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The choices we make 66
The following morning Mary got ready to go out on the town with Tenac before she went down for breakfast. Unlike most days, Kopa didn’t leave as soon as he had eaten.“Is there something wrong?” Mary asked him.“No” he just answered and just sat at the table. Mary looked at him quizzical.“He’s not going to work until Tenac comes to pic you up. I think he needs to intimidate the poor boy some more” Bettina laughed, being able to read her husband like a book.“Surly you are not going to do that?” Mary asked.“I’m not saying I will, but I might.”“Kopa, why?” Mary asked looking at him. He just shrugged and kept sitting on his chair, staring out into nothing. Mary looked to Bettina for guidance.“Oh let him be. I’ll make sure he doesn’t go overboard. A small bit of intimidation won’t hurt Tenac”“Bettina!” Mary said in chock. Kopa had a smile playing on his lips but did his best not to show it. The only reply Mary got was a shrug from both her parents. Just as Mary was about to argue wit
Last Updated : 2023-08-22The choices we make 67
“It smells like the meat skewers they have at the market in Dermes” she replied and tried to home in on the scent. She turned a little to the left and a couple of stalls further away she saw a stand that looked to be from Dermes. They even had a small grill set up with the skewers going. Mary let out an exciting squeak and grabbed Tenacs hand without realising it. She started dragging him in the direction of the stall in question. She loved the meat skewers at the market, they tasted divine, and she hadn’t had any for over a year.“My treat this time” she told Tenac that looked at her as if she was going crazy.“Four please” she told the woman manning the grill. She hadn’t realised she still spoke Salamis until the women asked if she could repeat it in Common. Soon Mary had paid for and received four delicious looking skewers and was handing two to Tenac. Now they only needed someplace a bit quieter to eat them. Tenac seemed to know what she was thinking.“This way” he told her and wa
Last Updated : 2023-08-22The choices we make 68
Tenac was relived the coffee break had calmed the mood of the group and Mary seemed calmer and more at ease. Sinhera had started guiding them toward the fabric stalls. He let Mary walk in front of him so he could keep an eye on her. Suddenly Mary turned around and looked at something or someone behind him. Then she gave a brilliant smile. Tenac had never seen a smile like that on her face and it was blinding. He heard Jontak, who had been walking beside him, draw a breath.“Kopa” Mary happily said with a slightly raised voiced before she waved. Tenac turned around, following Mary’s gaze and saw Kopa, with a group of rides, come walking towards them. Automatically Tenac straightened his stands and saluted him. Both Jontak and Sinhera had seen him as well and followed Tenac in saluting him.“Mary” Kopa answered her with a smile, he returned the salute as an afterthought, his focus was on Mary.“What are you doing here?” Mary asked, Tenac saw the radiant smile she had fired off, now had
Last Updated : 2023-08-23The choices we make 69
The next afternoon, Mary and Bettina was cooking for the dinner. They had invited Dr Genict to come over. Kopa had promised to be on his best behaviour but both Mary and Bettina were a bit worried. Mary was hoping their plan to get Dr Genetic to back off would work. Bettina had asked if Mary would like to be responsible for the dessert, she thought it would be nice to try something from Dermes. Mary was happy to do it. While she helped Bettina to cook every day, she had been occupied with learning the local cuisine, she hadn’t made anything from Dermes yet. Mary had, after some thinking, chosen to make one of her personal favourite desserts. It was made with a soft cake that was layered with vanilla cream, whipped cream, and lingonberry jam. To her dismay lingonberries wasn’t something they used in Salmis. After some thinking she replaced it by using a gooseberry jam that Bettina had made the previous year. They had set the table in the dining room, it was the first time since Mary’s
Last Updated : 2023-08-23The choices we make 70
The weeks passed by quickly. Mary enjoyed her life and started to get a routine. Tenac would take her out into the city two or three times a week. They would walk around, and he would teach her about the customs, the city’s history and help her with her Salamis. Sometimes they were joined by Sinhera or Jontak, sometimes they walked alone. Kopa hadn’t made any more surprise visits. Mary enjoyed their walks, Tenac was patient and let her take things in her own pace, but he also knew when to push her to get her out of her comfort zone. On days when she didn’t walk with Tenac, she spent her day with Bettina. Helping her in the garden which was starting to come alive, going to visit clients and she got to see a baby being born. That was actually quite terrifying, but beautiful at the same time. The evenings were spent with Bettina and Kopa at home. Bettina had continued teaching Mary embroidery and they had started adding flowers to the bottom of her cloak. That was the custom here, Bettin
Last Updated : 2023-08-24The choices we make 71
“Oh, no, that’s okay” Mary said, trying to force a convincing smile.“I’m really sorry Mary, I would have preferred our walk” he tried again, he seemed to feel her change in demeanour.“It really is okay Tenac, things happen” she said shrugging, but she didn’t manage to put feeling into it.“Can we book the day after instead?” he asked.“It sounds like you have a lot of things going on. We can hold off with setting a new date until it calms down for you” Mary told him, she looked down at her hands.“No Mary, we will set a date now. Tell me a day that works for you.”“You know I’m not that busy, we can work around your schedule” Mary told him.“We both know it isn’t true, you just cancel the things you are planning when I say that I’m free” Tenac told her. She shrugged again.“It’s easier for me to cancel my things. Bettina doesn’t mind”“That doesn’t mean that it’s right. Please look at me Mary” Tenac pleaded. Mary hesitated but then looked at him.“Something is wrong, what is it?” he
Last Updated : 2023-08-24The choices we make 72
Mary had been deep in her own thought all day, she helped Bettina with the usual choirs, but it went by routine. Mary kept listing things she needed to improve with herself and making sure she stuck to them. Her thoughts were so full of what not to do, there were hardly room for anything else.“Mary, is something wrong?” Bettina asked as they were sitting down eating lunch.“No, everything is fine” Mary tried to smile.“You seem to be absentminded ever since you got your letter” Bettina tried.“I guess I have been. It just gave me a lot to think about”“Not any bad news I hope.” Mary didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t want to burden Bettina with her guilt and if she listed all her shortcomings, Mary risked Bettina realising what a failure Mary really was. Mary couldn’t bare the thought of seeing the disappointment she knew would be in Bettina’s eyes.“No, well, they are having a hard time with the sickness and the food situation isn’t good. No merchants want to risk their lives to
Last Updated : 2023-08-25The choices we make 73
“No, you are perfect just the way you are” Tariana reassured her and drew her into a tight hug. After a long hug, Tariana went to sit down at her seat and Mary took several sips of the, mostly cold, tea. “I know your friends in Domne means a lot to you, I won’t suggest you don’t contact them. But you can’t let them decide who you are Mary” Tariana told her. Mary furrowed her eyebrows, she had never thought about it like that.“But shouldn’t I be open for the opinion of other people?” Mary asked.“You should, it’s part of what makes us grow. But you need to first decide if the opinion is a valid one. You need to know yourself and then be honest about if the opinion you are given is a valid one. I know this is hard for you because you have been told things about yourself that aren’t true for a long time” Tariana explained. “For the time being, if you feel like there is something you think you need to change with yourself, go to Bettina, Kopa or even me. We will be honest with you. As yo
Last Updated : 2023-08-25
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“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
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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
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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
