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Heliopath’s World: Ildiue: Jasper: The Arrival of Kestrel (part 5)
Jasper still reached Ash’s bedroom before he did. That did give him a chance to make certain that all of the preparations he been made and they had, so he waited until Ash staggered into the room with Kestrel in his arms. “I hope you realise that you’re a moron,” Jasper said, as Heliopath staggered into the bedroom. “You should have got someone else to carry her. She’s not going to be much use if you drop her on her head, is she?”
“I wasn’t planning on dropping her at all,” Ash muttered, annoyance filling his voice, and it made Jasper smile.
“That’s good.”
“Do you know how this happened?”
“It was luck, but I’m not sure yet whether it was good or bad. Someone saw her coming out of the library and took the initiative.”
Carefully Ash put Kestrel down on his bed and then flexed his arms, wincing, so she was obviously heavier than she looked. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to give out those sleep spells.”
“We need the money.” Together they stood and looked down at Kestrel, and looking at her made Jasper even more certain that she was Falcon’s sister. “What are you going to do with her?”
“I don’t know.” Ash sighed, sounding very much like he wished he didn’t have to make the decision at all. “Do you know much about female mages?”
“No one knows much about female mages.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Rumours are really the only thing we have right now, until Benedict does his research.”
Ash stared at Jasper before shaking his head. “Do you know everything?”
“No, but I thought I’d check Benedict out before I backed you on giving him the job. I think he’s the best person you could have chosen.” Turning, Jasper smiled at his friend and the man he back to win if there really was a war. “From what I’ve heard there are no female mages not because it’s believed that learning magic will make them infertile. I have no proof that this rumour is true, but I know a lot of people do, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s only green level because Falcon believes it’s true.”
“The question then becomes: why does Falcon care so much?”
“She looks a lot like Falcon.”
“Family?”
Studying her once again he nodded, absolutely certain that he was right, and wished that the sleep spell didn’t make it so hard to delve into her mind, because it was the first chance he’d had. “I’d say sister, but she could be a cousin or something like that. She is definitely family though.”
“I think I have some work to do before she wakes up.”
“Yes, you do. The most important thing right now is working out what name you’re going to use around her.”
“Ash will be safe enough. I doubt anyone in the Hollow has even heard of Ash, and I know they don’t have any idea what Heliopath looks like, so I don’t think I’ll have any problems.”
“You need to be careful.”
“I’m not stupid, Jasper. She should be taught how to use her power.”
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.