Adventuresome

Chapter 1

Lilliana was having a great day until she had her training. She was being tutored on defense magic lately and it was mostly memorizing the hundreds of meanings behind the word "defense." There were all kinds of shadings, the barest of differences between two meanings could be, she was assured, deadly.

It was a fascinating study, but difficult to fully understand without a spirit to guide her. No, not difficult to understand. Rather, she felt she would get a more complete understanding if she and a spirit worked together to come up with their own variations of the meanings behind the word. However, unlike Father, she had neither been given nor bargained with her own spirit yet.

Father had Dominick, one of the four great spirits of the world. Dominick had been a part of Lilliana's family for generations, back to the very beginning of this era, when the four great spirits worked with humans to create the empire that still existed to this day. And Dominick was far too powerful a spirit for Lilliana to control, not yet anyway.

Training for defensive magic was mentally grueling, even with a guiding spirit. It was some of the most powerful magic the spirits could accomplish. That was, of course, what made it difficult.

"Defensive cloaking is used by one mage to hide a non-mage," Lilliana's tutor was saying. "However, defensive shielding is used by one mage on oneself or another mage. Can you tell me why?"

It's all in the wording. The difference between cloaking and shielding. It changes how the magic affects the world. Cloaking must refer to covering someone protectively while shielding must refer to covering oneself. Yet shielding also can be used on another mage while cloaking cannot.

This was a perfect example during which a spirit would have been able to properly guide her to an answer using its experiences with previous masters. Her tutor, Sir Gershwin, had had a spirit at one time. But he was old now, and his spirit had been passed on to his children...and now his grandchildren.

Lilliana straightened in her seat.

And one day, hopefully, Dominick will pass to me. Then it will be my turn to bear the burden of being an advisor to the emperor. I will follow in Father and Mother's paths.

She picked up one of the books on the table, Rothmire's Spirit Language: an Extensive Study, to find a passage that would support her answer. Sir Gershwin always emphasized getting as close to the source as possible with her answers. While she may not always be able to speak with an individual spirit, Rothmire's book was the closest and most complete ever written on the subject.

"Defensive cloaking is—"

The door to the study burst open and Lilliana's father entered. Tall and thin, Olian Harwin had an easy smile and kind eyes. But today his features were stern.

I suppose the meeting between the emperor and the senate did not go as well as he and Mother hoped it would.

"Sir Gershwin, that will be all today."

Her tutor nodded his head and shuffled out of the room.

"What happened at the meeting?"

Father raised his hand for silence. Closing the door behind him he walked over and sat next to her. Carefully, he set his staff leaning against the desk. The ornate object was covered in runes and topped with a crystal that was perfectly, impossibly, round. Dominick lived inside the crystal, constantly aware of all that happened nearby and prepared to aid Father in any way.

"Dominick, if you would."

There was a small pulse from the crystal, and the faint smell of sea salt swirled on a gust of wind. It was magic, changing the world around them through the wind and air. The pulses from the crystal were like words. Difficult to decipher, especially from a powerful spirit like Dominick, and never more so than when paired with as powerful a mage as Father. Only the vaguest of nuances were audible to Lilliana, barely enough for her to understand that Father had created a silencing barrier around the room. No one else would be able to hear their conversation.

"Lilliana, what I am about to tell you must be kept secret at all costs. No one must hear of this."

"I understand."

"This information that I tell you, it could mean utter chaos within the empire."

Father was deadly calm. His hands were completely still, not shaking the least. But his eyes were tired, bloodshot. This expression was so different from the one she was used to seeing. Even though his role as an advisor to the emperor was a trying title, he had always been able to smile at the end of the day.

Her limbs felt heavy with dread. And when she spoke, her voice trembled just a little.

"Is Mother alright?"

"Yes, yes, she's fine. I'm sorry my dear, I simply need you to understand the importance of the matter. Your mother is safe. She is the leader of the senate, and what I need to tell you they have not yet been made aware of."

She nodded, though she felt more like she was on the edge of a precipice.

"Why do I need to know something before the senate?"

He was quiet a moment. "Because the fewer people who know the better. Once the senate knows the whole world will know."

That doesn't really answer the question.

There was a small "harrumph" from near the desk and the crystal flared blue.

"Enough, Dominick," Father said quietly, and the crystal faded back to clear.

Father looked at her, and Lilliana braced for the worst. This was it, he was about to get to the point.

"It's the emperor." He said, and his eyes started to mist over. "He's very ill. I'm unsure how much longer he has to live, but it's doubtful it will be long."