Trials of the Hunt

Chapter 25

The palace was relatively quiet in the early morning. The cooks were just getting breakfast ready in the common dining halls. Gannon could smell delicious bacon and eggs as he bounded through the administrative wing, until he reached the outer doors, where the sweet fragrance of flowers tickled his nose. He inhaled deeply and exhaled with a smile on his face. He worried about his current predicament, but father was right. His Uncle Sloane could always be counted on for sound advice. If there was any way to get through his trials and his engagement proceedings, Sloane would know how.

The gardens were filled with flitting bees and insects, and Sloane and his apprentice sat among them. The older looking man sat crossed legged as the young man across from him concentrated mightily on the task at hand.

Gannon watched from afar as the young man listened intently to his uncle's lecture, and after listening to Sloane and studying his own inner thoughts intently, the young man was able to move a small amount of earth with just his mind. The wind blew gently between Sloane and his apprentice and the first inklings of dust swirled between them. The apprentice moved his hands to and fro across the swirling dust particles and more earth joined the swirl. Small pebbles and small chunks of damp earth soon joined the swirling dust until it all joined into a ball between them.

Gannon remembered the first time he achieved the feat. His Uncle Sloane had been the one to tutor him on the matter way back then. Sloane's large imposing frame sat beside Gannon's gangly, teenaged body in his father's courtyard, his soft voice guiding him through the lesson. Gannon smiled as he remembered. This scene looked exactly like his first time.

The young apprentice was overjoyed, as it seemed to be the first time he was able to accomplish the feat. Sloane gave him assignments to work on before their next lesson and  left him alone in the yard. The young man smiled and bowed to him as he left.

"Gannon, good to see you milling about," Sloane approached his nephew and hugged him tight. "I was wondering when you'd pay me a visit."

"I intended to come last night, but I visited my mother instead."

"So you answered the call home first. Good for you, my boy. How are Daisy and her boys?"

"She's doing well. She says the boys are off on a hunting excursion." He omitted the fact that he'd been attacked at their house. Sloane would find out soon enough.

"Then all is well. Have you had breakfast?"

"I have not."

"You shall join me, unless you're too busy today. I understand we have a ball to prepare for later."

Gannon smiled. He was supposed to be looking forward to this occasion. "Yes, we do have a ball this evening, but I still have plenty of time to catch up with you over a nice steak."

"How did you know?" Sloane laughed as he led his nephew, his arm still around his shoulder, to his private courtyard where a small table and two chairs awaited them. They sat and smiling maids brought plates of steaming grilled meat and fruit, cups of warmed sows milk and fresh baked bread. Sloane was Gannon's favorite breakfast host.

"You always have the good stuff, uncle."

"What brings you here today? I would have thought you'd be trying to steal time with your betrothed." Sloane smiled and Gannon blushed.

"I'm in need of a healing master, someone looking for an apprentice."

"Hmm, I know of a few masters in the market for such an arrangement. But first, tell me why you want to be an apprentice? You are of power, you're not some youngling with a fledgling gift."

"Father said-"

"-pshhh, your father says lots of things all the time."

Gannon smiled. "Naois agrees with him."

"Well, sound the alarm. Kirwin's never said anything Naois didn't agree with," he laughed. "Let's finish breakfast before the meat gets cold. I hate cold beef. Then I'll help."

Other than the flirtatious maids, the two of them finished breakfast in relative peace.

"Let's take a walk to the lake. I love the lake this time of morning. No one's here yet, it's still quiet. If you listen long enough you can hear it speak to you."

They stood by the lake and Gannon listened. Wind blowing, geese squawking, ducks paddling and ducking in and out of the water. Gannon closed his eyes and tried to focus, but his thoughts turned to his impending nuptials and how he planned to avoid it.

Sloan whispered to him from below. "Sit."

Gannon obeyed and sat next to him. "If you want to learn to ride a horse, you ride the horse. You can't watch someone else ride and think that you've learned. As soon as you get on, if the horse will even let you on, it will take over. Even if someone is holding the reins, the horse will not respect a rider's lack of mastery. It will sense that you have no control. It may even throw you."

"You teach people all the time. How is that any different?"

Sloane grew quiet and Gannon closed his eyes and continued listening.

"I don't teach, per se. I show people how to find what is already there. Magic is the same as the wild horse, except no one but you can hold the reins to your magic. It has a will of its own. It knows when someone without control is trying to wield it. When you are unsuccessful, the magic threatens to take over and very bad things happen. The only training you need is within you. You need to learn how to use your magic on a larger scale and how to control it. No one can teach you control. It's something you must learn on your own. You must learn this by doing."