoiled? She hasn't been having lessons every hour of the day and night."
"Undoubtedly she feels that you need to make some sacrifices," Ileana said guardedly.
"Are you siding with her?" the Prince demanded hotly.
Ileana met his glare with a calm-and infuriating, she knew-gaze. "I'm not siding with anyone. Excuse me." With that, she went on her way. Ileana did not want to get caught in a struggle between the Prince and the Lioness, though she knew that if she had to take sides she would support Alanna. Whatever her feelings for Jonathan were, she had to admit that his attitude drastically needed improving.
So the days passed, until the day of Jonathan's rite of passage was upon them. As Ileana watched the hilltop where the Prince and Ali Mukhtab were, she was almost as nervous as she had been for either of her own Ordeals. Attitude or no attitude, Jonathan was one of Ileana's best friends-and perhaps more. That thought, however, was shoved out of her head as the ceremony began.
Ali Mukhtab was chanting, his voice stronger than it had been for days. The language was ancient, a remnant of days gone by. Ileana could feel the force of the power that filled the air, and made a mental note to ask the Voice-whoever he was-to teach her the incantation someday.
Suddenly the chanting stopped, and Ali Mukhtab lowered his previously raised arms. After asking Jonathan why he should be permitted to take on the role of the Voice of the Tribes and receiving an answer, there was a long silence. This made the following thunderclap all the more satisfying. The Voice and Jonathan then laid open long gashes in their right forearms, Faithful racing up the hill to prevent Mukhtab from dying of blood loss. Both men reached across the fire that was in between then to clasp the other's wounded arm.
"Two as One." This was Ali Mukhtab, and Jonathan repeated the words after him. Ileana felt the amount of power in the air and shivered.
"Two as One, and Many." There was a whining note in Ali Mukhtab's voice.
"Two as One, and Many." The fire roared above the men on the hilltop, turning a blinding shade of white. Ileana's teeth began to chatter in reaction to the sheer immensity of the resulting magic. Umar Komm was forcibly holding Alanna back.
"One, as Many!"
"One, as Many!" There was silence for a moment, and then-
There was a crash of sound, and Ileana reeled from the force of the power unleashed. Thousands of voices pealed their jubilation, and then all was silent. The residual magic oozed from the air as Ileana and the others raced up to the top of the hill.
Both men had fallen to the ground. Ali Mukhtab was dead, as Ileana had known he would be.
Prince Jonathan of Conté, however, sat up and declared (if rather weakly), "I am the Voice of the Tribes."
And he was.
Wow, that was fun to write. Sorry about the delay-this chapter was only partly written before I went to Connecticut-where I had no access to a computer. I handwrote the rest, however, and think that the writing is much better for it. Can anyone see what I am leading up to in the short term? By the way, I've decided that Daine is not going to show up in this story, but she will in a sequel (which there will be). As I've written this story following the events of the SOTL quartet, the sequel will follow the Immortals. I might write a short story in between the two time periods. So Daine will make an appearance in the sequel, along with Anjeyla's daughter Anjali-a great name, which also happens to be mine. But no promises-all of this is subject to change. As always, review! Please.
