The Meeting

I sat in my room getting ready for the visit to the Vellum Blackwood, I would be inspecting the estate with father and moving some of my stuff in. Jess would accompany us as well so she could bring some of her things that her father had shipped to Terre’s Blackwood. She would be given a practically empty room so that she could make it her own. She was relieved to know that she was going to be able to make herself at home. During this trip I would also be meeting with the gate keeper at the blood alter in the forest. My grandfather drew me a map to the blood alter from the front of the house. I knew that Vanessa’s house was in the opposite direction from the altar. I pulled open my drawer and pulled out the letter he sent me and stared at the part where it said he would like for me to write to him. I had written him a letter that I was planning on giving to the gate keeper. I imagine this gate keeper was someone the King trusted implicitly so I would gauge him first before handing it over to him. Otherwise, I would have to summon a Toxzi rider, and I wasn’t sure how all that worked. I hadn’t really bothered to ask because who the heck did, I care to write to in Vellum. All the people I knew were in Terre besides Burnett, Ellis, and Vanessa. I didn’t know where to send a letter to Burnett and I thought it would be inappropriate to send a letter to Ellis. As for Vanessa, now that I knew the truth, she was around a lot though we hadn’t seen her in two days. Mother said that she had a letter from Vanessa stating that she was working on a tool for the King, and it was of an urgent priority.

I would have to ask dad how to summon one so I could write to him and the others while I study in Vellum. I am certain that there is some sort of process because they just kind of show up. It occurred to me that maybe Toxzis or maybe like a postal service for Vellum and they have a set schedule for deliveries. As I sat there and wondered about that, I had not noticed Jess behind me. She had touched my shoulder and I jumped, “Mother of all that is holy Jess! You can’t sneak up on me like that!” She knitted her brows, “What are you talking about Xan, I have been calling your name. Are you okay?” I bit my bottom lip and blushed, embarrassed, “Sorry Jess, I was deep in thought.” She smiled gently at me, “That’s okay. What about?” I frowned, “You might laugh at me, but I was trying to figure out the whole letter delivery system.” Her face lit up, “Oh, it’s just like the postal service here. They show up at your house at a set time per day. They will either knock and ask if you have deliveries or you can set up a box like they have here.” I placed my hand on my chin pondering, “What if you want a special delivery. Can we do those?” She chuckled, “You don’t get to summon them unless you wear the royal robes. Your family is powerful Xan but not quite that powerful. There aren’t many Toxzi riders out there since the animals are so hard to tame.” I nodded understanding that resources were finite when it comes to the mailing system in Vellum.

Another thought popped in my head, but it would be something I would either have to ask Vanessa about in private or during class. I preferred private so that I could have time to have her show me how to do it if it was possible. Jess cleared her throat, “Anyhow, I was supposed to come fetch you. Your father is waiting downstairs for our departure.” I rose from my seat, careful to smooth out my outfit. Again, my mother chose an outfit she deemed appropriate for such an occasion, she said, “You will be inspecting the estate there and you must present to our staff there that you are indeed the future Duchess and master of their house. She chose a suit that had a pencil skirt, this time the suit was green with a black blouse. She had curled my hair and pinned it up in a kind of Hollywood glam type of hairdo. She seemed to have a thing for making my hair look old school which I am sure it appropriate for where we are going. Vellum was very old fashioned yet new world at the same time. Obviously, they did not have cars, so they relied on carriages and horses, but they had a type of electricity, but I wasn’t studied on how that worked. I would have to ask my father about that since I didn’t need to ask him about the Toxzi rider system thanks to Jess.

It took us little time to get to the portal in Terre and father, of course, went first. It was my turned and the memory of what happened the last time I went through crept into my mind. I drew a sharp breath and activated the portal then stepped through. Again, the world around me lit up and a voice came to me, “My child, I am sorry for contacting you this way but since the witch has suppressed your powers, I cannot contact you directly. Your tool becomes weak when you step through the portal so this is the only time, I can talk with you. You must seek out the one the Vellinians call Zebinezer, she will help you to channel your powers so that you won’t need the tool. You need to ask the one called Ellis to contact her for you. He is the only one who knows where she is. Go in peace child and be safe.”

As I came out of the other side, I had a small purple rose in my hand. My father looked at me puzzled, “Did you have that with you before?” I shook my head, “I will explain later when we have time.” Behind me followed Jess and the handful of men my father had asked to help move some things. Vanessa said she might be able to place a temporary portal directly in Terre’s Blackwood to connect to Vellum’s Blackwood to facilitate a easier move of the rest of our things. Because she was busy, she could not help us at this time. The men loaded the boxes in a cart that waited behind the carriage that awaited us at the portal entrance. I turned to my father, “Would we have time before we inspect?” My father nodded, “Yes, I have some business to take care of in Vellum and then we can inspect.” I asked, “So how long will that take?” He looked up in an expression that he was calculating, “Mmm, well the trip to Vellum is about a 20-minute ride if I take a horse but since this is official business, I have to take a carriage so hour and a half. Why?” I puffed out the air I had been holding in, “I figure the gate keeper would be waiting for me, so I was going to go meet him.” My father inhaled sharply, “Okay just understand that the gate keeper is an important figure in Vellum so you will need to be on good behavior.” I nodded understanding that everyone here is basically important it seems, “What gate does he keep?” My father chuckled, “The castle.”

As we pulled up to the house my father nodded at me, “Xan, you may go. I will direct the men to your room, and I will show Jess to hers before I leave so don’t fret.” I found the worn path to the west of the house. It was a pleasant walk, I got to hear the unique fauna that Blackwood housed. I hadn’t studied much of what creatures there were but mother said there aren’t anything dangerous. She said a pyrio could handle fighting off anything that most would find dangerous and mostly those came out at night. I found myself coming upon a clearing where a stone altar sat and on top of it was a guy who I had called in my head Gandalf because he looked like an old wizard with a beard. I came in front of him, and he rose. He was wearing green robe and an ornate pin to hold it in place. I nodded at him, not sure what the proper greeting was with this person, “I’m sorry sir, may I ask if you are the one, they call the Gate Keeper?” He stared at me for a while, and I started to wonder if that was wrong. He cleared his throat, “Indeed I am Your Grace. I am sorry for staring; the rumors were that you were an unmatched beauty to anyone in Vellum and I believe the rumors are true if you don’t remind my saying so.” I looked into his eyes, something about them felt familiar. They were a beautiful green and reflect a youth in them that the façade had not shown. I nodded, “Sir, I don’t mind but I don’t know about beauty. Where I grew up, I was not so to the others. It didn’t bother me per se but as you can imagine that does put a bruise on your confidence after a while.” I looked down and felt a hand on my chin, his touch was electric, and I wasn’t entirely sure what that sensation was. He spoke, “You are a future duchess, please have more confidence. You will find that many here in Vellum will be far more amiable to you.”

He turned to the stone and sat down and patted the stone to beckon me to seat myself. I sat down and placed my hands in my lap waiting for him to speak. He looked at me, “Tell me young one, what is it you hope to accomplish as a citizen of Vellum.” I pulled my hand to my chin, “Well…Vellum is very important to my family. I am new to this world, but I’ve met so many here that are wonderful. I hope to protect it in my own way whatever capacity that may be. I had applied to be a Royal Scribe….” I furrowed my brow and I found it so odd that I felt the need to pour my thoughts out to this old man I barely knew. He leaned on his cane that he had in his hand, “Go on, I am a counselor of sorts. I can guarantee that anything you say to me will stay between you and I.” I nodded, I hadn’t needed the prompting but set my mind at ease none the less, “So I am guessing since you are staff at the castle, you understand what a woman applying for a Royal Scribe position is.” He nodded immediately, “Ever since the King ascended the throne, the ladies have been more and more interested in the program.” I sighed heavily, “See that’s my problem, I thought my impact would be in that program. I wanted to be of use and now I think I have to have a reputation of being a throne chaser too just because I am a woman applying for a coveted position that is close to His Majesty. I am not the type to chase power, I have always wanted to help. My calling in life has always been to boost and help those who truly can make an impact for others. That is all. I don’t want His Majesty to see me as anything other than that.”

He rubbed his chin, “And his opinion matters to you, young one?” I looked down again, “I don’t know him, but I’ve heard a great deal from my parents and Vanessa. He seems like a god and just ruler. That is the type of person I have always wanted to be of use to. I can’t have him thinking I’m after him or his power just by doing what many other eligible ladies in his kingdom are doing. I think, yes his opinion is the most important, but I won’t know for sure until I get to know him.” I looked up at him and he smiled, “I DO know His Majesty quite well and I can tell you that he would value your service. You just need to ensure to make yourself stand out with your duties and no flirting. He doesn’t like when the ladies do that in the program. Given what you have said here today, I imagine that shouldn’t be too hard for you. You will get to meet him when you are presented to court. Word of warning though, many of the noble young ladies will be all too happy to see you fail at every step. Trust none but the ones you already know.” I took his words to heart and based on this conversation with him, I knew that I could trust him with my task. I pulled out my letter which was sealed with teal wax and panther head embossed in the wax, “Sir, do you think you can give His Majesty this letter? He has asked me to write to him so that I can be friendly with him like my grandfather has been for a while. Would that be, okay?” He beamed a smile at me, “Of course, I am sure he will be happy to hear from you. Believe it or not, His Majesty is just as anxious about your opinion of him as you are of his.” I furrowed my brow at him, “Really? Why is that? I’m just a Duchess in training.” The old man smiled, “Because you are the protector of Vellum, he wants to ensure that she who holds its future in her destiny will come to be friends and have a mutual respect with each other. If you will excuse me, young one, I need to go now. His Majesty only gave me a short time to complete my task.”

I helped him from his seat and shook his hand. I opened my mouth to ask the question that was lingering on the tip of my brain but I couldn’t will the words to leave my mouth so I closed it. He must’ve noticed this because he gently placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “You can ask what you seem to want to ask. I can tell you anything.” I rubbed my neck and straightened my back steeling my resolve, “What was your task if you don’t mind my asking?” He leaned on his cane and tipped his head to the side, “Oh I was supposed to get a measure of you. He isn’t officially allowed to meet you until you are presented to him and his mother. There are ways around ceremony of Vellum, you will find. He wanted me to tell you to be careful at university especially around the one they call Melody. She won’t like you and he doesn’t want you to get hurt.”