Chapter 67

Morgana was not best pleased when we reported in and had to explain the loss of twelve Mages, nor in her examination of us did she spare us from any form of criticism for even a minor mistake. In short it was a typical Morgana dressing down, the only effect of which was to make me resolve to try harder next time.

“Despite the losses, you both performed well as a team,” Morgana finally finished. “As a reward, I believe it’s time for Thea to be introduced to Loegria.”

“Are you sure, my Mage?” I asked, puzzled as even the mention of the word Loegria was forbidden in general conversation away from that world, save only amongst Mages that knew of it.

“Mage Thea is my second in command; Mage Arch knows about Loegria, it’s time she knew. That and I want Rowenna to check her out, use the helmet if necessary in case there are side effects from this venom that we do not know about,” Morgana stated.

“Very well, my Mage,” I replied with a formal bow. “Mage Thea if you would follow me, we have a journey to undertake.”

“I’ll send Róisín and Abi along as soon as they’ve finished their current projects,” Morgana added with a smile.

“Thank you, my Mage,” I replied with a grin, happy in the knowledge that Morgana wasn’t too unhappy with our losses, or rather mine and Thea’s part in them.

“Loegria, John?” Thea asked as soon as we were out of Morgana’s sight.

“You’ll find out, but first please do not mention the name out loud in a public place, Council headquarters or not,” I replied.

“Very well, John. I’ll keep quiet until I find out,” she answered with a wry smile at taking orders from me.

We portalled to Kurukshetra easily enough, stopping long enough to pay our respects to Mage Vera and in my case Mage Janet who was training several of the Enforcement Office’s enforcers in unarmed combat as well as group tactics in a magic free environment. Thea and I had already passed the course and had felt the benefits of our training on Guam where we’d at least survived due to our training until we ran into the Duende theurgists.

Afterwards I led Thea to the old medical wing of the underground complex and to a specific gate set in a specific spot.

“When travelling to Loegria, this is where we do it from, nowhere else,” I stated activating the portal from the glyphs and sigils hidden amongst various other ones carved into the frame.

“Greetings, John. Good to see you again,” came the cheery accented voice of Journeywoman Mage Tasha, the wife of Mage Gregoriy.

“Hi Tasha. How are you and Gregoriy?” I asked after a formal greeting and introduction of Thea whilst I could feel Thea doing a scan and getting very confused indeed.

“We are fine, John. Gregoriy is helping the MAGES organisation in a diplomatic mission to Keltogalla as the Over-master Lord Jatta died there recently and his heir wants to open a fresh dialogue with Archon Joras,” Tasha replied.

“No doubt the cost of keeping troops in Scoterra is eating into his profits,” I chuckled.

“Yes, we think so, even if they are not willing to show signs of weakness. We’ll know more when the initial meetings go ahead as Gregoriy will be able to do a scan for Joras’ people,” Tasha explained.

“Is Rowenna on site?” I asked.

“Yes, John. She’s expecting you both. Please take the portal to the lounge area,” Tasha replied, pointing to one of the portals in the reception area.

The lounge area hadn’t changed much, it still felt like stepping into a warm summer’s day and there were a number of people about including a fair few Loegrians who were there to be treated by Rowenna’s people.

“John, Thea, how lovely to see you both,” came a happy cry from Rowenna who spotted us the instant we came through the portal.

“Greetings, Mage Rowenna,” we both intoned before she caught us up in a hug.

“Morgana informed me of your experience, so I’ll give you a quick physical once over and then set Benjamin on you to check for any psychological issues,” Rowenna informed us.

“Thank you, Ma ... Rowenna,” I replied. “Though I think we should bring Mage Thea up to date with just what this place is, as I’m pretty sure her curiosity is going to get out of hand soon,” I finished with a chuckle.

It didn’t take too long to inform Thea of what Loegria was and why it needed to be kept secret. She immediately grasped why when the explanation for the frequency changing cap came up.

“No magic?” she mused.

“Not unless we figure out a way to make someone here emergent and do it whilst they’re wearing the cap,” I replied.

“Might not even then,” Rowenna admitted. “Artello has designed a small brain implant that changes the frequency internally. Both Dorry and Olmer are trying it out; it seems to work fine even if it requires a Mage to fit it properly.”

“No luck for Dorry so far?” I chuckled.

“No not yet, but she’s trying,” Rowenna replied with a broad smile as we knew that Dorry wanted nothing more than to be able to do magic.

“Are you monitoring them both just in case?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s probably unlikely, but it would be simply wonderful to observe a Mage emerging for the first time,” Rowenna admitted. “Anyway you’ll see them both tonight as well as Ketty and Niras along with a few other friends. But for now follow me; it’s time for your medical scans.”

Rowenna took us to a small room where Mage Benjamin was present and they both began to check us over. Benjamin frowning quite a bit over the details he was picking up especially from Thea.

“You’re repressing too much in the way of memory and emotion,” he told her. “It’s normal enough when dealing with mental trauma but can lead to long term issues.”

“Can you help, Mage Benjamin?” she asked.

“Already sorted. You’ll have a few nightmares as your subconscious sorts itself out, but you’ll be fine in a few days,” he replied. “No issues for you, John. I suspect Heinrich’s dungeon gave you new values in the way of horror and dealing with it.”

“Certainly did, Benjamin. It was pretty bad on Guam, but I’ve witnessed worse,” I answered after a moment’s thought.

“Worse, John?” Thea asked.

“Heinrich’s memory crystals,” I replied.

“Ah...” was all she had to say.

“You’ll have to remain on Loegria for a few days whilst I monitor you, Thea, but I suspect you’ll enjoy your time here as you get to know the Council’s biggest secret,” Benjamin chuckled.

“Callum about?” I asked.

“Training with Alcina at the moment,” Benjamin replied as we stood and began to wander back out to the lounge.

“Anything in particular?”

“Hiding in plain sight,” Benjamin replied with a grin.

“Yes, she’s good at that,” I chuckled.

“As are Mary and Ceridwen,” Benjamin replied.

“My God, John! Just where is this place?” Thea finally asked once Benjamin had wandered off.

“Can you detect our Earth?” I asked by way of reply.

‘No, I can’t detect any planets with humanity on at all, nor any with aliens on come to that,” she replied.

“Look there,” I said showing her a mental image of where to find our Earth.

“Bloody hell! What kind of direction is that?” she asked amazed.

“One that makes here hard to find,” I chuckled.

“True, I can’t think of how anyone not in the know would find it at all,” she replied.

“John, how wonderful to see you again,” came the voice of Mage Brianna.

“It’s good to see you as well, Mage Brianna,” I replied with a formal bow before Brianna gave me a hug.

“It is good to meet you, Mage Brianna,” Thea added.

“A friend of John’s is a friend of mine,” Brianna replied with a brilliant smile. “Now please, both of you come with me as I have a surprise for you.”

Brianna led us through the centre until we reached a private meeting room where I was surprised to find several female Mages sat around a table, most of whom I knew very well indeed.

“Mages,” was all I could think of saying whilst giving a formal bow of respect.

“Hi John, welcome Mage Thea,” Róisín said as the other Mages gave their respectful greetings back. “I know you know all these ladies, John, but I don’t believe Thea has met Mage Imelda yet.”

“Greetings, Mage Imelda,” a confused looking Thea said.

“The reason we’re here,” continued Róisín, “is all you ladies have expressed an interest in joining our group relationship and rather than go to each one in turn, I thought it would be easier to simply meet and thrash out any terms here.”

“Relationships?” I said slightly startled.

“John, you’re lovely, but you really haven’t a clue about how others feel about you, do you?” Brianna chuckled.

“Apparently not,” I replied totally bemused.

“The reason we’re not having an open discussion is the implications of John’s status as a journeyman and Thea, Imelda and Brianna being full Mages. Whilst it’s not uncommon for a casual relationship to occur between higher and lower, it’s unusual for it to be formalised,” Róisín explained.

“Well, you managed private OK. I didn’t know this place even existed until today,” Mage Imelda chuckled.

“Ditto,” Thea added.

“Not many Mages do,” Abi acknowledged.

I sat quietly through this. I knew both Imelda and Thea had feelings for me and I liked them too, though Brianna was a total surprise. I also knew I had no real say as to who was allowed in (other than saying no) and what Róisín was doing was negotiating what the mundane world would consider to be courting rules that might lead to a full relationship, or possibly only friendship with benefits.

“Both Abi and I have agreed that we can allow you to take certain liberties with our man, assuming he agrees, which may lead us to increasing our group. However, John’s position in the Enforcement office and his knowledge of Loegria means we had to allow some of you permission to attend here to be checked as security risks by Rowenna and Benjamin. We also had to consult with Mage Morgana and seek her permission too,” Róisín explained. “So, from today, with John’s permission, we’re going to allow courtship proceedings to commence with a regard to allowing a full partnership in the future,”

“Platonic or open?” Brianna asked.

“Abi and I know and like you all enough to agree to an open relationship, Brianna,” Róisín replied. “Of course it’s up to you to persuade John,” she finished with a chuckle getting a couple of blushes from Thea and Imelda.