To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (46 page)

“Are you aware of the fact that all Accomplisheds, except for you, who have been healed by Daniel, have vanished from Aakadon?” Janna inquired in a professional manner.

Sherree did not know about the vanishings. “This is news to me. Jerremy DeSuan and I have been friends for awhile and I have had lunch with him a few times since we returned to Aakadon, but where he or the others went I have no idea. He never discussed leaving the city, at least not where I could hear.”

The Maestro’s eyes bored into her as if they could sort through and discover any falsehood in the statement. She finally nodded her head. “I believe you. The Grand Maestro is furious over Accomplished Benhannon coming and going from Aakadon using spells of the Serpent Guild. He will only allow the usage one more time and that is so the young man can comply with the official decree declared and witnessed before all seven Maestros of Aakadon,” she paused as if giving time for her words to sink in. “
Daniel Benhannon must renounce his citizenship as anyone who has been found to possess extra energy in their life force is required to do, return to Aakadon in no later than three days, and give oath as is required of all Accomplisheds. Failure to comply will result in him being declared a rogue. A warrant for his arrest will then be issued and all who assist or associate with him shall also be arrested. You know Daniel better than anyone in the city, accept possibly Maestro Barnes and Accomplished Trenca of the Willow Guild, and I do not have either of them to ask this question of. Will the decree be honored or ignored by your healer?”

Sherree knew from the depths of her being Daniel should not have revealed his talent and certainly not admit to using spells composed by
Tarin Conn. The Grand Maestro is surely convinced her husband is a younger version of the Dark Maestro and this decree is just the first step in thwarting the supposed problem. Not only would Daniel refuse to renounce his citizenship, which would mean resigning his knighthood, he would never believe coming to Aakadon and giving oath would satisfy Efferin. Once here, another unreasonable decree would follow and then another with each designed to force Daniel to comply or be arrested. The decrees would not stop coming until Efferin found justification to shield off and imprison her husband and Sherree could not allow that.

“I see you are troubled by the decree as am I. Neither of us believes Daniel Benhannon will comply. He will be declared a rogue in three days so consider this fair warning should you choose to help him. Now for your assignment, the Grand Maestro requires each guild to send twenty of their most experienced Accomplisheds on an up coming mission led by Maestro Reese. You will learn the destination while on the journey.” Janna obviously took Sherree’s silence for an answer and drew her own accurate conclusion.

“As you pointed out, the mission requires the most experienced Accomplisheds, I am an Intern, so why am I being included?” Sherree wondered.

“Quite frankly, you are not being counted even though you are technically the twenty first Accomplished of the Aloe Guild to be assigned to the mission. You are going because Senior Practitioner Chen has been hand-picked by Maestro Reese for this mission and Fenton is still your mentor. Now, the warning and your new assignment have been delivered, all topics for this audience have been covered, and I suggest you begin making preparations for an extended journey on horseback. Good day,” Janna Barroon stated with the dismissal clear in both tone and words.

“Your will be done, Maestro,” Sherree replied and quickly exited the office and headed for the stables. Misty, her white stallion, had not been ridden in quite awhile, and is likely to be frisky.

The stables of Aakadon were multi-storied and massive with winding inclines, for the horses, leading up to each level. She chose the stairs. Horses belonging to Talenteds were at ground level, half of which was taken up by the grooms’ residences; where as areas dedicated to members of the Aloe Guild were on level three, nine tenths of which were shared with the Willow Guild, they being the society having the most equines. The mounts of the Aqua Guild took up most of the second level with a small fraction of the stalls reserved for members of the Stone Guild. Level four was equally shared by members of the Zephyr and Sun Guilds, while the Eagles had the entire fifth level to themselves.

Misty’s stall was about as far from the flight of stairs as possible and still be in the area dedicated to the Aloes. Most of the horses ignored her presence as Sherree walked silently, mulling over the troubling turn of events, and wondering how she could make everything well again. After all, being an Aloe is all about making people well again, and the decree sickened her heart. She needed to find a cure.

“Fancy meeting you here,” a familiar voice called from the next stall, in the area dedicated to the Willows.

Sherree went into Misty’s stall and rubbed the stallion on the nose before answering the voice on the other side. “I certainly did not expect to find the most celebrated Sapling of the decade lingering in the stables.”

The young man came around and pe
ered into her stall. “Sure, they liked my boat and my use of spells in southern Pentrosa, but now that they have made boats of their own modeled after mine, I am pretty much ignored. These days, my fellow Willows pat me on the back once in awhile, when they happen to notice me, and I spend most of my days in the library. I certainly did not expect to see an Intern lingering in the stables,” Simon Trenca replied without a trace of complaint in his tone, as if his being forgotten was nothing out of the ordinary. “Why do you look so troubled?”

Sherree had nearly forgotten the unobtrusive fellow had a tendency to be keenly observant. “Did you hear about the Grand Maestro’s new decree?” She i
nquired without being specific.

Simon nodded affirmatively. “Maestro Cransur made the announcement a short while ago. You and I know Daniel will never comply.”

Sherree and Simon discussed the possible ramifications and the risks they were both willing to take, seeing as neither of them would stop helping Daniel and Sherree was pleased with Simon’s level of commitment. “And so I am essentially tagging along on the mission because Senior Forester Galloway, my Mentor, told me he was chosen by Maestro Reese to be among the twenty Willows assigned to the task. I needed to make sure Spud was ready for the journey,” the Sapling finished his explanation of how he came to be in the stables.

Sherree told him all about her meeting with Janna Barroon
and finished adding, “It seems we are both going on the same journey and for similar reasons,” giving her own explanation.

Simon licked his lips, which slowly formed into a secret smile, as if he found a peace of a puzzle and just realized where it fit. “Your Maestro knows Daniel is the Chosen Vessel. I think she sees you as a means to get the message to him and for you to do so sooner rather than later, seeing as you would be breaking the law after three days.”

His idea involved a great deal of guess work and Sherree could not as yet make herself come to the same conclusion. “I fail to see why you believe that.”

Simon shrugged his shoulders and then leaned on the stall to the left. “A Maestro would not have summoned you just to reveal your new assignment, something any Practitioner could have told you, for one thing. And for another, she reminded you only one person remains in Aakadon who has been restored from Condemnation by Daniel. In fact, according to you, she went out of her way to remind you of your previous interview at the beginning of the audience. I am probably the only Aakacarn in Aakadon who believes your will is entirely your own. After he confessed to using a modified version of
Tarin Conn’s spell, even those supportive of Daniel believe he could easily take your free will away by reversing the command.”

Sherree considered her brief audience with the Maestro and decided the Sapling had pieced together what she failed to see. Janna Barroon went out of her way to speak of the intimate connection she observed between Sherree and Daniel, how he had eyes for no one else in that crowd. Thank the Creator the Maestro did not seem to suspect just how intimate that connection is, Sherree thought and did not dare speak out loud, not even in front of Simon. She smiled, unable to hold back the brief flare of positive emotion in the midst of her internal turmoil. “I agree with your conclusion and begin to see why Daniel holds you in such high regard.”

Simon waved the compliment away with a casual sweep of his hand. “He has never failed to notice me.”

Sherree removed the communication amulet from the inner pocket of her scarlet on black silk cloak. The
topaz stone with a sapphire falcon clutching a diamond lightning bolt in its talons always reminded her of the uniqueness of the man who made it. With the gem touching her forehead she sent, “That was quite a show you put on.”

A sense of love and amusement came through the connection ahead of the reply. “Did you like it?”

“All but the part where you revealed more than you should,” she sent back and then went on to explain in detail what transpired since he came and went. “How are we going to fix this?”

A tight mental focus, along with and a strong sense of musicality, flowed through the connection, and then the whip crack sound of air being displaced startled all of the horses on this end of the stable, as well as some familiar owls perched nearby. Daniel suddenly stood directly behind Simon, who jumped nearly a cubit straight up, and then asked “What held you up?” after his feet hit the hay-strewn floor.

It took all of Sherree’s self control not to throw herself into her husband’s arms in front of the Sapling. “Can you warn a person before doing that?” she scolded without a trace of rancor. She wanted to kiss him and drat the man for knowing it and smiling at her like that.

“Greetings Simon, it took a few moments to fix the location through Flit,” Daniel replied while pointing to a barn owl clutching the top of a nearby stall. He made no mention of giving warning ahead of time in the future, but confessed to transporting the Accomplisheds of the Tomlin project to his southern estate along with
Reginald. “Sherree, Simon, I can take you both with me right now. If Maestro Barroon suspects the connection then you can be sure Efferin will eventually come to the same conclusion. It is not safe here for either of you. A Sapling who has been so closely linked with me from the time he was a Talented is likely to draw suspicion.”

Sherree came close to agreeing with him and a large part of her heart wanted to go immediately, move on to the next faze of her life with the man she loves, and who loves her
in return. The Maestro of the Aloe Guild knows of the connection and will, no doubt, from this day forward, question the loyalty of an Intern who had been watched so closely in the coliseum by Daniel Benhannon. Sherree had to admit, her career is essentially over, yet there was something compelling about the mission, and she hesitated to abandon the Aloe Guild at this point.

“Daniel, our Mentors have been assigned a mission, something important, and whatever it is will be taking place in Lobenia,” Simon replied. “I have learned that much about it. Maestro Reese is going to be the leader so it must be significant.”

Daniel glanced away as if taking a moment to think and then focused on Sherree. “It must be Shantear.”

Those four words triggered the understanding in Sherree’s mind. “They are going to perform the Grand Symphony you proposed.”

“What?” Simon blurted.

Daniel nodded affirmatively. “We all have a vested interest in the mission being successful. The spells holding
Tarin Conn need to be strengthened.”

Simon’s eyes flickered back and forth between Sherree and Daniel before settling fixedly on her husband. “The idea makes perfect sense. I am surprised they listened to you.”

Daniel chuckled, unable to suppress his amusement, so Sherree decided to answer. “I mentioned it to Maestro Barnes and he must have proposed the idea to the other Maestros.” The Sapling nodded his acceptance of the fact.

She pondered the matter, weighed her desire to be with Daniel, along with the importance of the mission, and made up her mind. “I will sever my ties with the Aloe Guild and be at your side all the way,” she began and then raised her hand when it looked like he was about to interrupt. “I will do so after the mission is completed. This is something I must be a part of, I can feel it, and know in my heart it is my destiny to be at Shantear.”

“I feel the same way,” Simon quickly gave his answer and then added, “I think you feel it too.”

Daniel nodded his head. “I do,” he admitted and then hugged Sherree.

Just when it seemed he would never let go, not that she wanted him to do so, he stepped back from the embrace, and then turned to Simon. “Watch each other’s backs. Be sure I will be watching both of you,” he said, clapped Simon on the back, and then added, “Close your eyes.”

Sherree realized she had been given the warning she asked for and closed her eyes. The sound of displaced air snapping back signaled his departure, yet even with her eyes closed the flash lit the inside of her eyelids.

-------

“Three days are up, you are now officially a rogue Accomplished,” Jeremiah Lassiter announced as he entered Daniel’s office on the southern estate, just after the first nightstick had been created. The blue silks suited the man well with a golden lighting bolt on each shoulder. He had been given a level four baton and an increased repertoire, courtesy of Leah. She had come and educated all of the newly recruited Accomplisheds from Aakadon, not that they needed much training, and then conveyed back to the Northland Holding.