Book 2, Chapter 7: Reese
Reese looked tired. Not as tired as usual, dark rings more of a lighter color, and shoulders less slumped than before, but tired. “Are you getting enough sleep?” was the first thing blurted out of my mouth.
“Never enough. Your Highness, what brings you here?”
“I need some questions answered.”
“Ask away.”
“You’re not too busy now?”
“I can steal a few moments. We haven’t had a battle in some time, so these men have all been treated. What’s on your mind?”
“Can you tell me about how magic works? The grand magister is cagey and basically hiding from me. I can’t seem to get an answer from the other mages, either.”
“Oh. Well, healing magic is different than what wizards do, but I can give you the basics.”
“Please do!”
“Well, as you know, wizard conclaves take children in, up to the age of six or seven, and then introduce them to the magical arts. I have heard of older children being trained, but the older one is, the more likely one is to not survive the process.”
“The process? Why would parents give their children away to die?”
She gave me a sideways glance, “Your Highness, it’s not that simple. I know you may not have seen it, but plenty of children are born out of wedlock.”
“Oh my go-, goodness, I am sorry. I take your meaning.” Her words meant the mages’ conclave was acting akin to the Catholic church of old, taking in babies and children who couldn’t be raised by their parents, for whatever reason. “Do you know what that entails?”
“I don’t. Children who have the healing gift. Well, we are trained by the Quessilor Succession. It’s different than the conclaves.”
We had two healers and thirty mages. “So, healing magic is more rare?”
“Considerably.”
“And this, Quessilor organization has a monopoly on it?”
“Succession. Like a church, though it’s not the church you’re familiar with. The Thelemic Church east of the Barclays has their own system.”
“Huh. This is getting complicated.”
“Think of it like state specializations. Laemacia produces silk, we produce weapons.”
“Our kingdom’s main production is weapons?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t aware of this?”
“I, uh, thought it was beef. Ale. Chickens. Livestock, I’m trying to say livestock. I didn’t realize we were the weapons guys.” I was having bad vibes about this. What if I ended up being the princess of the bad guys? How was I to know I wasn’t? Well, for one thing, the enemy army was taking slaves and destroying towns. I guess their evils didn’t make us good, but at least I wasn’t being pursued by saints.
“Perhaps you should go over this with your councilors? They’d know more accurately than I would about the kingdom’s economics.”
“Councilors, yes. A lot of what I need to know boils down to ‘where the hell are my councilors?’ but they never seem to be around. No,” I held my hand up as she was going to speak, “it’s fine. I’m sure they were left at the castle when we fled, I mean left, to fight the Ketzillians. Oh! That reminds me, last time you asked if I could request from my brother more resources. Whatever you need, just take it. I’ll have to put in a system, I guess, for that.”
“I’m sure talking to the quartermaster would help you gauge your resources.”
Quartermaster? A word I’d only ever read, but it fit. Wow, another point for the game scenario, maybe two points. This seemed straight out of a conversation line from an NPC. “Yes, that makes sense, thanks. Just requisition whatever you need from that person. I have a lot I need to get a handle on, quickly. It really seemed easier, you know, looking in. From the outside.”
“As a child, you mean. Yes, you were put in power too quickly. Perhaps you should consider-”
“Don’t say it! I’ve enough people telling me to get married as it is. I don’t need my head nurse prescribing marriage, too.”
She laughed, which was a treat to see, and lifted her tiredness just a little. “Tea. I was going to recommend tea, Your Highness. Definitely not the m-word.”
I thanked her and Morry and I left for our tents. He even let me ride the horse by myself.
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