Legon Ascension (7 page)

The dining room wasn’t extremely large, just large enough to fit fifteen or so. From the dome ceiling hung a chandelier that sparkled with a thousand tiny faceted crystals, gold chains wound through each piece and soft light refracted to create little rainbows on the walls and ceiling. The table was oval, growing right out from the floor, and in the center of it sat dinner. It looked like an assortment of food tonight, all small dishes. These dinners were for the benefit of the Everser Vald and his sister, a way to introduce them to the different foods of the Empire. It was enjoyable for Keither too, most of the foods seemed to be pretty good.

“Hello Keither, how was your training today?” Sasha’s voice inquired. He looked to his right to see her making her way over to them.

She gave him a hug and then looked to Pada.
 

Sasha gave a slight bow. “Hello, you must be Pada. I’m Sasha, we’ve heard so much about you. Thank you for joining us tonight.”

Pada looked taken aback. It was not standard for the higher member of society to speak first in an initial greeting, but Sasha was new. Pada recovered. “Thank you, Un Prose, it is an honor to meet you.”

Legon was there now and once again he too didn’t seem to know or care about social procedures. “I’m Legon, it’s so good to meet you. I hope we aren’t taking you away from anything?”

“Oh no, you’re not. Thank you for inviting me, Un Prosa.”

Legon chuckled. “Please, call us Legon and Sasha.”
 

Pada looked a little uncomfortable with that but she went with it. Sydin, Iselin and Telunone were present as well, as was Telunone’s wife, an auburn haired Elf whose name Keither knew he had heard somewhere, but couldn’t remember for the life of him. Of course, when she greeted him she knew his name. She didn’t say her own. Pada seemed to know her too. They probably met five hundred years ago or something. This wasn’t supposed to be a big dinner, well, a lot of food maybe, but Legon was here. Anything with the head of house was a big event for the Elves, but for Keither it was pretty normal.
 

The meal was incredible, of course. Keither sat next to Pada with Sydin on his other side. Despite the attendees, the dinner was relaxed. Sydin and Telunone shared stories, and to his amazement Telunone’s wife poked fun at Legon’s appetite. Pada was relaxed now too, but she still seemed to hang on each word that anyone said. Though she had met every Elf in the room, she seemed the most interested in Sasha. How could she not be? The girl was fitting in with the Elves perfectly and for the first time she seemed to be where she belonged. Desert was fabulous. Earlier Sasha discovered that chocolate was not an expensive commodity outside of the Empire and she asked the cooks to prepare a “death by chocolate” lineup.
 

Pada leaned in close to him. “Is something wrong?”

She must have been reading the look on his face. “I know here that chocolate is all but worthless and it’s only at a premium in the Empire because it’s from the south, but this desert right here,” he gestured with his hand at the many cakes and truffles now littering the table, “this could nearly pay for a two-room house in Salmont.”

Pada pursed her lips. “Yes, it could, you’re right. Does it bother you that we’re eating it?”

“No. Like I said, it’s all but worthless here. It’s just messing with me a little, not in a bad way, but it gives perspective, you know?”

Pada nodded and he dug in like everyone else.

The next day was more of the tedium of schooling, but this time it was with Sydin. He was going over the basics of the Mahann. This would be the tool Keither would most use for the rest of his life, or at least his time in the resistance. The Mahann was something that he could understand; it was all in your head. Thinking in pure logic was difficult for most people. Not due to any lack of intellect, but rather that most people were social, thus they expressed more emotion than say someone who spent his whole life in his room playing with puzzles. It turns out that the mind has to do a lot of work to feel emotions. Sydin was explaining to him how the mind worked.
 

“You see Keither, your brain is just a bunch of cells, as you know, but think about how that works for a moment,” Sydin said.

Keither sat trying to figure out the mechanics of thought. He was at a loss and shrugged.

Sydin didn’t look surprised. “Well, it’s basically electrical signals. To put it simply, when a brain cell receives an electrical impulse from another cell then let’s call it on, or maybe active is the best term, if there is no signal then the cell is inactive or off.”

“Ok, like a one or a zero. I think that may be easier for me to think of,” Keither said.

“Ok, yes, a one or a zero. It’s these ones and zeroes that make up a thought.”

He wasn’t getting it. He got the gist that every emotion was in essence a math problem—a chemical reaction in the brain, reactions that formed behavior and how someone thought. He needed to be able to make his mind think or react in new ways when he wanted. It was easier said than done, but he made progress.
 

“Sydin, why are you working with me on this? Isn’t it the Jezeer I’m behind in?”

Sydin answered, “You’re not behind in anything. We just think you should know the basics of the Jezeer. As for the Mahann, Arkin taught you a lot on the road and your mind seems to be ahead of the curve in it. When you go to Manton you will be in an advanced class. I want to make sure you’re ready for that class.”

He was going to be in an advanced class? Keither? Town moron always getting himself into trouble because he couldn’t think? No, that wasn’t correct. He could think, he just didn’t have common sense. A thought popped into his head.

“Do most of the students there learn the Jezeer?”

Sydin paused. “Well they learn the exercises for health, but mostly no.”

“Then why am I in it?”

Sydin sidestepped the question. “It should be taught to them all, but only the most advanced units know it. Now let’s go on.”

Why wouldn’t he tell him?
 

“Is it because I can’t stand on my own?”

Sydin’s shoulders fell just a bit. “Maybe with the Jezeer you won’t be as apt to hurt yourself in combat, or…”

“Or what, in life? Just day-to-day activity?” Keither asked angrily and got up and walked out of the room.
 

* * * * *

Sara loved Sam and she hadn’t even known her for more than a day. Sara was a little nervous about starting medical training in the morning, but Sam told her she would do fine. It didn’t help.

“Come on, you’re sharp, and let’s face it, you have real world experience. It’s not like you’re going for the full training either, just enough to help the healers and keep people from dying,” Sam said, trying to calm her.

“I know,” Sara responded.

“So what is it then?” Sam asked.

Sara knew what it was, but didn’t want to say. Sam prodded her some more and Sara caved. “I miss them…”

“Them?” Sam asked, perplexed, and then said, “Oh, Keither will be here soon, is that who you mean?”

Sara shook her head.

“Well then, who Sara?”

“Sasha and Legon.” It was more the latter, and this surprised her.
 

Something in her tone gave away too much information “Legon? Huh, is there
 

something I should know?” Sam was wearing a wry smile.

Why not miss Legon the most? Sasha was her best friend and always would be, but Legon was her protector. She hated to think that she needed a protector. No, she didn’t need one.

“No, there’s nothing there.”

Sam wasn’t going to let it drop. “Well, there has to be something.”

Sara paused. Why should she tell this girl she didn’t know at all her most sacred moments, even if most of the Elves and human command knew them?

Sure, why not
, a voice in her head said.

“I assume you know a little bit about me since you work at the training house?” Sara asked.

“Yes, I read a bit of your file. Sorry, I was bored,” Sam responded.

Sara wasn’t upset. If it had been her she probably wouldn’t have only read just a bit.

“Do you know when I started traveling with Legon?”

“In Salez, right?” Sam confirmed.

“Yes, do you know why I was in Salez?”

“No, that wasn’t in there,” Sam said.

That was a big detail to leave out, but then the Elves had more discretion than humans did, so of course the bit about her forced prostitution wasn’t there for the whole of Airmelia to see.
 

Sara started her story from the beginning, from when she was collected from Salmont, her journey to Salez and her eventual sale. She told her about what she did for her master, glossing over some of the unpleasantness of her first few days. Then she thought about it; if she wanted Sam to understand, then she couldn’t hold as much back. She revisited her training, not holding back much in the department of detail. Maybe it was too much; Sam was crying now. Sara moved ahead to the best day of her life, the day when she was walking to the city wall. She liked to walk along the top. Of course, it was off limits to anyone that wasn’t military, but this rule didn’t apply to her. When it came down to it, she could break a lot of rules in Salez—all her co-workers could. Not all of their patrons were military by any stretch, but if she was willing to walk long enough she could usually find a customer and get up on the wall. Sometimes she would wonder what would happen if she jumped. It wasn’t far, but maybe if she pointed her head down…

Sam was looking more uncomfortable now and Sara went on, “Sorry, that day I was walking to the wall, I wasn’t going to hurl myself over the edge or anything like that.”
 

Only because you would just break your leg,
the voice in her head spoke again.

“Anyways, as I was walking by a tavern Sasha came out. They were passing through and she brought me in. To make a long story short, Legon was moved by my story and when he touched my arm I felt his feelings and then the mark on my neck was gone.”

Sam looked incredulous and impressed. “He used magic? That was so dangerous, he could have been caught.”

“That event was his first time using magic. He didn’t even know that he had it. I knew, of course,” Sara said.

She smiled to herself and touched the spot on her arm. Sam had a look of admiration on her face.

“You’re stronger than I thought Sara, and wow, the first one the Everser Vald used magic on?”

Sara nodded. That’s what she missed. Not some protector, she missed her Everser Vald. No, not hers, or was it something else? He did more for her too. He took her pain, but that memory she wouldn’t share, not today, maybe not ever. No, he was much more then the town butcher, now wasn’t he? Sam could see that the conversation was over and she changed the subject, back to the trivial and mundane.

Chapter Four

I Don’t Deserve This

“Life is emotion. With it we can scale mountains, or conversely destroy them. Of course, that depends on whether you see yourself as a mountain or not.”

-Excerpts from The Diary of the Adopted Sister

Emma fell into the empty bed, praying for sleep to come before the tears started. A breeze from the window cooled a line of moisture on her cheek and she knew that she wasn’t in luck tonight. She lay still, waiting for the onslaught. The house creaked and her sorrow was momentarily interrupted by fear. Was someone in the house
?
Maybe, maybe he’s back
, she thought.

“If he was back he wouldn’t break in the house in the middle of the night,” she said aloud.

No, he would climb up the side of the house and in her window, while she bit her nails hoping the idiot didn’t fall. She smiled to herself and wondered how her Kovos was doing. Was he still waiting for the coast to be clear? Probably, it hadn’t been that long after all. She hoped that he was ok. She thought back to when he left, went running off with Legon and Sasha. She hoped they were all ok. She wasn’t thinking about the sound of the house anymore and the tears were starting to come on stronger now that she was thinking about them all. Not just her love and his friends, no, she had lost so much more in the last few months. Her parents died when their wagon rolled over, both gone and leaving her with no one.
 

Now Emma slept in her parent’s house night after night crying herself to sleep. If it weren’t for Laura and Edis, she didn’t know how she would make it. This made her cry more. They were so kind to her. Kovos’ family was nice too, but not in the same way. She needed a job. The Empire took so much when her parents passed that all she had was the house, and it was mostly empty. Emma wouldn’t go into the care, she wouldn’t do it. Laura let her work for her part time and so did Edis; now that they didn’t have their old helpers they needed a new one. When all of her friends failed and when most of the town went back to life as usual, they were still there encouraging her, making her stay for dinner every night. She couldn’t count how many times she soaked Edis’ shirts with tears. The same went for Laura too. It wasn’t like they didn’t have their own problems, but they brought her in like a daughter; they even offered her a room.
 

This was about the time every night when she went from depression to self-loathing. Laura and Edis offered her Sasha’s old room. This thought just about drove Emma over the edge every time. She didn’t deserve these people, not after how she treated their daughter, their sick daughter no less. She was such a monster to that girl growing up. All of her friends were, well, the whole town was but that didn’t excuse it. She thought back to the little girl. She always shared with everyone, of course. She just wanted friends. She was so trusting and forgiving. That didn’t stop Emma and the others from being horrible to her by throwing things and telling her she was going to end up a slave and that no one wanted a demon. But Sasha would still help people. Oh how Emma took advantage of that by asking Sasha to come over and help out with this or that and then telling her to leave before anyone saw her there. Even right before Sasha left she was there for her, talking about Kovos. The girls in town were the worst. Not that the boys liked Sasha more, even though she truly was a pretty girl, but more that Legon, Barnin and Kovos beat them to a pulp if they spoke out against Sasha.