"What an interesting display that was," the King said in an odd tone. He was looking hard at Miliko.
"Yes. Alanna can't play word games very well. Maybe she should learn." Miliko's tone had gone hard, her expression like ice, at the mention of the name Candi.
"What's wrong?" Myanh asked. Miliko glared at her, and Myanh retreated.
"Nothing, Myanh." Miliko said, and little drops of ice literally dropped onto the floor.
"What's that noise?" Shadi asked, quite calmly. Miliko and Myanh stared. Shadi never said anything like that.
"Thunder." Alanna replied. Then Myles started.
"But it's summer." He said, perplexed.
"Miliko, calm down. It's only a name." Shadi said disgustedly. Amazingly, as Miliko breathed, in, two, three, four, out, two, three, four, the thunder stopped.
"Excuse me." It was a new voice. Definitely male.
"Stork?" Shadi asked, looking at the bird, which hadn't left the tent.
"Excuse me? I am no stork." The man had a look about him, long hair tied up in a ponytail, tall, rather gangly.
"The bird said you are the stork man." Shadi said, calmly, but with an underlying warning. The strange man took no notice. And there was something bothering Miliko.
"NUMAIR!" Miliko hollered suddenly.
"Yes?" the strange man, Numair, asked.
"That's who you are. I thought you looked familiar." Miliko said.
"Yes, from the Wild Mage quartet. And you had a little appearance in Protector of the Small." Shadi recalled, smiling.
"You dried Kel's tunic." Numair stared at Shadi, confused.
"Even so. I came because I felt some very strong magic. Whom was it coming from?" Numair looked at Miliko, who shifted.
"Um, why is everyone looking at me?" She asked.
"Because you had sparks in your hair," the King said.
"You are radiating strong magic. Come here." That was no explanation for why Numair was looking at Miliko. Miliko just sat.
"I said, come here." Numair repeated, sounding impatient.
"No. I am not a dog to do your bidding. You will ask me, and politely, and then I might come to you." Ice dripped onto the floor again. Miliko was becoming an ice queen. Literally.
"Very well. Lady, could you please come here." Numair asked, sounding impatient.
"Why must I?" Miliko asked, head up high.
"Because I wish to see whether or not you are the source of the magic." Numair explained, not sounding very happy. In fact, he was sounding rather angry.
"My name is Lady Miliko of Nyujiirando. And yes, I will come." With that, Miliko stood up, and walked gracefully over.
"Well, I'm not the only one who, like, has total mood swings." Myanh muttered under her breath.
"This may hurt a bit." Numair warned Miliko. Miliko nodded, and tried to relax. She felt Numair's magic flow through her, and it felt like needles pricking her all the way through. Slowly it receded, leaving Miliko felling tired and faint.
"Well, this is very interesting. It appears you have the ordinary Gift, Healing, a strong case of the Sight, and Elemental Magic. Did you know?" Numair looked at Miliko gently.
"No," Miliko said, sounding close to tears.
"I will have to check the other two ladies." Numair told the King, and Myanh came up to Numair, and sat as Numair did the same thing to her as he had done to Miliko. Miliko saw black magic cover Myanh, then leave her, and there was now a pale pink aura surrounded her. Miliko looked down at her own hands, and saw threads of pale yellow ripple around her hands, fading bit by bit.
"You also have Elemental Magic, only with fire, not all the Elements, and Healing." Numair sounded grave. He motioned to Shadi, who walked up to him. Numair's black magic coated Shadi also, before fading out of sight.
"And you have Wild Magic." There was no aura around Shadi. Numair looked at the three young girls.
"This is more power than I have ever seen. Lady Myanh is the strongest. I would indeed hate to have any of these three as my enemies. This young lady is even stronger than Daine." He nodded to Shadi.
"I am Lady Shadi of Venice, and she is Lady Myanh of Hawaiiki." Shadi scowled at Numair.
"Don't we need teaching?" Miliko asked quietly.
"Yes, you do." Numair stated quietly, so that all in the tent had to strain to listen. Kel had long since left.
"Who will teach us?" Myanh asked eagerly.
"I will teach Lady Miliko, Daine will teach Lady Shadi, and Alanna will teach you, Lady Myanh." Numair said. He looked to Alanna to see if this arrangement was acceptable. Alanna grinned and nodded, and evil glint in her eye.
"I will have some fun with this," she said, mischief in her voice.
"I think I'll just die," Myanh moaned, but she was smiling. She has read the books, all three had. Even if it was just to shut Shadi up.
"That's more than fine by me!" Shadi said excitedly, a dreamy look entering her eyes. Shadi had always wanted to have Wild Magic, and be taught by Daine, the Wild Mage. Miliko just nodded, eyes unfocused.
"You will each learn to meditate, we can do that in a group, and then you will separate to be with your respective teachers, Miliko and Shadi will both probably end up being taught by both Daine and I. Once you have control over your magic, you won't have to be taught anymore." Numair looked at the King.
"That would be great. I fit as you say, if they didn't have control of their magic, it could be disastrous. I am glad you were here, Numair." The King said seriously.
"I'm glad too. Their magic is very strong." Numair said, relief written on his face.
"Hey, what are you talking about in here?" The last teacher had arrived.
"Daine, magelet, would you teach Lady Shadi Wild Magic?" Numair asked immediately. Daine looked shocked.
"Sure." She said, straight away.
"Thank you so much. I'll be teaching Lady Miliko, and Alanna will be teaching Lady Myanh." Numair said, and Daine nodded.
"It's okay, Numy," she laughed. So did Miliko. Numair pulled a face, but slung an arm around Daine. Shadi smirked, Myanh pretended to wretch, and Miliko laughed harder. Daine and Numair waved, and turned, walking out of the tent. Kel walked in again, her face betraying nothing.
"I'm sorry I've been so rude." She apologized, and Miliko, Myanh and Shadi smiled.
"That's okay." Shadi said, and Kel smiled.
"Well, if you're done here, could you come out and walk with me and my friends? I'll introduce you to the Third Company of the Kings Own." Kel invited, and the girls nodded eagerly, and followed Kel out of the tent.