Sworn To Transfer

usual writing tools, sat a chisel and a medium-sized round pendant made of wood with black squiggles carved into the sides. She had discovered the hidden function of this nook by accident, really.

It hadn’t been more than two months ago when she’d been sitting in this exact same spot practicing her hand at the Sahalian script. She could read it, understand it, and speak it like a nobleborn now. But that ability didn’t extend to writing. Stephanie’s transfer skills were great, but they weren’t infallible. Which was why she was stuck painstakingly copying line after line of the looping squiggles that served as letters for the dragon race. And she did it in whatever creative way she could, from writing outside, flat on her belly in the gardens, to holing up in the steam baths of the hammam.

Anything to break up the monotony of repeatedly looping those squiggles day in and day out.

One night she’d been nearly dozing off after hours of being cooped up in the steam of the baths. An invisible barrier dividing the air of this room from the humid, heavy steam of the outer baths let in less than five percent of the steam that drifted around in the regular baths. As far as she could tell, that was because of a protective spell, a layer, really, that existed all around the recessed room. A layer that was slowly failing. The steam had built up enough that she’d been succumbing to slumber where she sat. As she had drifted off with the Aether bracelet on her ankle, she’d heard a curious thing. It had been Sebastian’s voice calling to her...from the Aether Realm.

Her memory of that night came back to her with all of the clarity of an event that happened just minutes ago. Ciardis remembered that she’d answered him, half-asleep, and he’d asked her where she was.

Where in the palace she was. At that point she had woken up from her slumber with a start. In disbelief, she had called out mentally, “This can’t be real?”

“I assure you it is,” Sebastian had replied.

“Are we in the Aether realm?” she’d questioned while pinching herself.

“No...I thought you were close by in the palace,” he’d said. She’d hastily told him that she was nowhere near the Imperial grounds.

Ciardis had felt some confusion. “Even if I was. We could only talk like this in our physical bodies if touching.”

She had felt his bemusement and knew he had felt her confusion.

“It feels like you’re standing right next to me,” she had said.

“Where are you, then?”

At that point in the conversation she’d stood up and spoke aloud. Testing the range of their conversation. “The steam baths,” she’d said while looking around. She was speaking out loud, but he was speaking inside her head. How was this possible?

“Where are you?” she had queried.

“The Imperial nursery.”

She had raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What are you doing there?”

“Preparing for my unborn child,” he’d said dryly.

“What?”

She had felt impatience flow through the bond. “It’s the only place I can find some peace now. Everyone wants something from me. And, well...they never think to look in the children’s nursery.”

“Right, so...”

“Hold on a second,” he’d commanded. “I think I found something. Your magic—I can see it in the wall.”

“You can see my magic in the wall?” she had said slowly. Her disbelief was palpable.

*****

Miles away in the Imperial Palace Sebastian had ignored the slight censure in her tone and looked closer at the decorative wallpaper-draped panels that made up the Imperial nursery. He’d put his hand on the one wall panel in the beautifully decorated nursery which was glowing with Ciardis’s innate magic. Tracing the flow of magic, he’d pushed firmly on the panel wondering what in the world was going on. He didn’t have long to wonder, because as soon as he’d pushed the panel, his hand had gone straight through the wall. Off balance, he’d followed immediately after.

When a young man had come tumbling through the wall of the steamy room Ciardis had shrieked. Fortunately the barrier keeping out the mist from the baths also kept away sound.

The fact that he’d landed directly on top of her towel-clad body was just the sweet finish to an already tiring day. Kicking out, she’d kneed him in the groin and got to her feet, hastily rearranging her gaping towel.

“Ciardis,” said Sebastian in a pain-filled voice, “did you really have to knee me there?”

“Sorry,” she said, “It was reflex?” Another groan was her only answer.

He’d stood up and she could finally see his brilliant green eyes and black hair in the gloom of the steam. She had given him a brilliant smile and backed up a tad. He didn’t look happy. In fact, he’d looked different altogether. Biting her lip, she had taken in his taller form and the fact that he was actually wearing something that didn’t make him look like a toddler among grown-ups today.

Must be a growth spurt, she’d thought.

He had sighed and the rubbed the back of his neck. “Where are we?”

“The baths,” she’d said, gesturing at the steam and her towel as if to say, “Where else could we be?”

Ignoring her towel-clad form after a cursory glance, taking in her curly hair pulled up into a thick ponytail and the gleaming bronze skin of her shoulders, arms, and legs, he’d turned back to the wall he came through and poked it tentatively. His finger hadn’t gone through, and neither had his hand.

“Well?”

“It’s a portal...a gateway between the nursery,” he’d said, glancing specutatively around the room, “and the baths of your home.”

“Why? Wait—don’t tell me,” she’d said. “The Royal Consort, right? The one who owned this castle—she had children.”

He had nodded quickly and grinned over his shoulder. “You’re catching on.”

“I kind of have to,” she’d said with dry wit, “constantly being dragged on one magical adventure after another with you.”

He had turned around and smiled. “Well, yeah.” And then there was an awkward pause. Awkward for a number of reasons that Ciardis Weathervane didn’t even want to contemplate.

“So how do we get you out of here?” Ciardis had said.

“The same way I came in,” he’d said. “I’d hate to see what the rest of your guild would say if I came out of your baths.”

She had nodded and they’d set to work. It had taken them a couple of hours, but they finally found the trick to opening the gate back into the royal nursery.

Flashing back from the memory, Ciardis picked up the round pendant and the chisel. Sighing before the wall panel, she activated the gate. She anticipated the weird, itchy feeling that always came across her skin when she crossed through the gate. She didn’t flinch, and came walking out into the royal nursery clad in nothing but a towel, carrying a necklace and what looked like a weapon. Hurrying, she raced over to the huge armoire painted with the same intricate details of the whole room—a sky blue color with golden filigree—while cradles and comfy cushions and small toys were scattered throughout the area.

Reaching for the smooth panel of the armoire, she realized there were no handles or doorknobs. Only a perfectly oval inset in the wood. She put the pendant in the oval inset and it fit snugly. Pressing the center of the pendant down, she felt the small center depress into the armoire and a corresponding click. The sound meant that the splints of the wooden pendant had extended outward and were now locked into place in the small holes carved into the sides of the inset. With a smile, she turned the armoire key and opened the door slowly while putting the chisel down quickly. Sebastian had explained that the pendant was a childproof way to keep the armoire closed. She hadn’t disagreed. Hurriedly, she put on the simple dress she’d given to Sebastian to stash for her just in case she had to come in through the back way.

Locking the armoire, she hurried to the far wall and eased the chisel into an almost invisible crack in the wall’s seam. Easing the secret panel open, she slipped into the dark corridor beyond and went in search of Prince Sebastian.