One of the first things Kedra learned as an apprentice wizard, one of the first things nearly every apprentice wizard learns, was how to detect magic. All spell casters have a limited amount of energy that they can devote towards whatever type of magic they practice. The more experienced you are the more energy you have to use and the more magic you can generate in a day.

  Some casters draw from a pool of energy and use that energy to create a specific effect at the time of casting. Sorcerers operated like that. Others, like wizards, organized and defined their energy at the beginning of the day. There were limitations and benefits to both.

  But some things were so magically simple that a spellcaster could do them without using up any of that energy. They could cast the spell and maintain it for long periods of time if needed without any noticeable drain on their resources. Generating a small light was one such spell. Another was detecting magic.

  How any spell was actually cast and how it manifested varied from discipline to discipline and even from person to person. For Kedra, detecting magic required no more effort than a couple words and a slight gesture. To maintain the spell required nothing more than a minimal mental effort.

  Once she had the spell running, anything in her line of sight that was enchanted glowed. The glow was usually a soft yellow color, the color of the sunlight from a setting sun through a thick glass.

  Typically, it was items that glowed. It might be the ring on someone’s hand, a necklace, a sword, or a shield. People generally did not glow at all unless they had active spells cast upon them, which was pretty rare.

  Occasionally, she might encounter something that glowed significantly brighter. Usually, this meant more powerful magic. And even less occasionally she would encounter something that glowed a different color.

  So far, in the past when she had had the opportunity to examine such things, she could find no reason for the change of color. As far as she could tell it had nothing to do with divine versus arcane magic, nothing to do with schools of magic, and nothing to do with the level of skill of the caster.

  Though the spell was simple enough to keep running, Kedra did not usually do so. It was generally frowned upon and thought of as rude in the spellcasting community, but it was also not that useful. The fact that a merchant had a magic ring, or a soldier carried a magic sword didn’t change how you would respond to them. If you wanted what the merchant was selling you still had to barter with him, and you already knew that if instigated the soldier was probably going to attack you with the sword.

  Another problem was that in some places detecting magic could be overwhelming and distracting. In certain areas of the capital city of Lorenthia for example, magic was so abundant that practically everything in sight glowed.

  Finally, while maintaining the spell took minimal effort, it did mean you couldn’t do much else. You could talk. You could walk around. But you couldn’t do anything else that required concentration. No reading anything the least bit complicated. No fighting. No casting any other spells.

  Despite those usual limitations, at the conclave Kedra had taken to walking around with the spell running. The Cunāe were not known to use much magic. Still Kedra was fairly sure that she had spotted several Cunāe here at the conclave whom she was certain were spell-casters, but they were definitely a rarity.

  Similarly, magic items also seemed to be much rarer than she had expected. They were not completely missing, but they were in much less abundance than one might assume for a group of people who lived out in the wilderness and probably ran into trouble on a fairly regular basis. If anything, she thought there would be more magic per person among the Cunāe than there would be among the citizens of Lycea, but it was the opposite.

  But the real reason she kept the spell running was that many of the magic things that were to be found amongst the Cunāe were not what you’d expect. There was a smattering of rings, belts, swords, armor and the like. But there were also just as many curiosities.

  For instance, near Rori’s wagon there was a tent that was magic. It looked no different than the ones nearby and for as long as she’d been watching it, she’d seen no one sleeping in it, but it was magic, nonetheless.

  She’d also seen a wagon with a magic door. The wagon itself was not magic at all, just the door. They’d passed a fire where a woman was cooking with a magic ladle. A man that she’d met in the market had a magic fingernail on his thumb. And she’d seen a lady, who Kedra was fairly sure was wearing magic undergarments. Though she hadn’t wanted or been able to confirm that.

  When she and Dade approached the ale tent packed with drunk Cunāe, she was not looking forward to squeezing her way into the throng. She would probably come out having had ale spilled on her clothes, her toes crushed under boots and her bottom pinched a multitude of times. So, when she noticed that a nearby pavilion was not only glowing magically, but was glowing a bright pale blue color, she had separated herself from Dade.

  She wound her way through the crowd and focused on the magic canopy. Focusing one’s attention on something that was magic, while detecting magic, could reveal more about it. For instance, it could tell you the school or schools of magic being used. This pavilion had abjuration, illusion and enchantment magics upon it.

  When she finally got a clear view of the tent, she could see that it was open on all four sides. Underneath it there was a ring of women. They varied in age from young adults to the very old. Some were sitting on the floor, but most were sitting on stools and chairs. A few were keeping their hands busy with knitting and sewing but most were just participating in the conversation.

  Kedra walked up to the pavilion and began to circle around it. As she walked, she listened closely to try and overhear what the conversation was about. If she had been hoping for something exciting or intriguing, she was disappointed to find it was nothing more than typical day-to-day chatter. One woman was explaining how she made a savory stew. Another was talking to those near her about the best way to harvest berries.

  Kedra stopped and began examining the tent itself. She tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. What was the purpose of the enchantments?

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  As she was studying it, she realized one of the women had begun talking to her. She was an older human lady. Not the oldest seated in the circle, but close to it.

  “Did you figure it out?” the woman asked.

  “What’s that?” Kedra asked, trying to play it safe.

  “The enchantment. Did you figure it out?”

  Kedra thought about lying or evading the question, but the woman’s eyes were bright and keen, and it seemed unlikely she would believe anything other than the truth.

  “No. What does it do?”

  “Step inside and find out.”

  Kedra took a quick look around the area both inside and outside of the tent and then stepped under the canopy. At least one of the effects of the magic became immediately obvious. The quiet talk about “womanly things” was gone and the area was full of laughter. The conversations were also completely different.

  The woman who had been describing how to make a stew was instead telling a tale about the long and messy childbirth she had assisted in a few weeks ago. And the women explaining how to harvest berries was describing her sexual escapades of the night before in detail graphic enough to make Kedra blush.

  Kedra stepped out from under the canopy, and it all changed back. The laughter disappeared and the stories returned to the mundane. She came back inside, and it switched back again.

  The woman who had first talked to her said, “Allows us to keep things private, even when we are in the open.”

  “It is impressive,” Kedra admitted. “Did you make it?”

  “Oh no. It’s older than I am. One of the women in the clan made it long ago. I’ve tried to recreate the magic, but I cannot.”

  “Do you know how it works? I understand the illusion, but what about the abjuration and the enchantment?”

  “Keeps men from entering. Wards them away as it were. It’s subtle and doesn’t always work, but unless they are determined, they usually decide to pay us no mind. My name is Ovaline by the way.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Kedra.”

  “Come sit. We are mostly old friends here, but there is always room for new friends.”

  “Yes do,” said a couple of the others.

  “Please take my chair,” said one woman standing up. “I see Grant stumbling out of that ale tent. Suppose I should make sure he makes it back to ours.”

  While Kedra took the offered seat the conversation continued around her. She sat for a while just listening. Adding a comment here or there, but mostly content to be passive. There were typically two conversations going on at once amongst the dozen or so women, but occasionally they would all talk of the same thing.

  Sometimes it was just idle chatter. At one point three of the women did discuss a recipe for rabbit. Other times they discussed things that were much more intimate. But they also talked of much more weighty topics like clan politics, interclan rivalries and debts owed and owing.

  It was during one of these more serious discussions that Kedra took up a more active role. The conversation had drifted back to how nice this conclave was, a topic that had come up several times, but this time a couple of the women were debating whether it should have been held at the lake up in the mountains.

  “Well, it’s a good thing it did get held here. We would never have fit all of these clans in the valley. Besides, that place is tainted now,” said Ovaline making a warding gesture with her hand.

  “Hogwash,” said the oldest woman in the circle. “Sure, lots of folks died up there, but it is still a fine place. I miss that waterfall. Besides, I’m sure the number of people conceived up there, far outweigh the number who died.”

  “I believe it was Clan Thraeban and Langstrom that died,” said Kedra. “Did any of you know them at all?”

  “Oh, I’m sure we all knew at least some of them,” said Ovaline. “Winny didn’t you belong to Langstrom at one point?”

  “I did,” said Winny, one of the middle-aged women. “Though it was long ago. Long before that clan went bad.”

  Kedra caught a few glances at her and a few at Winny that questioned whether this was a topic they should go into and so she said, “You needn’t worry about me. I was never a part of that foolishness. I’ve no disputes with the Empire or with any other clan and I don’t wish to gain any.”

  “Well said. Well said,” chortled Ovaline. “Bunch of nonsense. The less the Empire knows of the Cunāe the less they will care about us. Why draw attention?”

  Several of the other woman sounded their agreement.

  “I do have one question though,” Kedra said. “I happened to meet a young girl who said she used to belong to one of those clans. I believe she said Langstrom, but it might have been Thraeban. I was trying to help her out at one point and get her life back on track. Through the course of things, we got separated and I was hoping to hear how she was doing and if she’d found a new clan to settle into. Perhaps one of you know her. Her name was Manda.”

  “Only Manda I know is in Clan Nelbo, but she can’t be who you are after, she’s completely gray, not young at all,” said one of the women.

  “There’s an Amanda in Clan Miya. But she’s been in Miya her whole adult life,” said another.

  “What else do you know about her?” asked Ovaline.

  Kedra described Manda in as much detail as she could. But none of the women seemed to know anything about her.

  “I knew it was a long shot. But like I said she’d asked for my help at one point, and I was just concerned about her.”

  “You know,” said Quee looking up from her sewing. “That sounds like it might be that strange girl who was with that odd man. Ooh, where was that? Nora, don’t you remember? We were somewhere in the mountains. Not at the lake but somewhere else. There was another clan there.”

  “No, I don’t remember,” answered Nora. “You haven’t given me anything to remember it by. A girl, a man and some mountains, could be anyone.”

  “Well, I don’t quite remember myself,” said Quee. “I think it was Clan Mullton and maybe there was another clan too. Wasn’t a planned thing, we all just ran into each other.”

  “That wasn’t in the mountains,” Nora said having now remembered. “That was at a crossroad. We all just sort of met together by chance. We stayed there two or three days is all. And it was Mullton and maybe the other clan was Brisby.”

  “That’s right! It was Brisby. I remember Darren kept saying we should move on, but Yric wanted to stay because he had been a clanmate of Brisby’s when they were both young. Anyway, there was a girl there. Strange thing was with that odd man. I think her name was Manda.”

  “Oh, I do believe you are right. Though I don’t remember seeing her with a man.”

  “Did they belong to one of the clans?” asked Kedra.

  “No, I don’t think so,” said Quee. “They were just there at some point and then later they were gone. I don’t remember anyone saying anything about them leaving and I don’t think they had any horses.”

  “But they came together?”

  “I can’t say for sure. I talked to the girl a time or two and I believe she said she’d come with him, but I didn’t ever actually see the two of them together. I suppose she could have lied, but I don’t know what the reason would have been. Nobody would have chosen to be with that fellow. Made you feel dirty just to look at him.”

  “Ohhh, now I remember who you are talking about. But you are wrong again,” said Nora. “Remember Alisa spent the night with him. Later said she had no idea why she’d done it. Made her feel violated. That was the word she used, ‘violated’.”

  “I do remember that. She must have taken twenty baths over the next four days.”

  “Do you remember his name?” asked Kedra.

  “No. Can’t say I do,” said Quee.

  “Me either,” said Nora. “I feel like I should, but it just isn’t there. Don’t really remember what he looked like.”

  “What if I said his name to you?” asked Kedra. “Would you know if I was right?”

  “I believe so,” answered Nora.

  “Was it Black?”

  “Oh yes! That was it for sure. Black indeed. We started calling him Slimy Black in secret. How did I ever forget that? He was a nasty man. I feel sorry for that girl if she was with him. But I do believe it is the girl you were describing.”

  “When was this?” asked Kedra.

  “Oh, a while ago. Maybe six years ago at this point. Course, she’d be mostly grown up by now. When did you try to help her? Could it be the same girl?”

  “I believe it probably was,” said Kedra. “I do believe it.”