Mark of the Assassin

2nd of spring, 89 N.W.

Dear Aeria,

I cried all night when father told me that you were to be sent away. I’m sorry I’ll never see you again and I’m sorry that you’re in trouble because of me. You’re forgiven because you did nothing wrong. You just sought to protect me. I really thought Beatrix was going to kill me.

Beatrix has been surrounded by servants non-stop because mother and father are scared you did something to her. She’s been saying you’ve cursed her. I know that’s not true, but it keep her busy. She hasn’t bothered Thea or I since you’ve left so far. I hope it continues like that, but I know it won’t. Mother is letting her drink wine with her at the table and she always has too many. She gets the look in her eye that she got when she tried to kill me.

My wounds are not yet healed. The ones that are have left nasty scars on my head. I hope that my hair grows over it so no one gawks at me. The servants stay away from me mostly, so aside from Janei I’m alone. They think your magic maybe wore off on me. I prefer it this way. I’ve been reading all day since you’ve left. It has felt like an eternity.

If you’re wondering how I got the letter out, it was through one of the servants. Her name is Winnie for when you send it back. Write that it is from Lady Maria of Kudeba. She believed me. She is a nice servant, but she keeps her distance still. I wonder if people will ever be close to me again.

I have sent a few coins to you because I am not sure if father and mother gave you enough. Your clothes will probably be odd there, so you might have to buy new ones. If you could send me back some things, I would love it. You know me best, so you choose what you’d like to send back. Don’t ask me where I got the coins because I know you won’t like the answer.

That’s all that’s happened since you’ve left. I’ve not nothing more to write, but know that I love you and miss you. I hope that maybe you’ll be allowed to return.

Love Francis

I had received a letter from Francis. The woman who greeted me last night gave me to me when she came to wake Peter and I up. She seemed to be the woman in charge of Peter or maybe it was just all the children. She said today was the only day that we would be individually woken up because the bell had broken several days ago, but it was to be fixed today.

I got dressed in my dress and walked into the hall. The woman looked at my dress and raised an eyebrow. It didn’t seem like people expected me to have a dress. In the lower city everyone wore breeches and a tunic, maybe it was the same way in the school. Francis was probably right, my clothes would be considered odd.

Clothes were the least of my concerns though. I could get more later, but I had to hurry to class. The woman had placed me in most of the same classes as Peter. It seemed that I was above my level as far as my education went. That was one good thing about growing up in the castle in an area that was almost always covered in snow. We did nothing but read and do our studies.

“This is Aeria.” The teachers introduced me. The students all looked at my dress. Some of the students were wearing clothes like mine and some students were wearing tunics and breeches. It seemed that I could wear whatever I pleased.

“Sit next to D’aknu.” The history teacher told me. She was a nice girl. She spoke to me when the class was over and told me lots of information about the school. She had an accent too, different than Peters. Hers sounded more harsh, but that supposed that was probably the way people from her area sounded.

This school was apparently a mix of educational classes and fighting classes. I was told that I could choose which to do, since all students got the choice. Many parents of the upper city students did not let their children to the fighting, but I chose to anyway. D’aknu was doing the fighting too. She was not originally from the capital. She said that her parents were farmers and had saved up enough to pay for the boarding so their child could get the education and become a knight. The education part of the school was done in four years, but if we were to become knights it would take six years.

I decided at that moment that I wanted to be a knight. I had seen them in my country and they were respected. They fought for the country and kept peace in times they weren’t fighting. They had swords and horses. I was going to be a knight.

“You’re doing all six years?” Peter asked once we sat down for our meal D’aknu sat with us, as well as a few people that I didn’t know.

“I’ve decided that I will be a knight.” I said. A few of the people I didn’t know snickered. I was not sure why that was funny.

“There are only a few women knights.” One of the boys who had laughed told me.

“I’m doing it too.” D’aknu said. They laughed again. Peter didn’t laugh with them.

“I’m going to finish all six years too. I’m going to be a military leader.” Peter said. “You guys can fight in my army.”

The kids stopped laughing once Peter said that. They decided that if Peter was alright with us that they would hold their tongues. I could tell Peter only tolerated them. He gritted his teeth as they spoke. They were all from the upper city. D’aknu looked like she felt bad for being the only person that wasn’t wearing nice clothes.

“Where do you get breeches and a tunic like yours?” I asked her near the end of our lunch. The upper city kids at the table nearly choked on their food. D’aknu looked surprised as well.

“I’ll show you later.” She told me.

“Ok. I need different clothes. And I think I need to know where the laundress is.” I said. Once I grew out of the dresses, I was willing to bet that I wouldn’t have money to buy more. The money that I had would probably run out pretty quickly, so although I planned on stashing them so I wouldn’t use them, I more than likely would need to at some point.

“Proper ladies don’t wear breeches.” One of the girls said.

“Neither do nobles.” Another chimed in.

“I’m neither.” I said, pretending to look confused. I knew that everyone assumed that I was a noble because it had already gotten around that I was in the same hall as Peter. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn my dress today, especially since I didn’t want the attention.

“I’ll tell you before free time so you can get some.” She said. From there on none of the upper city kids spoke to us. I understood why Peter wasn’t so fond of people knowing he was royalty now. It wasn’t that none of these kids weren’t nice, it was more that they thought that they were better than everyone. Their parents had not done well teaching them humility.

D’aknu and I had one more class together. It was just before free time. I wanted to tour the city with her on my free time, but I knew that going to the guild was my main priority. I had to get control of my magic so I didn’t hurt more people. I didn’t want to think about last night, but I knew that it could be prevented.

“Your dress is so pretty. I don’t know why you would rather wear what I’m wearing.” She told me as she gave me the directions.

“I’ll grow out of them soon. Plus, I would rather be able to move freely.” I said. Dresses were nice, but I couldn’t very well go around in one. Plus, they were my only nice things and I didn’t want to ruin them, just in case I needed them. It just wasn’t convenient since I left. It might have worked at home, but I figured that I might get my dresses dirty.

“I don’t think I’ll grow much bigger than this.” She said, “My ma is only a few inches taller than me.” She added. She was already pretty tall compared to the other children our age, but she was not adult size. Even if she grew a few inches taller she would still be short in comparison to other adults.

“You can have my dresses once I out grow them.” I told her. There was no point to keeping things I couldn’t wear. She looked surprised before throwing her arms around me and hugging me.

We parted ways and I found Peter in his room. He was sitting by the window sill with a hand full of bread. There were birds eating from his hand. He looked happy to feed them. Once the animals noticed me they took off. He sighed and put the bread crumbs on the ledge outside his room.

“Sorry.” I said.

“They had to go anyways. It’s free time.” He said. He already had his tunic and breeches on. They were a clean pair from last night. I could tell because last night had been muddy and there was no trace of mud on his breeches.

Peter led me to a shop that sold tunics and breeches. He paid for my things again and told me that I could pay him back at the end of the week. We would go to the bank and exchange the coins I had.

There was a handsome necklace at the shop. It looked like something mother had given Francis when we were younger. He had loved the pendant until we lost it while playing in the lake. I picked it up and we bought the necklace too.

“Who is the necklace for?” Peter asked.

“My brother, Francis.” I said.

“I thought you couldn’t go back to your country?” He asked.

“I send letters. He asked me for a gift. He had a necklace like this before last spring, when he lost it, so I thought he would like it.” I said. Peter shoved all the stuff that we had purchased into a cloth bag. It seemed like he had one with him wherever he went. Evidently not all shops gave you a bag.

“Does he like flowers?” Peter asked, “Because we have the prettiest flowers in spring and I think that I could manage to get you a few seeds from the groundskeeper at the castle.” He said.

“That would be wonderful!” I said. I couldn’t help from smiling, because I knew Francis would love his gifts. The only problem that we faced now was getting the letter all the way back home and to the servant so that Francis could get it.

The guild was waiting for us when we got to the little pub. Drinks were waiting on the table. There was waters for Peter and I, and tea for the mages. The tea was a beautiful orange color. I had never had tea like that before. Tea served at the palace was always watery and black.

Peter and I asked for tea once we had settled in and began drinking it with the adults. It was wonderful. Ryia told us that the tea was spelled for good health. They had a whole stash of it apparently. When it came spring time Carac said that they would show us how to make tea and spell it for various things.

“She doesn’t know what kind of mage she is.” Peter said halfway through the lesson. The three mages stopped and looked at me.

“I don’t know what I didn’t ask.” Ryia muttered. She gulped down her tea and set her tea cup back down on the table. The other mages did the same. Peter and I had already finished our tea, so we just followed them out of the pub.

“Where are we going?” I asked Peter.

“Well I went to the mage school to find out. I already knew, but they wanted to check with one of the mages that could see the gift.” He said. He grabbed my hand and held it as we walked. He knew that I was nervous. He had been holding my hand whenever I got nervous since I met him. I liked it.

Getting to the mage school didn’t take long, as it was only a few blocks from school. The bunch of us stood out walking through the upper city in our clothes. No one said anything, but they moved away from us as we walked by them.

Once we got into the mage school it wasn’t much different. Most of the mages in the building we incredibly well dressed. Carac was the only one who didn’t mutter about them being pretentious. I asked what it meant and Ryia told me not to speak so loudly.

We had to go to the last room on the left on the top floor. The door was ornate and smelled of freshly cut wood. Josef picked up the large door knocker and was about to knock on the door when it opened.

“You know that will damage the door.” The woman that came out said, scolding him. She wasn’t that old, yet she walked like an old man. Her fingers were bony and scarred. I wondered if this was what happened to all mages as they aged.

“We brought you a child.” Ryia said.

“I do not accept sacrifices.” The woman said. The three mages snorted before pushing me forward. “What did you bring her for?”

“To see what kind of mage she is.” Josef said.

“Another one? Have you taken up the business of teaching the children?” The woman asked, hobbling back to her desk and sitting in her worn seat. The room was basked in a warm light from the candles all over the room. Everything was illuminated in a light that made it all look beautiful.

“No. Rose brought us this one,” Ryia laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, “She’s from Drotak.”

“No wonder she has no idea what mage she is.” The woman said, shaking her head. “It’s an absolute travesty what they are doing. They’re shutting out so much talent by outlawing magic.”

Everyone nodded with her. Once they were done with their formalities I was shoved forward. The woman examined me as if she was looking into my thoughts. For a brief moment, I wondered if she could read my thoughts. I pushed that from my mind and looked at the ground instead.

“What can you do?” She asked me.

“I can heal-“

“She can shoot lightning bolts from her hands.” Peter said.

“Hush child. I was not speaking to you,” She turned her attention back to me, “Is this true?”

“Yes, mistress.” I said, still not looking up.

“Show me.” She said. I looked up and she was staring at me.

“I need a target.” I said after a moment. Francis and I used to play this game. I rarely missed the target he chose.

“That apple over there. I think it’s gone rotten.” She said.

I focused on the apple. After a moment I could feel the air around me turn ice cold. My hands began to turn hot, making my skin tingle. Once I decided that I had gathered enough vibrations, I shot them from my finger, hitting the apple the moment I did. The apple exploded, getting on Carac’s face.

“Sard! It’s more than rotten!” Carac spat out, glaring at the woman. “Elspeth you knew very well that would happen if someone hit the apple!”

“Then maybe you should have stood further away. I did not think that she could even control it that well.” The woman, evidently named Elspeth, said. She examined me again. “Can you do anything else?”

“Light and smother fires.” I said.

“Is that all,” She looked over at Peter this time.

“She can see past walls.” He said.

“How?” She asked me.

“It’s not really seeing. I can see the vibrations everything makes if I concentrate.” I said. It felt like boasting when I had to talk about what I could do. Then again, so did shooting the vibrations from my hands.

The woman stared for a moment longer before starting to leaf through one of the open books before her. She seemingly knew where she wanted to go because she was there in an instant. She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head and turning the page. She did this a few times before she got to the back of one of her books.

“You’re not seeing vibations,” She never took her eyes off the book, “You’re seeing energy. What you’re doing by shooting the energy from your hands is concentrating energy that you’ve taken from the air.”

“I’ve only ever heard of one energy mage,” Josef said, “Are you sure this is correct-“

“Have I ever been wrong?” Elspeth demanded. She shut all her books and stood up. “You came and asked my opinion and you’re judging it.”

“That is not what I meant,” Josef apologized, “I meant that it is incredibly rare and it seems unlikely that a young child from Drotak has it.”

“Well she does.” Elspeth said. “If you don’t want to teach her, she’s welcome to enroll in my school.”

“We’re going to teach her. Rose has a soft spot for her.” Ryia said.

With that everyone said their goodbyes and Elspeth walked us to the exit. She said goodbye to me and wished to see me again. She said that I could come to her for anything and she would be happy to help. Peter informed me that she gave him the same offer, but she seemed much more enthusiastic about me.

“My magic is no better than yours.” I told him while we were on the way back to the pub. It was my turn to hold his hand because he seemed upset. “You can speak to animals.”

“But that is nothing compared to energy! The woman said so.” He said.

“But you would make a better spy.” I told him. He had mentioned spies earlier in the day, so I knew that he liked them. “Or you could trade stuff with them. You could have a wild animal as a pet if you wished.”

That seemed to cheer him up. For the rest of the walk back to the pub he seemed cheerful. He told me that he was the only one in his family that was a mage. It was the same for me. Apparently normally the gift ran in families, inherited from generation to generation. Most powerful mages were a result of generations of magic being passed down.

“Ok, well, we know that you two are fully capable of magic, so we will show you something a little outside of what you know.” Ryia said, “We’re going to show you how to charm things like necklaces.”

“I have one.” I said, pulling the necklace we had just gotten out of the bag.

“Ok. We’re going to charm a few other things too.” She said as she pulled out a handful of necklaces from her bag. “We sell these at the store and they are for good health and healing quickly. You can do whatever type of charm you would like, but it has to work and it will be checked.”

“You’re going to sell our charms at the store?” Peter asked.

“Yes. And we will be paying you for each one that you make, but it must be up to our standards.” Carac said. “We are not selling bad charms because it’s bad for business.”

Four of each necklace were put down in front of us. Peter grabbed up one of his necklaces immediately and got to work. I watched the other mages work for a while before starting to work myself.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the energy. It sort of made sense that the vibrations were energy. Everything was made of energy. I could see the difference between the regular necklaces and the necklaces that were being charmed. They had a different energy within them. I wondered if they had to talk to their necklaces to get them to do what they wanted.

“Make your energy help the person who wears this to be healthy.” I told the energy. The began to move. “You can take energy from the air around you to keep them healthy.” I added. The moment I gave them permission to take energy from their surroundings they complied. It seemed that energy always wanted to gather more energy.

After a while Peter and I had finished spelling each of the necklaces. The other mages had already finished their necklaces. They checked each of ours to make sure that it was properly done before they were satisfied with our work. The mages handed us two copper nobles before we headed back to the school.

“Do you want pastries again?” Peter asked.

“We still have some from last night.” I said. I handed him my bronze nobles, which would go to paying him back for what I owe. He pushed my coins back, “I owe you-“

“Just save that. You need at least some money here.” He shoved his money in his pocket. I wondered if he had a coin pouch. It would be easy enough to make a spelled one for him. It seemed like spelling items was about intentions, so I was sure I could do other things on my own.

Going back to the school did not take too long. It was completely dark by the time we got back. Once again the only thing illuminated was the front walkway to the school. This time the woman was not standing out front waiting for us. Maybe we weren’t late this time around.

Once we got back to our hall we settled into our rooms. I lit a fire in the fire place and watched as the flames grew. It reminded me of the nursery. I missed Francis and my nursery servant. I missed waking up every morning help the servant clean up the playroom that we had left dirty the day before but had promised we would clean up before bed time.

I laid on the bed, tears slipping from my eyes, as I watched the fire. Hopefully Francis was doing fine at home. I held the necklace I got for him and closed my eyes. I still needed to write the letter, but at least I could spell his necklace for good health.

Peter came in shortly after I was finished and sat on my bed. Neither of us spoke. He just sat on the bed and watched the fire with me. He fell asleep on my bed, so I put a blanket over him and crawled under all the blankets for my bed. It was comforting to know another person was in the room with me.