War mage crystals of mem.., p.39
War Mage (Crystals of Memory Book 4), page 39
“I planned for it, so yes. Anyone not doing the heavy work should see to it that those who are have food, constantly. Water, as well.” They didn’t have to hunt for the trip, strictly speaking, though he was willing to do that, if it came up.
That idea had some nodding going on, since it was the easy duty, simply passing someone a bit to eat and a camp cup with water in it, every half hour or so. Gull called out then, his voice sturdy, even if it wasn’t strictly his place to make assignments. Then, Anders was doing the same thing, so he wasn’t going to complain too much.
“Anders, you’re up for the first round of watching, if Prince Erold is going to be doing the road work? I should do that, too. I have the basics for that, but haven’t done a lot to practice.”
The Duke waved at Anders, and gave a serious nod.
“We’ll trade tasks out, each day?”
Everyone agreed to that, though his own plan had been to trade out every few hours, making the individual tasks far easier. It was good practice to do hard things over time as well, so he simply nodded and sank into a deep trance state, scanning the world around them.
“The weather will be clear, probably for the next three days. Then we might see some rain. Not a lot. I’m not finding anyone with sinister intentions on the road ahead, but we wouldn’t yet, this close to the castle. No animals, either.” His voice was slow and distant to his own ears. He lost track of things for a while then, focused on the world as tightly as he was.
Seeking for any tricks, traps or ways that someone might have gotten around his skills. There were, after some hours, people on the road, but they were simply travelers, making their way to some of the villages along the way. On the rutted dirt path, ahead of them.
Anders, on Chestnut, rode only on an improved, hard-packed road that was basically smoothed over stone, created from dirt. A thing that was slightly hard on the wagon wheels, and horseshoes, but easier on the axles and legs. Anders roused, after some hours, since they were stopping, to get water at a stream, that ran alongside the road.
He took that time to check on Prince Erold, who had been doing the heavy work, and found him annoyed at the effort and heavy breathing he was doing, but fine, otherwise. He was powerful enough, as far as magic went, after all. Then he checked all of the animals, and moved around, fixing a few saddles, and in two cases, soothing rubbed spots, using magic, to protect their mounts. No one commented on it, though Duke Lister did give him a nod, as soon as he was finished.
Anders simply reported.
“Nothing new, as far as what lies ahead. The next good stopping point is about three miles north of here. There’s a village there, this time.”
Princess Sweyn, out of her carriage, walked around and stretched a bit, seeming to be nearly as annoyed as her husband.
“I’m nearly useless here, aren’t I? I should take a turn riding. Except... I don’t want to make Queen Maura angry with me. So I sit and let myself be carried along.”
She seemed to be honestly bothered by the idea, and worse, Anders had nothing at all to amuse the woman with. The others forced to ride, either. After a bit, he nodded.
“Princess Javina, could you provide an entertainment, when we stop next? A bit of music, perhaps? Use illusion for it.”
That got him glared at, but the Princess sighed and nodded.
“I can try. It won’t be very good. I’ve never paid that much attention to that sort of thing. Others always did that for me, not the other way around!”
Princess Jasmin actually glared at him, which took him by surprise.
“That’s fine for her, but what are the rest of us supposed to do? This isn’t a very pleasant trip so far, is it?”
Everyone went silent for a moment, seeming strained, since Jasmin wasn’t normally a bratty person, compared to some. She was feeling useless, at the moment, of course, since riding in a carriage was like that. He hadn’t even thought to bring any books for the others to read or anything. Clearly, no one else had either. If it was him, he’d have gone into a trance or practiced magic, which was pretty much what the rest of them were actually doing.
So he shrugged.
“Teach Eltha and Princess Sweyn the basic hand magic set? They can both learn it. I’m a bit surprised no one has seen to that yet, to be honest.”
Sweyn gave him a strange look then and shook her head.
“My people aren’t strong in magic. I can’t do that.”
“I checked, and you, personally, have the basic talent and a keen enough mind for it. You don’t have to learn, but what else do you have to do at the moment?” That was a lie, since Anders didn’t really know if that was the case at all, but the learning would distract her, in the moment, if she could apply herself.
Jasmin clapped, as if given a prize.
“Oh, that sounds much better. Not fun, truly, but at least a thing to do? Let’s try, anyway?” She was nearly pleading, which got a bemused nod from the others, even if they didn’t seem eager, for some reason.
Which were things that Anders didn’t bother thinking about for several hours, going back to watching the road and surrounding areas. When they stopped it was by a small village, but other than a few people looking at them, from a distance as they watered the horses, nothing much happened.
Except for Javina proving that she was both capable of making music and that she honestly didn’t know any tunes to play. What she came out with wasn’t well done, but it was entertaining, watching her blush over the failure. She started to glare at Anders over it, when Salina hugged her.
“Well, you have about half of it, don’t you? Next time we hear some music, we should try to memorize it and practice, for things like this. Magic isn’t just about throwing power around.”
It was true, though they also had the entertainment of watching Eltha and Sweyn do exactly that. Jasmin set up stones for them to push, near the small stream, and set them to doing that for a quarter hour, to prove they had the basic skill down. Then they both had to make lights hover over their hands. It was clear that Eltha was better at that than Sweyn was, and much more powerful, but there was a healthy glow over the hand of the Princess. Easily enough to show a path in front of her at night.
When they got underway, it was clear that they weren’t going to be stopping for the day. Sweyn was far too excited for that. After all, she’d believed that she couldn’t do magic at all. Even if it was a weak talent for her, she now understood that she honestly could do it. That had to be intriguing for her.
Riding in a trance wasn’t boring, strictly speaking, but he missed a lot of what was happening as far as conversation went, or directives about watching the immediate area. He was doing that, but at a remove, not using his eyes for the task. It was different, doing that sort of thing for hours on end. Easier, in a way, after a while, but also easier to become distracted. He was picking up things from the minds of others, for instance, which mainly had to do with boredom, or in a few cases, a desire to answer a call of nature.
They held to the pattern of riding at a mild pace, stopping to rest the horses and people every two hours. On the fifth stop, still early in the day, since they’d gotten an early start, Duke Lister called a halt.
“We’ll put in here for the night. Is this field large enough for an inn, do you think, Brolly?”
The man was smirking over the idea, clearly jesting, but he nodded. It would be extra effort to add in a full water system, but the very fact that he didn’t want to bother with it kind of indicated it was a thing he needed to do. Making a larger building, with many rooms, a full kitchen and a common area was going to be more work than they needed for themselves, strictly speaking.
“Yes. It will take a few hours, since we need to do this right. Salina, can you help with this? I’d like a water tower, like what we did for the school?”
She nodded, her face blank.
“Yes. Let me... take care of some small matters, first?” Her voice was hopeful, and Anders got the point, so didn’t comment on it, merely nodded.
“I won’t be ready for a while, anyway.” He needed to walk the space and plan it out, first.
He was still, more or less, stuck in a trance state, so simply planned, then started on the work, making a two-story dwelling, with a large open room on the first floor, and a slanted, snow shedding, roof on the top. There were windows, which he left open at first, feeling only a bit surprised when Lissa took the duty of making glass for them. Those, were clear, he noticed, which was impressive and a skill that he hadn’t learned at all, yet. He could, he supposed, make up a word for it, but he hadn’t, as of yet.
There was piping in the thick walls, and fireplaces in each of the rooms. This time, instead of stopping at the end, the place not being the size of a palace or castle at all, he worked on furnishings. Those were made to look nice, if not in a way that was truly special. There were no inlaid carvings or patterns, for instance.
In all, the work took about four hours, but they were able to move food in, and since Gull and the drivers had gotten wood for them, so he was able to start a good meal, indoors, in the new kitchen, before it was too late to see anything.
On the outside, the white building looked clean and sturdy, but not truly fancy in any way. It was, of course, a copy of things that he’d seen in other location, only made of what seemed to be smooth stone, instead of wood. They had water, as well as spigots made of real stone inside, which did make cooking far easier and faster, he realized. That was Salina’s work.
A thing which got him to smile. There had been no hint of complaining about the hardships, from anyone. The only real whining so far had been from Princess Jasmin and she’d fixed that, as soon as she had something to do.
Anders was the one with the food and the cooking skills, but he had aid, in the form of Prince Erold. They were traveling after all, and the man was good about pitching in on things. He did complain a bit, in an affable fashion.
“I’ve never used magic for that long before. I feel like I just spent the whole day running. I can barely move.” He sounded tired, too. A real thing, that seemed almost exhausted.
Still, the Prince cleaned some sturdy roots and greens taken from a box with a preservation spell on it. A thing that slowed time enough that even delicate foods would last for months, if it were left undisturbed.
Rallying a bit himself, finally, he nodded.
“I know. It’s different than doing it for a few hours at a time. We all need to be ready for that kind of thing, so it’s good practice. Can you quarter those roots, next? I’ll get the big pot going.”
The Prince did it, fairly well, considering he wasn’t trained for such things. They worked in silence for a while, not really doing more than preparing a hearty stew and some flat bread, using a bit of yeast mother from his store of such, as well as a sauce for the vegetables. It was a good effort, for being on the road like they were. Not truly fine enough for Princesses and Dukes, but better than a real inn would have provided, he thought. Then, he didn’t have to have a pot going for hours, as people trickled in for the night, which was easier to manage with something approaching quality.
When the meal was served, everyone settling in the main room, Duke Lister looked around the place and nodded.
“Can we do something similar each time we stop? If the space is available for it, I mean? If we can provide a good road and clean places to stay, more commerce will flow north, to my Duchy. This is on the King’s road, so we’ll need to send for people to man the places, but a lot will be willing to try it, if they can live in a building like this, I wager.”
Anders was a bit tired, but had to agree with the idea, at least at its heart. Still, if he were making the same type of building, over and again, he needed to come up with a word that meant a specific type, that would have everything included in one simple phrase. It was more to learn, but would be easier and more efficient than using a hundred different spells for the same thing, day after day.
“Something like new taverns, near villages, and towns, as well?” He didn’t drink, but people enjoyed that kind of thing and a good tavern was more of a meeting hall and entertainment spot than anything else.
“Do it. We might be wasting the time, but we didn’t really lose out that way, today. Good work on the road, Prince Erold. How long do you think it will take to do all of Istlan?” That was for the Prince, so Anders was allowed to eat, using a wooden spoon, out of his small bowl. There were greens heaped on the top, which made it seem a bit strange, but no one complained about that. They just ate, even if Mathia seemed baffled by the flat bread, at first.
She picked at it, as if she hadn’t eaten it before, which wasn’t the truth. Anders had cooked on the road for them, on the last trip, after all. It could, of course, be something else. She might simply not enjoy that type of thing, or something along those lines, he had to consider.
Everyone else ate it, including the drivers, who had moved to the side, sitting at one of the tables, in a small group. They whispered a bit, but didn’t laugh or seem to be doing too much more than listening, carefully. They were eating the same food as the rest of them, and seemed to be enjoying it well enough.
When Prince Erold spoke, his voice was pensive. Also tired sounding.
“It’s real work and we don’t have a lot of people who can do it, yet. We can probably see to the main portions of it this year, before winter, if I ride out personally for it. Anders, you can do this as well, right?” That was probably meant as a dig, or possibly just the man suggesting he not be put to the task alone.
“I can. I’ll drive things north and see to the east, along the border with Yanse? After we see to Lister, that is. We might be better served training people for the fall and winter months, and having them work that sort of thing in the spring and summer, as training. We need to have everyone in at least a basic sort of condition, at the college. Our mandate is to be prepared for war, at all times, after all. Duke Lister, any recommendations on who to have for fighting? We need full weapons work, as well as the magical sort of thing that way, so that everyone at least understands what the military is doing.”
The Duke actually shrugged, which wasn’t a very noble thing of him to do at all.
“Get Demo to do it? He needs to be working on magic anyway, and has been in war, in the Army, then served with the castle guard. He’s a good teacher, too, so that works. It will mean leaving the guard, but the King will allow it, if you’re still supporting the land and future war efforts.”
Gull actually wrinkled his nose, then sighed.
“That sounds like a good start, for the rest of my life. Doing magic though... It wasn’t what I figured to be doing with my last years, you know?”
Anders didn’t chime in that, if the man learned enough, it probably wouldn’t be his last years at all. He’d already worked out enough healing and time manipulation that aging wasn’t a thing he was worried about, for instance. It would take him about two days to teach all of that to the other man, if he wanted to bother learning it. There would be a lot more to learn, at a college, of course, than simply doing a specific job, but making that, how to survive for a long time, part of the curriculum simply seemed correct.
Princess Sweyn nodded though.
“I hadn’t thought I could learn that kind of thing at all. We don’t really do that, in Modroc. Very few learn magic. We focus more on the riders, as a practice. That and illusion. We use that for entertainment, though, not in war.”
Her words were quiet, in the next sentence.
“I could, perhaps, learn at this school, as well? I don’t know if that’s allowed...”
Anders shook his head, her face falling.
“With a child on the way? Probably not. No, for you we’ll need a special tutor. I’d ask Princess Lissa to do that, but for now... Will you see to that, Princess Jasmin? You should be practicing every day, anyway.” He looked at her then, hoping her answer would be polite, at least.
She closed her eyes, smiling at the same time.
“That would be a pleasure, Princess Sweyn! It will also save you beatings, since Lissa is a harder instructor that way than I am. She even hits her own sisters, if you can believe that?”
The girl gave them all a stern, prim, glare.
“Only if people refuse to learn fast enough.”
Gull smiled then.
“It works, too. Willet and I both struggled mightily to avoid that stick, down in Barquea, I assure you. Probably best not to use that on a woman who’s with child. Save that kind of thing for military training and for hard types. Say, how many hours a day will the magic types be learning weapons and fighting, Anders?”
He didn’t know, but tilted his head, thinking.
“Three. The day will be in four parts. Magical practice, book learning, fighting and warcraft and working at some kind of craft, using magic. Wood working, stonework, healing, that sort of thing. Three-hour blocks. The rest of the day the students will have to themselves.” That didn’t leave much time, but anyone going there would be expected to put up with hardships, for a while.
One of the drivers, rather softly, spoke then.
“You teaching people to read and write, like, too? Or is this only for the fine types?”
Anders smiled at the words, instead of being caught out.
“We’ll be teaching that, if people don’t come in knowing it. Languages and memory skills, as well. It won’t be the prime focus, but it’s useful to memorize texts at times. Anyone with the right magical skills and a good mind will be allowed in. It’s the start of a lifelong career, though. In times of war, they’ll have to go and fight. In times of peace, part of the year will be spent in service to the kingdom. Making roads, healing the poor and things like that. Are any of you interested?”
No one jumped on the idea, but they wouldn’t, being more than a bit fearful of magic still. That would, he hoped, be changing, soon.
Chapter twenty-seven
They were at mid-day, having made good time, when Anders tried out his latest phrase, raising a small building near a stream, in a quarter hour. It didn’t have water connected to it, and was little more than a roof with four walls and a sturdy foundation, but a dozen people could sleep on the floor inside, in a pinch, if they needed to. He made a sign saying as much, and was riding on, making the road in front of them, when the Duke called for them to move out again.
