Ekleipsis (Fantasy Romance - LGBT, manXman)

8.4

Next day Alva met with the Attorney of the Mages Guild. It was a secretary of a kind who managed all the Guild contacts with the outside world. Not that the mages couldn't do it themselves. They just didn't want to. Human affairs were too strange and boring for them, sometimes even incomprehensible. After spending three hundred years among amulets, portions and books, one could forget even the faces of his children, if he had any.

On closer examination, though, the rumours about mages being unfriendly to humans turned out to be greatly exaggerated.

"Welcome, noble Chevalier Ahayrre!" the Attorney said amiably and made quite a courtly bow.

Alva looked at him inquiringly. He was sure he had never met that nice young man dressed in a simple dark-blue mantle.

As if the young man had read his thoughts, he smiled and said, "No, we haven't met..." Now Alva was certain to hear, as many times before, "...but I've read your last book." Not a single edition of Chevalier Ahayrre's poetry had been published without his portrait in colour. The publisher said it doubled the proceeds. "...But the Master of the Healers Guild had let me know you would come," the young man said. "We are always glad to discover new disciples."

"The thing is I'm not very interested in being a disciple. I'm much more concerned about how I can get rid of the after-effects of the spontaneous initiation, as you call it."

"You have to understand, noble Chevalier, that mere healing doesn't much interest the members of our Guild."

"So direct me to a woman," prompted the noble Chevalier with a charming smile and enjoyed the light blush on the Attorney's cheeks when the latter discerned the vulgar pun in Alva's words.

The young mage busied himself with his papers, trying to hide his embarrassment, and his tone became strictly official.

"Tomorrow or the day after Dame Tallian will arrive at Fanneshtou. I advise you to consult her. She is a Water Mage of the first rank. The Water Magic, you know, is best for healing, especially in burn cases."

* * *

Such women as Dame Tallian the old chronicles described, "Lo, a maiden fair and terrible, as an army arrayed for battle, her face shines with beauty like a naked sword, her waist slim as a dagger."

Alva always thought those warlike epithets rather forced, especially since they were generally used for females engaged in more or less peaceful arts of enchantment, soothsaying, healing (or simply of being someone's mistress). In the Academy Alva's professor of classical literature explained that for the authors of such chronicles 'naked sword and fierce battle' had been the culmination of beauty. Now Alva understood them better.

Those were the exact words − fair and terrible, like the sea that basks in the sun before a raging thunderstorm. The sea was in her eyes, clear and transparent like aquamarine – a water element stone. Her wavy green hair falling down to her waist, resembled seaweed swaying with the current. Here and there real seaweed was plaited into her hair − seaweed with tiny pale flowers, which were probably kept from withering by her magic. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were green too, and strangely enough, it didn't seem trite or pretentious.

The sorceress's skin was pale and translucent, whiter than any human skin could be; as if her blood were indeed blue in colour like they say metaphorically about aristocracy. Her dress... oh, her dress was really magical. It was streaming around her like silk, since silk is said to be streaming like water. It was water, literally; there were brightly coloured fish darting about, the hem was decorated by fanciful lace of corals, sea anemones and foam. It seemed she had tamed a sea wave and wrapped it around herself. Judging by what they said about mages, she might have done exactly that.