This is going to get more exiting. Disclaimer. Yada yada. On we go.
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Chapter 5: Meeting and Battles
Jaunne stood over the opposing soldier, sword at his throat. The battle raged around her, the latest in her bloody war.
"Please…" he said. "I have a wife… kids. I only fight under his majesty's orders…"
Jaunne stuck her sword through his throat, cutting off his voice. They all say that, she told herself, they all have wives and kids… She went on to her next victim, blocking out her thoughts. I can't think that… This is war.
Then it was over. The enemy had retreated, and Jaunne was left, shaking, over another man she had killed. Tekkiake saw her, and went over to her.
"Jau, is something-"
Jaunne fainted.
***
Jaunne woke to someone placing a damp cloth on her forehead. She was inside, away from the stench of death. I did that, she thought, I did that to my bugs, I killed those men, my fault… She suppressed that, kept it down with a wall of hate. Hate for her mother, hate for her father. Hate for the Regent, the soldiers, and anyone who crossed her.
"I'm okay," she said, brushing the hand away and getting up. Some things are better to forget.
***
Tekkiake was worried. Jaunne wasn't being herself. In battle, she was becoming more and more ruthless, she took no hostages. Enemy men wounded on the battlefield were killed, even if it was something so minor as a broken arm, or simply unconscious. Jaunne blocked her out, only talked to her to give orders. She was swift. Brutal. Every day, more closed. But Tekk just shrugged it off after a while, maybe Jaunne was just busy. Anyone would be busy, commanding an army. And there were more important matters at hand.
A little boy, eight or so, had appeared at the steps of the Palace just a day ago, he looked so cute, so harmless, and the guards had let him in. The Cook met him, and instantly began to stuff him full of sweets.
"That's a little schnookums," she said.
Tekkiake saw him, walking down the hallway, and noticed him immediately. This boy had power- real power, and only barely trained. He had Wild Magic, but it was dull copper, somehow different. He also had the gift, he'd be a great warmage if he ever had the incentive to use it. Which he hadn't. Tekk, in full battle regalia, went up to the boy and asked him his name.
He looked her straight in the eye, and told her softly, "Arandiall."
Tekkiake saw something in his eyes, somehow he looked familiar… But she shook the feeling off. "I'm Tekkiake. I wanted to talk to you because you have magic, strong magic, and you need to be trained."
"I already know how to use it. I look at someone, I think what I want, and they turn into the People. If they're nice, sometimes I turn them back."
Tekkiake shivered. Sometimes? Good thing she could protect herself from this child. She had magic too, though she hated using it, it felt like she was cheating, or something.
"Who are your parents?" she asked.
"They abandoned me. I know who they are. I might tell you sometime." He said it in an offhand kind of way that bothered her.
They had been walking while talking, and by now they were in the common room. Tekkiake sat on a couch, lifting her wings up a bit and then putting them down so they went behind it. She patted a spot on the couch beside her. "Sit down. What's your name, and what can you do already?"
"Arandiall. I can turn people into animals, anything I like, or make them think they are an animal. I can turn them back, but I can't change myself."
Tekk thought. Wild Magic that applied to other people? It was possible. But how on earth did he get such magic, and the Gift? His parents must have been strong mages. Suddenly a thought went through her that made her blood run cold.
She clutched his arm. "Arandiall, was your mother a wildmage, a strong one?"
His brow furrowed. "Wildmage?"
"Someone who is good with animals, who can turn into them and talk to them, and heal them."
Aran thought a bit. "Ma could do all that, I remember. Sometimes I would play with her People friends."
Tekkiake turned even paler. "What was her name, Aran, I need to know."
"I remember she never wanted me to call her ma. She said it made her feel old. Nor Veralidaine, she said she never liked her full name-"
Tekk dropped his arm and ran out of the room, steel feathers scraping the doorframe.
***
"Jaunne," said Tekkiake, gasping for breath. "Daine- if she died, it was no more than three years ago. A boy, eight, said he could just remember his mother- named Veralidaine."
Jaunne dropped her wineglass and it shattered on the floor. "Holy shit- do you know what this means? She's still out there, and still the slut she ever was."
Tekkiake nodded grimly. "Yes, only this time her taste's changed. She's hooked up with a human this time. I bet he takes after his father. Tall, dark eyes-"
"- black hair?" Jaunne finished. Tekk nodded again. "That would be her lover. She killed him, brought him back to life ten years later so they were closer to the same age. Nuts. Before that, he was about fourteen years older than she was. They call him Numair Samalin, a great mage, he is. Used to be Arram Draper, was wanted by wazzizname- Ozorne, for escaping and going to Tortall. He's been wanted for nearly twenty years."
"No wonder," said Tekk. "Arandiall- the boy- has the potential to be a great warmage. He says his parents left him in an orphanage when he was five."
There was a look of disgust on Jaunne's face. "Just like her- like getting tired of a new toy. Bitch."
"I wonder, though, is he telling the truth?" Tekkiake pondered. "Is he just a spy for them, trying to get their hooks into us? I wonder... Better ask Rowan." The two women left and walked briskly out the door.
***
"Well, it's possible. He probably is her kid, you can see the resemblance." Jaunne, Tekkiake, Rowan, and Farrah were gathered together in a room, talking about the Latest calamity. Rowan was speaking. "Mother never had much of an attention span, and I think he's telling the truth."
Through talking about their pasts, they had realized that Daine was Rowan's mother as well. "I think we should tell him about her- hey we could start a club." Rowan grinned. "Daine's Children: The Wildmages. Exclusive membership."
Jaunne snorted. "Rowan, you have too much of a sense of humor for your own good."
"Excuse me for trying to lighten up the party. Anyways, as I was saying, he also needs to be trained. He seems like the type who uses his magic as he sees fit- whether or not it's at others' cost."
Heads nodded, that made sense. They came to an agreement, and Arandiall seemed to be eager to learn. Jaunne included him in their conversations of conquest, and their endless search for Veralidaine Sarrasri.
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Waddaya think? I am going to add some romance in, I think, it always spices up a story. Just so you know: That's it. Daine doesn't have any more kids. Just Jaunne, Tekkiake, Rowan, and Arandiall. What's the deal with Farrah? Well, that's where the romance comes in… R/R!