The Enclave - Chapter One

Read the prologue here...

The forest was filled with noise, but the interior of the carriage was quiet.

Mikhail was busy with a book, while Tiera stared out the window, lost in thought. She knew that she wasn’t being sent away because her parents didn’t love her. Quite the contrary, since even she could admit that she had grown up extremely indulged. It was just that, as the Destrier Seat of Power was one that didn’t require it’s Holders to be able to use magic, and as she and Mikhail were the first Magicians born to the dynasty in generations (Well, excepting Mikhail’s mother, but she had been disinherited and died when Tiera and her cousin were infants), there simply wasn’t anyone to teach them.

Hence, being sent to the Enclave.

The Enclave - properly the Carrick Enclave, named for the Seat of Power where it was located - was far from the only one in Valencia of course - there were far too many Magicians for them all to fit in a single place - but it was the closest one where Tiera had family ties. Lord Destrier had been born in the Carrick Seat of Power, where the Enclave was located. He had even been the oldest son... and the sole non-Magician.

The Carrick Seat was one of the ones that required a Magician on the throne, so Tiera’s father had been married off for the sake of an alliance with a seat where his lack of magic would not be a problem. By all accounts, it was a happy union, but Tiera didn’t think she was imagining the bitterness in her father’s voice when he assured her that despite having never met her extended family, her ability to use magic would cause them to be kind to her. Tiera definitely didn’t think that such a statement was all that reassuring.

Well, there were still two days before they actually arrived at the Enclave, so Tiera had plenty of time to adjust to her new reality. Opening her own book, she took advantage of the extra leg-room to put her legs up on the seat (a small act of rebellion that would have scandalised her parents, had Tiera still been in thei presence) and wedge herself against the wall of the carriage. She flipped absently through the pages, the words not really registering, as Mikhail finally looked up from his own text. “Do you think anyone there will have known my parents?”

Tiera shrugged, another thing that would have prompted a stern look from her mother. “It is possible, I suppose. The Enclave draws from several Seats of Power, so odds are that you’ll meet plenty of people who have heard of them, and some who have at least met them.”

Mikhail deflated, sitting back in his seat, and Tiera felt a pang of guilt. She hadn’t meant the words to come out like that. At the least, she hadn’t intended to upset him.

It wasn’t that she meant to be cruel, she just didn’t want to raise false hopes, and the sentiment always managed to come out as unfeeling, rather than pragmatic. Mikhail rallied, attempting a casual tone. “Well, even second-hand stories are better than not knowing anything.”

Tiera grimaced, and attempted to hide it. Mikhail’s mother had been Lady Destrier’s sister, the younger daughter originally contracted to marry the eldest son of the then Lady Carrick... until Aunt Rose ran off with a handsome young adventurer. Word from anyone old enough to know the two was that Tiera’s aunt and uncle, Mikhail’s parents, had been madly in love and longed for a life of travel and excitment, but no-one had expected the young noblewoman to actually run away for her lover’s sake.

Aunt Rose had promptly been disinherited, and Lady Destrier had lost all contact... until her sister and brother-in-law’s bodies were returned to the Destrier Seat, along with their infant son.

Mikhail had been taken in by his relatives, even if they did treat him as a nephew rather than a third child, but Lady Destrier had remained reluctant to speak of her lost sibling, and all Lord Destrier would say was that while the scandal of being jilted had been embarrassing, he was almost certainly happier with the sister who became his wife than he would have been with the younger hellion.

Tiera was trying to think of something apologetic and comforting to say, when Mikhail suddenly sat bolt upright. “It’s gone quiet.”

His cousin frowned, confused, and he yanked her to the floor of the carriage as a guard shouted, and something smashed through the window. Tiera’s angry protest died in her throat, her eyes wide at the sound of metal clashing against metal. Bandits really were the absolute worst.

Mikhail tugged at a pendant she hadn’t realised he was wearing, trying to pull it off his neck without exposing himself to view. “Damn, how does this work? Why can’t magical artifacts come with instructions?”

Tiera grabbed at the swinging, miniature sword, engraved with runes. “Hold still, I think I can read these.”

There was a string of runes that was probably the name of the sword, Avinyah, and another for ‘enlarge’. A third for unbreakable, and... there, on the hilt! “Cry my name, and the foe will fall.”

The door crashed open, and a bandit dragged Mikhail out by the foot. Another reached for Tiera as her cousin tried to kick his attacker, finally pulling the necklace off. “What name?”

Tiera managed to slam a fallen text into her assailent’s nose, and he released her with a shouted curse that Tiera probably wasn’t supposed to know existed. “Get off, you cur! Avinyah!”

The sword enlarged to something Mikhail would be able to wield, neatly stabbing his attacker in the shoulder in the process. He let go of the boy with a shout, and a guard ran him through. Several more bandits promptly turned their attention to the two children, and Tiera fumbled for the small dagger she carried, hiding behind Mikhail, who at least had an actual sword.

Amazingly, her cousin did a decent job of holding them off, before he shouted something that made a stream of fire appear from thin air, chasing off another two bandits, before a wide-eyed Mikhail shouted something else that made the fire vanish as suddenly as it had appeared.

The rest of the lawless band fled, and the guards, wounded but alive, ushered the two children back into the carriage. “We are nearly out of the forest, my Lady, young Mikhail. After that, it’s only a few hours to the border of the Carrick Seat. You’ll be safe soon.”

Tiera nodded in an attempt at composture, fighting the urge to burst into frightened tears. She doubted that she was very successful, because the guard patted her gently on the shoulder, in a clear attempt to be comforting. “I think we can disperse with protocol enough to talk as we ride, my Lady Tiera, should you desire it. Just say the word.”

She nodded again, clinging to Mikhail’s hand as they climbed back into the carriage, picking up books and belongings that had scattered over the floor. Her cousin looked nearly as shaken as she felt, and Tiera didn’t blame him. Apart from the Testing, this was the first time - at least, the first time that Tiera knew about - that he had deliberately called on his magic to help him.

Mikhail and Tiera hadn’t necessarily been close, before. The twin children of Lord and Lady Destrier were quite different in personality from their cousin, and the fact that no-one really knew how to treat him didn’t help. A nephew of the ruling family should be treated as just below their children, but Mikhail’s mother had been disinherited before he was born, so legally he was little different to any other orphan. Following the examples she had been given, Tiera had been friendly but distant toward him. Inclusive, but not as welcoming as she could have been.

Perhaps it was time to change that. The Enclave would be full of strangers, and it would be foolish to discard the one person she already knew and felt comfortable around, just because of social rules that might not even apply.

Leaving her books aside, she moved closer to Mikhail, putting an arm around him when he leaned into her for comfort. “What do you think the Enclave will be like?”

Mikhail didn’t miss the obvious attempt to take their minds off the bandit attack, but went along with it, coming up with increasingly wild theories that eventually coaxed a smile out of Tiera. The smile was not as genuine as she wanted it to be, nor did it do much to calm her anxiety.

Whatever their destiny at the Enclave was to be, Tiera didn’t think it was off to a very good start.

If you enjoyed this story, leave a heart, a tip or a comment, and check out my other works, either published at the link above, here on Vocal, or on Medium.