The Imperial Sorceress

Chapter 8

The bubble saved a lot of time. The long lands and mountains were small at that altitude. After an hour, we could see the imperial city in the distance. It was beautiful thanks to the sunrise. That was a view that only a few could see and all of my passengers seemed to enjoy it. Even Basto wasn't able to hide his amazement and interest.

"We are going to land in a few seconds. I need all of you to be calm and moveless," I said.

All of them started to prepare for the landing. This part of the process was the main reason why witches stopped using bubbles to travel. I balanced myself and found a good place to land. A little square near the castle bridge, which was surrounded by short buildings. I couldn't risk trying to land in the castle with all its ornaments and guidons.

I started the closeness. But, a strong wind moved us toward a house when we were almost on the ground, causing a fall from 2 meters high. In the process my right arm was hurting. But, I wasn't the person who complained the most. Basto covered his right arm with his other arm and he caressed it gently.

"Are you okay?" Ludovica asked him.

"Not," he said. "This hurts a lot. Why does it hurt too much?"

I couldn't avoid thinking about how he had been stabbed, kicked, and even burned without a single moan; however, my pain seemed too much for him. "It's mine, not yours. The spell is bidirectional."

"Humans are too soft. Now, I understand my mother's words," he said, concentrating on his own pain.

"What words?" Ludovica said.

"I'm sorry but this conversation has to wait. We have to go to the castle," I said and used a spell to heal my arm. Basto breathed more pleased than me.

We headed towards the castle, but Ludovica and Basto were a little behind.

"Could you talk about your mother's words?" Ludovica asked.

"She used to say that humans are cruel to one another because they are afraid of being hurt."

"Aren't you afraid of being hurt?

"Not too much. My wounds heal fast and I'm hard. I usually don't think about these things."

"You speak like the only way to hurt someone is physically."

"There are others, I mean, are there others?"

"Of course, there are. Didn't you feel bad when the men of the camp treated you like a monster?"

"I haven't thought about it. I feel bad for not fulfilling my duty to protect my town. When they hit me, I only think that I can hurt them in ways that they can't hurt me."

"This is a unique point of view," Ludovica said, a little scared because of Basto's way of speaking.

"Humans usually are afraid of the children of Mestra. My mother always said that we have to be boa xente. What do you say? Being nice and kind. Humans have short lives, for this reason, we decided not to kill if it isn't necessary."

I felt a little annoyed because Basto hadn't spoken about his people and his culture since I met him. But, for an unknown reason, he changed his mind at the worst moment possible.

The guards stopped us in front of the castle, and I had to get a little angry for these good-for-nothing guards called a superior who could identify me. The captain had to wait in the stable zone where the guards had their rooms. A soldier without invitation wasn't well regarded by the head of guards. Of course, I didn't say anything about Basto as a mestra, and told a stupid story about a new apprentice. My position as the high sorceress didn't give me absolute power about security, a clear error in the normative.