A/N: I don't think I'm gonna update next time very quickly, so be forewarned, but this chapter doesn't really end with a cliffie, so it shouldn't be too bad. But please review becuase that'll make me review that much quicker!
And thank you to: Lizai, Serami Nefera, I Forget (I feel really flattered becuase you said I was a good writer) and ChaosLightning13 for reviewing!
And toChaosLightning: By having Natari removing Lythe's curse was not a deus-ex-machina. The way I see it, any mage's curse can be broken by another mage that is stronger than the mage that cast the spell. And with Natari working together with all the other Companions, they easily overpowered the mage's curse. Also, the curses weren't supposed to be a big part of the plot, as I'm sure you noticed in the earlier chapters where the curses weren't really talked about or anything (I have something else in store for them). I hope this explanation satisfies you, and if it doesn't, I'm sorry.
X-X-X
A slight breeze blew over the Companion's Field and made the green grass wave. The sun was bright and there were no clouds—a perfect day in all aspects, except for Rothas' dark mood. He was sitting under a tree in the Field, thinking about that had happened in the last two weeks since he and Lythe had come to Haven.
He knew Lythe had been Chosen by Natari and was training to become a Herald. He knew they were both Adept-level mages and he had the Gift of Empathy while Lythe had Foresight. He knew he had declined training to become a Bard and decided to just concentrate on mastering his Mage and Empathy Gifts. He also knew he wasn't Chosen. He also knew Lythe would one day become a Herald while he would be forgotten, just another long-forgotten old friend.
Why? he screamed in his mind. Why? It was me who wanted to save Vrail without hesitation, not Lythe. She didn't want to do it. In fact, if I hadn't convinced her, she would have let Vrail die! I made the same sacrifice she did, risking to be killed by Silveous, but I didn't get Chosen! It was me who was able to break the spell Silveous had over me and it was me who said no, even though I knew I would be tortured! I should have be Chosen! I should have been Chosen before Lythe for sure!
He heard familiar laughter and looked up. It was Vrail and Lythe and Natari. Lythe was laughing for some reason and Vrail along with her. It looked like he was going to show her how to ride a horse, something she had never done before.
Vrail helped Lythe up in the saddle and before she could get her feet secure, Natari started running, throwing Lythe off immediately right into Vrail's arms, who then fell right on the ground. Vrail didn't get up immediately, and neither did Lythe. They seemed to stay there for a long while—an unnecessarily long while—talking and laying beside each other when they finally got up. Lythe then turned to Natari and said something out loud, causing Vrail to laugh. Rothas was sure Natari was laughing too—As if a horse can, he thought in the back of his mind—and soon Lythe joined in. Vrail and Lythe looked like the happiest people in the world.
"Some lifebonded you are!" Rothas wanted to scream, but didn't. The sentence still echoed around in his head, like a mantra. He marched out of the Companion's Field, ignoring all the white horses that looked up from the ground where they were eating.
Rothas stomp into his room in the Bardic section of the Collegium-Palace (they were no doubt trying to convince him to change his mind about becoming a Bard with this feeble attempt) and dropped onto his bed. He tried to calm himself down, because in the two-weeks worth of lessons he had gotten in magery, the last thing he wanted to do was become mad—that could easily make him lose control of his powers, something he did not want to happen.
In a few minutes he was able to calm down enough to realize how exhausted he was from the constant anger he had been carrying around all day. He turned over in bed and decided to sleep. He didn't care if he missed dinner and his soonest lesson was his Empathy training, but that wouldn't be until the next day after lunch. He knew he wouldn't have to worry about missing it
Soon enough, Rothas was asleep, and finally he didn't have to carry his resentment anymore.
X-X-X
Rothas opened his eyes slowly, even though he wasn't tired at all. He had just woken up immediately for no reason, and now felt like moving, like going somewhere. He got out of bed and looked out the window—it was dark, a starry night with a quater-moon. He lit a candle and, because he was still in his day clothes, walked out of his room without changing and started wandering through the dark halls.
He still wasn't used to the dark, as before coming here, he hadn't seen it in nearly a year. It had been dark in Silveous' prison, but Rothas had been too preoccupied to worry about it then.
Rothas continued to walk through the halls anyway, and found himself in front of the Bardic library. The library wasn't a library in the traditional sense—instead of having books, it had music. Rothas hadn't been in here once, because he thought it might make the Bards think he wanted to become one, and that would give them new energy in trying to convince him. But it was about three in the morning now, and he was sure no Bard or mistral would be in there at this time.
He stepped in.
It was completely dark in the room, except for Rothas' candle. He didn't feeling like caring, so he just ignored it, and started walking through the aisles, using his sole candle for light.
Rothas couldn't make any sense of the organization of the music, and doubted there was any, but he couldn't help be impressed by the amount of music the library had. It was certainly more than he had ever seen.
He continued to walk through the aisles, and then found one part of the library actually organized. It was all songs that had to do with the founding of Valdemar, and there were many different varieties, with all the songs being different lengths and styles.
Rothas took all the music. He would return it in a few hours before anyone noticed it was gone, simple as that. He decided not to read in the library, so he took the music and found himself walking again with no direction. Oddly enough, when he stopped he was outside, near the Companion's Field, from where he had run out just hours before.
Rothas walked through the Field, silent except for the occasional breeze. He walked to the tree he had been sitting under before, and sat under it again. He put the music down and grabbed the top piece, and started looking at it.
As he examined the songs, he found some he thought were horrible, others okay, and others very good, but his favorite was one that was a parody. He knew how to easily carry a tune without the music and, after humming it and a few bad starts, started singing the song quietly.
It was just like back in the forest, when he was alone and sung only because he wanted to, not because it was expected of him or because he was being paid to. That was why he didn't want to be a Bard, among other reasons. Everywhere he went he would have to sing songs, and Rothas didn't wasn't to be at others' beck and call. He wanted to sing when he wanted to and no other time.
When the song finally finished, Rothas opened his eyes, and found a white horse there listening to him. The horse had walked up to him silently while Rothas had been singing, and Rothas had never noticed. Despite the horse's intent, blue-eyed stare, he felt completely comfortable around it. Rothas lowered the shields he kept around himself and allowed himself to feel the horse's emotion. He was surprised when he felt a mixture of contentment and pride. The horse—No, Companion, he thought—was proud of him. Rothas decided not to think too much about it and just closed his eyes and let his shields stay lowered so he could feel the pride that made him smile. Soon enough, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Rothas woke up with something touching against his head. He tried to swat it away, but the thing was insistent. Rothas finally opened his eyes and turned to see the Companion that had been listing to him sing, was knocking him awake.
"Why are you waking me up?" Rothas asked the Companion, still very tired. The Companion waved his head in the direction behind Rothas. Rothas turned around and gasped.
The sun was on the horizon, and that meant soon, everyone would be waking up, if they weren't already awake.
And I bet someone will notice the missing songs.
Rothas jumped up, grabbed the burnt-out candle, the stack of songs and started running towards the Collegium. Rothas sent a small wave of thankfulness to the Companion, and to his surprise, the Companion didn't put up any shields, but instead responded with something that seemed to say, "You're welcome." Rothas stumbled in surprise but kept running towards the Collegium.
He reached the Bardic library in a minute, and ran right through the doors. He dashed the shelf were he knew the songs were kept, and quickly put them there. Rothas then turned around to leave the library, and found himself facing a man wearing Scarlets.
The man smiled. "What is the infamous Rothas doing here, when he claimed he wanted nothing to do with the Bards?"
"I don't know," Rothas replied nonchalantly, trying to hide the fact that he was breathing as heavily as he was. "Maybe you're just dreaming—it is early in the morning, you know—and you could easily be imagining things."
"I suppose I could," the Bard said, looking around, as if wondering. "But what if I'm not, and you really are Rothas."
"Well," Rothas said, "if that happens to be true—which I'm sure it's not—I suppose I would ask you to not tell any of the other Bards, otherwise they would hound me to try and get me to join their ranks."
"Hmm," the man said, and looked from Rothas to the music he had just put down. "I suppose I won't tell any of the other Bards some Rothas-imposter was here, or else the real Rothas would be sure to use some mage-curse on me."
"I'm sure he would," Rothas said, and gave a small mock-bow to the Bard before walking calmly out the door.