A/N: I love this story so far, although it might seem a little boring.
But how many books start out full of excitement? Don't even tell me a lot
of them!
And here we go… (With a difference right at the start)
Caryo's (Selenay's Companion) Point of View
I didn't like having to keep such a big secret from my Chosen, but I suppose none of the other Companions did either. It's not like we've never kept a secret from our Chosen, but this new thing wasn't just that; it was a lie.
Brio's Chosen Ishie was indeed important, but not quite essential to the downfall of the vicious Eastern Empire. She did have Mage talent, but it was not the most powerful ever discovered. I'd be surprised if she got past Master level.
The other comment of her Gifts, the Gift of Farseeing, was just thrown in. I had to force stupidity into my Chosen on that account, because every Gift of FarSight is undetectable. True, people have found ways to block it out, but it can never be detected. *
This girl Ishie was a burden off the Companions' backs. All of us. We were all worried when she was taken from our world, but now that she was back, our problems seemed behind us. The evil mage may have gotten away with her exile, but he had no way of keeping her from coming back.
Oh dear, these memories are so troubling. It is hard to know more of your Chosen's memories than your Chosen does, but here I face that very predicament! I had been forced to erase a very delicate memory from Selenay's mind so that she wouldn't fret. Imagine if she knew the rightful Heir had been missing for 17 years and that Elspeth was a second born child!
When Selenay was still training in the Collegium, she had a lover that had passed the border protections up at the time. It was unknown to most that he was a mage, but I knew. He planted his seed in her, and then left. It was a simple fertility spell that insured that a child was born from that act. But that had been at the very end of her training, and a month later she went on her year and a half internship. She gave birth to the baby, a beautiful, bubbly girl she named Charline. Her internee's memory was wiped clear of the event and the month that followed it.
Charline and Selenay spent two months together. But then the mage that had been Charline's birth father had other plans for his child. (He must have been watching the mother and child, but I have no way of truly knowing, because Mage-sight simply didn't exist then in Valdemar.) Charline's father took her away, and wanted her far, far away from Selenay, to weaken the Queen so he could conquer her land. He wasn't expecting me at all, so when Selenay didn't "remember" her first-born child, it was quite a shock for him.
But for some reason, despite the shock, the mage wanted to get Charline out of the reach of Selenay completely. He used his Mage-gift to find a Velgarth-like planet, and then sent her to live there for life. The Heir to the Throne of Valdemar lay forgotten, until now.
And to have Charline here was wonderful. But she called herself Ishie now, at 17 years old. Ishie Williams. Brio said that Charline had been called that in her old home, and didn't wish to lose it now. She had been born Charline, true, but Ishie seemed more appropriate when she met up with Miss. Anthropist and Pippi. Brio seemed humored by his Chosen's memory, and she wouldn't tell me anything else. But not that it really mattered. All that mattered was that she was here.
Brio's Point of View
That damned Caryo! Always nosing her way into my business, even before Charline (Ishie) got here. She seemed to think it was her obligation to know about her Chosen's child, but why such a minor detail as her name change should matter was beyond me.
And Caryo's thought about the burden being off our shoulders was laughable. In fact, I'd had a good snort after she voiced that opinion. We were in danger now that I had Chosen the Heir to the Throne, but I wouldn't get out of the danger for anything. Charline's love is too strong, and her mind too pure. **
I wished that she enjoyed Court dinner more, but she was completely lost. I gave her my knowledge of etiquette in my life as a Herald, and that helped, but I couldn't explain the food. She had been eating something we haven't even discovered yet in all her life; chemical ridden food. Although the fruits and vegetables her play-act parents fed her were fresh enough, it was nothing like now. The tastes and sensations proved overwhelming to my poor Ishie, and I couldn't help her.
When I figured out that I'd "honestly be no help," I decided to instead think of her lifebond. It was obvious to anyone who looked at the two walking together on their first meeting that it was true, and I was overjoyed. And Rob's Companion Tess couldn't agree more. This was an exciting event in a Companions' life, you see. And it was a rare event at that.
Of course I couldn't tell Ishie that. The very proof of discomfort in an unconfirmed but teased upon lifebond lay in Dirk and Talia. I couldn't allow such pain in to my Chosen's heart.
Lifebonds are splendid events. When I had been a Herald, I was lifebonded to a Healer by the name of Amee Laer. She was nothing like the new love of my life, Ishie, but I had been in deep love with that pretty thing. But I had died on a mission, and she lived on, because her duty as a Healer overpowered her love for me. It's not that it mattered much, after all, I was going to be a Companion after death, but it felt like a sting of rejection non-the-less.
Ishie presently got into bed, and fell asleep upon hitting the pillow. Then I felt safe to sleep as my Chosen, and I indulged in that safeness.
A/n: Here's some notes, incase you were wondering about those little stars.
* I'm not quite certain that that is true, but someone yelled at me for it, so I thought I'd make them happy.
** Pippi and Miss. Anthropist better not laugh at that! Charline COULD be pure of mind, after all…. (not likely, but it could happen!)
And here we go… (With a difference right at the start)
Caryo's (Selenay's Companion) Point of View
I didn't like having to keep such a big secret from my Chosen, but I suppose none of the other Companions did either. It's not like we've never kept a secret from our Chosen, but this new thing wasn't just that; it was a lie.
Brio's Chosen Ishie was indeed important, but not quite essential to the downfall of the vicious Eastern Empire. She did have Mage talent, but it was not the most powerful ever discovered. I'd be surprised if she got past Master level.
The other comment of her Gifts, the Gift of Farseeing, was just thrown in. I had to force stupidity into my Chosen on that account, because every Gift of FarSight is undetectable. True, people have found ways to block it out, but it can never be detected. *
This girl Ishie was a burden off the Companions' backs. All of us. We were all worried when she was taken from our world, but now that she was back, our problems seemed behind us. The evil mage may have gotten away with her exile, but he had no way of keeping her from coming back.
Oh dear, these memories are so troubling. It is hard to know more of your Chosen's memories than your Chosen does, but here I face that very predicament! I had been forced to erase a very delicate memory from Selenay's mind so that she wouldn't fret. Imagine if she knew the rightful Heir had been missing for 17 years and that Elspeth was a second born child!
When Selenay was still training in the Collegium, she had a lover that had passed the border protections up at the time. It was unknown to most that he was a mage, but I knew. He planted his seed in her, and then left. It was a simple fertility spell that insured that a child was born from that act. But that had been at the very end of her training, and a month later she went on her year and a half internship. She gave birth to the baby, a beautiful, bubbly girl she named Charline. Her internee's memory was wiped clear of the event and the month that followed it.
Charline and Selenay spent two months together. But then the mage that had been Charline's birth father had other plans for his child. (He must have been watching the mother and child, but I have no way of truly knowing, because Mage-sight simply didn't exist then in Valdemar.) Charline's father took her away, and wanted her far, far away from Selenay, to weaken the Queen so he could conquer her land. He wasn't expecting me at all, so when Selenay didn't "remember" her first-born child, it was quite a shock for him.
But for some reason, despite the shock, the mage wanted to get Charline out of the reach of Selenay completely. He used his Mage-gift to find a Velgarth-like planet, and then sent her to live there for life. The Heir to the Throne of Valdemar lay forgotten, until now.
And to have Charline here was wonderful. But she called herself Ishie now, at 17 years old. Ishie Williams. Brio said that Charline had been called that in her old home, and didn't wish to lose it now. She had been born Charline, true, but Ishie seemed more appropriate when she met up with Miss. Anthropist and Pippi. Brio seemed humored by his Chosen's memory, and she wouldn't tell me anything else. But not that it really mattered. All that mattered was that she was here.
Brio's Point of View
That damned Caryo! Always nosing her way into my business, even before Charline (Ishie) got here. She seemed to think it was her obligation to know about her Chosen's child, but why such a minor detail as her name change should matter was beyond me.
And Caryo's thought about the burden being off our shoulders was laughable. In fact, I'd had a good snort after she voiced that opinion. We were in danger now that I had Chosen the Heir to the Throne, but I wouldn't get out of the danger for anything. Charline's love is too strong, and her mind too pure. **
I wished that she enjoyed Court dinner more, but she was completely lost. I gave her my knowledge of etiquette in my life as a Herald, and that helped, but I couldn't explain the food. She had been eating something we haven't even discovered yet in all her life; chemical ridden food. Although the fruits and vegetables her play-act parents fed her were fresh enough, it was nothing like now. The tastes and sensations proved overwhelming to my poor Ishie, and I couldn't help her.
When I figured out that I'd "honestly be no help," I decided to instead think of her lifebond. It was obvious to anyone who looked at the two walking together on their first meeting that it was true, and I was overjoyed. And Rob's Companion Tess couldn't agree more. This was an exciting event in a Companions' life, you see. And it was a rare event at that.
Of course I couldn't tell Ishie that. The very proof of discomfort in an unconfirmed but teased upon lifebond lay in Dirk and Talia. I couldn't allow such pain in to my Chosen's heart.
Lifebonds are splendid events. When I had been a Herald, I was lifebonded to a Healer by the name of Amee Laer. She was nothing like the new love of my life, Ishie, but I had been in deep love with that pretty thing. But I had died on a mission, and she lived on, because her duty as a Healer overpowered her love for me. It's not that it mattered much, after all, I was going to be a Companion after death, but it felt like a sting of rejection non-the-less.
Ishie presently got into bed, and fell asleep upon hitting the pillow. Then I felt safe to sleep as my Chosen, and I indulged in that safeness.
A/n: Here's some notes, incase you were wondering about those little stars.
* I'm not quite certain that that is true, but someone yelled at me for it, so I thought I'd make them happy.
** Pippi and Miss. Anthropist better not laugh at that! Charline COULD be pure of mind, after all…. (not likely, but it could happen!)