Chapter 6

"We've spoke about this Clarice, I will not be leaving this house. Not yet anyway." I said vehemently. Clarice was proving to be a real problem, one minute subservient and unable to meet his eyes the next minute she is stubborn and stares defiantly at me as if challenging me!

"Andrew, there is no way that you will get the education you need here! You need to go to another Lord and hope they will take you in, that you might learn what you need to know!" Clarice said angrily. Her prim and smiling exterior from earlier had definitely slipped away.

I grit my teeth and clenched my fists in frustration, this was getting us no-where! I took a deep breath and once again met her gaze with my own. "Listen to me very carefully Clarice" I said my voice barely above a whisper. "I am going to be staying right here for the foreseeable future. As long as Mary-Lou is in this condition I'm not leaving." I regarded her steadily.

Sensing the will behind my words Clarice seemed to fold and exhaled her breath and slumped back into her chair at Mary-Lou's side. I nodded in approval of her action then tried to show willing. "If you can arrange for anyone of the family to see me here, I will learn from our people. No one else is that understood?"

Clarice nodded, once again subservient. It seemed every time I gave her an order she would follow it easily but if I seemed non-committal she began to try and dictate to me. That could be a problem if it was allowed to continue. I could see she held the cards information wise, but it was clear that whatever this magic was, I possessed more than her and as such was some sort of Lord.

I Sat the other side of Mary-Lou's bed and noted with disinterest that it vaguely resembled a hospital bed but without any electronic mechanism. For the first time since waking I gazed around the room. It seemed to be in pretty bad repair but clean all the same. The walls appeared to be old stone underneath as the plaster on top was cracking severely in the corners of the room. The ceiling however comprised of high wooden arches which spanned the width of the room. The room itself was fairly big, about thirty feet by fifteen feet I'd guess.

The only furniture in the room was the three beds with metal frames and a chair between each bed with another at the end of the room. The bed I had inhabited sat in the centre of the room and I now sat between my bed and Mary-Lou's. Opposite me was a solid wooden door which looked like it would have been very sturdy when it was new, but that looked as if it was over thirty years ago.

Jacob was leaning next to the door a serene look on his face. He regarded me with a level gaze. His look told me what I already knew, he too felt absolutely fantastic physically and he seemed to know I had something to do with it. He'd seen what I'd done to Mary-Lou back at the house when she was dead and there was something that wasn't quite awe in his eyes but more like a fearful respect. I wondered if I told him now to kill Clarice would he do it? I thought so. I dismissed that thought with a shiver.

I decided that it was a scary feeling having people dependant on you. I knew I didn't have to support Jacob particularly but I knew that he had always been one to be reckless and without and kind of goal but now, there was a fire in his eyes.

After a moment of introspection I decided I didn't mind having Jacob follow me. It was clear that I'd just dropped into something much bigger than me, and I'd definitely need someone to watch my back. There may have already been an attempt on my Mary-Lou's life by this Marrissa who worked for some Lord Sphera. However I did not like that Mary-Lou was not yet awake, it worried me. I needed my people to be mobile. I didn't know who my enemy was but I had a feeling that this Lord Sphera would be trouble.

I cursed under my breath and reached a hand out to touch Mary-Lou. I felt Jacobs eyes follow my actions. I closed my eyes and tried to find my new senses again. But no matter what I tried they eluded me. Merely minutes ago I had been able to sense so much but now nothing. I frowned and searched inside me for the energy which I knew was there. The pool as I had come to think of it, was no-where to be found.

"You're concentrating too hard." Clarice said softly. "Deep regular breaths and let yourself go. Don't focus too hard, just set your senses free" I took a deep breath then followed her instructions and reached for the energy I had felt. I felt it again and got excited and lost my state of being un-focused.

I grit my teeth and muttered under my breath. "this was so easy just minutes ago. It was right there, I just knew what to do and now it's all gone" I was disgusted with myself, how had I already lost the knack?

I heard the creak of the only door in the room opening. I kept my eyes closed and searched for my magic not worried. I had not heard Jacobs breath even pause. Which I realised sounded quite loud to me now. I let my senses go again and realised I could sort of feel where he was, and then I realised I could feel Mary-Lou faintly too.

She was definitely alive, in fact it felt like she was awake but dreaming somehow. I realised that she must be trying to reconcile what had happened to her and was staying in the in-between dream state while she figured things out. There was no other explanation, she felt aware somehow and her body was fully healed it seemed but she wasn't awake. Dreaming then.

With a sense of satisfaction I let go of her hand and stood up. I noted with interest that my knees felt stiff. It seems some time had passed as I examined Mary-Lou. I opened my eyes to see Clarice sat exactly where she was earlier but now sat on her lap was a small girl with dirty blonde hair. She couldn't have been any older than eight or nine at the most, she was thin and seemed small for her age but her eyes were bright with youthful curiosity and intelligence.

I smiled at her and was rewarded with a thousand watt smile that would brighten up anyone's day. She did not however speak, which was unusual for a child of her age. It seemed even the children had this subservient attitude like Clarice and Marissa had possessed. Curious.

I turned to regard Jacob, he looked at me expectantly and his eyes briefly flickered to Mary-Lou. I smiled wearily and nodded. He seemed to understand that she was okay and nodded his approval then went back to regarding me steadily.