The Sorceress Apprentice

Eioldth meets with Sophia and leads what her new job is to be.

40.

The Sorceress Apprentice

 

 

Eioldth was uncertain of where she was exactly, but was fairly certain that it was indeed the same museum that she had briefly visited over 80 years ago.   The Elven lady looked around for a moment to get her bearings.  

 

Like everything in Flux, it was very alien to her, but also extremely fascinating.   Above her some sort of artificial light gave off a warm white glow as she glanced around.   It seemed to be some sort of lobby - perhaps for tours of the place, for there were places where several cashers took payment.

 

The language on all the signs in the place were all recognizable, and after a moment she found one that pointed down a dark hallway with the words ‘Office- Appointment Only, please!’.   She pondered that for a moment, then shrugged and started down the hallway.  

 

She passed several doors with names of people on them, until the hall ended with one last door. 

‘Sophia Ar’Rilla, Head Curator’ the plaque on the door read, and she could hear some strange, but pleasant music from the other side of the door, along with the distinct smell of Dart’loxinchu.  

She did not hesitate to knock and the music ended a moment later.

“Who is it?” There came the voice of the Drow lady.

“Eioldth.” The Queen replied, finding the exchange amusing for some reason.

“Come in, Eioldth!”   Sophia called out happily and the Elven lady pushed the door open.   

 

The office was large, but you wouldn’t believe that by the amount of stuff all around it.   There were relics of every sort and type, piles of books and scrolls, and a very large desk in the middle of the room.   It was covered with several suits of plate armor and behind it the Elven lady could only make out the top of Sophia’s head.   Thick Dart’loxinchu smoke hung in the air, to Eioldth’s displeasure, but she knew it wouldn’t hurt her.  

Sophia stretched her neck so she could - barely- look over the pile of armor on her desk.

 

“Hi!” She greeted her, “I am so sorry about this mess.   We got in fifty suits of Dwarven plate armor found in an unknown Dwarven burial cave far to the north, and two of my assistants are on vacation this week, so I have to index it myself.   It’s like the good old days with Drake and Kinzer.   I’ll be only a few minutes; clear those helmets off that chair and sit down and we’ll chat, if you don’t mind talking to suits of armor.”

 

Eioldth laughed and removed a trio of very fancy Dwarven helms from a comfortable chair and sat down.

“I hope the smoke doesn’t bother you too much - I know it’s very impolite, but I smoke like a chimney when I’m busy.”

 

“I had hoped that you’d have tried to quit by now.”

“Well, I guess it would be more socially acceptable if I quit, for it certainly does irritate most of the Watchers, but to be shockingly frank, I really enjoy it and don’t want to quit.”

“I’ll bet that makes your husband happy.”  Eioldth replied, recalling Khord’s constant badgering her about smoking the Dart’loxinchu cigarettes.

“Believe it or not, he has given up on getting me to quit.   It took nearly 85 years, but he’s actually developed immunity to it.   He doesn’t even get a headache from it all the time, so I probably smoke more.”

“You know you could use tea from the Faesidhe bark to break your need to use it.  It cured your mother.”

“I could, but right now I certainly can’t.”

“Why can’t you right now?”

“I’ll explain that later.   Oh, I guess I should tell you that I’m sorry you died.   Wow, that sounds silly to say!”

“It sounds silly to hear too, but thanks.   It’s a terrible thing.”

“It really surprised me to see it happen.   I wasn’t counting on Redburr’s men using relics.   The staff was not just a fireball staff that the wizard used.   It was the Master Staff of Fire used 600 years ago by Arch Mage Ignatius Magmus - it had been in the Imperial collection for 200 years, down in Aeropolis.”

“So how did a minor wizard get it?”

“I think you know.   The Emperor is funding this whole thing.   He wants Northmarch to be a puppet kingdom, and Redburr is the puppet.   They’ve been planning this whole thing since a few months after Haroldris died.   In fact, I learned about it only a few days after the last time I saw you back in Westmark - I guess it was about a month after Haroldris died- two years ago in Synomenia time.”

 

“I remember.   But tell me something, Sophia; why didn’t you tell me about Haroldris or Joila being here in Flux?   If I had known that back then, I would have not hurt so badly.”

“I wanted to, Eioldth, I really did.” Sophia’s voice came from behind the mound of armor that she was labeling with tags, “But it was part of the agreement with Yesh; He would allow the immediate family members of the future Watchers to live in Flux - if they choose to- but I nor Khord could say a word of it to any of you when we saw you in Westmark from time to time on our missions.”

“Well, it was a joyous surprise to see them - and Leah too.   They tell me you took them in when they arrived here?”

 

“Yes, in fact, they were the reason I asked Yesh to allow it.   What they went through was horrible and they were so young.   They stayed with me when they got here.   I’m not sure how good of foster parents Khord and I were, but as you have seen, both have blossomed into beautiful young women.   They are like you are now - they died, but here you all are alive again, physically, though you really have to try hard to get killed here.”  

“We haven’t had an accidental death here - at least where the person stayed dead- in 70 years.   We can resurrect people here, Eioldth, and nobody ages past young adulthood.  It’s a very good second to paradise.”

“So we are all fully alive here?   I mean, we eat, sleep… even reproduce?”

Sophia laughed passionately at her question, “Heaven yes!  Even that!   Everyone is doing that, it seems.   In fact, Yesh allowed an expansion of Flux by about 20 miles - five miles on each side, as Flux is square in shape-  to make more room for the population explosion.”

“You mean he can change the size of this place?”

“Oh certainly!   It has grown three times since I began working for Drake and Kinzer. This time the expansion was mostly parkland - so there are more places for the people to take their families.   Your husband actually brought the petition to me from the citizens, to present to Yesh.”

 

“I hear he is the mayor.”  Eioldth chuckled at the thought.

“He’s a natural leader, Eioldth.   As greatly loved as mayor as he was as King.   Anyway, yes, there are a lot of babies born here.   It is an odd situation, actually.   Flux is not heaven, nor is it Synomenia, though there are bits of both here.”

“Since almost nobody dies, the only real way you can leave here is to ask Yesh to go on into Heaven, or to be banished.   You see, everyone who comes here is required to sign a conduct agreement.”

“With Yesh?”

“Yes.   It states that all residents will abide by the laws and rules set up by Yesh and administrated by the Watchers.   Any infraction is investigated, and if serious enough, they are banished to one of two places.   If it is a terrible crime such as murder, they are cast into Hell.    If it is something not quite as bad, such as adultery, they are placed in Synomenia, with a full history and memories as if they’d lived there for their entire life.   All memories of Flux are removed.   It is very effective and we have no repeat offenders.”

“Do many get banished?”

“Very few.   Maybe 4 to 6 each year, and most of them go to Synomenia.  Yesh doesn’t allow those with evil tendencies to come here.   So crime is extremely low here, though from time to time, someone will simply snap or something.”

 

“It sounds like perfection.”

 

Sophia sighed from behind the armor, “Well, it is rather close, I guess.   I should tell you that if you hadn’t died, you were going to be joining us here in Flux in about half a year or so.”

 

Eioldth recalled what Yesh had said to her earlier, yet still didn’t know exactly what to say to that, but managed to utter, “Oh, I see.”

 

She heard Sophia laugh, “Don’t let that offend you, Eioldth!   You do remember the agreement all of you had with Yesh?   You are the oldest of them and since Haroldris died, you seemed to lose the spark of life.”

 

The Elven lady sighed, “Well, that is true.   His death really emptied me.   Everyone wanted me to remarry, to provide an heir, but now that problem is solved.    I hate to see Redburr take control of Northmarch, though.”

 

“Well, it’s not a finished game, as the old saying goes.”

“So you watch everything that goes on down there?”

  

“No, not personally, but we have people that do monitor what is going on and report back to the Watchers.   As I have strong ties to Northmarch, I tend to favor monitoring events there.   So I know what has been going on down there.”

Eioldth leaned back in the chair, “So why was I supposed to be taken up to come here?”

She heard a chair squeak from the other side of the armor and Sophia’s head appeared over the top of the pile, “Well, I’ll tell you.   You see, it all has to do with these.”   She held up a lit Dart’loxinchu cigarette.

“The Dart’loxinchu?   I don’t understand.”

 

Sophia grinned, “Well, as you know, I am very addicted to these and as I told you, I enjoy that addiction.   The more stressed I am, the more I smoke.   When I was given this job by Yesh, I of course was completely stressed out trying to fill the shoes of Kinzer and Drake, and so naturally I smoked more.”

“Okay.”  Eioldth could not figure out how this concerned her.

“I wanted to do an exceptional job in my role as head of the Watchers, but I also wanted this museum to keep up its standard.”

“Add to that, Khord and I were then officially married and… well, let’s just say that we enjoy a very passionate and extremely intimate relationship.   You know what I mean.   But I had no desire to become a mother, as I knew that would interfere with my duties.   So we decided that we would keep that from happening.”

“How?  What do you mean?”

“Well, in Flux, we are a mixture of technology from the various former worlds, as well as a combination of arcane magic.   In some of the former worlds that existed before the Great Gathering - and in the prime world, I am told- there were medicines that people took for various ailments in pill form.   One type of pill taken by women who did not want to become pregnant was called a contraceptive - it prevented conception.”

“Are these pills available here?”

“Yes, and I began taking these pills - under a doctor’s care- to prevent our amorous activities from resulting in pregnancy.   I was religious about taking them and I am very proud to tell you that I never missed a dose in over 80 years, even when we were away on Watcher business.”

“I still don’t understand where you are going with this, Sophia.”

“Well, though I took the pills, a few years ago the stress from some of my duties began to increase and I really began smoking more Dart’loxinchu - even more than usual.   You know the effects of the drug - we’ve classified it as “Arcanisutical’ " meaning that it is a drug that gives off it’s effect due to a magic enchantment.   So far we’ve only found three Arcanisuticals anywhere, and Dart’loxinchu is the more powerful.”

“Alright, so you are saying that the Dart’loxinchu began to affect you differently?   Harmfully, maybe?”

“Well, what happened is that it reacted with the chemicals in the contraceptives.   I hadn’t thought of that, Eioldth.”

“Oh no.   What happened to you?”

“Something terrible, I’m afraid.” The Drow lady shook her head and sighed, “I’m afraid there is no cure, either.   I’ve only got 14 months left.”

“Yesh preserve me!”  Eioldth stood up, “You’re dying?”

Sophia shook her head then took a drag on her Dart’loxinchu cigarette, “Worse.  You see, heavy use of Dart’loxinchu altered the chemicals in the contraceptives I was taking.”

She walked around her desk, “Resulting in this.”

 

Eioldth’s mouth flew open.   Sophia’s belly was swollen as large as a huge ripe watermelon.

“You’re pregnant!” She laughed and the Drow lady frowned slightly, though the red glow of her eyes hinted that she was not as unhappy about it as she pretended to be.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.   The Dart’loxinchu neutralized the chemicals in the contraceptive, and you know that Dart’loxinchu is a rather potent fertility drug.   It is even more so in larger doses.”

Eioldth went forward and placed her hands on Sophia’s belly, “Yesh have mercy, Sophia; you are absolutely enormous.”

The Drow lady sighed, “Yes, I know.   Just my luck.  I’m not even halfway there yet.   I’m carrying twin girls.”

“Wonderful!”

She smiled slightly, “Yeah, I guess it is.   Khord is absolutely thrilled.   He is nearly giddy.   He’s driving me crazy.   He’s strutting around like a rooster.   He won’t leave me alone.”

“Leave you alone?”

Sophia just arched her eyebrows and smiled sheepishly.

 

“Oh my!  Really?”  Eioldth flushed slightly.

“He is even more interested in me then before, and believe me, I didn’t think that was possible.”

“But you aren’t as …ah… enthusiastic?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that!   In fact, I’m more enthusiastic, but I’m getting so big, it is getting more and more difficult to… well…”

“I understand.   Sophia, this is fabulous!   Does your mother know?”

“Not yet.   I plan to pop in on her when they get back to Westmark.   They are retreating back there.”

“I figured that they would.   It makes good strategic sense.”

“It is not the best time to share this news with her, but I’m going to do it anyway.   Maybe it will lighten their mood.   I can’t tell them about you, however.   I wish I could, but I don’t want to get into trouble.”

“So are you enjoying your pregnancy?”  

 

“I didn’t think I would at first; I was sick for half a year, but once that passed, I was really shocked to find that I was enjoying it.   I don’t really like children, Eioldth, but when I felt the babies kicking the first time… it was… I don’t know… it was… wonderful.”

The Elven lady smiled, “I understand.   But you really need to stop smoking Dart’loxinchu now that you are pregnant.”

 

Sophia grinned, “You know I have no plans to do that.   It won’t hurt the babies - you know about Drow women in the Underdark.   The twins I’m carrying are extremely healthy, Eioldth, don’t worry, I know it seems like it is a bad thing, but Dart’loxinchu is not a typical drug.”

 

Eioldth sighed, “I know - it’s just instinct to caution you… sorry.”

Sophia patted her on the shoulder, “No need to apologize.   But this is the reason you were going to be brought here.   You see, I’m going to go on maternity leave in 14 months once the babies arrive, and I will have my hands full for some time.   I spoke to Yesh about a replacement while I am on leave and we both agreed that you would be a wonderful choice.”

“Me?   But I don’t know anything about what you do!”

“Which is why you are here now.   We have 14 months and I will train you.   When I come back from maternity leave, we’ll share the duties.”

“Oh, Sophia, I don’t know…”

“Well, you already agreed to it with Yesh, so you actually don’t have much choice.   Relax, you’ll do fine!   It’s not really that difficult and Yesh will be advising you too.”

“You mean I will be meeting with Yesh?!”

“Oh yes, once a week - that’s how much I meet with him, and you will be coming with me.”
  “Oh goodness!”

“Relax, Eioldth!   You’ll have plenty of time to spend with Haroldris and Joila.   Plus, you will have a means to help everyone back in Northmarch.”

The former Queen liked the thought off that and slowly nodded, “Well, you’ll have to be patient with me, because everything here in Flux seems so strange.”

“I’ll be patient, and I suspect you’ll enjoy it.  Now, let’s begin your first lesson.   Come around the desk and let me introduce you to these wonderful devices we call ‘computers’.”

Eioldth went around the desk and soon her brain was spinning with all sorts of new information.

Reviews

[Elina]

"Flux is not heaven, nor is in Synomenia..." I think you were wanting "it" rather than "in."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina, another chapter, another error I missed. :)