World Sphere - 34 - Aelyn POV w/Partial Flashback

Chapter 34 Aelyn POV With Partial Flashback

Aelyn was feeling only slightly better after the last few days. When the Skyholme Inquisitors came for her mother, she was furious and tried to defend her. Even as her mother told her not to interfere, she fought with everything she had. The Inquisitor’s hybrid wolfmen wanted to subdue her, and she managed to wound two of them before being restrained. The Inquisitor looked her over before ordering his men to take her with her mother in case she was also a spy. Aelyn knew she had doomed herself by fighting.

In custody, they had to wait an entire day without food or water before being questioned. The carnival proprietors had made endless efforts to get back their abducted members. They ultimately failed and were forced to pack up and depart with their massive airship.

A Truthseeker questioned Aelyn and her mother, Niserie, in front of each other. Niserie was first, looking into her daughter’s eyes, shedding tears as she was forced to answer questions. Aelyn was close to her mother. Although she had moved out of their cabin on the ship three years ago, they had breakfast together every morning and talked.

She knew her mother acted as an intermediary for some type of information network and sometimes did freelance work. The Truthseeker had a powerful magic item that caused Niserie’s eyes and ears to bleed when she resisted answering the truth. She was proud of her mother, as she hadn’t screamed through the obvious pain. When they threatened to turn the device on Aelyn, Niserie relented to the pressure of the item.

Niserie admitted she was part of the Hand of Crimson Moonriders. They were an information network for one of the powerful beings that lived on one of the 23 planets orbiting inside the Sphere. This revelation initially scared the Truthseeker until they realized just how minor a member Niserie was in the organization.

Niserie then revealed, under pressure, that she was on a freelance mission to Skyholme, not working for the Moonriders at the moment. She was to pick up documents from certain individuals who worked in the Skyhold and bring them to a Sadian contact in the lowlands. She didn’t have the names of the people, just excellent descriptions of each one. After some probing questions, the Inquisitor was able to identify the traitor easily.

After exhausting their questions, they turned the device on Aelyn. Her mother told her not to resist and just answer their questions. The questions revealed nothing other than a few embarrassing facts to her mother about her dalliances with young men. She had flirted and more with seven young men in the cities they had visited over the last two years.

Thankfully, the Inquisitor didn’t ask for more details other than confirming had not been involved in any spying or espionage. Her mother sobbed as her daughter was exposed so callously in front of the Truthseeker. She would never forget that man, Lytham Bricio. She read the man’s surface thoughts; this man was wicked, malicious, and devious all rolled into one.

It took a few days before Aelyn was separated from her mother and sentenced to life in servitude. Her mother told her to forget about her and live her best life. Heartbreakingly, Aelyn knew her mother was lost to her.

Being branded was painful, and the mage cast a spell linking the brand on her neck to a magical ring. He was one of the foulest men she had ever met. Reading his mind revealed the depravities he was thinking of doing to her. When he was finished, he asked Lytham, “Can I take this one as a prize?”

Lytham was irritated with the mage, “No, Korie, I gave you one a week ago, and you are well compensated.” The slimy mage sighed, and Aelyn would shove a dagger under his chin if she could. Lytham seemed to notice Aelyn’s anger and added in a threatening tone, “If we no longer have a use for her mother, then maybe you can have her.”

It made Aelyn sick thinking of a possible fate with the insidious and lecherous mage. She knew the threats were to make her comply.

Aelyn spent days trying to be broken by her handlers. Thankfully, she was not violated, just beaten when she refused to do what was asked of her, like cleaning toilets, scrubbing floors, washing clothes, and preparing food. She had been trotted out in front of a few people like a prize pig when they tried to sell her contract. No one purchased her at the ridiculous price they had asked. That was until a large young man came.

The boy looked like a young noble warrior by his frame and clothes. She didn’t think much about the encounter as the sum for her was so exorbitant. But the boy returned later in the day with the coin payment. She made an effort to read his thoughts. The boy was thinking what kissing her lips would be like. He also saw himself as some type of hero, rescuing her and expecting her to reward him accordingly. She stopped reading him. This boy was no better than Lytham and the mage who branded her. To this boy, she was just an object to be used.

The boy tried to play innocent as he took her home. “You are free,” he said magnanimously.

“Free?” She spat words at him. “I can’t get more than a hundred yards from the control ring. If I commit any violence, this brand will wrack my body with pain!”

“What? Can’t magic just wipe the tattoo away?” He said defensively.

“Only the mage who placed the mark can remove it! Or a mage that can dwarf his power!” Aelyn retorted. The boy cringed like he had been slapped. He was clearly pretending to be clueless. Otherwise, why would he spend so much platinum on her? What foul pit had she fallen into? Where was she being taken?

The young man recovered. “My name is Gareth, and you can speak your mind around me,” he said, slightly anxious as the skyship lifted off to a different island. Speak her mind? That she could do!

She laid into him so hard that he shrunk away and drew eyes from the other passengers. It looked like Gareth might even jump overboard to escape her verbal assault. When she finished, there was an awkward silence was between them on the skyship ride back to his island. After they landed, the walk from the city to his ‘secret training farm’ didn’t go well as he repeatedly tried to quell her concerns. Aelyn didn’t need to reread his thoughts to know was worried about presenting her. If she could make the introduction difficult, that she would do.

Things started to change at the farm as Aelyn was introduced to the other players in her new captivity. She tried to read everyone’s thoughts, but the large, old man was virtually unreadable. His mind was completely shielded from her efforts by will alone. She could read the older woman, Wynna, and she was genuinely concerned for Aelyn’s well-being. And the other boy, Storme, was angry with his friend and kept wondering what spells Gareth had gotten him.

Then Aelyn was left in complete shock. This other boy, Storme, made coins out of nothing. Real, actual coins! Aelyn’s mind was racing. What if she could get this boy to take the ring and then befriend him? She might even be able to persuade him to take her away from these devil-infested floating islands. Maybe in time, he would free her as well, but she didn’t hold out much hope for that. She knew how powerful the magic used in the branding was.

It didn’t take much to get Storme to wear her control ring. Callem, the old man, seemed to think it was the best course of action. With the ring, Storme could force her to do pretty much anything with the threat of pain, and he would also always know where she was. But she was confident in her ability to win him over. She was well-practiced in seducing young men. When she set her mind to something, she always succeeded, and this was a matter of life and death.

After a few days, things got better for Aelyn and she began to relax her defenses. She was certain neither boy was planning to take advantage of her. Gareth was too scared of Callem’s opinion, and Storme was probably just too young to be interested in her. That irritated her some as she was a beautiful young woman. But she could play the long game if that is what was required.

She was shocked to find the boys were being trained by a weapons master, one of the best she had seen. And he was willing to include her in the training, and she would take full advantage of the opportuity! It was actually fun competing with the big boy, Gareth. How in the Fire Moon was he only 15? He was larger, stronger, a better athlete, and a swordsman than most men she knew. Aelyn actually thought it might not have been so bad if Gareth had worn the ring. She could have controlled him much easier than Storme, as he was constantly thinking about women. Storme was much more resistant or perhaps ignorant of her charms.

After weeks of training, the arrival of the other two girls caused some consternation for Aelyn. She didn’t want anyone interfering with her attempts to befriend and control Storme. Storme was a masterpiece in her mind: unlimited wealth, a competent healer, and a great cook rolled into one decent young man! His body was fit and maturing into a competent fighter, though not quite as impressive as Gareth’s. Argh, she needed to stop this line of thinking and focus.

Cilia and Leda were not the threats she had feared. At first, they read her indentured mark as being disparaging, but Storme set them straight. After a few weeks of talking and bathing together, they formed an unusual friendship and understanding. They were even sympathetic to her plight.

Aelyn wasn’t sure why she told Storme to move over to Gareth’s loft. She had Storme where she wanted him, close and slowly breaking down his defenses. But she saw the boy’s friendship starting to strain, and Storme was completely ignorant that he was pushing his friend away. For some reason, she pushed them back together. She probably could have moved into the space voided by Gareth, but she found she liked Storme too much to facilitate breaking his close friendship.

She found a golden opportunity to get closer to Storme when Storme encouraged her to get a reading. Aelyn had been shocked by what her reading revealed. The readers at the carnival were not strong and somewhat imperfect. From the carnies, she knew two of her abilities: read thoughts, a tier two ability, and nimbleness, a tier one ability.

Wynna and Ennet, on the other hand, read her entire aether soul.

Abilities

Read Thoughts, Tier 2

Nimbleness, Tier 1

Duelist, Tier 1

Enhanced Mobility, Tier 1

Persuasion, Tier 1

Traits

Improved Sight, Tier 1

Long-lived, Tier 2

Skill Affinities

Acrobatics, Tier 3

Long Bow, Tier 2

Aether Matrix

Current 5

Maximum 8

Aether Core

Current 10

Maximum 32

She couldn’t show Storme this list. If he saw the persuasion ability, he might think she was manipulating him. In truth, she was manipulating him but not with malicious intent. She needed to ‘lesson’ the reading a bit. She definitely couldn’t show him the persuasion ability. Her traits were standard traits of her elven heritage. Her aether matrix and core were typical for a lesser mage, but she always lacked the patience to study. There was always tomorrow, was her philosophy.

It had taken Aelyn a few days to get a similar sheet of paper so she could copy over her reading with some slight changes. She felt weird about writing out the text in her own blood but wanted it to match in script and color. She was hoping to show Storme her reading. This would help him trust her more. When she was finished, she looked at it.

Abilities

Read Thoughts, Tier 2

Nimbleness, Tier 1

Duelist,Tier 1

Enhanced Mobility, Tier 1

Traits

Improved Sight, Tier 1

Long-lived, Tier 2

Skill Affinities

Acrobatics, Tier 3

Long Bow, Tier 2

Aether Matrix

Current 3

Maximum 6

Aether Core

Current 6

Maximum 19

It appeared as non-threatening as she could make without forcing her to hide anything. Aelyn hadn’t really thought herself a mage. She knew her core had awakened, and sometime in the future, she planned to learn a spell of two but never had the time. She did use her aether to use her read thoughts ability, so she was used to drawing on her core.

She found the right time to approach Storme on a day off. She climbed into his loft bed with him while everyone else was gone. She asked him to help her with spellcraft, and he immediately agreed, even giving her his own textbook and promising to buy her spells.

Getting in his bunk space didn’t really go quite as planned as he seemed a little afraid of her closeness and somehow managed to ignore her as they sat face to face, knees touching. She was tempted to read his thoughts but held back. This actually surprised her a bit. Was the boy winning her over? Who was manipulating who?

When the others returned, the encounter was ruined. However, Aelyn felt she had made further progress. She had entered his private space, his bed, and not been rejected outright. She wasn’t trying to seduce him; she just wanted him to be very comfortable with her presence and close proximity to her. Before he knew it, he would be agreeing with her suggestions.

The training over the next two weeks was intense, and Aelyn felt she was making physical gains and catching Gareth on the obstacle courses, which was pushing Gareth even harder to Callem’s delight. However, Storme was progressing more slowly in the physical training as he focused on his spells. This forced Aelyn to work on her own aether core development at night to stay closer to Storme. She couldn’t believe how hard she was working every day, and it was of her own volition!

On the morning that Callem and Storme were headed into Hen’s Hollow for Pascal’s coming-of age party, Aelyn had wanted to join them but had been rejected. This refusal hurt, but she decided she would take out her frustrations on the others during training. Training that day was extremely intense for everyone. It was only broken up by a large shipment of meats that had arrived during the day. Everyone had worked together to bring the meat to the basement larders.

Callem wasn’t there to temper and control the passions among the four of them, and things got out of control and heated during weapons training. Leda’s minor healing skills were not enough, and everyone was anticipating Storme’s return and his healing spell.

The worst part of the day was the food. Wynna had tried to prepare a good lunch and dinner, but something was missing when Storme was not present. Everyone felt it. It was not that the food tasted bad—it was his presence that somehow cemented them all together.

It was Gareth who jumped up first from the plush couch when they heard the cart. They had been discussing on how to identify soldiers' uniforms from various kingdoms in the lowlands and Gareth rushed outside without saying a word. Wynna pursed her lips as he abandoned the lesson and waved everyone away. Everyone soon followed and found Callem pulling a large cart laden with chickens in cages and packages. Aelyn found herself smiling and grinning unbidden at Storme’s return. He had been gone just over half a day, but she found she had missed him.