The Gathering of Masters: The Bond Once Severed Book 1

11. An Interlude

Prince Theodore finally pried the Halen, the Chief Mage on the ship, away from his tasks and forced a meeting. After arriving on board, Paulo attempted to meet with the Water mage but was repeatedly rebuffed. Using his authority as Prince and owner of the vessel, Theodore demanded an audience with the older mage, which the captain had granted. This allowed them to speak while he was on duty and could not refuse. He brought Halen to the captain's office, where Paulo waited. The mage paused before entering the room but could not offend his captain or prince.

"Mage Halen, so nice to finally meet you," Paulo started and gestured Halen to sit in one of the chairs around the captain's meeting table. "I take it you know who I am?" Halen nodded with a frown. "Good. I have been trying to talk with you for a few days."

"So, I have been told." The dry voice contrasted with the Water magic that danced around the man. "But, I was otherwise occupied."

"Of course, you are a busy man, and you owe me no obeisance. I simply am trying to be respectful of your domain." Paulo sounded annoyed to Theodore, but he did not think the mage would notice. The Kingdom's mages' fierce independence may frustrate the Master, but he remained outwardly courteous and calm.

"Oh?" At this, Halen sat up straighter and looked at the mighty Master across the table. This small indication of the mage's rank seemed to have its desired effect.

"I would like to perform some mild Water magic while aboard. As the ship is in your domain as the Chief Mage, per our custom, I would like your permission to do so." Paulo remained relaxed as if requesting permission from this mage was not galling to him as it was to Theodore. If this mage truly knew who Paulo was, this indignity was unpardonable. Theodore understood there was a difference between being royalty and being on the Council, but any mage or witch should respect the power, if not the position of The Master.

"What type of magic?" Halen warily questioned.

"Just healing magic for my new niece. You may have felt her wounds." Paulo replied. Theodore frowned. He told Paulo that the ship's senior mage did not have healing magic.

"Ah." Halen shifted as. Theodore tried to hide a smile at the older man's discomfort. "I had not."

"Sorry, you are, of course, a more respectable mage than that." Paulo stroked the ego he had just bruised. "You would not pry into the personal affairs of your guests, but you do have a healing mage on the ship?"

"Yes, the prince always has one with him." Halen nodded at Prince Theodore.

The King required Theodore to always travel with one of the royal healing mages. The one with him on this trip was Lucia, a lovely older woman who mainly stayed in her healer's hold with the usual medical staff. Paulo knew this too. In fact, she had come to Theodore right after their arrival with just that request. However, once she met Paulo, she was satisfied that he would sufficiently handle the girl's wounds and knew she could conserve her magic for her royal charge.

If only Lucia were the Chief Mage instead of this prickly older man. But, Mage Halen could calm the water and fight the tide better than any water mage in the navy, which is why he was assigned to the prince's ship.

"Yes, the prince's private healer. I have met her, delightful woman, but she cannot perform healing on anyone but the royal person," Paulo said with regret.

"No, she cannot." Although permission could be granted, it was rare. Healing was complex magic and drained much of a mage's strength. Halen looked at the Master and smiled for the first time. "I will not object to you using healing magic on the ship. I only ask that you not interfere with the weather or tides without discussing them with me. We map these magics out early in the trip to avoid interfering too much with nature and other ships."