Chapter 21

Trae and Kat spent the better part of the next week in his workshop.

Trae only left the workshop to eat, collect items required, make love to Kat and sleep. He had felt compelled to work on the magical items. Kat had spent the first two days helping him clean up the old items before she moved to his other project.

Trae wanted Kat, Graham and Pamela to make small leather satchels for him. He wished to put the items into them. He explained to them how he wanted them made and gave them a rough design. He had kept a lot of his tanned hides, and now he knew why.

Graham and Pamela cut out the shapes in the leather and Kat used magic to finish making them. Trae had been able to teach Kat how to create a small metre cubed dimensional space in the bags so the owner could keep magical ingredients, personal items and their spell books in them.

He then had her put a return spell and a glamour on them so they could remain hidden if the new owner wished. Trae had to make any new items he required and do the finishing touches on the ones he repaired. He added new crystals and any new gems he deemed they needed.

He had also worked out how to make a small, 15cm long wand that could also be used as a stylus, to write in the spell books, which he made for each set of items. Some sets had all three items, some were combinations of two and others were single items.

Both he and Kat were pleased by the amount of work they got through. Each night Trae put a lot of effort into making sure Kat knew how delighted he was with her contributions. Kat was more than happy to help, as she loved the way Trae repaid her efforts.

Trae was just as happy with the way Kat rewarded him, as he didn’t consider making love to Kat a chore and cherished their time together.

Trae and Kat had to attend a dinner party at the end of the week.

Robin had contacted them and told them she had people they should meet. Trae thought this was one reason why he had felt compelled to work on the items. The dinner party was at her home and it was formal, so Pamela and Graham helped them get ready. Graham had insisted that he had to be their chauffeur.

The couple had planned just to blink to Robin’s house, but Graham had implied that it wasn’t the done-thing, so they gave in. They were both a little nervous when they alighted from the Auto. Graham had done his best to put them at ease and explained the general format for an evening such as this. They did wait for him to open the doors.

Kat chuckled when Trae said that he thought Graham was going to get more out of their evening than they would. They were received in the foyer and introduced to their hostess even though Trae knew her. Trae could see the throng sizing them up and wondering why Robin was extra polite and enthusiastic at them being there.

It didn’t take him long to determine that the other eighteen guests were Mages or Novices. He did notice, after they had been introduced to the other people attending the dinner that Carl de Ullina wasn’t present.

Robin was using the night to let these people know that she planned to step down and that Ruby had been selected to take her place. She mentioned the official ceremony would be in a few weeks and their invitations were in the mail, so to speak.

This caused a lot of chatter, as a new Guild Lord was an important event. A new leader always made changes and they wondered what was in store for them, as they still had to abide by the Guilds laws as far as using magic went.

They were all aware that the Guild had slipped in prominence in recent years. Of all of the fields, they mostly only trained Shields and medical people these days. A lot of the teaching of potential Novices and Mages in other fields had moved to the University. Robin and Ruby made it known that this was going to change.

They also mentioned that they’d had a visit from the person who had found new Quaz crystals and he was in the process of getting as many magical items repaired as they could. One of the Mages asked Robin if she had the ability to call an entity to the item. Robin just smiled and told them that the items would be, as good as new.

This news got many of them excited, as most of them had children or relatives that they believed were gifted but had not been able to obtain a magical item to boost their abilities. Many of the fields had also been depleted when the old items had stopped working.

Robin had simply introduced Trae and Kat as Mages who were visiting from Wing City. It was considered rude to ask a Mage to see their items. Most of the people present at the dinner asked polite questions about disciplines and different spells to gauge the strength of the new Mages.

It was clear to many of them that Robin considered these two an asset to their Guild and people they should all get to know. Kat and Trae had both dulled their aura’s to look more like a three gem Mage who had either a diadem or a medallion with a ring. Even so, they still appeared to be strong Mages.

Only half of the people at the dinner had two items, and none had all three major items. Rings and medallions were the most prominent items worn. The smarter and more astute of the dinner companions had decided to treat them with caution.

Those who knew Robin best were certain that the young couple were prominent people even though she hadn’t introduced them with a title. Robin did like her little surprises. The fact that Robin was now going to retire also had them guessing if the new couple had something to do with her decision.

One of them, a Duchess Sera Hilton, seemed to think that she was the most powerful other than Robin at the dinner, and seemed to like making sure the others all knew it. Trae thought that she was rather full of her own self-importance and found her rather annoying. He didn’t know how Vera could be related to her.

Over the soup, Sera had been spouting off about learning a new cleaning spell to Trae. She was going on about how difficult and energy sapping it was to attach it to each item in her house, and how it had taken her many years to perfect the spell.

She nearly swallowed her spoon when Trae said, “I don’t bother attaching my spell to an item. I just put a small crystal over a door or two, and the spell keeps the whole house clean. I can attach my repair spell to the crystal as well. It saves on a lot of maintenance and keeps the servants happy.”

A lot of the people present looked at him in shock, as they knew how hard those two spells were to do. To do it to a whole house was amazing to them and they wondered how he could provide the energy to do this. Some didn’t believe he had performed the spells even though they didn’t get the impression that he was lying.

They were then shocked when Ruby laughed and thanked him for doing his little spells on the Guild Hall. She said that it had needed sprucing up and it now looked like Mages actually lived and worked there. They all knew the Hall was a lot bigger than the average house. Trae’s shrug also indicated that it wasn’t a big deal to him.

He was asked where he got the crystals. He then had to explain that a Mage could obtain crystals in Wing City and that it was true that they had come onto the open market through the Guild. He indicated that the Eagle Island Guild had probably gotten the crystals the same way Robin and Ruby had.

The people present all wanted to know if Ruby would be selling the crystals in future. A little flustered, she had looked at Trae. His wink reassured her, and she mentioned that possibly after the next visit from their benefactor she should have gems for sale. She would advertise in the local news-sheet when she did.

This didn’t please some and they made it known in veiled ways, that they should be told first and have the first pick. Ruby bristled at this and replied to one Mage’s comments, that the crystals were used by many industries and not just by them. She would put restrictions on how many could be purchased by an individual for personal use and by each industry, so that everyone got equal access.

This little statement upset a few more and there were grumbles around the table. They shut up when Kat said sweetly, “I was under the impression that Mages and Novices were to serve the public and not just themselves. Well, at least that is what they teach us in Wing City.”

Trae and Kat were invited to stay after the dinner to talk to Ruby and Robin. Baroness Nancy Whitlam and a Dr Hanna Hands were also invited to stay longer. Some of the guests were suspicious of why they hadn’t been chosen to stay for the after-dinner chat.

Robin explained to Trae and Kat that Nancy and Hanna were trusted by them. Hanna ran their Hospital and Nancy ran several of the local charities that their Novices were sent to learn about helping and dealing with the population and what they needed from their magical people.

Once it was only the six of them drinking tea, Nancy turned to Trae, “You two are not ordinary Mages are you?”

Trae looked at Nancy intently and thought of how to answer her question.

Her question was the most direct question the couple had fielded that evening. Trae replied, “May I touch you, please?”

Nancy was a little surprised by his response but she agreed. She shuddered slightly when Trae touched her. She had tried to probe his mind but found only blank walls. As a Psychic Mage, she had never encountered such strong shields before and she learnt nothing more from him except that he had little difficulty breaching her shields.

While this frightened her, she accepted his reassurance that she was safe with him. She also realised that it was her entity that he wished to talk to and not her in particular. She had no idea how he communicated with her entity, but he seemed satisfied when he released her.

A leather satchel appeared over his formal coat and he opened it. He had replaced his old fanny pack with the larger bag. He gave her a wicked little grin. “This may hurt a bit, but I think if I place the diadem first, the rest should be easy.”

She had no idea what he was on about. She stared at him when he produced the smaller satchel from his larger one. Trae opened it and removed a diadem. When the diadem settled on her forehead, she felt very strange.

Then she noticed her other items had appeared. She shuddered when Trae removed them. She was powerless to stop him, as she was still reeling from her old entity leaving her. She then realised that she had a new entity. It sent her feelings of warmth and happiness.

Trae then replaced the old medallion and the ring with new ones. She felt her new entities satisfaction. She felt that it was a lot stronger than her old entity and wondered how controlling it would be. She got a gentle reassurance from the entity that it was to help her, not control her and her fears subsided.

She then realised that she felt much stronger in her abilities. It also came to her that Trae shouldn’t be able to do what he did. “How?” she asked Trae.

Trae smiled, “Well since I made or repaired the items, I get some say as to whom I can give them to. The entities also inform me if they wish to go to someone and I get a picture of that person in my head. She liked you, and I agreed with her, so I upgraded you. Once Ruby takes on her new mantle, she will also be able to do this.”

He then handed her a small book from the satchel. “You may find this helpful too. I don’t know if you have a spellbook, but this one is a little different. I have managed to perfect a small wand. It can be used as a stylus so you can write your own spells into the book and as a wand to help you focus and direct your spells.”

He then placed the strap of the satchel over her head. “The satchel is also special. You will be surprised what you can keep in it. You can tell it to appear or disappear. Also, if you put it down somewhere you can call it to you and it will come; only you can open it.”

Nancy looked at him stunned by the gifts he had given her. She wasn’t surprised when he repeated the procedure with Hanna. He told Ruby and Robin that unfortunately, they would have to wait for theirs, as he would give them their gifts when he performed the coronation.

Hanna and Nancy were shocked by this news. Hanna asked, “Isn’t the Queen supposed to assist if a new High Mage is declared?”

“Normally, she or her heir can do it,” Robin replied smugly.

“Oh, skat!” Nancy said as she realised the significance of what had just happened. As far as she knew, the only two people other than the Guild Lord, who could hand out new magical items, where the Queen or her heir. “But, he is male!” she exclaimed.