Chapter 21 —Lord Vorshan

Luck was on his side. Lord Vorshan was still working behind his desk, and when Bastach informed the lord of the situation, he was immediately sent to bring Jarrel and the foreigner girl.

To his relief, Bastach found the pair apparently cleaning up after a meal. He still didn’t understand how the girl could perform such tasks if she was blind. Was she using her energy perception to see with?

When they moved to follow him through the gate, he felt that creepy pulse again—like thousands of ghostly fingers touching every part of him. Crap. She got him again.

“Please don’t do that pulse thing with your staff while you are inside the village, and definitely don’t do it while in front of the lord,” Bastach warned.

“You can sense it?” the girl, Ria, asked sounding surprised.

Bastach raised an eyebrow. “Anyone with a basic level of control over their inner energy can sense it, you know?”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate,” she mumbled.

No, no. That’s not the correct response. Shouldn’t she be apologizing?

“Well, something to work on later. With this, I’ve won the bet, right? I made it all the way to the village without tripping once or taking off the blindfold,” she said triumphantly.

“Yep. It’s my loss. As usual, the speed of your improvement is ridiculous. Well done,” Jarrel conceded.

“Heh, heh. That means you’ll find someone to teach me how to properly use my dagger,” Ria gloated.

“Guess so. I’ll see what I can do about finding you a competent instructor,” Jarrel promised.

“Yay!”

At the perplexing responses, Bastach looked back at the pair in time to see Ria removing her blindfold and her mask. The girl’s expressive eyes were a striking summer-sky blue that seemed to almost glow with hidden power. Her face was just pretty enough not to really stand out, and she had yet to outgrow her still childishly puffy cheeks. Maybe that was why she wore a mask that covered below her eyes?

In any case, she clearly wasn’t blind. Was she training to improve the visualization for her energy perception? Not just walking and fighting but preparing meals… it really was ridiculous. If he had that kind of determination, perhaps his own aborted mage training would have gone better.

Ria was amused that the captain guy stared a bit too long when she uncovered her face. The winds in the highlands were especially biting, so she made the mask to protect her skin, but she did like the mystique of being a 'masked witch'.

The mask and blindfold were made from the scraps of her linen shirt after the shirt was torn to pieces when she got attacked while washing her clothes. That was a close call which used up a lot of their healing potion supply and prompted her to learn some basic healing magic. In the end, she considered herself lucky. Having to make the mask from her spare underwear would have been way too embarrassing.

The guards gathered inside the gate were eyeing her warily as she and Jarrel entered the town, so she gave them what she hoped was a pleasant smile. If Jarrel's plan worked out, this was going to be her new home.

Some of the guards visibly relaxed, others stiffened up. Seeing the mixed reaction, Ria decided that she should practice smiling using her mom's hand mirror later.

Probably the same four guards from earlier followed from behind as they briskly walked the cobblestone main road. Occasionally, a head poked out a window to see what was going on, but overall, it seemed that most families didn't care or were already asleep.

Similar to Shadewood, the houses she saw along the road were mostly a mix of wood and stone, but surprisingly, almost all had glass windows. Also different from Shadewood, the houses here were built up against each other to conserve space, and many had a white mud-looking material covering their walls instead of wood shingles or planking. The appearance was surprisingly attractive. Overall, her first impression of this village was that it was wealthier and more crowded than her previous home.

The buildings became taller, larger, and fancier, the closer they walked toward the large manor on a hill at the center of the village, and in front of the manor's gate, the cobblestone road widened into a circular common area with a large well. A stone gazebo of sorts straddled over the well and atop the gazebo stood a stone statue of a man shielding his eyes as he looked toward the horizon.

Guards stationed at the manor's gate saluted as Captain Bastach led their small procession through toward the manor proper.

Inside the gate, a walkway made of wide pieces of colorful cut-stone passed through a lovely garden that Ria wanted to come back and see in daylight sometime.

When they entered the large house, Captain Bastach requested that she and Jarrel hand over their weapons for safekeeping. Meanwhile, two servants came forward and cleaned their boots of mud and dirt.

Ria was fine with handing over her dagger and quickly unbelted the sheath, but she was more reluctant when handing over her staff and wands. Jarrel gave up his swords, but he did raise a warning eyebrow at the captain guy.

The servants also took their packs and cloaks. They offered to take Ria's coat, but Jarrel stopped them, reminding Ria that her undergarments weren't appropriate clothing to wear before Lord Vorshan, which caused her to turn red with embarrassment and look away.

The captain wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of a dog walking through the manor, so Ria asked Ranger to guard their stuff for them. He replied with an obedient woof and followed the servants to a side room, earning disbelieving stares from the guards.

Protocol attended to, Captain Bastach led them deeper into the manor. Everything inside the manor was clean and shiny, from the polished stone floors to the beautifully carved furniture. Ria let her eyes boggle from one high-class point of interest to another. Her and Jeni's families had lived well for commoners, but their luxuries were nothing compared to the luxuries of actual nobility.

After a knock, they were led into a large room with a massive desk covered in paperwork. Behind that desk, a man with a neatly trimmed appearance sat in a high-backed chair. The man gazed over her and Jarrel interestedly, evaluating their appearances.

"Lord Vorshan, I have brought the travelers, as requested," Captain Bastach reported crisply.

"Good work, Captain," Lord Vorshan said and turned to Jarrel, "It's good to see you again, Jarrel. I would ask how fate has treated you in your travels, but… well, I'll let you tell the tale. If your information is as important as you made it sound, then I am certainly willing to grant you a favor as long as it is something reasonable and within my power."

Jarrel nodded. "Thank you, Lord Vorshan. The crux of the matter is that the Great Barrier Wall is failing."

Breaths were sucked in all around the room. Jarrel had the rapt attention of everyone present as he laid out what they had witnessed and their suspicions of the crown's true motivations.

Ria was asked about what she heard from the soldiers and the bandits. The duke's letter drew a raised eyebrow and questions on how she obtained it. She was nervous but eager to answer every question to the best of her ability. For now, this was the best way to pay back the king and country that she hated.

"Once again, you have provided a valuable service to House Vorshan and Crysellia, Jarrel." Lord Vorshan leaned back and steepled his fingers. "While the details of what you believe happened aren't confirmed by the duke's letter, with the letter in hand and the information you've provided, the diviners in the capital should be able to sort out the truth. Regardless, your warning will give us important time to prepare. Additionally, the foreknowledge about both the bandits targeting grain shipments and the coming food shortage in Revant should profit House Vorshan greatly."

Lord Vorshan smiled. "You have certainly earned the right to ask a favor of me. Unless you need time to prepare the request, let's hear it."

Jarrel bowed his gratitude. "Thank you for humoring me, Lord Vorshan. As I have mentioned to Bastach, I intend to adopt Ria, but her status as a ritual magic user is causing some complications. I would ask that, due to the uniqueness of her situation, she be granted a pardon for her unlicensed knowledge and use of ritual magic. Also, I feel that she will become a great asset to Crysellia in the future if she receives proper instruction. To that end, I ask that you consider sponsoring her to attend the Grand Crysellian Academy of Magical Studies."

"What about you, girl…" Lord Vorshan trailed off mid-question and leaned forward with an almost grandfatherly expression. "Ria, was it?"

"Yes, Lord Vorshan," Ria replied as politely as she could manage, bobbing a curtsy as her mother had taught her—or as best she could while wearing pants.

"Seems we'll need to get you in some skirts," the lord chuckled. "So, is this what you want?"

Ria was really excited at the chance to attend such a prestigious sounding school, but she hesitated for a moment. She didn't know anything about this lord, even if he did seem friendly and personable. For all she knew, he could be even worse than the king that she despised. That Jarrel trusted him to sponsor her was certainly in his favor, and if she was honest with herself, apparently she was already a criminal in this country too. Without a pardon and sponsorship, her situation seemed rather… tenuous.

She nodded. "Yes. I would very much like to live in this country and attend a school where I can improve my magic abilities."

"Hmm… I do believe that you honestly want those things," the man said and his expression became more serious as he leveled a powerful gaze at her. "But, what you truly want, you are afraid to ask for."

Hesitantly, Ria nodded. She felt a twinge of fear. This man… he noticed the darkness in her heart. Had it shown in the way she answered his questions earlier?

Lord Vorshan sighed. "I won't say that you should give up on your desire to seek help or vengeance for those you care about, but I will ask that you not be disappointed in us, in Crysellia, when such aid is not forthcoming. To accomplish either would require a costly war that would mean many more deaths and more grieving families, weakening the forces of both countries ahead of the coming onslaught of monster hordes.

"That is not to say that nothing can be done. Perhaps the High Council will be offended enough by the treatment of the common people to use the food shipments to apply pressure to Revant, but realistically, other than using the issue to gain political goodwill here in Crysellia, the High Council will probably care little about the fate of the peasants of a neighboring country.

"I would recommend that you accept the fresh start that Jarrel has earned for you and to leave unhealthy and unproductive thoughts behind. If you can accept this, and not hold it against us, then I have some further questions I'd like to ask before I decide whether to stake my family's name to back you."

Ria's shoulders sagged. What this lord said was true. She had allowed herself to feel hopeful that something would be done, and she would have undoubtedly grown frustrated when nothing happened. If she let that frustration grow, would she feel betrayed by this country as well? Once a traitor, always a traitor? Would that be true for her as it had been for others throughout history?

She fought back the wetness forming in the corners of her eyes when she thought that there would be no vengeance for her family. And yet, Ria still didn't want to give up on the idea completely… even if she was agreeing to set it aside for now.

This man was wise to foresee how her expectations would have led to further bitterness. Or was it experience? Either way, Ria decided to trust him.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Ria answered as truthfully as she could, "Thank you, Lord Vorshan. I-I might need some time, but I will try my best to leave the past in the past and seek a fresh start."

"I guess that answer is good enough, but you're much too honest, girl! A simple, 'Yes, my lord' would have sufficed," Lord Vorshan scolded.

"Yes, milord!" Ria replied, shocked.

Lord Vorshan chuckled. "Much better. Well, don't worry about it too much. We'll have to get you an etiquette tutor anyway, so the problem will solve itself over time. Now, for my first question, who is the master that taught you magic?"

Since she didn't have a formal master, Ria had considered this question herself and had a reply ready, "Archmage Luventi of Parthanex Tower, Sage of the 9th Circle, milord."

Lord Vorshan practically fell out of his chair in his haste to stand. Captain Bastach was gasping like a fish going, "Wha-? Wha-? What?"

And Jarrel was rubbing his forehead.

The four guards didn't seem to have a clue why everyone was reacting to the name.

"Did I say something wrong?" Ria asked timidly, and Jarrel chuckled quietly.

Lord Vorshan recovered enough from his shock to ask, "Archmage Luventi? He's been missing for seventy years! You've met him?"

"In spirit, I guess," Ria muttered lamely, too embarrassed to admit that she was self-taught.

"Necromancy?!" Lord Vorshan gasped.

Jarrel burst out laughing. "You just can't help yourself, can you, Ria?"

Lord Vorshan gave Jarrel an unamused look. "You know something, don't you, Jarrel."

"Yes, sorry milord. Give me a moment," Jarrel said as he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes and tried to stifle his sniggers. "She's self-taught. I bet Luventi is the author of her grimoire."

"That's what you choose to hide?" Lord Vorshan asked Ria in disbelief.

Ria turned totally red. "…I'm sorry. I was embarrassed that I didn't have an actual teacher. But it wasn't a lie! He's the one who taught me magic."

"I see… that explains the ritual magic then. That book was undoubtedly written before the current bans were put in place, and before the curriculum was changed to reflect more modern casting methods," Lord Vorshan muttered thoughtfully, before turning back to Ria. "Can you summarize for me what you have learned?"

"I've mostly focused on the basics. Meditation, energy perception, energy control, and energy transformation. I'm still learning the transformations, but I can perform all the transformations that I have found an example magic item or place of power for. I can do simple wards, barriers, and the familiar bonding ritual," Ria spilled out, hoping that she hadn't forgotten anything.

"You didn't mention Spirit Magic rituals, even though you can do the familiar bonding ritual. Why is that?" Lord Vorshan asked.

"Luventi, in his book, continually warns his students against seeking short-cuts to power through ritual magic, saying that wards and barriers were the only types of ritual magic safe enough to be introduced to beginners. The familiar bonding ritual was included to prevent desperate apprentices from what he called, ‘acts of stupidity’,” Ria explained.

"I thought you said she was a witch of the wilds, Bastach? This girl sounds about what we should expect for a foreign mage apprentice," Lord Vorshan chided his retainer.

"I don't know what to say, milord, but I think you may be underestimating what she means when saying that she focused on the basics. For example, her energy perception is at a level where she can walk around and perform complex tasks while blindfolded. Her energy control is to the level where she can instantly seize control of any ambient energy within her sensing range. And those are just the things that I have personally witnessed her do," Bastach argued in defense of himself.

Lord Vorshan turned back to Ria. "Is what he says true?"

Ria nodded.

"Can you show me one of your practice exercises?"

Ria tilted her head slightly as she thought about it then nodded again. "I normally use my staff as a focus tool, so it might take me a few tries."

The guards shifted nervously as Ria closed her eyes and held out her hand palm-upward. At first a tiny flame appeared and then it grew into a palm-sized ball of fire. After a few seconds the fire stretched out into a ring shape and then into a serpentine shape which wove between her outstretched fingers and around her arm.

"Ah. The serpentine fire exercise. Excellent control,” Lord Vorshan praised her. “You can stop now. How about your Ward Magic? I can hardly give you a license to practice without having seen it. Is there something you can show me?”

Again, Ria thought through what might be safe choices and nodded. “I can, but I’ll need my grimoire to look up the correct glyphs. …Should I have Ranger—my familiar—bring it?”

Lord Vorshan gave an interested look. “Yes, please. I’d like to see that.”

“Milord, I’m not sure that’s-,” Bastach started but was waved off.

Seeing that it was fine, Ria concentrated on her bond with Ranger to borrow his eyes and confirm his situation before silently giving him instructions.

{Ranger, can you retrieve my grimoire from the pack and bring it to me?}

Ria sent Ranger an image of the desired item as well.

{Can.}

Ranger’s reply contained an eagerness to be of use, and she could tell his tail was wagging happily as he carefully removed things from the pack and put them back once the book was freed, much to the servants’ growing consternation and amazement.

There were some shouts of alarm when Ranger left the room with the book, but Ria told him to walk casually at an unhurried pace so the guards could follow him. He voiced some frustration but did as told, and the guards refrained from doing anything rash.

“Good job, Ranger. Thanks!” Ria told her familiar when he arrived with the book in his mouth. “You can go sit next to Jarrel while I work, okay?”

Ranger was really proud of himself, and as Ria expected, his tail was whipping about happily as he followed her instruction.

There was only one problem, Ria thought as drool dripped down the cover of her grimoire. She laughed nervously and used her blood-stained cleaning rag to quickly wipe off the dog slobber. Jarrel was rubbing his forehead again for some reason, but she ignored him.

Lord Vorshan told the two guards that followed Ranger that everything was fine and they could return to their post, and after observing her familiar for a while, he asked, “Where did you find such an intelligent and capable dog?”

"H-he was just a normal farm dog, milord," Ria protested and fidgeted.

"Rarwoar. Woof!"

"What was that?" Lord Vorshan asked, surprised.

"He said he was an excellent farm dog, milord," Ria replied.

"Hahaha, I bet he was indeed,” Lord Vorshan chuckled at the correction. "Was he always this intelligent?"

Ria shook her head. "I don't think so. He seemed to get a lot more intelligent as the bond strengthened."

"Ah, yes, of course. I'm sure it would be interesting to investigate the differences between Archmage Luventi's familiar bonding ritual and the ones more commonly used at the Grand Academy, but that is beyond my expertise, so let's move on to the Ward Magic demonstration." Lord Vorshan motioned for her to proceed.

Jarrel stepped backward toward the wall to give her more room to work, and the others nervously did the same.

Ria quickly found the reference table with the needed glyphs and started drawing with her finger, pushing the energy into the floor and using her energy control to refine the shapes as needed. With her improved sensing ability, she was able to see the spell as it was drawn and no longer needed to mark the design beforehand.

This time she decided to use a divination construct based around the simple meaning of a single glyph for the voice activation, the same glyph she used for the ward’s effect.

When finished, Ria spoke up, "Milord, the ward is complete. I'd like to write down the activation word for you so you can activate it. If I may approach?"

"Yes, of course. Here, use this paper and quill. Can you also draw the ward on the paper? There's something I'm curious about," Lord Vorshan said, interest gleaming in his eyes.

Ria nodded and did as asked.

"Hmm. Yes, I see." Lord Vorshan looked back at the floor where the invisible ward was inscribed and spoke clearly, "Freeze!"

The pattern flared to life, and a coating of ice spread out from the ward as breathtaking cold assaulted the room, causing the papers on the desk to flutter. All present gritted their teeth at the freezing air rushing past before it ebbed and dissipated.

"Gods! That's cold!" Captain Bastach complained.

"Excellent work, young Ria! How much of your energy did you use to construct the ward?" Lord Vorshan asked excitedly.

"About a third, milord," Ria answered and hurried to explain, "This is an example of a trap-type ward. It's possible to improve the power and shape the effect by adding shamanic-style invocations, but I'm not as skilled with that yet.”

"And if you used all of your energy, how much is the difference?" Lord Vorshan asked.

Ria hesitated. "It-it would be very dangerous. Particularly when paired with fire or lightning."

"Yes. I expect so." Lord Vorshan grinned. "Well, I've decided. I'll issue you a pardon, and a temporary license to practice shamanic magic. The academy will want to have a say in whether you can have a license for performing familiar-bonding rituals, so until such time you are hereby prohibited from doing so, understand?"

"Yes, milord!" Ria nodded, wide-eyed at the sudden decision.

"Now, about sponsoring you, there are some conditions," Lord Vorshan began, then smirked slightly which caused Ria to gulp. "Do you think you can form your wards at a distance without drawing them?"

Ria's head tilted to the side slightly in confusion then she nodded. "I think so…"

"Good, good. I want you to practice that, and when you feel confident enough, I'll introduce you to a proper instructor to be your new master," Lord Vorshan announced.

“T-thank you, milord. I’ll do my best!” Ria wasn't sure what to think, but it sounded like she would be given a chance to apprentice to a powerful mage if she could pass this test.

“Jarrel, she’ll be staying at your parents’ place?” Lord Vorshan asked.

“Yes, that’s my intention,” Jarrel confirmed.

“Good. I’ll send the paperwork tomorrow. You and Ria are free to go. Bastach, come with me, there are a few matters left to discuss, and it’s a bit too chilly in here.” Lord Vorshan winked to Ria as he left the room.