Dedicated to PaigeyLou for being awesome and drawing me stuff and also being awesome. 

Drawing: Reth and Sianna being super sexy! By catou15 from deviantart. She did a great job!    

15.

Disguised Decisions

When his ser emerged from her room, she had braided her hair again. Sianna had also donned on the new armor which featured the kingdom's seal and the Guard's, something her previous uniform didn't have. The Guard's seven pointed star was also sewn to his own chest piece, but what excited Reth the most was the Leitnant cloak peeking behind Sianna's arm. They were again marked as one with their matching capes.

His ser whisked past him, wordless, and he followed. They walked down hallways and through doors that led them outside where the swirling paths of stones were. The courtyard was wet and glistening with melted snow. For a moment, Reth saw only the glaring white from the wet ice. It was graced by his ser's brown locks that swirled in the air like dancing ribbons. He blinked, and the castle returned to its dominant violet hue, and his ser's hair was back in her braid. Reth frowned, trying to recall the vision. It had given him an odd feeling. It was as if—

The sounds of morning training knocked the thought out of his head. Clangs and grunts vibrated in the air as worn out boots sloshed the snow into muddy slush. It reminded Reth of his own days at the Instituo when he was pitted against other silver eyes until they bled and broke. It wasn't till they learned to not scream in agony that the sage was allowed to heal them. Reth remembered those nights when sleep could not starve out the pain and noise of his gurgled breathing rattled his head. Those were the nights from his earlier memories, the starting glimpses of his life, when his existence was a confusion.  

"Reth? Reth!"

He looked at his ser. She gazed at him as if he was crazy. Reth straightened his posture, disappointed it had fallen, but that frustration didn't run as deep as his anger. He hadn't noticed his ser calling to him. How shameful.

"Yes, ser?" he said.

Sianna's eyes scanned his face before she said, "I was asking you if there was anything Iari told you that you think may help us in finding him. When we were traveling to Caister, you were the one that spoke to him the most."

Reth's emotions were pushed aside as he focused on his ser's question. A flurry of words and phrases raced through his head, all spoken in Iari's voice and unique articulation. Images of his smiles accompanied them.

"Yes," he said after a minute of silence.

Sianna lifted her eyebrows. "Well?"

"I recall him mentioning a love for the sea."

She made a face. "The sea? What's so special about that? Any ships that sets sail away from the kingdom's islands never come back and those few that do appear on the opposite side of the island they shipped away from. There is nothing out there."

Reth didn't answer. He knew what Sianna was talking about. The geography of Dracarr's two islands was taught to all Rhokin at the Instituo. A blue–eyed woman had been his instructor. She had told him about the Isle of Ice and the Isle of Sun, each simply named for the island's dominant climate. She had taught him of others things from each land, but it was only one of those facts that mattered at the moment.

"The two islands are a few days' sail apart. Perhaps Iari has booked passage to the Isle of Sun," Reth offered.

His ser looked away, her tick he came to recognize as the indication that she was lost in thought.

"Goods are traded among the two islands and sometimes the captains do allow people to ride along," Sianna muttered more to herself than Reth. She looked at him. "It's a start. We'll head to the docks, split up there and comb through."

A pang of disappointment sunk into his stomach. He hadn't been much with his ser since their arrival in Caister, and now that they had a chance to be together, she was splitting them up. Even so, Reth stuck out his chin and nodded.

"Yes, ser," he said.

"First though," Sianna said and turned towards the training yard, "we need swords."

Armed with regular steel blades taken from the armory, Reth and his ser walked to the docks in silence. The smell of salty water and rotten fish and the sound of ringing bells and pounding waves guided them to a bluff. They stood at the edge. The city was behind them while a maze of wooden stairs, piers, and structures ran like a river below them.

The harbor appeared like a town of its own. Markets, inns, taverns, and even whore houses were embedded in the face of the bluff, stairs carved into the stone leading up to them. Wooden piers linked them all together and ran like brown snakes among the rocks. The people walking on them appeared like moving scales.   

The piers by the water, though, seemed wide enough to have a dozen horses walk down them, abreast. They branched towards the seemingly endless harbor which held ships of all sizes. Despite their different colored sails, shaped bodies, and ornate headpieces, they all held one thing in common: the black coating on their hulls. It was noheilo, a substance specialized for sailing in frigid waters. It strengthened and hardened the ship against the cold and helped cut through the ice. Though spring was settling into a full bloom, chunks of ice still bobbed on the water and collected on the shore.   

Sianna pointed to the left side of the docks. "You will take that side. Search as much as you can. I shall take the other side. We will meet here on the sun's setting. Don't ask anyone about Iari and don't talk to any Guard members. In fact, don't talk to anyone at all. Just listen. The information will come to you if you do."

Reth nodded. "Yes, ser. I will not talk to anyone."

"Good. Now come."

Sianna picked one of the many wooden stairs that lead to one of the piers. Reth followed his ser but as soon as they reached the bottom, she left him. He turned to his side of the search and only took a few steps before the booming noise of what sounded like a boulder smashing into water was heard. The familiar screeches of panic filled the air.

Reth spun around and saw an orange glow coming from the empty docking area not too far from him. The water bubbled, the reddish color giving it the appearance of lava. A pillar of orange water three times taller than a man rose from the sea's surface. A head veined with seaweed manifested from the top. Four arms splashed out as well. They were spiked and clawed like a crab's. Tentacles shot out from under the creature, curling around wooden boards and pillars as it heaved itself onto the pier. The water around its body clung like a dress of dripping gold.     

It was orange again, Reth noted. He was certain now. He had figured he must've been mistaken before because Jabel had been attacked by orange Magus, but no, he was sure of it now.

The Instituo never spoke of Magus appearing in this color. There is no such thing as orange Magus. 

Reth pushed against the running crowd, trying to make his way to the creature. His hand was on his sword, but he didn't dare draw it for fear of hurting anyone. Cracking like thunder was heard and he felt the wooden ground give away as one of the Magus' claws crunched through part of the pier. Screams and splashing followed.

"Reth!"

He could hear his ser's voice, but he couldn't see her.

"Reth! Save those that fell!"

Sianna's voice literally drowned away as he dived into the water. Reth usually did not feel cold, but the icy water gripped him with frosty fingers. After moving his limbs, though, the chill was chased away. He wasn't concerned with the Magus anymore; his ser had given him his orders and that was his main focus despite the slight dread he felt at leaving Sianna alone.

Reth swam towards the bobbing heads of the sailors he had seen fall into the water. Though he knew they could probably swim, he also knew they wouldn't last long in such cold conditions. He navigated through debris, losing his sword when it caught onto a splintered pole and Reth had to unbuckle it.

He reached the mariners that clung to broken boards. Some tried kicking to the shore but only succeeded in tiring themselves out as they floated, shivering, their soaked furs weighing them down. Reth grabbed the nearest two, hooking his arms around each one.

The warm sensation of his magick swirled within his stomach. A platform manifested under his feet, wavering like a circular lightning bolt, but Reth was at a loss. He was in water. The push off would not be strong enough to jump out, yet he still placed his feet on the yellow circle, trusting in some unknown emotion that coursed through him along with the magick's surge.

Reth was propelled out of the water as if the platform had launched him. The sailors gripped onto his neck and clothes, shouting as they sailed through the air. Reth caught a glimpse of the Magus but also an empty area away from it where he could set the rescued men.

A trail of yellow platforms appeared in the air before him as if reading his thoughts. He hopped on them—the platforms disappearing after his touch—making his way across the sky to land on the pier. The sailors gave rushed thanks before running away.

Reth ran towards the Magus that was clawing at structures. The sound of pounding waves and howling wind erupted from its open turtle–like mouth. He didn't have time to deal with it. There were still other people to save from the water. He raced down the pier but a hand gripped his arm.

His ser looked up at him with a scowl. A gash above her eyebrow hid her left eye behind a red curtain and plastered some of her loose hair strands to her forehead.

"Ser!" he said out of confusion and concern.

Sianna's armor had lost most of its gleam and the sword in her right hand was a broken blade. Her cloak remained intact, though, and that brought him a sense of comfort.

"Let's go, Reth. They'll take care of it," she said and tugged him away from the Magus.

"They, ser?" He looked back and saw what she meant.

Two female Rhokin had appeared, both sporting the Dux cloaks. Inya and Essdyn. Inya was the one that had greeted them on their way to Caister. Reth knew his ser didn't like her. He knew she didn't like Rhokin in general, but he felt Sianna really didn't like Inya.

Inya was the one standing before the Magus now while Essdyn raced down one of the broken piers. She was heading towards the area where the mariners had fallen, Reth realized. She used the broken boards and still standing poles as platforms to reach them but her supply of footings ended, and the shivering seafarers were still ways away from Essdyn.   

The Rhokin stretched out her left arm, reaching for the sailors. Icy spikes shot from the water, encircling the men. The spikes weaved and interlocked together, floating in the air. Reth realized Essdyn had made a cage out of ice to lift the men out of the sea. Arm still out, she guided the cage over the water and away from the Magus, setting it on the opposite side of the pier. The ice melted and the seafarers were able to run to safety.

Meanwhile, Inya was battling the water beast itself, but all she had done was dodge its attacks. Claws whizzed past her and tentacles thrashed at her, but she would step away from them as if they were people walking down a road. Multiple arms would flail towards her, but she never failed to find an escape.

Reth noticed she would barely dodge the limbs, her body inches from the Magus. She was doing it on purpose, he realized. The Magus' appendages darted so close to her, her clothes and hair would whip with the attacks' force. Except they didn't.

A tangle of tentacles launched at Inya. She emerged from the mess and jumped onto one of them, running up towards the cascading, orange water and flung herself into it. The Magus paused and appeared confused, its six violet eyes blinking.  The thunderous roar of a million waterfalls pounded through the air as the orange water swirled and crashed against itself. Waves rose and fell in different directions. Some were even turned around while in mid–roll.

Reth stared at the turmoil, realizing Inya was an energy manipulator. She was redirecting the energy of the water and its waves, forcing them to fight themselves. The Magus was shrinking as its seawater sloshed out and fell back into the ocean where it lost its orange color. At times, glimpses of Inya's figure could be seen gliding through the Magus' torso.

The beast roared its ocean cry and the water around its body froze for a moment. A giant whirlpool appeared over its left breast, gathering all the liquid into a single direction. Inya was flung out from the middle of it. As her body sailed through the air, the seaweed that clung to the Magus' skull flung out at her like spears.

They stopped.

The whirlpool paused as well.

The world seemed to stand still with Inya suspended in the air and the Magus rooted by an invisible force, its seaweed lances an arm's length away from her.

Inya spun to left and the whirlpool did too, the opposite direction of its original spin, and kept going. It increased in speed, water sloshing and thrashing until it looked like a ring of fire. The Magus threw its head back as the whirlpool sprayed out like a splintered carriage wheel. With its destruction the creature dispersed and fell to the ground in the form of regular, turquoise seawater. It seeped through cracks, down poles, and dripped back into the ocean.

The whirlpool hadbeen its heart, Reth realized, and Inya had manipulated it to burst. He saw her land on the pier on unsteady legs. Essdyn came up to her and helped her stand. Inya leaned over the other Rhokin's arms and vomited blood.   

"Hurry, Reth. Before they see us," Sianna said and pulled on his wet clothes.

His ser had been enthralled by the display as well, despite having seen it with only one eye. She had stood with him and watched as the battle unfolded. She gave a double take to Inya before she chose a stone staircase for them to take.

On the upper floor, people were lined up leaning on the railing. They seemed to have been watching the battle below and now that the Magus had been defeated, they continued with their day. These people seemed accustomed to attacks. As long as they were not in the line of fire, the day's activities were like any other.

His ser chose a tavern to slink into. No one paid them any mind when they entered. Sianna rubbed the blood off her eye as she made her way to the back of the place. The stink of fish and salt increased as they went deeper into the room to find an empty table where they picked their seats.

Sianna sank her head into her hands and stayed there for a few minutes. Reth stared at her. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but her answers to that question were never really answers.

As if she had eyes on the back of her head, Sianna caught a passing serving girl by the arm and mumbled to bring her two mugs of ale and another filled with water.

"Not salt water," his ser said without looking at her.

"Ser—"

She shook her head. "No, Reth. I'm not okay. What the hell was that?"

He observed the salt eaten table, tracing the grime and grain on it. Did she mean what that Magus was? Or was it of Inya she asked? Perhaps it was something else? Reth's head snapped up as he remembered something.

"Ser, my magick came to me again today," he said.

His ser lifted her head. "Tell me."

He did, explaining how he rescued the sailors and jumped through the air to get them to safety. He watched as her face scrunched up.

"Reth," she said, "your mouth."

Her words brought his attention to the wetness he felt on his chin. His hand went to wipe it and his glove came back stained with blood.

"I now know the seal of my magick, ser," he said as he stared at the mark. "It is a pain seal."

"Pain," she repeated in a whisper. "Are you in pain now, Reth?"

"No," he said. "My magick is still awakening. The pain comes once it has." The thought of Inya bent over, throwing up blood, visited his mind.

His ser sighed and he thought he saw concern on her face. The serving girl returned with Sianna's order. His ser sniffed the water before dipping her hand into it. She scrapped the blood off her face and eye with a wet palm. Her fingers dipped into the water again, releasing pink snakes into it.

"Reth, don't you think it's weird that another orange Magus attacked us?" she asked, rubbing the water out of her eye.

He perked up at her observation, excited she had asked something he too had thought about. "Yes, ser. I also figured the same."

"What if more come back? That's what happened in Jabel. One had appeared one day and then the next..." Sianna clenched her fist.

"Ser, orange Magus do not exist."

She pounded her hand on the table. "Don't exist! Did you not see what just attacked us, Reth? What had attacked Jabel?"

He nodded. "That is what is strange, ser. I had never seen nor heard of an orange Magus. In the Instituo I was taught of all things magickal, including Magus. I have knowledge of Dracarr's native magickal creatures and even a basic understanding of users but never had an orange Magus been mentioned. Magus do appear as different entities and graced with distinct colors, yet orange was never one of those colors. At least not as a whole where it covers the entire body as the ones we have seen have."

Sianna stared at her mug of ale, dripping bloody water in it. "You know of magickal creatures, Reth? What about the Nayichi? What do you know of them?"

Reth stirred in his seat. He felt his tongue hot with what he wanted to say. The Nayichi Kota has marked you, ser.

"There is much I know, ser. Is it Kota of which you wish to know?" he asked instead.

She nodded her head, the gesture appearing a burden. "Yes."

"She is a stray, ser, for she holds no crystals on her stomach. The type of crystals displayed there signal to others in which clan they belong. The gems differ in design and color and can even bestow powers onto the Nayichi wearing them. These abilities depend on which tribe gifted the crystals, but, as you saw with Kota, ser, all Nayichi, regardless of clan origin, can shapeshift if their regular crystals are touched. However, I am unaware of them summoning any skeletons."

"I wish I knew where that skeleton came from too, Reth, but a stray is she? What would a Nayichi stray want with me?"

Reth shook his head. "I would not know, ser. I am sorry."

She gave a tired laugh. "There is nothing for you to apologize for, Reth. There is just too much going on. Orange Magus, walking skeletons, and a Captain and Dux that seems unconcerned with it all."

Reth licked his lips, tasting the blood's metal, and dared voice something. "I find it odd the Captain released us so easily after such lenient questioning about the skeleton that almost killed you, ser."

His ser gaped at him for a second before bursting out laughing. "I'm starting to think you know more than you usually let on, Reth."

For the first time since he met his ser, Reth was at a loss for words.

"You shouldn't hold back. I may not like staring at your face, but I am not as stupid as to believe you are worthless."

He beamed. "Thank you, ser. Though it saddens me you do not like my face, know it shall never change my opinion about yours."

Sianna sighed and shook her head. "Tell me, Reth. What is it that's so special about my face? Why must you always comment on it?"

He studied her messy hair, the dirt smudged on her cheeks, and the dried blood over her brows. "I enjoy it. It is nice. It is the face of my ser."

She rolled her eyes. Her non–silver eyes.

Reth grinned. "You did say for me not to hold back, ser."

Sianna pushed the hair out of her face. "Smartass."

"Refills, sers?" said the little boy that approached their table. He was dressed in a dirtied robe that only allowed his brown face and a single gloved hand holding an empty tray to be seen.

Reth saw his ser smile at the boy and it warmed him.    

"No, thank you. Maybe in a little while," she told him.

Reth looked at the boy and noticed his green eyes. They were deep and big. He then noticed. The boy locked sights with him and Reth could see the child was aware of his noticing.

"Sianna," the boy said, drawing a confused look from her, "it's me, Iari." He placed his tray on the table and sat on the chair next to her. His chin hovered over the table's edge. "Don't say anything until I—"

"Don't say anything?" she exclaimed. "Like fuck I won't say anything! You're a little boy. You're supposed to be nineteen."

As Reth watched little Iari fidget under Sianna's stare, he debated with his words. He wished to speak, but his ser hadn't asked for his opinion...yet she had said earlier for him to not "hold back" anymore.

"It is, Iari, ser. I can sense his magickal essence. He is in disguise, his magick active, so I am able to feel it." Reth eyed his ser, waiting for her reaction to his outburst.

Sianna smacked little Iari upside the head, surprising Reth. "Are you mad or stupid?" she hissed at him. "If Reth can sense you, then that means any other Rhokin can too. What if the Dux's or the Capatin's or some other Guard's Rhokin had found you?"

Iari looked at Sianna with watery eyes as he rubbed his head. "I'm neither. I have a seal around me." He turned to Reth. "Rhokin shouldn't be able to sense me."

Sianna turned to him too. Reth could give them no answer to why he sensed Iari when he wasn't supposed to. All he could focus on was how shrill and innocent Iari's voice sounded. Even his strange accent was gone.

Sianna gave Reth a small smile. "Maybe this is part of your magick too? That would be useful."  

Reth stuck his chin out and beamed at the possibility of helping out his ser.

"We were actually looking for you, Iari," Sianna said.

His childish eyes widened. "You were? Why?"

"Because the Guard is looking for you. Because a Nayichi is looking for you. Because a walking skeleton might come looking for you too."

He stared at her.

Sianna sighed. "There are some things I should tell you, Iari."

Reth listened as his ser spoke of the meetings she had with the Dux and the Captain. She told of how she was attacked by a walking skeleton—the details which were new to Reth as well—and how Kota appeared, saving her. Sianna explained to Iari what the Nayichi had claimed about him too. "She said you were the key to stopping it. That you were only safe with me, but I don't know what she meant by it. Do you have any idea?"

Iari sat in stumped and silent surprise, his childish disguise heightening it.

Sianna sighed. "I guess not."

"A Nayichi? And you say she is a stray?" Iari asked.

"I told you all I know."

Through the silence, Reth could hear the tavern's drunken talk that mostly consisted of the Magus attack. They retold the battle with exaggerated details, claiming Inya pulled out the Magus' heart and crushed it in her hand while Essdyn commanded the seas themselves to return the mariners it had taken. The people did not know the Rhokin by name, but Reth could tell of whom they spoke by the reference of their magick.

"Iari, you could've slipped past us," Sianna said.

Her voice was so quiet Reth almost didn't catch it.Reth looked at his ser. She appeared tired and the blood on her face accented it.

"Yet you approached us. Obviously you are disguised for a reason, but you still came up to us. Why?" she asked.

Little Iari bit his lip. "I just wanted to be with you guys. I don't like being alone. I was always alone."

Sianna looked at the area behind Iari. "We will be leaving in a few days to go to the Citadel."

His eyes darted between Reth and his ser before settling on the table. "Oh."

"Do you want to come with us, Iari?"

His head snapped up to her.

"I don't care what that Nayichi said. You know what I know about her words, but if what she says is true, then you should come with me. I can meet you in the Citadel. We can arrange passage for you if you wish to come."

Reth gazed at his ser, uncomfortable with her words. Would it be too much for him to voice his opinion a second time?

Little Iari stood up. "I don't know, Sianna. What if the Nayichi is tricking us? What if she's the one that sent that thing to kill you? What if she wants to kill me too and wants us together to make it easier to do?"

"Then think on it," she answered. "I will return here the night before I leave. Tell me your answer then."

  He nodded and took the tray from the table. His green eyes locked with Sianna. "Thank you for giving me a choice."

She nodded back at him, and Iari left.

Reth licked his lips. The taste of metal was faint now. "Ser, was that wise? What if Iari proves to be a threat? What if he is conspiring with the Nayichi against you? Against the Guard?"

Sianna gazed at the direction Iari had disappeared to before her eyes turned to him. "Well, Reth, then you better protect me if you still wish to stare at my face."

The grin she shot at him was the same one from this morning. It was similar to the ones he had seen her give Ser Aldermeck. It was a smirk his ser shared with friends, Reth saw, and it was now one she shared with him.

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Author's Note: I am so, so, so, so, SO sorry for such a LATE update. I got sick with an infection and had to go to my hometown and treat it 'cause I couldn't get a damn appointment with the doctor until next month. I was gone from Wattpad for a few weeks. I did lurk around a bit, but I couldn't stand being in front of a computer screen for long. Though I do hope Reth makes up for the wait.

I feel like I had something else to say...but I can't remember what it was. Probably gonna remember it when I go to bed tonight. Pff...

Ah well... OH wait! I remember now! The chapters are getting...longer, and I feel like they can be even longer still. I find myself cutting some stuff out that I feel may not really be essential--for instance, I wanted to add Lycin and Calera to this chapter--but I'd to know...Do you guys, as readers, feel these chapters are too long? How do you feel about split chapters? I usually write until I feel the chapter done, but sometimes, as a reader of Wattpad, I know reading long chapters on a screen tire me out. That's why I'm asking you guys this. >.<

Thank you for reading. I do hope you're enjoying this story. I hope it's not going too slowly. There is just so much. Seriously guys...I have so much planned out for this story. Haven't even gotten to the...part with the thing. DX Even though this is a first draft, I don't want to mess up on the buildup 'cause it's essential—duh—to understanding the stuff and stuff that happens when it happens. Yeah.

But yeah...thank you so much for sticking along with it. I appreciate it all. <3