Chapter 18
The next morning I woke up to the sight of Anna Marie grinning. Picture the most deadly predator you can think of. Now imagine opening your eyes to see it grinning at you because it knows it just found it’s breakfast. It was kind of like that. Thankfully I didn’t squeal. I did groan though.
She laughed, “Good morning to you too Yarianna. It is time for you to start hating me. I have been going easy on you because of the conflict that has been going on, but since it is over it is time to really get started.”
“Ok. Give me a moment and I will be up.”
“I don’t believe so. You have been pampered enough. You need to be in top form before you ever go into training with the Order. Luckily Ja` Sair is here to work with you on you Time Spinning. I have to admit Time is not my strong point. Well, Lets go.”
She grabbed my ankle and started dragging me out of bed. I threw off my blankets and scrambled out of bed. She let go just before I would have landed on my but. I looked at her, “Do I have time to change out of my pajamas?”
“If you can change in one minute. After that you are going through the portal dressed in whatever you have on.”
I swore and striped off my pajamas and just managed to pull on a pair of sweats and a shirt before she shoved me through a portal into the alter room where I had left my book from the Order of Saleen. She smiled, “Grab your rune cloth, wrap it around your neck, and follow me..” I did and when I wrapped it around my neck I felt it seal completely smooth and shift so that it wasn’t visible. I immediately had a bad feeling about this whole thing but I followed her down the hall through another portal that I hadn’t even realized was there.
She led me into a room where Ja` Sair was waiting. She stopped next to him then directed me to stand in the middle so I did. I faced the two of them and listened while she spoke. “From now until I decide you have passed the basics to my satisfaction I rule every moment of your life. I understand that you still have other responsibilities and I fully expect you to see to them. That being said, since I was the one who gave you the initial test I am responsible for ensuring that you begin training at the Order with a knowledge of the basic Runes. That means you will know the basic Runes for each of the six elements as well as the thirteen that are on that cloth you have around your neck. Ja` Sair has agreed to teach you the basics for Time Spinning. I can allow this because he is your father. While you are training with us you will refer to his as ‘Sir’ and me as ‘Ma’am.’ Do you understand so far?”
I nodded, “Yes.”
Pain unlike anything you can imaging flowed through my body. I found myself laying on the floor shaking with Anna Marie kneeling over me. She smiled, “You forgot to say ‘Ma’am’ Yarianna. Don’t let it happen again. Do you understand?”
I looked up at her, “Yes Ma’am.”
“Good. Stand up and we will get started.”
I slowly started dragging myself up when another wave of pain dropped me to the ground again.
Anna Marie said, “When I tell you to do something you will do it immediately. Do you understand?”
I glared at her, “Yes Ma’am.”
“Good. Now stand up so we can get started.”
I stood up and glared. She smiled, “Good girl. Ja` Sair, explain to your daughter why she felt the pain and why we have the rules we do.”
Ja` Sair stepped forward, “Throughout your training with us you are going to feel pain. A lot of it. You will hate both of us while we train you, but you will appreciate how thorough we are when you enter the Order for further training. As a member of the Order you are an Elite Warrior of a Warrior Race. You will be required to show proper respect to those of higher rank then you. You will also have to learn to do anything you are told exactly when you are told to do even if it doesn’t make sense to you. This is not negotiable. One misstep at the wrong time can kill everybody around you. The rune cloth around your neck is the Order’s way of mitigating that damage as much as possible. It is not a matter of trust. It is a matter of necessity. You will make mistakes while you learn. With the rune cloth we will be able to stop the flow of your energy before you destroy everything around you. One last thing. When you get to the Order and begin training with them, what we do will seem child’s play. Do you understand?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Good. Anna, I am going to leave her to you. Let me know when you need me.”
Anna Marie nodded, “I will Ja` Sair. Yarianna, Show me the first Rune of the Kier and tell me the meaning.”
I started to do the moves for the first rune. She let me take the first few steps before the pain hit. I picked myself back up and started again. This time I tried explaining what I had learned about it. “The first rune is about Seeing. Not just on a physical level. It is about the ability to See with out sight. It is about having the Vision to see things on a deeper level. It could also…”
Pain flooded through me again. Anna Marie smiled, “You missed a half step. Start again.”
I started the steps again. “It could also…”
More pain poured through me. I could barely make out Anna Marie’s voice, “I said start again. Not pick up where you left off.”
I stood up again and started the steps. “The first rune is about being able to See…”
Pain again followed by Anna Marie’s voice, “That is not what you said the first time. I want it word for word.”
I stood up and said through gritted teeth, “How am I supposed to remember exactly what I said, Ma’am?”
“Why, you could always try to See what you said,” she said with a smile on her face just before she dropped me again.
This went on for a few more hours and by the time she told me I could go see to my city I realized that she was right. I did hate her. I made my way back to the alter room and into my bedroom.
Sasha smiled when I walked in, “Anna Marie said that you would be starting intensive training this morning. You have enough time to was up and get presentable before the funeral services for the ones who have died.”
I just grunted and started washing. We had a full ceremony and gave my personal guard a Clan Head’s funeral. Luckily the other Heir’s and Clan Head’s helped me with it because I was nearly wiped out before we even started. I still did the majority because it was my city they died to defend.
I had to spend most of the rest of the day in court trying to settle disputes that had come up during the battle but had been put off so that we could focus on surviving. Quite a few of the issues had to do with reimbursement for food, land, and other supplies.
After court I met with the Heirs and Clad Heads to discuss who was going to stay and who was going to return to the crater. Come to find out quite a few warriors from the other clans wanted to stay in my city. I didn’t have a problem with it as long as the other Clan Heads appointed a liaison for their clan.
After the meeting Ja` Sair pulled me aside to work with me on apperating. At first I was going to refuse, but I really wanted to be able to do it on my own so I went with him. By the time I was done for the night I had just enough time to eat before I passed out.
I felt like I had just fallen asleep when I was drug out of bed by Anna Marie for another day of torture. I discovered that your day tends to turn to crap when you wake up to the feel of pain. After making even less progress then the day before I saw the Clan Heads and Heirs off with all the warriors that were going to return with them and help Valora retake her throne.
Before he left I pulled Le` Than aside and told him that in the near future I was going to have to go to a school that could train me in using all six of the elements and that I was going to appoint Ja` Lynn as my steward until I got back. I tried to ask too many questions about it at first, but I told him that Ja` Sair was my real father and he would be watching over me. He reluctantly agreed and left so I went to sit in court until it was time to train with Ja` Sair.
There was very little variation to the routine from day to day. Skyler and Mary Ann tried to spend as much time as they could with me, but I was so tired by the time I was done for the evening that I usually fell asleep in the middle of whatever we were doing.
Each day I got a little bit worse and made more mistakes then the day before. Anna Marie was nearly ruthless in her punishments. Each day I was forced to dig a little deeper into my own energy to keep going because the rune cloth cut me off from every other source. I even tried to meditate to restore my energy. I couldn’t get up for a few minutes because of the pain after that.
I became increasingly volatile until I finally lost control of my temper during training with Anna Marie. I hadn’t even realized that I had tried to lash out with my energy until my vision went white and I dropped to the ground because of the pain.
I slowly picked myself up and restarted the training. I had to restart four times due to mistakes and I lost control again. This time I felt something give inside of me. Energy that felt very similar to the energy the rune cloth was made of flooded through my body. I felt it explode from my core and fill me nearly to the point of intoxication. I felt the swirl pattern on the rune cloth shift to a labyrinth pattern as I lashed out with the new energy. I could see the nimbus that surrounded me as the rune cloth struggled to contain the energy.
The pain hit and the energy consumed it, growing even stronger. I could feel the new energy try to take control of me. I felt the second rune start to burn on the cloth and knew what I needed to do. I formed the rune in my mind and projected it in a 3-D image under me. As I did with the first rune I used the second rune as a pattern for my steps. As I took each step the nimbus withdrew a little farther into me and made each following step that much harder. My entire body was on the brink of muscle failure by the time I finished the last step of the rune.
It felt like fire and ice rushing through my body. I could barley breathe. It was all I could do to hold the image of the rune in my mind. The rush of energy slowly subsided and the rune cloth released from my neck. I could still feel the new energy mingling with my own, but it felt natural and was as contained as my own energy was.
Anna Marie knelt down beside me and quietly asked, “What is the meaning of the second rune?”
I looked up at her and said, “Endurance of Spirit, Ma’am.”
She smiled, “Very good, Yarianna. You may rest now.”
“I still need to attend to my other duties Ma’am.”
“Not during your training time. I will wake you when it is time for you to attend to your other duties. Now go rest.”
I smiled, “Yes, Ma’am.”
I made my way to the room I had stayed in before and laid down on the bed. I had just gotten comfortable when Anna Marie came in and woke me up. I groaned and drug myself up. My clothing didn’t feel quite the same so I looked down. I must have fallen into a deep sleep because not only was I wearing different clothes, my hair had also been braided. I looked up to see Sasha standing in the doorway.
Sasha smiled, “About time. You have Court in a few minutes so Ja` Sair is waiting down the hall to take you. We have been trying to wake you up for nearly an hour. I finally just said to hell with it and had Anna Marie levitate you so I could make you look presentable.”
“Thank you. Are you going to go with me to Court?”
“Do I look like I enjoy being turned inside out and shoved through a tick’s back end?”
“Well, now that you mention it. You do a bit.”
“Funny. I’ll remember that when my itch powder accidentally finds it’s way to your sheets sometime.”
I laughed and headed down the hall to where Ja` Sair was waiting. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. It was as if everybody in the city was told to stay out of Court.
After waiting for an hour for anybody to show up I finally looked at the herald, “Did I miss something today?”
He gave me a curious look, “Not that I am aware of.”
“Huh. I wonder where everybody is. It’s been packed in here for weeks.”
“There is nobody scheduled to see you to day, my Lady. Likely they don’t have a reason to be here.”
“Nobody scheduled to see me? Do you mean that the past few weeks have all been scheduled appointments?”
“Yes and until just now I was under the impression that you had arranged it like that. Would you like for me to send for the one who makes your appointments?”
I thought about it for a moment then smiled, “That won’t be necessary. Do send for a messenger though. I may as well eat a bit while I am here.”
He nodded and soon I had a messenger on the way to the kitchen to get me some snacks. I took the time to meditate. This time when I meditated I found myself in the same clearing, but everything was more vibrant and alive. My other side seemed to have a nimbus around her. The one thing I did notice was there seemed to be a spring near the edge of the clearing. I walked up to it and found that instead of water it had raw power flowing out of it.
I looked at my other side, “This showed up earlier today, didn’t it?”
She nodded, “Yes. The finally pushed you to the breaking point. I was nearly able to take control with the surplus of energy you flooded me with. I may have even let you have control again after I was done separating them from their skin for the pain they caused you.”
I smiled, “I may have let you have control if you had told me what you intended.”
She calked her head to the side then smiled, “I shall remember that for future reference.”
“What will happen if I drink from this spring while here in meditation?”
“You will feel better. Outside of that nothing as it is our own energy.”
“Have you been watching the lessons in apperating?”
“Yes. I find the practice quite fascinating. Of course, I don’t have much use for it here as I am where I decided I want to be at any given moment. You will find it to be easier on you now though. This new energy is more closely related to the power required for such an act of displacement.”
“Can you show me?”
“Yes.”
I watched as she drew on the well of energy and used it to move herself to the other end of the clearing. I noticed that rather then moving her body she gave it to the energy and moved the energy to where she wanted to be then took her body back from the energy.
I looked at her, “That isn’t how we have been learning.”
“True. This way is better and easier. It does require you to know yourself completely though. You already know the other way. You have done it without flaw. Now you know how to take another with you. I can show you that if you wish. Though it is more painful it requires less knowledge of self and more knowledge of where you are and wish to be.”
“Please do.”
She showed me what she had observed when we apperated and I was able to see how to do it. I thanked her and left meditation. No one had come in during that time so I closed Court early. I found Ja` Sair waiting for me outside of the main entrance. I held my hand out to him and he took it. I apperated both of us to the place he had been teaching me.
I smiled, “Is that good enough?”
He grinned, “I was wondering when you were going to pick it up. You must have passed the second rune test.”
“I did just this morning. Please tell me that that was the hardest one.”
He shook his head, “They each provide a challenge in their own way. Some challenges are easier for some people and others are easier for others. I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to.”
“Was that one the hardest for you?”
“No. my hardest was the fourth for reasons you will understand when you get there.”
“If I never have to repeat the second test it will be too soon.”
“Do you understand why we had to be so hard on you?”
“I understand it. It will take me a while to trust either of you again, but I do understand. Can you tell me about the new energy?”
“I can. That is the true power of the Kier race. It is rather rare that someone outside of the Order is pushed far enough to bring it out, but it has happened. Has it started mixing with your own energy yet?”
“Yeah. Was it not supposed to?”
“No, it was. When we start on you basic knowledge of the elements we will teach you how to separate your energy and only use what is relevant to the spell.”
“You and Anna Marie keep talking about how you are only going to teach me the basics as if you expect me to go to the Order. What if I either can’t go or don’t want to?”
“If you truly don’t want to then that is your call. I keep saying that you will because if you are anything like your mother you will not be able to resist. The curiosity will be too much for you.”
“How long will I have to be there and will I be able to come back here to see to my city at all or will I have to leave it to someone else’s care?”
“You will have to appoint a steward to over your city while you are gone. During your time there you will only be a student. When you are let out for breaks you may choose to either return here to run you city for the short time you have or stay there and enjoy the time you have to just be you. As far as age is concerned you will actually be among the youngest. It‘s not often that the students discover they can channel all of the elements this early in life.”
“What if I decide that I don’t like it and don’t go back after a break?”
“You won’t. If you do though they will send one of the Knights to find out why. After that it is up to them what they will do.”
“So I take it that it wouldn’t be a good idea to skip out on school.”
“No. Not a good idea at all. When will you know if you are going or not?”
“I decided during training with the second rune when I thought it was going to be completely torturous. That is why I want to get back to training with the runes as soon as I can. The sooner I finish the basics the sooner I can get there to learn the more advanced things.”
“You have already chosen your steward and cleared it with Le` Than?”
“Yeah. Like I said. I already made up my mind.”
“Well then. I thought I was going to have to argue you into it for another month. I that case we had better get you back so you can get your sleep. You will need it.”
“I was counting on that. See you later. I still have to let my steward know what I have planned.”
“Sk` Yler and Sasha don’t know yet. Do they?”
“Not yet. I am going to let them know tonight. Neither of them are going to like it, but I am going anyway.”
He smiled, “Good luck when you tell them. I am going to inform Anna Marie of you decision.”
