Unlicensed Sorceress - Chapter One

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Konigstadt
Hilda Brant

The tall, red and blue uniformed, soldiers wore swords dangling from their hips. They were meant to intimidate the most hardened and dangerous prisoners. The irony to Hilda was that they looked like toy soldiers with their clean shoes and sharp uniforms. Still she could feel the menace as they slow walked her down the hallway.

Hilda marched in the middle of their formation with her head high. She felt no shame even though this was a prisoner escort instead of an honor guard. As they marched, she felt relief that they were not taking her to the dungeons.

Many years ago, Hilda had been part of this guard when rogue wizards were escorted to the university for rehabilitation. Now it was her turn. She refused to think what rehabilitation meant. It could mean that her powers would be stripped away. Not many of the rogue wizards had survived that process. It was not something she wanted to think about. It was a cruel.

At the end of the corrider, men and women in gray robes, showing their loyalty to the university, gathered to watch the small parade. The enmity radiated to Hilda and she shivered.

She didn’t turn her head or acknowledge them in any way. She refused to show fear. She had been a mercenary in the Dragon Wars and these little mages were nothing. They had never faced a dragon in battle. She could feel her temper rise. She squashed it and blanked her face.

The rhythm of the march calmed her. Sassy, her fire elemental, stirred when she felt the malice of the watchers. But then she settle around Hilda’s waist. Hilda breathed deeply, praying to any god who would hear her that Sassy would stay hidden. It wouldn’t be good if the crowd told the senior mages about her elemental. It was hard enough that she was a unauthorized mage, but the mages would claim her magic if they knew she was a sorceress.

The cobblestones were hard and Hilda tried not to limp. Her back and legs were sore from the riding and then the fight outside the city. She needed to soak her muscles until the pain seeped away. She could feel the hitch in her hip that had been the reason for her retirement.

But, even through the discomfort, she worried about her brother. Michael, who was a scholar in the Mage University, should have been welcomed even though his fire magic had been burned out when he fought a dragon-possessed mage. When he was a fire mage, he had not been able to attract a fire elemental.

After he had healed from his physical and mental injuries, an undine had claimed him. It was very unusual for a burned out mage to gain new powers and even more unusual for a male to be so proficient at healing. For god’s sake, Michael would need more training here.

But worried her more than her brother was the dragon boy and his blacksmith. If Davi was outed as a dragon, the mages would drain his blood and use his body parts for their magical experiments. No one would care if he were killed. After the Dragon War, dragons became the most vile beings in the kingdom.

It seemed like forever, but soon the marchers passed through a courtyard with stone-gray walls. Hilda could smell the years of blood and sweat, where mages and soldiers trained for battle. Some of the trainees stepped back, wooden swords in hand, and with hard eyes watched their progress. Hilda kept her eyes forward.

Memories of training in yards such as this assaulted her. She would enjoyed watching the back and forth of swordplay. But it was coming clear that she was considered a dangerous criminal. She had no friends here, not even the colonel.

It was a relief when they finally stopped in front of a white-washed two-story house in the middle of a formal garden. Around the front patio, there were purple lilacs in bloom, swaying in the soft breeze.

The leader of the formation unlocked the front door with an ornate copper key. Hilda was ushered in. The rest of the formation broke ranks and went to their duty stations around the house. Two of the guards started a slow patrol.

The guard led Hilda to the parlor and left. Michael was sitting on a soft plush chair near the unlit fireplace. Above it was a gilded framed painting of the current Chancellori Mage. Hilda glanced away. If the image was any indication of the man’s personality, they wouldn’t have a pleasant time here.

Michael in the gray robes of a university student with his hair slicked back, stood up and leaned heavily on his cane. It had to be a deception because when she last saw him, he had not needed the cane. She widened her eyes and kept her mouth shut.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said and smiled.

Before she opened her mouth and asked about his leg, he shook his head in warning. She changed the words to, “Where are the others?”

“They are being interrogated,” he said. “They’ll be here soon.”

Hilda’s stomach twisted. Why would they pick the two youngest members of their party for interrogation? She hoped that the interrogator wasn’t a mage. One of the magical would know instantly that Davi was a dragon.

‘You must be tired.” Michael, walking with a limp, led her to the stairs. “After you.”

She climbed the stairs at a slow pace, feeling the hitch in her hip. By the time she got to the top of the stairs, she was breathing harder than normal. She stopped to take a breath.

In front of her was a hallway with two doors on the right and two doors on the left. She walked to the last door on the right and opened it. She patted Sassy. Sassy just snuggle into her waist. If there had been any danger, Sassy would have been ready. Hilda relaxed.

Michael clumped behind her.

The room she picked was dimly lit. The centerpiece of the room with soft pink walls was a huge bed covered in a canopy. She noticed her bags in the corner of the room.

“You?” she asked Michael, pointing to the worn leather bags smudged in travel dirt.

He nodded, yes. “I knew you would want this room.”

He clumped out, leaving her alone.

On a small wooden table was a bowl of water and a mirror. She splashed her face with the lukewarm water and then wiped her face on the pink towel. She stripped down to her underwear and slipped into the bed. It sunk a few inches.

Sassy curled into the fire grate and the two of them fell asleep.

A few hours later she woke up to a loud knock on the door.

“Just a minute,” she called as she grabbed a gray robe that hung on a rack by the bed. She checked to make sure Sassy was hidden, then opened the door.

Michael was there with a plate of bread and hard cheese. She took it from him and set it on the small table near the bed. Her stomach growled.

“The interrogate wasn’t a mage,” he said.

“Thank god,” said Hilda.

“See you in the morning,” he said. Michael’s cane clicked on the wooden hallway floor. Then she heard the door across from her open and close.

“Good night brother,” she said softly.

She ate the small meal until she felt drowsy. Sassy was still curled on the dying coals when Hilda’s head hit the pillow.

Tomorrow would be time enough to worry.