World Sphere - 28 - Cilia and Leda

Chapter 28 Cilia and Leda

The next six weeks involved a lot of hard work from all three of us as Callem pushed us. Incorporating Aelyn into our daily training was a fairly smooth process. She seemed deeply motivated to impress me and outdo Gareth.

Unfortunately for Aelyn, other than flexibility, Gareth only took a few hours to surpass her when he focused. I was actually extremely happy that Gareth had someone pushing him so hard. Even though my fitness and strength were rapidly improving, I had failed in that role as his friend. Most nights, I was too tired to study and fell asleep with a book in my lap. Still, I felt like I was making some progress with my magic, and I was getting constant encouragement from Wynna and my friends. Aelyn apologized for not being able to help as she had no formal training, even though she had a simple spell.

Instead of Freya visiting after a month, Gareth and I took her to Goose Meadow, a small town with a skyship dock on Titan’s Shield. They had a playhouse and were outside of Celesward, one of the four major cities on our floating island. As long as I didn’t go to Solaris City, Callem was fine with us traveling. I was also apprehensive about Freya meeting Aelyn but felt guilty about not inviting her. It could almost be said we were developing a friendship. Even Gareth and Aelyn were getting along, although their relationship was very competitive.

Her indentured tattoo had a stigma, and I didn’t want my sister to learn I held Aelyn’s control ring—or for my parents to learn it either. The day off and the chance to visit another part our floating island were welcome. I think Freya was most disappointed that Goose Meadow was just like Hen’s Hollow.

It was about a week after we had traveled to Goose Meadow, and we were eating dinner when Callem announced, “Sebastian is here.”  Aelyn was puzzled, but Gareth and I rushed outside, forgetting the meal. I wasn’t sure how Callem knew the skyship was approaching. To my senses, the ship was silent.

All of us were eventually outside to greet the arrivals. It was still amazing for me to see the Wind Splitter moving so gracefully without sound. The beautiful copper-plated ship scored high on my aesthetic scale.

After landing, the ramp descended, and Sebastian walked down the ramp smiling, shortly followed by an impassive Nisil. A minute passed and then two young women exited the craft as well. The woman on the right was tall, almost six feet. She had rich blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were a light brown, almost golden. She had a square build and was obviously lean and well-muscled by her movement. She lacked a strong feminine presence from her dress and figure.

She could have been beautiful but her face took away from her potential. It was hard, and she pursed her lips tight as she walked. Her eyes, even with their rich golden color, had a fury written into them.

My focus switched to the young woman with her. She was much shorter, maybe 5’5”, and her hair was a shiny black. Her skin was dark too, a deep golden tan. She was the darkest-skinned person I had met on Skyholme. Her eyes were a dark brown but had a happy liveliness to them that the other girl lacked. She was also much more feminine with her curves. She did have an athletic grace to her walk, but she didn’t strike me as overly athletic from my observations so far.

As they approached, we were sizing them up as if they were us. I could tell Gareth was excited because he was tapping his foot in anticipation. I wasn’t sure if it was for more competition or because we had more woman joining us. Callem and Sebastian had already retreated inside the farmhouse to talk in private, leaving us to introduce ourselves.

We stared at each other for a time, Cilia looking unhappily at Aelyn’s tattoo. She finally waved her hand, “We have six trunks on the ship boys. Bring them to our quarters,” Cilia commanded. She was the tall blond one.

Gareth and I looked at each other and then at Aelyn. None of us moved. The smaller young woman, sensing an argument about to break out, stepped forward, “Hi! I’m Leda, and this is my friend Cilia.” She elbowed the stern, blonde young woman hard in the ribs. “Perhaps you can give us a tour of the…” she looked around at the small farm, suddenly uncertain, “fields?”  She smiled brightly and guiltily. She probably thought she was making fun of us for living in the middle of nowhere.

This was not off to a great start, and Cilia made it worse, rubbing her side, she ordered, “If you boys are not going to get the trunks, you can have the servant girl get them for us.”

My temper flared. “She is no servant, and you will treat her with respect! Aelyn is our friend, and you came here to learn, not to boss us around!” I focused on the short young woman, ignoring the tall one, and trying to salvage the encounter, “Leda, we would be happy to give you a tour while Cilia decides how much of a stuck-up bitch she wants to be.” I spoke in a low tone but with inflection. I turned and started to walk away with Gareth and Aelyn following. I could hear the two young women whispering back and forth before they eventually followed us.

The two were quiet as I led them to the clearing where the obstacle courses were located. We patiently explained the three different obstacle courses and answered Leda’s questions. Cilia was quiet but still looked like she had a rod shoved up her ass.

Leda asked if Gareth was really 15 and actually went into his personal space to squeeze his biceps and grasp his shoulders. He had the body of an athletic adult man, and just his youthful face betrayed him as being young. If I met Gareth, I would definitely guess him to be about 20, maybe as old as 25—until he started talking anyway.

He flushed as Leda got a little handsy, and I caught Cilia rolling her eyes at her friend's forwardness. Leda squeezed a few handfuls of muscle before separating from Gareth, confirming that the muscles were real. I continued the tour, trying to figure out if we were all going to mesh in training.

Our next part of the tour was the part of the stream we used as a bathing spot. This had both women incredulous. No showers like at the Naval Academy? Still, Leda seemed to accept the pool, nodding after a moment and giving Gareth a look. I had to remember that Cilia and Leda were both in fourth year at the Naval Academy, which meant they were 20 or 21 most likely. Not that they showed such maturity so far.

We returned to the training yard, and the new large drying shed that we had built with Callem. The shed was actually being used to store farm tools right now. Callem had been extremely happy with Edel’s drying work on the tobacco leaves and planned to use her in the future so the shed we worked so hard to build was being repurposed.

The old drying shed was now storing training dummies and training weapons. Leda went to the rack with the staves, picked a short one, and with a mischievous tone challenged Gareth to a quick spar. “Are you any good with a stick?”

He agreed immediately, eager to test the young woman. “ I am proficient with all the weapons. If you prefer me to use the staff, I am fine with it.” I wasn’t so sure this was innocent banter. As they walked to the center, I moved next to Aelyn. Cilia was on the opposite side of us, looking smug. She probably thought Leda would show up, Gareth.

“Aelyn, what is going through Gareth’s mind,” I asked quietly. She looked at me questionably. “I know what I said not to read people but I am just curious.” She focused on Gareth as he limbered up.

“He is thinking of ways to get behind Leda and pin her with his staff. Ugh, he is going to reciprocate her handsy action and try to cup her breasts,” she said with some disgust. Oh, this was not good. I didn’t think Gareth knew Cilia had been assaulted, and manhandling Leda would ruin his reputation with the two new arrivals.

I yelled, “Hey, Gareth, it isn’t right that you get the first crack at the newbies. Let me take the first action! Come on, brother!” I said, stressing, “Brother.” That was our sign for him to retreat. He looked about to protest but relented morosely and walked to me, handing me the staff. I whispered to Aelyn, “Please tell Gareth what an idiot he is in no polite words.” Aelyn smiled happily at my request.

I walked to the engagement circle and squared off with Leda. The smirk of superiority on her face made me not want to give her anything easy. In our first engagement, I managed to catch her ankle with my staff, trip her, and retreat from her quick recovery sweep with the staff.

Her smirk was gone at least and a fiery determination was now firmly in its place. I tuned out the others who were cheering me on while Cilia was cheering her friend on. We had a minute of quick exchanges, and neither of us gained the upper hand as we sized each other up. She was good with the staff but not that good.

After crossing with Gareth and Callem for so many months, I actually felt pretty confident but remained solidly on guard and kept giving her the same opening. When she ran out of patience, she finally took the faux opening, and I put her on her back and pinned her to the ground on her back before she could recover. We recovered, and she wasn’t upset, even smiling now. She was enjoying herself even though she was losing. It took me six minutes to get her down again and pin her, this time face down. After that, she relinquished the victory to me.

Leda smiled, even though she was dirty and had lost, but Cilia was not happy. I checked on Gareth, and he looked miserable, so Aelyn put him in his place. Cilia, annoyed at her friend’s loss, pointed to the farmhouse. “Grandfather and Callem have been watching us. We should head inside.” I looked, and yes, they were over by the farmhouse door, watching.

We put away the staves, and Leda walked next to me. “You are pretty good. But now I am as filthy as are you. Perhaps we should go wash up in the stream?” I looked at her, and she definitely had a mischievous look in her eyes. I found her attractive and she was at least five years my senior. However, my aether burn seemed to be masking my teenage hormones as I wasn’t drawn to the woman’s flirting.

“I am fine, but you can go with Aelyn before bed tonight if you forgot where it was,” I cast my cleanliness spell on myself, and she gaped at me as the dirt, sweat, and grim melted from me.

“Boy, you wasted a slot on that spell? Well, I guess I should say I am a little jealous. And what is that scent?” She moved closer to me, but I managed to get Aelyn between us before she could sniff me. With Aelyn between us, she focused on the girl. “You are a pretty one. Who commands you here? Callem?”

Aelyn, to her credit, didn’t miss a step. “The boy who just dominated you in the ring.” I think Leda licked her lips as she was once again eyeing me hungrily. “Dominated? Yes, I suppose so. Does he dominate you as well?” Her tone was playful, but I got started to get a sense she was testing me. Maybe she was protecting Cilia by putting herself out there.

Aelyn defended me from the woman’s advances, “No, Storme is extremely respectful, protective, and a perfect gentleman.” That seemed to shut her up, and I noticed Aelyn had said it loud enough for everyone to hear.

We entered the house with Sebastian and Callem. Wynna had set out some snacks. Callem addressed me, “Storme, go take a walk with Sebastian. We are going to take some time getting to know each other here. And Storme, nice work with the staff this evening.” He was obviously proud I had bested someone five years my senior. I left with Sebastian feeling pretty good about myself.

I walked with Sebastian, who led me up the ramp into his ship. “We can talk freely now, Storme. The Wind Splitter has runes that prevent scrying. Callem is still concerned the Inquisition may be meddling, but it is unlikely so far out here.” We went up the stairs to his office on the ship and sat down in wooden chairs.

I was surprised when he poured me a drink of juice with a splash of vodka. “Storme, things are happening in the capital, and my attention is split,” He sighed, getting serious. “Callem said you display a maturity beyond your years. Cilia needs to get out of the Academy, but won’t listen to me. Her assaulter, Abaddon Bricio, is working to corner her. I had to pull her from the Naval Academy as setting her back a year wasn’t enough to take her out of his sites. I want both you and Gareth to try and help convince, indirectly, of course, that returning to the Naval Academy is a mistake for her,” He seemed deflated. “I can't protect her if she chooses to return.” 

I was at a loss for words at the faith and trust he was placing in me. It probably had more to do with Callem than me, and I could easily guess why he was talking to me instead of Gareth and me together. “What do you need me to do?” was all I could say.

“I was hoping you and your friend could convince her to join the Adventurer's Academy or perhaps seek adventure in the lowlands. The lowlands may be dangerous, but if she persists in the Navy…” he paused with a sad look on his face. I concluded that he was disgusted with what the Skyholme Navy or the politics were in their current state.

Sebastian stood, “There may be a Sadian attack coming soon. Not a skirmish, but an attack on a large scale. Cilia cannot be in the Naval Academy when it occurs. If she is then she will be assigned under Abaddon’s command on one of the skyships.” My face creased in puzzlement and then disgust.

“Callem has taught you well. The Bricio’s may just be one of the three ruling families, but they essentially control all of Skyholme now. They have either married into, have leverage on, or outright bribed enough members of the other two branches to do whatever they please,” Sebastian said heavily.

I didn’t know what to say. Sebastian was laying quite a bit on a 15-year-old boy, even if Callem thought highly of me. He sipped his own drink and I sipped mine, finding it very pleasant on the palate. By Sebastian’s body language he was obvious he was getting the courage to do something or tell me something. I was certain he had already told me too much by revealing the impending Sadian attack.

He sighed, looking older. “The best-case scenario is that the Sadians weaken the Skyholme Navy, allowing the military to reset and receive increased funding. The failure would considerably weaken the Bricios' hold over the Torrent family.” My heart raced. Was he talking about treason? Did they plan to intentionally make the Sadian attack a little more successful than it should be? I could see why he was reluctant to tell me this. He nodded in response to my widened eyes. “Callem was right about you. I can see that.”

He sipped some more of his mixed drink, “Worst case scenario is the Sadians get a foothold on one or more of the islands, and we enter a drawn-out war which we will eventually lose.” Seeing my worry, Sebastian said, “Your family should be safe. Callem and Wynna said they would protect them and get them to the lowlands if necessary. He will tell you as much himself.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat at the mention of my family. War was unpredictable—no one would be safe.

“After talking with Callem, I know how exceptional you can be as a mage—your potential.” I got a little nervous but trusted Callem and doubted he had revealed too much to Admiral Sebastian. Seeing me uncomfortable, he continued, “As a reward for looking out for my granddaughter, I would like to offer you some assistance and a bit of advanced payment in the form of knowledge. I’m somewhat of a collector of spells and have an extensive library. I wanted to offer you three spells from my collection.”

I looked around the room but didn’t see any spell books. Sebastian smiled at my confusion. “In addition to the spells, I have the complete first two years of texts from the Mage Academy in the capital, totaling 11 textbooks on the basics of magic.” Again, I glanced around but didn’t see anything. “They’re in my personal space,” Sebastian, said, grinning.

Sebastian stood and waved his hand and a portal appeared in the wall. Inside the archway was a short hallway with shelves lining both sides. “Impressive, isn’t it? It is a dimensional space connected to my aether core. It is a tier three anchored spatial magic spell. It measures 10’ by 10’ by 20’ after five evolutions on my part. I wouldn’t suggest selecting it as one of your spells, though. Maybe the tier one version of the spell. Using four slots on your aether matrix for the dimensional closet spell this early in your career…” He let it hang for a second like I should know what he meant, but I didn’t.

He went in and picked up a bundle of 11 books on a small end table. “These are the textbooks I mentioned. Feel free to pick any three books in here as well. I will advise you as best I can. I don’t have a descendent who is on the path to becoming an archmage, so my collection will go to waste when I die.”

A little grumpily, he added, “My descendants will probably just sell them all off piecemeal. Maybe they will help you become a powerful archmage who can save Skyholme from the Bricios.” Sebastian sighed as he stared wistfully at his collection. I didn’t know what to tell the man who appeared defeated in his position.

I walked down the short hallway and looked at the books. A silvery book drew my attention, and pulling it out, I recognized it. It was the manual for building a Harbinger ship. The one I had seen in Wigand’s shop.

“Ah, Storme, that is not a spell book. It is flashy but not what you seek. It was a gift from Braden Torrent. Yes, that Braden Torrent. A sitting member of the Triumvirate for the Torrent family. They are in control of the military branch and have been on the decline for years as the Bricio and Miaden families have squeezed resources, raised prices, and lowered military funding in favor of covert operations. They are mostly honorable, well honorable, for the nest of corruption that is the capital of Skyhold.”

Sebastian exhaled in disappointment, “Well anyway, I digress. You probably don’t want that book, though, but it is valuable. Here, let me show where the pocket space spell is.”

Sebastian went to a shelf, pulled out a book, and handed it to me. I opened the book and examined it. The tier one pocket space spell created a space that was two foot cube. “It should take you a week or two to imprint this spell, as it is fairly simple. The one drawback of these personal dimension space spells is that they occupy a small portion of your aether core, thereby reducing your available aether. This is because the space is actually nested within your aether core. When you first cast the spell, you orient the doorway to your person. Then, every time you access the space, it appears in the same orientation to your body as when you first cast it. So, keep that in mind when you are able to cast the spell. You cannot cast multiple iterations of the spell to gain multiple spaces.” Sebastian finished his quick lesson on the spell. “Can I cast the spell’s tier 1 and tier 3 versions to get multiple spaces then?” I asked.

Sebastian responded impressed with the question, “Unfortunately, no. Your aether core can only support one dimensional space. How best to explain,” Sebastian thought for a second before continuing, “Imagine your aether core as a bucket of water. The pocket space is a ball that floats in the liquid within the bucket in three dimensions. If you add another ball and they collide…bad things happen. There are techniques you can learn to fix the balls in place within your core…but that is well down the road in your development. In that case you could cast another dimensional space…but I get ahead of myself. The warnings are in the spell book you hold so pay attention and read it well before casting the spell once you imprint it.”

I thought for a good few minutes before replacing the book and pulling out the personal dimensional closet spellbook that had been next to it on the shelf. This spell on examination started with a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ space. Well, if I was only going to get one space to store things I should go big. “I think I will take this spell instead. Do you have any spells for defense with a lightning affinity?” I asked.

Sebastian arched an eye but didn’t object to my exchange of dimensional spells; he just nodded. Then, he put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment, “No, I only have a few lightning spells and no defense-oriented spells for lightning. You need a good defense spell?” I nodded to his question.

“Okay, I have two that might interest you, one is aether shield. It is a tier two spell with no affinity, and the shield is about a yard in diameter to start and invisible to anyone without aether sight. It has no affinity like your cleanliness spell which makes it very versatile in its evolutions. It does take a fair amount of aether to maintain, which is a negative. I haven’t imprinted it myself. The other is a tier one spell called deflect. The deflect spell acts passively and deflects one attack before dissipating but only works against physical attacks. The aether shield is quite rare, a dungeon prize if I remember correctly from deep in the Nightmare Crypt dungeon in the city of Brightstand.” Sebastian was done explaining and retrieved both books for me to look at.

I perused both books, and I definitely took the aether shield spell after looking at both. The spell book itself had a heavy copper cover with a hydra on the cover, which I assumed was the monster the dungeon delvers had to defeat to earn the book. The script was in the common language of the Sphere, which was good, and the spell forms inside were quite orderly compared to what I had seen so far. “Yes, dungeon spell books are essentially perfect spell forms. They are what all spell forms evolved from, but the problem with them is they don’t detail any evolutions within the pages, and you cannot copy these spell books. They will dissolve once the spell within is successfully imprinted for the first time.” This information was mostly known to me and welcome.

“I will take this one then,” I said. Sebastian smirked as he acknowledged that I had made a good choice.

“Don’t show it to anyone. It is worth quite a massive sum, and many people would take it from you, whether to use it themselves or sell it. I haven’t used it because I don’t have any space left in my matrix to imprint spells. I was hoping I could make enough space over the next decade to imprint this very spell, but you can make much better use of it than I.” He smiled and gestured at the shelves, “You can see I have lots of other options. And I expect you to protect my granddaughter.” I nodded. “Okay, one more choice.” Sebastian said, eagerly. I think he was enjoying this process as much as I was.

I thought about the Harbinger book. I had no aspirations of building a Harbinger ship but having all the runic script for building a skyship would be useful. Sebastian seeing my eyes on the silvery-covered tome spoke again with a smirk on his aged face, “I think I know a book you may want.” He went to the back of the shelves and pulled out a book. He handed it to me and the cover was an image of the Wind Splitter. 

I eagerly opened it and it was similar to the Harbinger book but detailed the Wind Splitter construction and runes. It was mostly loose pages neatly placed inside and not in an organized way. “I have been compiling that book myself. That has my copied notes, research, and everything I have found out during my restoration of the Wind Splitter. I was hoping to eventually get a new class of ship into the Skyholme fleet, a fast transport for troops and supplies. I doubt I will have much say in things anytime soon…” He tailed off, clearly disappointed with his role in the Skyholme navy. “I have copies of these notes anyway. If you prefer this over a third spell I am ok with your choice.”  I nodded happily, carefully closing the book.

“Okay, Storme. I have fulfilled my obligation and then some,” he motioned me out of his dimensional space. I looked at the massive collection as the entrance disappeared and hoped one day I could match such knowledge in my own space. “I have one other gift for you.”

He went to the desk drawer and retrieved a marble. “This is an anti-scrying item. It is also a dungeon-created magical object obtained from a prize chest.” He handed it to me and I took the black marble. “All you need to do is continually channel a minor amount of aether into it and it will prevent anyone from remote viewing you. It has an effective range of about 55 yards. It is actually a gift from Callem. I obtained it at his request. He thinks either you or Gareth may have need of it in the future.” Sebastian sighed for the umpteenth time.

Sebastian led me down and out of the Wind Splitter. The fourteen books were heavy, but they were a prize I wasn’t going to let go of. We had spent over two hours inside, and as we walked to the farmhouse, Sebastian continued to talk. “I wish I had time to mentor you, Storme, but Callem is certain that only bad things would happen if it was known I was tutoring a promising young mage. My last two apprentices were kidnapped by my old family to gain leverage on me. Yes, they are bad people. If you run into anyone with the Riffolk surname, definitely don’t trust them. They control the seedy underworld in Skyholme and are heavily connected to the Bricios.” He didn’t mention what had happened to his apprentices, but the pained look on his face told me enough guess.

We entered the house and everyone else was in deep conversation. Cilia still had her hard look and Gareth looked so uncomfortable that I almost laughed. Callem spoke, “Ah good! Sebastian, did you give the boy the bauble you wanted to give him?”

Sebastian laughed, “Yes, it just took me a little to find it and he wanted to see the bridge and for me to explain the controls for the Wind Splitter.”

“Well, it is all good we have just been detailing the new training schedule. We are going to focus on unarmed combat for the next few weeks before incorporating sword work,” Callem said. Was that why Gareth was looking miserable and uncomfortable? Aelyn had berated him and now he had to fight Leda and Cilia with his fists?

Callem continued, “Sebastian, we will need your skills to expand the bunkhouse. It has been determined it would be best to add a third loft with two beds for Cilia and Leda. Aelyn has apparently taken a rather protective big sister role in regards to Storme.” A look of jealousy was on Gareth’s face, and Aelyn had a rare smirk on hers at Callem’s words. I was curious about the extent of the conversation that had occurred. “Boys why don’t you go and get the young woman’s chests on the Wind Splitter while the rest of us go and work on the bunkhouse upgrades.”

Gareth jumped out of his seat and to the door. Aelyn made to follow us but I waved her off. Gareth needed some ego soothing it appeared. I just didn’t like that Cilia looked a little smug that we were getting their chests. We both went up the ship’s ramp and found the crates before I spoke, “Gareth we are brothers, closer than brothers. You never have to fear I would place you under any circumstances.” Gareth looked at me and he wasn’t wearing his usual grin.

He looked a little constipated, “Storme, I have the charisma trait, but I can't seem to get any of the girls interested in me! Well maybe Leda, but she scares me a bit now. What the hell is wrong with me? Did you know Aelyn can read minds? She berated me for what I was thinking about Leda before we were about to engage with staves.” Gareth had never been so upset before. His hormones must be raging. Maybe it had something to do with his rapid growth.

“Gareth, you have nothing to worry about. Aelyn has been abducted and branded by Skyholme and has trouble trusting people. Cilia was assaulted and probably wants nothing to do with men. And Leda—scares me too.” This seemed to make him feel a little better. “You will have absolutely no problem getting as many women as you want in just a few years. Just give it some time.” We started moving the chests in silence.

Inside the bunkhouse, Sebastian was shaping lumber from outside into a new loft. It didn’t flow like water like my metal shaping ability but seemed to warp the wood. The new loft was a cantilever on the far side to give it similar space to the other two lofts. Watching such powerful magic never got old.

The new loft was similar set up with the furniture. By the time we got all the girls' chests inside, Sebastian was done. One of the chests had rolled mattresses and bedding for the wooden bunks in the new loft. Before he left, I asked Sebastian to put a panel divider between my bed and Aelyn’s. Aelyn nixed that, saying there was no reason for Sebastian to waste his aether.

The look of amusement on Sebastian’s and Callem’s faces was not to my liking, so I insisted on the upgrade to my loft. Sebastian relented and added a wood panel, stretching a log into the panel, and he added small shelves on each side of the separation panel, expanding the storage for my books. I smiled because it finally felt like I got the win.

Instead of helping Cilia and Leda unpack I went to my loft and started studying. Aelyn was up in the loft shortly after with a plate of food for herself. When I reminded her that there was no food in the loft, she icily said, “That is a rule for your side, Storme. I can eat on my side.” This was clearly anger at the new panel separating us.

She had said it loudly enough that everyone heard. It drew everyone’s eyes to us. I just rolled my eyes at her antics. I never understood women in my past life and apparently had made no progress in this one. I ignored everyone and studied my spellbook for the obfuscate spell and its evolutions. I needed to imprint this spell before I could focus on the dimensional closet spell.

I did my aether core exercises and spent two hours spamming my cleanliness spell, filling the bunkroom with vanilla. Two hours of constant casting only used up half my aether stores and I was so tempted to make coins but held back with all the new additions to the bunkhouse. Maybe once all the aether lights went out. Everyone else was in their bed, and I heard Aelyn whisper to me.

“I am sorry, Storme, I lied to you.” She was quiet enough that I didn’t think anyone else could hear.

“What about?” I asked, sounding unconcerned.

“My read surface thoughts is an ability. I have been using it on the others. Sebastian has some type of shield against it. Callem’s discipline makes him hard to read but the others…” She said sounding remorseful about her actions.

“What do you want to tell me?” I was overly cautious.

“Cilia is angry. She is angry at everyone around her for what happened to her. She respects Callem and loves her grandfather, but she is extremely angry and wants revenge on her attacker. She associates you and Gareth with being similar to him.” She paused, and when I didn’t ask a question, she continued, “Leda is in love with Cilia—or maybe just loves her. Everything she does is to protect her. She was trying to draw Gareth’s and your attention away from Cilia. Cilia tends to get overly aggressive toward men, so Leda was trying to temper her a bit.” Well, Leda's flirtatious actions make a bit more sense now.

“And Gareth?” I asked now committed to invasion of privacy but not really wanting to know the answer.

“He is a typical male. I have read many men in the past and like them his thoughts are focused on women. He thinks a lot about what he has seen farm animals do and that spurs him to think about women in the same way.” That was more information than I needed.

“That is too much information,” I said, stopping Aelyn. She was silent for a minute before finishing.

“Wynna is an overprotective mother hen. She is very fond of Callem and you two. She already thinks of you two like adopted sons. She hasn’t made up her mind on me yet, though. When I first arrived, she asked me if I would let her do a reading on me, and I declined.” Another long pause. “Do you want me to let her do a reading?”

I thought for just a moment, “She has a method that allows only you to see the results of a reading. It is up to you, but it may help her build trust with you.” I no longer saw Aelyn’s tattoo but it still clearly bothered her that she was marked. Very rarely did I make in mistake when I said something to her that forced her to obey.

“Okay,” she said. She appeared to be finished, but then added, “I haven’t read you again, Storme, and I never will unless you ask.” That seemed to conclude the conversation. I went to sleep with a swirl of thoughts, forgetting to empty my aether pool by making coins. My first thought was about how I could ensure Freya and the rest of my family would be safe if the Sadians attacked Skyholme.