To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (32 page)

Daniel nodded his head. “You got that right. I had no clue what was going on. That said, why the sanction against marriage?”

“Two reasons, One has to do with the spell, Ageless, which retards the aging process for one year. Each Accomplished has what we call an Annumday, the one day in the year in which he or she will cast, Ageless, upon themselves. We age about a third of the normal rate using the Melody, which means we live about three times longer than non-Aakacarns. Not many Aakacarns desire to be pregnant for twenty-seven months, nor do they want to miss their Annumday in order to shorten the duration, to do so would cause them to age at the normal rate, possibly a little faster. Especially since only one in fifty births results in the child being an Aakacarn. Oh, there are rarities, but the formula holds true for the most part.”

Daniel would never use Ageless, not since he had a more effective spell in his repertoire. “What is the second reason?”

Bella glanced around the room to make sure no one was close enough to hear. “The one in fifty ratio is the problem and the main reason for the rule against Aakacarns reproducing. In the beginning we were all one race, but that changed for various reasons, and mainly due to the influence of the Creator. There were the Tinys, people the tallest of which were smaller than the average Demfilian, approximately four cubits tall, and there were the Anakim, giants in comparison to the others. Out of the Anakim came the Nephilim, who were called the mighty men of old, each born with extra energy in his or her life force.”

Daniel leaned in closer to the old scholar. “You mean us, we are the Nephilim.”

Bella nodded. “Yes, and what we now call the non-Aakacarns are the Anakim, we are all the same race with the exception that one in fifty of us is a Nephilim. This is what created the problem. When Nimrod, the first Aakasear, your forefather, yes, I know what you are, so close your mouth, when he, Zeus, and the other Nephilim were banished to this world for thinking of themselves as gods, we settled on this new world, a world with only Anakim and Nephilim. When our ancestors began to populate this world, the one in fifty ratio remained fairly constant, and so each Nephilim began favoring their non-Aakacarn children, from which almost all of the commoner dynasties originated. Benia, the original queen of Lobenia, was the non-Aakacarn daughter of Aphrodite. When the various kingdoms went to war, their Aakacarn parents sided with them and nearly destroyed the new civilization. So it was decided to leave the reproducing to the Anakim and any Nephilim born among them were taken to be trained in Aakadon, which is the first city built on this world.”

Daniel admitted, this had to be the most compelling reason he ever heard for Aakacarns not marrying; not that he would ever leave Sherree, and still hoped they might some day have children. What would that do to the world?  “So you figured out I am a composer of spells.” This seemed to be a good time to change the subject.

Bella winked his eye. “It was a working theory you just verified. I am a Senior Soarer after all and getting to the truth of a matter is what we do, so don’t feel bad that I weaseled the confirmation out of you. It even makes sense for the Vessel to be an Aakasear. Be that as it is, you are not another Tarin Conn, this I know, and am confident you are the one who will lead us in the struggle.”

“You did not say, victory,” Daniel pointed out.

“No, no I did not, because such is not guaranteed. I am going to do what I can for you, but understand, the Grand Maestro only sees you as a rival, and Aakadon is not a safe place for you at the present time. It will be interesting to see how your swirling of events will change the dynamics. I hope to live long enough to see it.”

Daniel simply had to ask the question that had been nagging at him ever since he met the elder at Dowman’s End. “If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you?”

Bella chuckled. “I am currently the oldest living man, two hundred ninety-eight years of age, unless you want to count Tarin Conn, in which case I would be the second oldest living man.”

The Chosen Vessel could help this man or walk away and let nature take its course. He made up his mind. “Do you want proof of my being an Aakasear?”

Bella’s left eyebrow rose suspiciously. “That would depend on the nature of the proof?” he replied carefully.

“I can teach you a spell, a harmless spell,” Daniel was quick to add, “of my own making.”

Bella nodded. “I admit to being intrigued. The scholar in me just cannot pass up an opportunity to learn something new.”

Daniel summoned the potential for, Teach Me, and blue beams shot from his eyes into those of the elder Accomplished. Timeless is a spell with a melody line and one note in harmony and is the perfect cure.

He ceased the potential, sat back in his chair and watched his friend carefully, wanting to see his reaction.

Bella licked his lips, he probably wanted to cast it, yet caution seemed to be getting the better of him. “That was a beautifully w
ritten piece. What does it do?”

“Timeless stops the aging process completely. I composed it after Terroll Barnes decided I did not need to know Ageless. I never knew about the need to renew the spell, so it did not become a requirement. Cast the spell, add a Da Copa, and you will stop aging. If you want to marry and your Aakacarn wife wants to have a child, you can both simply remove the Da Capo for nine months, age together, and then cast the spell again.”

Bella laughed. “The part about not aging sounds good, the part about marrying and having a child not so much,” he replied and then a beautiful violet glow of potential surrounded him for a brief period and vanished. “Thanks for the addition to my repertoire.”

“Thanks for furthering my education,” Daniel replied and stood while the elder rose up and started for the stairs. Daniel had not realized so much time had passed. Night had fallen and the mark was late.

“You young ones can sit up all night but some of us with a little age under our belt prefer to sleep,” Bella said, and then called out just before going out of sight, “Tomorrow you might introduce me to the Accomplished you healed.”

Daniel shook his head, astounded at the man’s powers of observation, not much had escaped the elderly Aakacarn’s notice, especially since Bella had not been downstairs at the time. Daniel went up stairs, entering the room to the right of the one currently occupied by the Four-bolt, whose identity is yet to be determined. Jared, who must have dined at Val’s eatery, chose the room across the hall. It did not take Daniel long to remove his knightly garb and slip into bed wearing his under garments. No sooner had his eyes closed, or so it seemed, two full marks passed, a triple pulse washed through the world, waking him from a pleasant dream of being with Sherree. He stared at the ceiling for another mark and then put on his pants and decided to check on the sleeping Accomplished. The harmonic waves might well cause her to awaken prematurely and he did not w
ant her to be unduly alarmed.

He sat in the lone chair, near the window, to the right of the bed, and watched her sleeping fitfully. Every once in awhile she would jerk or twist as if struggling against a powerful foe. Dawn came and light filtered in the window, brightening the room. The Accomplished suddenly kicked out with her right leg, her eyes popped open and locked on to Daniel like an archer about to loose an arrow at a target. “You healed me, how?” and then she seemed to notice her clothing. “Blue silks? Who are you?”

Her demand for answers, rather than a request, judging by her tone, caused Daniel to believe she might be a former member of the Eagle Guild. “Give me your name and I’ll give you mine.”

She sat up and swung her legs over the side of bed, facing him. Her countenance softened and an amused smile caused a dimple to form on her darkly pretty face. “I am, once again, Leah Barryn, a four-bolt Accomplished, thanks to you
. Now it’s your turn.”

He noticed she neglected to give her guild, yet saw no reason to hold back his identity. “I am Sir Daniel Benhannon, Royal Knight of the Ream of Ducaun, a seven-bolt Accomplished.”

Leah burst out laughing. It had to be the clothes, him sitting around wearing green pants and a cotton undershirt. “I don’t recognize the falcon in flight clutching a lighting bolt on your left breast, your pants could be the bottom half of a Royal Ducaunan Knight’s uniform, but I have heard that name. You are the Talented discovered on Mount Tannakonna, you were involved with the Battle of Bashierwood, and last I heard the Grand Maestro sent you on a mission of some sort.”

A triple pulse washed through the world and Leah’s eyes widened. “Someone just cast a major spell. It came from the north. What is Balen Tamm up to?”

Daniel removed his shirt, it being the fastest way to convince her of his rank, and watched as her mouth dropped open at seeing the seven golden lightning bolts in his skin. He put the shirt back on. “Balen Tamm cannot do anything. What we felt, I believe, is Tarin Conn attempting to break free of his tomb in Kelgotha.”

“You speak of Balen Tamm with certainty while being less so about the Dark Maestro,” Leah commented.

“We have some catching up to do,” he told her and went on to relay to her what occurred from the time he and Tim went on the mission to confront Balen Tamm to how she came to be in Bashierwood. He had done some judicial pruning of the facts, seeing as he did not yet know her plans or how she would react to him claiming to be the Chosen Vessel at the end of his monologue. Now he was about to find out the last. Would she believe what he claimed in his tale?

She stared at him for what seemed like marks, but was actually only a few minutes, and then asked, “What is your guild affiliation, are you on another mission for the Grand Maestro, and more importantly, how did you heal me?”

They sat there, studying each other and then Daniel decided to give her a little more information. “Efferin Tames sees me as a rival, not the Chosen Vessel, so no I am not affiliated with any guild and have enough chores of my own without him adding to them. The Grand Maestro has no say in what I do. I restored you by casting my own version of Condemnation, only in reverse. Ducaun is preparing for the coming war against the Serpent Guild while the other kingdoms and Aakadon seem more interested in us than in the machinations of Tarin Conn and his minions.”

She sat quietly, evidently taking the time to consider what he told her and how to respond. She glanced down and then refocused her dark-eyed stare at him. “Why blue silks?”

He nearly laughed at the lightness of the question coming on the heels of what he just told her. “The shade of my potential is topaz. You can change them to red on black if you want, and maybe alter the belt buckle to show your guild.” He added that last hoping she would get the hint and reveal her affiliation.

She smiled brightly. “Right up until I legally died, I was a Senior Soarer of the Eagle Guild.”

Daniel wondered about her choice of words. “Legally died?”

“When an Accomplished is believed to have been Condemned the Aloe Guild obtains one of the person’s communication amulets and determines if the individual has been Condemned. Once verified, the victim is declared dead, everyone who has an amulet made by that person destroys it in a ceremony, and the person’s name is stricken from the rolls of the guild, except as a memorial. So I, like you, am legally unaffiliated.”

Her situation seemed to be no more than a formality. When she returns to Aakadon, they will see she is alive, and accept her back. “You are free to come and go as you will. The room is paid for, so do not worry about the money, and know I will pay for however long you need to stay. Lydia will send me the bill. If you prefer, I can have my Account Keeper book passage to Aakadon. The choices are yours and you owe me nothing for the restoration.”

She began shaking her head. “There’s where you are wrong. My brain and will are one and my body mine to command, but I owe you a gratuity on a scale I can scarcely imagine.”

Before she could say anymore, Daniel decided to give her more facts. “I am an Aakasear. I can modify existing spells, such as Condemnation, and I can compose new spells. Few people know this truth and Efferin Tames is not one of them. He would see me as another Tarin Conn. Soarers have questioned some of my associates using Truth Speak and I have already been warned by a Senior Soarer that Aakadon is not a safe place for me. I have restored others from Condemnation, including Accomplisheds of Aakadon, all of the spell casters have gone back to the city, and are trying to convince the hard-headed citizens to accept me as the Chosen Vessel. Think about that before you promise to do me any favors.”

Leah placed her hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “The fact you restored me and the others from Condemnation proves to me you are not another Tarin Conn. I could almost see the swirling of events as you described what all has taken place and there is no question in my mind you are the focal point of the vortex. I want to join your muster. I once chose the Eagle Guild so I could be on the front lines of the struggle against Balen Tamm. After being Condemned and restored, why would I throw away the opportunity to serve the Maestro who defeated him and destroyed his headquarters? I want to serve the Chosen Vessel, Daniel, I want to serve you.”

He did not doubt her sincerity, even so, he had to asked, “What if Efferin Tames orders me and all who help me to be arrested? Senior Soars might well come for us and what will you do then?”

Leah brought her face right next to his, looking him dead in the eyes. “You are the Chosen Vessel. They can get out of your way or be cast aside. Either way, I will stand by you.”

Silvia had informed him of the need for Aakacarns in his service and it seemed the swirling of events is presenting him with his first. “I am not a Maestro,” he told her.

“Could have fooled me,” she replied.

Daniel chuckled. “I don’t think you are easy to fool,” he responded while she patiently waited for an answer to her proposal. “Welcome Leah Barryn, you are my first Accomplished.”

Daniel sat watching Leah drink her fifth jug of water while his mind focused on the list of chores yet to be done, of which there were many. Should he travel to the northwest and meet with Chas or to the southwest and meet with Marcus? He had much to discuss with both of them. At some point in the near future the Captain of the Benhannon Guard needs to meet the Commander of the Chosen’s Sentinels.

“I was near Bolen when forty Accomplisheds of the Serpent Guild appeared in a circle containing one hundred Condemneds. The Accomplisheds were facing outward, casting spells, and killed most everyone in sight. Accomplished Munsford, my guild associate, stayed hidden. We were greatly out numbered, yet I felt compelled to intervene, even knowing to do so could result in death or worse. Well, you know the result,” Leah shared her story without having been asked.

Daniel came and sat beside her on the bed. “The experience was the worst,” he agreed. “I am sorry you had to endure months in such a state.”

Her eyes focused straight ahead at the wall, yet he knew the image in her mind was the true focus. “The things I was compelled to do, watching in horror as my body was commanded to kill people, and the things I was forced to eat,” she added and then closed her eyes, took a breath, and continued. “I was originally brought to Balen Tamm, Condemned, and then taken to a holding facility for Aakademneds.”

“What are Aakademneds?” Daniel wondered.

“That is the term Balen Tamm has for Aakacarns after Condemning them. My time at the facility was brief. I ended up back at Serpent Central and stayed there until it began to collapse. Tamm had ordered me to live, so my body was compelled to make every effort to stay alive, and my legs kept moving until stopping where you found me.”

Something in her tale sparked a thought, Daniel had assumed the majority of Condemneds were being kept in Mount Gosian, and that most of them died when the tunnels came crashing down. “Where is the facility you spoke of?”

Leah began drinking from jug number six, gulped about a third of the contents, and then placed the jug on the table. “The Aakademneds are kept in chambers within
Mount Tirana.”

Daniel wondered how many other things the Serpent Guild was up to within Ducaun. After awhile he decided to focus on what is known rather than waste time speculating on the wild things his imagination was coming up with. He began briefing Leah on his current mission
, the people already in his service, and ended with, “So in addition to raising a muster, I am locating Condemneds with the goal of restoring them, and trying to cleanse Ducaun of the Serpent Guild.”

Leah nodded her understanding. “Your mission is my mission, the tasks will be difficult even working within this kingdom, and I suppose Ducaun must be your focus for now, yet the Serpent Guild’s machinations are not limited to Cleona’s realm. As the Chosen Vessel, you will eventually face your enemies on a global scale.”

A part of him understood his battle with the other Vessel would eventually encompass every nation, yet one man with an Aakacarn wife, a four-bolt Accomplished, and less than a thousand non-Aakacarns simply is not capable of battling the Dark Maestro’s forces at every point. He had to break the chore down to manageable bits; just working within Ducaun kept him busy, the chores to be done in light of this new information will take a major effort, and would only be a step closer to achieving the goals set by the Queen. “Duly noted, eventually the fight will be world-wide. We will begin here. Before I introduce you to Jared, Silvia, and David, I would like to take a mark and work on increasing your repertoire.”