It was all coming
to a close she thought as she saw Him walk into the room she knew to be his
study. Soon everything she had worked for would bear its fruits, her revenge
would be complete. She turned around and made her way down to the kitchens
where she was worked in order to gain access to the castle. Gaining access to
the castle marked the final act of her revenge.
It
had been almost twelve years since the day her village was attacked by bandits,
she the lone survivor. It was during the attack that she discovered she could
use magic but despite the power she had gained she wasn’t able to stop the
attack, how could a four year old do anything? Yet when she made it to the next
village she knew had come to realize that one man had the power to stop the
attack; the king.
The
King who was in charge of making sure the realm was protected, the man who sent
guards on patrol through the kingdom. The man who she now knew had failed to
pay guards in order to have a feast. While he was surrounded by the smell of
fresh food she choked on the smoke of her village being burned to the ground.
In
the kitchens she found a tray of food she was to deliver to a visiting scholar
whom was teaching the castle’s mage school. Picking up the tray she made her
way down the twisting hallways to the room where the man was staying. She
knocked on the door twice as she was supposed to before coming into a room and
opened the door. As usual the scholar sat at the desk with his face stuck a book.
“Thank
you dear,” the scholar said, his face still lodged firmly in the book. “Please
put the tray on the bedside table.” Putting the tray down she looked at the man
closely, and could see a faint glowing aura around him. This was a sign
confirming what she already knew about him, he was a mage. Not a particularly
powerful one she could tell but the only thing she could really compare him to
was herself.
It
was her teacher who had told her how to use the power she had discovered the
night of the raid. The old women took one look at her and brought her in to her
home where she fed her and trained her in the ways of magic. The old women also
told her that even among mages that the she was special. She was a breed of
powerful mages known as Spellweavers.
The
scholar continued looking into his book and when she was convinced he was not
going to request anything more she opened the door and made her way back down
to the kitchens for her next assignment.
A
Spellweaver she was told was the highest class of mage. They were gifted not
only with great power but also with the ability to see magic. Her teacher had
explained to her that normal mages converted their energy into a magical nature
and put more and more energy until they convinced it would do the job they
needed it to do. Like if they wanted to create a fireball they would convert
the energy into a fire nature and then add more energy to it until it would
destroy whatever they needed to destroy.
Spellweavers
on the other had could manipulate magic more so. Instead of always throwing a
fireball she could create a fire javelin. It wasn’t as always that simple
though. Mages with different talents could do different things; magic after all
she had been taught was only limited by your creativity. She was one of few
born with the ability to weave the magic and see it, an ability she had
dedicated her time and energy perfecting for one purpose.
The
kitchen was nearly empty and she guessed that everyone had gone home. On the
counter where she found the trays to deliver was one tray left with a note on
it.
“Dinner
For Ann”
Being
an orphan she was one of the few that lived in the castle as a kitchen servant.
The job besides putting her one step closer to her ultimate goal had many other
benefits. She had meals like the one before her, was paid a little sum every
week, and had a room nearby the kitchens.
Her teacher who
had only fueled her hatred for the King would be furious that she would work in
the castle but she didn’t care as long as she could eventually carry out her
goal. The castle as she had found out was nearly impossible to get into. When
she had first arrived in the town she was convinced she would have to blast her
way in with magic and hunt the man down but she had soon learned that the
castle was made of a magic resistant stone. There was always something in her
way.
It wasn’t until
she was thought she was going to die from starvation that she had been found by
the castles cook. The cook had taken her to the castle and fed her and insisted
that she stay in the castle. It was hard at first being so close to the king
but her drive kept her from rushing in for the kill.
She lay in the
most comfy bed she had ever laid in after eating her meal and thought of her
life, her thoughts on revenge and the day that she would finally avenge her
family.
* *
* * *
Being a kitchen
servant was probably the best job she could think of for an assassin she
thought as she made her way to the next room to deliver her next tray of food.
She had free reign of the castle in order to deliver meals, and no one took
notice of her except for pleasantries.
Over her couple
months at the castle a plan had slowly begun forming and soon it would be time
to strike. In a few days there would be a large feast where a treaty would be
signed between their nation and a neighboring one. According to the gossips in
the kitchen there was much speculation about the trustworthiness of the other
nation.
The day after the
signing she planned to strike. Quick and silent she would kill the king and go to
some quite village to lay low until she knew she would be safe. No one would
guess it was a kitchen servant when they had a nation to worry about.
After dropping the
tray off she was back in the kitchens. Instead of the standard tray there were
two large baskets covered with a white cloth one of which smelled of fresh
bread and the other after lifting the white cloth revealed fresh fruit. After
walking through the halls she was finally where the small paper had told her to
deliver the baskets, the Mage School within the castle.
She had always
wanted to visit the place where gifted individuals were invited to live and
study. It was actually quite smart she thought, people feared those that could
use magic and usually out of fear would attack. By bringing the people who
could use magic to the castle they were protecting those who used it and at the
same time sent the message that the castle had power inside.
She opened the
door into the giant circular room that she had learned once had been a ballroom
from the cook. Inside the room there were close to twenty kids, all boys. Women
who could use magic were uncommon and even when they were found usually were
not summoned to hone their skills. It like so many things she knew seemed to be
a boy thing.
She put the
baskets on a small table that was near the door and pulled the white cloth away
revealing the food underneath. As if a shout to charge had been issued by a
military leader they charged the baskets. She stepped to the side just in time
to see the baskets attacked. Within moments the baskets were empty and the boys
spread off across the room. It appeared that the boys had more in common than
just magic; they were all taken from their homes to an unfamiliar place. They
were all brothers in magic now.
“Excuse me.” She
turned around to find a boy looking at her with a two of the little bread loafs
in his hand. He tossed it to her and she caught it. It took her a second to
respond.
“The bread is for
you. The servants are fed in the kitchens.” She told him walking towards him to
give the bread back. He made no motion to take the bread from her.
“Its an extra.
Think of it as a thank you for bringing us food.” With that he left and joined
one of the group of boys. She walked out side the room with bread in hand and
leaned against the wall next to the door and started to slowly eat the bread
before heading back to the kitchen.
Besides the trip
to the Mage School nothing interesting happened which caused her mind to go
back to the boy who had handed her the bread. Carrying her last tray for the
day she made her way to the scholars room to deliver the food.
She knocked twice
and entered the room. It was the first time she had ever seen the scholar with
his face not stuck in a book. Instead he was talking to someone, she wanted to
know whom but from where the man stood he blocked the view. So she listened.
“You were born
with more ability than most can learn in a lifetime and you power only grows
more and more. You are so young yet with so much potential. I don’t want that
potential wasted.”
“I understand sir,”
the other voice said back. It wasn’t a man’s voice so she guessed he was
talking with one of the boys from the school. She put the food down and
continued to listen but they were talking about things that she had never heard
of before most likely from lessons at the school. She left the room but pressed
her hear to the outside of the door. Her curiosity was getting the better of
her. She pressed her ear closer but didn’t hear anything and almost fell on her
face when the door opened.
She quickly put
her head down and started walking towards the kitchen.
“You’re the girl
from earlier, the one who delivered the bread.” The person said from behind
her. Normally she would have continued forward but the voice sounded slightly
familiar so she turned around to see whom it was.
Standing in front
of her was the boy who she had talked to earlier, the boy who had given her a
loaf of bread.
“Hello. I wasn’t
meaning to eavesdrop or anything I was just curious about what he was talking
about.” She tried to make her voice sound even.
“It’s fine, the
professor has high standards for me and coming in on the conversation at that
point that you did I am sure any mage would be curious.” He started walking and
motioned for her to follow. “Are you done doing deliveries for the night?”
“Yes, the
teacher’s meal is the last meal to deliver.” How did he know she was a mage?
Was he the same as her? She followed him. She could sense that the boy had
power but not as much as she knew she could wield, could a Spellweaver have so
little power? She had never met another Spellweaver so she didn’t really know
the answer.
They walked for a
little while in silence and finally stopped in the castle garden. She spent a
lot of time in the gardens since it was so close to her room and it was usually
empty except for summer festivals that traditionally took place there. He sat
down on one of the benches and looked up at the stars. She sat next to him
looking straight at a particularly bright group of flowers.
“You’re the first
girl I have ever met who could use magic before.” He said still looking up at
the stars.
“How do you know I
can?” She turned to face him
“I can see it. I
know you can as well. I could see it in your eyes earlier.” She felt her cheeks
get warm. She looked into his eyes and could indeed see something there, as
swirling mass of power in the center of his eyes. She wondered if her eyes were
the same.
“Is that why you
wanted to work in the castle, to see the Mage School?” She nodded. “It’s a
pretty great place. I hear there going to expand the school and allow girls to
come learn to, you could join to.”
“Maybe. I like my
job in the kitchen though,” She had never felt bad about lying but this time
she did. She doubted they would ever allow girls in the school and even if they
did she would be far away by then.
“But you’re a
mage, you should be doing big things. We can change the world with our power.”
“What are you
going to do when you’re done at the school?” She saw his checks get red and it
took him a few moments to respond to him.
“I want to be the
arch mage. I know it’s a bit ridiculous but its what I want to do.” She had
heard of the arch mage before but she never heard of someone wanting to be one.
The arch mage was the hand of power in the kingdom and answered only to the
king. On top of being in charge of the school they regulated magic related
crimes. It was a big job and the current arch mage was rarely seen outside of
his room.
“Why would you
want to do that?”
“I want to make a
change. The Mage School has helped me in so many ways and I have the power to
do things so I want to help people. The arch mage has the power to do it.”
“What do you mean
the Mage School has helped you?”
As he told his
story she couldn’t help but feel like the world was playing a joke on her. As
he told his story she heard her story told back to her. Although the same
events were there he told his story differently than she did. Where she recited
her story with anger his story was told from a place of sadness but with
radiating hope.
“Are you okay?”
She didn’t realize that she was sitting there staring at him and quickly
nodded. “You look cold we should go back inside.” He walked her to her room and
asked her about little things about her life. She answered them in turn but was
afraid that he would ask about her past, she didn’t like to lie to him.
When they got to
her room they stood awkwardly by the door. She wanted to say something but she
had no idea what to say.
“I am Nathan by
the way.”
“I am Ann,” she
said slowly sliding towards her door.”
“It was nice to
talk with you Ann. I hope to see you soon.”
She watched him
walk away down the hallways towards a room somewhere deep inside the castle
where the boys in the Mage School Stayed. She didn’t know where since she never
had to deliver food there. She went inside the room and lay down on her bed. As
she felt sleep take over her thoughts were of hope and a small boy who had
given her a loaf of bread.
* *
* * *
Never
before in her life had she ever not had the idea of revenge in the back of her
mind until the days that followed her meeting with Nathan. She went about her
business as a kitchen servant and Nathan met her outside her room ever so often
after her work. She felt hope spring forth from him when around him. It went
like this until the day that she had once dreamed of was now here.
She
felt as confused as the moment she was a child and sat in her burning house
wondering what happened to her family. She sat in on her bed holding her legs
rocking herself back and forth. Conflict was raging inside her as she listened
to the sounds of the festivities of the treaty signing was coming to a close. A
battle between revenge and hope was going on inside her head.
Never
in her planning had she thought that a boy her age could make her feel the way
she did. It was true that she felt something for him but it was the feeling
that her life could be different than it was now. Would her life up to now be a
waste if she were to change her mind. What would her parents think if she
didn’t avenge their deaths?
What
would she do if she didn’t go through with her plan? Would she spend more time
with Nathan? Would she become a mother like hers? Would she have children of
her own? It was decided; she knew what she was going to do.
* *
* * *
She
had no idea how long she stood there. She still had doubts about her decision
but she felt that if she saw him at a glance she would know if she made the
right decision. She hid inside his room behind one of the large curtains
waiting, she was sweating and her lungs felt heavy. The only sound in the room
was the sound of her own beating heart, which she hoped it wasn’t as loud as it
sounded to her.
The
door swung open and through a small hole in the fabric she saw him enter the
room. All the feelings she had when she had seen him last were still there. He
didn’t bother to light candles or take his clothes off before falling into the
bed. She continued watching him until she heard his breathing slow. Stepping
out from behind the curtains she approached his still figure. Outside the
window the moon was high in the sky she didn’t realize it was as late as it
was. The King would die this night.
It
took her a moment but reaching out her right hand in front of her she let the
energy swirl around her hand before swirling until it condensed around her
pointer finger. This was the way her master had told her she should kill him.
This particular lesson was how her teacher taught her how to make a dagger out
of magic. With the energy as condensed it was one touch and the body would be
reduced to nothing. It was clean and left no evidence.
When
it was ready she grabbed the ‘dagger’ from around her pointer finger with her
left hand and held it ready to strike.
* *
* * *
The
fear of someone behind her made her continue to run forward deep into the forest
that was west of the castle and city that surrounded it. When she could run no
more she let herself slump against a tree and stared at her hands and the blood
that coated them. She had no idea what went wrong with the dagger she had made
but it hadn’t been the clean death she had been told it would provide. She
rubbed her hands on the ground trying to get the blood off but it seemed only
to rub it in deeper.
She looked up and
in the shadows saw a figure in front of her; in his hands she saw a very condensed
ball of energy. The swirl of energy around the figure became clearer the closer
it came. She wanted to get up and run but her legs stopped working. The terror
she experienced heightened when she finally saw the figures face.
“Nathan” she sad
the words aloud and felt the tears flow feeling that there was now no way that
she would ever be able to live through what she had done.
“Ann?” He came closer the ball of energy still
in his hand
lit the area around them.
