“Just having talent doesn’t necessarily mean that talent would be brought to fruition in the future. All too many ‘talented’ people end their lives as nothing more than mediocrities who failed to make the most out of their deity-given talents.” - Kisamedes Aeostolis, philosopher from the early days of the Clangeddin Empire.
“So, tell me, child,” said the Bone Lord in his throne room, where he and Aideen were accompanied only by the ever-present Drietven. Kino and Celia had gone to bed already in guest rooms within the Palace of Bones itself, which allowed the private conversation to happen. “Why had you brought that girl along with you so suddenly? I can tell that she’s unliving, but just that shouldn’t have necessitated your… caution from earlier. Do tell.”
The Bone Lord knew Aideen too well to assume that a matter she deemed serious enough to warrant a private meeting would indeed require one. Aideen wasn’t one to jest around with serious matters, and things that warranted the Bone Lord’s personal attention were few and far between. As such, he was quite interested in what made the girl Aideen brought home this time so important.
“The girl, Kino, is a late awakener,” stated Aideen to preface her explanation to come. Just the fact that Kino was a late awakener alone was something that garnered a raised eyebrow from Drietven. Late awakeners were rare, to the tune of maybe one in every ten thousand or so, and those that survived such an awakening – though in Kino’s case she didn’t exactly survive hers – were even rarer. That said, it was Aideen’s next words that truly explained the crux of the situation. “She is of the Void affinity.”
“My word,” said the Bone Lord in surprise after a prolonged moment of silence. It was rare to see one such as him rendered quiet by mere words, but Aideen’s explanation definitely did it in this case. The implications of her words were quite a bit grander than either the Bone Lord or Drietven had expected. “An unliving void mage who awakened her affinity late… I see why you deemed this matter worthy of secrecy.”
“Surely your friend the Empress would have something to say about this too, no? The girl is born in her territory, I assume, so it’d be strange if she remained quiet upon hearing of the girl’s existence?” asked the Bone Lord the next moment. He understood well that while Aideen and Lucea were friends, the latter was also an Empress, and had to think of her nation first and foremost on most occasions.
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“Lucea is aware of her existence, yes, as does the current Erstgertsog Veros. I brought Kino with me with their blessing and knowledge,” explained Aideen before she gave an abbreviated version of Kino’s history to the Bone Lord and Drietven, as well as Lucea’s reasoning on why she believed that it would be safer for Kino to be raised in the Lichdom under Aideen’s watch. “That’s pretty much what Lucea said back then. I personally agree that Kino would be safer raised under our hands, at least until she is learned and mature enough to make her own judgment on matters.”
“So the Empress is looking towards the future, huh? Quite wise of her. Far too many mortal rulers fixated far too much on the short term, so I am glad to see one who avoided that quandary,” noted the Bone Lord with a nod. “She also made a good point. Left in Elmaiya, it is only a matter of time before someone gets the bright idea to make use of the girl as their personal butcher. Here at least she wouldn’t have to worry about that. I got plenty enough of my own.”
“I was thinking if maybe we could have Kino learn together with Áine, Rhys, and Eilonwy, since what they are learning now would be subjects she hadn’t been given a chance to learn,” said Aideen, this time looking towards Drietven, as he would be more knowledgeable about such matters than the Bone Lord. “Of course, I plan to teach her on how to control her magic myself, to avoid any unfortunate incidents related to it.”
“Doesn’t sound like a bad plan. What do you think, Drietven?” asked the Bone Lord from his seat. “Void mages are rare, but I think we have a couple in the Lichdom that could maybe teach the girl some things. I’ll also help you with teaching her the more basic things. Better safe than sorry in cases like this. If that girl truly comes to the potential that her late awakening suggests, we might be looking at a true monster in the future.”
“It would be simple enough to add Miss Kino to the classes my great-grandchildren are taking, Your Holiness. They have some of the best tutors in the Lichdom, so the quality of the teaching is guaranteed,” stated Drietven with a deep bow. “That said, I do feel that teaching the young lady on how to properly control her magic should take priority, in view of the children’s safety. Void Magic is notorious in its lethality and difficulty after all.”
“That’s settled then. We’ll teach her how to wield her magic better over the rest of this month, then she’ll take classes with the kids then?” asked the Bone Lord to Aideen. “Actually, you’re the one who’s been traveling with the girl for a while already. What do you think of her talent with magic?”
“One of the best I’ve ever seen,” admitted Aideen openly. “Her late awakening pretty much guarantees that she’ll grow in power over the years, but it’s her control that really surprised me. She controls void magic instinctively, unlike every other void mage I’ve ever heard of. I think what we need to do the most is to teach her so that she wouldn’t accidentally use her magic by reflex on people, as she had done that before in a dangerous situation.”
“Hmm, an instinctive void mage. Thats a first all right,” said the Bone Lord with a smile. “It’ll be interesting to teach someone like that.”