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2023-08-02 03:04:08Related chapters
The choices we make 33
“Sit here with me, my friend,” said the Lady, patting one of the pillows in the window. Mary carefully went forward and sat as far out on the edge as she could. “Mary, I have to apologize,” the Lady began, and Mary was so surprised she forgot about being careful and looked up at the Lady. “We shouldn’t have left you the way we did when we went back home. I trusted the king, but that’s no excuse. I should have made sure you were okay before we left,” the Lady continued. “I thought you’d be taken care of and get to grow up at court.”“At court?” said Mary in amazement.“Yes, my friend, that’s what was decided. I thought you’d be best off staying here, where you felt at home. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?” Mary didn’t know what to say. The thought of growing up at court was so strange. She thought of Lady Sarah and couldn’t imagine growing up to be like her. Mary suddenly realized the Lady was waiting for an answer.“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said. The Lady smiled faintly. They
Last Updated : 2023-08-02The choices we make 34
In the days that followed, Mary spent all her time in the tower with the grey-clad people and the aari. She didn't go out into the rest of the castle because she had a fear that everything was just a dream, and if she were to leave the room, she would have to go back to her old life. Kopa was her constant companion. It seemed like the Lady had ordered him to take care of Mary. Mary didn’t mind. She still found peace and comfort in his company. She didn’t remember when she had felt so relaxed and content. Mary tried not to think about the people who were outside the safe walls and the familiar rooms. But on her second day in the tower, as she sat looking out over the castle courtyard as usual, she saw Zerden. She saw him cross the courtyard and then disappear behind a couple of buildings. Mary knew he was heading for the gardens, and she knew who he was meeting. She felt a sharp stab in the heart and turned away. She didn't want to think about it, not now. ---Kopa saw and felt the ch
Last Updated : 2023-08-03The choices we make 35
Mary felt a little strange leaving the security of the tower. But at the same time, it felt wonderful to get some fresh air and walk around again. Many of the people who walked across the yard greeted her while looking at Kopa with questioning looks. Mary steered their steps towards the gate and then down the street. As they walked, she kept telling Kopa stories about the different houses, about the streets and about the places they could see in the distance. They walked around for hours before finally getting back to the castle gates. Mary was happy and felt like she had spent most of their walk laughing. Even Kopa seemed unusually cheerful, and she had received several smiles from him during the day. Together they entered through the gate and started towards the tower. "Mary?" Mary stopped when she heard her name. She turned around and saw Zerden standing among a group of soldiers on the other side of the castle yard. He said a few words to his friends and then hurried towards her.
Last Updated : 2023-08-03The choices we make 36
Mary stopped outside the door to the apartment and took a deep breath before knocking. It took a while, but then Zerden's mother opened the door. "Mary, how nice to see you. Zerden's already left," she said. Mary thought she looked very tired. "I know, I've already met him. I was hoping to talk to you, but if you want, I can come back when you feel better." "Don't be silly. Come in and I'll put on some tea," Zerden's mother said, turning around to go into the kitchen. Mary stepped in and closed the door behind her. She hung her coat in the hallway as so many times before and followed Anna into the kitchen. Mary got the cups and tried to find a place to start the conversation she knew she needed to have with Anna. They sat down at the table and Zerden's mother poured them some tea. "I guess Zerden told you his news," his mother said. "Yes.""He is not the most tactful man God has put on this earth," his mother nodded. "He takes after his father. I love them both dearly, but the Lo
Last Updated : 2023-08-04The choices we make 37
"Of course, come in." Mary entered the small house and followed Ida into the kitchen where Mrs. Korpi was stirring in a pot. "Well, look at this. Mary, it's nice to see you," the woman said. "Thank you, Mrs. Korpi. Do you think Erik's going to be able to talk to me soon? I need to talk to him. It’s urgent or I wouldn’t have come in the middle of the day," Mary said. A small pensive wrinkle appeared between Mrs. Korpi's eyebrows. "Well, the men will soon have their food. You are welcome to wait and join us." “Thank you very much," said Mary. She had hardly sat down to wait when the back door opened, and Erik and his father entered the kitchen. They looked at Mary curiously before greeting her. "Here, take your bowls of stew and go and sit in the garden, you two. There you can have a talk," said Mrs. Korpi, giving Mary and Erik each their bowl of food. They thanked her and went out into the garden. It was still a bit chilly, but they found a place where the sun warmed them and sett
Last Updated : 2023-08-04The choices we make 38
The afternoon and evening turned into a jumble of packing, anticipation, and nerves. The final announcement of departure came shortly before dinner. Everyone seemed to have assumed that would be the case and had already begun to prepare. For Mary, this made her decision more real and inevitable. Although it gave her a whole swarm of butterflies in her stomach, she stood firm in her belief this was what she had to do. When the news that Mary was coming with them spread through the group of grey-clad people, it was received with joy and cheers. They seemed genuinely happy she would go with them. They strengthened Mary's decision. Perhaps she would find a place where she was accepted and welcome. The most important thing for Mary was to make sure all her memorabilia was packed and secured. All the things which were left of her father’s craft, the little knickknacks she had received from her friends during the years—all were tiny specks of light. They might seem unimportant to most people
Last Updated : 2023-08-05The choices we make 39
Mary sat in the carriage, feeling somewhat depressed after leaving everything and everyone she knew behind. That wasn’t entirely true, she thought, she was, in fact, surrounded by people she knew, and she was with the Lady and Kopa. It helped a little, she just needed to look at this as an adventure. Like when Erik and she would explore the city when they were children. After a while, the carriage stopped, and Mary looked at the Lady questioningly."We have to wait for the wagons with our luggage," the Lady explained without Mary having to ask. Mary nodded and realized they couldn’t travel without storage wagons. The procession with the grey riders and the lonely white carriage, was only to create an impression, to maintain the vision of the Lady and her company. Mary thought she should have figured it out earlier, she, if anyone, should know how much food it took to feed all these people. As they waited for the waggons to catch up with them, Mary thought about the journey ahead of he
Last Updated : 2023-08-05The choices we make 40
Kopa walked around the camp inspecting tents, weapons, equipment and talking to the grey riders. He introduced Mary as they went, and she was amazed at the respect they showed her. She was used to being almost at the bottom of the social order, and now it suddenly seemed she had taken a step or two up. She didn't really know how to handle it. As they walked between two groups of people, Mary turned to Kopa."I thought Nihal was responsible for the riders" she said."That's right" Kopa replied."But if he's in charge of the riders, why are you doing the inspection?" She was never afraid to ask Kopa a question, she felt safe with him. He wouldn’t make fun of her just because she didn’t know something. He looked at her appreciatively."I'm responsible for Tariana's personal guard" he replied. "It's therefore my job to make sure she's safe, so I usually do an inspection to make sure safety is up to my standards" he continued. Mary nodded."But what does Nihal say about you doing it?" she
Last Updated : 2023-08-06
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The choices we make 101
“We finished Procecsa’s experiments today, and we think we can see a pattern,” Mary told Tariana excited. She didn’t know how Tariana already knew about it, but it was the only thing exciting which had happened lately. Tariana laughed again.“That is exciting to hear, but no. I was thinking about the fact that you have gotten some control over your fire magic,” Tariana smiled.“Oh, that. Yes, Procecsa helped me with it last night,” Mary said. She didn’t understand what was so exciting about that.“Do you think you could summon it now?” Tariana asked.“I think so,” Mary nodded. Tariana stood and went over to the bookcase. She got a small tray and walked back, placing it on the desk in front of Mary. On the tray there was a candle, an empty bowl, a feather, a pile of what looked like soil, and a plate with a dried bean.“Please light the candle,” Tariana asked Mary. Mary focused and after a while she found the now familiar feeling of her fire magic. The candle lit. “Fill the bowl with w
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The time until the winter solstice went by quickly and before she knew it, Mary was running around the equipment she had helped Procecsa set up the day before the solstices. They were outside the wall, on a flat part of the plain. The grass had been cut down and a light dusting of snow barely covered the ground. The area was guarded by grey riders. Not for the fear of someone sabotaging their experiments, but to keep curious people away. There was a lot of preparation to be made. Luckily for Mary, she had already done this a couple of times before. According to magical theory, occasions such as the winter solstice and full moons could affect magic in different ways. But to Mary’s surprise, it had never been proven, even though everyone used the principle. Procecsa had therefore designed an experiment to perform some basic magic, which was easy to perform and evaluate the effect of and repeat this during the different beneficial celestial occasions. They had already done the control ro
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“I would love to,” Mary said, looking at him. “But I don’t want to take time away from you seeing your family. I know you don’t get to see them that often,” she said. Tenac shrugged.“I will visit them as often as I can while they are here. It’s okay, I wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t,” he said.“Okay, then I would love to come.”“Good. Now let’s get you a new horse,” he smiled.“No, Tenac. I have told you, Buttercup will do,” Mary objected.“I’m not letting you anywhere near my grandfather whilst you are riding Buttercup, Mary. If you are going to visit a Che’hul camp, you can’t be on a horse like her,” he said. Mary looked at him. She really wanted to go with him to visit his family. Her curiosity and thirst for new things was going crazy at the thought of getting to see this whole new culture. At the same time, it felt like she was betraying Buttercup. The horse had been patient with her from the start. Mary recognised Tenac was dangling the visit to the Che’hul camp as an incent
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“In my case?” Mary asked.“For some reason, you have been conditioned to suppress your fire. Most likely not in an effort to suppress the magic, but a characteristic which goes with it. Like anger,” Procecsa said. Mary could hear that she tried to be gentle. Mary sat quietly for a while and thought things through. Her time in the kitchen had made her put a tight lead on her emotions, especially anger, but also passion and love. It would have been the last thing she did in the castle if she had become angry with someone higher up the rank than her. Which had been most people.“So, what do I do? Do I have to get angry at Tenac?” Mary asked, making Procecsa laugh.“No, I don’t think he deserves it. He’s just trying to help you, after all” she smiled at Mary.“I need to get angry at someone else?” Mary asked, confused.“I don’t know if you need to get angry at anyone, Mary. I think it would be okay just for you to accept it is okay for you to get angry. Just to allow yourself to experienc
The choices we make 97
It had been over six months since Mary had started her training, and each day offered new opportunities to learn and to explore the world. She discovered she had a craving for learning. The more she learnt, the more questions she had. Her mentor, Procecsa, had picked up on this and gave Mary more and more books to read. Mary was helping her mentor with all sorts of experiments. Procecsa was good at explaining things in a way Mary understood them. In just a few weeks, the winter solstice was to take place and Mary was looking forward to it. Several of the experiments that Procecsa had Mary help with depended on it. In the class for basic magic, they had learned certain celestial events could impact magic. The winter solstice was one of those. Mary was to assist her mentor in trying to figure out just how much it affected certain types of magic. Mary found the whole thing fascinating and couldn’t wait to get to see the results. After the solstice, they would have a two-week break. It wa
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Zerden stood looking at the men under his command. They were training, and they looked tired. Zerden knew he had been pushing them hard this past month. His bad mood had made him irritable, and every mistake was now punished with a gruelling training session. He knew he needed to back off a bit. His men were well trained and the minor mistakes they made didn’t warrant this punishment. Zerden needed to get his temper back in check. Which was easier said than done. It would be easier if he just had known why he was in such a bad mood. If he was honest with himself, he knew why. He just wasn’t up for admitting it just yet. So instead, his bad mood continued and everyone around him endured and stayed out of his way as much as they could.“Don’t forget to put everything back before you head to get dinner,” he shouted. He didn’t wait around to make sure they did what he told them. No one wanted to disobey him at the moment. He walked inside and headed to his room in the castle. Zerden had j
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“Sure, happy to help,” Jontak said, smiling. Firlea looked at Mary, slightly panicked. Mary smiled at her.“Thanks, Jontak,” Mary said. She and Sinhera looked as Jontak and Firlea left the shop.“Not the smoothest hint, but I think that will do,” Sinhera smiled.“It’s a good start at least,” Mary nodded.“What are you two plotting?” Tenac asked as he walked up to them. “And where are Jontak and your friend?”“Firlea needed ink. Jontak escorted her there as it’s her first time to the market,” Mary smiled at him.“You two are scaring me. Please don’t help me like that, ever,” he said. Both Mary and Sinhera laughed. They waited for the two to return before heading towards the weapons stalls. There were a lot of different weapons. Some Mary didn’t even know the names of and couldn’t figure out how to use.“Do you want to look at a new knife, Mary?” Jontak asked her.“No thank you, I’m happy with the one I have,” she told him.“Do you even know how to use it?” Tenac asked her.“Well, it’s
The choices we make 94
As Mary got back to her room, both her friends were sitting in the bay window reading. Mary had things she needed to read as well. But she felt like she needed to write her last letter. She wanted to let go of the past. She settled down at her desk and stared down at the empty paper in front of her. This was going to be difficult.‘Dear Anna,I’m so pleased to hear that things are looking up for you. That gives me hope this wave of the sickness will fade as well. I want to thank you for your kind words. They mean so much to me and I will always remember them. I told my father about your kind words, and he was grateful. That brings me to the difficult part of this letter. This is not something which is easy for me to write, or to think about doing. But I feel like it has to be done. Last time I wrote, I was taking the acceptance test to become an aari. Well, as you predicted, I made it and have now moved into the sanctum to start my training. With my training, my lessons with Tenac an
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“What did you need to talk about?” Kopa said, as the two of them sat down at the table. “I read the letter you gave me,” Mary started. “And you got upset?”“Not like last time. I’m angry this time, more than I’m sad,” Mary admitted, which earned her a surprised look from Kopa.“I know. Who knew?” she said, laughing at his expression.“So, what advice do you need?”“I think I know what I need to do, but I don’t know if I should do it, or if I really want to,” Mary told him. “Okay, can you tell me what made you angry?” Kopa asked.“Do you promise to stay calm?” Mary asked.“I do”“I won’t go into details, but the jest of it is that Zerden told me I was a disappointment for choosing to live my life the way I am. For the choices I have made since coming here,” Mary said, looking at Kopa. He had clenched his jaw and there was a muscle tick above his right eye. But he kept his promise and stayed calm, at least on the surface. It made Mary smile. “Are you okay, dad?”“Fine. The letter was
