AN: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D
Special thanks to Sniper Fodder for being my beta.
Sorry for taking so long but Sniper's Internet connection went down so it took a while to edit.
Special Note: Due to several races being skilled at engineering even though they are not mentioned in the reference chapter, strangely there are such things as indoor plumbing and such so…ya. Weird but true.
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Chapter 4: Old Life Ends, A New One Begins
Will had cried her self to sleep while Susan tried to comfort the distraught child who was now being tucked under the blankets of Susan's bed. After she was done Susan turned to Sade who had moved to sit down at the near by desk.
"I Guess there was no easy to way to tell a young girl that all her struggling and hard work was for nothing," The pure blooded elf said with a hint anger at her peoples blind hatred of warlocks whose powers came from dark origins. Even if the origin was indirectly from another like Will's case, were she was born with warlock power because an ancestor of hers made a deal with a demon.
"No race is perfect Susan at least yours is not as blind at mine is most of the time…this just happens to be one of the few things most elves don't accept easily," Sade said hopping to calm the elvin woman down before she started making to much noise.
Susan let out a low growl as she slowly sat down at the far end of bed not wanting to wake Will from her semi-peaceful sleep. There was a slight whimper every now again showing the girl's slumber was not going to be as restful as the one she had earlier.
There was a silence for moment before Susan finally spoke. "I get her," Was all she said making it clear she wanted to be the one who employed Will durring her forced service 'sentence'.
This got the elf a grin from the younger woman "Who did you think I had in mind? Out of few I really trust, you're the only one who Will knows and hopefully trusts. You're also the best one to handle her unusual combination of classes," Sade said getting an understanding nod from her friend.
Susan being gifted in the fighter and sorcerer classes made her best able to set an effective training program for will, and due to personal reasons Susan had a better understanding of warlock power then many other non-warlocks.
Though unlike a wizard's arcane magic, the power of both the sorcerer and warlock were mostly self-taught. But some one who has experience or knowledge of how the powers worked allowed them to gain basic control and tactics much sooner.
"It will be harder then normal training, even by gifted standards since she does have three classes while most only have two. But how can she train while she needs to work off what ever amount you give her?" Susan asked, and then realized something.
"How much are you giving her?" Susan asked knowing half-elves normally had massive amounts given to them, even by fair judges because of how much they needed to steal just to survive.
Sade thought for second "Well, first of all, even while serving her sentence she needs to learn control over her powers. Officially we can tell Will that it's so she can pay the amount quicker, since she would be able to perform more complex tasks such as helping with research, or help when you do the occasional patrol," Sade explained getting a nod from Susan
"The amount though…" Sade said in a tone that made her look at Susan with slight fear in her eyes. This gave the full-blooded elf the feeling that she was not going to like the amount. Sade was rarely afraid of anything, but one of the few things that did scare the Queen was an upset Susan.
"100,000 gold pieces" Sade said, quickly casting two spells to make Susan mute and hold her in place so the elf did not wake the sleeping Will. Of course this also doubled as a way to limit the very angry woman's ability to harm the young Queen, seeing as how the gifted fighter/sorcerers could easily crush Sade in direct combat.
To say Susan was angry right now would the biggest understatement any one could ever make '100,000 gold pieces! Is the woman insane?!? The most some one can earn durring forced service is 50 gold a month, unless their work is life threatening!' Susan thought to her self as she was frozen in place only a foot away from the Queen.
Sade let out a breath she had been holding. She had forgotten how fast her friend could be, especially when angered as she noted the how close a pair of hands were to grabbing her. Hopping Susan was still listening in her extremely angry state, Sade started to explain her-self.
"I'll remove the spells once I finish," The still unnerved Queen said to the angry glare of the frozen elf before her.
"You need time to train Will. A large amount will provide that, and don't worry. I don't expect you to be sending her on dangerous assignments. Besides, one of us will be paying the amount. Would you honestly believe I would have a child spend her whole life slaving away to pay off that much gold?" Sade said, then released the spell on Susan bracing her self just incase.
Fortunately Susan had calmed down a bit and now had regained some self control. "Still, don't you think that is a bit much? You could easily make a smaller amount and I would still have plenty of time to teach her what she needs to know," The elvin woman stated, still a bit upset.
Sade shook her head. "Not with what I want you to teach her, along with her magic, fighting skills, and basic education," This got Susan to raise an eyebrow, getting a playful smile from the Queen.
"Oh, you know how hard it is for a child to learn all the things one needs to know to handle life among royalty and nobility…you might not have noticed how attached and protective you have become of this girl, but I have," Sade said making Susan's eyes to widen as she now realized this as well.
"I guess your right, but let's focus on giving Will a basic education before we worry about teaching her things…that would need me to adopt her." This was a touchy subject for Susan and Sade knew it was touchy, but they both knew it had to be said.
Sade then sighed sadly whishing her friend could move on. But that was down side to having such a long life span. Elves tended to grieve longer then humans tend to think necessary. But to elves a few decades of grieving was normal, so to Susan the…incident, might as well have been yesterday.
"Well, I'll let you think things over. You have got at least a couple of years before Will's training is complete any way," Sade said getting up to leave, only looking back as she closed the door to see Susan moving the chair over next to the bed to watch over the sleeping girl.
Two hours later around four o'clock in the afternoon, Will began to stir. Susan was still sitting next to the bed as she watched the young girl slowly sit up and look around a little confused on how she had gotten tucked into the nice warm bed.
"You were so worn out from every thing today, the bad news must have sapped the last of your energy and you fell asleep so I tucked you in," Susan explained to the young girl who looked like the memories that were coming back, so the elvin woman quickly changed the subject to keep the girl from getting too upset again.
"I have some good news despite all that's happened" Susan said getting Will to look at her with a somewhat hopeful look in her eyes.
"You see you have rare and special talent for multiple classes called a Gifted," Susan explained with Will looking shocked. She had been called many things, but special was not one of them.
"You are a little different then most because you have three classes while most gifted only have two…which is part of the reason her highness is leaving you in my custody for the duration of the sentence" Susan explained making Will ask her question.
"What do you mean by 'part of the reason'?" Will asked with a hint of nervousness in her tone. She wondered if this meant they wanted some one strong to watch over her because she was different.
Susan gave the girl a reassuring smile "Some one needs to train you to make sure all this potential does not go to waste. Since I am the only one able to teach you all three of your classes as well as protect you from those who will fear that potential," she explained once again making Will surprised.
'I'm just a half-elf how can I have any kind of potential or be special in any way, especially in a way that people would be afraid of me?' Will thought to her self while Susan watched the confusion on Will's face. Most likely not believing she could be any thing but worthless in other peoples eyes.
'I am going to have work on putting an end to that' Susan thought to her self knowing that achieving that goal would take some time but with enough encouragement it was possible.
After a moment of silence, a loud grumbling sound came from Will's stomach making her blush from embarrassment as she looked down at her lap. Susan was about to say something when softer but still noticeable grumbling coming from her own stomach.
Both looked at each other both holding back a giggle "I'll go get us something to eat you wait here and relax" Susan said as she got up and in flash of light she teleported to the kitchen leaving behind a gasping Will.
'Do I get to learn to do that?' the young half-elf thought to her self as Susan vanished.
The cooks in the kitchen were also surprised to see Lady Vandom appear suddenly, though the Head Chef was more annoyed then surprised. But he quickly put on a on friendly face "Lady Vandom what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked.
Susan was no fool. She knew the Head Chef did not like her because she had a habit showing up hours after meals were served, due to her walks through town. When she did return she used the left over food to make 'peasants food' as he called it. Though Susan called them sandwiches.
'The man does not know good food when he sees it. Lord McDohl must prefer people as full of them selves as he is under his service' Susan mused to her self as she focused on the man before her.
"Just here to get some tea and some food for a guest of mine and I," Susan answered with a friendly tone of her own, though whole staff knew if it were possible that these two would glare each other to death.
The Head Chief being able to hear about every thing that went on in the manor, knew the guest Lady Vandom meant was the half-elf warlock she had saved. To the Head Chef the idea was absurd saving that double freak of nature, as was the idea of HIS food being given to it.
"I'm sorry but dinner won't be served for another hour I'm afraid, so please wait…" the Head Chef said still using friendly voice but his face got annoyed when she interrupted him.
"But we are hungry now so if you'll excuse me" Susan said and started to walk past him. The Head Chef did the stupidest thing any one could do and that was to try and stop her and grabbed her by the arm.
"In this kitchen my lady you will follow my rules," the arrogant man stated which got him grabbed by the collar by a now very angry elf.
"Remove your hand or I'll remove it for you…permanently!" Susan stated with equal force her eyes looking down at the sword that was still at her side. Nether of the two looked like they were backing down until young woman came up to them with tray on a cart.
Both the chief and the royal knight glanced to see it had tea and a large platter of sandwiches cut into triangle shaped sections, four for each sandwich and all stacked neatly. This of course got a pleased look from Susan and an angry look from the Head Chef.
"Here is your order my lady…and save your breath you big bag of wind I quite. Besides I learned all your trade secrets anyway" the younger chef said and marched out before the stunned man could say any thing.
As the woman left Susan was laughing as she easily slipped out of the man's grasp and teleported back to the room were Will was waiting still in the bed and once again shocked by the flash of light.
"If and when do I learn to do that?" Will asked making Susan's already good mood even better as she giggled at the young girl's question.
"Kids never change. They always want to learn the complicated spells first" Susan said as she poured some tea for the both of them and from the smell of it, the former cook of McDohl used some of lord's personal tea.
'Wonder if she is part rogue with that clever mind of hers' Susan mused as she added some sugar to her own tea then asked how much Will wanted. Of course since Will had never had tea before she did not know so Susan did the same to Will's cup as she did to her own.
Once that was done, Susan had to say she was impressed with how many sandwiches the woman had made durring fight with the head chief 'Yep I think that woman would have made a good rogue if she was not already one' the elf thought again as she and Will ate their food.
To say Will needed to work on her table manners was understatement in Susan's eyes. But Susan guessed that was because Will did not have any one to teach her such things.
Susan thought about starting Will's lesson with proper table manners, but decided she would just let the girl eat her food her way for now. They were going to have plenty of time for teaching proper eating habits later.
'Though she might enjoy the food more if she chewed it instead of inhaling it' Susan thought to her self as she ate food, then noticed Will slowing down all of a sudden. She saw Will watching closely which confused Susan for moment, then having an idea started to eat again.
Will of course had finally noticed that Susan was eating differently then her. Then she recalled Zerase lecturing her on not eating like a pig…or Roy and started to watch how Susan ate. Once the woman across from her moved she tried to mimic it, which confirmed what Susan suspected.
'She's doing good but she is only watching how my hand and mouth move. But it's a start' Susan thought to her self knowing Will would need to work on posture, how she sat and other bits of miner body language to match her perfectly.
After they were done Susan moved the tray out of the way and went over to the desk to get something out of a drawer but spoke while doing so.
"Good try Will. There is a little more to eating properly then what you were doing but you did well by just watching what I did. Use that method when ever your learning something for the first time and you'll advance quickly" Susan complimenting the girl attempt at proper etiquette.
This made Will blush because she was not used to being complimented that often seeing as how Belcoot and the others were the only ones to teach her any thing and that was rare.
Will then noticed Susan was coming back with a book and gestured for the girl to climb under the blankets on the other side of the bed before the elvin woman climb under them as well.
Will was confused by this until she noticed Susan was opening the book to show it was a book of stories for some one younger then her. But Zerase had used similar books recently to help her with the limited reading skills she had at this point.
"I know most children your age out side of those who are of noble birth tend to have a random skill level of reading. I would like for you to show me what your skill level is and then I can help you improve on what you know," Susan instructed and handed the book to Will.
Will took the book wondering why Susan had this with her but thought it better not to ask. The way Susan handled the book as well as how she looked at it made it seem like it was special in some way to her. Will did not pry into some else's life.
Will started to read with Susan every so often helping Will with words she had trouble saying or miss read. The elvin woman never lost patience with Will and kept Will calm when the young half-elf got frustrated. Susan noticed that Will might have improved slightly as they went on.
By the time they finished it was starting to get dark and Will was getting tired again so Susan got changed into some pajamas. Susan wished she had something for Will to change into but all of her cloths were too big, but Will did not seem to mind.
Susan thought about just going into what the elves call the four-hour trance which was what they considered sleep but she wanted to make sure Will fell asleep first. So she climbed back under the cover and did something Will thought would never happen to her, some one read her a bedtime story.
Will first felt it was a little silly but thought it would be a nice to have some else do the reading for while! But as Susan read the book of children's stories to her she was felt almost hypnotized by how elvin woman's voice sounded as she read and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Once Will was sleeping soundly Susan put the book down and got into a meditation position and entered her trance. She knew that she would wake up well before any one else, but she was used to that though since she usually did her morning training session durring those early hours.
Early the next morning Will woke up forgetting were she was and thought soft warm bed was part of a dream for few minutes until the memories came flooding back. Once Will's memories were back her hand shot over to were Susan should have been and found nothing.
This caused Will to shoot up and look around the room to see Susan in mid movement of something that looked like a dance. Unknown to Will, Susan was actually doing what was called katas, which were used to practice martial arts.
But Will suddenly panic made Susan turn to the young girl thinking a nightmare had maybe woken her up seeing how it was only four in the morning "Will are all right? Did you have a bad dream?" Susan asked looking a little worried at the panicked look on Will's face.
The look quickly changed to relief as Will answered, "No I just…forgot were I was for moment" Susan could tell that was not the whole truth but she did not see a need to press the girl for answers.
'She did seem to settle down once she saw me…probably sensed some one was in the room and was not sure it was me' Susan thought to her self as she went back to her katas.
Of course Susan was a bit off in her guess because while Will would not admit it she was scared that Susan was not near her when she woke up.
'Why was I scared? It does not make any sense' Will thought to her self, but got her mind off of it by watching Susan do her strange movements, trying figure out what this strange dance was.
Susan noticed Will's confused stare and thought now was as good as time as any to start Will's lessons. "Will could you come over here please?" and got a confused nod from the young half-elf as she did as she was told.
As Will got close Susan gently removed the tattered cloak that Will was still wearing. Susan cringed now that she could clearly see what Will had to call cloths as she tossed the cloak off to the side.
'I swear if ether of her parents are still alive I'll kill them for letting her live this kind of life' Susan vowed as she pointed down at the strips of cloth wrapped around Will's feet "Your feet won't hurt if you takes those off will they?" she asked.
Will looked at Susan getting even more confused "No I don't think so" which she then got a request to remove the pieces of cloth. Will did this wondering but did not ask as she did as she was told then tossed the rags over to were Susan left the cloak.
Susan made a mental note to have Will take a bath after they were done because of the layers upon layers of dirt that covered the girl. But for now Susan got into a stance "Will try to mimic what I do okay?"
Hearing this question made Will ask, "You want me to be your dancing partner?" this of course took Susan by surprise and she nearly fell over laughing and it took a while for Susan to calm down enough to explain.
"No Will this is not dancing, though I can see why you would think it was because of the movements" Susan said then got back into the stance.
"Try to attack me" she instructed thinking it was the best way to explain every thing. Though at the moment it just made Will gasp in shock, as she shook her head no.
"Don't worry it will help to show what I was doing and if you do land a hit I'll be alright," Susan said with a look in her eyes that reassured Will enough to believe her. Will closed her fists and charged Susan swinging with a non-stop barrage of the worst punches Susan had ever seen.
Susan with one hand defecting each attack with ease for a about a minute before she thought it was time to end it.
When Will threw her next punch Susan grabbed her arm and all sudden Will felt her self landing on the bed which was about 6 feet away from were she had been. As she rolled on to her stomach she look up to see the palm of Susan coming at her face.
Will shut her eyes tight bracing her self the blow. Instead getting hit she felt a finger scratching her gently on the nose. Will's eyes opened to see Susan's smileing face in front of her "Elvin martial arts style Dancing Leaf, and your about to learn some of the basics"
With that Susan helped the slightly shaken Will back to were they had begun the lesson. This time though Will just mimicked the stances Susan showed her. Each new stance she was asked to hold the position while Susan walked around Will in a circle, eyeing the stance.
This was so Susan could help correct Will on little flaws she might have made such as were the foot was placed and such. Will absorbed information like a sponge, though she had only gotten only a few of the most basic stances learned before Susan said it was time to quite.
"You did very well Will, though you have long way to go before we do any thing like actual attack or defense techniques but that's normal" Susan said to her student and noticed Will absorb something else besides information.
Will seemed to absorb praise like a man dying from thirst would guzzle water. It's normal for children to want hear they did a good job but for Will it was like she had gotten the best present ever for her birthday.
Susan had remind to her self that Will up until yesterday had only four people who accepted her and that number had only gone up by two 'Of course she would act like this at a simple comment' Susan thought to her self grimly, then heard a knock on the door.
Before Susan could answer two women Susan recognized as Sade's handmaidens entered. "Her highness suggested we help Miss Will get cleaned up" one said and they held up a couple of baskets that had every thing the two of them would need for the task.
Will looked at Susan and was about to ask something when the two servants each took one of Will's hands and pulled their victim out into the hallway and lead her to the bathroom.
Susan knowing Will was going to panic sooner or later durring all this followed closely, smirking as Will looked back at her with a pleading expression on her face. Susan could tell the girl was asking to be saved from these strange women seeing how she had know idea on what was going on.
Susan knew that Will would realize what was going on soon enough as they entered the nearby bathroom. It was decorated with white walls, a blue marble floor, a tub up against the wall, and a mirror on the farthest wall.
Of course Will did not have time to notice any of this as she was quickly stripped bare. Will shrieked at her sudden nudeness wondering why Susan was not saving her yet from these two mad women.
Said elf was closing the door behind them so the poor girl's future shrieks and yells would not have the lord of the manor bothering them. As the handmaidens lifted Will into the tub, the sudden hot water made Will try to jump out. But she was quickly stopped by one of the pair while the second got a small bucket.
The bucket was used to scoop up some of the water and was lifted over Will's head. "Please shut your eyes Miss Will" the one with bucket in instructed the still struggling girl then poured the content on to Will's head.
Will had just closed her eyes in time and before she could go back to struggling the pair were moving one to the next task. One was starting to rubb shampoo into Will's hair as the other took an arm and started to scrub it clean.
'How I wish I could preserve this moment right now' Susan thought to her self with a smirk as Will glared at the elf with her hair now covered in so much shampoo it looked almost like a light shade of pink instead red.
The bathing had begun around 5:30 in the morning, and it should therefore be about 6:30 Susan calculated as the two handmaidens finally let Will out of her prison of water and suds.
It had been quite comical once Will had calmed down enough to realiz she was being washed and not attacked. Of course the young half-elf did not like being scrubbed so hard that her skin turned almost as red as her normal hair color.
It seemed they also decided to continue the torture by nick-naming her "The Pink Haired Lobster". This made Will make several threats to bite some one if they did not knock it off which only fanned the flames of the teasing as they helped Will out of the tub.
Unfortunately when Will thought the madness was over, the two handmaidens had her sit down on a short stool to give Will a quick trim to even out the short but crudely cut hair of hers.
"Not like I could do much with a rusted knife and a piece broken glass for a mirror," Will grumbled under her breath, but the three women present heard her words anyway, giving them a sad smile on all their faces.
Susan thought that all that was left to wrap this circus up was to see if she knew Sade as well as she thought she did and asked, "You would not happen to have something for her to wear would you?"
This made the three others in the room turn to Susan. One was looking back and forth between the elf and the pile rags she had called cloths while the other two smiled.
"Why yes. Her highness sent us for them yesterday," One answered and taking out one of the baskets they used to carry all the bathing supplies in. The handmaid then took out a pair of black pants and red tunic along with a pair of boots.
The two servants helped Will slip into her new cloths that were a bit loose, but they said that was so she would not have to replace the cloths to soon after she gained a more healthy weight. Though she could be worse off, Will was far to thin for it to be healthy.
The two handmaids took a few steps away from Will so to see the fruits of their labor and like Susan, they thought it was a bit of a transformation.
Will's hair was now a bright red with all the grime now washed out of it. Will of course was wondering why they were looking at her like she had grown a second head "What?" she asked looking very confused.
Susan was the first to recover and pointed to the vanity mirror behind Will and said with a kind smile on her face "Look in the mirror and you'll find out." Will did so still confused until she got a good look at her self and noticed what a little water and soap…and a lot of scrubbing could do.
Will touched her facing thinking to her self 'This can't be me' as she looked at the girl before her in the mirror.
Of course Will did not have a very feminine body yet being only twelve, but those present knew the young half-elf was a flower waiting to blossom, though she could probably turn few heads as she was now.
Of course this thought did not please Susan, as once again she did not notice her own protectiveness of the girl in front of her. Susan's thoughts about keeping boys away from Will were interrupted by one of the handmaids speaking to her.
"Lady Vandom, her highness wishes to see you and Miss Will once we're done…shall we take her to the Queens room while you go get changed?" the handmaiden asked pointing out that Susan was still in her pajamas.
Susan looked down and blushed a little at her own sight. "Yes you go on ahead. I'll be there shortly," she said and tried to leave but Will took this as a chance to get even for the pink haired lobster joke.
"Bye Lady PJ" she called after her. It was not the best come back, but it did make the woman give a playful glare in response while the two handmaidens shook their heads smiling as they lead Will to Sade's room.
Once they had reached the Queen's room they opened the double doors leading Will inside to see Queen Sade sitting at a table waiting for her two guests.
"Good morning Will! sleep well?" the Queen greeted as she saw Will enter, then looked at her handmaidens letting them know they could leave.
While the two women closed the door behind them Will bowed to the Queen as she answered, "Yes your highness"
This made Sade smile as she shook her head. "Will what did I tell you yesterday?" she asked making Will look back up at Sade confused.
"You don't need to be formal when we are alone" Sade said getting Will to blush at her forgetfulness, who then noticed Sade get up and start to walk around her as if inspecting her.
After a few minutes of silence while the Queen did her inspection of the half-elf she said "Oh the boys are going to love you I bet…don't you think Susan?" The Queen said getting Will to look around to see that Susan was standing in the door.
Susan was dressed in the same cloths as yesterday but with out the cape or sword and was giving Sade a playful glare "As the one in charge of her care durring her sentence, any and all boys will keep their hands to them selves" she stated with smirk as she noticed Will's face go as red as her hair color.
"I'm not so sure about that," Will said in a quite tone, but Susan's keen elvin hearing picked it up easily. She moved up to Will and firmly but gently gripped the young girl's shoulders.
"Well I am," the full elf said with a kind smile on her face then looked at Sade "Now what did you need to see us about?"
Sade gestured for them to sit down at the table which they did as the Queen spoke, "I just wanted to make sure what Will knew about what is going to happen to her," she explained and sat down herself.
Susan nodded and told Sade what Will had told her so far. Will wondered what else they had to tell her.
"Well it seems there only a few thing left to explain then" Sade said as she looked at Will.
"The first thing you need to know is what your classes are," this made Will mentally kick her self for not asking that as Sade continued "They are Fighter, Sorcerer and…Warlock." The last part shocked Will.
Susan had a feeling Will might be reluctant to train her Warlock powers. But she would have to explain to Will that despite how much people hated Warlocks, the class had powers she would need.
That, and the fact of the matter was that being gifted in classes meant that the power would grow as the other classes did. So if Will neglected her Warlock powers they might become too strong for her to handle with out training in the use of them. This was the reason for the complex training gifted people went through, to keep control over their incredible potential.
"But I think we should leave any further discussion on that subject for later when Susan and you can talk about your training in private." Sade said wanting to get this discussion over with before her final surprise for the young girl got here.
Both Will and Susan nodded at this and Sade moved on to the next topic, taking out a golden colored circlet and a bracelet each having arcane markings inscribed on them. Susan was about to speak when Sade raised a hand as if to ask Susan to let her speak first.
"These are for your forced service sentence Will. you put this on your head," Sade said pointing to the circlet. "And Susan wears the bracelet," she explained. Then with her magic Sade slowly moved the items over to their owners.
"Once you put the circlet on it won't come off until the one wearing the bracelet removes it for you," Sade explained, then pointed to said bracelet. "And only the one who activates the magic of bracelet can remove it from their wrist, in this case Susan." She said. Then signaled so Susan could speak.
"Sade, they are not needed. Will wants to do this, she won't run away." Susan said making Will confused at what was going on, and both women could sense her confusion.
"These are used so you can do what ever work you are given, and not have a guard watching your every move. They prevent the one wearing the circlet from running away by allowing the bracelet wearer to locate the person, teleport to were that person is and if needed, use one of three methods to subdue the runaway." Sade explained to Will.
Will thinking about the last part asked, "What are the three methods?" getting a nervous look from both women, as if asking Will if she really wanted to know. And from the look they got from Will said that she did.
After a moment Sade finally spoke "They each can gain the same result but each is also meant to show how far the person has violated their punishment," she explained and waited a moment to prepare her self for the rest.
"The first method makes the person feel a little ill and weak. Nothing to serious but it provides a good warning to the runaway and slows him or her down." Sade said getting a nod from Will who was thinking that was not so bad. But she had a feeling that the other two were a bit more aggressive.
"The second method makes the person unable to move like a spell called to hold a person, and is used when the first method does not make the runaway stop. Or if the one running might try to hurt any one following him or her, but not to the point of being too dangerous." This method did not seem so bad, but Will thought that it meant the one caught would likely be punished in some way if this method was needed.
"The final method is the harshest of the three, and only meant to be used if the person is proving to be very dangerous, and that is by causing a powerful and painful electric shock to flow through the runaway person's body." Sade said seeing Will push the circlet away, being very afraid of it.
Sade did not know what to say to calm the girl, but it seemed Susan did. "Will, the only reason Sade wants you to wear that circulet is because it is a formality, and that's why I don't think we will need it." The Elf said gently, and it seemed to calm Will a bit.
Susan waited a second before speaking just to Will to let her words sink in. "Now I'll give you a choice. If you don't want to put it on then we won't force you but if you trust me enough to put it on I'll pay half of the 100,000 gold right on the spot."
This shocked Will, both by the price she had to pay and the fact that Susan would pay half of it right here and now too prove she could be trusted not to use the bracelet's most frightening power.
Sade could see Will was a lot more relaxed as she watched Susan reassure the young half-elf that there was nothing to be afraid of.
'Susan you really should have had your chance at mother hood…maybe this is your second chance. If only you would only take it' Sade thought as she smiled at the scene and she noticed Will pick the circlet up.
The Queen watched Will slip it on around her forehead and watched the magic gently lock it in place 'and that shaves another 10,000 off' the Queen thought as she secretly made her own donation to the fund.
Sade would have put more in but she wanted to make sure Will and Susan had plenty of time to train and hopefully heal the wounds they both shared. But she knew that was in the future since Will needed time to form a strong bond with Susan, and Susan needed to acknowledge the attachment she had already gained for Will.
Just then a knock came from the door and it was perfect timing in Sade's mind, seeing as they managed to just wrap every thing up "And that would be breakfast…and the chef had better have brought every thing I ordered him to" the Queen said as she went over to the door.
Will was surprised at the fact the Queen had ordered them all breakfast, while Susan thought she should have guessed this would happen. Why else would Sade want to speak to them first thing after Will's bath.
"The best way to reward a girl for having to go through all those things in the morning is to at least fill her stomach after words" Susan joked, though she knew it was Sade's plan all along.
Sade had smiled as she heard Susan speak and opened the door to see three food carts, each carrying a large plate filled with food. Each one had scrambled egg, sausages, bacon, toast, fruit, and pancakes and to drink there was orange juice.
While it seemed like a bit much, Sade knew Will had to have a large appetite being both a young girl and badly food deprived. So any thing the two women did not eat Will would probably finish off.
This proved true as they began to eat. Will did control her self more then she did last night, but she did eat more quickly then the other two present. By the time they were all done both Sade and Susan could tell Will felt stuffed.
"Susan I get the feeling your cooks are going to need a raise with her around," Sade joked which got Will grumbling. "Is this pick on Will day or something?"
This had Sade confused especially when Susan tried to tell the story while Will was contently putting her hand over Susan mouth to silence it. It had proven to be quit entertaining to watch to say the least.
Eventually Susan's older stronger body defeated Will's desire to keep the story of her new nickname from being told to the Queen as the elf restrained Will and told the story. This caused the Queen to laugh at the thought of Will with pink colored hair and with bright red skin.
By the time they all settled down Sade spoke. "Well I know we planned to leave tomorrow Susan, but I think it would be best to get Will out McDohl's domain and to the lands under your control as soon as possible." Sade said with a bit of a royal tone to it.
Susan knew what this meant. It was Sade's way of being discreet about saying she had a feeling that McDohl would cause trouble the second he had the chance. Susan nodded and asked, "That means the reason your handmaidens left was to pack my belongings, am I correct?"
Sade smiled and nodded yes to her friend's question. "Yes they should be back any minute now and I informed Lord McDohl about our sudden departure yesterday so he will have preparations done by now as well."
Susan had no problem believing that the lord would be ready to get rid of them as soon as possible 'Now he can go back to undermining Sade's authority with out having some one watching over his shoulder,' she thought bitterly.
Two hours later two carriages were ready for them. One was for Sade to head back to the capital of Meridian while the second was for Susan and her 'prisoner'.
Lord McDohl was saying his final good byes to the Queen and give the Lady Vandom any accidents she may need with the Warlock. 'Why her highness does not have it executed I'll never know' the Lord thought with great dislike of the half-elf girl before him, who in his personal opinion was being treated far to kindly.
Susan could tell the lord's displeasure of Will being treated as a person, and made a vow to one day make the man pay dearly. But for now she just helped Will climb into the carriage and focus on how to train the girl in her talents, then worry about the lord.
"Well your highness I wish you and Lady Vandom a safe trip," the lord said with a bow hiding the dark look on his face, thinking to him self 'and I hope the blasted warlock experiences the final measure of the circlet, though the blasted elf most likely won't even use the bracelet at all.'
Sade was the only one replying to the lord's farewell while Susan made sure Will was comfortable, and as she explained a few things. "Just so you know Will, your training is going to be hard both physically and mentally. But once you get used to it you might even enjoy it." Susan explained as she took out the book of stories again.
Will groaned at this making Susan half smile, half scowl at the young girl. "To learn certain things, good reading skills are important." This of course reminded Will of Zerase and made her sad for a moment.
Susan was about ask what was wrong when Will answered, "Zerase scolds me the same way." The young half-elf said as if reading Susan's mind.
Susan placed her hand on Will's shoulder and said "I'll try to be as good a teacher as they were to you," and with that bit of reassurance they felt the carriage start to move away as they started their journey to were Will would one day call home.
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Okay third one down…not sure how many far to go!