Swearing In
No one tells you how to conduct yourself among the rest of the Crux. You can listen to your predecessor, read previous accounts, but at the end of the day, you have to decide how you will fill all the many roles that are required of a Grandmaster of the Crux.
From the journal of Grandmaster Fawn Maitre, previous Grandmaster of the Crux.
Please note that this chapter includes group play, a human serving tray, and free use.
“Hello? Anyone home in there?”
I jerk upright from my scribbled notes, wincing as something in my neck twinges. Cancassi raises an eyebrow from where they’re leaned against the frame to Arlon’s office.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to know that you’re doing that thing you do,” Cancassi says as they step into the room. They must have just come from a ride, their high boots coated with a fine layer of dust.
“What thing?” I ask as my eyes turn back to my notes. It’s a mess right now. Too many disparate ideas, though not enough to form a solid plan off of.
“That thing where you throw yourself at something until either you crack it or break yourself.” Their cane taps across the floor before they take a seat in front of the desk. “I see it took a whole day for you to fall into the same bad habits you say Arlon has.”
I sigh, rubbing my aching eyes. Now is not the time. “Cass, I have to finish this. Did you need something?”
“No, no,” they say with an air of forced casualness. “Just looking for the company of a friend, but I see you’re too busy for that.”
That snaps through my focus, and I feel like an ass. I’m not the only person who watched the delegation leave yesterday.
“Shit.” I set my pen down and give them an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry.”
Something in their posture relaxes. “Me too. I just...” They sigh before saying, “Is it foolish to miss someone who just left?”
“If it is, then we’re both fools,” I say and glance down at my mess of notes. I don’t know how Arlon would feel about the path I’m moving down, but I miss his insight.
“Olbric once told me that he wasn’t made for pining. I thought he was being a little dramatic but,” they click their teeth, “I think I’m starting to understand.”
Hearing that makes my heart ache. Cancassi and Olbric have always been close, but something between them seems to have shifted while I was traveling out east.
“‘A’lynn’ means beloved, right?” I ask, pulling from years of lessons. The history between Kenitka and the Maeve is... storied, so I was encouraged from a young age to learn the basics of the language.
Cancassi’s smile gains a wistful edge. “That’s a simple translation, but in essence, yes.”
“What’s the complicated translation?”
“Its direct translation is ‘the light of my stars,’” they say as they pull their cane to rest over their lap. “It’s meant for someone who brings joy and light to your life. Someone that you would feel... incomplete without.”
“That’s a lovely sentiment for a lover.”
“Not quite,” they say with a grin. “A’marra is the more fitting word for a lover.”
I raise an eyebrow. “‘Light of my stars’? That’s a strong meaning to ascribe to someone who isn’t a lover.”
Cancassi chuckles delicately. “That is such a human sentiment. You all have such an... emphasis on romantic love. As if that’s the only one that matters.”
“According to my mother, it is,” I mutter but force those thoughts aside. It was a lifetime ago that she tried to get me to marry. One I’m very happy to see behind me now.
“Well, your mother is wrong,” Cancassi says simply. “Love comes in so many different shades, and Olbric means far more to me than just romance. Even if we never cast with each other again, I couldn’t stand losing his company. Company that I’m missing fiercely right now.”
“I know.” Each absence feels like a hole carved into the Crux. “I feel it, too.”
“Seems like you’re keeping yourself distracted, at least. I tried to sleep, failed, went for a ride, and now I’m still too crotchety to try and rest,” they murmur as their keen eyes glance over my scattered notes. “What is all of this, anyway?”
Arlon’s chair feels so large as I sink back into it. “I may have made a bold promise to the Queen.”
“Oh?”
My grin is strained. “I may have told her that I wanted to restore the people of Straetham’s trust in magic?”
Cancassi blinks before they burst out laughing. It takes them a moment to realize I’m not laughing with them. “No. You’re serious?”
“I swear, I had a plan when I offered up the idea. But then that plan felt inadequate, so I moved on to a different plan, and then, well...” I groan and bury my face in my hands. “Do you think I’ve gone mad?”
I blink owlishly as they take my hands and squeeze. “Not mad. Stressed, certainly, but not mad.” Their touch is a comfort. “It’s a wicked problem to face, and a bold promise, but it’s an admirable goal.”
“Admirable, and extremely difficult to make good on,” I mutter.
Cancassi chuckles as they turn my hand over, looking critically at my ink-stained fingers. “Good thing you’re not one to back down from a challenge, are you, Grandmaster?”
I snort a laugh. “You know, Arlon told me that he thought it was going to be near impossible to get the Crown’s approval after what my sister did?”
Cancassi hums as they release my hands. “Well, you know what they say - nothing is impossible with magic. Maybe that sentiment is true elsewhere.”
“Assuming I remember how to make it. I haven’t even cum since my godsdamned conjuration mastery,” I mutter, rubbing my tired eyes.
Arlon had told me to remember that magic is just as much about pleasure as pain, and I’ve been sorely lacking in the former.
“An orgasm or two and a godsdamned nap sounds amazing.”
“And you need someone to deliver? Oh no, twist my arm.” Their voice drips with sarcasm even as their eyes twinkle with amusement.
I chuckle, pushing my curls from my face. The idea is enticing, but then I realize another thing I haven’t done. “Fuck, but I need to talk to the rest of the Crux at dinner. We’re likely not the only ones feeling... tense about things.”
Cancassi sets their cane down and rises to their feet. “You know, you haven’t been sworn in as Grandmaster.”
“‘Sworn in?’” I repeat, eyebrow raised. Arlon told me that there was some manner of ceremony when he became Grandmaster, but that’s besides the point. “I’m not Grandmaster yet.”
“Alright, interim Grandmaster, then,” they say, rolling their eyes.
“What do you have in mind?”
They tell me, and I think that maybe they’re right. An official swearing in sounds like exactly what I need.
MY HEART RACES AS I stand in front of the collected wizards of the Crux.
Or at least the ones who are available for dinner tonight.
According to Arlon’s rosters, the Crux currently has one hundred and thirty active and practicing wizards.
Though of that number, more than half of them spend their time off-site like Garrett and Bridgette, or my own parents.
Sitting scattered among the tables tonight are about fifty people.
It’s a high number. Usually at least a dozen or two wizards are out on active assignments at any given time, but since the Crown-sanctioned ones have dried up, a lot of wizards have been left at home.
Yet all eyes turn to me as I mount the dais at the front of the room.
There are many familiar faces among the crowd, though I notice that Margeurite isn’t among them.
“Looking good, Galiva,” Iona calls from one of the tables, her voice light and teasing.
I flash a smile, my face heating. Cancassi dressed me up.
A black leather underbust corset cinches my waist tight, making me aware of every breath I take.
It accentuates my breasts, which are barely contained by the plunging linen shirt Cancassi loaned me.
I’m wearing a flowing black skirt that sweeps the floor, though at Cancassi’s suggestion, I wore nothing underneath.
“I know it’s been a difficult couple of days,” I say, and the chatter across the mess hall quiets. “Watching some of our friends, casting partners, and lovers leave for an assignment is hard even under normal circumstances. I get that we’re all on edge.”
There are murmurs of affirmation. Everyone seems to be doing their best to keep their spirits up, but we all know what will happen if the talks fail. Wizards are protectors of the realm. If it comes to war, we are the front line, and that weight feels especially heavy now.
“I know that the boredom isn’t helping,” I say. “But I’m working on something that I hope will alleviate that. With luck, I’ll be looking for volunteers by the end of the week.”
It’s bold to assume I’m even going to finish this godsdamned proposal, let alone get the Queen’s approval. I choose to be optimistic.
“But in the meantime, I am at your service as your interim Grandmaster. Anything you would need to ask Arlon, you can ask me. Garrett and Bridgette are also on-site for anyone who might need a full master’s guidance,” I say before my grin turns sly.
“But since I’m still working towards my enchantment mastery, I wonder if you all would help me with a spell that I have in mind. ”
There are murmurs of interest at that. I keep a wide casting circle, but I haven’t cast with everyone in the Crux.
This is an opportunity to get to know the people I’ve only really talked to in passing.
I give a brief description of the scene, the kind of play, just to make sure anyone can bow out if they wish.
But for the rest - “I’ll be serving in the library after dinner. ”
As I descend the dais, there’s a moment of stunned silence before chatter murmurs through the room. They sound excited, which I hope I’m not just imagining.
“Hell of an invitation,” Cancassi says, standing to meet me as I reach the door to the mess hall.
“I’m Grandmaster, and I don’t even know some of these people except as names on a spell sheet,” I point out.
“Well, this will be a unique opportunity to learn,” they chuckle.