It wasn't until the afternoon that Ael was able to tell his friends what
had happened. They had gathered in one of the empty rooms and listened
attentively. Now there was a stunned silence.
"Um," Reg said cautiously, "are you certain this wasn't a- a dream or something?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ael snapped. "The only dreams I've been having for the past MONTH are the weird ones with the travelers in the courtyard."
Rachel tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "Well, I think we should tell someone. That mage must have been up to no good."
"Don't be silly," interjected her quieter, more sensible twin, "Who would believe us? All the proof we have is some ash on the ground and the word of a boy who shouldn't have been there anyway! They'll think we're just causing trouble, and then if we find out something else they won't believe us about that either."
"Why don't we go have a look at the bower?" Reg suggested.
When no objections were voiced the four stood up and made their way to the Lower Gardens.
. .
.***
Reg crouched in the bower just as Ael had done last night, sifting the dust between his fingers.
"You have to admit, Ay, it seems exactly like ordinary dirt."
Ael looked puzzled. "But can't you feel his magic in it? I mean it's fading a little now, but it's still there."
Siam knelt down by Reg. "Here let me have a look, I have the gift. ...yes, it does feel a bit... a bit *yellow* if you know what I mean."
Rachel looked strangely at Ael. "You don't have the gift do you? I mean you don't do magic classes, and we were all examined by the Hag Daughter for it, but you can feel the magic in the dirt."
"Umm... I dunno," he said thoughtfully, "I don't feel any magic in *me*. Just the dirt. Like..., you know how magic is always a colour, depending on whose it is? Well I can feel the yellow magic in this dirt - it's obviously the mages - and I can feel green magic in you, Siam, but I can't feel any colour in me."
Siam looked up at him. "I can't feel any magic in you either. Obviously that's why you were never chosen for magic class, because they couldn't see it in you."
"Then how can he feel the magic in you and the dirt?" Exclaimed Reg.
"Maybe we should ask-"
"NO!"
"Okay, okay, Ael, calm down. Why don't we look it up in the library? Maybe they have a book on magic you can't feel."
"Okay."
. . .
. ***
In the library they split up to search the shelves. Ael soon found himself drifting to the Winding Circle books he had read about gunpowder in. Winding Circle was on the other side of the world, but many of their books had been brought here by traveling mages because of their reliability.
After looking through all the old books on magic, his attention was caught by a slimmer, newer-looking volume titled Specialist Magic. When he turned to the contents page he saw that it listed Plant magic, Smith magic, Thread magic, Weather magic, Stone magic, Dancing magic, Cooking, Woodwork, Water and a whole list of others.
In the introduction he read about a growing amount of mages who were not discovered because their magic didn't come from within themselves, but from other things - whatever their specialty was. He frowned, picked up the book and went to find the others.
******************************************************
Well, here's chapter number three! Okay, everyone, I haven't updated for god knows how long, so I'll try make up for it now the hols are coming on!
Thank you all Reviewers:
BenaBerry: I'd have thought it obvious from the Dream Dialogue, besides if you read the book she clearly says "The other children will be returned to their homes/families" or something, but hey at least you figured out where it's from.
Lady Riahanna Dragoneye: I always thought Winding Circle was in the same world but in, you know, Foreign Parts. It sounds like the same world. Tamora Pierce should clarify that. I just thought it was a pretty good authority on everything, it wasn't originally going to *be* a plot bunny - do you know how those things BREED?! But now I've changed my mind - you'll just have to wait and see.
Lady Bee: That would be because I haven't explained anything yet, I wanted to get it posted plus there's this thing called suspense. You'll have to reread the books.
Brigit: If you know how to put italics in, do tell! Please! I never have much text in the middle of a paragraph. Sometimes I have "speech" he said, walking along the path, "speech" or she did this and that, saying "speech", or in some cases putting the speech in a new paragraph would leave like half a line of non-speech in the other paragraph so it isn't really interfering with your comprehension of the story. In this bit, :::::was almost to the door and everyone was turning back to their studies when Ael said "I think I should go with him, just in case" and,::: breaking the paragraph would completely bugger up the flow of the story, and it's not like it's a whole friggin soliloquy, it's just one line! Why are quotation marks for sarcasm annoying? If I don't put quotation marks I'm going to get reviewers complaining in confusion, so, quotation marks stay.
"Um," Reg said cautiously, "are you certain this wasn't a- a dream or something?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ael snapped. "The only dreams I've been having for the past MONTH are the weird ones with the travelers in the courtyard."
Rachel tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "Well, I think we should tell someone. That mage must have been up to no good."
"Don't be silly," interjected her quieter, more sensible twin, "Who would believe us? All the proof we have is some ash on the ground and the word of a boy who shouldn't have been there anyway! They'll think we're just causing trouble, and then if we find out something else they won't believe us about that either."
"Why don't we go have a look at the bower?" Reg suggested.
When no objections were voiced the four stood up and made their way to the Lower Gardens.
. .
.***
Reg crouched in the bower just as Ael had done last night, sifting the dust between his fingers.
"You have to admit, Ay, it seems exactly like ordinary dirt."
Ael looked puzzled. "But can't you feel his magic in it? I mean it's fading a little now, but it's still there."
Siam knelt down by Reg. "Here let me have a look, I have the gift. ...yes, it does feel a bit... a bit *yellow* if you know what I mean."
Rachel looked strangely at Ael. "You don't have the gift do you? I mean you don't do magic classes, and we were all examined by the Hag Daughter for it, but you can feel the magic in the dirt."
"Umm... I dunno," he said thoughtfully, "I don't feel any magic in *me*. Just the dirt. Like..., you know how magic is always a colour, depending on whose it is? Well I can feel the yellow magic in this dirt - it's obviously the mages - and I can feel green magic in you, Siam, but I can't feel any colour in me."
Siam looked up at him. "I can't feel any magic in you either. Obviously that's why you were never chosen for magic class, because they couldn't see it in you."
"Then how can he feel the magic in you and the dirt?" Exclaimed Reg.
"Maybe we should ask-"
"NO!"
"Okay, okay, Ael, calm down. Why don't we look it up in the library? Maybe they have a book on magic you can't feel."
"Okay."
. . .
. ***
In the library they split up to search the shelves. Ael soon found himself drifting to the Winding Circle books he had read about gunpowder in. Winding Circle was on the other side of the world, but many of their books had been brought here by traveling mages because of their reliability.
After looking through all the old books on magic, his attention was caught by a slimmer, newer-looking volume titled Specialist Magic. When he turned to the contents page he saw that it listed Plant magic, Smith magic, Thread magic, Weather magic, Stone magic, Dancing magic, Cooking, Woodwork, Water and a whole list of others.
In the introduction he read about a growing amount of mages who were not discovered because their magic didn't come from within themselves, but from other things - whatever their specialty was. He frowned, picked up the book and went to find the others.
******************************************************
Well, here's chapter number three! Okay, everyone, I haven't updated for god knows how long, so I'll try make up for it now the hols are coming on!
Thank you all Reviewers:
BenaBerry: I'd have thought it obvious from the Dream Dialogue, besides if you read the book she clearly says "The other children will be returned to their homes/families" or something, but hey at least you figured out where it's from.
Lady Riahanna Dragoneye: I always thought Winding Circle was in the same world but in, you know, Foreign Parts. It sounds like the same world. Tamora Pierce should clarify that. I just thought it was a pretty good authority on everything, it wasn't originally going to *be* a plot bunny - do you know how those things BREED?! But now I've changed my mind - you'll just have to wait and see.
Lady Bee: That would be because I haven't explained anything yet, I wanted to get it posted plus there's this thing called suspense. You'll have to reread the books.
Brigit: If you know how to put italics in, do tell! Please! I never have much text in the middle of a paragraph. Sometimes I have "speech" he said, walking along the path, "speech" or she did this and that, saying "speech", or in some cases putting the speech in a new paragraph would leave like half a line of non-speech in the other paragraph so it isn't really interfering with your comprehension of the story. In this bit, :::::was almost to the door and everyone was turning back to their studies when Ael said "I think I should go with him, just in case" and,::: breaking the paragraph would completely bugger up the flow of the story, and it's not like it's a whole friggin soliloquy, it's just one line! Why are quotation marks for sarcasm annoying? If I don't put quotation marks I'm going to get reviewers complaining in confusion, so, quotation marks stay.