Of Heroes and Happenings

Rowan, Chapter 1

"Well done, Rowan."

At her father's quiet praise, Rowan Greenmere flushed with pleasure. Nearly fifteen years old, the younger of the Perrin and Jada Greenmere's two children was nearly ready to take her place in the family business. She'd worked hard to learn what her parents expected her to learn about antiquities and business, but it was her father's navigator's tool kit that held her attention; the sextant, compass, calipers, ruler and charts, the ink and quill that together, allowed Rowan to keep track of where the ship was in the world at any given time, compared to where it needed to go. Rowan couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been fascinated with the tools of a navigator's trade and their use.

Everyone said that Rowan was a 'quick study', one who learned rapidly and took well to whatever skill she was trying to acquire. In her mind, however, Rowan was a quick study at everything but the one thing that mattered most. She could not seem to master the fount of magic that welled up within her and permeated her being. Every time she tried to use her magical abilities, that innate, arcane power that wove throughout her being, the attempt was always accompanied- if not replaced entirely- by unintended results.

Almost from birth, Rowan had exhibited arcane traits. No one else in the considerable Greenmere clan, in all of anyone's memory, had displayed such abilities, so the bewildered parents had been left to guess at the origin. As merchants of antiquities and finely wrought goods, the Greenmere's ship, the Tidewind's Fortune, occasionally found rare and wondrous items in her hold. Jada blamed one such item, and Rowan's proximity to it, for her odd, magical affliction. Rowan only pointed out once that she hadn't been the only sibling exposed to it, though she was the only one afflicted.

It hadn't taken Rowan's parents long to learn to cope with the effects, however. A healer's kit or potion could be found in every room in their home in port and in every compartment aboard ship, along with a pail of water. Floors and walls were tiled with stonework designed to prevent accidental blazes. Rowan's bed was dampened at bedtime as a safety precaution, without fail.

It wasn't as if Rowan could suppress her natural, arcane ability, either. The magic welled and bubbled up within her until it spilled out, either by Rowan's intended use, or in failing that, as a kind of magical belch that wreaked havoc in her vicinity. More often than not, the magic spilled over with strange consequences, whenever Rowan tried to use it.

The quiet voice of Rowan's father brought the adolescent halfling's attention back to her father and the task at hand. "I want you to put your navigation and your business work aside for a while."

"Did I make a mistake?" Rowan frowned, mentally trying to find any error in her calculations. She wasn't ready to abandon her post for the night; not just yet.

"No, of course not; I mean in the larger sense, of course. Your mother and I have learned to cope with your . . . affliction, but we won't always be here to mitigate the damage. You need to learn control."

"I'm trying . . . began Rowan defensively, feeling attacked, but her father only held up one hand.

"I know, and I see how hard you try, but we feel that you need a teacher that is experienced at things like this because I can't teach what I don't know, yes?"

Rowan had to admit that he had a point. He nodded. "We found you a school, Madam Scilla's School of Arcana for Proper Young Leaders. I've prepaid your tuition for three years; it's a boarding school, but I have friends in the city who could be there when we can't. Your mother has been in conversation with them already."

That made Rowan chuckle. "You have friends everywhere, Papa."

Perrin grinned. "You can't be in this business and not make a lot of friends, My Girl. It's the nature of merchandise as rare and worthy as what we deal in. Besides, I've been a sailor for nearly twice as long as you've been alive. And our good name among those friends is one reason we must never bring it shame, yes?"