--/Review Thank you'd/--
Genevieve: Wow, you reviewed all of me stories, well all of the short ones. Any who, I'm so happy that you like everything I've written, even the creepy angst fic I wrote, still not quite sure why I wrote that...Anyways, keep reviewing.
Sarai-IceElf: lol, interesting is good rite????
Lyz: I'm updating, don't go nutzo. Actually, nutzo is a sign of brilliance...
Lauren: I'm updating, but you already read this, since you betaed it. I just got your e-mail tonite! I dun no whats wrong with me computer! It's evil at me! :( Anywho, thankee kindly.
ladyknight: yeah, I did finish, I don't much like the ending, but the other ending I have is too much like YoQ soo...I dunno, I'll think of something, eventually.
Lady Rhian: I e-mailed you about the beta thing, I don't know if you got it or not as my e-mail was down for the past few weeks, if you get my e-mail leave it in a review and I'll send you chappie 6 cause I did send you chapter five but as you see my friend got bribed into checking this one :)
Thank you to all of me readers/reviewers! You make my day! Now, go forth and read!
--Chapter 5/Magic--
Boss slammed into the room where Naiya had been sleeping lightly, with Coven behind him. She sat up, angered that he had disturbed her nap and because she'd been stuffed into a dress. Even Lady Alanna hadn't been wearing a dress. He glared at nothing in particular and started ranting.
Coven walked over to Naiya as he began his rant.
"He ripped my bloody boat apart! All I've got left is the shell!" he yelled and then began a long line of profanities before starting them over again in a different order.
"Who?" She asked making sure the big man wasn't going to throw anything.
"Dreg." Coven whispered. She shuddered. Dreg radiated a feeling of disgust. "He took out all of the wood on the inside, even some on the outside. Boss'll have to start all over." He said. She sighed; it took money to replace the inside of a boat. "Dreg got the boot though. He's gone for good."
At that moment Lady Alanna walked in with a rather tall man behind her with midnight black hair and a medium sized woman behind him with curly brown hair.
Naiya gulped, she knew who this was, Numair Saliman, the famed black robe mage. He turned people into trees; he could split the earth and enclose people in it. She did not want to make him mad. She could feel the waves of awed fear coming off of Coven. The two slid closer to each other, needing the others support to remain standing. The man fixed his black eyes on them.
"Naiya, Coven, this is Numair Saliman and Diane Sassari." Coven blinked.
"They haven't gotten married yet?" He asked surprised, Naiya stepped on his foot.
"What?" He whispered.
"That was rude." She whispered back, the two heard laughter and looked up to see the wild mage and Numair laughing. Alanna and George soon joined them.
"What?" Coven asked, Naiya groaned. The group just laughed harder. Diane looked highly amused and Numair slightly abashed.
"Numair thinks I'm to young." She said smirking at Numair who blushed but held his head high.
"Humph, you're almost thirty woman, girls get married around thirteen. It's just you nobles who think a girls gotta know how to write letters and scream properly." Coven said. Naiya laughed, this, from a fifteen-year-old boy. Of all things. "Just ask her you bloody idiot, she's goanna get more offers if ya don't." He said. "So what's this about magic?" He asked, switching the subject rather well.
"Oh, well, as soon as Numair here recovers he's going to see if he knows what kind of magic you have." The two looked at each other and then at the mage who had recovered his composure and was leaning against the stone wall.
He muttered a few words and then looked at them. He blinked and looked at Alanna. "What did you say there names were?" Alanna looked at him surprised.
"Naiya and Coven. Why?"
"Water nymph-She who walks on water. And Coven-water god. Anything strike you as odd?" He said. Alanna face was blank; Boss was sitting in the corner drinking some alcoholic thing one of the servants had gotten him. But Diane looked like she had hit upon something.
"They are clues to what powers they have! Coven, who are your parents?" She said excitedly.
"Ah, I dunno. The old captain bought me till I was eighteen. At some auction in Atilon. Why?" He said. Naiya patted his arm encouragingly. He smiled at her, telling her he had dealt with that a long time ago.
"And Naiya, who are your parents?" She asked.
"I don't know. I was found when I was two or three in Port leggan, that's why I came back. What does this have to do with us though?" She asked confused.
"It's in your name." Numair said. "Water god, water nymph. She who walks on water. You must have some kind of heritage from the water people. But they died out a long time ago." He said. Alanna piped up.
"The two families, in the history books. New Found Waters and Gods Pool." She said. "But they were slaughtered in the Great War. Over a hundred years ago." She said surprised Numair would even suggest something like that.
"Yes, but do you remember the supposed 'powers' the had over the waters? We have two descendants of those families here." He said.
"What kind of powers?" Naiya asked suspiciously.
"They moved oceans around countries. Created storms, tidal waves. They defended the southern borders. One of the teenage girls, right before the war, was supposedly rescuing drowning sailors, it was rumored she could walk on water." He said, adding that bit at the end to prove his point.
"So how do you prove your theory Numair?" Alanna asked tiredly, they had been at this all afternoon.
"Like this." He said stepping behind Naiya. "I want you to close your eyes and breath to my count of seven. Relax. One," He said slowly. "Two." Naiya picked up on the breathing count. She opened her eyes. Blue mist surrounded her, thinner in some places and thicker in others. She held out her hand and grabbed a fistful of it. Numair pulled back and the blue vanished. She turned to look at him surprised.
"How'd you do that?" She asked. He shrugged.
"It's magic, you can teach yourself how to see it, I just used a spell to show you." He said before stepping behind Coven and doing the same thing. When the two stepped out of the trance it was drizzling slightly. Numair looked at Coven.
"Your magic has more to do with weather, tides and such. Naiya has more of her magic in herself. She pulls strength from the water and then bids it do what she wishes. Both will take time to control, and all I will be able to do is supervise." He said, frowning slightly.
--/--
Boss had been sent home around nine and now they were trying to figure out where the two would stay. Numair thought they should be by water and he thought the royal university would be good except it wasn't by a large body of water. The best place seemed by the ocean but the two were afraid they might start a storm and they would wreck the villages. Numair finally decided to contact the king. He threw something in the fire. It flared black and then a man with graying black hair and sapphire blue eyes appeared.
"Yes?" He said.
"Hey, I need to know were you would like me to put two water mages." He said simply.
"Two water mages? I thought they had all died out."
"I thought so to, but I have two of them with me." He said.
"There was a castle they used to train them in. I think it's built into the cliffs, two hours south of Pirates swoop I'll wager." He said. "I don't know where exactly. Have Diane look for it first and then she can lead you there." He said. Numair nodded and cut the link. Naiya was amazed. Would she be able to do that with water?
--/--
The next morning Naiya woke up thinking last night was a dream. Then she rolled over and didn't hit the floor. She looked around the room; she was in the same huge, overly decorated room she'd been out in late last night. On a trunk at the bottom of her bed lay a pair of gray breeches and a loose blue shirt. She grinned and quickly pulled them on, leaving her nightgown on the floor as a sign of distaste.
She walked out into the hallway. Coven was standing there.
"Do'ye know where we're supposed to be?" He asked, yawning as he tried to speak.
"I was hoping you would." Naiya said sleepily.
"Lets wander then," he said. So they did. It must have been an hour before a servant found them.
"This way dears, they're having lunch." The woman said as she shooed them into the same library they had been in last night. A curtain was set up in the corner and as they sat down a dove flew in the room through an open window and landed behind the curtain.
"That would be Diane." Alanna said. A few seconds later Diane stepped out from behind the curtain tucking her shirt in.
"I found it, but it's only accessible from the water." She said buttering a roll. "Otherwise it's about twenty miles south.'' she said.
"Good." Numair said. "Will we need furniture?" he asked.
"No, just food and clothing." She said with a smirk. He blushed and looked away. What's going on between those two? Her brain asked.
"Then we'll leave after lunch. Can we borrow a boat Alanna?" He asked, Alanna glared.
"I'm coming too you dolt." She said.
"And if she goes I have to go to make sure she doesn't kill you." George said, Naiya was beginning to like this George fellow, he wasn't of noble blood and he had a sense of humor.
"Fine, fine, fine. Then lets go. We'll have to come back for food and clothing later." He said. Naiya and Coven grabbed a bunch of rolls and followed the adults out to the dock. They waved at Boss and his crew as they left and headed south.
Numair had them meditate on their way to this cove where they were to study. Naiya sank into the meditation fast and began playing with the magic about her. She formed it to fit around her for easy access. She looked at Coven, his magic was inside of him, a great tangled mess. She smiled as he tried to untangle himself. He looked up at her and waved, Naiya waved back. It was weird; she hadn't thought he could see her. Numair shook them and they pulled out of the meditation.
"There." He said pointing to a cliff face. Naiya didn't see it at first but then she blinked and it was there. Magically hidden, cool.
They slowly pulled their rather small boat through some rocks and then they hit a large slab of smooth rock.
Naiya and Coven tied the boat to the wall using handles carved into the rock.
Then they climbed a large flight of spiral stairs that led them to a room with a large window looking out to the ocean. Rock walls surrounded the place where they had tied the boat, the oceans waves crashed against that rock barrier, leaving the boat protected. It had all been planned out very well.
The room itself was decorated with white and pale blue chairs. The walls were covered in a large tapestry of a stormy sky. Maps were strewn across a large desk. A table sat in the middle, papers about the tides set on it. Naiya looked around in wonder. She could feel the water magic around her. Coven seemed to be fascinated by the papers on the tides. Numair beckoned for them to keep moving. They exited out into a hallway.
The hallway took them to a large kitchen. Cupboards and pantry's covered two of the walls. An icebox stood next to a fire pit and a tub stood with two nozzles on one end. Naiya opened one of the pantry's just to see how large it was and it was full of food. Potatoes, rice, wheat, and flour were on the top shelf. Fruit was on the next shelf. She was amazed at all of the food. She turned around and Coven was opening the icebox, it was full of frozen meat, surrounded by crushed ice. She looked at Numair amazed.
"Enchanted kitchens, I'm impressed."
"I don't understand." Naiya said.
"They enchanted the kitchens so that if someone with water magic needed to live here they would have everything they needed. I'll bet that there are enchanted wardrobes too. I'd like to see the spells they used." He said.
Leaving through the only other door in the kitchen they entered a huge library. Inside the library was a window showing the cove they had entered through.
"But on the other side of that window it's a hallway." Coven protested. "We walked through it." He said looking at Numair for some explanation. Numair grinned.
"They enchanted the mirrors to show the cove," he said. "The only entry way." He said shaking his head. "It's brilliant." He said awe struck. Naiya shook her head and looked at one of the bookshelves. They had books on every possible thing; there were shelves of authors she'd never heard of. She opened a door.
It was a bedroom, decorated in sea blue. A sofa was set directly in front of her, a light green, with a mahogany table in front of it. A gigantic bed was to her left with green drapes that would close around the bed. A bookshelf covered an entire wall. A green vanity tale with a large mirror was set up against the north wall
To her left was another door. Walking through it Naiya saw the largest bathtub she'd ever imagined. She could do laps in it if she wanted to. A privy was set up in the corner with green drapes to go around it. A closet was in the opposite corner. Opening it she saw rows of clothes. Pulling a dress off the hanger she saw it was her size. Shaking her head she exited the room.
Upon re-entry of the library she saw another door was open.
"Is that Coven's room?" Naiya asked.
Numair nodded.
"I'm going to set up a transportation spell in one of the empty pantries. That way Diane and I can go back and forth between here and our home without using a boat."
"Okay." Naiya said. "I'll tell Coven." She said. Numair nodded and left the library. She walked into his room.
It was decorated in a soft dark blue. The color of the deepest depths of the ocean. Naiya liked the color, but she loved the crystal clear blue that only comes over a sandbar, or when you're nearing land much better. She saw two doors, one she guessed led to his bathroom but she didn't know about the other. Opening it she saw Coven opening a door directly opposite of her.
"There's another library!" He said excitedly. "It's bigger than the first." He said. "Come see," he said dragging her across the hall. He was right the library was big. He pushed back some curtains and they were standing on a balcony suspended over the small entry cove.
"It's beautiful." Naiya whispered. Coven nodded.
"So what do you think about all of this?" He asked after a few minutes.
"I don't know. I came back here to find my family, and I find that I'm part of this supposedly dead family. It's a little odd. And then they implied we might be the plan of some gods to reintroduce his family line. I just don't know." She said softly. "What do you think?" She asked, looking up at him. He's taller than me. Some odd part of her brain observed.
"I dunno, I guess that having this almost non existent form of magic's okay. But the whole god-born thing I'm not to sure about. If we were part of a couple of gods plans wouldn't they have told us?" he sighed. "It's just too weird too fast." he finished.
"Thats kind of what I thought too." She said. "Well I'm going to go try out my bed." Naiya said looking at Covens zoned out expression. It bothered him to talk about his parents, she realized. Thats what's bothering him? "Hey," she said softly. "Don't brood about it."
"Brood about what?"
"Your parents." She said, and he blinked.
"How could you tell?" He asked, a little unnerved that she figured him out so easily.
"I just can." She said. Waiting for a response and getting none she wrapped her arms around him. Soaking in all of his uneasiness and sharing some of her peace. He turned around and returned her hug.
"Thank you." He said.
"No problem." After leaving she went back to her room. Sitting in front of her vanity desk she began to try and untangle her hair. She hadn't brushed it since the storm. She was picking out pebbles and coral pieces, seaweed and other disgusting stuff. She frowned.
"When was the last time you had a proper bath?" Naiya jumped and looked at her brush. This thing talked and had an accent. It lengthened and punctuated its vowels.
"I haven't ever had a bath." She said.
"What? Pretty thing like you ain't ever had a bath? Disgusting. You go on and get in that there tub. I don't want to see you for an hour. I want you squeaky clean when you get out." It said to her. Naiya nodded and she scurried to the bathroom.
She ran hot water into the tub and searched the cupboards for some soap.
"You don' want to use that on your hair!" The dresser said in a high girls voice.
"Does everything talk?" She asked exasperated.
"Pretty much." It said giggling.
"Great. What should I use for my hair?" She asked.
"There are two bottles, hair soap and hair conditioner. Use those." It said. She nodded and found the two bottles.
"Thank you." She said before slipping into the bath. It was nice, no; it was more than nice it was wonderful. It was like floating in a warm ocean. She thought it was brilliant. She massaged the shampoo into her hair and rinsed it out. Then she combed the conditioner through her hair with her fingers until all of the knots were gone. She rinsed that out of her hair and went to the mirror for inspection.
"Much better. Now pick up the comb and run it through your hair, starting at the ends." It said, and she did. Working out more knots as she did. Her hair dried during this rather long process, and when she was done the mirror told her to go to bed.
Sliding into the large bed she pulled the multi color bed sheets over her still warm body. The bed was soft and fluffy yet still firm enough she wasn't sinking down into it. 'Wonder what it's made of.' She murmured. 'Feathers' was the drowsy reply. Nodding, Naiya fell into sleep.