I didn't think of Elspeth and Darkwind; it was only when I got to Kerowyn that I thought of reincarnations, just so you know. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Here is the next chapter. I don't know how many more there will be but I think several.
Despite their rational handling of the situation with Greg and Anna, now that they were no longer busy, Kary and Mike went into shock over the events of the last hour or two. The Mindspeech between the two was just babble since they wouldn't have been able to hear each other out loud at their speed anyway. Finally Emily and Stephen resorted to a mental slap to snap them out of it. It didn't really hurt, but they were able to think rationally again. Being so young themselves, they were not entirely certain how well they would be able to guide the newly Chosen. Kary was particularly nervous since she had already missed all of the morning classes of the day. Emily was able to reassure her, though, and Mike helped by showing her exactly what had happened at each class. She found to her extreme relief that she already knew all the things they had been quizzed on.
:So what is the schedule tomorrow exactly? Of course we will also have to guide Greg and Anna, so fit that in.:
:Okay, we wake up with the bell at seven thirty as I'm sure you know. Breakfast is at eight, and they give you a half-hour. After all their years of teaching, they know most teens don't actually wake up that early in the morning, no matter how well the body negotiates through the steps of getting up.:
:We should have that down by now!: Emily interrupted.
Karolyn laughed at her tone, and Mike said, :If I may continue? We are almost there by now you know. Okay, so afterward is a half-hour of homeroom during which the presumptive Heralds, Bards, and Healers are split up, with an extra for those who don't know where they fit in yet. Those who have been hear from last year or before (and I got this from my guide after I was Chosen) will start demonstrating to their teachers at this time to show what they remember. That is for the first week or so until we settle into the schedule. After that, everyone will be divided into classes according to ability.: By that time they were dismounting and hurrying toward the building that was looming ahead of them. :Sunday is the rest day for catching up on homework and relaxing.:
They entered the dining hall together and made there way to the table at which Jacy was sitting. "So there you two are! Where have you been all afternoon?" Kary blushed but caught everyone at the table up on the events of the afternoon while Mike got plates for both of them. She became somewhat distracted in her line of events as she spoke out loud while telling him what she wanted and how much but she managed. She finished up by saying she needed to take some food to Greg and Anna. Jacy was thoughtful for a moment but volunteered to go with her. Kary hesitated but agreed. Mike immediately said Stephen would carry Jacy if she would take off the Companion's tack and groom him afterward. Jacy was surprised that a Companion would carry someone alone other than his Chosen but knowing Mike could talk to Stephen, she didn't make an issue of it.
The two girls finished their supper and then headed to the kitchen to collect food for the newly Chosen. When they told the cook their purpose, she made up two baskets, one for supper and one for breakfast.. All the way back to where the sister and brother were spending the night, Jacy teased Kary about how much time she had spent with Mike. She did not get cruel in her speech, however, because she older sister had told her stories of how that could lower the couple's self-esteem and cause lasting problems. Karolyn took the teasing in good part while wondering at how quickly she had become friends with a boy. Despite knowing of the lifebond, she had not learned much about it and was uncertain as to the nature of the bond. She decided that when she got a chance, she would look for information in the library Jacy had shown her the previous day. To mount the Companions, they had had to take turns holding both baskets so they did the same getting down.
Kary knocked on the door and Anna opened it. The older girls brought the baskets in and pointed out which was which. Kary had left before they had gotten settled in earlier and Jacy had never seen it period so they looked around with interest. There wasn't much in the way of furniture, which added to the floor space for large groups or if Companions had to stay inside with their Chosen because of bad weather.
Kary began asking how they were getting along, but at that moment Jacy caught sight of Greg, who was still looking through the various cupboards and stores. He seemed to have felt eyes on him because his head snapped around to meet Jacy's eyes. They stared at each other for a very long moment until Kary noticed the scene and began to grin before slapping her friend on the back and asking if she was ready to go. (A/N I obviously stole that from Arrow's Fall) Jacy jumped a mile as she was startled out of her trance. She smiled sheepishly and turned to leave without having said a word. She had mounted Stephen before she realized that she wasn't even sure of the boy's name.
Kary believed she had just witnessed a lifebonding but she decided not to say anything yet. Instead she asked Emily, who had been watching the events unfold through her Chosen's eyes. :Am I right? Do you think it was a lifebond?: Emily immediately affirmed the guess. Kary decided to respect her friend's silence and asked Michael what he was doing.
:Oh, I'm just waiting for you to get back so we can begin our lesson with Sharon.:
:Well, we are almost to the stable so you will just have to wait until we've groomed our friends here and cleaned their tack unless you want to get in trouble.: She hurried through the chores and parted from Jacy, explaining she had something she needed to do. She met Mike outside of Sharon's room and hesitantly knocked on the door.
:Come in! And after tonight's lesson, you will know how to mentally knock at the mind of anyone with trained Mindspeech.: The two teenagers entered the room and she continued out loud. "Now that both of you are here, we will start with the basics. The first thing is to ground and center." She demonstrated for them and was somewhat surprised at how quickly they caught on. "Now you need to learn shielding. Some people have started with that but it usually ended up with trouble later because the ground and center gives you a base for the shield that makes it stable. Now ground and center and then build a wall out of it like this.: She allowed them to feel her shield. "Okay, so do it for yourselves."
As soon as their shields were up, they realized that they had been hearing things subconsciously ever since they were Chosen. Sharon nudged at Kary's shield; sensing it, the girl hardened the barrier. Then the push turned into as sort of spear that was diamond sharp, so this time, instead of making the shield harder, she made it a sort of elastic, but when the probe pushed in, the barrier ate into it like acid. "How did you do that?" Sharon demanded, astonished.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure, but…I did study rocks before I came here because my father is a jeweler down south. My mother, on the other hand, was a musician born into one of the Shin'a'in tribes down in the Dhorisha Plains."
"Hmm…did you ever seem to fall into the music she was playing so that you actually felt what she was singing about?"
"Now that you mention it, yes. Why?"
"I suspect she is a Bard. This is the only school in Valdemar that teaches such, but if she was born outKingdom, she could have been trained in many places. So Mike, before I test your shield, what surprises to you have for me?" Sharon asked.
"Probably not much," he replied. "My father is a minor nobleman in Rethwellan and my mother is a physician of sorts from Karse. She never went to medical school as such but she always seemed to know what each illness was and how to heal it, using herbs she grew. I knew of the existence of magic before I came here but I never connected it to me."
"I suspect she is an earthwitch with minor powers in the healing arts. Tell me something. Have you ever, either of you, been to a place that was affected by the Mage-Storms. Most of them are gone by now, having been healed by the Hawkbrothers but a few were left alone if there weren't any serious problems with them."
"I have." Kary and Mike answered simultaneously.
Sharon chuckled briefly and then sobered. "Did you feel anything, sick or disoriented or anything?"
Mike answered first. "Yes, it didn't feel right, like after you move to a new place and haven't quite settled in yet."
He frowned in thought and Kary spoke up, "I never felt anything like that but I found a rock in one that seemed to speak to me. Or not really talk but it gave the impression of pictures. Actually, that has happened to me several times when I touched something old but it always immediately left my mind when I took my hand off. Is that because of the spell against remembering any sort of magic?" She looked up at Sharon who was completely silent and had dilated eyes. "Is something wrong?" She asked.
Sharon finally shook herself and said, "Well, it seems you have a new gift, one I've never heard of. I know people see the future, but the past? Amazing." She was silent again and then said, "We're all tired and you've both had a long day. I'm sorry I never tested your shields, Mike, but I'm sure they're fine." Her eyes went vague again and the two students tiptoed out of the room.
"That was weird," Mike said. "Hey, do you think you could test my shields real quick to be sure?"
"Okay, let me remember how she did it." She thought for a moment and then reached out a mental hand to tap his shield as if on a door. Rather than resist, he let her into his mind.
:Maybe that is what she meant by a mental knock.: Mike said. :I could sense you hovering outside unobtrusively so I decided to experiment.:
:Okay, try it on me, and then I really will test your shields.: She withdrew into her own shield and felt a tap on her mind. It carried a sort of scent/flavor with it that she instinctively knew was Mike's so she allowed her shield to know and accept the sensation for later reference and made her shield permeable for his particular mind. :That wasn't too hard.: She said. She let him see her memory of both sensations and he showed her his, which were much the same. She was tired though, so rather than test his shield, she gave him the memory of being probed and reacting.
A touch on her shoulder startled her and she turned to see Rowan behind her. Mike and Kary had both had their eyes closed during the exchange. Mike opened his own eyes and stared at the weaponsmaster with bloodshot eyes. "Come on you two. Go to bed. You look exhausted. Remember, you have to get up early. They wearily acknowledged her advice and went to their rooms, where they collapsed into sleep without changing or even removing their shoes.
Rowan had followed them with her mind's eye to make sure they got to their rooms all right. She sighed and asked Eldan to go take Mike's shoes off for him while she did the same for Kary. She had had only a slight amount of mixed Farsight and Foresight way back those long years ago but her incarnations since had strengthened it to where she could actively use it. (A/N That is because in By the Sword, she has a vision after Dierna was captured which seemed to me to be a mixture of both gifts.) Immediately after finishing the task, she returned to her room and managed to change into nightclothes before collapsing into her own bed.