Frustration

Syndi deals with her blossoming feelings for Muld.

33.

Frustration

 

The rest of their friends were on board The Autumn Maid and of course swarmed around Muld asking about how he was doing.    Then they wanted to know what had happened and why he had disappeared.

Muld reluctantly gave an abbreviated account, seeming to be very embarrassed to share the details.    Syndi sat next to him on the comfortable couches of the old airship as they hovered over the gentle hills west of Pattinton.   The Losasidhe princess felt on the verge of tears.   She wanted to scream in frustration, for she was confused, somewhat scared and at the same time overwhelmed with a new and extremely powerful adult emotion, and she had no clear direction to go or guidance.

But she had no choice but to sit silently while the crew of The Autumn Maid flagged down a second airship that had come to investigate the fire and told them about the necromancer and the methods that the town of Pattinton had used to work the corn fields.

After the other airship contacted court officials in Westmark, by scrying device,  they sat around in the airship waiting for others to arrive.

At dawn they were joined by three other airships; two of them new large Marksylvanian warships.   

Of course they wanted to interview not only Muld but her as well and Syndi spent most of the morning telling royal officials what she had seen and going over the same story for what seemed like a hundred times.  

The crop fire burned into the morning and when it finally died out, there was nothing left of the field, the zombie ‘houses’ or the guard towers.     Troops aboard the warships kept all the residents of

Pattinton in town until all of them were interviewed by officials (who had wizards with them that cast lie detection spells on each resident interviewed).

It was a huge ordeal that went on and on all day long.   Syndi sat there cross and frustrated the entire time, having lost her earlier mood soon after they boarded the airship.   Finally, they returned to Westmark, and by then the whole city was buzzing with the news.

 

As evening fell on the city, they had a meeting with King Eleazar, who not only wanted to hear their account about what happened in Pattinton, but also wanted to see what had occurred to Muld before this last adventure.

Syndi managed to put on a pleasant face during the long ordeal,  but she was quite annoyed when Alleania found her and began asking about how she had done casting spells during conflict.

“I don’t know, ma’am,” Syndi said, a bit short, though she tried to compensate with a weak smile.

“Sometimes in stressful times, you act with more confidence than you usually possess,”  The Drow sorceress told her, scrutinizing her closely.

“Maybe I did… we survived I guess.”

“You don’t sound very satisfied with the results.”

“I’m not really satisfied with anything today, ma’am.” 

“What’s wrong, child?”

Syndi just shook her head, not wanting to show any emotion.

“You don’t want to talk about it?”

“No… I don’t know…I’m just tired and frustrated, ma’am.”

“What is frustrating you, child?”

The Drow lady asked her so gently that Syndi opened her mouth to tell her, then thought better of it, but that made her more frustrated and instead she just burst into tears.

Alleania looked alarmed, but pulled the girl out of the royal audience chamber and into a smaller room across the hallway from it.

“Child, what’s wrong?   You can tell me.”

“Lady Alleania, I’m… I don’t know… something is happening to me and… I don’t know what to do!”   She put her face in her hands and cried, but was surprised to find the Drow lady wrapping her arms around her to comfort her.

“It’s the Practical Magician… Muld… isn’t it?”  

Syndi looked up in a panic, “Muld?   Uh…”

Alleania smiled knowingly, “It’s alright, child.    You’re feeling something for him, which has been obvious to me for months.    Is it the Elven soul bonding?   What do they call it?   Aleiryid?”

Syndi swallowed hard and slowly nodded, ashamed to look at her teacher.

“I’m sorry, Lady Alleania… It just… happened.”

“Why are you apologizing, Syndi?”

“Because you said that a sorceress should stay unattached romantically, that relationships strained our power.”

“Well, not exactly, child.   I said that a sorceress should TRY to stay unattached romantically.    That frequently doesn’t happen.    Aurei’s father was my lover and as we both were vampires at the time, he was my master too.   But I still functioned as a sorceress.   Even afterwards, when life was restored to me,  I have a relationship with Drake, and yet I am still powerful as a sorceress.”

“I didn’t want to let you down.”

“Syndi, you aren’t letting me down by falling in love.    Muld is an extremely brilliant young man and has impressed everyone with his Practical Magic.    I think you two would be a fabulous match.   Lovers or husbands are steady sources of Qi, you know.”

“I’ve had… strong feelings… I mean physical feelings… for him recently.   I never felt like that before.   They scare me, ma’am.”

“Child, that is perfectly normal for any woman of any race.   Desire for someone you love is wonderful.   He certainly feels the same way toward you.”

“Well, I’m afraid anyway.   My mother would simply die if she knew what I was thinking about last night.”

“Your mother is a queen, child, and she wants the very best for her daughter.    My mother was like that too.   But the final say belongs to you.   Don’t let her control who you love, Syndi.”

“Oh, she can’t do that, but I still am haunted by guilt knowing that she wouldn’t approve.”

“She might change her mind, child.”

“Oh, I don’t think she’d do that, ma’am!”  Syndi laughed at the thought.

“Don’t dismiss it; she isn’t stupid you know.    She may see Muld differently now.”

“I wish she would, but she’s very stubborn.”

“Do you feel calmer now?”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you.”

Alleania smiled, “Good.    I have something I want to give you that might help you.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll show you, follow me.”

 

Puzzled at what the Drow sorceress meant, she followed her out of the palace and over to the Sorceress tower, then up the stairs to Alleania’s private room.

“Don’t tell Allea about this; I love my niece dearly, but this is something more appropriate for you right now.”

Alleania went over to a closet, disappeared within it for a minute, then returned with an extremely sheer white gown that was so fine that it looked almost as if it were made of smoke.

Syndi gasped in amazement.   “It looks like it is made of spider webs!”

“Actually, it is very similar to spider webs.    This is a Drow nightgown, Syndi.    Drow weavers pride themselves on producing the lightest gowns, for most Drow noble women used to wear these gowns to seduce their men to do their will.   Negligees are often a Drow woman’s best weapon and these garments are highly sought out and greatly prized in the Underdark.    The fabric is a type of spider silk that the Drow cultivate like the silk of silkworms.  These spiders are quite large and their silk is extremely valuable.    It is very light and translucent to the point of near transparency, but this type of spider silk is as strong as tough denim.”

“You want me to wear this to generate Qi?”   Syndi asked.

Alleania tilted her head back and laughed.    “Oh, you poor girl!    I want you to wear this for Muld, child!   To generate passion, not Qi, though I’m sure it will produce both.”

Syndi blushed beat red as she took the fascinating garment.   It was lighter than a feather, soft and cool to the touch like regular silk.    “Thank you, ma’am, but I’m not sure if…. I’m not sure if I’ll wear it for him.   I’m still young and-“

Alleania just patted her arm, “Then save it for your wedding night, dear child!   It has a minor fitting adjustment incantation so it will fit you perfectly.”

“But, it must be terribly expensive!  Surely you don’t want to part with it, ma’am.”

Alleania grinned and led Syndi over to her closet.     One half of one side of the large closet was covered with hangers containing similar gowns of slightly different designs.

“I have about thirty others, child, so do not worry.”

“Oh… well, thank you, ma’am.”

“You are welcome, Syndi.   Now if you feel up to it, I would like to go over with you what I trained Allea on today, so you won’t be behind her in your lessons.”

After receiving the gown, Syndi felt that she could hardly refuse, so talk turned to incantations.

 

***

 

Muld noticed Syndi was gone soon after she left with Alleania and Queen Aurei saw him glancing around, so told him, “She left with my mother; probably sorceress related business.”

“Yes, Your Highness,”   Muld sighed, weary of speaking about the events with the zombies and necromancer.

A servant came into the audience chamber and bowed to the king and queen, then reported that 15 men and women from Pattinton had been arrested by the king’s officials and were being brought in chains by airship to Westmark to face charges.

“Well, Master Muld that would seem to wrap up the events of the day quite well,”   King Eleazar said after the servant left.

“Yes, Your Majesty, I am pleased that no further travelers will be killed and that these terrible practices will cease.”

“Once again we have you to thank, Master Muld.”

“It wasn’t just me, Your Majesty, Syndi also fought them.   We were only doing our duties as loyal subjects of Your Majesty.”

“You have gone above and beyond to help both this kingdom and the Losasidhe kingdom.     We are in your debt, Master Muld.”

“Sire, you owe me nothing.   I have caused much damage from my battle with the pirates here in Westmark and I owe restitution to the people here who lost loved ones or property.    Instead of staying here and making amends, I shamefully fled.”

“Well, as King of Marksylvania, I hereby pardon you of any crimes or misdeeds and further vow to compensate for anyone who suffered loss in the attacks, as thanks for your service to this kingdom.”

Muld bowed his head in humility, “Your Majesty, I thank you.   I am most unworthy and I vow that I will endeavor to always work to make life better for the people of this city and this wonderful kingdom.”

“I’m sure you will, Master Muld.”   Eleazar replied, then glanced over to where Mutt, Tadd, Jevon and Rick sat patiently, “Your guild has been a great benefit for Westmark.   I posted guards around your guild’s buildings yesterday when your people were out searching for you, but you might want to take an inventory of your main building as we don’t know what the pirates might have taken before you interrupted them.”

“That is a good idea, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll leave you to do that tonight or tomorrow, Master Muld, for I think I and my Queen shall retire for this day.”

Everyone stood and bowed as Eleazar and Aurei left the chamber.    Muld went over to the table where his friends sat and they decided to go check on the contents of the main building before calling it a night.

“Too bad Syndi can’t join us,” Mutt said, noting Muld’s mood.

“Yes, it is,”  He replied, wondering how badly he would miss her when everyone had gone for the night.