Chapter 51 - Journey Preparations (Patreon)

AN:  I've added a few extra paragraphs to the end of chapter 50 to make the transition from 50-51 flow a little better.

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Two weeks after the initial attack, Violet was back at the palace to meet with the royal family.  When she arrived, she was led into one of the gathering rooms.  Regina met her at the door with a hug and then grabbed her hand and dragged her into the room.  Alexandra, David, Rex, and Regina were the only people present in the room.  They all seemed to be in good spirits, and David looked wholly healed from his ordeal.

The room had several couches arranged to face a large fireplace.  It was still far too warm for it to be lit, but it added to the room’s beauty.  A large rug was placed over the stone floors to help make the space more inviting.  This room was one that the family favored because it was meant for comfort rather than to impress important guests.  Violet had been here many times in the past, and the familiar setting put her at ease.

Queen Alexandra started the tone with, “I have received several ‘thank you’ letters from the common folk recently.  The majority of them are thanking me for lending the royal healer to help with the healing efforts.”

Violet blushed a little before responding, “There was a need, and I wanted to heal as many people as I could.  Thank you for finding a way for me to use all of my aspects.”

“But it is no secret that Violet has healing as her second school of magic.  What am I missing?” Regina asked.

“It is time you started trusting us, Violet.”  David put in.

It was like a dam had broken, and she began to tell them everything about her magic.  She did not tell them anything about being reborn or about Avery, but she tried to keep everything as close to the truth as she could.  Alexandra and David had known the whole time she was in Kasmaya and had not taken advantage of her.  She trusted Regina, and while she would not have told Rex on her own, he was in the room and trustworthy enough to know the secret.

“I’ve had a few of my spies look into the story you told Regina when you had first arrived.  I’m glad to hear you did not lie to her back then and only omitted details.  The spies all came back confirming your story.”  Alexandra said when Violet had finished her tale.

“I’m pretty sure Divination has gone off twice since I have been here.  Should I be worried?”

“From what I understand of the tools used to track Divination users, you will need to use it quite a few more times before they can narrow down your location.  I wouldn't be surprised if nobody was looking at the device the first time it went off, so all they knew was someone alive was using it.  The second time will have clued them in on which direction to look but nothing more specific.”  David said.

“I will do my best not to have my life in danger in the future so we can avoid any more pings on their device.”

“We will face anyone who comes looking for a Divination user together.”  Alexandra started.

Violet had one burning question that had been bugging her for a while now.  “How do I protect against someone using the same artifact you did to see my magic?”

“Trust is a two-way street.  I will answer that.  The only way I know to identify someone’s magic is to use an artifact on someone within a mile of a crystal you have control over.  The artifact we have can only be used once every four hours.”

“I was worried anyone with an artifact could find me just by using it on me.  It would still probably be safer if I moved around more often.  I would like your permission to tour the ancient sites and look for answers on how to counter that magic disruption device the Dominion used.”  Violet said.

“We can make that happen.  The ruins are home to some dangerous animals or protected by ancient barriers.  We will send a small team to help you on your journey.”  David said.

“I’m going too,”  Regina said.

“You are the crown princess.  We’ve discussed this, Regina.  No unnecessary risks.”  Alexandra snapped in response.

“Rex can rule if anything happens to me.  There is nothing in our laws that says a woman must lead.  It only says the firstborn child is the next in line for the throne.”

David placed a hand over his face while listening to the two women argue.  After twenty minutes of arguing, he spoke up.  “Alexandra, let her go.  As a compromise, she will allow Zane to accompany them for protection.”

“But dad!  Not Zane.”  Regina whined.

“You could, of course, stay home.  Alexandra, would that be an acceptable compromise?”  David said.

“I don't like her going at all, but if we are going to compromise, then Zane would be acceptable.”

“Who is Zane?”  Violet quietly asked.

“Zane is an elite guard with access to ancient magic.  While he is only a year older than Regina, he has proven to be one of the best guards in Kasmaya.  Regina is whining because she knows he will insist on training you while on the road.  Be ready for some bruises.”  Rex enthusiastically put in.

“Oh shut it, you are just excited because if Zane is on the trip with us, he can’t knock you around… I mean, train you anymore.”  Regina replied.

In the end, Regina agreed to Zane coming along.  They decided it would be wiser to travel with fewer people to be less noticeable.  Their trip would begin in three days.  Violet was excited.  She missed exploring the ancient ruin she had spent so much of her early childhood in and couldn’t wait to see more of the old buildings.  Her love of ancient buildings and learning about the past had never gone away.

It turned out that Zane’s schools of magic were Earth and Spatial.  He would be handy to have around both as a pack mule and to build them shelter if they needed it.  She didn’t know anything about the other guard going on the trip with them, and she was looking forward to meeting them. Because they had three ancient magic users, the Queen felt it was safe only to have four people going on this trip.  Secrecy would be their best defense, and if that failed, Zane and Violet could teleport them far enough away.

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There were a few things she needed to do before leaving for the trip.  The first thing she did was inform Avery of her journey.  Avery’s response to her going on an extended trip was to have a young messenger bird accompany them on the trip.  Most messenger birds had the attention span of a two-year-old, so Violet was interested to see how this would turn out.

When the messenger bird arrived, it was not quite what Violet had expected.  The bird introduced himself as Rio.  He was the size of an average parrot and looked to be a miniature version of Rasmus.  Black outlined his colorful blue and purple feathers.  Rio did not have the complete rainbow, but he was no less beautiful.  While Rio could talk, it was clear fairly early that he was not the sharpest tool in the shed.  He was mainly helpful because he could remember and repeat any short message you gave him.  Avery said in a note to think of him as a way to call for help.

The next thing she needed to accomplish before leaving was to pick up another aspect for healing.  Her time spent in the healing tents helped her raise her synchronization quicker than she usually would have.

[Magic]

Type % Aspect

Illusion 63% Tier 2 (9A) - Novice

Water 29% Tier 2 (9A) - Novice

Spatial 13% Tier 2 (9A) - Novice

Healing 59%

Healing 100% Analyze

Healing 72% Cure Disease

Healing 78% Cure Poison

Healing 100% Drain Life

Healing 100% Lesser Heal

Healing 23% Regrow - Limb

Healing 58% Regrow - Skin

Nature 1%

Nature 8% Create Food

With the secret of her magic being “out” to the royal family, the queen allowed her to use the crystal in the palace to gain a new aspect.  The puzzle granny gave her inside the mindscape required quite a bit of critical thinking and attention to detail to solve.  The time freeze while in her mindscape was a godsend once again.  She took her time and ensured she had the correct answers before submitting them.

Congratulations, you have received the aspect for Regrow - Organ with synchronization starting at 11%.

To return for more aspects, you must have a total of 64% synchronization for Healing.

She hoped it would take her a long time to gain synchronization with her newest aspect.  The only way to achieve levels was to use it, which would mean people were injured and possibly dying around her.  If it meant people were safe, she was willing to wait to level her healing up.

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Packing for the journey was a lot harder than Violet expected it to be.  The crown was in charge of food, potions, and any money they would need for the trip.  Violet needed to decide how much she could carry and how much of her mana pool she was willing to tie up storing things in Void Storage.  She settled on keeping extra weapons, a change of clothing, and some money in her Void Storage.  Those items tied up a quarter of her mana pool.

She did not pack any emergency food because she could produce it if things became dire.  It meant draining her mana pool, but she was not traveling alone, so she felt safe to do so if needed.  Clothing, an extra pair of shoes, and a bedroll were the main things she would be carrying in her bag.  In addition to those, she packed some rope, a sewing kit, a lightweight tool kit, and extra waterskins.

After packing her bag, she spent the rest of the evening before the trip with her parents.  Her mother was not happy with her decision to visit the ancient sites.  They had talked it over for the last few days, and her upset was mostly because Violet was possibly placing herself in danger.

Her father had been reticent since the attack and his injury.  She could heal his physical wounds, but all of his research and designs had burned in the explosion.  He could start again, but years of work were hard to reproduce from memory.  Violet thought that was just an excuse to hide that the blast had scared him, and he was still working through his mental trauma of being so close to death.

Seeing her father so sullen just firmed her resolve to find whatever she could to help win this newly started war with the Dominion.  There may not be soldiers at the front gate, but it was only a matter of time.  She wanted to ensure they had a counter to the magic disruption weapon before it was too late.