The Lantern's Light

2

"We think we've found her, sir," Neo said with a bright smile on her face. She was standing beside her partner, Rynal, who was the one that witnessed the Thaumaturge in question. A Thaumaturge was different from other forms of magecraft used by Mages and magic used by witches. A Thaumaturge was known as a wonderworker, someone who could use their natural born capabilities to change the world around them. This kind of magic required no sacrifices or exchange of mana. A Thaumaturge merely needed the room to perform their sacred act to cause the shift in reality. "She's a performer for the Laurelei circus. Her name is Amber, no surname. She comes from the Etherlin forests to the east. Her Thaumaturgy is that her dancing can manipulate the four basic elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. We have sent a letter to her employer requesting her presence here at the Mage's Tower. If all goes according to plan, she will be in the garden later today."

With their report completed, Neo and Rynal left the room. I stared after them, my gaze lingering on the door long after I heard their footsteps fade away. I had met three Thaumaturges in my lifetime. The first had been my childhood friend who had died years ago. The other two were alive and within close proximity. Amara of the Citlati House could use her singing voice to manipulate minds, and Elaine of the Erembour House who could manipulate light and shadow with her instrumental playing. I had met Elaine in passing, but Amara and I have frequently crossed paths considering she's the crown prince's consort and I am the king's advisor. This new one, a foreigner of common blood named Amber was going to be a whole new experience for me. I had never met anyone able to control the elements, not from Mages or witches. I wonder what it was that made Amber special, if there was anything at all that did.

I breathed out as I made sure to check the paperwork one last time. I still had more to do, as I always did, but there wasn't anything pressing that I needed to do before I went to meet the Thaumaturge Amber. When I didn't find anything, I stood up from my desk, smoothing out my robe. I debated teleporting down to the gardens, but I felt better walking down the stairs to the bottom of the tower. I didn't do this because it was easier, I did it to make sure that everyone was working. As the hired Mages of the kingdom, it was our duty to continually improve the land. We were responsible for making magical talismans that would make life easier for the commoners and nobility. We were one of the branches of the military that trained Mages to fight with their magecraft or to heal the other officers when the defensive spells failed. It was not just my duty to advise the king in his endeavors, but also to direct the Mage's Tower workers. Any major choices had to pass through me before they could be enforced, and I was in charge of maintaining the public opinion of the Mage's Tower. I wasn't alone in my responsibilities, but everything was ultimately a product of my decisions. I often went through the tower like normal people to make sure no one was slacking off. We had an important job that could only work if everyone was putting in their best effort.

I walked out of the tower without seeing anyone shirking their responsibilities. I took a deep breath of the warm breeze before I walked through the garden. The Imperial Palace and the Mage's Tower were separated by a spacious garden. This is where I would find myself meeting envoys from the Imperial Palace, or in rarer cases, nobility who were visiting and needed some fresh air. It was here that I had met Lady Elaine. She had been playing a lyre to bend light towards the plants who were dying due to lack of sunlight. After she was done, she noticed that I was there. We didn't say anything to each other, keeping each other's secrets. I liked my privacy when I walked through the garden, and Elaine did not want anyone to know that she spent some of her time aiding the flowers in the forgotten corner of the garden. It was an easy trade for me because I did not care enough about Elaine or her habits to spread rumors about her. There was barely anyone for me to tell. The only people I could have told the crown prince or my secretary, but I wasn't particularly fond of meaningless conversation. I occasionally met Amara out here meaning that Amber would be the third Thaumaturge that I have encountered in the garden.