Chapter 11

DG scrunched up her toes against the inside of her boots for warmth. The upper level courtyard had been mostly cleared of snow but the stones beneath her feet seemed to leach the cold right through her soles. Tutor eyed her warily from his perch to her right.

"I suppose we should test these new abilities out..." he started, sounding unsure and motioned to a crumbled statue at the edge of the ice garden.

DG nodded, feeling a little anxious herself. She could feel this new magic in her, like a cauldron ready to bubble over and she wasn't sure if trying to lift the rock would succeed or if she'd accidentally tear the top off one of the castle's spires Instead.

She closed her eyes trying to focus like tutor taught her before... it was so difficult...the moment her eyes shut, she could feel everything... the cold sheen in the air that meant snow was on the way... the soft hum of activity in the castle through the stone floor under her feet...The persistent whisper of the magic weaved into the world around her was distracting and she growled in frustration, covering her ears.

"It's all too loud! It's like I feel everything, I hear everything! And it's only gotten stronger since last night!"

"You need to center yourself. Think about what makes you feel safe, what makes you feel happy... bring that forward until it occupies your mind. Then try to move the rock."

DG frowned, her mind cycling through the answers that should have made sense. She thought of her mother and father... but that didn't feel right. Her parents made her mostly happy but their many years of absence did not build that strong bond of feeling secure... and thinking of Momster and Popsicle just made her feel wholly depressed. Az made her happy but not safe... And Glitch, bless him, would do anything for her but wasn't what one could call reliable...

Oh.

Of course.

Cain.

She focused on the color of his eyes until she got the shade right; then she imagined nothing but that color above, below, and stretched out as far as her minds eye could see before her. Her heart rate slowed and she pressed her magic forward until she wrapped it around the rock and it lifted in the air, it following her every whim.

She smiled, repeating the action to some adjacent rocks.

"Good," said tutor, "now, the snow," he continued gesturing over the half wall to the ground below.

She walk over, leaned over the side, and pushed her palm out in front of her. A gust of wind rushed to gather at her back before racing down the wall and carving a path away from the castle and piling the snow high on the sides. After a few moments of concentration, the moved snow started to melt, rushing down the newly created path. Pulling her hand back, she freezed it into a smooth sheet. DG grinned st her reflection below.

"Nicely done, your highness," chuckled Tutor, a hint of surprise in his voice, "What else do you think you can manage?"

DG pursed her lips in thought.

"Maybe something useful," she muttered, wanting to expand her offensive and defensive use of magic.

The icy path liquefied once again before lifting into air, a rippling, undulating mass. Once it had achieved a sufficient height, the water separated into smaller sections before rapidly refreezing into spikes before being driven with great force back into the earth.

She repeated the action until she could reliably send them at a pre-determined target on the ground. She then practiced rapidly melting the ice and refreezing into thick barrier about as tall as herself.

"Cover, you know like a shield. .." she answered to Tutor's questioning look. She spent the next hour forming potentially useful shapes with the ice and occasionally trying to shoot off small bursts of water at nearby trees, creating deep gouges in the bark.

"On the Other-side they use water to cut metal if they can get it moving fast enough."

She continued until she felt shakey and clammy from exertion and sat with a flop onto the stone floor of the courtyard.

"Not bad your highness" said tutor, clapping his hand over her shoulder.

She gave him a wordless thumbs up as she rested her forehead on her bicep. She glanced up when she felt Tutor's hand spasm. Her mother stood on the far end of the courtyard and with a bow, Tutor excused himself.

She sat on a bench in front of DG and looked at her expectantly.

DG rocked backed, placing her weight on her palms.

"How can I help you, Mother?"

"How was your lesson?"

"Exhausting but informative," she replied, sitting up and absently massaging her palms, " It didn't start great...but I feel better now."

The Queen's brow furrowed.

"What is it, DG?"

"Oh no big deal," DG wave her off while getting to her feet, "Just a little anxious. Lots of things have happened within the last few days. It's a lot to take in. How's Az doing?"

The Queen's face crumpled a bit.

"She's not speaking to me at the moment. But I don't think I've ever seen her with so much vigor." She replied a half hearted smile. DG reached out and gripped her hand sympathetically. Their morning breakfast had been high-lighted by Az storming in and yelling at her parents about her abandonment at the start of the witch's possession.

The Queen folded her hands back into her lap before continuing.

"By the time I learned of the witch, it was too late. Perhaps I was selfish and preoccupied...I'm not proud of the ruler I was then and I am ashamed of myself as a mother."

DG started to contradict her but all arguments died on her tongue as the Queen shook her head.

"You don't need to defend me, Angel. I know my sins and I have much to atone for. Starting now. Your Father and I will be traveling to the encampment to investigate this Roquat. You and you sister shall remain here. I've already sent a request for reinforcements so you do not need to fret, dear. We will send word as soon as we learn anything."

"But...when?"

"A few days."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No," she replied immediately, "but it will be viewed positively by the militia and the people. They will see it as direct action without hesitation which is what we need at the moment."

DG reluctantly nodded her agreement.

"DG," began her mother, placing her hand on her cheek, "whatever happens, please be careful. I couldn't bear to lose you again."

"I will."

"Ambrose!" coughed Az, waving through the smoke as she unlatched and threw open a nearby window. She leaned out, taking a few deep breaths of air before turning towards the royal advisor and extinguished the small flame burning at the end of one of his curls.

"Thanks, dame. Just a malfunction with some new incindiary mines I'm testing."

"You really should be more careful! What would we do if we lost you? Are you alright?"

"Yes, just a little singed but that happens almost every other week so I'm used to it, " Glitch smiled in reply, dusting the soot off of his shoulder before suddenly stopping.

"Say, how are you after the...?"

Az grimaced slighly, thinking about her outburst that morning. After the moment with DG, she was inspired to truly unburden herself for the first time in over fifteen annuals.

"You did nothing to save me!" She had screeched at her parent's stricken faces as they sat at the breakfast table. "You decided I was evil and washed your hands of me while sacrificing everything to save DG! Was I not your daughter too? Did you really not know me enough to know something was not right?"

"I'll be fine," she replied shaking her head, "I think it needed to be said and I feel better for saying it but I don't relish the idea of creating more tension in the family. We're already so strained."

Glitch just nodded in sympathy.

"Anyway do you have a moment?" She asked, taking out her journal and offering it to her advisor.

Glitch took the book, eyebrows lifting as he thumbed through it

"Not too shabby..." he muttered.

"Do you think they would actually be helpful?"

"Yeah I think we could use a lot of these. I need to build a machine to start the weaving... And you and DG would actually be handling this one. But I'll get started on them. You can stay and help if you'd like?"

Az smiled.

"I will."