16 – Extending Trust
It turned out that Ward’s prediction for a productive and enjoyable sea voyage didn’t jinx them and bring down the wrath of the heavens, at least for the next few days. He, Haley, and Lisa fell into an easy routine. Each morning after breakfast, Haley would practice her Gopah for hours while Lisa spent time going over basic sword-fighting drills with Ward. Despite the seeming simplicity of the instruction, Ward could feel it making a difference in the way he held and carried his sword, a familiarity that Lisa said was paramount to success with more advanced methodology.
After lunch, they’d sit around and chat, sometimes about magic but usually about the world and their lives. Ward would tell tales from his days as a criminal investigator, and Lisa would regale them with stories about the different parts of Cinder she’d visited. She was remarkably well-traveled, having seen many cities and landmarks that Haley had only ever heard about in stories. Whenever Ward would try to steer the conversation toward spells and words of power, though, Lisa would shy away from the topic, insisting there would be plenty of time for such things as they grew to know each other better.
Ward recognized her game and knew he could play it, too. She might be holding her cards close, but he spotted her attempts to fish for what she might be able to glean from them. All too often, she asked about the artifact he’d taken from Nevkin, and Ward played the same coy game, saying there’d be time enough for such dark matters when they weren’t having such a pleasant voyage. She tried different angles, too, asking questions about his tongue, about the runes on Haley’s sword, and, occasionally, when Haley was busy with her practice, she’d ask about the younger woman’s strange, pale eyes.
Ward’s avoidance of such topics and Lisa’s desire to save talk of magic for another time served to highlight the fact that their trust in each other was far from absolute. Still, keeping conversations surface-level, focused on the mundane, was a nice break for a few days. Lisa was a gifted fencer, but her knowledge extended to other types of swords, even heavy broadswords like Ward’s.
Though her sword was far lighter and not meant for the same fighting style, she could demonstrate movements with it, and Ward would mimic her. She would walk around him, watching, pointing out flaws with his form, and helping him correct his posture and motions. Her little adjustments helped Ward to understand the importance of controlling his entire body with each sword movement. For instance, he learned what to do with his feet when parrying, chopping, thrusting, and feinting.
In their basic-level drills, he learned to control his body, keeping his moves small and precise and never over-extending. Even so, Lisa showed him how his entire body was essential to delivering the proper power when it came to trying to land a decisive blow; turning at the hips and stepping into a cleave made all the difference.
Toward the end of the fifth day of their voyage, they were just wrapping up such a lesson when Lisa said, “I don’t know if I’ve explained this yet, but you won’t be the only sword fighter to know about controlling his body. There’s a trick, though: when you face an opponent, don’t watch their face, don’t lock eyes. Keep your gaze focused toward the center of their mass, and use your peripheral vision to give you hints about what they’ll do next. You’ll begin to notice patterns in how they move their feet and shift their weight—things like balancing with a free arm before a swing.”
“Makes sense. I guess it’s human nature to try to read someone’s intentions in their eyes, but a good fighter would know to keep their expression neutral.”
“Exactly!” Lisa smiled as she stuffed her rapier into her scabbard and wiped her brow with the sleeve of her loose, white blouse.
Ward sighed and stretched, nodding, as he, too, sheathed his sword. “Done for the day?”
She shrugged. “I think we’ve been at it for more than three hours. I could use a break.”
Ward regarded her for a quiet moment and then slowly shook his head. “You know, I haven’t been fair to you.”
She reached up to brush a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, though the breeze coming off the sea almost immediately blew it loose again. “What do you mean?”
“Well, shit, you’ve been spending hours and hours helping me learn how to use this thing.” Ward gripped the pommel of his sword, lifting it an inch out of the scabbard and then letting it fall back in. “What have I done for you?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Really? I could be locked in the ship’s brig right now if—”
“Nah, forget that. We,” Ward pointed to Haley on the other side of the quarter-deck, where she doggedly continued to practice her Gopah, “didn’t do that so we could hold it over your head. Anyway, I appreciate all your help, and if you want some answers about some of the weird stuff we’ve got going on, I’ll try to explain things to you.”
She snorted, shaking her head, chuckling softly. “Weird stuff?”
“You know what I mean. Like, I promised you a look at the artifact that was driving Nevkin nuts. Are you still interested in that?”
“More than interested, Ward! I’d like to see it taken off the table—relegated to a deep, watery grave!” She gestured to the ocean. “I won’t lie; if I were able to document the artifact’s disposal, my colleagues in the Oathbound would certainly sing my praises!”
Ward narrowed his eyes, frowning. “You don’t even know what it is, though. How can you be sure disposal is the right move? I mean, you thought this tongue was the evil artifact. Were you planning…” He trailed off, realization stealing his words; Lisa had been trying to talk herself into killing him the night they’d had their little confrontation.
“I’m very glad that you haven’t been affected by the same artifact that drove Nevkin mad, Ward, but I can promise you there are other members of the Circle who will be looking for it. You saw the havoc Nevkin wreaked around Applegrass. Imagine a more influential, more powerful sorcerer in a much more populous locale. There are some people like that in Westview, and many of them are quite rotten to the core, though they hide behind politics.”
Ward slowly nodded, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Let’s take a beat and wait for Haley to finish. I’d like to get her opinion about this.”
Lisa smiled, cocking her head to the side. “I love the way you include your apprentice. She’s very fond of you, you know?”
Ward sighed, shaking his head. “She’s not really an apprentice, Lisa. She does magic through Gopah, and, as far as that’s concerned, she’s nearly a master.”
Lisa moved over to the railing and leaned against it before responding. “She’s a red adept, yes? She still has white and gray to go through before she reaches black. I believe that’s the first rank where a ‘master’ moniker is considered appropriate.”
“You get my point, though—she’s not my apprentice when it comes to magic or fighting.”
“That may be true, but she looks to you as a leader. She follows you and learns from you. You have far more life experience. I still believe ‘apprentice’ is an appropriate way to describe her.”
Ward sighed, shrugging. “It doesn’t matter. You need to understand that she and I are a team, and I value her opinion.”
“Fair enough.” Lisa turned to face the water, leaning out over the railing a little so the wind blew fully into her face. More of her hair came loose from the bun she’d put it in, and she laughed, shaking it so it could flutter in the breeze. “Feels so good after brisk exercise!”
Ward nodded. He had his shirtsleeves rolled up, too. He leaned against the railing, watching Haley, and when she noticed him and smiled, he gave her a quick wave. “I think she’s finishing up; she usually doesn’t make eye contact with anyone when she’s in the midst of it.”
Lisa turned, leaning beside him. “Are you ever going to tell me about those strange, beautiful eyes of hers?”
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“That’s her story to tell.” They stood quietly, the silence perhaps a little awkward, but then Haley finished up and jogged over, grinning. Ward loved how she seemed fully back to her old self when she was fresh off her Gopah drills. “All done?” he asked.
“I am! How about you? Did Lisa teach you some good tricks today?”
“I taught him how to stop overcommitting on his feints.” Lisa elbowed him gently, and Ward nodded.
“True.”
Haley cocked her head, eyeing Ward and Lisa for a moment, then simply asked, “What’s next? Lunch?”
“Actually, Lisa has something to run by you.”
Both women spoke at once: Haley asked, “Me?” and Lisa, “I do?”
“Yeah.” Ward shifted so he could look at Lisa directly. “Go on; tell her what you think of that artifact we got from Nevkin.”
Lisa licked her lips, perhaps a little nervously, slowly nodding as she spoke, “Haley, I believe that artifact drove Nevkin mad. I believe it made dark promises to him, and I fear what will happen if it falls into the hands of someone truly powerful.”
“I can understand that. So, we’ll make sure it doesn’t.” Haley shrugged.
“Haley, don’t you think tossing it into the sea would be better? We’re midway from Port Granite to Westview. No one would ever find it again. Even someone with the ability to scry it out would be helpless to retrieve it from such depths!”
Ward frowned. “People could do that? ‘Scry’ it out?”
“I imagine so; there are spells to help locate people and things. My point stands, in any case. Who could possibly plumb the depths of this great body of water?”
Ward shrugged. “There are people in my world who could do it. We developed machines called submarines that can go to the bottom of the ocean.”
Haley folded her arms over her chest. “What if a sorcerer could do it? Either grant themselves the ability to swim so deeply or to conjure the artifact up through the water?”
Lisa rubbed her chin as she turned to regard the deep, blue water, some doubt clouding her expression. “I suppose I didn’t think it through as much as I should have. I don’t know of any such spells, but my knowledge is limited. Are you certain the artifact is safely contained?”
Ward nodded. “I think so. It’s in a metal box and sealed with some alchemical metallic compound. I know Nevkin could hear it, but some runes on the box said something about giving the artifact your blood to learn its secrets; I’m pretty sure he’d done so prior to it being locked away.”
“Will you show it to me, Ward?” Lisa grasped his wrist as she spoke, but Ward didn’t react to the touch. They’d been “touching” each other all week, during sword practice as she directed his posture and movements, so it didn’t seem out of place.
“Yeah, I’ll show it to you if it’ll make you feel better. If we did want to destroy it, what would be the best way to go about it?”
Lisa shook her head. “I’m not sure. I thought dumping it in the sea would be sufficient, but if it had a bond with Nevkin and could call out to him, who’s to say it hasn’t bonded with other people over the years? Perhaps it could call someone with the ability to bring it forth from a watery tomb!”
Haley snapped her fingers. “Why don’t we take it to a blacksmith and have ‘em melt it in the forge?”
“That’s…” Lisa frowned and shrugged. “That’s certainly an idea. Can we all agree that we must keep it out of other people’s hands for now? If so, perhaps we could ask one of the members of my order for guidance. As I said, one of our leaders lives in Westview.”
“Fine with me.” Ward gently prodded Haley’s shoulder. “You good with that?”
“I am! If you don’t mind a change in topic, did you two notice my drill? I think I performed the seventh movement perfectly for the first time!”
“I certainly saw you practicing, Haley,” Lisa said, smiling broadly at the younger woman, “but I don’t know enough about Gopah to recognize one movement from the other. I know what it means, though—are you now a white adept?”
Haley shook her head. “Not yet. I have to perform it before a master to ensure I haven’t made an error.” Her grin widened as she looked at Ward. “I’m sure I did it correctly, though! I could feel that it was right!”
“Hell, yes! That’s great, Haley! We should celebrate!”
Haley took a step back and pressed her hands together, bowing at the waist in a strangely formal gesture. “I have a favor I would like to request.” She looked at Lisa, including her in the odd little ritual. “From both of you.”
Ward immediately replied, “Anything.”
Lisa looked from Haley to Ward, then back again, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ll do what I can—”
“Thank you!” Haley beamed. “I would like you each to share a spell with the other. I think it’s time we start extending some trust to each other, especially if we’re going to enter the next challenge together.”
Ward cleared his throat. “What?”
Lisa was a bit more verbose, “We never discussed such an arrangement—"
“It’s true,” Haley nodded, “that we haven’t discussed it in so many words, but we’ve talked about the spire several times, and you’ve said that groups of people fared better, on average, than solo entrants. You’ve said that you admire Ward’s strength and how he keeps calm under pressure. You’ve complimented me on my fighting skills more than once. You even expressed regret that you didn’t stick with us in the catacombs, considering the relics we walked out with. So, were you just being kind, or did you mean those things?”
Lisa folded her arms over her chest—a defensive posture—but she contradicted her body language by slowly nodding. “Those things are all true, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered the possibility. Are you saying you’d welcome me?”
Haley smiled. “I would welcome you, and I know Ward would, too.”
“Haley, I—” Ward frowned. The truth was, the only hangup he had at this point was that he wasn’t sure Grace would appreciate it. How would Lisa, an “Oathbound,” react to the “devil” in Ward’s head? Would she have to hide the entire time they were in the “spire?” He sighed, shrugged, and, knowing he’d probably pay for it later, said, “I think it would be great to have someone so knowledgeable with us if we attempt another challenge.”
“In that case…” Lisa inhaled deeply, a slow smile spreading on her lips as she looked from Haley to Ward. “How could I say no?”
“Yes!” Haley cheered, pumping a fist in the air. Ward laughed when a small gout of fire exploded upward from her knuckles, followed by a puff of black smoke.
“Nice one!” He held out his palm, and Haley slapped it, her palm hot as a baked potato.
“I’ll track down some alcohol for us to share, but you two should sit in the sun over there and talk about magic.” Haley didn’t wait for any arguments as she turned and jogged away, hopping down the short flight of stairs, agile as a cat.
“All right,” Lisa admitted, “I’m beginning to see what you mean by her being more of a partner than an apprentice. I like her idea about sitting in the sun, though; this breeze grows chilly as the heat from our exertions fades.”
Ward nodded, leading the way. The spot was in the lee of the steam stack, and shielded by it and the waist-high railing, the sea breeze only hit them with an occasional gust. Meanwhile, the sun felt glorious even though it was Fall on Cinder. Ward sat cross-legged, and Lisa mimicked his posture right in front of him, their knees almost touching. After a moment of silence, as they both soaked in the heat of the warm planks and the sun on their faces, she asked, “Have you ever traded for spells before?”
Ward nodded. “I have, but once was with a nice, elderly woman whom I trusted, and the other time, the guy tried to kill me and steal my grimoire.”
Lisa chuckled. “I wish I could say such behavior was uncommon among sorcerers, but it’s more the norm than the exception. That being said, I’m very pleased to have met you, Ward. I’m happy that my fears proved unfounded.”
“Listen, before we talk about spells, can I ask you a few more general questions about hemographs? I won’t ask you about your readings. I learned my lesson about that, but maybe you could help me understand a few other things.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“Okay, to start with, what’s the deal with bloodlines?”
Lisa’s face didn’t betray a reaction, but she leaned back, resting one hand on the deck as she tilted her face more fully toward the sun. Without looking at Ward, she asked, “Bloodlines weren’t uncovered on your homeworld?”
“No. Magic was very…limited on Earth.”
Lisa kept her eyes closed as she began to speak, her voice calm and somehow soothing to Ward. “Well, Bloodlines are complex things. In the simplest of terms, a bloodline is a kind of inheritance, not just in terms of ancestry but in power. It’s the essence of what’s passed down through generations, encoded in a person's blood—an imprint, if you will. Because of bloodlines, some families can call on magic naturally while others struggle their entire lives to grasp even the basics.”
She shifted slightly, turning to face him, squinting in the sunlight as she opened her eyes. “A hemograph can reveal traces of bloodlines—latent or active, strong or weak. Some bloodlines are blessed by old pacts or cursed by ancient mistakes. That’s another reason it’s dangerous to ask someone about their hemograph readings—some people view it as personal as peeking into their soul.”
Lisa paused, then added, “There are different kinds, of course. Some are well-documented; you can find tomes with descriptions and histories in most major cities. However, many aren’t so well known. If a person had one of those less common bloodlines, they’d have to risk waking it and seeing what it did to understand it better.”
“Waking?”
“Yes. Some rituals will bring a bloodline forth. Unfortunately, one ritual that might work for a certain bloodline may do nothing for another. I’ve heard of artifacts that can wake latent bloodlines, and, of course, I’ve read accounts of people finding concoctions in the challenges that can wake a bloodline to one degree or another.”
“Like the refinement potions?”
Lisa smiled, closing her eyes again. “Exactly.”
“Can a person have more than one bloodline?”
Lisa nodded. “Can a person have more than one ancestor?”
Ward laughed. “I mean, can they all be…active?”
“I’m not sure, Ward, but I don’t think so. My tutor told me you could view a bloodline like a pie pan—you can fill it with slices of various pies or a whole pie of a single type, but you only have one pan. A single, fully-developed bloodline, brought forth completely, will be far stronger than if you only have a slice of it.”
“Do you think your, uh, tutor was right?”
Lisa giggled. “I don’t know, but I’d like to think so. My father spent a fortune on him over the years.” Suddenly, Lisa sat up straight, arching her back in a deep stretch as she yawned. Of course, seeing her yawn like that made Ward yawn, and she laughed. “We better talk about our spells and make a trade, or we’ll need a nap first!”