Kae wiped the tears from her eyes. Tonight, she had not hesitated after Yran went to bed to ease out into the streets and flee into the forest. Her body still pumped with adrenaline and was no longer tired, though her muscles shook with weariness. Each time her hand reached up to wipe away the tears, more flooded from her eyes. She was sore and felt dirty, and she missed the innocence she had possessed as a little girl, when no man had looked at her with desire in his eyes, much less acted on it.
She had an urge to run to Noeh and tell him everything, to let him comfort her with his rational ideals and gentle voice. She cleared those thoughts from her head, for she had hardly known Noeh for more than two nights, and he was the noble’s son. She was lucky he even spoke to her, even though he didn’t seem to know she was a slave. He was waiting for her in the clearing, and before she entered the circle of his light, she tried to swipe the remaining tears from her eyes, sniffling slightly. She must not have done a satisfactory job, for Noeh leapt to his feet in alarm.
“Kae, what’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.
“Nothing, my Lord. It is nothing.” she replied respectfully, wiping her red eyes once more. Her voice was shaky, higher than she expected. Noeh approached her to look at her closer. She had a new bruise on her cheek, but other than that she seemed unharmed.
“Kae, tell me. What happened?” he asked. Kae felt the force of his powers trying to force the story out of her, but she fought it. She did not want to tell him this story, not when she barely knew him.
“I was simply taken by surprise at something.” she said, eyes still down. This was truth enough for her to get past his magery. Noeh wrung his hands awkwardly in front of him, not knowing what to do. Obviously, she did not wish to tell him, but he had not seen her cry before, and guessed it would take something very traumatizing to make her tears flow so heavily.
“How did you get the bruises on your cheek and arms?” he asked eventually, hoping he was not excessively intrusive. He hoped she might give away something of her home life though, and why she was forbidden to learn magic. The Yengwari outlawed only criminals, a Koalat, and slaves from learning magic. He doubted Kae was public about her rebellion against the Yengwari, if she was even a member of the Koalat, and she was not like the other slaves he had seen, who were sunken eyed and almost as void of human emotion as Yengwari soldiers. That only left criminal, and he wondered what crimes one so gentle and scared may have committed. Kae was silent, unsure how to reply.
Finally, she said, “I am housed with a man that likes his drink.” This was true enough, for Yran was often drunk when he beat her or tormented her. From the tone of her voice, Noeh knew she did not wish to discuss the matter further, but he knew he should find out why she was crying, for the tears still spilled unchecked from her eyes. Kae turned away from him in shame, she usually cried so little. She hunched her shoulders as she buried her head in her hands.
“I’m sorry, I should not have come here tonight. Forgive me, my Lord.” she mumbled, as if to leave. But somehow, she found she had not the strength to move. Her body was used and ached, and her back stung as the breeze pushed on it. Kae froze. Her hair was lined over her shoulders, and Noeh was probably staring straight into her back. She spun around suddenly, her stance faltering a bit at the quickness of the movement. Noeh’s face was stunned, and he remained silent. Kae’s back had been something he had never seen before.
Her dress had her back uncovered down to her lower body, and the bare, tanned skin had been lined with both thick and thin raised scars, and several healing thin lines, scabbed over and crisscrossing her flesh. Finally, he summoned the will to speak. She was looking at him expectantly, the first time she had really made eye contact with him. Her green eyes were cool and clear, still rimmed with wet tears.
“Kae, what happened to you?” he asked, voice shaking. She lowered her eyes in shame.
“As I said, the man I live with likes his drinks.” she said softly. Noeh shuddered. He had heard tell of abused wives and daughters, for the Yengwari had no laws against beating disobedient women, but he had never actually seen the wounds inflicted by the whip closely.
“I am so sorry, Kae, I did not know….” Noeh started, but her look silenced him. She gazed at him with both curiosity and confusion.
“What are you sorry for, my Lord? These wounds were not inflicted by you.” she said incredulously. No one had ever showed her such open sympathy before, it nearly disarmed her.
“I am sorry you had to suffer through this, was my meaning. And please, Kae, call me Noeh.” he said softly. Kae had not the will to fight him. She burst into tears at his kindness, wrapping her arms protectively around her body, tears streaming from her eyes. She cursed herself for her weakness, but her body still felt Yran’s hands on it, the prints burning.
On impulse, Noeh stepped forward, spreading his arms. He took her gently into his embrace, hugging her tightly so her cheek rested on his chest. Kae froze instantly, then started shaking visibly, fear eminent in all her body language. She did not push him away though, for reasons she could not devise. He held her not in longing or lust, or even pity. He held her comfortingly out of simple friendship, and he was so warm against the cold night.
Out of will to resist herself, she buried her head into his chest and doused his shirt with the rest of her tears, crying out every last one of them. The moon was nearly half-way across the sky by the time she stepped back from his embrace, wiping the last of the wetness from her cheeks.
“Please, forgive me. I don’t know what came over me.” she said, and Noeh smiled in simple understanding.
“Don’t apologize, Kae. You have done nothing wrong.” he said. She nodded briskly, eyes on the ground.
“Would you like to start your first lesson, now?” Noeh asked, breaking the silence.
“Yes, my Lord.” she said. “Noeh.” he replied warmly, and Kae repeated herself.
“Yes, Noeh.” The words tasted strange and unfamiliar on her lips, his name sending sparks of fire through her blood.
“Well, depending on what kind of a mage you are, the tiredness spell is most often used by speaking the words ‘Ulf matai ulaga’, which roughly translates to ‘give me energy’, though a literal translation would be ‘me sleep enters’” Noeh explained. “What language is that from?” she asked curiously. She spoke many languages, having been many places while traveling with masters, and the words were unfamiliar to her. “It is in the Kulag, a language all mages come into after their pledging, which is a ritual in which you swear your allegiance to a certain group. After that, your favored God will appear and give you a name. This name must be kept secret, for it is the name of your true soul, and if it is uttered by the wrong mouth with the wrong words, it is possible for someone to make you forget yourself entirely, all your memories, all your ideals and free thoughts.” Noeh said, remembering his pledging ritual, in which he had secretly pledged himself to serve the Koalat.
His spirit name had been a simple enough name, Pulang, meaning “deifier”. It was this name that had made the teachers believe him to be the Ylanga, for the Ylanga was supposed to have powers equaling that of the gods themselves.
“I thought that mages had three names.” Kae admitted.
“No, only the gods and Fair Folk have three names.” Noeh said. Kae was confused. She had heard of the gods, and there was often talk of the Fair Folk, but she knew only that they were described as mystical beings, almost like faeries. She asked Noeh what they were, and he gave a little laugh.
“No one knows. They are said to be the children of a union between a god and a mortal, in charge of a small piece of land that they command as Maia does the other gods. Others say that they are neither mortal or god, but borne of the ground itself. They are made from a mixture of the water and sky and dirt and fire, and they hold more power than the gods themselves, set to watch over certain mortals they favor and make sure no harm comes to them, though many are known to lay with the mortals, and some children between them have been known to exist.” he explained.
Kae nodded, taking in all this new information. She wondered how her life would have been different had a Fair Folk decided to make her its favorite.
“Alright, now try the spell. Just say the words. I want to see if you can pronounce the phrase, and if you feel suddenly more awake as you say them, then it proves you are a Barhi, or mage that can make anything happen, within their power, of course, by speaking the right words or spell for it.” Noeh explained, Kae nodded then drew in her breath, feeling oddly ridiculous.
“It would work best if you let your light go.” Noeh said, smiling. Kae wordlessly let her light shine a bit, illuminating only some shadows of her skin.
“Ulf matai ulaga.” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. She still felt only the same weariness.
“I feared this would happen. Since you are not yet of the Kulag, the words hold hardly any power on your tongue. You shall have to concentrate very hard, focusing on an image of sleep entering you. Can you do that?” Noeh asked. Kae nodded, then pictured herself sleeping on her pallet, but she covered it in soft blankets and a thick pillow. Her light flickered, then grew, and Kae felt her muscles grow stronger, her weary, shaking legs steady, and the bags under her eyes become less defined. She smiled.
“It worked.” she said excitedly. Noeh popped his head up, eyes curious. There was a slight difference in her appearance, she no longer wavered in her stance and her skin was slightly flushed.
“But, how? You did not say the words.” Noeh said. It seemed impossible for the girl to be a Saya, or mage that only had to focus their energy on a spell to complete it. It was the only answer though. He found it odd that this girl had escaped notice by a teacher or other mage. Her light was nearly blinding, and Sayas were exceptionally rare, only the best mages in Cithara being among them, yet here he was, teaching a wholly untutored power that could be one of the most powerful in Kartha, though it seemed strange that no one could equal her power in the whole world. Noeh told her of his discovery, and how rare it was, and Kae smiled for the first time.
“So, I need only to think of something to make it real, and no one will know what happened?” she asked. Noeh shook his head. “Mages can tell if something is summoned out of magic. We have a sense in our minds that tells us when magic is being done, a kind of buzzing pressure in the back of your head. If we know the mage, we can identify who the power comes from by the feel of it without having to look, but if it is a stranger, we can still follow the magic till we find the source.” he explained, finding it difficult to explain the feeling. Kae understood well enough, though she seemed a bit disappointed. There were many mages in Nowalk, and if all had that power, she would be discovered if she did magic and any bothered to investigate. She sighed.
Her life would not be changed by this, though she could feel the power beginning to change her. A courage and hope spoke to her, one she had tried to stifle long ago. It told her to rebel, set herself free, to run away, take the chance. But her larger, saner self convinced her to stay in the shadows. It was impossible to free a slave, and her life was slavery. She would always be hunted, and with the numbers branded on her neck, anyone that saw them would know what she was.
Kae’s hand instinctively raised to the base of her jaw, a little under her ear, to brush the raised letters. They were scars from where the numbers had been burned into her as a small child. She did not even remember the branding, though other slaves recounted it as very painful and agonizing. Her index finger covered nearly three of the small numbers, and she tried to compare the runes to her memorized numbers, 88735, but could not.
“Kae, would you like to try something else?” Noeh asked. She shrugged.
“Ok, I’ll attempt to teach you some healing. Now, healing is a strange power, not all mages possess it, for each have three distinct talents, my most powerful being that of a Ritek, while my middle is healing, and my last is Barhi. So, while it is hard for me to do many spoken spells, it is nearly impossible for me to tell when I am exercising my Ritek powers, so easily do they come and go. But healing, it may be the most confusing of all the powers. For some reason, mages cannot heal themselves, no matter how small the scratch or how great the mage. So, for this exercise, I’ll have you try and heal a cut on my arm. Would you like to try?” he asked.
“Sure.” Kae said, hopeful. She liked the rush of power she got from magery, the sense of being in control and ruling herself for once.
“Ok, now, I want you to focus all your energy on the scratch on my elbow there, see it?” he asked. Kae nodded, seeing easily that it was a jagged scratch from where a thorn had caught the flesh. She pictured the scabs healing, falling off, and smooth, taut flesh replacing them. Keeping the image of a flawless arm in her mind, she pressed her glowing hands to Noeh’s elbow, and his whole arm was suddenly glowing warmly. She removed her hands in surprise, and the light faded back within her. Noeh looked at his arm approvingly. There was no sign of the scratch that had been there before.
“Good, would you like to know what it feels like?” Noeh asked. He almost regretted it, but it would be his chance to heal her back, for he wanted her to trust him with this.
“Where would you try on me?” she asked meekly, eyes watching him warily.
“I would like to heal your back. It would take only a few minutes.” Noeh admitted, eyes watching her for any sign of disapproval. There was still only the same silent surprise and half-covered fear. Kae turned wordlessly, flipping her hair onto her shoulders. Noeh approached her cautiously, his eyes on the mess of flesh that was her back. He took a deep breath, let his light rise within him, then pressed his hands into her back muttering,
“Queyei jusako mon” Kae bit her teeth as his large hands landed directly on her flesh, first worsening the pain, then she felt a cool numbness flow through all the wounds on her backs, like water through a canal.
She shivered, and gasped in wonder as she felt the skin close and knit together, only the heavy scars as a reminder of what there was. Noeh took his hands off, and stepped back to look at his work. The scabs and blood were gone, in their place taut, raised skin, wrinkled from the sun and being pulled so tight. Kae rolled her shoulders experimentally, and laughed out loud a tiny bit when there was no pain. She snaked her hand back and felt the welted flesh, a smile on her face as she turned to Noeh.
“Thank you! It is healed!” she said excitedly, eyes dancing.
“It was nothing, just a lesson.” Noeh mumbled shyly. No one had ever taken so much energy for him to heal before, for he had gone deeper than her back. He had tried to work on her muscles too, and the bruises on her body, but they had only yellowed slightly, the one on her cheek still just as dark. “Would you like me to heal the bruises as well?” he asked. Kae shook her head.
“It would be noticed.” she said simply, and Noeh understood. Her father could not know she was a mage, for some reason, and such quick healing of so dark a bruise overnight would raise suspicions.
“Very well.” he replied, casting a look into the sky.
“The sun will be rising soon.” he said, having no doubt her whipping was for the fact she had been out all night in the forest. Kae’s disappointment was readable as she surveyed the sky with a shrunken face.
“Hey, cheer up. We’ll see each other again tonight.” Noeh said, misreading her misery.
“It is not the ending of the night that saddens me, but the beginning of the day. But yes, you are right. We shall see each other again tonight.” Kae said, her eyes cast down. She could not believe how she spoke to this noble, almost like an equal. She started to mumble an apology for speaking so freely, but then stopped herself. Here, she resolved, would be the one place she was not a slave. If Noeh wanted to treat and teach her as an equal, then they would be equals. She resolved not to apologize to him as she would a master again, for they were not property and owner.
“Well, good day, my friend. We shall see each other tonight.” Noeh agreed, and Kae rewarded him with a smile. “Good day to you as well, my friend.” she said, the words tasting sweet and glorious on her lips, for never before had she muttered them.
Kae went through her day in high spirits. She avoided Yran, though he still cuffed her once for stumbling over loose soil and spilling a basket of herbs, but she managed to get through the day without feeling tired, for each time she did, she simply concentrated her energy and pictured herself sleeping. Her muscles still cramped from the constant strain, but the pain seemed distant now, as if she was watching someone else going through it and feeling only sympathy pulses of it for that person. Kae did her chores and finished just as the moon was rising in the sky, still feeling slightly tired, but nothing she could not deal with. Yran went in for the night without muttering a word to her, and she quickly disposed of her garden tools and slipped out the gate.
When she reached the clearing, Noeh was not there this time, and her heart skipped a beat in fear. Had the Yengwari found him? Had he found out about her and not come? She simply stood, waiting for him with a hammering heart.
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