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The strange reaction from Lissa didn’t make any sense to Anders or Farad. They didn’t even internally argue the point, which still happened on occasion in regards to other topics. Anders, the boy, was feverishly attempting to work out why the girl would act that way, and simply couldn’t. The old man tried to step back and think, but also came up with nothing that would make her behave that way. Sometimes people forgot things, but Lissa wasn’t of weak mind, and managed to recall other things very well, most of the time.
Instead of telling anyone else about what had taken place, Anders went inside the inn that the youngest Princess had made, seeming to admire the work done. It wasn’t bad, though it was very close to what the rest of them had been putting up each day. The small details were different, of course. The front room that Lissa had constructed was a bit larger than anything else he’d seen, so far, by nearly half. The kitchen was smaller, being on the first floor, and the living quarters there, next to the kitchen space, was also rather cozy, comparatively.
When he went to pick a room, that was smaller as well. By counting doors, he found that there were six additional spaces per floor, for some reason. Which might be the correct thing to do, for all he knew. His guess was that the places could afford to be roomier, since they were remote enough that not that many would use them at any given time, but having things like that available might just increase travel, over time. A good road almost always did, after all.
Later in the evening, after the food had been prepared and consumed, he stood up and waved to get Princess Sweyn’s attention. The short haired girl, who was rather cute, thanks to the bristles on her head having grown well in the last year, giving her brown locks that touched her shoulders now, smiled at him.
“Anders! That was a good meal, for travel food. All of them have been so far. I haven’t had to eat a bowl of gruel at all, for instance. I can do it, but that truly isn’t my favorite food.”
He was actually fine enough with that kind of thing, but was used to a certain amount of variety in what he ate, being a bit spoiled that way. Still, he tossed off a small bow, almost playfully.
“Good! It’s one of the nice things about traveling in summer, we get to have some variety and fresh foods. Now... If you will, show me everything that you’ve learned about magic?”
The girl scowled a bit, then sighed.
“I’m not very good yet. I can do some things, but...”
She moved then, using hand signs first, pushing him hard enough to make him take a step back, but no more than that. When she shielded, she blocked things, but a few got through at times. The light she made that floated over her hand was bright enough, but not blinding at all.
When he looked at what she was doing, reading her form, rather than her mind, he understood the issue.
“Well! You’re doing everything correctly. Using about half your personal power that way. That... You’ll need to work on that part of things, by pushing yourself very hard, in everything you do.” The truth was that the woman was simply weak, magically. Perhaps the weakest person that he’d ever seen who had learned to use it.
Which, he realized, meant that she wasn’t actually gifted with that talent. Being one of the other types, instead. He’d thought, from everything he’d been told, that those other people couldn’t use magic at all. Instead, it seemed, possibly at least, that everyone could. They just weren’t strong enough to get the best results easily.
She frowned.
“I’d thought that I was just not good at it...”
He shook his head.
“That isn’t what’s happening. Here, make a light, like you did before?” That was produced with a hand sign, her third finger held down by her thumb. There was an imagined symbol as well, and a flow of power into the idea. A small, rather weak, light glowed fairly merrily over her fingers.
“Great! Now, that sense of tingling... Make it grow. Push more magic into the concept being used...”
That took about ten minutes for her to really do, and five more before she started to gasp from the effort. The glow was much stronger though, being at least twice what it had been.
“There! From now on, every day, practice things like this, for at least an hour. Push until you gasp and sweat from the effort. Starting tomorrow. Right now, I want to see the rest of what you can do. Add more power to each effort.”
That produced better effects and considering she’d been learning in the back of a moving box on the road, her grasp of things was actually rather good. That meant Princess Jasmin had been teaching her well, walking her through various memory techniques. Anders counted all of what she managed to do, and nodded.
“Great! In a few days you’ll need to begin doing the memory portions on your own each time. Then you’ll be able to move much faster. I still need to write up some books on that for everyone. To start with, have Jasmin go over everything in Magic for Princesses. She should have that memorized.”
That got the girl, who wasn’t that much older than he was, perhaps four years, to hug him.
“Wait... There’s a book called Magic for Princesses? That sounds rather specific.” She grinned, rather cutely, not letting him go for ten seconds or so.
He shrugged.
“It covers a lot in regards to clothing and such things. Some others as well, of course. Now, remember, an hour per day of the extra exercises! I expect you to double your ability to use magic over the next season. Minimum.” He didn’t know if that was possible at all, but being used to using power did make it seem easier. Aiming too low would just have her missing the target.
The woman didn’t seem upset by having to do more than others did, at all.
“I’ll do that, Master Anders. Thank you, for taking the time to see to me this way. I was worried that I was failing. Even now I can see what I need to work on. I can take this home and... Well, my people don’t have a lot of personal magic. We have the Devica... In Scara that’s... Slouagh, I think? The dark riders? Except that they aren’t bad. No more than people are, truly. We don’t have magic like this though, except for a very few people. A lot of that is illusion, for some reason.”
Anders blinked, having never heard the word in Modroc before.
It was, very nearly, the same thing that Duke Cohen had spoken of, in regards to his own abilities. devic, in that case. It was far too close linguistically to be random, but Yansian and Modroc were languages that didn’t have a common ancestor. Not one close enough for that kind of commonality.
He nodded.
“By nature that, or resistance to magic being used on you, are probably your strongest talents. Both could be useful, I wager. That means you’ll have to work harder to be strong in magic, but you might be able to resist a lot in magical combat.” He frowned.
She didn’t interrupt him, since it was clear he was thinking of something.
“I wonder if it’s possible to strengthen that talent, as well? That partial immunity to magic? I have no idea how to do that, but if other talents can be trained and made more powerful, why not that one?”
The words seemed to lose the Princess, who just looked at him, clearly trying to seem engaged. Also, not speaking, even to say she didn’t know the answer.
So he went on.
“We can work on all of this over the coming days, if you have time? For now, see to the exercises planned, please? I should... Oh! Say, did anyone tell you about Ganges?”
She frowned and then shook her head.
“No? That’s a name? From my part of the world, but I don’t know anyone named that, personally. No one spoke to me of that? Is it important?”
Anders nodded.
“A long time ago, over a thousand years and more than that, a man called Ganges the Great and Terrible, tried to take over the world, starting where the Red Desert is now.”
She pointed at him, excitedly.
“Oh, that Ganges! I know that story, of course. From my lessons as a child. He was a bit of a monster, wasn’t he?”
He had to agree with that.
“Indeed. Anyway, Hoatha Eta is that man. He also placed his mind into a crystal, at the height of his attempt to take over and that was, eventually, placed in the mind of Lady Martya. I think she’s originally from that part of the world. She changed her skin tone, hair and eyes to hide herself in Istlan. There was a magical crystal used for that?”
She didn’t turn and march away, at least, just tilting her head.
“That... Sounds like you are playing with me, Master Anders. Except that you are you and I’ve never seen you jest in a cruel fashion, or to confuse anyone in their perception of the world. Is this true?”
Taking a deep breath, he nodded.
“It is. I need you to try to recall it. In a day or two, I’ll ask again. There’s something going on with this, that I need to check. It’s a known thing, but... Well, best not to mention it, just yet.”
That seemed to be enough, to gain her aid.
He didn’t know who to seek out next, in his effort to check memories of certain things, but was presented with Prince Erold, the other boy seeming a bit anxious.
“Say, Anders, you were speaking to Sweyn?” He seemed to be nervous about something in that regard.
“I was. She’s a bit weak in magic, so far, so needs to push herself each day, for about an hour. Really, we should all be doing that, unless we’re already working hard at a real task. Making roads and inns will count for that. Still, she’s already doubled her power that way, so it’s worth trying. Why?”
The Prince shook his head.
“Nothing, truly. It’s simply that it’s the custom of noble women to take lovers, when they are with child, and no one can say anything against the practice, since they can’t get pregnant by another man then. I was wondering if she was planning such a thing with you.”
He blinked, and then shook his head.
“I... Do you remember about Farad?”
There was a strained look on the man’s face.
“That... The thing placed in your mind, by the traitor, Franken?”
“Yes, that. He had some trouble with women, being very shy that way. I’m a lot less so, by nature, but it’s made for some issues that way. So, no, Sweyn didn’t try to arrange such a thing with me and I haven’t been pressing her for that. Even if, you know, I probably should, being there’s that whole thing you mentioned, about her not being able to get pregnant right now. Great point, in fact. I just... It’s still difficult to move past things. I’ve worked on it a bit, in the past.” Lessons, with Princess Jasmin, though he didn’t mention the specifics.
Instead of pushing him, or punching him on the arms, Erold rolled his eyes.
“Fine. I mean, I don’t love it, but it’s the tradition...”
“Oh, you recall about Ganges, don’t you?”
He shook his head for a second, and then nodded, seeming as if something was affecting him, for a moment.
“Hoatha and Lady Martya? I was told not to think about that much, so have tried not to consider it. That’s rather big. What are we doing about that?”
“So far? Not much. I’ve simply noticed that some people are having problems recalling that it’s a thing at all. Well, one person. So, I’m going around checking everyone now. Good, that you recall all that. I need to go and talk to everyone else now.”
It was a bit awkward, having been asked if he was planning to have relations with Sweyn. Anders, the boy, was intrigued with the idea. Farad started to block the very idea and to focus on work, instead, then stopped. Their life couldn’t be led by him in that fashion.
So he let go of his resistance and took a deep breath, then walked away, with a wave.
After that, he tried talking to Duke Lister, who was well up on Ganges and Lady Martya, and recalled it well, then Javina and Jasmin. Both of them, approached together, simply turned and left him standing there, after clearly not recalling who Ganges was at all.
He read their minds, a bit brutally, without permission, as it happened. They weren’t trying to be rude or anything. Both of them had simply forgotten that they were speaking to Anders, and had a strong feeling that they needed to use the outhouse. It was an overwhelming sensation, but clearly coupled with a total lack of understanding that he was there at all.
Meaning it was magical in nature.
Princess Mathia couldn’t be approached until the next day. She was taking a turn making the road ahead of them, which she did with little real stress at all, even holding the spell set when they took breaks.
As she drank some water, seeming a bit warm, since the day was, he approached her.
“Anders! Thanks for feeding me. This is... Well, other than the mild gasping it’s not that bad. A bit boring, but simply riding is. My arm is going numb, from holding it up and pointing for hours.” She didn’t seem to be angry over that and was just commenting on it.
A thing he’d notice himself, several times.
“Eventually you get used to it. Say, did anyone tell you about Ganges?” He waited, watching her mind, but she simply wrinkled her nose.
“No. I had to find out for myself and ask Lady Martya to explain it to me. She did. She has another person in her head? Hoatha, in fact, and they’re both very old. Um, I was told that you had that as well? A different person, not Ganges...”
He simply lowered his head, since no one had used any magic on her in that regard, it was clear.
“Farad Ibn Istel. A historian from a long time ago. I just wanted to make certain you knew what was going on that way. We need to watch Martya and Hoatha, when we get back. Without starting a fight. I doubt we can beat them, so don’t make them angry. They seem to be trying to take over the world, still.”
Mathia just nodded.
“I was told that, as well. By Lady Martya? It’s ambitious, but not that odd. A lot of people try to do that. You took Yanse, which some would think was a step in that direction.”
Instead of defending his actions, Anders smiled.
“I can see that. Good work, on the road, by the way. We should be in Duchy Lister in another ten days, at this pace. From the map, that place is huge, so we have some days of travel after that, I think.”
It was slightly further to the border of the Duchy than it was to get to Yanse. The weather had been good so far, and they hadn’t lost any days to rains or storms. They were making incredible time though, covering twenty to thirty miles per day.
Closer to twenty, most days, but that was still fast, given that they were only moving at about three miles per hour. That was the best pace that the oxen were willing to bother with. Also, about as fast as they could improve the road without losing anyone to real exhaustion. Mathia, clearly, could have gone faster. So could Salina.
Anders had done that before, but it wasn’t a joyous activity, so he wasn’t insisting anyone push their pace.
After leaving Mathia, he covered everyone else on their memories of Ganges, mainly when they stopped to stretch their legs and get water, answer calls of nature and so forth. There was a pattern of sorts, when he addressed people. The Istlan nobles all recalled Ganges, when he asked again. Those of Barquea and Modroc, including Eltha Tenet, who had a very disciplined mind, were clearly affected by magic on the topic and couldn’t hold the idea in their heads at all.
When he tried the drivers, first mentioning the thing and asking them again, when they stopped for the night, all of the men forgot they were speaking to him and left to answer a sudden, extremely urgent, call of nature.
Which boggled his mind for a moment.
After all, it was just possible that Hoatha or Martya might have warped the minds of a few people using magic. Those from other lands, for some reason. Neither of them would have bothered to find the drivers and do that to them, however. Unless they were simply so complete in their plans that they did.
Anders had to check with others at that point, waiting until after the late meal and the cleanup, to sit in the small room of the inn that he’d called into being.
Then he sent a message to everyone that he had a connection to that way. Including a few people he feared he might well be hung for bothering with such things. Master Tolan recalled the whole tale, of course, as did King Mathias and Prince Robarts. Princess Peri, and Aisla suddenly both had to run to take care of natural matters on being asked about it.
Sula Darian did, as well.
The big, most terrifying thing was that Mary, the whore, and Corporal Derry the Army cook both had to do the same and forgot all about the fact that a voice had just spoken in their heads, repeating a fairly simple question, mere moments after it took place.
No one in Barquea could hold the idea in mind. Anders even created new words for specific servants there and contacted them, nearly at random. All of them had the very same response to the name Ganges.
Prince Alpert had no difficulty with it, but Daren and Jeld, people he’d already created new names for, and learn them deeply, couldn’t at all. After a while he even dared to try Tag Seness, and even Sulana Meegan.
None of them could hold things in mind at all. To all of them, Ganges was a mere myth, at the most. When he contacted Depak Sona, the man did the same thing, forgetting. The first time. Then Anders rewrote the message, telling the man to write things down, first thing, and to keep copying it. Then he put in a simple idea, repeating a hundred times.
“Hoatha is Ganges the Great and Terrible. Lady Martya is a copy of Ganges.”
Anders watched as Depak, rather desperately fighting to hold to his own mind, soiled himself, sitting in his room, focusing everything on first writing the message and then, using great levels of skill, breaking the magical hold on his mind. It was a struggle of hours to make happen. That worked, but didn’t correct things for anyone else at all.
That gave him a rough idea of how long the spell had existed, of course. Depak had been well aware of who his Father was, when last they’d spoken. So no more than two weeks prior. At least, as to when the magic started to work. That it could have been around for months or longer and only seen at that point was possible, though he wasn’t certain why it would be done that way.
Master Belford could keep it all in mind, without issue at all. Anders, finally working things out, drawing lines in his head, asked him only one other question, after then man indicated in his thoughts that he knew the whole tale.
“Is Master Tolan related to the royal line of Istlan?”
It was a thing that he’d never even thought to ask at all. The answer was telling, and fascinating. He had to read Belford’s mind, the man waking up to think about the question, having been in bed for the night by the time Anders got to him. The answer was a bit complex, but positive.
Anders spoke the whole thing out loud, to himself.
“Tolan is, originally, from the Isle of Morse. However, his family line is related to the royal family of Istlan, by blood. It was how he originally came to work at the castle. That and his great skill.”
Finally, Anders, not knowing if it was the right thing to do, sent a final message to everyone who could recall what was going on.
Almost everyone is being affected by magic to forget Ganges. Not the royal line of Istlan. Hide this, for now.
That probably wouldn’t fix anything, and Ganges might well be able to figure it out from their thoughts, but it was his duty to report such threats. It wasn’t as if he could handle it himself. He simply wasn’t up to the task. The idea that so many people, several entire lands, if not the whole world, could have their minds influenced at once like that...
Well, it was boggling, and also didn’t make much sense. If Ganges or Martya could do that, then they could simply make everyone decide that they were in charge and the world would be theirs, without a single drop of blood or even one battle, being required as a cost. Truly, if anyone could have influenced the minds of the entire world that way, even for a small period of time, say weeks or months, the entire thing could be taken, fairly easily.
How that sort of thing would be powered, Anders didn’t know. It would probably require blood magic to be done and a sacrifice of thousands or more. Tens of thousands. He didn’t know anything about that kind of thing having happened, outside of the battles that he’d fought recently, some month back.
“No.” It made sense, but he didn’t want it to be true.
That Hoatha, Ganges, had stood back and used the death he’d created to power a spell of such a nature, using him as a way to influence so many. Though, if he’d done that, to protect himself from the minds of others, there was no reason for him not to have simply taken over that way.
“Also, why not go after the King of Istlan that way? Even me?” Ganges had claimed to be his friend, but if he wanted to erase who he was, it seemed to be sensible to do it with everyone.
There was simply too much that he didn’t know, so, hoping it wasn’t a sign of some kind of magic influencing him, he let go of the idea and made a point of getting some sleep. That didn’t come easily, so as the sun rose, he got himself up for the day, and focused only on what he was doing. To that end he pushed himself, making the road, and a new building, with furnishings, at every stop. Without letting that slow them down as far as travel pace or time.
The new inn had been put up near a large, but not giant, lake. There were some large pink birds in it, which all seemed to be perfectly happy to stand in the shallows, watching them. They did that even while a magical construction came into being. That was pretty brave. Anders doubted he would have stood there and watched if a giant bird came and suddenly started doing things like that. Prince Erold did the work on that, it being his turn, so Anders caught some fish, for their meal. That, roots, bread and berries with sugar was the plan for the evening, and it turned out well enough for him not to feel too poorly about.
Better than just that, of course, since he was focusing on the task, with total devotion. Making himself not think about anything other than what he was doing. When that was over, he put on a small show, involving illusions. In the front room of the inn, which was transformed into a vast outdoor scene, with dancing animals. There was music as well. A light and lilting thing. There was no story to it, simply a passing of days, and a scene that followed with the tonality of whatever was playing at the moment. It was hard to do, but when people tried to touch things, he cast spells to make it feel as if it were all real. He failed a dozen times, trying to make that take place, but it was enough that Eltha came to him, when it was over.
“Incredible! I felt the breeze on my face and the falling of raindrops. You did that using magician skills? I need to learn that!”
Smiling, he nodded at the illusionist from Modroc.
“You already are. Really, if we set up the spells correctly, we should be able to do a much better job than this. I was just making this up as I went along. Perhaps different types of resistance where a person tried to touch anything? That would be complex, but...” He shook his head. “That would work, but it will be nearly as complex as anything I’ve ever tried to do. Let me work on this for a bit?”
That got him glared at, as if he’d said the wrong thing.
“Do that. Then stand ready to travel to Modroc with us when we go, in a few months? Only, no, you have that school to run. A valid thing, clearly. I’ll ask after what to do that way, with Duma Sett, when we return to the castle.”
Anders smiled, and then ignored the idea. He wasn’t planning to travel again soon, after the trip he was on was over. He might not get a choice, but if that was the case, he needed the new school to have a full staff of able instructors, before he left. Instead, he gathered some paper and a few pens, some ink and drying sand and started to work out the new system of illusions that could be felt as if real. After a while he started over, realizing that what he needed was simpler than he’d been thinking. Instead of a million names for things, each coming frantically as they were about to be touched, he simply needed seven. One that would be built into every illusion he made, and a few others to reduce the energy needed, affecting only the point of contact.
After all, when he imagined an image, his mind already put in all the needed information. How it felt, smelled and sounded when struck. He could use a single spell to do all of those things, because he already put all the information into place, each time. Every memory contained all of those things, after all.
It took him hours to learn the ten new things he needed, but he got some sleep and by the time they were on the road, after having eaten bread and fruit for their morning meals, he practiced casting illusions with the new system, every time they stopped.
Which had Eltha over by him on the second stop, when she noticed him bothering to practice her skills.
He made a small ball, and tossed it to her. It looked real, and she gasped when she took it from the air.
“It’s real?” She tried to squeeze it, which called on his power to resist the move, but not too much.
“I worked out what we were talking about. Here, let me...” He stopped, the magician’s component already active, until dismissed, and created a small scene for her. The world around them turned into the inside of one of the inns, in appearance. Eltha tested it, touching everything and even sitting, suddenly, trying to catch him off guard.
“This is amazing. I can learn this?”
He grinned then.
“I wrote out everything you need for it, even. Here, let me get that for you. It’s only ten separate components. That will give you weight, texture, sounds, scents, clinging sensations and friction. Wait...”
He jogged to Brownie, who was holding his travel pack and goods. The girl horse snuffled him a bit as he worked, so he stopped, once he had the folded papers, and patted her.
“Good girl. I’ll be back in a moment. Have a bit more water? I’ll try to find some ripe apples for you, later.” She didn’t answer, but horses never truly did.
They did like apples, though.
Again, each time they stopped, Anders built something, after that. A small hut, a larger place by the stream for people and animals to rest, and in one case, where there was water flowing underground, not too deep, a fountain that used the force of the flowing water to bring it to the surface, constantly. He formed a small, multi-level pool, so that everyone could get a drink. It should, he hoped, keep working for a long while. It might not, but for the time being it should allow passersby to have some water, if they wanted.
His efforts to keep his mind off of things led to the others, most of them, working on similar projects, several times during the day. True, Sweyn was mainly making herself new outfits, but she was pushing herself, both in how complex her work was, and how fast she did it, each time. That meant breathing hard, and sweating, but she did it without complaint.
Prince Erold worked out how to improve the forest, clearing dead wood and making stacks of it along the roadside as they went, for people to use. Princess Mathia took to making little huts for it, so that it wouldn’t all get damp in the rain.
Not all of the effort was needed, or even useful, such as carvings being placed into rocks in various places, by Princess Lissa and her sister Javina, but it was attractive and gave the otherwise empty area a sense of being rather wealthy, for some reason.
Doing things like that filled their days, until they finally reached Duchy Lister. Then they still worked as they moved, but were far more helpful to the people in the area than they had been before. After all, the new Duke was there to aid people. They were mainly farmers, but every place they passed had a new house on it, and often a barn as well. Wells were put in, when needed, so that they’d have year round water without trudging to far-off streams.
There were no cities, properly speaking, but the two largest towns were improved enough that they could pass as that sort of thing, if they ever had more people living there.
After the rather grand castles, both of them, were put up, which took three full workdays, even if they weren’t that large, compared to what King Mathias had, Anders knew that he needed to keep busy. Not just for his own desire to be useful, but also to keep his mind off of the Ganges issue. To that end, he decided to push into some road building, as he’d promised.