Spirit Speaker

The next day, I found myself sitting with a group of young women, under the pavilion. 

After a few moments of awkwardness, the princess had taken to them like a house on fire, and now, I was paying the price for it. 

"Master Mage," Delia, a surprisingly sharp young woman from a barony that bordered the elven forests addressed me. "How is it that a half-elf was able to reach your position?"

There was no malice in her question, just curiosity. I didn't hold it against her, most half-elves spent their lives in poverty, with a lucky few getting work as menial servants. 

"I was lucky, my lady," I said with a shrug. "I'm from the Golden Leaf clan, and they give their half-elves full status."

"What was it like growing up in the forests?" Another girl, Revani, a mountain elf, with dark blue skin, black eyes, and black hair, cut in. "Father says that forest elves were…extreme traditionalists."

"Desperately clinging to past glories, and deeply intolerant of everyone that isn't an elf, you mean?"

"Yes."

I shrugged. "I didn't grow up in the forests, duskchild. I spent a few months there before I was found by my master."

"Who was your master?" Another human girl asked, this one with the telltale bronze skin of the Desert kingdoms. Lyrissa. 

"A dwarf named Fereth. He taught me everything he could, and once I had mastered it all I entered the Academy, we lost contact while I stayed there. It was only after I graduated that we reconnected."

"How long did you stay there?" Anna asked, 

"A few years, highness, though I spent most of that time travelling. There were magical secrets that I wanted to find, and spirits I wanted to talk to."

"Can you show us some magic?" Mara, a smaller human girl, with deep green eyes and a vibrant shock of red hair asked. 

"I can, though it isn't wise to use magic unless you have to."

"You used it to fly from the princess's chambers last night." Ilargia reminded me, dryly. 

The princess raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" She asked, curiously. 

"We'll talk about it later, highness." 

I focused for a moment, and the pavilion spirit popped into view. 

"This is the pavilion." I said, holding my hand up to show the spirit dancing around it. "This pavilion is a playful spirit and enjoys being the centre of attention. See how it dances around my hand?"

The girls leaned forward, fascinated. 

"Does everything have a spirit?" Lyrissa asked. 

Anna nodded. "Yes, Lissa. Everything. If it exists, it's got a spirit."

"And you can talk to them, Anna?"

"The princess is what we call a spirtspeaker." I explained. "We speak to spirits, and try to convince them to do what we want."

"Can it do anything?" Mara asked, reaching out to touch it. 

The spirit leapt from my hand to hers, and danced around it, occasionally landing on her palm before bouncing off again. 

"That depends on what you want it to do." I replied. "Princess, why don't you show them?"

The princess focused for a moment.

The spirit stopped dancing and bounced to the princess, where it settled in her hair. It turned from white to blue to green and back to white again. 

"This one is weak." The princess explained. "But I love it."

The spirit hopped from the princess's hair and landed on her chest, above her heart, where it glowed a soft pink.

"And it looks like it loves you too, Anna," Delia said, her eyes watching the spirit as it pulsed with Anna's heartbeat. 

"You have done well to befriend this little one, Anna," I said, approvingly. 

"Have you befriended any spirits, Master Mage?" Delia asked, her head cocked. 

I nodded. "Many, miss. A spiritspeaker, like the princess and I, becomes more powerful the more spirits we befriend. Some spiritspeakers interact only with strong spirits for their power, but I've found that these little ones," I held my hand out, and the spirit jumped to my palm, "hold enough strength to change the world if only you know where to look."

I dismissed the spirit and smiled. 

"Is this the spirit you used to scare Hernt and his cronies?" 

I shook my head. "No, the princess used her own soul to do that, it was an impressive display, but the nobles were in no danger."

The princess looked down, bashfully. "It wasn't very much, but I was tired of their constant prodding."

"They deserved it, Anna," Revani interjected. "They've been trying the same stunt with all the nobles. They might think twice before trying again."

Anna fidgeted with the dragon on her wrist. She was embarrassed. 

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" I asked the group. 

"We were hoping to see the Market, and the Merchant District," Mara said, excitedly. "We were on our way to do so when we saw you sitting here. Anna wanted to introduce you to us."

I bowed. "Well, then, hello. Instructor Lukas at your service."

The girls bowed back. "I'm Delia, this is Revani, Lyrissa, and Mara." Delia introduced each of the girls. 

"A pleasure to meet you. Let me not keep you from your shopping."

"You guys go ahead." Anna said. "I'd like to talk to Lukas for a bit."

The girls said farewell and walked off in the direction of the palace gates. I watched as three guards followed them from a discreet distance. 

"Highness?" I asked once they disappeared from view. 

"What happened last night, Lukas?"

"Magic exhaustion. There's a reason we use focuses. Our souls simply aren't strong enough to sustain the kind of magic you did last night."

"I…felt so drained. So heavy."

"You almost died, Anna." I said. "I didn't realise how bad it was until the queen called for us."

"Oh." She sounded subdued. 

"You should be more careful." I rebuked her gently. "Magic isn't a toy." I stood up and sat next to her. "Still, I was damn proud of you."

The princess looked up, grinning. 

 "It was pretty good, wasn't it?"

I nodded. "Where did you learn to use magic like that? I haven't taught you any of that."

"My focus. I still don't know his name, but he's been teaching me, in my dreams."

I glanced down at the spider. 

"You should find his name, highness, he's special."

"You know who he is, don't you?"

"The Weaver told me."

"But you're not going to tell me."

I shook my head. "Nope." I frowned. "I have a question, princess."

"For me?"

"The Weaver said you invited her last night. How did you do that?"

The princess looked down, her cheeks turning red. "I uh… I may have harassed the abbot until he interceded for me. And I bombarded her with prayers every second I could."

"You annoyed a god into attending your birthday party?"

She nodded, her ears changing colour. 

I laughed. "You're brave, Anna. Very brave."

"She wouldn't hurt me, Lukas." Anna replied. 

"Not you, perhaps, but she's punched me a few times."

Anna laughed. "The abbot says that she only hits the people she really likes."

"Then she must love me a lot." I said, rubbing my shoulder, where she had hit me the previous evening.

"You seemed…close, Lukas." 

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I heard her, in your head. She called you her friend." She cocked her head. "I'd like to befriend the goddess too."

I smiled, and tousled her hair, messing it up. 

"Maybe when you're older, highness, but right now, she's all mine."