Chapter Nine

Master Ilianus

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The night sky began to lighten as the carriage neared Elisaen, the capital city of Caedra. Madame Brandra nudged Kazia and Neiphi awake.

"We are almost there, my loves," she said. "You won't want to miss this."

Driving through the night, there had been nothing to see from the windows but endless darkness and the infrequent lights from a village off the road.

They made rest stops in a few of these, where the people were all asleep, but the government buildings were always open to the Queen's Alchemists and they were accommodated by nightwatchmen. Beyond that, the only entertainment to be had was the occasional animal bleating or mooing its indignation out of the dark at the swiftly passing carriage.

Some time ago they had entered the hill country that lined the river valley where the city was situated.

Now as the hills became smaller they began to see houses dotted about, where small-plot farmers raised chickens and cows to supply the city daily with milk and eggs. Further lightening of the sky showed some of these houses to be quite grand, their parcels of land marked out in tall wrought-iron fences, with no farming activity to be seen.

Soon enough, the houses came closer together, lights blinking on within them now as their inhabitants roused for the morning, and streets began to branch away from the road they still traveled. The main road was now lit at intervals with tall, ornate gas lamps.

Here the road took a turn around the foot of a hill ahead, and when they came around the other side, the river valley and the heart of the city lay in full view below them.

Kazia and Neiphi both gasped as it appeared so suddenly, lit up as if all the stars in the sky had descended to rest in the river valley.

One's attention was immediately drawn to the castle, situated on a large island formed where the river parted and then rejoined, giving the impression of an eye in the center of the city.

The estate seemed a small city unto itself. In the center of the island stood the keep, the residence of the royal family, and this was surrounded by a seemingly random assortment of towers, houses and other buildings added in different eras and showing an architectural timeline of the castle's long history. All of the brick or stone buildings had been washed in lime, though, and all capped with the same gray slate roofing, lending an elegant uniformity to the otherwise mismatched complex.

This was all enclosed within a rectangle of long halls with watchtowers at intervals, which quartered the soldiers and also served as a defensive wall, and the entire island then was girdled with a strong stone rampart on which could be seen a series of metal structures. These were Artifacts that detected any magic crossing over their boundary, sending up an alarm if that happened.

The oldest parts of the castle had been built there six hundred years before and endured the passage of time with strength as the city grew up around it into the sprawling metropolis that it was now.

Streets had been carved up the hillsides on either side of the river, and houses there were packed together to accommodate the city's booming population.

Markets and business districts bustled along the riverbanks, already teeming with life in these early morning hours. There were uncountable merchant boats docked at the wharves, more boats out on the water, and above them, four graceful bridges spanned the river, and another two either side of the castle island. They were all lit with gas lamps that made comet-tails where the river reflected them like a mirror.

"Have you never seen a city before?" Kazia asked Neiphi, who was ooh- and ah-ing to the delight of Brandra and Amelys, and the irritation of Kelvaran.

Neiphi shook her head.

"I've heard about it," the girl answered, "but I never imagined there could really be such a place. It's so beautiful. Like fairy land! I love it. Don't you love it?"

"Not as much as you, I'm afraid."

"How many people live here?" Neiphi asked.

She was trying to count the houses they passed on the street, but kept getting distracted by other things to see.

"A little more than a million, perhaps," Brandra said, to Neiphi's amazement.

"All waiting to get on Kazia's nerves," Amelys added.

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The morning truly broke as they finally crossed the bridge to the island, the white walls of the castle now dazzling in the fullness of the sun.

The castle was just opening for the morning, and as they drove through the gatehouse at the end of the bridge and then a series of tunnels in each thick wall, they were made to wait as a massive portcullis was raised for them both fore and aft of every opening.

A team of guards manned every station, and as Neiphi took in the foreboding portcullises and the heavy presence of soldiers, Kazia felt a growing sense of dread creeping from her.

"It's alright," she told the girl. "This is all for the protection of the Queen, and will be our protection too, as long as we are here."

Once they had reached the inner bailey the soldiers who had accompanied them departed to their barracks, and after making a circuit of the bailey, the carriage stopped at an imposing tower nestled between two buildings of both the look and size of manor houses.

As the company disembarked, servants and Alchemists came streaming out of the door in the foot of the tower to greet them. Madame Brandra began directing the servants where to take certain pieces of luggage while the Alchemists flocked to Amelys, vying with one another for her attention.

Kazia noticed that everyone seemed to give Kelvaran a wide berth, looking askance at him if they looked at him at all. He made a curt farewell to everyone, kissing Amelys' cheek, and took his leave into the tower.

Amelys withdrew from the flurry of activity to speak aside with one of the Alchemists, a Thalesian judging from the formless gauze robe that swathed him from wrist to wrist and the jet black hair that hung straight down his back almost to the waist, the sides caught back in an ornate silver clasp.

A tall and slender man, he stood a full head above Amelys but regarded her deferentially as she listened to his report with a stern face and the occasional curt nod. Kazia watched for a moment before moving Neiphi some distance from the carriage to be out of the servants' way.

Unsure of where to go, the two of them stood together surveying the inner bailey. A wide paved road ran around the outer perimeter. Between the keep and the road, well-tended lawns were planted with trees and roses, and sitting areas were offered among statues of gods and mythical creatures.

An ancient well stood in one plot of shrubbery, capped and defunct from the look of it. It would have brought water up from the river in the past, but the castle had been modernized, and indoor plumbing would have been installed along with the gas lamps that could be seen about.

Along the side of a nearby building, a series of great double doors stood open to the kitchens, giving the cooks within some relief from the heat, and delicious smells wafted to them over the bailey.

Kazia's stomach growled and Neiphi groaned in agreement.

"Don't worry," Kazia said. "Madame Brandra won't make us wait too long for breakfast."

Amelys and Brandra approached then, along with the man Amelys had been consulting.

"I must go have a rest," Amelys said, "and Kazia, I'm sure you will be eager for the same by now. Have you enough of the Seamist for a while?"

"I think so," Kazia answered.

"Good. I'll have a new batch started tomorrow, although now that you'll have the facilities you could start some yourself. This is Master Tamyn Ilianus." Amelys turned to her companion. "Lady Kazia Devratha, and Miss Neiphi Gewalt, Lady Kazia's Apprentice. Kazia, Tamyn is Master of Instruments for the Queen's Alchemists. Your work falls under his department."

Looking up, Kazia met a pair of gentle hazel eyes with long, downward-sweeping lashes set in light golden brown skin on a delicately beautiful face. His soft lips smiled somewhat timidly as he briefly wrapped her hand in his long and slender fingers.

He exuded warmth and kindness, but Kazia also felt an anxious hesitation from him, and he seemed to look at her as if searching for something in her eyes.

"Very pleased to meet you, Master Ilianus," Kazia said with a small curtsy.

"Welcome to Elisaen, Lady Kazia, and please feel free to call me Tamyn," he said. His voice was low but breezy, each word seeming to carry a wistful sigh. "I'll show you to your apartment and take an overview of your lab."

"And Neiphi," Madame Brandra said, "if you'll come with me, I'll show you to the Apprentices' hall and get you settled in there."

"One thing before you go, Madame Brandra," Kazia said. "Please inform Neiphi's mistresses that I have assigned her a task, and I expect it completed."

Neiphi looked askance at her, not certain what to make of this.

"If she can be afforded a quiet hour today, she must write to her parents, so that they will know she has arrived safely in Elisaen. Send the letter to me and I will see it posted tomorrow. Alright, Neiphi?"

Neiphi let out the breath she'd been holding. "Alright, Kazia," she agreed.

Kazia bent low and whispered to her conspiratorially.

"Neiphi, you know I don't mind, but you are my Apprentice now, and people here might be scandalized if you are too familiar with me. I don't want you to be embarrassed."

"Yes, Mistress!" Neiphi said very loudly, looking around to make sure everyone heard.

"That will take me some getting used to also," Kazia said, suppressing a laugh. "Go on, then. Try to make some new friends, and I will see you tomorrow in my laboratory after your lessons."

"She is a fine girl," Amelys said as Madame Brandra led Neiphi away.

"Yes," Kazia agreed. "I'm not so sure I'll be a fine teacher of Alchemy, though."

"Fortunately you have your old teacher about to advise you. Now, listen, get some rest, if the sights that Master Ilianus has for you don't excite you too much, and I'll have you collected after lunch. We must present you to the Queen."

 

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Tamyn