To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (3 page)

“This does not sound like a man pining away at the loss of his ability to summon potential,” Efferin pointed out. “He seems rather busy making a new life. Now, to Maestro Barroon’s issue, the information sealed to my office is this; Daniel Benhannon possesses six lightning bolts on his young shoulders. You can now vote on whether or not I should remove the Silencing with the conditions set by Maestro Beyers.”

Each Maestro produced a slip of paper. Terroll summoned the potential for, Script, the words, “Remove the Silencing,” flashed in his mind, appeared on the slip, and then he levitated the ballot to the bowl placed before the Grand Maestro. The other slips soon joined his. Efferin retrieved each one from the bowl and read the results. “Five to Two, the Silencing remains,” he stated as if he knew that would be the case and then glanced at Terroll and Janna Barroon with a sly smile.

After some thought Terroll realized how he had been out maneuvered. Four of the Maestros were
five-bolt Accomplisheds and the rest were Four-bolts. Only Terroll and Janna were unconcerned about accepting a Six-bolt into their guilds, the rest clearly did not like the possibility of the young man challenging them for leadership. Add to that the fact of Daniel getting on with his life, none of them apparently felt guilty over voting as they had, not even Lena.

The satisfied smile disappeared from Efferin’s face and his brow wrinkled into a frown. He shook his head; eyes seemingly lost in thought, took a deep breath, and gave Talmon Reese a stern glance before focusing on his audience at large. “The Silencing on Daniel Benhannon has just been broken, meaning he is either dead or been the focal point of a greater spell. Evidently, the young unaffiliated Accomplished is involved in more than just learning to command men in the field. I am ordering all of you to utilize the maximum resources of your guilds to find out the fate of our young hero.”

“It will be as you say, Grand Maestro,” all of the Maestros responded at once.

Terroll stood up, trying not to allow his worry to show on his face. He suspected much about Daniel that had not been discussed in this meeting, things that would complicate matters. He believed Daniel to be an Aakasear and the Chosen Vessel, both of which made learning the young man’s fate an imperative. Events were swirling around the mountaineer he had privately tutored to t
he level of Accomplished.

Two marks into his marriage to Sherree Jenna and much of that time involved in making love, Daniel decided this was the happiest time of his life. He removed the Da Capo from the solidified bed of air they had been using, making it disappear She was back in the light blue silk shirt and pants with silver highlights he made for her and he was wearing green wool pants, half of his knightly uniform.

“I know people are waiting to speak with you,” Sherree stated while putting on her color coordinated boots. “Even so, I want you to teach me a few spells; Ones that a two-bolt Accomplished can summon without being mummified.”

Daniel knew she jokingly added that last bit, as if he would risk her life with such spells. He smiled at her. “I can teach you some before we go out. Which ones do you want to know?”

“Any that will allow me to heal injuries using a single spell the way you do,” she replied instantly.

Knowing her, a member of the Aloe Guild, being dedicated to healing the afflicted, Daniel was not surprised. The only problem was, his spells were Symphonics, a Melody with notes in harmony, and those kinds of spells were not as easy to learn in a short time as the single line spells. He had learned a great deal about music while in Aakadon, the Da Capo, being one of the most helpful. Adding one to the end of a spell caused it to repeat until the caster wills it to stop. His learning also included reading music off a page and classical music that was beautiful and yet had nothing to do with summoning potential for a spell. In many of those non-Aakasear-commoner-composed pieces, there were musical symbols not used in spell casting Melodies, but what if they could be? The thought inspired Daniel.

“What are you thinking?” Sherree asked him. Her yellow-gold hair hung all the way down to her bottom as if it had never been cut, which is a result of his restoring her from Condemnation. Green eyes twinkled delightedly and her face lit up in a smile. “There are twenty-four marks in a day and we have just spent two very pleasant ones celebrating our marriage, surely you can spare a little more time to teach me one healing spell.”

Daniel thought of, Mind Touch, ran the music through his head and mentally added a Dal Segno and titled the altered Symphonic, Teach Me.

“I can teach you quickly if you’re willing to be experimented on,” he told her and paused momentarily. “It is an Aakasear thing. I have an inspiration that has never been tried before and don’t know if it will actually work out as I expect.”

Sherree looked at him askance, and she was so alluring he was tempted to suggest summoning a solidified bed of air for more love making. “The way you’re looking at me, I’m sure whatever you have in mind isn’t dangerous. Even so, I would like to know what you intend to do.”

She has been studying music all her life and so should understand. “I have a spell that allows me to link my mind with animals,” he began and went on to describe all the creatures in his swirl
of influence and their names. “Mind Touch, affects them on the deepest level of their being. It can be used to implant a spell into your head. I have composed a version of it, adding a Dal Segno in order to cause the Symphonic to stop after a tenth of a mark, which is enough time to teach a few spells.”

Sherree nodded her head. “No doubt about it, I have married a complicated man. Even so, I trust you not to enslave me. Go ahead and give the spell a try.”

Daniel played, Teach Me, in his mind and summoned the potential. Topaz blue beams of light shot from his dark eyes into her green. “
I’m going to teach you as many spells as I can before the Dal Segno kicks in, if it does,”
he sent directly into her mind.

“
This is like using a communication amulet, not bad at all, so don’t go negative on me, there is no, if, in this,”
Sherree replied with full confidence, and being linked to her mind, Daniel could feel the truth of it.

He started by teaching spells that had nothing to do with healing but would be extremely helpful; Variable Shield, Personal Shield, Conveyance, Find All, and Teach Me, came first with instructions on how each spell should be cast and why, and then, Heart’s Beat As One, to match the patient’s vitals to the caster in order to keep them alive during the procedure and heal internal maladies, How Do You Feel, to assess the health of a person, Heal Wounds, to mend any injury on the body that can be physically touched, Heal Burns, to restore the skin on a patient having any degree of burns, and Make Well, to destroy infections, viruses and bacteria. Even though she already had a rejuvenation spell in her repertoire, he taught her, Vitality, because his spell, being a Symphonic, was more effective than the single line Melody used by the Aloe Guild. He was about to teach her, Sleep Time, when the link suddenly broke.

“You did it!” Sherree exclaimed, grabbing and hugging him.

Daniel was thrilled by what he had done and her enthusiastic reaction. “You can only use a type one crescendo or cast the spells unaided,” he began to explain, but stopped when she gave a patient look and held up her hand.

“Every spell you taught me is a Symphonic and can only be cast through a baton or not be amplified, none of them could be played on my flute even if I wanted to, which I don’t. I’m not going to let anyone hear this music out loud, they might figure out these spells are not of Aakadon,” she stated firmly as if wanting to drive the point home and had more to say. “If anyone finds out that you are an Aakasear, I just don’t want to think about how bad things could get for us. How can I ever protect you from people who would think you are another Tarin Conn? Daniel, to keep you safe, I must insist that you refrain from playing your compositions on any instrument, someone might over hear, and be very careful of whomever you choose to teach one of your spells.”

He found it pleasing how she wanted to protect him, the feeling being mutual. Her reasoning turned out to be the same as his on the matter, which he would have explained if she had not spoken up, although it was nice that she did understand what had to
be done without him saying so.

She began caressing the golden lighting bolts on his shoulders, another thing he found pleasing. Each bolt
appeared to be metal yet was warm to the touch and felt no different than the rest of his skin. “You broke the Silencing placed upon you by the Grand Maestro, cast a memory spell to restore your former repertoire, all so you could heal me and the others who had been Condemned by Serin Gell,” she stated facts he had recently told her. He knew there had to be a reason for her bringing them up. “You broke the spell of a six-bolt Accomplished without the aid of a crescendo to enhance your potential. I think you should perform, Ranking, before you put on a shirt. I bet your internal vat has more in it than you think,” she finished, using the description he gave her of how he viewed the vessel containing life force energy every living being has within them.

Her suggestion had merit, so he sat down cross
-legged on the floor. A flash burn of pain had accompanied his first ever use of the spell, him having six lightning bolts seared into his skin all at once. He took a deep breath, bracing himself, and hummed, Ranking. A relatively mild burning sensation came with a topaz blue flash of light and a new lightning bolt appeared on his right shoulder, giving him four on the right and three on the left, evidently receiving one at time is less painful than six. “It seems Samuel’s grandmother is correct, her being a Seer and all, I am stronger than I was,” he said and then fell over backward when Sherree sprang onto him.

She kissed him on the lips and then on his new lightning bolt. “I want to add the new bolt to your uniform,” she informed him and then hopped up and began sorting through the articles of his
field uniform before he could say yes or no, not that he was against her doing so.

The polished chain mail she set aside, then picked up the forest green sir coat on the upper arms, just below the shoulders of which, was a falcon with a lightning bolt clutched in its talons in a sky of blue; the symbol of House Benhannon. Over where his heart would be when the coat was closed, was the Ducaunan royal hawk in flight, the emblem of the Queen, matching that on the sides of his green lacquered helmet; to the sir coat she summoned potential and added a fourth bolt on the right shoulder, and then laid it down and took the helmet in her hands.

Sherree glowed amber with potential, light flashed from her eyes, striking the helmet, and seven golden lightning bolts appeared on the front of the head gear with a large lightning bolt in the center and three smaller ones to the left and right of it. “This way your rank will be displayed when you eventually change out of your field uniform into your formal one.”

“That is thoughtful of you,” he said, and began putt
ing on the rest of his uniform.

When he put on his sword belt, black with a double row of diamonds studded around the waist, she placed the helmet on his head. “We are almost ready to go out,” she announced, giving him an appraising look, and then put on her topaz blue hooded cloak.

“Almost,” Daniel wondered what more needed to be done. “I think we are ready now.”

Sherree shook her head. “Everyone, except Tim, Gina, Silvia, David, and your parents, thinks we are in here discussing our differences. If you go out there with that giddy self-satisfied look on your face, they’ll know something more is going on between us. Remember, our marriage is to be a secret for now.”

“I’m not going to do anything to intentionally harm your career in the Aloe Guild,” he was quick to assure her.

She nodded her head. “I know you would not intentionally. What I want you to consider right now is that flute you have tucked between your undershirt and chain mail.”

Daniel was not hiding the flute of Della Lain from her; he just did not trust the instrument to be in plain view or out of his presence. “What is there to discuss? I have the crescendo safely shielded.”

“I have no doubt you do,” Sherree told him. “I think the flute should be in Aakadon under the protection of the Grand Maestro.”

Daniel simply did not trust any of the rulers of the Aakacarn city to keep the key to Tarin Conn’s prison safe. After all, he trusted them to deal with Serin Gell and they failed to keep the now dead member of the Serpent Guild in prison.

“That’s much better,” Sherree said with a satisfied smile. “Keep that expression; everyone will know you were not happy with what we discussed.”

“Am I that easy to manipulate?” he wanted to know.

“Only by me and only because you love me,” Sherree said and then patted him on the shoulder and opened the door leading out into the hall and the stairs.

They made their way down the granite steps and out onto the porch. The compound consisted of four main buildings, facing each other, four stories high, all topaz blue, and having the Benhannon family emblem on their white slanted roofs and over the doors. There were no furnishings as of yet, which is why Daniel had to summon a solidified bed of air earlier for he and Sherree. The compound also included stables and a corral.