The Unmentioned

"Young love is a weak, brittle thing, child," the seer said. "It is a bond that must be tempered and renewed daily, else it will rust and crack with age. The heat of passion melts it into quicksilver, like flames in a furnace, and then it is up to those who share that bond to reshape it and make it stronger before it cools and hardens."

My hand twitched in nervous anticipation as I turned the page.

"How can an old crow such as you understand my heart? It flies like a robin through the heavens, at last freed from the cage in my breast. I have no need of your envious mutterings, the lonely song of a creature that has love for no other but itself!" the girl said. She turned then, from the old woman, and ran as fast as she could to meet her beloved at the appointed time and place.

"Master O'Dell?"

I stopped reading the tome in my lap and lifted my head just enough to make eye contact with my personal attendant, Jerof, the one who had disturbed me."Yes?"

"I apologize for interrupting your studies, sir, but we have a visitor."

My thoughts were still so affectionately tied to the story that a part of me wanted to make up an excuse and leave the pleasantries of greeting said visitor to the manor's other inhabitants.

Apparently, Jerof had anticipated my plot, though, because he spoke again before I had the chance to decline.

"Two visitors, actually, sir. They've asked to see you, specifically."

I sighed. Such was the life of a sage. Of course, I had little right to complain. The royals, my sponsors and foster family, saw to it that I was never wanting for anything, and all I had to do in return was decipher and study the ancient texts they provided. Though I shared the estate with twelve other sages, their attendants, the maids, and the cooks, it was spacious enough to accommodate us all quite comfortably; I was especially grateful for the relative privacy of my private chambers. My life was the sort of pleasant arrangement that I imagine most people could only hope for.

As I rose from my velvet chair and followed Jerof to the entrance of Sage's Hollow, my mind started to cycle through the possibilities. We had only a few visitors each year--usually magistrates sent to check in on us and ensure our safety and comfort--but they never came unannounced. I was certain that if this engagement had been planned, I would have heard about it already.

So who else but an official commanded by royal decree would visit the Hollow, an old estate tucked away in the corner of the kingdom, and for what purpose?

Jerof led me down the grand staircase that stretched from the balcony on the third floor to the entrance of the estate. The polished glass trinkets that decorated the room gleamed in the magical light of the sunspheres that floated high above our heads. They were simple in design--nothing more than transparent orbs that generated light like the sun's--but the forces that made them possible were incredibly complex. They were magical energies discovered centuries ago by some of the first sages in the early stages of the kingdom's life. Over time, sages like myself had used the knowledge found in the ancient texts to recreate one such miracle after another, wonders that had been lost to the world ages ago. Now the world was filled with them.

I could see the rest of the manor's residents gathered below as we approached the base of the staircase. I stopped, at last, when I reached the bottom, and searched the small crowd of faces for two I likely wouldn't recognize.

But before I could take them all in, there was a cry from someone in the front of the group, and something flew at my knees. It was a flurry of hair and lace.

I tried to take a step back, but whatever had come at me was now stuck to my legs and restricting my movement. I glanced down to see hair the color of hardened amber, and then a small hand that brushed it aside to reveal a pair of scarlet eyes.

The energy in the girl's voice was so unexpected it gave me a chill.

"Mr. Ahn? Oh, I'm so happy it's you!"

I noticed that everyone in the group was watching me squirm in the child's grip, curious, and managed an awkward smile.

"Excuse me," I said. "Have we met?"

The girl pulled away a bit. She was wearing an elaborate blue dress with lace around her neck and wrists, and a sparkling sapphire suspended from a thin silver chain that shook while she laughed and jostled me. "No, but I saw your picture once. They said it might be you, or it might be somebody else, but I really wanted it to be you!"

I didn't even know a picture of me existed. I tried to pry her off of me, but she had entangled herself with me like a monkey to a tree. "Oh."

I was about to ask her who had told her about me when another voice I'd never heard before broke into the conversation from somewhere in the crowd of tenants.

"Rena, please, don't cling to him like that. Where are your manners?"

A young woman pushed her way through to the front of the crowd, then, and dipped into a polite curtsy before I could catch a glimpse of her face.

"I'm sorry. Please, forgive Rena, she's just happy to be out of the transport. It was a very long journey from the capital."

The child--Rena, rather--finally released me. She took a full step backwards and then followed her companion's example and curtsied.

I decided I had better show the same respect and bowed in turn. As I rose to my full height again and met the young woman's gaze at last, I started to feel dizzy.

She was easily my equal in height, perhaps even a few inches taller. Her attire was different entirely from the frill-laden extravagance that Rena wore: a plain white robe that fit neatly to a lithe figure, and an accompanying cloak with a hood that lay bundled around her shoulders like a pillow for her silky black curls. Her skin was so pale and perfect it seemed quite possible she'd spent her whole life indoors doing very little, but her bright blue eyes betrayed a hidden, electric vitality.

No sooner had our eyes met before her smile soured. She looked me over once and groaned.

"You're the one they picked? You've got to be joking, Rena. He's no older than I am," she said. "I don't see why they even bothered to arrange this. You'd be better off with me looking after you."

I frowned. "What do you mean, exactly, miss...?"

"Oh, right, sorry. I am the Lady Successor of House Rowe, Aeri Ilya Rowe. You, of course, must be Ahn O'Dell."

The irritation from earlier was already starting to surface again. I was about to say something considerably unkind when Jerof interjected.

"Lady Rowe, you will address him as Master O'Dell. He is a sage fostered by the royal family of Orelia itself, as well as one of the official tenants of this estate."

I smiled when I saw my own opportunity to add to her lesson in humility. "Lady Rowe, was it? I'm sorry, but in all my years in service to the royal family, I've never heard your house mentioned before. Why are you here, exactly?"

The lady looked like she might squeal for a moment, but it didn't take long for her to regain her composure. She smiled and bowed her head slightly. "Actually, Master Sage, I've come to deliver a message to you from the queen herself, and observe your performance in regards to her personal request."

"What request?" I said.

Her smile widened. "Her Majesty has asked that you be placed in the role of tutor for her niece."

"Her niece?"

Lady Rowe stepped forward and placed her hand on Rena's shoulder. "Yes. Her niece."

Rena grinned. "Isn't this wonderful, Mr. Ahn?"