Chương 32: The Imperial Bloodline (8)

Edras thought for a moment.

"That would be Lady Elaryn."

"Lady? She's a noble?"

"Yes. She's the daughter of a duke whose lands lie northwest of here." Teren couldn't hide his surprise. She was a duke's daughter? That did explain some of her snark, going by how Cassian—also a son of a duke—behaved, but not all of it.

"But why is she here?"

"She is traveling to the Imperial Mana Academy at Othmir. Karthane lies along the route from her father's lands to the Academy, so she is stopping here before continuing southeast. She'll take an airship from Karthane along with Cassian and some of the other students heading to the Academy." Teren had already seen her manipulating water as if it were dough. She was a mage for sure. But she was also talented enough to go to the Imperial Mana Academy? Could he join it too? He decided not to ask about it immediately.

There was too much going on right now for that.

"Then did she come here on one of those airships?" Teren already knew how she had entered Karthane in the other loop, but he could hardly admit that.

"No. She arrived in a slave caravan." Teren stared at the mage. He remembered her sitting in the intake compound in worn slave clothes, looking more irritated than frightened. At least now he knew why.

"A slave caravan? Why would her father send her that way?"

"It is... complicated. Tensions with the neighboring kingdoms have been getting worse, and there have been enough reports of foreign agents inside the kingdom that her father did not want her movements known. Enemy informants watch inns, caravan offices, stables, and the households of minor lords who would sell information for coin or favor in case a high noble or their kids passed through their domain.

A slave wagon is unpleasant, but it passes unnoticed through places where a noble carriage carrying a duke's daughter would easily be remembered."

"I've heard people saying that a war is coming," Teren said.

"She must also have come through an intake compound like me, then. Although that place isn't exactly safe."

"No, but she wasn't traveling alone. Four of her father's retainers traveled with the caravan as part of the escort. Once they reached Karthane, they presented her father's papers to the captain of the compound, and she was brought to the palace earlier today." Teren nodded slowly. So Edras had only happened to find her himself in the other loop by chance. A duke's daughter obviously would not have been left there to be processed as a slave, simply hoping someone noticed her and took her to the palace.

This time, with the mage occupied at his research hall, their plan had continued without him. Teren thought about the intake compound again.

"What if something went wrong? If they didn't realize who she was in time?"

"Oh, that would not happen."

"How can you be sure? Don't all new slaves coming to Karthane have to go through the mana assay?"

"Even if her retainers hadn't intervened, Lady Elaryn knows how to hold her mana still during a basic assay test. Children from noble families who show talent as a mage are often taught that early, since there is always a chance they may need to pass as commoners for their own safety. A simple testing device would get no reaction from her if she didn't want it to." That explained what Teren had seen in the other loop. Elaryn had touched the assay handle and nothing had happened. He looked at his own hand.

"Can I learn that too?" Teren had managed something similar before, but only when fear and repeated deaths had forced him to figure it out. Being able to do it whenever he wanted would be very different instead of him just relying on willpower and luck.

"Yes," the mage replied, "but not in a single evening. What little control you have now is mostly instinct. You need to learn how to feel the movement of your mana before you can reliably stop or direct it. You'll have to start with ordinary mana rather than your purple fire to get a proper foundation in magic." Teren frowned.

"Wait. You mean normal mana like others? Can I actually use that too?"

"Of course." Edras looked almost surprised by the question.

"Every account I have read of the Corvadryn bloodline says they could use ordinary magic just like any other mage. Their bloodline simply gave them access to something more—the purple mana you have already produced. It did not replace normal mana. There is no reason why you would be different." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"So I should be able to use both?"

"Yes. And learning ordinary magic will be particularly important for you. There will be times when you need to pass as an ordinary mage instead of revealing your bloodline. If every spell you cast turns purple, keeping your identity secret will become rather difficult." Teren barely controlled his grin. That... would be very, very helpful.

"Then I want to learn both! But I'm not even sure where to start... I don't know anything about magic—not even the basics." He looked at the mage.

"So can you teach me? Duke Ordaan said you were allowed to." Edras hesitated.

"I may be an archmage, but even someone like me has only ever used ordinary magic, Teren. The purple fire is a completely different matter. Before you appeared, I had never even seen it myself, and I have never found any surviving instructions on how a Corvadryn was taught to use it when the dynasty still existed." Teren's excitement faded a little.

"Nothing at all?"

"Certainly not here in Karthane. It is possible that some records may have been preserved somewhere in the royal capital, perhaps among other materials kept from the old empire, but if they exist, I have never heard of them." Teren was disappointed, but a few days ago he had not even known there was anyone who could teach him magic at all.

"I'll take what I can get. So can we start soon?" Edras was quiet for a few moments.

"I won't be able to teach you every day. I already have responsibilities across the city that take up most of my time, and now I have that array to investigate as well. But I'll try to give you an hour tomorrow. After that, we'll see how much time I can manage."

"Just an hour...?"

"I can at least show you enough over the next few days that you won't hurt yourself trying to use mana. Beyond that, I'm not sure I'll be able to spare enough time to teach you everything you need. Some of that should help with your bloodline magic as well, but without another Corvadryn to guide you, you'll probably have to work out most of it yourself."

"It's still better than nothing, I guess. Thank you for this, Master Edras." Edras gave a nod as he stood up, then he picked up his satchel from the table.

"Do not try to use the purple flame by yourself until we meet again. You managed to produce it in the life-and-death situation you told me and in front of the Duke, but that does not mean it is safe to experiment with now. You do not yet know how much mana you are drawing or what repeated attempts without proper control might do to you or your mana network." He continued, "Even ordinary mana can injure an untrained mage who doesn't know how to use it properly.

I know little about what your bloodline and mana might do, but it would likely be worse. So, do not practice magic by yourself until I've taught you the basics." Teren nodded. In the previous loops, he had only experimented on his own because there had been no one to teach him and his life had depended on figuring something out quickly. He had no reason to take that kind of risk now.

"I'll wait." Edras watched him for a moment before apparently deciding he believed him.

"Good. I'll send for you tomorrow." He left a few moments later. Teren remained by the window long after the door closed. He had learned more about magic and this city in the last two days than in all the loops before them, but most of it had only given him new questions about this place. For now, at least, he had Edras willing to teach him. He just needed to wait until tomorrow to finally start learning how to use his magic without relying on panic and guesswork.

The next afternoon, Teren found himself asking to visit the east garden again. He could have chosen somewhere else, but after spending most of the day inside, the garden seemed as good a place as any. The possibility of seeing the feisty red-haired elf again might have influenced the decision too. His guards accompanied him there and remained near the entrance while he walked along the paths. Elaryn was beside the same pool where the duke's daughter, Lady Mariel, had played the day before.

Two men stood near a vine-covered arch farther along the garden, dressed more like travelers than palace guards. Teren guessed they were some of the retainers the old mage had mentioned. A maid sat beneath one of the trees nearby. Mariel was nowhere in sight. For now, anyway. Elaryn stood with her sleeves drawn back from her wrists, practicing with the water again. A narrow ribbon of water rose from the pool and moved slowly around her hand, dividing into two strands before joining together again.

When she noticed Teren approaching along the path, she lowered her hand and let the water fall back into the pool. Teren hesitated. Simply saying hello suddenly seemed inadequate now that he was actually here.

"Uh…Lady Elaryn?" Her eyes settled on him.

"So you know my name now." Teren rubbed the back of his head.

"Master Edras told me." She nodded, apparently done with the conversation, and extended her hand again. Another thin strand of water rose from the pool. She moved her fingers slowly from side to side, the movements looking effortless and yet graceful, and the water followed each motion.

"I'm…Teren Marr." For a moment, he considered offering his hand, then decided against it. He still did not know enough about the customs of this world to be sure a handshake meant the same thing here. It probably did, but there was no reason to find out by embarrassing himself in front of a duke's daughter.

"I know." She looked at him briefly while continuing to move the strand of water above her palm.

"I heard you came to the palace from a slave intake compound and are now a guest of Duke Ordaan. That is quite a change in circumstances." Teren could hardly disagree with that.

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting it either."

"May I ask how it came about?" He hesitated.

"A lot happened. I'm not allowed to talk about most of it." Elaryn's attention remained on him for another moment before returning to the water.

"I see." Teren stopped a few feet from the pool. Her retainers were far enough away that they were unlikely to overhear them, though he had no doubt they were keeping an eye on him. As far as they knew, he was only some former slave who had somehow become a guest of the duke, not someone who held the lost bloodline of the Corvadryn dynasty. His gaze lingered on the elf for a moment. Her hair was an unusually vivid red, but it was the long ears tapering to sharp points that made her unmistakably nonhuman.

Elaryn caught him looking.

"Never seen an elf before?"