Oath and Kingdom [The Swordbreaker Archives]

Chapter 37: The Child

Dryn felt lost when he first started lessons with Amrila.  She was rather brash, and eager to do things on her own.  She kind of reminded Dryn of himself in his teenage years, wanting to discover the world and doing anything he could to sneak into places he should not go.
However, when her guard left to return to the Wood Elf kingdom, he used the freedom to find a way to teach her the way she would enjoy.
It may have included learning combat.
Of course, they only used wooden sticks, but the freedom of movement made her more focused in the classroom.  She would start the day with a combat lesson, spend most of the day in lessons, then return for a more relaxed lesson in the evening among the stars.
She seemed to like the stars too.  She knew many constellations and what some religions believed about them.  Dryn told her the scientific knowledge behind the stars and she only brightened.
Including these two interests made her a calmer child.  There were days—when it rained and they could not go outside—where she became intolerable.  She would get aggressive and sometimes lose control of her magic.
Still, she had not shown the same power her guard described to them.
Just small bursts of it, like little sparks of fire or ice, and occasionally a shadow or two.  Every time she did it, she seemed afraid, and immediately quieted.
Dryn had yet to understand her trauma, but he supposed he understood how uncertain she was of her magic.  Dryn had a traumatic past as well.  He could remember the fire in the forest from time to time, and the eye of the dragon he rode.
He remembered Bol finding him, and being afraid of the goblin.  He showed no reason to be afraid, and Dryn was grateful Bol found him, and not Vern.
Vern would have left him there if Bol was not with him.  Or Dryn would be dead.
Dryn occasionally wondered what happened to the dragon.  He supposed it returned to wherever it came from.  It could still be alive if no one hunted it down.
Amrila caught Dryn reminiscing, her gaze thoughtful.  "You have not shown me all of the magic you can use.  Why?"
Dryn looked up at her, surprised by the random question.  "I do not want to give you ideas."
"Ideas for what?"
"Destroying the building."
She giggled.  It was the first time she heard her laughter.  Even when she was happy, she held in her joy for the most part.  Possibly from her previous trauma.
"I think I am ready to work on my magic.  Really work on it.  I need you to guide me though.  I am not so confident anymore."
"Did you want to talk about it?" Dryn sat down next to her at the table.  A book of herbal remedies was open in front of her.
She looked up at him.  Really looked at him for the first time.  Her amber eyes were similar to his.  They shone brightly as she remembered what happened.
"I do not remember it all."
"Well, what do you remember?"
It took her a while to recollect some of the memory, but when she did, she looked down at her desk.  It was too much for her.
"I remember being chased by something in the woods.  It was this shadowy thing, I am not quite sure but it looked like a dog of some kind.  It was not very friendly.  I ran back to the closest part of the city I could remember.  It was a meeting hall.  I ran inside and jammed the door behind me."
She paused.  Dryn waited, hoping she would continue.
"I do not remember exactly what happened next, but I remember hearing my parents shout my name and suddenly I felt something inside me and the building was suddenly on fire," she looked up at Dryn, breathing heavy.  The fear was heavy in her gaze.
"Did this shadow dog say anything to you?"
"Not exactly," she replied turning away again.  "But I do know it wanted to eat me.  It wanted my magic, I think."
"Your magic?  I have never heard of demons being able to take magic before.  Why do you think it wanted your magic?"
"I do not know.  I could not tell why.  I was frightened, and I could not communicate with it.  I have not used my magic very much since then.  I do not know if I can ever control it."
Dryn thought about this for a while, hoping there was some way to help her through her fear and conquer her magic.  "I think I know how to help you."
Amrila looked up at him, her eyes lightening at the thought.  "You do?"
"It may take some time, but I believe we can.  I know someone who might be able to help.  He is the only Maester in the world who can.  It seems you might have a mental block because of what happened to you.  If we work through that first, then we can work on your magic."
She smiled.