We spent an hour on the Speedway’s eastern bound fast lane before exiting onto more standard country roads. Unlike the Speedway which was always busy, the path we now followed was empty, and it was obvious no effort had been made to clear these roads of snow, leading to a semi-frozen slushy mess. I admired the ability of carriages, drivers, and Zema, as I took in the nearby environment. The sun was out; just barely peaking over the Flanter mountains ahead, though its heat seemed to have little effect on the surroundings.
We continued through the seemingly deserted forest, at one point crossing over a partly frozen river, until I caught the tip of a massive wall. From this distance I couldn’t tell how large it was, but I guessed it to be at least as tall as Vander’s inner wall. Instead of turning down any of the roads, some even cleared of snow, we continued through the messy forest road, the wall bobbing in and out of view.
I had only been periodically looking outside, using what time I could to practice the disk, so I was surprised when about thirty minutes later, the carriage came to a stop still surrounded by trees. Looking through the sliding window toward the coach’s head, I saw Nicki exit her carriage; arms still bare above her gauntlets in what had to be below freezing temperatures. Stretching I looked towards Liza questioningly, but she was facing the window rather than me, and before I could ask a question there was a knock on the wood. After taking a minute to put on my coat I made sure Liza was ready before then opened the door.
“Young master, I need you to join me in my carriage for a little.”
I looked back to Liza, and she gave me a half smile, though it was Nicki who spoke.
“She needs to change.”
Understanding what was happening, even if I didn’t know why, I walked with Nicki toward the first cart in our small caravan.
“Nicki, what type of magic do you use?”
The question seemed to surprise her and for a moment the ivory haired guard didn’t respond, then suddenly she began laughing.
‘Why do people keep doing that?’ I thought to myself. ‘First the professor, then Liza, and now Nicki.
Seeing the sour look on my face Nicki put up her hands, palms open in the universal sign of surrender. She stood waving her hands for a moment as her laughter subsided before asking me a question.
“We talked about this, so you know I hold blood of the Urasai. Do you have a guess?”
There was a brief period when I’d been obsessed with learning about mana beast and knew that for most bear types, their affinity leaned heavily towards earth. Demi-humans tended to follow similar patterns to their beast counterparts, some even bonding with the animals to strengthen their link to an element.
“At first I thought earth, and it’s still a possible choice,” I said thinking aloud, “But I don’t know of any bear type mana beast with white fur. I’ve never seen anyone else from your line, so I figured it was possible that you were unique, but then I got to thinking about your clothes.”
Her laughing returned, “My clothes.”
“Yea, I know that to be a royal guard you have to at least have a Moto core, and by that point the normal weather fluctuations-”
“Ohh big word. Get it from that professor of yours?” she interrupted as we entered the carriage.
I nodded, “One of his books. Anyway, by the time a person gains a Moto core they won’t be bothered by normal weather conditions, but it’s easily below freezing out here, and unlike the others you embrace the cold; it’s like you feed off it. My mother can do that, and I think it’s because she’s an ice mage, so I thought you might be one too.”
“Sound logic, even if your foundation is a bit weak. How do you explain these?”
She brought up both arms showcasing their only protection. Two white and silver metal gauntlets engraved with a purple inlay. On each hand, over her knuckles were three blue gems, one below her thumb, another under her middle finger, and the last below her pinky.
“Gauntlets would suggest earth. Ice magic is all about trapping and manipulating from a distance.”
“That’s the part that confuses me and why I think you might still be an earth mage.”
She smiled.
“You’re gonna really gonna be a terror to any of your enemies. It’s not like I was really trying to hide it but still pretty insightful on your part. There are a few flaws though but the main one was your assessment of the other guards. I don't know how far your studies on mana core advancement have gotten, but I feel like you’re underestimating the power a Moto core holds. Just because it’s only three of nine doesn’t make it anything close to weak. By the time a person reaches Proto or Roto, the power they hold is almost incomprehensible to your average person and after that there’s still three more ranks to go. Weather like this is literally nothing for any royal guard.”
I nodded happily taking in the information, I would need to ask Nicki more about it tonight.
“When you said feed off it what did you mean? Could you see it?”
Not sure myself I took a moment to try to put it into words. “Not something I can actually see, it’s more of a feeling, like around you the cold seems to level out, or maybe you absorb it, though it doesn’t get warmer around you. No, that doesn’t make any sense.”
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Instead of making me spend another few minutes racking my brain for the correct words, Nicki spoke.
“That’s good enough I was just curious. Well to answer your original question I am a dual elemental mage, earth and water, though my affinity lies in the latter’s variant rather base form. You’d be surprised how well some of the techniques transfer. Anything you can do with earth, you can probably do with ice, it’ll just be more difficult. Most of my clan’s faction is the same. We’re descended from a bear type mana beast called a Polaris, there aren’t many this far west, or south for that matter, I’ve only met one in my lifetime.” She smiled, not looking at me. “Question answered?”
“Yea but I was wondering-”
“Nope my turn kid.” As much as I liked Nicki, it was annoying how much she interrupted me. Likely seeing my irritation and not caring she continued.
“Have you figured out what all the other guards are then, since you’re only asking me.”
“Rick is a wind mage and Leonard uses earth magic. Taeho is definitely a fire mage. I’m pretty sure he can use another element but every time I ask he finds a way to avoid answering. Yoojin can use water magic and Kevin is a force mage.”
She nodded, “All correct, though a few have more than just the affinities you listed.”
We sat chatting for a few more minutes. It consisted mostly of me asking Nicki who could use what mana type while she just smiled at me, dark brown eyes gleaming with mischief. I gave another guess as she received some unknown signal and rose from her seat to open the door and before turning to help me out. I felt the cold bite against my face and put my hands in my pockets, jealous of the protections Nicki’s body afforded her. Due to the foliage, little sun reached here; though the trees seemed to be little help in buffeting the icy wind, making the ten seconds we stood still after knocking feel like forever.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when Liza opened the door, but it hadn’t been this. All my life I’d known Liza to be the embodiment of prim and proper. Her clothes were always perfectly pressed, and I’d never seen her with a hair out of place. This along with her reticent nature, to outsiders may have made her seem self-important, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The twins had given up a year of their life, delaying their magic studies, and Liza still gave up hours daily to take care of me.
I’d always seen Liza as reserved, but equally kind. Then over the trip, I’d felt like I was meeting a new side of Liza. She’d laughed and smiled, and I wondered what was so different out here that she felt more free. While the idea of those two Liza’s being the same person was still settling in my mind, I met a third Liza. If her demeanor around the castle was one of discipline, now she held an air of regality.
She wore a thin layered dress that covered her from shoulders to calves, dark blue on the sides but white with gold lace inlaid along the center. Dark blonde hair fell down her back, natural curls held together by her signature bow. While for some the hairpiece may have taken from their image of maturity, for Liza the bow only added to it, accentuating the color of her eyes and dress. Around her neck, somewhat out of place with all the blue, was a rose gold necklace with a silver looking charm.
I smiled before being momentarily stunned as I noticed the last piece of her outfit. Pinned above her left breast was a brooch, its colors matched those of her necklace, and I supposed that was why she decided to wear the gift so openly. Unlike the simple chain and charm, the brooch held an intricately shaped rose so detailed I wondered if it had been cast from a miniature version of the real thing. Surrounding the flower was a silver laurel made from one continuous stem so realistically thorny I hoped no one bleed putting it on. Considering the thousands of words across multiple languages I’d learned in the last five years I said the only one that came to mind.
“Woah.”
Her having that brooch was on was a big deal, it gave those with proper status the ability to speak with the voice of the throne. I had only seen one before, when my father was explaining its purpose to me, and I hadn’t considered we’d taken one with us. Another breeze blew, and I quickly remembered I was still standing outside the carriage.
Looking back to Liza, ready to ask her to move in or aside, I caught faint tinges of red on her cheeks. I smiled, even with everything I’d seen recently a blush from Liza was rare.
“Can I come in?” I asked trying, and failing, to stop my teeth from chattering.
She stepped to the side suddenly, the color in her cheeks deepening as I walked into the carriage. I sat still shivering as she closed the door and took a seat. While the carriage was magically insulated, it would take a minute to purge the cold.
“So, are you gonna tell me why you’re so dressed up or why you’re wearing that?” I pointed at the brooch modeled from the royal crest.
Earlier Liza had explained the reasons the grouped believed bandits were in the towns of Dundry and Vendil. She had also said we were headed to a nearby town to get help though, based on her current attire that didn’t seem like the entire truth anymore.
She smiled again, this one a full toothed grin I’d expect to see on my mother, not Liza.
“The King gave me it before we left in case our group ran into any trouble and I needed to speak with his voice. I hadn’t expected to need to use it but after the bandits, I realized it could be used to help the king’s position. We’re still headed to a nearby city, the way we’re asking for help will just be slightly differently.”
What she’d said about the broach made sense, but none of that answered my question.
Liza not caring about that fact, smiled another brilliant grin and spoke. “Don’t worry, you’ll see after.”
Rather than start moving, as I expected the carriages to, Liza stood up and opened the door. Nicki was still standing there, and after a brief conversation raised the earth and parted the snow. Liza stepped on to her new platform and moved towards the first carriage. I wondered why she hadn’t just gone there in the first place, so I didn’t have to be in the cold but figured there was probably a reason. Nicki returned, and I noted that both the earth and snow looked untouched where she had cast. Joining me in the cabin the dual elementalist took a seat opposite me then we were off again.
I considered doing everything from reading to practicing the disk but knew it would be impossible to focus on anything other than the approaching city. I spent the next twenty minutes staring at the giant wall to the point I saw the exact moment people became visible on the structure. At first there had seemed to be almost no one, but as we neared, more and more soldiers arrived. My carriage was now the last one in the row, but it was still easy to make out the lines and lines of men, some with bows and arrows other with spells floating above their palms, that manned the walls.
“Halt!” A deep voice bellowed, and it had to be loud enough to echo off the nearby mountains. I winced at the speaker, their accent was similar to Rick’s, the same singsong lilt to their words, though with all the people I couldn’t tell who’d spoken. “State your purpose.”
I felt the carriage come to a stop before hearing a more familiar voice speak, clear and concise though at nearly the same volume. Liza stood, or floated more accurately, a meter above her carriage left arm to the sky. From what I’d seen in the training room a few days ago, I’d assumed it was difficult for her to do, but now she made it look easy.
“I Elizabeth, of royal house Silverose, have come on the behalf of our nation's premier rose, he whose flower blooms our nation's blossom, to speak in his voice, with Count Jaquan Tavius Sterling of Amersfort. Do make way.”