Kyra and the Swordstress Pt. 02

Magicians typically augmented their natural powers with a magical implement. Wands were common, as their small size was convenient to carry. Staffs were also quite common. Not all magical implements are created equally. Some are more powerful than others. Lady Bellona's staff was certainly on the side of the more powerful, given the rumors about her ability to calm seas and harness the winds.

"My lovely, lovely Mordecai. How happy I am to know that you will be joining us on this cruise. I was curious as to why this ship seemed so much livelier today! How are you, darling?" Lady Bellona chirped.

"My dear Lady Bellona," Mordecai replied heartily. "How is it that you appear more beautiful every time I see you?"

Lady Bellona chuckled and tipped her head. You are as magnanimous as ever. I simply cannot wait to join your company on this voyage. Please, if you need anything from me, do not hesitate to ask. I am always at your service."

"There is actually one thing, my Lady. I know you're quite busy today, but if you deign to allow me, I'd love to introduce to you a dear friend of mine,"

Mordecai nudged Kyra a step closer. "The very talented young sorceress, Kyra of Portoa. I believe you two share much in common."

Kyra curtsied again. "My lady, it is an honor to meet you."

"A sorceress? How lovely to have another on board my ship," Lady Bellona mused.

Glumly, Kyra replied, "well, not exactly a sorceress yet. You see, I went to the Topaz Order Academy but never graduated. I was hoping, my Lady, that perhaps you could help me with that."

"Hmm, a fellow Topaz Order magician."

Belladonna tapped her chin curiously.

"And a fellow elemental," Kyra added.

"I see. And what can I do to help a kin in training?"

"If it's not too much of a burden, it was my hope to become your apprentice."

Lady Bellona smiled.

"To hope is not a plan, Kyra of Portoa."

Kyra nodded. "Yes, my lady."

"Like you, I was once a student at the Topaz Order Academy, and like you, I never graduated. I'm sure those present might be surprised to hear that, but it's true, and as such, you've touched my heartstrings. I very much would like to talk to you in private."

Lady Bellona nodded to her herald. Understanding her order, he gave her back a nod, then clicked his heels loudly and spoke, "Could I have all in attendance please adjourn!"

The guards opened the side doors at once, and the stewardesses quickly filed through doors in the side of the room, followed by the concubines who all looked over their shoulder and muttered amongst themselves in hushed voices about this Kyra of Portoa who had touched the heartstrings of their mistress.

Before departing, Mordecai put a hand on Kyra's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "good luck, Kyra! When you make the big times, don't forget the little people!"

He patted her shoulder for extra encouragement, then left.

Kyra stood politely, her hands clutched to her wand at her front. Her heart pounded. Her chest was light and heaving. This was going to be it. This was going to be her big break.

When the last door shut, Lady Bellona stood from her seat on the throne and walked down to meet Kyra. Her footsteps echoed coldly against the marble floor. She circled Kyra, studied her, and Kyra couldn't help but feel nervous by all this, despite the earlier warm reception. She held her breath. Her heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears. She pleaded with herself mentally not to mess this up.

"For what reason were you kicked out of the Academy?" Lady Bellona inquired, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"For performing a forbidden hex."

"Interesting. What was the hex?"

"A love hex."

"A love hex? Really?"

Kyra was going to clarify that she had never actually performed one, but Lady Bellona seemed impressed, so she stopped herself and replied, with a shrug (as if it were no big deal), "yes, but simply to see if I could do it."

"Hm," Lady Bellona replied. She stopped circling Kyra, stood in front of her, and looked her up and down.

"And did it work?"

"I suppose if it didn't, I might not be here today."

Lady Bellona smirked. "Indeed," she replied. "Let me see your wand."

Kyra hesitated at first to hand it to her. She never liked parting ways with her wand, and she certainly never voluntarily gave it away. Kyra had a special bond with the wand. She gave it much credit for her survival in the streets.

Reluctantly, she handed it over. Lady Bellona turned it around in her hands. Shut her eyes to focus on the feel of its magical powers and gave an approving nod as she handed it back.

"A powerful wand. As is the bond you have with it."

"Thank you, my lady. It really has gotten me out of a lot of trouble," Kyra replied.

"Show me," Bellona replied. Her cold, curt tone threw Kyra off. A sudden hit of venom. Or maybe her mind was simply playing tricks on her.

"Um. Ok. What would you like me to do?" Kyra asked apprehensively. Her heart was beating harder. It pounded against her chest like a hammer against an anvil. She clenched her wand nervously. Her hands trembled. Please don't mess this up!

Bellona took a few steps back, then pointed her staff at Kyra and took a dueling stance.

"Hurt me."

Kyra let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, my lady, I don't understand," she said, hoping this was a joke.

"You want an apprenticeship because you want to become a sorceress. Show me that you deserve the title. Hurt me with a spell. Give me your best shot."

"Um, ok."

Kyra took her position. She squared off against Lady Bellona with her wand raised, pointing it at her head. Dueling was one of those things that Kyra was decent at. Her time on the streets had taught her to be quick on her toes and clear-headed under pressure. Because of her quick wit, she consistently bested the top students even if her magic was not the most potent.

"You have first spell. You may start when ready," Lady Bellona said.

Kyra nodded. She wanted to impress Lady Bellona but did not want to hurt her. The first spell that came to her mind was a wind blade. Not a particularly flashy spell and not an injurious one, but quite useful to throw an unprepared opponent off balance. And wind incantations were her strongest. She uttered the incantation to her wand and then flicked her wrist.

Casting spells with a magical implement is much like riding a horse - whether it is a wand, a staff, or some other magic-imbued object (a broom, a lantern, or even a magical frying pan), it can have a mind of its own. As reins can be used to beckon a horse to turn to the right or to the left, go into a gallop or come to a stop, incantations are used to beckon the magician's implement to cast a spell. But like a horse, the implement can be reluctant or even refuse a spell. That is where a bond between the magician and the implement is important. Fortunately for Kyra, as Lady Bellona indicated, she had a strong bond with her wand. Not once had it failed her.

A sudden burst of wind came out of the end of Kyra's wand, right at Lady Bellona's chest. A powerful wind blade. It felt good. One of the best she and her wand had ever produced. But her smile vanished quickly when Lady Bellona easily countered it, causing it to dissipate into whispers, then cast her own wind blade. The quickness with which Lady Bellona reacted surprised Kyra, so she didn't respond with a counter of her own. The wind blade hit Kyra and knocked her to the floor, causing her to slide until her head bumped into the wall.

"Stand up! Again!" Lady Bellona barked.

Kyra came to her feet, rubbing the throbbing welt on her head. Anger welled up inside her like pressure in a steam kettle. Her face grew flush.

Kyra tried another wind blade, quicker this time, and as soon as the gust left the tip of her wand, she launched herself into a sprint toward Lady Bellona. Lady Bellona again dispelled it, then launched her own, but Kyra was ready for it this time. She dove under it into a forward roll and launched two more wind blades as she came out of the roll. But Lady Bellona was also quick and unerring. She countered the first and then the second easily.

Countering a spell is a tricky endeavor. It requires precise timing and opens the defender up against another attack as they focus on the counter-spell. Kyra counted on that. She counted on her speed to close the gap and punish Lady Bellona with a spell that would catch her off guard. She thought a nice ice whip ought to do the trick. She aimed the whip at Lady Bellona's wrist, hoping to separate her from her staff.

It didn't work. Lady Bellona again reacted quickly. She created a heat blast that threw Kyra back. The pressure from it made Kyra's ears ring.

"Is that all?" Lady Bellona taunted. "You're going to have to do better than that!"

'Ok, we're going to play rough, eh?' Kyra muttered as she scrambled to her feet. 'Then we'll play rough, bitch. If you want to be hurt, then I'll hurt you. I'll shock that smirk right off your face.'

She whispered an incantation. Arcs of electricity came out of the air from around her, concentrating into a ball of lightning at the tip of her wand. It grew and grew, and the charge caused Kyra's hair to stand up and frizzle. Then, when Kyra felt the charge was large enough, she flicked her wrist, and the crackling ball discharged into a violent bolt of white lightning that snapped and arced straight at her opponent.

But Lady Bellona was ready for it. And she was ready to punish Kyra for thinking she could be defeated by such a predictable spell, as powerful as it was.

She cast a jet of water the moment before Kyra released the lightning, and the lightning bolt, rather than complete its path, was swallowed by Bellona's water jet. Kyra's eyes went wide when she noticed the electrified water jetting right at her. Her instincts screamed at her to counter it. She raised her wand again to do just that, but she couldn't do it in time. The electric water hit her and doused her with electrocution that drowned out all her senses, paralyzing her and causing her to scream and fall to the ground to convulse in violent, painful spasms.

When the spasms ceased, she got to her knees. When the spots left her vision, she spotted her wand on the ground in front of her. She reached for it but then felt an overwhelming sickness overtake her. She doubled over and vomited.

"Ugh!" Lady Bellona spat.

Kyra wiped her lips and reached for her wand again, but Lady Bellona pulled it away from her with a summoning spell. The wand hung suspended in the air, tauntingly close to Kyra's face. Kyra swiped at it to grab it but caught only air. Lady Bellona drew it back towards herself. She caught it out of the air. Twirled it triumphantly between her fingers.

"It really is a lovely wand. How it has decided to bond with you is a mystery for the ages. It deserves a much more potent magician."

"Then help me become one," Kyra croaked.

"Do you yield?"

"Yes, I yield."

Lady Bellona came over to her and stood over her. Kyra had never seen a look on anyone's face so contemptuous.

"Do you know for what I was expelled from the Academy, Kyra?"

Kyra shook her head.

"For practicing magic far beyond the power of any professor there. Spells in grimoires far beyond their capabilities. Nothing particularly forbidden. They were simply threatened by my prowess. They feared me.

"Do you know from whom I sought an apprenticeship after my expulsion?"

Kyra shook her head again.

"No one."

"But I'm not like you, Lady Bellona. I need help," Kyra replied.

"You say they kicked you out for casting a love hex. I do not believe that for a minute. Your spells were pathetic. You fail at even the most basic understanding. You couldn't have cast a love hex on a toad. They kicked you out because you were incompetent. You say you need my help. Well, allow me to help you out with one piece of advice: just give up."

Kyra slumped. She stared in utter disbelief at the polished marble floor splattered with her sickly yellow vomit, never feeling more humiliated in her whole life.

"Then let me off this damn ship," she muttered to the ground through gritted teeth.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. By now, we should have already sailed far from land. Do you have a stateroom?"

"I came with Mordecai. I'll stay with him. Give me my wand, and I'll go."

"Why should I give you back your wand? I won the duel. Hence, I won your wand."

"That was never agreed to!" Kyra said frantically. Her eardrums pounded with rage.

"Yet here it is," Lady Bellona sang, wagging the wand at Kyra.

"By the Code, give it back!" Kyra screamed.

"I do not abide by the Code of the Magi. But I am amenable to making a deal. Are you?"

Kyra glared up at the sorceress. She now saw the twisted darkness that Angelica warned her of. It appeared in her eyes like a shadow in the deepest chasms of the world.

"Tell me," Kyra said through gritted teeth.

"What you lack in your magical ability, you make up for in prettiness. Although you're not quite up to the standard of one of my beloved concubines, you can certainly perform well as a stewardess. Work for me, and I'll give you room and board and fair pay, and at the next port of call, you will be free to leave with your wand."

In a daze, Kyra nodded in agreement.

"Cheer up, my dear. It won't be long before you discover your meager purpose in this rotten world. Meanwhile...,"

Lady Bellona snapped her finger. "Come, Sybil!" She barked.

At once, a stewardess came through the door holding a neatly folded set of the same skimpy uniform that all the stewardesses held.

"Let's get you into the proper attire."

Lady Bellona waved her staff, causing Kyra to float off the ground. Then she stamped her staff against the cold marble causing all Kyra's clothing to rip off her body. Then another stamp of the staff and the garb in the attending stewardess's arms flew onto Kyra.

The outfit was barely enough to cover her body. Her top was a tightly formed mail of very fine, semi-transparent chain and was cold against her skin. Her skimpy skirt of the same material came barely halfway down her thighs. Garb not meant to cover her body but to sexualize her, in keeping with the ship's tightly curated theme of debauchery.

"Now, just a couple of touches to make you presentable to our guests. First, let's do something about your wretched hair."

She waved her staff again, and Kyra's long hair twisted into braids. Its matte black color gained a sheen that glimmered beneath the chandelier lights.

"Let's add some blush to those cheeks. Some rouge on those lips. Don't you look gorgeous now?"

Lady Bellona released the levitation spell, and Kyra floated back down to the ground.

"There we are. Much better. Now, you wanted to be an apprentice. You may apprentice under Sybil, one of my best stewardesses.

Sybil nodded shyly. She curtsied and responded, "My lady," in a gentle voice.

"Obey Sybil, Kyra, and learn from her. If you do well on this voyage, I may consider keeping you on for future voyages. If I am happy with you, I may even let you apply for concubinage. You are certainly pretty enough. Now I have much business to attend to, so I shall be on my way."

"My wand?" Kyra asked as Lady Bellona turned away.

Lady Bellona glanced back at Kyra and shot her the cold, contemptuous smirk with which Kyra was now familiar.

"You do not need one to carry out your duty on the Rose Narcissa."

She waved her staff. Cleaning rags and a bucket full of hot water floated in from somewhere to land at Kyra's feet.

"Today, you start a new journey, Kyra. If you wish to start that journey on a strong footing, you may start by cleaning up the mess you made."

With that, Lady Bellona disappeared, leaving Kyra with Sybil, a pile of rags, a bucket of hot water, and the pool of her own vomit.

Kyra was still in such a daze by what had transpired and disoriented by the coming down from such a lofty high to such a broken low that she could not respond in any other way except to grab the rags and clean up the vomit.

Sybil got to her knees and helped her. She was compassionate with her silence and diligent with her help.

It wasn't until the vomit was all gone and the marble floor glistened again that Kyra had the wherewithal to finally feel any emotion. And a wretched emotion it was.

A life full of setbacks had given her thick skin and a responsive rage that had fueled Kyra's forward momentum through life. She tried to channel that rage, but she couldn't. When she reached inside herself for it, into her deep well of rage that had served her well her whole life, she found that the well was empty. In its place, she found something else. She found pain. A pain that was worse than the electrocution she had just experienced. A pain like heartbreak. A pain that as soon as she felt it, she recognized it for what it was, and so tried her very best to squeeze it out of existence. But the harder she squeezed, the stronger it became. It welled inside her like a storm surge welling up against a dam wall until it was too much for that dam to hold. That pain burst out of her like water bursting out of that dam wall. She curled over and sobbed.

Sybil went to her, wrapped her arms around Kyra without speaking a word, and let her sob for as long as she needed.

When Kyra's tears ran dry, Sybil showed her where to wash the bucket and toss away the rags, then beckoned her to follow her away from the silk- and tapestried rooms into the dark belly of the ship. As they went deeper, the glamorously dressed guests and their flawlessly beautiful concubine that mingled in the corridors were replaced by more of the other crew of the palace ship. They appeared out of the shadows of the dark and narrow passageways like wood sprites out of the forest depths. They eyed Kyra with suspicion and pity if they put their eyes on her at all. Many simply looked away as she walked by. Sorrowful their souls, it seemed, and as parched of hope as the Windscour Desert is of water.

Most of the ship's lower-class crew bunked in shared hammocks atop one another in vast yet cramped holds in the ship's belly. These were the deckhands and porters. The boatswains, coxswains, and cooks were slightly better off -- three or four to each berthing, each with their own racks to sleep in. The higher-class crew members, such as the stewardesses, the musicians, and the medical staff, were two at most to a quarter, and their quarters were quite large, with enough space for a wardrobe and toiletry. They were not berthed in luxurious cabins like the concubines but were allotted comforts that allowed them to maintain presentable hygiene enough to satisfy the high standards of the most fastidious of guests with whom they had to interact day-to-day. Sybil made up a bed in her sleeping quarter for Kyra.

"I hope you find this comfortable," Sybil said.

Kyra looked pitifully at the cot. She tried her best at a smile. "Sure. Thanks," she replied.

Sybil had a graceful beauty. Slivers of silver strung through her coal black hair, and a gentle calm, like the calm of a deep lake poured from her eyes, and peace curled her smile. Most noticeable to Kyra was her dark complexion and her facial features, which she had much in common with many of the crew that worked the Rose Narcissa and with Scarlet.

Kyra decided now was as good a time as any to satisfy what she had been curious about since coming aboard the Rose Narcissa.

"Where are you from, Sybil?"

Sybil kept her eyes fixed on the clean sheet as she stretched it out to cover Kyra's mattress. By her resigned unresponsiveness, Kyra knew the question was a jarring one, but she nevertheless waited patiently for Sybil to respond.