Heliopath’s World: Jasper: The Arrival of Kestrel

[k_a_webb]

Being able to read people’s minds would never have been Jasper’s choice. When he was first starting to learn how to use magic he’d always wanted to be different, maybe an ice mage or something like that, but instead he found himself with the ability to pick up the thoughts of everyone around him. Keeping the voices out had been his first lesson, followed by choosing which voice he wanted to listen to, and finally he’d experimented with how close he needed to be to someone in order to read their thoughts. Slowly, as time passed, he became thankful for the gift he’d been given, especially when he’d first met Ash.

On the day Kestrel was brought in Jasper had been unable to miss the excited thoughts of the mage who’d grabbed her. Sighing, Jasper searched for Ash’s thoughts, knowing it wouldn’t be long before someone went to inform him of what had happened. Kidnapping someone from the Hollow had been something Ash had suggested at his lowest ebb and neither of them expected anyone to take the idea seriously, but someone had, so the only thing they could do was deal with it. Jasper shook his head, unable to believe that Kestrel was really in the Gardens.

Everyone had theories about who Kestrel really was. Occasionally Jasper wished that Ash had some memories of the time he’d spent in the Hollow, before him and his father had fled, but he didn’t even have vague memories of his first three years. Some people believed that Kestrel was a cousin of Falcon. It did seem logical. Kestrel was female, so no real competition for Falcon, and yet Jasper couldn’t stop thinking there was more of a relationship between the two of them than just cousins. Falcon, who seemed to care for no one, had done everything he could to protect Kestrel, except teach her how to use magic. If he’d really want to protect her he would have let her learn, even of she did then end up infertile, so it was possible there was some other reason Falcon had chosen not to.

As Jasper felt Ash’s surprise he tried to stop thinking too much about questions he had no answers to and plan for what was going to happen next. Ash was always thorough, which meant that there would be mages researching the Black Hollow’s family tree, why there were no female mages, and anything else he thought might be important. Jasper liked that about him. The only real worry Jasper couldn’t get out of his mind was that Ash would see his sister in Kestrel. Running a hand through his hair, Jasper tried to plan what he was going to say to the man he viewed as a true friend, because Ash had to keep being Heliopath, no matter how hard it was.

Jasper couldn’t help thinking that he’d also see his sister in Kestrel, but that was something he tried to push to the back of his mind. She was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. What he could do was focus on the first female mage they’d had in the Gardens in living memory, because they needed to keep her safe while attempting to convince her that the Gardens was a better place for her than the Hollow was.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

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[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>before him and his father had fled, <<

That should say "he and his" above.

>>even of she did then end up infertile<<

That should say "even if" above.

In this storyline, I like the implication that there's more to being a female mage than anyone is letting on -- or even necessarily knows.