fandomania | The Adventure continues... (Reply)

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I was about to leave when Orlando broached a subject he wished to talk about.

“Little one, I know that you are still upset about Donal, but we need to get back to your studies. I do not wish you to forget what you have learned so far and I do not want to continue to put your lessons on a back burner. I know how much you are suffering. But I think that concentrating on your magic might give you something else to think about. It could even help you to learn how to cope better.”

“Do you honestly think that it will?” I asked anxiously.

“I would not have said so if I did not think so. I cannot guarantee one hundred per cent that it will, but I have seen instances where it has happened. I do not think that getting back to your studies will harm you. Are you at least willing to give it a try?”

I knew he was right. “I will try. When do you want to start?”

“How about tomorrow afternoon? Right after lunch?”

“As far as I can tell, that will be fine. I am sure that we can adjust the schedule if we have to.”

“The other thing that I need to discuss with you is Loysa’s magic education.” Orlando said tentatively.

“Oh? Isn’t she much too young for formal training? I thought that it started at puberty, somewhere between twelve or thirteen years of age.”

“Yes, for the average magic user, their abilities do not start manifesting themselves until then, but Loysa has always been adept. You have noticed that. She is constantly driving her nursemaids crazy with her vanishing and reappearing. Izshaq has been noticing that she may be teleporting objects already. He came to me last week, concerned about it. He would have said something to you about it, but he felt you had too many things on your plate already and wanted to help with this on his own.

“Loysa is traditionally too young to be doing this, but no one has told her this. I think it would be a wise thing if I started giving her lessons also, toned down to her age level, so that she can control what she is doing, and be aware of the ethics of what she is doing, at least on a basic level. Do you give me permission to work with her also?”

“Of course, Orlando! You know that I trust you. It won’t be too tiring for you?”

“No. Not at all. Now if all of your children were as adept as Loysa, I would have to bring in helpers. So far, of all your children, Loysa and your twins, Vâlen and Gælen, are the only ones. They exude power. I am surprised that you haven’t noticed it.”

“I have, but I didn’t know that to do about it.”

“I think that in time, they are going to be very powerful Magi. I want you to let me know the moment that anyone starts to notice them using their powers. More so than Loysa, they are going to be a handful.”

“Oh. Um … they already are.”

“They are? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it happened only a couple of days ago.”

“What did they do?”

“It was bed time and they didn’t want to stop playing, so I picked up their toys and put them on top of the dresser out of their reach. I had just finished changing Gælen into his night clothes, when I noticed that Vâlen was on the floor, playing with one of the toys again. I took it away again and I watched him levitate to the top of the dresser and retrieve it. It startled me so much. I grabbed him and scolded him. As I was helping him into his night clothes, I noticed that Gælen had all the toys with him in bed. He had not levitated, so I could only assume that he had teleported them. I put Vâlen into his bed, took the toys and locked them into the closet. I scolded them both about bed time behavior and that they were not to continue playing after I told them to stop playing. They seemed contrite to me, but later when I checked in on them, I found them both sound asleep and surrounded by their toys. I have no idea how to get through to them. Last night, I just picked them up, changed them, and let them sleep with their toys. They went to sleep right away, but I am worried. I don’t want them to be spoiled and think that they can always get their own way.”

“How old are they now?” Orlando inquired.

“Not quite three years old.”

“So young… Well, let me make inquiries. I will try to find someone who specializes in very young adepts. I probably could handle Loysa on my own, but not all of them. I will have to go to Rawn-Devu and talk to the council about this. They will know to whom I should go. Since this is very important, we will have to delay your lessons until I get back. You are very important too, little one, but getting your twins and Loysa help is even more important. I hope that you understand.”

“I do. I do understand. Thank you, Orlando!”

“Are there any other magical surprises from your children?”

“No. None that I know of. Celianne is horse crazy right now. When she isn’t in school, she spends a lot of her time with her pony. Melia and Melisant are very much into learning martial arts from Izshaq. As is Reuel, when he isn’t looking at and observing every living creature in the compound. Jayzon is just a little boy. I am not sure what he wants or likes yet. Maxel probably will be an artist. He seems to want to draw everything he sees. He and Ancil have really taken to each other and I have talked to him about giving Maxel art lessons. I think that once the memorial is finished, he will start coming here on a regular basis, not only to see the children, but to give art lessons to Maxel and the rest of the children. Sammy is like Jayzon in being just a little boy. Eryssa and Yusaf are babies still. But no sign of magic from any of them.”

“How old is Celianne?” Orlando asked.

“She will be thirteen soon.”

“After we get this all settled, I would like to take Celianne to Rawn-Devu and have her officially tested. She could be like you and be a latent magic user. I don’t want to overlook any of your children just because three of them are so blatantly adept. With you as their mother, they all have potential.”

“All right. That sounds reasonable.”

When I left, Orlando was already working on getting things ready for his trip. He departed the next morning.

Several days later, I got a telepathic message from him telling me about several potential leads the council had given him. He was going off to see each person individually and would let me know when he had anything further to report.

As the days went by and autumn neared its end, so too did the pregnancies of all of the expectant mothers. With twenty-seven of then all due at the same time, Fiorenzia and I were kept very busy helping these women bring their babies safely into this world. With Suthi and three of her daughters being in the group, it was left to us, plus Suthi’s youngest daughter and several other volunteers to attend these mothers. At first it was just one a day, but gradually more and more went into labor. The worst day, we had five women in various stages of giving birth. But all were delivered safely and there was much happiness and celebration in the compound. Fourteen boys and twelve girls were added to the family.

On the final day of autumn, only Suthi had not gone into labor yet. She was the one that worried us the most, as she was the oldest of the mothers. I went to see her. She looked huge and very uncomfortable.

“Ah, Patra, thank you for coming. I have been getting reports of how wonderfully you have been helping with all the births. I know that with you and my daughters, the health and welfare of our family will be in very capable hands.”

“What do you mean, Suthi? Why are you speaking as if you are not going to continue on as our mid-wife?”

“Because, my dear, I have been a mid-wife for almost forty years. I know a troubled pregnancy when I see it. Here I am, over nine months gone and no sign of the baby dropping. I can tell that the baby is now much bigger that my birth canal can handle. I know that the only way for this child to live is for him to be surgically removed from my womb. No woman survives that surgery. I know this. I am at peace with it. I have tried to talk to Ferrell and my daughters about this, but they think I am just being moody. But I know better. You have a level head on you. I want you to call the surgeon. Please? Before the baby starts to suffer too.”

“No, Suthi! You are wrong. You are not going to die! I won’t have it! My curse caused this problem. I do not want to be responsible for anyone dying because of me! I won’t have it!”

“What are you going to do? Use your magic and, poof, the baby is born?”

A thought crossed my mind, “Yes, something like that.”

I knew that Orlando had told me not to use my crown without him being there, but this was an emergency and he was away. I willed my crown to me and I put it on. “Help me help Suthi safely give birth to her baby”, I ordered the crown.

***Acceptance***

I felt the crown’s power fill me as I concentrated on Suthi. I willed her pelvis and birth canal to widen and watched as the golden light surrounded her and fulfilled my order. She screamed in pain as that happened. I then guided her son into the proper position for birth. But I could do no more than that. I could tell that I was already exhausted. I stopped and the golden light ceased.

Suthi was wide eyed with fright and anxiety. “Patra, what have you done?”

“I have made everything big enough for you to safely give birth to your son.”

I could hear her cry out as her first contraction came; as I passed out from exhaustion.