Discovery

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Child, I am so glad to see you again,” Evelyn said as she swirled into the room.

“I thought you would never get here.”

The sorceress carried a sack of food and supplies. She placed it on a work table and said, “Indeed, that is truer than not. The kingdom is in turmoil. Members of the Royal family have been killed, and others try to usurp the King. Several young mages have banded together to serve new masters, and all the while the whole world searches for a new princess, half to crown her and the other half to see her dead.”

“It is me they are after.”

Evelyn threw her hands to her mouth and feigned surprise. “You are the reason that they search each home in every town and village? Because of you, there are guards at every crossroad? And you are worth a fistful of gold coins to the person who delivers you, or your head, to certain mages?”

“I don’t understand half of what is happening.”

“Nor should you,” Evelyn said. “You are a just child in need of help.”

Hannah sat and looked away before deciding to trust Evelyn even more than she had. “Not just a child. I am a princess in line for the throne, and I’m the daughter of a mage.”

“Mage is something learned. Unless you feel a calling, you will know nothing of the magic arts, and even then you would have to study for years to learn the basics of being a sorceress.”

“I have that calling.”

While unpacking and talking had distracted her, Evelyn now turned and said simply, “I know.”

“You can tell?”

“The pink dots. Women without our powers cannot see them. Not even a mage can see them. Only us, a sisterhood of women who try to help others with what we learn, and that is how I knew you were more than a helpless child.”

“But now everyone wants to kill me. I killed a man on my way here.”

“Lords and Demons! You killed a man?”

“He was trying to kill me. Well, take me to the one who is behind the mages causing all this trouble.”

Evelyn halted in storing the food and supplies. “Behind?”

“Someone wealthy is paying for the reward they offer. That person has paid for the soldiers who chased us, and for the assassins.”

“You know this… How?”

“I know it because I saw it. After they had attacked us the first time, one of my father’s men went back and searched the warriors we defeated. They were the scum that spends evening downing ale at the pub, and I recognized many of them. Liars, thieves, and crooks. The guard filled the floor of our coach with coins taken from them. Somebody rich is paying the young mages, and everyone else.”

“I have heard no stories that confirm your words.”

“Are you saying I’m lying?” Hannah found herself on her feet; fingers balled into fists.

Evelyn glanced at them and shook her head. “No, I believe you. Every word. It’s just that nobody is telling the tale, and I find that odd. Someone is even paying people to be quiet about certain things.”

Hannah relaxed. “I need a place to live. I cannot go back to the King’s Palace yet.”

“If ever. But, I expected you to return here, and you are welcome to live with me. We’ll devise a story to explain who you are, but for now, you must stay hidden. By the way, your hair is hideous.”

Hannah smiled for the first time in days. “Ink. Sir James’ manservant William cut it for me.”

“The Knight couldn’t afford to have a woman cut it for you?”

“The Knight is dead. So is his manservant, William.”

Evelyn blanched and reached for the edge of the table to steady herself. “We have not heard.”

Hannah pulled the purse from her waist where it still rode, even under the dresses. “You said you needed coins to buy local things. Here, take these.”

The sorceress spilled the coins onto the table and sucked in a sharp breath. “Where did all this come from? It’s a fortune.”

“I have more in my bag. Not much, but some, and three pieces of silver a blacksmith cut for me.”

“I hope you took a nap today because we’re going to talk long into the night, Hannah. More has happened to you in a few days than happens to others in their lives. Now, I want you start at the beginning and tell me everything.”

Hannah hesitated. Everything? Even the part where she made fire with her finger? No! “I will start with my mother, I guess.”

The sorceress said, “First we eat and get better acquainted. Did you follow my instructions?”

“Yes, but you should have said not to sniff that stuff in the pot.”

“Oh, that sniff won’t hurt you. Its purpose is to keep people away from here. A little skunk scent will deter most from coming too near. I let it simmer all year around as a simple, effective measure to ensure my privacy. Still, if that is your closest encounter with my herbs and spells, you did well.”

“A bird passed on your message.”

“Crow. He’s a smart one, and mimics me well.”

“Will I be able to make birds say what I want?”

“Not right away, but you have the beginning of the power. But having it and using it are two different things. The front end of a dog has a snout, but the back end wags. No, that is a silly comparison, and I apologize. I’m treating you like a child.”

“I am a child.”

The sorceress smirked and said, “There, I knew you were smarter than most. You are a child, but a special one. You cannot read; I take it?”

“I can draw a few letters,” her eyes went to the writing table. “But the letters disappeared.”

“There are times when that is good. I will teach you to read and write, far quicker than I learned because of a couple of spells.”

Hannah pulled back a little. “I’m not sure about your spells.”

“The two I made for you and the Knight? Did they work?”

“Sir James said, “Without them, we might not have reached the Palace.”

“The spells I’m going to use are simple and will help you learn faster. You need to read to protect yourself. Hannah, there are men in every village searching for you. That’s why I had to wait to come here, but I cannot keep doing it without raising suspicion.”

“They are here? Looking for me?”

“You have no idea of the firestorm you’ve created. But I think we can deflect some of the searches, and that is why I came here today.”

“You won’t stay?”

“I cannot, and you cannot suddenly appear at my home without a hundred bounty hunters of one sort or another arriving the following day.”

“Tell me your plan.”

“You were going to tell me your tale. But it can wait for a little, and you can learn,” she stood and went to a workbench and cleared the clutter aside. She talked as she worked, explaining what tasks the ingredients performed, why they were mixed as she did it, and how much of each to use. After combining six herbs, minerals, and the bark of a tree, she set the bowl aside and went to the writing-table where she selected a small parchment and blood red ink.

She wrote in a tiny hand, neat letters that filled the paper. Hannah watched every step, knowing the sorceress worked without hesitation and seemed familiar with every step. She rolled the paper into a tube and tied it with a red ribbon, the tails hanging long and free.

Back at the bowl she’d mixed, she removed part of the contents and sprinkled it on a thick dowel extending from the wall. She added another ingredient, and the dowel began to glow. “Now we wait,” Evenly said. “You can begin your story.”

Hannah talked, skipping any mention of her ability to make fire, but made it seem the Old Mage had recognized her features as his own and remembered the woman he’d courted twelve years ago. She talked quickly, her eyes shifting to the glowing dowel now and then. When she reached the part about the Old Mage being killed by the arrow, a noise interrupted her.

An owl hooted. Then Hannah heard the rustle of wings. Turning to the opening in the hollow tree, she saw an owl fly inside, where it landed on the dowel with a flutter of wings that threw dust into the air from the worktable. The sorceress barely reacted other than to hold up a finger for Hannah to pause. Evelyn tied the tube of parchment to the leg of the owl and watched it fly away.

“What’s that all about?” Hannah asked.

“The owl will carry a message to another sorceress far from here. She will read it and then convince people near her home that they have seen a twelve-year-old blonde girl sneaking through the forests near there. Word of your sightings will travel fast.”

“Eleven-years-old,” Hannah said automatically but smiling at the plan. “That is a very good idea. Everyone around here that is looking for me will either stop or go there. But how will the owl know where to go? And how do you make it do that?”

“Consider this your first lesson in sorcery. We do not make things happen. We are not gods. What we do is convince others, and that includes animals, to do what we would like them to do. For instance, I cast a spell that told that male owl that there are attractive female owls looking for mates where I wish it to fly. The spell convinced the owl to fly there as fast as possible, and to make itself more beautiful, fly to the sorceress and she will remove the thing tied to its leg.”

Hannah pursed her lips as she thought about the explanation and found she didn’t fully believe, or understand all of it. “You did make it go there. You cast the spell.”

“A wise and unexpected answer from one so young, but wrong. I cast a spell to make the conditions conducive to the owl. The owl wants to go where there are mates, and I’m sure there are many where he is going. I set up the circumstances that allowed the owl to make the decision I wanted.”

Hannah shook her head. “You’re playing with words.”

“Ha!” the sorceress spat, and then she chuckled. “You want to know all the answers in one short lesson, but it will not happen that way.”

“So, there is more?”

“Much more, young lady. But if you understand half of what I explained today, you are better at learning sorcery than almost all.”

Hannah let her words ring a bell in her mind. The Old Mage had told her a similar thing about making fire with her finger. He said some mages never learn. Could she be both a special mage and sorceress? “What if the sorceress, where the owl lands, tells them where I am?”

“The message does not say you are here.”

“What if a hunter kills the owl and reads the message?” Hannah asked.

The sorceress was busy mixing more ingredients but paused to look at Hannah. “Another perceptive question. Instead of answering directly, you tell me. What would you do to protect the message?”

Hannah shrugged but looked around the workshop and at the writing table. “Disappearing ink would hide it but then the sorceress where the owl flies cannot read it.”

“Very good. What if I told you a simple spell would bring back all you wrote?”

Hannah’s eye opened wide in surprise. “You can do that?”

“No, but I like your idea, and with a little work, I think I can make it happen. In this case, I simply wrote it in red ink, and that says there is danger within the words. The note said that there had been several sightings of you near where she lives and to tell everyone she knows about them. But the red ink will warn her of danger, and she will be careful in the telling.”

“Oh, so simple.”

Evelyn said, “Do not be disappointed. The simplest ways are often the best. Now, why don’t you sit down on that stool by the writing table and finish your story while I work on another spell, one that will help you learning to read.”

The day had turned into the late afternoon by the time she finished, and Evelyn had asked a hundred questions. The Sorceress waved her arms, mumbled a few words, and patiently waited. The crow returned a short while later and landed on the dowel that seemed to exist for birds who spoke. After feeding the bird a nut as a reward, she sprinkled the blue powder over the bird’s head, then pale yellow sprinkles as fine as ground salt.

The sorceress lifted the small scroll she’d brought with her and said, “Are you sure you are only eleven, almost twelve? You are closer to ten in some ways, thirty in others if you ask me. These are your lessons for a few days. The letters you have been learning, but the crow will return when you unroll the scroll because he’s bound to it for a few days.”

“Why?” Hannah asked. I don’t want that stupid bird around here.

“Because it now knows how to speak the sounds of each letter and what they look like. Many have two sounds, and the crow knows both. You will write and say aloud the name and the sounds of the letters. When you know one, the crow will fly off until you unroll the scroll for the next letter.”

“So I’m to spend part of my days making letters. I can do that. But I already know some, and my mother was teaching me before she died, so a few are familiar.”

The sorceress stood before shaking her head. “It will come back in a hurry. But no, you are not to spend part of each day learning them, you will spend nearly all of every day learning them. It is your most important task if you are to learn to be a sorceress.”

“Why is it so important?”

“Imagine misreading an ingredient as you mix a spell. Your mistake may create an anger potent when you wanted one for love. You will print the letters, say them, memorize them, and practice until you know each instantly.”

“That’ll take days,” Hannah wailed.

Evelyn met her protest with a stern expression. “Days! It usually takes a year or two. Listen to me, girl. Never have so many searched for one person. If you are to live to be twelve, you will do as I say. Study. Learn. It is your only hope.”

Hannah felt the tears welling and her vision blurring.

“Cry, if you must,” Evelyn snapped. “Do it and get it over with. This is not like I’m holding a hot poker against your skin. All ladies read and write. If you have any hope of returning to the King’s Palace and avenging the deaths of your three fathers, you will study as if your life depends on learning. I cannot return for at least four more days, maybe longer.”

“How many of them would you wish me to know when you return?”

“I would wish for all of them, but that is unreasonable. Do your best.”

“Can’t you cast a learning spell over me?”

“Spells wear out over time. This is something you must learn for yourself. I must leave. I’ve already been here too long and don’t wish to start the tongues in my village wagging.”

Hannah wanted to ask more questions, but the woman was already walking away, her stride long and quick, her arms swinging at her sides. Hannah turned to the crow. “You had better stay close and eat when you can because you’re going to be very busy.”