Sorry it has been so long. My life has been busy to the extreme of sanity. But I’m finally posting this again. Enjoy!
Warnings: None for this chapter. A lot of theory is discussed, and Adyn acts up. Nothing special. ;-P
Bound to the Flame
Chapter III
Part II
               Margery met Rowan in the chapel that morning, for prayers. She gave him a sidelong glance. It seemed that he wouldnât be done for a long while; he was kneeling upright, hands folded demurely, large golden-hazel eyes turned slightly up toward the makeshift altar in the pavilion. The lights cascaded down over him in a golden shower of shifting, glittering dust motes, adding to the home-like atmosphere. Margery slid into a row of pews, kneeling down as she did, and shooting another sideways glance at Rowan. He looked as if he was exhausted, but drawing comfort and strength from this place.
After a long while, Rowan made the sign of the cross and rose. He picked up the stick that was resting against the pew beside him and made his way out of the makeshift chapel, struggling to genuflect. He limped slowly out of the tent and into the open. Margery followed. âI thought you were going to tutor AdynâŚâ she began.
âI am,â Rowan replied, âbut only after weâve had breakfast, and once weâre well within the woods. We donât want any trouble. Meet us in the glade by the stream with the two standing rocks once youâve eaten. Thatâs where weâll have our classes.â
âAll right. Iâll see you then,â Margery said.
Margery ate breakfast with her family and some of the other members of her clan and made her way into the woods as soon as she had finished. This was perfectly normal for her, so no one remarked on it. She followed the stream that ran through the encampment at Cremlegged, instinctively avoiding the forest on the side of the encampment that faced the ancient circle of standing stones in the woods beyond. She didnât know why, but she dreaded to enter that ancient star wheel. She found her way easily to the glen Rowan had specified. Just as he had said, there was a stream flowing through an open glade with two large gray moss-covered, lichen-encrusted boulders at its head. She perched on one to wait, enjoying the sunny morning in the woods.
She was sitting there, as pre-arranged, on that same stone, when Rowan finally appeared, leaning heavily on his staff and shepherding a reluctant Adyn ahead of him. She rose, quickly. âWhat took you so long?â she asked.
âAdyn has a ritual of playing hide and go seek before magic lessons,â Rowan replied succinctly, with a little irritation evident in his breathless voice. Adyn grinned, unabashed, then he looked up at Margery with a look of awe.
âAre you a pixie?â he asked, eyes wide. Rowan groaned.
âThatâs a marvelous way to start an awkward conversation, Adyn.â he reproved. Almost miraculously, the incorrigible, insufferable grin reappeared on Adynâs face. Rowan sighed. âYouâre impossible, obstreperous, and frustrating, and youâll likely come to a bad end one of these days.â Rowan sighed and faced round to Margery. âOnce in a blue moon, one word in three will get through to him. Not much more than that, though.â He sighed and gestured to the base of a nearby tree. âShall we begin?â Margery stared at the hugeâat least ten feet acrossâpixie ring that stood a few feet away, under the canopy of a spreading oak.
âWouldnât you rather use the pixie ring?â she asked. Rowan shrugged.
âSuit yourself, but you might as well make yourself comfortable,â he said, adding a slight emphasis on the last word. âWeâre not doing magic practice today. Only theory. And mystique isnât really worth much. Thereâs not much point in exhausting yourself just to sit in a circle of mushrooms.â
âThatâs all it is?â Margery asked, disappointed.
âQuite everything,â Rowan replied. âThough some plants are thought to channel magic or have magical properties, mushrooms often just make you hallucinate. They have nothing to do with magic at all. In other words, theyâre perfectly normal. There was a rumor, once, about mushrooms that could supposedly block a magic userâs abilities, but thatâs just legend, with no substance that I know of. They just started calling those things pixie rings because someone thought that a toadstool would be a nice little place for a pixie to live. I donât know why they would think that. It might make a nice place to hide under if you got caught outside in a downpour, but it would make a pretty poor seat or house in the long run. I think that pixies would really rather prefer trees, actually.â Feeling rather foolish, Margery sat down on a low stump nearby, and Rowan began the lesson.
âMuch of modern magic theory is based on the work of Greek philosophers, such as Empedocles and Aristotle⌠you remember that much from last time, donât you, Adyn?â The boy nodded. Rowan continued. âThe Aristotelian theory of the elements states that there are not four, as in Empedoclesâ theory, but five. The first four, which you probably already know, are earth, air, fire and water. The fifth Aristotle called âether.â He postulated that it was the material which made up the heavenly bodies, the stars, sun, comets, and planets. Maewyr the Great, whom we consider to be the first of the true Wielders, was the one to come up with the idea that the heavenly bodies were made up of similar materials and elements to Earth itself, and the fifth element, âetherâ, was in fact, the essence of magic itself. All the work of later Wielders in theory is based off of his.
âAccording to Maewyr, the two classic elements most akin to magic are fire and airâair, because it is invisible, like magic is; only its effects are commonly seen and feltâand fire, because it is pure energy, just as magic is. Magical manipulation of the elements is a very large part of traditional magic, and more challenging than simple telekinesis or enhancement of the senses. Most people have an affinity for one, or two, but it takes training to effectively wield all five. Magic and fire are the two most difficult to use, as both are pure energy and as such are hard to control, but for the same reason they are the easiest to summon. It takes practice and experience with the elements to control plants and growth, and to learn to bend and summon light, which is considered the highest form of magic.
âEach element has an extension, or a separate form or continuation beyond itself. Some are both. The extension of fire is lightning. Waterâs is ice. Earthâs is stone. Airâs continuation is rain.â
âWhy rain?â Margery interrupted. Rowan looked at her, half-bewildered at having his discourse thus interjected.
âThe air feels moist at times, does it not?â he asked. âAnd clouds come from the air, and rain comes from clouds. I think there is rain hanging suspended in the air at all times; it only falls occasionally, though.â
âOh,â Margery said, subdued.
âElemental storms are the most dangerous form of this kind of magic, especially since they can be so hard to master and remain in control of, and can be so easy to start in some circumstances.â Rowan continued. Adynâs eyes wandered, following a butterfly across the pixie ring. Rowan sighed, frustrated. âAnd youâre not hearing a word of this, are you, Adyn?â
âNope,â the boy said cheerfully. Rowan groaned.
âI donât know how Iâm supposed to turn him into the kingdomâs champion,â he confided to Margery. âThe little scaramouch.â Margery looked surprised.
âHeâs supposed to become the Champion?â
âWell, what did you expect? Heâs too scatter-brained to be a Seneschal,â Rowan bemoaned.
âThen⌠why are you training him? No offense, but youâre just a kid like me. Younger, even. How old, exactly, are you, anyway?â
âSeventeen,â Rowan replied, scuffing in the dirt with the toe of one boot.
âIâm a year older than you, then,â Margery said. She glanced at Rowan, coyly. âI thought you were younger.â Rowan sighed.
âEveryone tells me that,â he said. Margery shrugged.
âSo⌠why are you, of all people, training Adyn, then?â Rowan sighed.
âI think itâs partly because of⌠the accident⌠to keep my mind off things. Keep me from brooding.â Margery frowned.
âAccident?â she asked, uncomprehending.
âYour highness, Iâm crippled.â Rowan said bluntly. Margery gasped, both her hands going to her mouth. Rowan carried on, ruthlessly. âIâm not so badly crippled that Iâm helpless, but one of my legs is weaker than the other, and some days the pain is so bad I canât even walk at all. Since I canât always walk and ride, I canât be a knight in the strict sense, so I teach instead.â He glanced around, to see Adyn attempting to sneak off. With a startling burst of speed, he caught the miscreant by the collar and dragged him back. âWhere do you think youâre off to, wretch?â he asked. Adyn struggled helplessly.
âI canât help it if youâre boring, can I?â he snipped back. Rowan shook him gently.
âYou just want to sneak back and see whatâs going on at the Gathering, donât you?â he said, softly. âA Wielder does not seek adventure or excitement for their own sakes!â
âYeah, well, maybe I donât want to be a Wielder,â Adyn retorted. Rowanâs eyes widened and he dropped Adyn, taking a step back.
âHow can you say such a thing?â he asked, horror-struck.
âI donât want to spend my life stuck in some moldy old castle in Ertraia! I want to see the world and have fun!â
âAdyn, being a wielder is an honor and an ancient tradition, and you have the potential to be the greatest,â Rowan said. âYou canât just throw that away! You can not disregard the Call like that!â
âItâs my life,â Adyn said obstinately.
âYou wouldnât go back to what you had before my mother took you in,â Rowan pointed out threateningly.
âI was a baby,â Adyn said, his voice whiny, completely ignoring Rowanâs ominous tone. Rowanâs dark eyes flashed.
âHow can you be so ungrateful? You have talent, Adyn, talent, and you could be greater if you tried harder, but no! You throw it away the first time you see foolâs gold! Thereâs a reason why itâs lying by the wayside, Adyn, and thatâs because itâs worthless!â Rowan gestured to the stone upon which Adyn had previously been sitting. âNow, sit back down, and weâll complete the lesson.â Adyn stepped away, shaking his head.
âNo. Not anymore. Iâm not doing this any more. Iâm leaving!â Rowan gripped the staff.
âAdyn!â he called after the boy, but it was too late. Adyn dashed off, ignoring him, vanishing into the surrounding trees in a matter of seconds. Rowan moved to run after him; limping a few steps, he tripped over a tree root and fell, stumbling and falling flat on his face, sprawled across the soft, moist loam. He gasped in pain. âAdyn!â he called again, but Adyn was gone. Margery ran to his side and helped him to his feet. Rowan limped forward, leaning against a tree exhaustedly for a moment, drawing in a slow, painful breath. Margery moved with him, supporting his slender form.
âRowanâŚâ Margery began.
âNo timeâI have to find him!â Rowan replied, anxiously.
âNo. Wait.â Margery said. âYou canât catch him by your own speed, Rowan. You have to use your wits. And before you can find him, you have to rest.â Rowan groaned.
âI have to find him soon,â he stressed. âYou donât know Adyn as I do. Heâs going to try to run away. His response to anything that doesnât go his way is to run. And here, he could run anywhere.â
âBut he wonât run just anywhere,â Margery said. âYou know him. You can make an educated guess as to where heâll go. And IâRight now, I need answers.â
ââNeedâ and âdeserveâ are dangerous words,â Rowan said coldly. âIt would be both arrogant and shallow to take your high birth for granted, Your Highness.â Margery dashed his icy words aside as if they were so many annoying insects.
âI may not know Adyn, Rowan, but I do know humankind.â Rowan stiffened.
âAnd youâre saying that I do not?â he asked dangerously.
âAdyn didnât really mean everything he said to hurt you,â Margery carried on, brashly ignoring him. âHe⌠well, to be harshly accurate, he feels interest in me, almost fascination. He was showing off in front of me, trying to impress me. You were just an unintended victim caught in the crossfire, nothing more.â
âDo other boys act like this?â Rowan asked.
âYes, I think itâs part of their natural disposition. Hormones are terrible things.â Rowan groaned.
âWhy does Adyn have to pick someone twelve years older than himself to develop an attraction to? Sometimes I swear heâs just doing it all on purpose to give me grief.â
âHavenât you ever had a crush on someone?â Margery asked. Rowan looked confused. âPuppy love. You know.â Rowan frowned, still confused.
âNo, never.â
âMaybe it has something to do with you being so short,â Margery mused. Rowan dismissed the comment as unintelligible, walking slowly off, leaning heavily on his staff. âIâll help you look for him,â Margery offered, running after him. Rowan paused and turned, a look of relief on his thin, narrow face.
âYou will?â he said, tawny dark eyes deeply grateful. âThank you.â
âWhere would he go?â Margery asked, catching up. Rowan looked throughtful.
âWhen heâs having fun, he generally hides where he thinks Iâll never find him, but when heâs mad or upset, thereâs no telling where heâll go. He might even consciously put himself into danger of some kind, just to spite me.â
Margery nodded. âWhere did he come from?â she asked. âI heard you say that your mother took him and his mother in.â Rowan sighed.
âYears ago, his mother came to us. She was a an orphan, and had been chased from her home by accusations of sorcery, though she was not a magic user in actuality. She was about sixteen, then. My mother offered her work in the royal household, and she took care of me when I was little. Eventually, she left us to get married. A few years after that, she came back. Her husband had been murdered by sea raiders. She took care of me, again, after I was injured two years ago. Adyn was a child at the time. He doesnât remember anything about the sea raidersâ attack, and he doesnât understand. Heâs a volatile child. Iâm afraid of what heâll do when heâs a bit older, old enough to be interested, anyway, and finds out what really happened to his father. But, when heâs upset, he runs to his mother, sheâs the only parent heâs ever knownâŚâ Suddenly, Rowan froze.
âHis motherâthatâs it! Margery, he could be in one of two places. One is with his mother. Hurry back to the encampment of Clan Caerlen and ask around for Taryn. If Adyn is there, with her, well and good. If not, tell her Iâll find him.â The determined ring in Rowanâs voice said he would brook no argument. Margery nodded and set off to find the mysterious Taryn. Rowan headed off into the deeper woodsâtoward the circle of the Cremlegged.