The experiment

The time until the winter solstice went by quickly and before she knew it, Mary was running around the equipment that she had helped Procecsa set up the day before the solstices. They were outside the wall, on a flat part of the plain. The grass had been cut down and a light dusting of snow barely covered the ground.

The area was guarded by grey riders. Not for the fear of someone sabotaging their experiments, but to keep curious people away. There was a lot of preparation to be made. Luckily for Mary, she had already done this a couple of times before.

According to magical theory, occasions such as the winter solstice and full moons could affect magic in different ways. But to Mary’s surprise, it had never been proven, even though everyone used the principle.

Procecsa had therefore designed an experiment to perform some basic magic, that was easy to perform and evaluate the effect of and repeat this during the different beneficial celestial occasions. They had already done the control round, casting the magic on an average day, the summer solstice and during a full moon. This would be the final round, then they would compare the results and draw conclusions.

As Mary now set it all up again, she felt comfortable knowing what to do. Her role was to assist Procecsa and to observe if she could see anything out of the ordinary.
As Mary was done with preparations, she smiled and walked over to the tent the riders had put up. Both Mary and Procecsa would stay the night out on the plain to get the experiments going as soon as possible in the morning.

The tent provided some warmth and a place to write notes without having to use gloves. Writing with gloves had quickly become a pet peeve of Mary’s.
As they were all set up for the day, they enjoyed a simple dinner that they ate together with the riders before going back into their tent. It would be a frosty night and Mary felt sorry for the riders that were to stand guard.

Procecsa sat at the desk, writing, and Mary made herself comfortable on her cot, reading a book on fire magic that Procecsa had recommended.

“Do you think you are progressing with the fire magic?” Procecsa asked.

“Maybe,” Mary said, tentative. “The day we discussed it, I was thinking things over and I actually got mad. The lamps where I was went brighter for a moment. But I don’t know if that was me or my imagination,” Mary continued. Procecsa smiled.

“Sounds like progress. But the goal is for you to use it even if you’re not angry. The magic has connections to our emotions, but should never depend on them,” Procecsa reminded Mary. Mary nodded.

“Let’s do some exercises. It’s not like we have better things to do while we wait,” Procecsa said. She put a candle on the table and easily lit it using magic.

“Remember the feeling you had that day? Not the anger, but how it felt when the magic flowed through you. Then try to make the flame on the candle grow,” she instructed Mary.

Mary thought back to that afternoon. Tenac had surprised her, and she remembered the anger, but had there been something else? Maybe, just as she had turned around to look at Tenac, there had been a flash of something warm and intense.

She tried to focus on that feeling and on the flame on the candle. Nothing happened. She sighed.

“Again,” Procecsa said.

Mary repeated the steps, trying to recreate the feeling. After two hours, she was exhausted from trying to dig into her memory.

“Maybe we should call it for tonight. We can try another day,” Procecsa smiled. Mary nodded, grateful to get to relax.

She was about to reach out to extinguish the candle when she got the urge to try one more time. As she focused on the candle, the flame grew and then went out.

Procecsa grinned and clapped her hands.

“Again,” she told Mary, lightening the candle.

The second time was not as difficult as the first. This time, Mary remembered the feeling of the magic and could recreate it. As she once again made the flame grow and then go out, Procecsa made her light the candle and then make it go out again.

After repeating it five times, Procecsa finally agreed to leave it for the day.

“I just need to send a note, then I think we should get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day for us,” Procecsa said, and Mary agreed.

The following day, they started with their experiments. It was a wintry day. Mary’s breath formed little puffs of smoke. She had to use gloves while she took notes on the experiments that Procecsa performed.

Mary was focused on the process, and the day flew by. Before she knew it was the afternoon and Procecsa was done with the last experiment. She turned to Mary with a big smile.

“Did you notice what I noticed?” Procecsa asked.

“I think so. The pattern we have seen so far seems to repeat itself,” Mary said, excited.

“I think so too, but we will have to wait for a more thorough analysis before we know for sure,” Procecsa agreed.

They started dismantling the equipment, packing it into the cart that was to carry it back to the sanctum. When they were all done, Mary and Procecsa sat on the cart as a grey rider drove it to the river field. Under Procecsa’s supervision, everything was loaded into the boats and was rowed across the river.

“This will take some time. Why don’t you go across with the next load? Get an early start on your time off. You have earned it. I’ll see you in two weeks,” Procecsa said to Mary.

“Thanks, Sesca. Have a good two weeks,” Mary smiled at her mentor and got onboard the boat.

As she got off at the Sanctum, a rider prospective stepped up to her.

“The Lady has asked to talk to you as soon as you are done with your duties for the day. I am to stay with you and then take you to her,” he told Mary. Mary was a little taken aback by this.

“Well, I’m done for the day. Let’s go at once,” Mary told him and he gave her a quick nod, spun around, and led the way.

Mary soon realized that they weren’t headed to the Lady’s private quarters. Instead, they were headed to the part of the sanctum where the senior aari had their offices. This looks to be official business, Mary thought, nervously.

They arrived in front of a large double door guarded by two riders. They announced Mary’s arrival and Mary could hear Tariana telling them to let her in.

As she walked into the large room, Mary could see that this was the Lady’s office. One wall was covered with bookcases. In front of them, a large table stood. On the opposite wall there was an enormous fireplace, big enough for people to stand in. It was lit with a roaring fire that made the room feel warm. In front of the fireplace, there was a long table with several chairs around it.

Straight ahead, between two large windows, there was a desk. Behind it sat Tariana. Kopa stood beside her. It looked as they had been discussing something and had stopped as Mary was announced. Kopa looked surprised to see her, whilst Tariana smiled.

“My Lady,” Mary said, inclining her head in the formal greeting of the aari.

“Mary, come on in,” Tariana smiled.

“Mary?” her father asked, questioning.

“Yes, Mary and I need to have a talk. Could you please excuse us Kopa?” Tariana smiled up at him.

Kopa looked like he wanted to object, but a look from Tariana changed his mind. He inclined his head towards Tariana before looking at Mary and then exiting through a door next to the fireplace.

“Have a seat, Mary,” Tariana said, showing the visitor’s chair that stood by the desk. Mary walked up to it and sat down.

“I will send for some tea,” Tariana said, pulling on a cord. A maid appeared and quickly went away after being asked to bring tea and some light snacks.

While they waited for the tea to arrive, they talked about general things. Tariana asked about Mary’s classes and her training with Tenac. Mary was used to this by now. She knew Tariana was waiting for the tea to arrive so that they could talk about what she had asked Mary here for, without being interrupted.

As soon as the tea arrived and had been served and they were alone again, Tariana smiled at Mary.

“I have heard some exciting news,” she told Mary.

“Really? About what?” Mary asked, making the Lady laugh.

“You can’t think of anything exciting that has happened in the last couple of days?”