{"id":56,"date":"2017-07-23T20:31:56","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/?p=56"},"modified":"2017-07-23T20:31:56","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T20:31:56","slug":"ten-the-perils-of-ones-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/23\/ten-the-perils-of-ones-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten: The Perils of One\u2019s Past"},"content":{"rendered":"

She should have thought of it before she agreed, she supposed. \u00a0She might be stepping into some long-held family feud \u2014 their mountain had several of those \u2014 or maybe into the sort of thing where the city wanted to move someone whose home had stood in the same place for three hundred years. \u00a0Their town had dealt with that, too. \u00a0She might be running into another conspiracy sort like Trinner Tralen, who thought, perhaps, that the city or the empire or this architect were out to get him. <\/span><\/p>\n

And maybe they were. \u00a0She thought about Trinner Traln and the spectre sliding into him. \u00a0She didn\u2019t even know if she\u2019d done the right thing there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The architect\u2019s nervous cough interrupted Raizel\u2019s train of thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you see,\u201d Nadya began, \u201cthere was a time when he and I were – well, we were close, in the way that young people often are, before they settle down into a marriage or a home or something of the sort. \u00a0And he went off to be a wizard and I apprenticed to a builder, and then we came back. \u00a0And we had both changed, and both grown or at least shifted, and he – well, he hadn\u2019t decided to be an adult, he\u2019d decided he wanted to be young forever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Raizel studied the woman. \u00a0She wasn\u2019t all that much older than Raizel – maybe five years, maybe ten if she was careful with herself. \u00a0But Raizel\u2019s sister had gotten like that, too, very serious about being adult right away. \u00a0\u201cAnd you wanted to be an adult.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe <\/span>were<\/span><\/i> adults! \u00a0It was time to move past childhood romances, move on to being who we were going to be for the rest of our lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Raizel frowned. \u00a0She didn\u2019t think Amos or Emma were <\/span>childhood romances <\/span><\/i>and didn\u2019t like the idea of moving past them. \u00a0They might not be able to commit to her, but if they could, if she could – <\/span><\/p>\n

That was a road to walk another time. \u00a0Her road today, it seemed, involved lassoing a wizard. \u00a0\u201cSo you were done with him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was done with being young and in my parents\u2019 home! \u00a0And this place, where the town wants to put this building, there is a very old chapel there. \u00a0Nobody lives there anymore, nobody prays there anymore, it was just a place that we used to go to get away from our families and be alone together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he won\u2019t move. \u00a0And you think it\u2019s because he\u2019s trying to get back at you for moving past him?\u201d \u00a0She\u2019d known grown people to do things at least that ridiculous, if not more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think he refuses to be an adult! \u00a0He\u2019s a wizard, or at least he\u2019s studied as one! \u00a0He could be building something of his life, and instead he wants to sit in an old chapel and pretend to be a child for a little while longer!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Raizel could understand the urge. \u00a0\u201cYou want me to tie him out and move him from the chapel. \u00a0That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all. \u00a0Once he\u2019s moved, he can be put somewhere else, where he won\u2019t get hurt and won\u2019t interfere with the building. \u00a0We\u2019ll release him when we\u2019re done with the demolition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if-\u201d \u00a0what was she saying? \u00a0\u201cWhat if I just bring him with me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t release him until he is far enough from Esteronzerai that he can\u2019t get back in less than a week, that\u2019s fine. \u00a0As far as I know, the Yederya-school wizard cannot fly nor move through the non-space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf he could, he might be able to get me to the capitol quicker,\u201d Raizel muttered. \u00a0\u201cI will do as much as I can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is all I can ask. \u00a0We are nearly there. \u00a0Is there anything you need, Raizel ry\u2019oya <\/span>Ennizaba?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It still <\/span>meant<\/span><\/i> \u201cEnizaba child,\u201d but she found she liked it quite a bit more. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is not guarded by anything, is he? \u00a0Pixies, ghosts, demigoddesses?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have never seen anything of the sort.\u201d \u00a0The architect looked amused. \u00a0On some level, Raizel couldn\u2019t blame her. \u00a0And yet, on another, she found herself irked. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes he have any magical trip-wires, special senses, fireballs?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFireballs?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a mage thing, but then again, I don\u2019t know what all wizards can do. \u00a0And this trip has been strange indeed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A peek over at the woman and her son found that they were staring. \u00a0Well, let them. \u00a0Raizel did not mind curious eyes; she had naught to hide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do not believe that he can throw fireballs; I do not think he has tripwires. \u00a0His powers appear to be sulking and, when he is feeling very strong, sulking more loudly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew a man like that, back home. \u00a0I boy, I suppose.\u201d \u00a0He was interested in her the way she was interested in Amos and Emma, but there was something about him that made her want to be elsewhere, and he had no good prospects, to boot. \u00a0\u201cAre they common, do you think?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey seem to be. \u00a0A friend of mine knows a girl like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy first husband,\u201d put in the woman. \u00a0\u201cAnd this one\u2019s first prospect at husband as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed that sulking would-be love interests was a universal joiner, and the four of them spent the remainder of the trip to Esteronzerai complaining about those who were just a little less than bearable.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She should have thought of it before she agreed, she supposed. \u00a0She might be stepping into some long-held family feud \u2014 their mountain had several of those \u2014 or maybe into the sort of thing where the city wanted to move someone whose home had stood in the same place for three hundred years. \u00a0Their… Continue reading Ten: The Perils of One\u2019s Past<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quest"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Tn4Q-U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/14\/seven-moving-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":0},"title":"Seven: Moving On","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The black-and-blue light danced upwards like a geyser and then seemed to be sucked downwards, towards the books. \u200b\u201dNo!\u201d Trinner Traln shouted. \u00a0Raizel glanced at him just in time to see him jerk away from Esterzon Gorenz and dart towards the idol. The blue-black light seemed to suck him in.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/13\/six-the-evil-idol\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":1},"title":"Six: The Evil Idol","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Raizel was in a plane of white in front of a black spectre, without fifty sed and nowhere near the train station. If she got out of here, she was going to curse Trinner Traln and that idiot Esterzon Gorenz with every trick and hex and lie all of her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/12\/five-pixie-dust\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":2},"title":"Five: Pixie Dust","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Trinner Traln and the round man were, of course waiting for her. \u00a0 \u201cPixies,\u201d she swore at both of them. \u00a0\u201cPixie dust.\u00a0What were you thinking?\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d \u00a0The rotund man stared at her. \u00a0\u201cThere are pixies in that cave? \u00a0And you didn\u2019t bring any out?\u201d \u201cWhat do I look like to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/11\/four-the-narrow-cave\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":3},"title":"Four: The Narrow Cave","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The cave was, indeed, very tight, and if Raizel had been any better fed, she would not have fit. \u00a0Trinner Traln and the round man shouted at her and each other as ehs slipped through the opening, moving more like a snake than even like crawling. \u201cHow did you even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/09\/06\/eighteen-treason-and-heresy\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":4},"title":"Eighteen: Treason and Heresy","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"September 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cNo!!\u201d The deserter shook his head, more as if to clear a bug from his ear than to negate a thought. \u201cNot for me. \u00a0\u2018No aid for deserters,\u2019 I know so well. \u00a0Do it for the nation, then.\u201d \u00a0He pulled a tattered old piece of paper from an inner pocket.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/09\/06\/eighteen-treason-and-heresy\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/25\/eleven-the-diamond-raven\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":5},"title":"Eleven: The Diamond Raven","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Esteronzerai was the biggest town Raizel had been in yet, and it was where the carriage\u2019s route diverged from Raizel\u2019s, whether or not she had been stopping to lasso a wizard. \u00a0She bowed to the driver and, her grandfather\u2019s words in her mind, tipped him, although she had not been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}