Heir To The Nova (Book 3) (17 page)

Maya and I continued walking on up to the keep with a small group of children following in our wake like a small parade. They were plainly in awe of us in our armor. On the journey from the portal after the fall of Xarparion, I thought I had seen everyone before, but I didn’t recognize any of these young humans. I stopped and crouched low to talk to some of the closer ones, but they must have decided I was too big and daunting and veered away. However, when Maya went down on one knee and opened her arms invitingly, they practically mobbed her.

“Hello, magic elf princess,” one cute curly-haired, red-headed girl said, leaning in to get a hug.

“Why, hello and what is your name?”

“My name is Dariah. We came through the funny magic door from Elcance to live here.”

“Really?” Maya said, flashing one of her biggest smiles. “And do you miss your old home in Elcance, Dariah?”

The little girl got a very serious look on her face and shook her curly head. “No, we were only in Elcance for a couple of weeks. Our old village along the border had the bad creatures come and we had to run away. My father is a guard here now and my mother is a weaver.”

“Oh, Alex, I forgot to mention we have been taking in a few refugees, too,”
Rosa added calmly in my mind, and then Winya passed it on to my dark elf.

Maya gave the little girl another hug and stood up, beaming at the child. “Welcome to Sky Raven, Dariah. I know you will be happy and safe here, and I hope I have a little girl who looks just like you someday.”

Dariah giggled brightly and curtsied. After grabbing the hands of her friends, the lot of them raced off to find other adventures.

“What? A pixie and two dragons; we’re not even married yet, and you’re already thinking about more children?” I teased.

“Someday,” my dark elf shot back, giving my hand a firm squeeze. “Someday soon!” she amended with a saucy wink.

Dawn and Dusk were waiting in our room at the top of the keep when we arrived. Scattered across the bed were a shirt and pants for me and a short, casual black dress for Maya. There was even a tiny black dress on the pillow for Nia.

“Rosa has been busy again.” I grinned and the twins nodded as one.

Dawn picked up my clothes and took me by the arm. “Please follow me, Father, and I will escort you across the hall where you can get ready in privacy. Then I will come right back to assist my capable sister Dusk in getting Maya and Nia ready.” All this was delivered with a sly smile and a nod to Maya.

Alone, I cleaned up and got dressed in the vacant room across the hall. It was set up very differently from the room Maya and I shared. It had a smaller bed, a narrow table, and a lot more dressers. I loitered around as much as possible until I caught some noise occurring in the hallway and opened my door to see the girls walking out. Nia was fluttering around excitedly in her black dress, which I saw was decorated with tiny glittering sequins. The twins were wearing dark, silvery metallic versions of the dresses they originally wore when we first met them. And finally, Maya. Wow! She was wearing a simple, form-fitting black sheath that ended above her knees. Her dress was sequined as well and it looked like stars in a brilliant night sky. Her sliver curls accented beautifully by the dark of the dress. I stopped and stared, speechless for a few moments. Maya twirled seductively, which gave me a short pause; and then with a shy knowing smile, she took my arm and clung to it all the way down to dinner.

As soon as we walked through the doorway into the dining room, I noticed the table was already filled with our friends. Darroth and Elsa were happily drinking ale; Lin, Jules and Ryliss were chatting amicably at the far end. Rosa and Mingt were in a deep discussion about magic theory. On the other side of the table sat Alera looking expectant and lovely, as well as Hons, who was fidgeting uncomfortably and looked out of place. Circulating around the table were some human women dressed in servant dresses, setting the dishes and filling wine glasses. The overwhelming odor of good food wafted in every time one of the women left the room to retrieve more. One of the place settings had a small table and chair set up, just pixie-sized. The two dragons moved around us and headed toward empty chairs, with Hons jumping up and courteously assisting them in getting seated.

As Maya and I approached the table, my parents flashed into the room, and with a squeal of happiness, my mother enveloped both of us in a hug and a kiss. My father looked a little gloomy, but still gallantly kissed Maya on the cheek and shook my hand firmly.

“Welcome home, son,” he rumbled.

“Alex, I thought I would go mad when you were fighting that demon and the chimera!” My mother laughed nervously, her eyes tearing up as she ran her hand possessively across my jaw.” The more time I spend with you, the harder it gets to see you go into danger. But enough of an old woman’s concerns; you’re here and that’s what’s important. Now, why don’t you introduce us to your friends? Alera, sweetheart, you can rise.”

I glanced over to see Alera recovering from a deep formal bow with a nod and broad smile.

“Mother,” I said, “the first is Darroth, whom you’ve seen before but not met, and the second is Princess Elsa of the dwarves.” Both of them got up and bowed formally. Elsa’s eyes had gotten increasingly wider ever since Ranther and Oreale had materialized out of nowhere in the room. “Darroth, Elsa may I present my parents, the Nova. The next gentleman is a fire wizard, a revered shaman of his people, and Maya’s grandfather, Mingt.” He also rose and bowed graciously.

“Welcome Wizard Mingt.” My mother smiled, her eyes turning white for a few seconds. “Your addition to the faculty of this school will be of immense value to future generations of fire wizards.”

“But my Lady, I’m not sure how much time I have left; I am an old relic,” Mingt protested, but my mother just continued to smile and tilted her head slightly as if evaluating. “Your magic is far from depleted just yet, wizard. Teach your charges humility and wisdom and reclaim the honor that was once due fire mages, and you will have accomplished more in the last years of life than most wizards do in a span of a thousand. Do this and you will have our deepest gratitude.” Looking a little dazed, Mingt nodded reverently and sat down.

“Mother,” I continued, “you know Dawn and Dusk, and Primus Alera. Sitting next to her is Primus Hons, whom I’m sure you’ve seen, as well.” Flustered, Hons got up and managed an adequate bow, and my mother nodded cordially. “And, of course, the troublemakers in the back are Lin and Julia with their new friend, Ryliss.

My mother smirked slightly at the girls’ unabashed reaction to my calling them troublemakers. “Alex, are you trying to corner the market on druids? It was quite unusual for you to present two young druids last time, but now to bring me three; it’s most welcome and unexpected.”

“Three…druids?” Lin and Julia both shrieked, standing up and sliding their chairs back as they looked at Ryliss in shock.

“Mother, are you sure?” I questioned.

“What, Alex? I know you only have eyes for Maya, but haven’t you ever looked at the young lady here?”

I guess I hadn’t, not really. I have known Ryliss since my old village, and she never showed any sign of being a wizard. But then, neither had I until the pot incident. I concentrated on her now and I could see the magic. It was actually fairly strong, too; but it didn’t match Lin’s and Julia’s. “It doesn’t look exactly like druid magic to me,” I said dubiously.

My mother patted me on the cheek and smiled. “That’s because Ryliss has a wild magic variant.”

“Huh?” Lin blurted out and immediately covered her mouth in embarrassment, looking over at the stunned Ryliss, who looked positively stricken.

“Ryliss has a strong power in animal forms, tree empathy and some healing abilities, as well. Basically, the entire druid field of disciplines that involve life, but she has almost no strengths with earth control or weather. Of course, she’s completely untrained at the moment; but with a little work, she would make an excellent forest guardian or questing druid.”

“Majesty,” Ryliss stepped shakily away from the table and approached my mother. She folded into a formal bow, keeping her head hung low. “Majesty, I have heard you have the ability to remove a curse such as this. If I could beg a boon from you, I would swear to repay it in whatever manner you see fit.”

“A curse?” I said in disbelief. “Ryliss, this isn’t a curse.”

Ryliss shifted her gaze to me nervously. “Ah, Sir Alex, but it is! If my people ever found out I was a druid, my life would be over. You saw the way they treated Jules and Lin. If they could have found a way to keep them at the capital forever, they would have. I would be counted as a treasure of my people and stuck talking to trees the rest of my life!”

“But you would be treated with reverence, like royalty.”

“Yeah, that worked out so well for Maya, didn’t it,” Ryliss whispered bitterly.

By this time, my mother had walked over to Ryliss and drew her into a warm embrace that obviously startled the young dark elf. “Alex, is right my dear; you have been given a gift, not a curse. However, I can see how it might seem that way for you. I will not remove your power, that would be a shameful waste, and I can sense great things from you in the future.” She paused and turned the scholar’s shoulders around so she met her eyes fully. “What I will do is disguise your power so that no one can read your magic, not another wizard, not even Rosa with one of her magic orbs. No one will suspect you of being a wizard unless you openly display your abilities in front of them or you reveal it yourself. Will that satisfy you?”

Ryliss looked a little uncomfortable, but nodded stiffly and bowed again. “You have my thanks, your Majesty,” she said and quickly retreated back to her chair. I used my mage sight on her and this time I could see nothing.

My mother gave me a glance as if chiding me for doubting her. “Good. Well, if that’s all settled, I’m sure everyone is hungry.”

Dinner was over far too soon, and everyone seemed to be happy as they left, with the exception of my father. As we were walking out, he intercepted me and said in a low voice, “Alex, we need to talk.”

Maya, picking up on the tone, looked at me, and after touching my arm in concern, whispered, “I promised Ryliss I would check in on her, and I want to do a quick review of the guards’ readiness.”

I nodded and watched her leave, vaguely concerned about her walking around the fortress dressed like that, but I told myself she had Winya. My father led me into a small antechamber just off the throne room. There were two large chairs inside and not much else, but it was quiet and dimly lit with a glow orb.

Sitting down heavily, my father ran his hand through his hair absently, gathering his thoughts. “Listen, son, I haven’t been entirely truthful with either you or your mother. The keystone does do what I told you; it will release the magic locked away from this world. But it does much more than that, too. The key can also be used to create new Nova, as well as destroy old ones. The simple act of touching it when it is in place would flood your body with power and transform you into a full Nova.

“So I would be like you and mom, then?”

“I honestly don’t know what will happen. You might become a full Nova like the solitary males we told you about. You would have unimaginable power and you would never die.”

“But it would be immortality at the cost of my friends. I take it I would outlive them entirely?” my voice dropping to almost a whisper in the stone-walled room.

Father nodded. “You would outlive the ultimate fiery death of this world and many others after it before your time was finished.

“How do you live like that?” I asked. “Knowing that you will see the death of every person you meet, and they will become one of millions that you will pass by in the lifetime of a single planet?”

“I asked myself that many times when I was younger, and to this day I don’t know how the others stand it. But for me, I have the woman I love to share the burden of it with me, and that makes it somewhat bearable.”

“Then I am forced to give up Maya?”

He was quiet for a long time. “Your mother does not know this, nor will you tell her. I am the only one of our kind who was permitted to touch a keystone more than once. Any other Nova would lose their powers and become mortal. Your mother believes that I split my powers freely and gave them to her, but the truth is that it was the key stone that did it, not me.”

“What are you saying? That the keystone is sentient?”

“Son, believe me, there are far stranger concepts in this universe than sentient keystones. But getting back to our conversation and my confession; we are all part of a grand experiment–you, me, your mother, Maya, this fortress, even this planet.”

“An experiment? By whom? I thought the Nova built the universe?” I asked, shocked.

“Son, you have no concept of the scale of time or the vastness of the universes. Yes, I said universes, as in plural. There are more universes than you can see stars in the sky on a clear night. Even we Nova are subject to rules, oversight, and manipulation. Let me just say there are forces at work here that even the Nova must respect. So if I sound evasive on what I am about to tell you, it’s because I really don’t know the answer you seek.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “Basically, you have a choice to make; you may join your mother and me in the stars, which is the course of action your mother wishes because she doesn’t want to lose you. Or you may take Maya’s hand when you touch the stone. I wish I could tell you what will happen if you attempt to share your power with her. It may not work at all; or frankly, the more likely result is that you both will die.”