Aftertaste

Calendis was stood with his hands crossed in his robes, his guard stood behind up, far enough not to be intrusive though close enough to defend the man. ”Do you have an actual job, or do they just keep you around to make my life difficult” I said, sighing as I knew I wasn’t going to be getting the break that I had wished for.

He chuckled quietly, “Yes, I do. It just so happens that it includes bringing you to my office” he said as he brought his hands out of his robes. “Come along, we need to talk” he added as he proceeded down the hallway.

I was left with no choice but to hurry and catch up with him, wondering if he had heard about my incident at lunch time. “Calendis, can we do this another time. I was hoping to take a break” I protested as I reached his side.

He gave me a wry smile, “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. You can rest in my office whilst we talk” he said. I sighed, clearly there was no getting out of it.

His office hadn’t changed much except for the mess of papers on his desk, it was still the familiar utilitarian room that he had brought me to before. He crossed his desk and lowered himself into the uncomfortable seat that he kept, moving some of the papers on his desk so that there was room for him to rest his hands. I sat in the plush leather seat before him and pulled the chair in closer to the wooden table.

“I take it you heard about lunch then” I broached the silence as I moved my head to meet his gaze.

He nodded his head, “Yes, quite the event I hear. It seems like somebody is very determined to have you killed, they certainly tried hard enough with that attempt” he said as he pulled a small sheet of paper from his robes

“What do you mean? Do you know what actually happened?” I asked, something in his voice told me he knew more than he was telling me

“Oculen stem” he said matter-of-factly, as though it was something I was meant to understand. He saw my puzzled expression and elaborated. “It is a type of poison, quite effective in fact. It kills most people in a matter of minutes, the throat constricts so that oxygen cannot pass through the airways until they asphyxiate. Rather unpleasant”

My face paled at the annunciation, “So he really tried to kill me again. That bastard” I said quietly. Zarin must have poisoned my food, maybe he had someone in the kitchens. Goddesses, would I be able to eat anything safely again.

“Yes, someone certainly did. When I heard about the incident, I had your meal examined. The Oculen stem was found in your stew, and only yours I should add. You don’t need to be worried about your friends” he said as he folded the paper that he had taken out of his robes and moved it into a draw in the desk. “We are currently in the process of interviewing the kitchen staff and trying to determine how it happened”

“What do you mean?! We know how it happened; it was Zarin. He’s the one who wants me dead” I exclaimed, waving my hands about in frustration.

He nodded his head calmly, “Yes, I am aware of the suspicions you have towards Zarin. You are likely right, though I suspect he wouldn’t have poisoned your meal himself, far too risky” he muttered as he stroked his face where a beard would have been if he possessed one. “In any case, I would have to have exceptionally strong evidence to take any action against him. He would have to be caught in the act of attempting to kill you, and even then…” he trailed off uncomfortably

“What?” I demanded, “What then? Are you saying nothing would happen to him?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It is the opinion of the crown that the recent activity around the shadow gates is the greatest threat that our world has faced in centuries. Furthermore, it is the crown’s opinion that all adventurers may be needed to answer the call of war should it come to that, with the most powerful adventurers being of particular focus” he said, as though reciting it from one of the many papers.

I was flustered by his announcement, “what… so he can do whatever he wants?” I asked

He sighed, “As the one bonded to the lion spirit he will become one of the most powerful adventurers, he will be protected from consequences in most cases. Even if he is seen trying to kill you, it will probably be argued that you provoked him to such action, and he was justified” he shook his head. “No, they may discipline him, but he won’t face any justice. Not unless he attacks the nobility I suspect”

“So he can just kill me if he wants” I paused as the weight of Calendis’ words settled on my shoulders, “I’m not getting out of the Citadel alive, am I?”

Calendis was silent for a while, perhaps trying to find a way that I could survive. “You are not without friends in the Citadel, Aucus. You have your training group, you have me, and you have the prince. I will speak to Prince Orsat and see if I can have a shadow guard assigned to you, or at least to your quarters. They are the best there is, they have incredible mastery over the shadow abilities and go unseen wherever they wish. I doubt Zarin will attempt to kill you himself, if anyone else attempts to, you can be sure that they will face justice”

I nodded my head, I supposed that was something at least. “Thank you Calendis” I said after a while, “I know you’re looking out for me, it’s just… a lot has happened”

He smiled; a warming look on his face. “It’s quite alright Aucus. I am not a fan of the power that the nobility has, you know they tried to stop me from rising to this position. Apparently, they thought that a village boy wouldn’t be appropriate to advise the crown, they seemed to think that their puppets would do a better job.” He grinned at me, “And here I am”

I smiled at that, “Thanks again, I think I might train some more. If he does try anything himself, I mean to kill him” I said seriously

Calendis gave me an appraising look before nodding, “Very well, I’ll do what I can to protect you if it comes to that. You’re dismissed for now. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon enough”

I nodded my head to him as I stood up from the chair and left his office. I wasn’t going to rest anymore; no I was going to train my abilities. It wasn’t enough just to do them at night in my room, there were some that I couldn’t use there without destroying my furniture. I had to find an empty training hall.

I passed a few training halls, though most had noise coming from within, presumably other groups that were on a different schedule to my own. At last, I came to one that was quiet, I cracked the door open and put my head into the room. Seeing that it was empty, I entered and closed the door behind me. Looking around, I saw that it was identical to the one that we trained in with Orion and Astrid. I placed my hand on a crystal set into the wall, lighting up the myriad of crystals placed high on the walls, I ascended the wooden platform that made up the floor of most of the room and readied myself.

I practiced my abilities for hours, in the past week I had strengthened my mana wells, both from practice and from abilities that I had discovered in my book. I could use magic for longer and with more precision because of this improvement. Though I did take breaks to allow my mana to regenerate at times, it was a faster process than before in any case.

I sent lightning arcing across the room, torrents of flame from my hands directed at training dummies, I practiced using a cloud of mist that would be able to hide me from ordinary sight. I persisted more, despite my exhaustion, forming a bullet of stone and sending it flying across the room, practicing the use of a water lash as a whip, it was a type of weapon that I had never used before. It was fortunate that the walls and floor of the room were enhanced to protect them from magical damage as I trained for long hours, any other room would have been destroyed by my actions.

I was sending out an ice barrage when the door opened, trying to condense the projectiles closer together so that they could focus on a specific target. I turned around at the sound and stopped in my tracks, releasing my hold on my mana as the surprise took me. That was something I would have to practice too, learning to grab my mana instead of releasing it when I was shocked.

“Your… your majesty” I said dropping to my knee as I had seen others do around the queen. She had entered through the door and appeared to be alone, though the strange movements of the shadows told me otherwise. She was a beautiful sight in her golden dress, her auburn hair styled into a braided pattern as it fell down her back. Her blue eyes seemed to pierce into me, though I saw her red lips twitch upwards into a slight grin for a moment.

“You may stand” she said imperiously. I obliged and rose to my feet, unsure how to behave around royalty such as her. Prince Orsat had been rather informal in the meeting I had had with him; Queen Celeste seemed to be the opposite, and besides she was a woman.

“Uh, thank you” I said, quickly adding a “My queen” to the end as I tried my best not to glance at the woman’s cleavage.

“I was under the impression that magical training had finished already, earlier in the day” she said, posing it as a statement instead of the question it was intended as.

“Yes, your majesty. I thought that I might benefit from some more practice” I said, my face blushing as I felt the need to defend myself for some reason.

She looked around the room and nodded her head, “Admirable, that dedication” she said

“Thank you, your majesty” I paused for a moment, realising she had seen me using one of the abilities that I hadn’t told anybody about. “Could I ask that you don’t tell anybody about this. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to use this room”

She smiled at that, “I won’t.” she answered, and paused for a moment, admiring the weapons decorating the walls. “I saw a group practicing this morning. That boy with the lion spirit was quite talented, I think he will make a fine adventurer. Perhaps he can even make up for that ghastly father of his” she said absently. I wasn’t sure what to say and felt no desire to talk about Zarin. The silence stretched on until she turned to look at me, “What was your name, I forgot to ask?”

“Aucus, your majesty” I said, bowing my head slightly as I introduced myself.

“Aucus” she muttered, her eyes moving away in thought. At last she spoke again, “You’re the one that Calendis has taken an interest in, aren’t you?” I nodded my head in confirmation. “He’s rarely wrong about anything” she whispered quietly as she looked at me with a new sense of intrigue.

I felt slightly uncomfortable under her gaze but remained still, not wanting to offend the queen. After her examination of me finished, she nodded her head “Well, I wish you a good night Aucus” she said before leaving the training hall, not waiting for my response.

I was a little shocked by the strange interaction, by the time that I had come to my senses I found that my mana had been restored, though I felt an exhaustion from the strain I had placed upon it. I returned to my rooms shortly after, opening the door to find the others sat around, talking, and eating.

“Aucus, where in the dark mines have ya been?” Korin shouted as I entered the room.

“Sorry, I was held up by…” I trailed off not sure how to tell them, “Well, by the queen” I decided on the blunt approach.

The dwarf stared at me for a moment before bursting into laughter, “Sure ya did, and I was having drinks with the Prince” he joked, making no attempt to disguise his lack of belief of my story.

I saw Sara giggling a little at Korin’s outburst, clearly none of the others believed me either.

“Whatever, maybe I should tell her to lock you up next time we talk” I said to Korin, causing more laughter as I sat down at the table and joined them in the meal.