The Wizard's War (24 page)

Still, this was what I enjoyed doing. My brothers
thought I was ridiculous and childish when I wanted to meddle with mortals, but
it was interesting and I was fantastic at it. From this kind of work, I learned
so much about what it was to be alive. Mortals were amazing because in the face
of losing their short, short lives, aspects of their souls surfaced that they
didn’t even know they had.

I have seen men that cowered from their own shadows
their entire lives stare death in its face to save a stranger, and I have seen
some that wore confidence like a shield, only to prove they were no braver than
a fish when it came to losing their material possessions. I once saw a woman
save a child she didn’t know from a serogou that had wandered to far from the
Aradlin forest.

I met a man who had lost his ability to speak or walk
after being beaten to death by his father. He was resuscitated by Kiro, who
came across him abandoned in an alleyway. Despite struggling with his
disability and being unable to get justice, the man married the love of his
life. When his father discovered him ten years later and broke into his home,
it was his wife who was in danger. The crippled man who was terrified of his
father stood tall, called for assistance, and defended his wife until police
arrived.

Verda did make a friend during the day. A girl named
Maida, who was only seventeen, never left her room for anything it seemed. As
Verda cleaned the teenager’s room, they chatted about life at the manor.
Maida’s mother worked in the town, but when people started dying, she was
confined to the mansion.

The servants were very strange. I knew they were
frightened of being killed, but it was still daylight. They didn’t speak to
each other unless it was absolutely necessary, not even to gossip. I did, at
one point, overhear Omeda-do arguing with Taron-sep about Verda going to his
room that night. Taron-sep just stared at her, amused, and then sent her out.
It sounded like Taron-sep needed a new favorite.

There was a presence in the mansion, as if the fear
the servants felt was a tangible creature that stalked the shadows. It was also
aware of me, but too far from the physical world for my magic to identify.
Without my physical form, it would have been easy. On the other hand, it
wouldn’t have been any fun.

Verda was bathed, dressed in a clean dress, and then
sent to her new master’s room. I slipped back into her mind, almost
regretfully, for she had no food all day and could think of little more by then
than her hunger.

Upon entering the bedroom, she instantly spotted the
tray of food on the table. “You may eat as you wait here for Taron-sep,”
Abro-do offered before he shut the door. As hungry as she was, Verda was smart;
she scanned the room before she took a step further into it.

The room was as pretentious as I had expected. The
walls were dark, the ceiling was high, and the hardwood floor was littered with
soft rugs. A huge bed dominated the center of the room with more black satin
pillows and blankets than any bed needed. There was a grand fireplace on one
wall and a glass door to a balcony on the wall opposite from Verda. To the side
of the fireplace was a glass, two-person table set up with food and a drink.

Spotting no monster lurking in the corner, Verda sat
at the table and started scarfing down the food. The food itself tasted fine,
but I instantly noticed a problem with the drink. It was kamitsue juice, yet
there was something tangy… an aftertaste. I knew potions and I knew potion
ingredients.

“Stop drinking that,”
I told her.

I’m thirsty
, she thought, but put the drink
down.
Did I just… who was that?
Her mind began trying to spot the flaws
in her reality, which meant it was only a matter of time before she found me.
Even if she couldn’t block me, it would make my job more difficult if she
fought me.

I stayed silent and before she could push any
further, the door opened. Verda shrank back in the seat when Taron-sep entered
the room, locked his door, and leered at the orphan. “I knew you would clean up
well,” he said.

When she didn’t answer, he started advancing on her.
I could feel the apprehension churn in her stomach until she thought she was
going to throw up. “I think I should go back to my room.” Her voice was soft,
but I knew there was something in her. There was strength in her that people
had tried very hard to beat out of her. She needed self-confidence to bring it
out.

“You are not going anywhere tonight.” He grasped her
arm, pulled her roughly to her feet, and kissed her abrasively. This was her
first kiss. She tried to pull away, but he was stronger as he held her still
with one hand and pulled up her dress with his other.

Disgusted, I allowed my own strength to assist Verda
until she was able to push him away. This wasn’t all I did, however. I slapped
the man for forcing himself on a submissive girl who was barely legal.

Clueless as to what happened, Verda made a terrified
sound. “I am sorry. I…” His glare made her mouth snap shut.

“Get out.”

She ran with everything she had, not even slowing
down until she reached her room. She never passed a single person, for everyone
in the manor was afraid to be out at night. While Verda was terrified of being
beaten and sent to the dungeon, she missed the threat that followed her. The
same presence I had sensed before was watching her.

I didn’t bother to make myself invisible, but it was
dark enough that she didn’t see me until her eyes had a moment to adjust. I
waited, silently, on the bed while she pressed her back against the door as if
she was about to run. She wouldn’t; this was her room. It was small, cold, and
had no personal affects, but this was the only room she had ever had, so she
wasn’t about to give it up. Besides, I looked harmless.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Sago were extremely suspicious by nature compared to
humans due to their understanding of the gods. They were afraid of us and hated
us for it. “I am someone who can help you,” I said. I specifically didn’t say I
would
help her.

“I know your voice. You were in my head. You made me
strike Taron-sep.”

“Yes.”

“He will kill me.”

“No. He may be mad, but he will think twice before
touching you again. Besides, depending on my investigation, he may not live
long enough to invite you back to his room.” We spent an hour talking and then
I convinced her to sleep. She would accept me in her mind because she knew I
could help her.

*          *          *

We were both woken very early by arguing in the
field. After Verda listened intently for about ten minutes, I demanded she get
breakfast before it was all gone. She left the room fully aware of my invasion
of her mind.

Her breakfast included stale bread, but at least it
was food. When she was instructed to bring Taron-sep his meal, her heard
thudded faster with each step. She opened the door, the man’s eyes narrowed on
her, and she froze. Apparently the orphan forgot about my presence, because she
wasn’t expecting my push until she was halfway across the room. I made her
stand tall and hold the plate steady as she came to a stop beside him.

“Is it hot this time?” he sneered.

“It is not cold.”

I was surprised at her bold statement, for I didn’t
make her say the words or keep her voice so steady. She was adamant that she
would not take the blame for the cook’s oversight if it was too cold for the
man’s liking.

He ate while listening to two of the men from the
previous day make the same complaints about lack of supplies. I started to
withdraw my mind with Verda spoke.

“There is a machine…” she stopped, stumbling over her
thoughts as every eye in the room turned to her. I considered forcing her to
speak, but decided that she needed to find the strength in herself. “I heard
about a radar unit on Mokii used to find nutrient deposits in---”

“The Tesako radar only detects rosin. We are looking
for diamond.”

“That… The diamonds are found in rosin. Most of the
ground beneath us is made up of rosin.”

“We know that. What is your point?”

“The Tesako would light the monitors up everywhere…
except where the diamond is. The sensors cannot go through diamond, so they
would appear as black patches. You just have to dig where there are black
patches.”

“Who taught you about geology?”

“I know little about geology, but I know about
paleontology. A woman was going to adopt me once. She hunted bones of ancient
creatures for mapping evolution… and she took me with her sometimes. We always
used scanning equipment before we did any digging.”
Then the orphanage
denied her application because they received too much money for me and I was
good at cleaning.

“That is horrible.”
I didn’t realize there
were still orphanages that were so bad.

“Abro-do, order three of the Tesako radars. Verda,
for your assistance, I will forgive your behavior last night. I expect you to
be in my room tonight after your chores.”

“I have many more ideas that will help you with
efficiency. However, I cannot think when I am tired and hungry. For every night
and day you let me be alone, I will give you an invention or suggest one.”

Abro-do started to say something, but Taron-sep held
up his hand. “I have many girls who can clean and warm my bed. As long as you
are valuable, I will allow you this. Omeda-do will do your chores and Abro-do
will bring you food. Tomorrow morning, I want an idea to cut costs on child
care. Right now, I pay my workers enough to support their families, and I also
provide free child care, school, and transportation to the school. Still, they
complain. I expect a solution in the morning. Abro-do, get Omeda-do in here.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when the door
burst open and two servant girls ran in, both with blood on their hands.
“Omeda-do is dead!” one of them cried.

“She was killed by the monster! There is blood
everywhere!”

Taron-sep sighed. “Find someone to replace Omeda-do,”
he said to Abro-do.

*          *          *

For the next three days, everything was quiet.
Although there was just as much fear among the servants, there was no mourning,
since they all hated Omeda-do. Verda was doing extremely well in finding
solutions that made both the workers and Taron-sep very happy. This advanced
her from receiving basic food to freedom of the manor and then gifts, such as
better clothes and books.

The other servant girls avoided Verda, but they
didn’t speak about it. The cook and Abro-do actually bet on who would be the
next to die. The cook thought it would be Maida, who was good friends with
Omeda-do, while Abro-do betted on Verda being the next to die.

Although the Duran people were suspicious of
outsiders because of the gods, they were primarily peaceful. For the most part,
sago respected nature and each other. Unfortunately, this was a poor
representation of a beautiful race.

Verda visited Maida because nobody else did, but I
was irritated by the child’s overly passive behavior, so I didn’t pay any
attention. I actually found no evidence to suspect Taron-sep, and since I knew
the demon war was advancing, I decided to leave Zendii for now. Sitting still
was not something I was good at.

Verda was about to go to bed, still expecting me to
be there in the morning, when she suddenly had an idea about using solar energy
to decrease the workload for the townsmen in the day. She was out the door
before I could tell her to wait until morning. I slipped back into her mind
just as a precaution as she sought Taron-sep. As excited as she was, she burst
into the man’s room without knocking and got the shock of her very young life.

The shaking squeak that fell from her mouth would
have made me laugh if I didn’t want to scrub my eyeballs out. There were men
and women that were pleasant to look at, my husband included… and then there
were those who were just an unfortunate throwback of genetics. Taron-sep was
small, hairy, and sagging in all the wrong places.

It was a good thing I was not there myself, because
after the initial second of pondering the odds of such a composition of
unsymmetrical and undesirable features, I couldn’t stop laughing. Taron-sep was
in bed with one unfortunate servant who buried her horrified face in the
blanket when the door opened.

“Stop laughing! You will make me start!”
Verda
begged me silently. When Taron-sep stood proudly from his bed, the sound she
made Verda almost betrayed her mirth. Fortunately, it could also be
misconstrued as abject fear.

“What are you doing here, Verda?” he asked.

She kept her eyes on his with great effort as she
told him of her plan. Completely unconcerned with his own nudity, he praised
her on her idea and sent her back to her room. She returned slowly as she
prayed that all men were not so poorly formed as her master. Feeling
charitable, I sent her a mental image of my husband, which made her gasp.

“Where do you find men like that?”
she asked.

“Men like that do not hang would places like this.
When you feel ready to take life in your own hands, the opportunity will come.
Decide what you want to do with your life, escape from here, change your name,
and do what you have always dreamed. Eventually, you will find someone who
wants the same things you do who is looking for someone just like you. Just
don’t wait for someone else to build your life around.”

She absorbed this for a moment.

“Verda…”

“What?”

“Something is behind you.”

Before she could turn, a huge shape pounced on her,
pushing her to the floor, and landed on top. I saw a flash of black and teeth
as she turned her head before it was gone. Only, it hadn’t gone far. I released
Verda’s mind and flashed to her side. The creature moved fast to strike again,
but I was faster and put an energy shield around us.