Lonara's Lesson
Lonara ate her oatmeal. It seemed to be the only thing she could do; and anyway, she was hungry. It was good, with berries and spices to sweeten it. She wished Mommy would learn to make it like this, instead of the nasty, healthy stuff she made.
Lonara yawned. She was tired again, which was odd. She had, after all, just waken up. Why was she tired so soon?
"Oh!" Lonara cried out loud. "The berries!" Now she remembered. Mommy had taught her about those berries and how they would make her sleepy. She hadn't paid attention to the lesson. Now she wished she had. She sank back into oblivion.
~~~
I glared at the panting Clemen. The beautiful forest scenery couldn't calm me. What I would give to slit his lying throat.
We arrived at Clemen's little hut, where Lonara lay locked in a room in peaceful slumber. I gazed down at my darling child, then was hurried past by Clemen.
"Stop," said Clemen. "I shall give the child to.the other warrior." He spoke the word warrior with disgust. Without further ado, he shoved his old school-mates through a hole in wooden floor of the hut, whose trapdoor he swiftly shut and locked.
~~~
"Well," Nechtè sighed after trying the trap door, "there seems to be nowhere to go but forward." We turned around.
Suddenly, a magical flame lit, casting an unearthly glow on the cave without burning air. We were in an underground room which smelled damp and dirty. I spun around and shifted into a fighting stance, sword in hand, as Clemen hadn't seen it as enough of a threat to worry about. Nechtè began to mutter words of magic to summon lightning. But when we caught sight of our adversary, we stopped and stared.
The girl was thin and dirty, a ragged tunic showing her to be a Crananian noble and a badge with a flame on it marking her as one of the Fire's Own. She was younger than me by about eight years, a young lady of twenty. Her face was delicate and fine-boned, the face of a noblewoman, but her eyes burned with a fierce hatred that ill became a face of such beauty.
Nechtè stared because he recognized a woman of the Crananian nobility. But I stared for a completely different reason.
"Sister?"
~~~
My sister stared at me with wild, crazy eyes. She obviously didn't recognize me. I felt a pang of regret for the life and family I had left behind in Cranan. My sister had been ten when I left eleven years ago. She had grown up not really knowing me, keeping out of the way of the older sister who came home twice a year and guarded her room with spells that burned the hand. She had been three when I left for the mage school, and besides the holidays she only saw me when I tested her to see if she had magic. She did, and she left for the mage school the year I graduated.and ran away.
Now I reached out to the sibling I had hardly known and said, "Elaina? Don't you remember me? It's Buttercup." Elaina looked at me, eyes alight with suspicion.
"Prove it," she said.
I thought about this odd request. "How?" I asked.
"What is Mother's other name?"
Now I understood. It was our family's greatest secret: Mother was an enemy of the slave trade, and she organized the smuggling of slaves to faraway lands. But no slave wanted to answer to a person who bore the name of an old noble family who had helped to bring about the slave trade. So Mother had given herself the name of Naomi Calaway, and that name was famous throughout Cranan. Only her blood kin knew the secret, and thus she was safe.
"Nao." I began to respond, when Elaina cut me short.
"Hush, sister! Do you mean to give away the secret to this.man? Tell me in private." She beckoned.
"No, Elaina, it is fitting that he knows. He is, after all, my husband." Elaina gasped and looked dubiously at Nechtè, as if trying to see in the slightly shabby-looking Nechtè something that she had not seen before. Nettled, I went on, watching my spouse to see his reaction. "Mother is also Naomi Calaway."
Nechtè stared at me, then at my sister, then back at me. "Oh. That explains a lot. Both about your political beliefs and your refusal to talk about Amarath."
Elaina looked at me. "Where have you been all these years?" she asked eagerly. "We have had no word of you since you left the kingdom. Oh, I have so much to tell you! Cousin Greta fell down and broke her leg just before her wedding, and it was to be such a grand wedding too! And then Father was suspected of an affair with Madame Lopo, you know, the palace seamstress. It took a whole score of war mages, Madame herself, Mother's threats, and Father's influence to save him from Madame's jealous husband. Then in came about ten inquiry mages who knew spells to prove that something was the truth, and it still took from the time of one full moon to the next to prove that it was NOT Father who had the affair! It was actually Madame's twin sister and some married tailor, and someone saw them and assumed that it was Madame and a customer, and Father had just bought me a new dress that very day. Oh, and." Nechtè sighed and settled down for a long, boring session of gossip.
~~~
It took a few hours, but I was finally caught up to the recent news of the kingdom, more or less, and the nice, ordinary talk helped me to ignore my growling stomach.
"So why are you here?" I asked Elaina. Her face grew grave and shadowed.
"The Queen wants you and Nechtè home. You are needed in Cranan. You see," she continued to explain, "Prince Noru and the Queen are at war with the Yemenese, and the Drokalians want to ally themselves with us. Ambassadors have been sent to the Crananian court, but no Crananian wants to visit Drokal because of certain.misunderstandings that have taken place concerning the last few ambassadors. The Drokalian emperor remembers you from when you were his mother's bodyguard, and since you're a member of the Crananian nobility, you are an appropriate ambassador. Nechtè could go with you."
Shocked silence was the only reaction to this statement as the couple tried to imagine war with the formerly friendly Yemenese. Finally Nechtè said, "Before we travel to Cranan, my lady, we need to get out of this place. Shall we try to dig?"
Elaina walked over to one dirty wall and gestured. A small hole had been started.
"The result of long hours of work," the girl said dryly. "But then, I only had my hands. I don't suppose you have anything better?" I had a pocketknife, and Nechtè had his staff, but that was all, and we soon found that our hands worked better than either tool.
I sighed. "Stand back," I ordered. My husband and my sister obeyed. I cast the spell for a sort of magic shovel.
It was a hard spell, almost impossible for a weak or untrained mage. I, however, was neither weak nor untrained. I began the complex weave of the spells that would eat away the dirt.and in all likelihood my magical strength as well, leaving me exhausted for days unless the Queen Goddess was looking out for her chosen ones and could aid me in the spell.
All of a sudden the trap door flew open. I blinked at the light that streamed through, so much better than the weak magical light. Clemen stood framed by bright sunlight.
"How are you doing?" he asked mockingly. "How goes the tunnel digging? Yes, of course I know," he responded to our glares of astonishment. His eyes fastened onto Nechtè. "But then, did you think to hide anything from me? Of course not. You never could hide anything from me, even when we were but boys. Did you think that anything would have changed now.Brother?"
Nechtè flinched as though he had been slapped. Elaina and I stared at him, realization dawning.
"Clemen.your brother?" I whispered. Nechtè hung his head in shame.
"I had hoped no one would ever find out. So did my whole family. Clemen is illegitimate. Mother was furious when she found out about Father and that slave woman, but by then it was too late. The girl died in childbirth, and we were stuck with the shameful child. He was passed as my twin, for we had been born at around the same time. But when we were both to enter the school at the same time, in the same dorm and same classes, I begged Mother to make him not tell anyone that we were brothers. Mother hated him, her husband's son, and she made him refuse to tell his parentage."
Elaina and I were stunned into silence (an unusual state for us) by this unexpected news. Clemen scowled.
"Yes, tell them your side, Mummy's little darling. All I ever did was be born, and immediately I was unwelcome in my own father's home. In the end, I wasn't allowed back for the holidays. You turned him against me!" he screamed suddenly at Nechtè. "You made him hate me! He always loved you, his 'real' son, and when he looked at me he winced! He looked at me and he saw my poor dead Mother and the wrong he had done that slut that he was married to, and he winced and looked away! And that is why I kidnapped Renè. I knew that the disappearance of one of your old school friends would bring you out of the woodwork. And it did! I would have done a trade, and then I would have had you, my brother, whom I hated."
"And so you kidnapped my daughter," Nechtè glared at his half-brother in disgust.
"So I did, so I did." Clemen grinned in delight. "And now I have a dilemma; how many of my dear, dear relatives do I murder? I suppose I will have to journey all the way to Cranan to kill my father and his wife." With a laugh, he turned to leave. The he turned his head back. "Your daughter is not with that barbaric warrior, of course. Gaia, as you called her, is walking hypnotized back to the village. She will awaken only once she is back in her own cottage, and she will not be able to find her way back here in time to be of any help to anyone." With that Clemen swirled off, leaving the trapdoor to slam shut a mere second before I could force myself up and out.
Elaina's ball of fire went out, plunging our prison into darkness.
"What happened?!" I cried.
"I don't know," Elaina quavered. "Fireball summoning is the very first spell taught to the Chosen of Fire. I have never had it go out before!"
"Try to bring the flame back," Nechtè said calmly.
We sat motionless in the dark, hoping that the light would come back. Finally Elaina gasped, "It's no use! Why can't I make flame? Has the Goddess turned from me?"
"No," hissed a voice, "Fire has not forgotten you. But I am here, and I keep her away."
"Dark!" I cried in astonishment. "Since when do you defy your sisters and threaten their Own?"
"Has my oldest sister not informed you? I am at war with my siblings, and I do what I will. And don't bother trying to bring flame anymore, young one. Only Fire herself can chase me from a room, and you alone cannot summon her. Oh, I am sure she would come, but since I was here first it would take two of her Own or her oldest priestess to summon her. And here I only see one little Chosen."
"There are three Chosen here," I told him.
"But one Flame. And neither Air nor the Queen can send you fire."
I ignored him, closed my eyes, and began to pray to my Queen. "My Queen, can you ask your sister Fire to aid us?"
I listened and heard my Queen's reply, faint and far away. "I am sorry, my daughter, I cannot. Ask Fire yourself. I wish I could help, but you must ask as a mere human, not as one of my Own, because one of the other Great Ones is involved."
I concentrated my thoughts on Fire. "Great Lady, will you, can you help us?"
The reply to this prayer was far more audible than the one from my own mistress. "I will and I can, my child. Do not fear. I come." Indeed, I could see as I opened my eyes, the underground room was becoming lighter.
"Leave, sister! You have no authority here! I was invited by one of my Own, and the ancient laws say quite clearly that you need two of your Own or a senior priestess to enter, let alone make me leave. You have only one Chosen!" Dark was barely civil to his older sister.
"The ancient laws also cover the current situation. As you are well aware, the Queen's Chosen Buttercup here was originally pledged to me because of her mother being one of mine. I allowed my sister to have her only on the conditions that I receive a replacement, her sister, and that she would also be partially mine, to use when I had no childen in the area. As she is partially mine she gets the benefits of being in my service as well as the responsibilities. And she may, if she wish, call me to her. Leave now, brother, for I do not wish to force you."
With a howl of anger Dark vanished and ran from the older sister who even showed him kindness when she found him threatening one of her children. Flame waved to him, and now in the light they could see the god and goddess. The lord of darkness was only a face in the shroud of darkness that surrounded him. He could not be more different from his sister, who looked exactly like a normal woman except that she was more beautiful than any mortal could ever be, and her gown, which was cut so low that it was nearly immodest, was all of flames.
"Hello, my children, and hello, brother's son. Although I suppose it is somewhat naughty of me, I must thank you for allowing me to respond directly to my brother. Usually we must not make war or even match wits with other Great Ones , but the circumstances were such that a little squabble was permissable. I will be entertained by this for as much as a month, for Dark must still come to the Great Hall for Council, war or no war, and there are no rules that say that a victor may not gloat a bit."
She smiled winningly at Nechtè, but when she caught my instinctive glare in her direction she looked contrite. "I am sorry, daughter, I know that he is yours, and Air is so tiresome about my staying away from his children. I think he dislikes the children I have had by his Own, and even by him. Can't say I blame him. Air and Fire do not mix, as much as one needs the other. I think I'll go borrow one of Earth's children. And if I were you I'd look around. Escape is not such a remote possibility as you seem to think."
She vanished, but a ball of flame remained. It was an interesting light, as it kept changing colors, sometimes being two or even three colors at the same time. Later my Mistress told me that it amused her sister to see how many things she could concentrate on at the same time.
I began to ponder the last words of the goddess. I had nearly given up on ever discovering the meaning when I suddenly got it. I let out a gasp. "Oh! We are all so stupid. Let's see if the trapdoor is spelled!"
Nechtè tried a standard spell of opening, one that any mage, no matter their area of expertise, could manage. The trapdoor pulsed with a light as bright as the sun and a jet of flame that none of us created attacked it (Lady Flame was obvoiusly still looking out for us), but nothing else happened. It was magically protected.
A screech of rage burned my throat, and I threw myself for the miserable piece of wood, drawing my sword and crying out to the Queen. The sword was spelled to be sharp and to cut through spelled substances. The trapdoor stood up to my first onslaught, much to my dismay. But my determination kept me hacking at the wood, using my precious sword like an axe.
After nearly a half-hour of blindly attacking the door with only a tiny pile of woodchips to show for it, Nechtè stepped forward and said, "Rest a moment, Buttercup. Here, I'll take your sword. Go talk with your sister." I slouched sullenly over to Elaina, and we chatted. I discovered that she was engaged to be married to a rather wealthy young baron. Fortunatly it was a love match, not an arranged marriage. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Give me back my sword!" Without waiting for an answer, I snatched up my sword and began hacking again, my strength greatly restored after my brief rest. To my surprise, chips of wood began to drop on the floor before my feet! I stared over at Nechtè and saw him grinning at me. He had enchanted the sword! I grinned back and resumed my attack, thanking Air with my thoughts.
More than an hour later, the pile before my feet had become enormous, and the job was nearly done. With a smile I pushed myself up through the hole.
I looked around, clasping my sword, as Nechtè and Elaina hoisted themselves through the trapdoor. Clemen was nowhere in sight. We hastened towards the chamber where Lonara had been kept. She wasn't there.
Lonara ate her oatmeal. It seemed to be the only thing she could do; and anyway, she was hungry. It was good, with berries and spices to sweeten it. She wished Mommy would learn to make it like this, instead of the nasty, healthy stuff she made.
Lonara yawned. She was tired again, which was odd. She had, after all, just waken up. Why was she tired so soon?
"Oh!" Lonara cried out loud. "The berries!" Now she remembered. Mommy had taught her about those berries and how they would make her sleepy. She hadn't paid attention to the lesson. Now she wished she had. She sank back into oblivion.
~~~
I glared at the panting Clemen. The beautiful forest scenery couldn't calm me. What I would give to slit his lying throat.
We arrived at Clemen's little hut, where Lonara lay locked in a room in peaceful slumber. I gazed down at my darling child, then was hurried past by Clemen.
"Stop," said Clemen. "I shall give the child to.the other warrior." He spoke the word warrior with disgust. Without further ado, he shoved his old school-mates through a hole in wooden floor of the hut, whose trapdoor he swiftly shut and locked.
~~~
"Well," Nechtè sighed after trying the trap door, "there seems to be nowhere to go but forward." We turned around.
Suddenly, a magical flame lit, casting an unearthly glow on the cave without burning air. We were in an underground room which smelled damp and dirty. I spun around and shifted into a fighting stance, sword in hand, as Clemen hadn't seen it as enough of a threat to worry about. Nechtè began to mutter words of magic to summon lightning. But when we caught sight of our adversary, we stopped and stared.
The girl was thin and dirty, a ragged tunic showing her to be a Crananian noble and a badge with a flame on it marking her as one of the Fire's Own. She was younger than me by about eight years, a young lady of twenty. Her face was delicate and fine-boned, the face of a noblewoman, but her eyes burned with a fierce hatred that ill became a face of such beauty.
Nechtè stared because he recognized a woman of the Crananian nobility. But I stared for a completely different reason.
"Sister?"
~~~
My sister stared at me with wild, crazy eyes. She obviously didn't recognize me. I felt a pang of regret for the life and family I had left behind in Cranan. My sister had been ten when I left eleven years ago. She had grown up not really knowing me, keeping out of the way of the older sister who came home twice a year and guarded her room with spells that burned the hand. She had been three when I left for the mage school, and besides the holidays she only saw me when I tested her to see if she had magic. She did, and she left for the mage school the year I graduated.and ran away.
Now I reached out to the sibling I had hardly known and said, "Elaina? Don't you remember me? It's Buttercup." Elaina looked at me, eyes alight with suspicion.
"Prove it," she said.
I thought about this odd request. "How?" I asked.
"What is Mother's other name?"
Now I understood. It was our family's greatest secret: Mother was an enemy of the slave trade, and she organized the smuggling of slaves to faraway lands. But no slave wanted to answer to a person who bore the name of an old noble family who had helped to bring about the slave trade. So Mother had given herself the name of Naomi Calaway, and that name was famous throughout Cranan. Only her blood kin knew the secret, and thus she was safe.
"Nao." I began to respond, when Elaina cut me short.
"Hush, sister! Do you mean to give away the secret to this.man? Tell me in private." She beckoned.
"No, Elaina, it is fitting that he knows. He is, after all, my husband." Elaina gasped and looked dubiously at Nechtè, as if trying to see in the slightly shabby-looking Nechtè something that she had not seen before. Nettled, I went on, watching my spouse to see his reaction. "Mother is also Naomi Calaway."
Nechtè stared at me, then at my sister, then back at me. "Oh. That explains a lot. Both about your political beliefs and your refusal to talk about Amarath."
Elaina looked at me. "Where have you been all these years?" she asked eagerly. "We have had no word of you since you left the kingdom. Oh, I have so much to tell you! Cousin Greta fell down and broke her leg just before her wedding, and it was to be such a grand wedding too! And then Father was suspected of an affair with Madame Lopo, you know, the palace seamstress. It took a whole score of war mages, Madame herself, Mother's threats, and Father's influence to save him from Madame's jealous husband. Then in came about ten inquiry mages who knew spells to prove that something was the truth, and it still took from the time of one full moon to the next to prove that it was NOT Father who had the affair! It was actually Madame's twin sister and some married tailor, and someone saw them and assumed that it was Madame and a customer, and Father had just bought me a new dress that very day. Oh, and." Nechtè sighed and settled down for a long, boring session of gossip.
~~~
It took a few hours, but I was finally caught up to the recent news of the kingdom, more or less, and the nice, ordinary talk helped me to ignore my growling stomach.
"So why are you here?" I asked Elaina. Her face grew grave and shadowed.
"The Queen wants you and Nechtè home. You are needed in Cranan. You see," she continued to explain, "Prince Noru and the Queen are at war with the Yemenese, and the Drokalians want to ally themselves with us. Ambassadors have been sent to the Crananian court, but no Crananian wants to visit Drokal because of certain.misunderstandings that have taken place concerning the last few ambassadors. The Drokalian emperor remembers you from when you were his mother's bodyguard, and since you're a member of the Crananian nobility, you are an appropriate ambassador. Nechtè could go with you."
Shocked silence was the only reaction to this statement as the couple tried to imagine war with the formerly friendly Yemenese. Finally Nechtè said, "Before we travel to Cranan, my lady, we need to get out of this place. Shall we try to dig?"
Elaina walked over to one dirty wall and gestured. A small hole had been started.
"The result of long hours of work," the girl said dryly. "But then, I only had my hands. I don't suppose you have anything better?" I had a pocketknife, and Nechtè had his staff, but that was all, and we soon found that our hands worked better than either tool.
I sighed. "Stand back," I ordered. My husband and my sister obeyed. I cast the spell for a sort of magic shovel.
It was a hard spell, almost impossible for a weak or untrained mage. I, however, was neither weak nor untrained. I began the complex weave of the spells that would eat away the dirt.and in all likelihood my magical strength as well, leaving me exhausted for days unless the Queen Goddess was looking out for her chosen ones and could aid me in the spell.
All of a sudden the trap door flew open. I blinked at the light that streamed through, so much better than the weak magical light. Clemen stood framed by bright sunlight.
"How are you doing?" he asked mockingly. "How goes the tunnel digging? Yes, of course I know," he responded to our glares of astonishment. His eyes fastened onto Nechtè. "But then, did you think to hide anything from me? Of course not. You never could hide anything from me, even when we were but boys. Did you think that anything would have changed now.Brother?"
Nechtè flinched as though he had been slapped. Elaina and I stared at him, realization dawning.
"Clemen.your brother?" I whispered. Nechtè hung his head in shame.
"I had hoped no one would ever find out. So did my whole family. Clemen is illegitimate. Mother was furious when she found out about Father and that slave woman, but by then it was too late. The girl died in childbirth, and we were stuck with the shameful child. He was passed as my twin, for we had been born at around the same time. But when we were both to enter the school at the same time, in the same dorm and same classes, I begged Mother to make him not tell anyone that we were brothers. Mother hated him, her husband's son, and she made him refuse to tell his parentage."
Elaina and I were stunned into silence (an unusual state for us) by this unexpected news. Clemen scowled.
"Yes, tell them your side, Mummy's little darling. All I ever did was be born, and immediately I was unwelcome in my own father's home. In the end, I wasn't allowed back for the holidays. You turned him against me!" he screamed suddenly at Nechtè. "You made him hate me! He always loved you, his 'real' son, and when he looked at me he winced! He looked at me and he saw my poor dead Mother and the wrong he had done that slut that he was married to, and he winced and looked away! And that is why I kidnapped Renè. I knew that the disappearance of one of your old school friends would bring you out of the woodwork. And it did! I would have done a trade, and then I would have had you, my brother, whom I hated."
"And so you kidnapped my daughter," Nechtè glared at his half-brother in disgust.
"So I did, so I did." Clemen grinned in delight. "And now I have a dilemma; how many of my dear, dear relatives do I murder? I suppose I will have to journey all the way to Cranan to kill my father and his wife." With a laugh, he turned to leave. The he turned his head back. "Your daughter is not with that barbaric warrior, of course. Gaia, as you called her, is walking hypnotized back to the village. She will awaken only once she is back in her own cottage, and she will not be able to find her way back here in time to be of any help to anyone." With that Clemen swirled off, leaving the trapdoor to slam shut a mere second before I could force myself up and out.
Elaina's ball of fire went out, plunging our prison into darkness.
"What happened?!" I cried.
"I don't know," Elaina quavered. "Fireball summoning is the very first spell taught to the Chosen of Fire. I have never had it go out before!"
"Try to bring the flame back," Nechtè said calmly.
We sat motionless in the dark, hoping that the light would come back. Finally Elaina gasped, "It's no use! Why can't I make flame? Has the Goddess turned from me?"
"No," hissed a voice, "Fire has not forgotten you. But I am here, and I keep her away."
"Dark!" I cried in astonishment. "Since when do you defy your sisters and threaten their Own?"
"Has my oldest sister not informed you? I am at war with my siblings, and I do what I will. And don't bother trying to bring flame anymore, young one. Only Fire herself can chase me from a room, and you alone cannot summon her. Oh, I am sure she would come, but since I was here first it would take two of her Own or her oldest priestess to summon her. And here I only see one little Chosen."
"There are three Chosen here," I told him.
"But one Flame. And neither Air nor the Queen can send you fire."
I ignored him, closed my eyes, and began to pray to my Queen. "My Queen, can you ask your sister Fire to aid us?"
I listened and heard my Queen's reply, faint and far away. "I am sorry, my daughter, I cannot. Ask Fire yourself. I wish I could help, but you must ask as a mere human, not as one of my Own, because one of the other Great Ones is involved."
I concentrated my thoughts on Fire. "Great Lady, will you, can you help us?"
The reply to this prayer was far more audible than the one from my own mistress. "I will and I can, my child. Do not fear. I come." Indeed, I could see as I opened my eyes, the underground room was becoming lighter.
"Leave, sister! You have no authority here! I was invited by one of my Own, and the ancient laws say quite clearly that you need two of your Own or a senior priestess to enter, let alone make me leave. You have only one Chosen!" Dark was barely civil to his older sister.
"The ancient laws also cover the current situation. As you are well aware, the Queen's Chosen Buttercup here was originally pledged to me because of her mother being one of mine. I allowed my sister to have her only on the conditions that I receive a replacement, her sister, and that she would also be partially mine, to use when I had no childen in the area. As she is partially mine she gets the benefits of being in my service as well as the responsibilities. And she may, if she wish, call me to her. Leave now, brother, for I do not wish to force you."
With a howl of anger Dark vanished and ran from the older sister who even showed him kindness when she found him threatening one of her children. Flame waved to him, and now in the light they could see the god and goddess. The lord of darkness was only a face in the shroud of darkness that surrounded him. He could not be more different from his sister, who looked exactly like a normal woman except that she was more beautiful than any mortal could ever be, and her gown, which was cut so low that it was nearly immodest, was all of flames.
"Hello, my children, and hello, brother's son. Although I suppose it is somewhat naughty of me, I must thank you for allowing me to respond directly to my brother. Usually we must not make war or even match wits with other Great Ones , but the circumstances were such that a little squabble was permissable. I will be entertained by this for as much as a month, for Dark must still come to the Great Hall for Council, war or no war, and there are no rules that say that a victor may not gloat a bit."
She smiled winningly at Nechtè, but when she caught my instinctive glare in her direction she looked contrite. "I am sorry, daughter, I know that he is yours, and Air is so tiresome about my staying away from his children. I think he dislikes the children I have had by his Own, and even by him. Can't say I blame him. Air and Fire do not mix, as much as one needs the other. I think I'll go borrow one of Earth's children. And if I were you I'd look around. Escape is not such a remote possibility as you seem to think."
She vanished, but a ball of flame remained. It was an interesting light, as it kept changing colors, sometimes being two or even three colors at the same time. Later my Mistress told me that it amused her sister to see how many things she could concentrate on at the same time.
I began to ponder the last words of the goddess. I had nearly given up on ever discovering the meaning when I suddenly got it. I let out a gasp. "Oh! We are all so stupid. Let's see if the trapdoor is spelled!"
Nechtè tried a standard spell of opening, one that any mage, no matter their area of expertise, could manage. The trapdoor pulsed with a light as bright as the sun and a jet of flame that none of us created attacked it (Lady Flame was obvoiusly still looking out for us), but nothing else happened. It was magically protected.
A screech of rage burned my throat, and I threw myself for the miserable piece of wood, drawing my sword and crying out to the Queen. The sword was spelled to be sharp and to cut through spelled substances. The trapdoor stood up to my first onslaught, much to my dismay. But my determination kept me hacking at the wood, using my precious sword like an axe.
After nearly a half-hour of blindly attacking the door with only a tiny pile of woodchips to show for it, Nechtè stepped forward and said, "Rest a moment, Buttercup. Here, I'll take your sword. Go talk with your sister." I slouched sullenly over to Elaina, and we chatted. I discovered that she was engaged to be married to a rather wealthy young baron. Fortunatly it was a love match, not an arranged marriage. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Give me back my sword!" Without waiting for an answer, I snatched up my sword and began hacking again, my strength greatly restored after my brief rest. To my surprise, chips of wood began to drop on the floor before my feet! I stared over at Nechtè and saw him grinning at me. He had enchanted the sword! I grinned back and resumed my attack, thanking Air with my thoughts.
More than an hour later, the pile before my feet had become enormous, and the job was nearly done. With a smile I pushed myself up through the hole.
I looked around, clasping my sword, as Nechtè and Elaina hoisted themselves through the trapdoor. Clemen was nowhere in sight. We hastened towards the chamber where Lonara had been kept. She wasn't there.