Rune mage

Chapter 54: passing time

The villagers brought us supplies, and then later returned with more chickens and feed for the ox and animals. They had gotten good prices for the horses they had sold, and brought us goods they thought we might be lacking. More books for the children to read from, more cloth to make clothes from as they grew.

We were thankful, of course.

But mostly we stayed busy. I released all of the illusions that I had turned off, letting the specters of past soldiers roam the halls and the sounds of others return. It felt more comfortable with the memory of the others flickering around us. My boy and I studied his words and numbers and worked together on the path. When that was finished, we worked on a wall that marked the fort's edges, so that I could create an illusion of ruins.

And we waited for his return to the caravan. I wasn't sure I would be able to release him. As he became more comfortable, he spoke more. He told me tales of growing up in the caravan, and learning different languages from different places. He told me about times when they had fought off bandits, and how they managed to travel through kingdoms despite the war- that had to do with the elder and agreements she made with the kings so that trade could travel freely. He didn't understand the complexities but said there was a magic to it. I believed him. It would take a certain kind of magic to allow for travel papers from both waring kingdoms.

He didn't seem too anxious about the caravan returning and asking for him. I didn't ask because I liked this version of him, content and smiling. My boy was even playing some with the twins, who managed to get into enough trouble for two dozen teens. The boys all became part of us...getting words of wisdom from my men, learning to fight, learning to take care of each other and the fort. I gave the twins tattoos to replace their charms, and they paraded around all the next week showing them off. The woman got a tattoo as well, though she was quieter about the whole thing.

My boy asked for one and I hesitated to use the tools to ink his skin. He was younger than I had been when I had my first one.

But he pleaded, so with the help of the healer I gave him wellness and protection.

We were a family, eating together and training together and working on projects together.

I watched the horizon daily for the caravan.

The caravan did not show up. They had been steady in their timing, and their absence unnerved me.

My boy simply shrugged and said some years were harder than others.

The villagers arrived, with more supplies and one young mage terrified of her powers.

An air mage, she had almost killed her family. I sat with her, making sure it was her decision and not anyone else's. She was thirteen and had almost killed her family and didn't want to ever have to kill anyone. She begged me, even offered me unnamed favors, which of course I turned down.

The healer and I worked together to design and place a suppression rune down on her inner thigh. It was a place no one would need to look, though I had taken care to preserve her dignity while I worked by having her mother there holding a sheet in place.

I laid down suppression, strength, and wellness in a flowery, feminine design. One day she would share with a lover her body and I wanted her to have something beautiful.

"She will still have access to her power," I told the parents as the healer make sure the ink would heal properly. "Gentle breezes should work nicely, and tending to a fire carefully, and perhaps do some research on sailing. No one will know her original power strength. The school will thank you for bringing her to their attention and send you and her on your way."