The Rossem Project

Haven - Part 3

     They talked it over between them for a while longer, and Thomas eventually discovered that he was not only coming to agree with his wife, but that he was trying to persuade her of the merits of the idea, as if it had been he who'd first thought of it. In the end, though, it was what Derrin thought of the idea that mattered. They decided to ask him when he came back from school, therefore. They would point out what an exciting adventure it would be, to be surrounded by children from all over the continent and meet wizards who'd been to other worlds and other planes of existence. Of course it would mean leaving behind all the friends he had in Haven, but they’d probably be able to bring him home now and again for the occasional holiday and he'd make lots of new friends in Lexandria. Considering his insatiable curiosity, also inherited from his father, they expected him to jump at the idea!

     Lirenna paused as an invisible housemaid composed entirely of coherent magical energies collected their dirty dishes and took them across to the sink to be washed. "It'll be strange not having him here, though," she said, a little sadly. "He's so busy, so energetic. He fills the house all by himself. It'll seem awfully quiet and empty without him."

     Thomas squeezed her hand and smiled at her. "He's not gone yet," he said. "I still think they'll ask him to wait a year or two. Besides, I thought you had your heart set on giving him a traditional shayen upbringing."

     "I still do," she replied. "He can have both. Just because he'll be spending most of his time in Lexandria doesn't mean he can't learn who he really is. There'll be shae folk in Lexandria. Southern shae folk, still living the same way they did before the coming of humans, and grandfather will want to visit him now and then. He won't want for shayen teaching. Of course, I would like it if he could have the same early education as I had. I'd like nothing better than to take him up to Tel'ra'leethan with all the other shayen children, but I can't ignore the fact that there's more human blood in him than shayen and that both his parents are wizards. He needs to be taught by human wizards. He has to be watched by people who know what to look for so that any stirrings of magic can be cultivated and nurtured. That can be done so much better in Lexandria than here. He needs to go. As soon as possible."

     "Perhaps he can do both," suggested Thomas. "If he has the potential and is enrolled as an apprentice, he'll have to stay there continually for at least five years until he either graduates or fails, but until then he can come and go as he chooses. Suppose he spends a few months at Lexandria, and then a few months at Tel'ra'leethan, alternating between the two? That way he can learn the full meaning of both sides of his heritage."

     "Yes!" cried Lirenna in delight, her eyes shining. "That's a wonderful idea! I'm sure grandfather will approve. I know he'd love the chance to take him on the Tra'goltana, the dream trail, and teach him the Guellin. He'll be so pleased!"

     "It's agreed then," said Thomas with a grin. "All we've got to do now is persuade our hyperactive child."

     Lirenna grinned back, and they squeezed each other's hands across the small breakfast table.

     Then Lirenna's smile faded and she frowned, staring at his face. She looked away quickly but Thomas had seen it and he guessed what had caused it. The morning sunlight was shining at an angle onto Thomas’s face, making him squint uncomfortable. It would be making his blue eyes shine like brilliant sapphires, he knew. Many people had commented on them, telling him how striking they were, but Lirenna was clearly disturbed by them and often failed to completely hide her disquiet.

     When the two of them had first met, in the fifth year common room of Lexandria University twenty five years before, his eyes had been a perfectly respectable greyish brown which fit in well with the rest of his face. Over the years, though, they'd gradually changed until they'd have looked more at home in the face of a golden haired Sidonian. It wasn't all that unexpected, of course. It was quite common for the flow of magic through a wizard's body to cause some minor physical changes such as longer, thinner fingers or a hooked, beak-like nose. Most of these changes were perfectly harmless, and Lirenna had told him many times she was sure that this was too, but it clearly worried her none the less. She was visibly unhappy that the body she'd married was changing in unpredictable ways. And, of course, she had to be worried that her own body might also undergo physical changes, no matter how many times Thomas assures her that he'd love her no matter how warty and hideous she became.

     Something she liked even less was the fact that Derrin had inherited his father's blue eyes rather than his old grey ones, which meant that it was in the blood and would presumably be passed on down through the generations for as long as their bloodline endured. For a wizard to be transformed by the magic he used was one thing, but for it to affect his children and grandchildren as well...

     Thomas was disturbed and worried by the change as well, but had set his mind on trying to just accept it. It was either that or give up magic, which would tear the heart out of him. Magic was his life, his very reason for being. If it was something that put his family in danger he'd retire in a moment, of course, but it was only the colour of his eyes for drass's sake! It just wasn't worth worrying about. They'd talked it over a thousand times in the years since the change had first become apparent and neither of them had been able to exactly define their feelings on the subject. Lirenna would only repeat that she didn't like it and Thomas would only say neither do I and what exactly do you want me to do about it? Lirenna knew how much he loved using magic, how he used it to pursue his never ending quest for knowledge, and couldn't bring herself to suggest that he give it up, and so they'd lapse into a sullen silence which sometimes lasted the rest of the day. Thomas didn't want that to happen today, though. Not on their twentieth wedding anniversary, so he hurriedly changed the subject.

     "I hope your grandfather hasn't gone to too much trouble over the celebrations," he said with a slight smile. "Remember Philip's fiftieth? We never did manage to work out how many people he invited. You think he might do something similar for us?"

     Lirenna smiled in return, glad that the subject of his eyes had been avoided. She loved him with all her heart and hated anything that made them quarrel. "I wouldn't put it past him," she replied. "The sad fact, my love, is that you're a very popular young man. We Havenites don't usually take to outsiders very readily, and I can hardly believe how fast they took you to their hearts. If he asked everyone in Haven to come, they'd come. You can count on it."

     Thomas grinned nervously. "You think so?" he asked.

     "They'll all be family and friends," Lirenna assured him, her earlier worries washed away by amusement. "Nothing to be scared of."

     "Yeah, I know," her husband said, his eyes dropping with ambarrassment. "It's just... I hate being the centre of attention, that's all. Everyone looking at me, thinking about me."

"Thinking good things about you," his wife replied encouragingly.

     "Do you think..." Thomas paused to swallow, his eyes darting nervously around the room as if looking for a way to escape. "Will they want me to make a speech? Do you think?"

     "After all the trouble Grandfather's going to, if they want you to make a speech, you'll make a speech," his wife told him firmly.

     Thomas nodded with glum resignation. "But everyone knows how I feel about public appearance," he told himself. "And it's only a twentieth anniversary. Not a big deal among your people, right?" Among the long lived shae folk, the fiftieth anniversary was generally the first to be celebrated.

     "You're human," his wife pointed out. "Twenty years is a sizeable chunk of your total lifespan. It's a big deal to you, which means it'll be a big deal to them."

     Thomas nodded. "Even so, it's supposed to be a surprise party. They won't be expecting me to have a long speech ready. Right?"

     Lirenna grinned with sadistic delight. "You know what Grandfather's like," she said. "He's very probably gone to a lot of trouble." She raised a hand to her face, supposedly to push the hair back from her eyes, but Thomas saw the wicked grin from behind her slender palm. "A lot of trouble."

     Thomas felt his heart racing with anxiety. "Maybe I ought to put a few words down on paper," he muttered to himself. "just in case."

     He got up, therefore, and paused just long enough to give Lirenna a kiss on the cheek before heading nervously into his study to look for something to write on. Behind him, Lirenna took a handkerchief from a sleeve to wipe the tears of amusement from her eyes.