Legon Ascension (30 page)

The latter placed her arm around her mother. “So, what would you say to some breakfast?”

* * * * *

Emma walked briskly down the hall, her shoes making a staccato noise against the hard floors. She was, in effect, Sasha’s assistant, a position Sasha attempted to argue but lost. Emma was going to the guest suites of the palace to make sure that everyone had everything they needed. In a week Legon and Iselin would be married. As a result, Keither, Sara, Barnin, Ankle, and Sara’s friend Samantha had all arrived on one of the house ships last night. It was Emma’s job to make sure they were comfortable and were otherwise able to enjoy themsElves. Like she had been upon arriving in Seeon, the others were overwhelmed by the city. Emma was now an expert on all things Seeon, or at least she thought she was. She knew where all the good places to eat were and where some of the more entertaining spots in town were, so that would have to be good enough.
 

Emma walked into a combined living room to find the group waiting for her. Barnin eyed her, raising an eyebrow. “What’s with the purple Em? Don’t you have other colored dresses?”

She stopped and looked down at herself. Her dress today was light and came up to her knees. It would be perfect for the day. “It’s the house colors and I’m house staff. Is your lot fed and watered?”

They said they were and she nodded, thankful she didn’t need to worry about that. “Ok, we are going to go meet Legon and Sasha at the training field, and from there we can decide what you would all like to do. Did everyone sleep well?”

“Are we in an Elf building?” Sara asked with a chuckle.

Barnin laughed. “I don’t know, I had a hard time sleeping Sam, how about… ouch!” He stopped talking when Samantha, or Sam, hit him. Emma had figured they were together, but had a love-hate relationship, the likes of which she’d never seen.
 

Ankle tried not to laugh, and this earned Barnin another smack, or rather punch, on the arm. “Ouch, woman. Don’t make me put you in your place,” he said, rubbing his arm.

Sam puffed up. “Put me in my what? Did you just go there? I will smother you in your sleep!”
 

“Don’t be like that, baby,” Barnin said, putting his arm around Sam. She tried to hit it away, but he jabbed her side and she laughed. “Don’t tickle me, jerk face.” Then Emma turned her attention away as Sam and Barnin were moving from hate to love.

* * * * *

Sara was happy for Sam. She and Barnin were a good fit, and they were funny to be around, but if she was being honest, the constant flirting and fighting just so they could make up was about to make her vomit.

They made their way to the training grounds to find Legon and Iselin in her dragon form in the middle of a large arena-type area. Legon had his fenna out and was doing his darnedest to try and hit Ise. She, in turn, was snapping and clawing at him. They made it to where Laura and Edis were standing with Arkin, Sydin and Sasha.

“Is she going to kill him?” Laura said in horror.

“Oh no, don’t worry, they both have blocking spells. This is good for both of them. With their connection they can see what the other is doing. Normally this kind of fight wouldn’t happen. Any Elf Venefica is no match to an Ascended,” Sydin said.

Iselin roared and snapped at Legon. He sidestepped and swung up with the fenna, grazing Ise’s neck as she backed away. The fight progressed quickly and Sara was having a hard time focusing on what Legon was doing. He was so fast. He was darting around trying to outmaneuver Ise, which seemed to be working rather well. Legon made it onto her back and was trying to hold onto one of her spikes as she bit at him. Laura looked like she was about to have a heart attack. Legon was having a hard time keeping his footing, and Ise jerked around, sending Legon sailing to the ground. He hit with a thud and was trying get up when one of Ise’s huge clawed feet slammed him back down to the ground. Now, even Edis, who had been cheering up to this point, looked worried. Legon was looking up at his soon-to-be wife and yelled, “Don’t you dare!”
 

Iselin craned her head down to Legon’s face and licked his whole head. There was a collective “Eww” from the watching group. Legon was attempting to move Ise’s foot off him, while laughing. She licked him a few more times like a cat would her kittens, then her form shifted and she was back to the breathtaking blonde. She was still on Legon, but now in one of her pink silk dresses, startling him in a suggestive way. They kissed in earnest this time, and Legon tickled her. They rolled around on the ground, the pair apparently unconcerned with any onlookers.
 

“Gross, get a room you two!” Sasha shouted playfully. Iselin flicked her hand out and a solid pink dome of magic formed, covering the couple. Sasha laughed.

Laura didn’t look impressed. “They are getting married in a week, you would think they could hold it together,” she sniffed.

“Atta boy,” Edis said with pride, and then “Ouch!”

Laura scowled at her husband. “Nice Edis, real nice. ‘Atta boy.’ So mature.”

“What? They are about to get married. You remember what that was like, right? Don’t you remember when we… ouch!”

She was pointing now. “No.” She jabbed her finger at him again and walked off.

Sara tried not to giggle out loud. Keither was next to her. “Do you want to take a walk in the palace gardens?” he asked.

She connected and asked the others if they wanted to come, but Barnin answered for everyone, saying they had something to do, and left giving Keither a look. Sara thought she knew what was coming as they made their way to the gardens. She looked back over at Keither. He’d changed, there was no denying that. He’d lost a lot of weight and was doing everything he could to train both mind and body. He still was a horrid fighter, that hadn’t changed, but in a way she liked that. Keither was at the top of all of his classes, and was a master at planning. He would never command armies—that wasn’t his passion—though he scored high in every strategics test he took.
 

Sara and Keither stayed connected most of the time. It was just simpler, and while he tried to hide how he felt, she still knew. She thought about what she would say to him now if he brought that up. Would she say yes to him?
 

The gardens were gorgeous with the trees turning every shade of autumn, but because the Elves controlled the place, all of the spring flowers were still in bloom. The contrast worked. Keither led her to a rail at the edge of the rooftop garden that looked out into the harbor. He leaned against it and she noticed there was sweat on his brow.

“Sara… I think you know how I feel, and I…”

“Thought this would be the opportune time to ask me?” she poked. There was a flash of emotion on his face. “You did think so, didn’t you?” She accused.

“Well, it’s before a wedding. I picked the Elves’ garden, and maybe put in a request for some changes to it so we could be surrounded by your favorite flowers,” Keither explained.

He looked like he could go on and she cut him off, looking around noticing that there were lots of her favorites. “Wow, you really did put in effort, didn’t you? Did you think it would take that much?”

She looked at him and thought. She knew him, knew the change, and she knew that he would never let her down or hurt her intentionally. She bit her lip thinking. He was talking but she wasn’t paying attention. He’d be using some logical argument that would just make her want to say no. “We can try being together, how’s that?” she asked, reaching out and taking his hand, which was cold and clammy but his face was jubilant.

* * * * *

Legon walked hand in hand with Ise up to where Sara and Keither stood, Keither’s arm around Sara. Legon stopped next to Keither, whose heart was still racing, Legon placed a hand on his shoulder and Keither started a bit.

“Sorry, I forget you can’t hear as well as us,” Legon said.

“Don’t you scare Sasha all the time?” Sara asked.

“They are too connected, and her guard is never far,” Iselin supplied, then went on. “Do you like our city?” she said, sweeping her hand out to the glittering harbor.

“It’s amazing,” Keither said. “Thank you for having us.”

“You are welcome, anytime you like,” Legon said. “So, I hear that you both are doing well, and that if you would like, you can deploy. Is that something that you want?”

Keither and Sara, while humans, were not part of the Cona Republic, nor were they citizens of the Pawdin Empire. Only Sasha could claim that. Rather, Sara and Keither were under political asylum under the protection of House Evindass. This meant that the human and Elf fractions could not take command of them; only House Evindass could.

“We’d like to stay together. I have been working in local hospitals,” Sara said.

“And I’ve been invited to sit in on some strategy sessions and organize some refugee camps and the like,” Keither said, and then paused. “But I would like to seek higher-level training, if that would be ok with you?” Then, turning to Sara, “Unless you don’t want to go?” she squeezed his arm and was about to speak when Ise cut them off.

“Answer in your minds, it keeps you more connected,” she said warmly.

Legon waited for a moment and when Keither seemed to relax and the back of his neck reddened, Legon thought he knew Sara’s answer. “All of your instructors have spoken rather highly of you Keither. There is no higher level in Manton. You will have to move here for six or so months.”

Keither looked a little crestfallen, not understanding Legon’s invitation. “Does living in the palace for six months sound that bad to you?”

“You mean I could study here? No human has ever attended an Elvin school before.”

“That’s not true,” Iselin said. “There have been a few, but less since the Iumenta began to infect humanity. We couldn’t risk a spy, but you two are far from being spies. It will be nice to have you around.”
 

Legon felt Sydin’s mind. “We are about ready.”
 

He thanked Sydin and spoke out loud to the group. “Iselin and I have a meeting. Keither, I would like you to attend for part of it, if you don’t mind. Sara, Sasha is planning on spending the afternoon with you and your friend Samantha, if that is ok with you.”

They didn’t object and all made their way back into the palace. Legon led them down a hall until they reached a large set of double doors. “This is the war room,” he said.

Sasha and Emma walked up with Arkin, Barnin, Ankle and Sam in tow. “Boys, you have fun, come on ladies,” she said, pulling Sara and Sam along. Sam looked overwhelmed and not keen on the idea of being away from Barnin, but Legon was sure that she would be well cared for in Sasha’s capable hands. The doors opened and Legon entered with the others. Around the large crystal table were Sydin and the rest of Legon’s military advisors, along with some from a few of the other great houses. As the doors closed, the table glowed white and projected a three dimensional map of Airmelia just above its surface. It was a mark of Barnin and Ankle’s training that they didn’t make a sound. As for Keither, he would have seen one of these during his training.
 

“May I ask what it takes to power this thing?” Ankle asked.

Sydin responded. “While the image may seem complex, the projection of a map isn’t extremely difficult, but it’s nothing to the magic it takes to run all of the other things this map does. The spells it requires are immense. You are only seeing the top of the crystal. The remainder extends three floors down. There are only about twenty of these outside of those in the Dragon Domes.”
 

Legon adjusted the map with his mind, moving it in close around the border. “Barnin, we get reports, but you’ve been on the ground. What can you tell us?”

Barnin moved closer with Ankle and then spoke, pointing along the border. “As we thought, the first few weeks we didn’t get any resistance, but as time passed the Empire tightened the area up.” He circled an area around the Precipice. “This area here we hit the hardest, so there are high amounts of military around there now.”

“Are you still doing a lot of damage?” Sydin asked.

Ankle spoke up, a little defensive. “We can’t all go in anymore. That size of a group attracts attention, we have to be careful, but yes, we are doing what we can.”

“Perfect work, good job. How is the refugee situation? I understand it’s been a problem,” Legon said. He didn’t want Ankle and Barnin to think that they were failing in any way, shape or form, but they couldn’t know the whole picture.

Keither spoke this time. “At first people stopped crossing the border, but after a few months the Empire started openly allowing large groups of people to pass.
 
In the beginning, command thought that they were trying to strain resources, but it became apparent that they were using the large groups of people to smuggle soldiers into the Republic.”

“Is this still a problem?” Iselin asked.

Keither adjusted the map to show a small valley. “We are using this as a staging area for refugees. They come in and are processed. With help from the Pawdin Empire, food, water, clothing and shelter were a non issue.”

“But it wasn’t always that way,” Legon said. He wanted Keither to take credit where it was due, and he was due some serious credit.

“Yeah, well, I asked to help and I was the only one on the strategy committee that was part of the refugee area. Anyway, that valley,” he pointed. “It does have spring water, but food and shelter were a problem. Like most things in the Cornis Mountains, it’s difficult to supply and with the number of people moving in and out it would have been impossible. But I asked the Pawdin Empire for some assistance, and we found ways to use Elvin technology to bring food up the mountain, along with medical supplies. I also asked the Elves to grow shelters and they grew the windmill used to power a gondola system.”

There were nods from others in the room and Legon was pleased. Keither made it sound easy, but what he had done was a bit of a miracle. He found a way of shipping food for thousands down river from the Pawdin lands and then have it carried hundreds of feet up the side of a mountain. Legon decided to comment on what he had done. “Keither, you make this sound small, but in reality what you did has saved lives. By using this valley, the Cona army has been able to find insurgents and still care for sick and homeless people, without putting a burden on the rest of their country. Furthermore, if this could not have happened, the Cona Republic would have been forced to turn people away, people who would have been killed or starved. It is for this reason that you will be allowed to study in Seeon.”