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tamingthemuseTitle: Firelight
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Quaestor
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: Julia’s magic get her into an unsavory situation. Cont.
She woke up with the book crumpled under her stomach and a red mark where the corner of the cover was stabbing her all night. She rubbed the pain away and remembered what she had read the night before.
She flipped through the heavy book again and scowled at the words written within. According to the book, long ago, too many years to matter, the magic users on earth began to be hunted by non magic users. They were out numbered and felt that it was better to retreat rather than fight. Fire mages had developed a spell that would open a portal into another world. Mages from all over the empire stepped through the fire circles and left earth to humans without magic.
This world was populated with magic uses and their offspring only.
Magic was the normal here. This world was parallel to Earth as well, and she, as a fire magic user, could open the portal and leave at any time. If only she knew the spell.
She flipped through the book some more and found nothing on fire mages after the initial spells preformed. The book said that the fire mages had to stay behind to hold open the portals. None made it to this world, and none had been born since. Except for on Earth.
She was the first fire mage to exist to these people in nearly two thousand years. She tossed the old parchment book onto the bed and stood, her toes curling at the cold. Her pants were torn at the hems and her shirt wasn’t enough to keep out the chill, but she ignored it all in favor of searching the map room.
She opened the door and squinted in the bright light filling the room. At the desk, Merius bent over the maps with yet another stranger. They both looked up when she arrived. The stranger straightened and leered at her. She glared at him as she walked toward the bookcase.
Merius also straightened and motioned for the man to leave. He quickly did so and left the two of them in the room. She picked up a bit of art laying on the bookcase and rolled it in her hands. Maybe she should have just left when she saw the two of them here. She really needed to work on her stubbornness. Her mother had always warned her.
She heard him approach and she tensed when he came up behind her. He selected a book and opened it, his other arm coming around her to hold the book open. He lowered his face until his breath was fanning her cheek.
“This book is about war strategy. Does that interest you, Firefly?” He flipped through the pages. “Here, why don’t you read this? It’s captivating how the general managed to win this battle.”
She pushed against his arms, but he wasn’t letting her leave. “Does it not interest you? What about this book?” He reached for another. “This one is about the history of the Caecina House. Don’t you want to learn all about the house to which you belong?”
Julia refused to look at the books. He put that one away and stepped away. She hadn’t noticed that the other man had returned with the book she had been reading the night before. It was given to Merius and she let her shoulders drop. He knew.
“Our history is quite interesting, don’t you agree? But now you know all about our past. What do you want to learn next, Firefly?” He sat at the desk as the other man left again, closing the door behind him.
Julia turned away from him, looking over the books lining the shelves of the bookcase. There were maybe five books as she knew them, each one heavy and hand made. There were dozens upon dozens of scrolls, though.
“The game’s up, firefly. No use pretending anymore.”
She spun about to face him, her hands folded over her chest. “Really?” She said in English still. “I would think that you would want mo to continue to pretend that I can’t speak your language so that I’ll be even more use to you as a spy.”
Of course, he could only pick out a few words that sounded similar to his own, but she didn’t care. He sighed heavily and set the book on the table. “You make me very angry, Firefly.”
“And you annoy me, Roman.” She turned her back on him, picked a scroll at random and quit the room. She didn’t run, but she did walk very fast back to her room. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her.
So he knew she understood his language. Well, there was no hope for it.
She sat at the bed and unrolled the scroll. It looked to be a report on farming revenue. She scowled and tossed it aside.
She rubbed at her shoulders, feeling the ache of always being tense when around these people. She wanted to go home and pretend this was all just a bad dream. She pinched the skin on the back of her hand and mumbled a curse at the pain.
She really was still here. Closing her eyes, Julia tried to slow the rapid beating of her heart. While she was trying to calm herself, a soft knock on the door announced the presence of the servant girl from the day before. She girl swept into the room and shooed her out. Julia went back out into the walkway and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen just as her stomach growled and the blonde in the kitchen smiled gently.
“Here, you go, dear, eat up.” She put a bowl of porridge on the table next to a loaf of flat bread. Bemoaning the lack of pancakes and maple syrup, Julia sat and forced herself to eat the flavorful meal. Once finished, the woman pointed out the door. “There’s a tailor out there waiting for you. You’ll need better clothes than that to last you through the winter. I have to wonder what the weather’s like out there near the borderlands, if you dress like that so close to winter.”
Smiling, her thanks, Julia left the kitchen just as Merius was passing by. She thought about hiding in the doorway until he passed, but he spotted her right away and grabbed her by her elbow. “Come along, there’s much to be done today.”
He led her to another room, this one filled with low couches and even a stove to chase away the chill. She shrugged off his hold when she saw that there was an old man with an equally old woman waiting for them. There were bolts of cloth lining a table, the colors as vibrant as the city had been.
Merius came to stand right behind her, his presence overpowering, his hands resting on her shoulders. “I want her dressed in your best. She must outshine all others.”
The couple bowed, and then the man asked, “Do you want her in your house colors, sir?”
Merius hesitated a moment before he nodded. “I do. Let everybody know that she’s mine.” He looked down at her, a smug smile playing about his lips. “Isn’t that right, Firefly? You belong to me.”
Julia clenched her jaw and glared at him, but didn’t speak.
He let his hands trail down her arms, his fingertips only just touching her skin and she couldn’t hold back a shiver. He grinned, then turned away and left the room. “Send for me once she’s properly dressed.”
Julia shot a glare at his retreating back, then whipped around to see the old woman approaching. “Take off your clothes, girl, we must hurry.”
Julia shook her head and backed away. There was no way. The old woman followed her and gulped at the look in her eyes. Things weren’t going to end well.
A bit later, Julia found herself in a stolla of dark blue and trimmed in red. Around her waist and over her shoulder was a loose sash of a lighter blue and her hair was being tisked over. The woman had summoned help and they combed and pulled at her hair until Julia’s eyes watered. She cursed at them and they cursed at her hair until they finally tamed it into some complex knot at the base of her skull. Twin curls bounced at each side of her face, framing her strained smile.
Shoes of soft fur were provided and she gratefully slipped into them. They left her alone, then, promising more outfits by the end of the week. She smiled when they left, waving happily, hoping never to see them again.
As she followed them out the door, Merius was approaching the man from his office. The man was carrying a handful of books and was frowning mightily. The frown only grew when he laid eyes upon Julia.
“If you insist upon dressing her like she’s a freewoman, you’re going to run up quite a bill.”
Merius’ eyes roamed up and down Julia’s body and she instinctively warped her arms over her chest. She reverted to a glare. He smiled. “But well worth it, don’t you think? Firefly, come,” he held out his hand toward her. “I have a desire to see you in jewels.” Julia rolled her eyes.
She turned to walk back into the room and he reached out and snagged her by her elbow before she could make it too far. She made a low noise in the back of her throat, similar to Merius’ irritated noises he made so often around her.
He chuckled and pulled her along with him as he and his aide left the courtyard and entered yet another room. At the door, Julia stopped dead and gaped at the display of riches. There were weapons of all sort covering the walls and cases of armors lining the walls. Thick carpets made of wool and delicate threading padded the floor. What really held her attention though, was the case that was laid open, filled with jewelry. She slowly walked toward it and felt Merius’ grip drop from her elbow.
The gold was wonderfully worked, set with ambers, jades and even sapphires and rubies and emeralds. She dared to touch a finger to a particular piece then turned to face Merius. She shook her head. She could never wear anything like that. Of course, he ignored her and reached past her to select a piece himself.
He grabbed her wrist and slid on a bracelet that tightened around her upper arm. She frowned down at it. His hand shot out to stop her from removing it. “Leave it, Firefly.”
He pulled out a necklace. He let her look at it only a moment before he placed it over her head. The thick chain framed a small sapphire and let it settle in the hollow of her throat. He brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “You understand, don’t you, Firefly. I want everybody to notice you. I want men to want you and women to be jealous of you.”
“You’re a pig,” she said without thinking, slipping into Latin.
Instantly, a huge grin split his face. She flushed and cursed. He pulled her close, his arm around her waist. He pointed to the man still standing in the doorway. “He heard you speak. I have a witness.”
She gave Merius an unimpressed look. His eyes were twinkling with mirth as he looked down at her. He was quite something, she thought, unable to keep a smile from her lips.
“Who is he?”
His smile turned to a smirk at her Latin. “My scribe. He’s going to estimate your worth and report it to the treasury. Insurance, you know.”
She shoved away from him and stalked out the door. As she left, she heard him chuckle. “Do you think if she burnt my house down, the quaestor will accept an application for help to rebuild with funds from the treasury?” he asked in a jocoserious tone.
She didn’t hear the response, but she had another goal in mind rather than eavesdropping. She lightly skipped up the stairs and back into the now empty office. She went right to the book shelf and pulled scrolls out of their holes and unrolled them, one at a time, on the table, over the maps.
There was nothing of interest to her in them. She turned back to the books and pulled one out, nearly dropping it when it turned out to be heavier than she had suspected. Grasping it in two hands, she set it on the table and frowned over the faded ink. It appeared to be a work on the Night Terrors.
Beasts, dark in appearance and awake only at night. They lived toward the north of the cities of the Empire. They feasted on human meat. Stomach curling, Julia wondered if this city was anywhere near the edge of the empire. She worried her bottom lip and looked up at the crack in the window shutters. She took a deep breath and shook her head. If she could get back home, then she would never have to worry about such a thing as black beast with giant claws and deadly teeth.
Or whatever they looked like.
She pulled another book and then another. It was the third book that proved helpful. She grinned and ran her finger down the pages as she quickly skimmed the spells written out. Her heart pounded in her chest as she found some that she recognized.
She slammed the book closed and ferreted it away in her room. She tucked it under the bed and looked out the door, having a feeling that Merius was going to be calling for her soon. It always seemed to work that way, didn’t it?
Indeed, she found him standing next to the pool, still speaking with his scribe. She leaned over the rail and watched him. She didn’t understand him at all. One moment he was a warrior, then the next he was as engaging as a charming prince who belonged in fairytales. He felt her gaze on him and looked up at her.
“Where’s Dymitr?”
She saw his body tense. His hand fisted around the hold he hand on his sash. “He is tending to his own family, Firefly. Forget him, you’ll not meet with him again for quite some time.”
She frowned in confusion. Was he angry that she asked about him? Then she remembered his comment before they arrived to the villa the day before. He was jealous. She grinned winningly and spun away, back into the room.
At least it gave him some of his own back. She plopped down on the bed and began reading.
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Quaestor
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: Julia’s magic get her into an unsavory situation. Cont.
She woke up with the book crumpled under her stomach and a red mark where the corner of the cover was stabbing her all night. She rubbed the pain away and remembered what she had read the night before.
She flipped through the heavy book again and scowled at the words written within. According to the book, long ago, too many years to matter, the magic users on earth began to be hunted by non magic users. They were out numbered and felt that it was better to retreat rather than fight. Fire mages had developed a spell that would open a portal into another world. Mages from all over the empire stepped through the fire circles and left earth to humans without magic.
This world was populated with magic uses and their offspring only.
Magic was the normal here. This world was parallel to Earth as well, and she, as a fire magic user, could open the portal and leave at any time. If only she knew the spell.
She flipped through the book some more and found nothing on fire mages after the initial spells preformed. The book said that the fire mages had to stay behind to hold open the portals. None made it to this world, and none had been born since. Except for on Earth.
She was the first fire mage to exist to these people in nearly two thousand years. She tossed the old parchment book onto the bed and stood, her toes curling at the cold. Her pants were torn at the hems and her shirt wasn’t enough to keep out the chill, but she ignored it all in favor of searching the map room.
She opened the door and squinted in the bright light filling the room. At the desk, Merius bent over the maps with yet another stranger. They both looked up when she arrived. The stranger straightened and leered at her. She glared at him as she walked toward the bookcase.
Merius also straightened and motioned for the man to leave. He quickly did so and left the two of them in the room. She picked up a bit of art laying on the bookcase and rolled it in her hands. Maybe she should have just left when she saw the two of them here. She really needed to work on her stubbornness. Her mother had always warned her.
She heard him approach and she tensed when he came up behind her. He selected a book and opened it, his other arm coming around her to hold the book open. He lowered his face until his breath was fanning her cheek.
“This book is about war strategy. Does that interest you, Firefly?” He flipped through the pages. “Here, why don’t you read this? It’s captivating how the general managed to win this battle.”
She pushed against his arms, but he wasn’t letting her leave. “Does it not interest you? What about this book?” He reached for another. “This one is about the history of the Caecina House. Don’t you want to learn all about the house to which you belong?”
Julia refused to look at the books. He put that one away and stepped away. She hadn’t noticed that the other man had returned with the book she had been reading the night before. It was given to Merius and she let her shoulders drop. He knew.
“Our history is quite interesting, don’t you agree? But now you know all about our past. What do you want to learn next, Firefly?” He sat at the desk as the other man left again, closing the door behind him.
Julia turned away from him, looking over the books lining the shelves of the bookcase. There were maybe five books as she knew them, each one heavy and hand made. There were dozens upon dozens of scrolls, though.
“The game’s up, firefly. No use pretending anymore.”
She spun about to face him, her hands folded over her chest. “Really?” She said in English still. “I would think that you would want mo to continue to pretend that I can’t speak your language so that I’ll be even more use to you as a spy.”
Of course, he could only pick out a few words that sounded similar to his own, but she didn’t care. He sighed heavily and set the book on the table. “You make me very angry, Firefly.”
“And you annoy me, Roman.” She turned her back on him, picked a scroll at random and quit the room. She didn’t run, but she did walk very fast back to her room. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her.
So he knew she understood his language. Well, there was no hope for it.
She sat at the bed and unrolled the scroll. It looked to be a report on farming revenue. She scowled and tossed it aside.
She rubbed at her shoulders, feeling the ache of always being tense when around these people. She wanted to go home and pretend this was all just a bad dream. She pinched the skin on the back of her hand and mumbled a curse at the pain.
She really was still here. Closing her eyes, Julia tried to slow the rapid beating of her heart. While she was trying to calm herself, a soft knock on the door announced the presence of the servant girl from the day before. She girl swept into the room and shooed her out. Julia went back out into the walkway and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen just as her stomach growled and the blonde in the kitchen smiled gently.
“Here, you go, dear, eat up.” She put a bowl of porridge on the table next to a loaf of flat bread. Bemoaning the lack of pancakes and maple syrup, Julia sat and forced herself to eat the flavorful meal. Once finished, the woman pointed out the door. “There’s a tailor out there waiting for you. You’ll need better clothes than that to last you through the winter. I have to wonder what the weather’s like out there near the borderlands, if you dress like that so close to winter.”
Smiling, her thanks, Julia left the kitchen just as Merius was passing by. She thought about hiding in the doorway until he passed, but he spotted her right away and grabbed her by her elbow. “Come along, there’s much to be done today.”
He led her to another room, this one filled with low couches and even a stove to chase away the chill. She shrugged off his hold when she saw that there was an old man with an equally old woman waiting for them. There were bolts of cloth lining a table, the colors as vibrant as the city had been.
Merius came to stand right behind her, his presence overpowering, his hands resting on her shoulders. “I want her dressed in your best. She must outshine all others.”
The couple bowed, and then the man asked, “Do you want her in your house colors, sir?”
Merius hesitated a moment before he nodded. “I do. Let everybody know that she’s mine.” He looked down at her, a smug smile playing about his lips. “Isn’t that right, Firefly? You belong to me.”
Julia clenched her jaw and glared at him, but didn’t speak.
He let his hands trail down her arms, his fingertips only just touching her skin and she couldn’t hold back a shiver. He grinned, then turned away and left the room. “Send for me once she’s properly dressed.”
Julia shot a glare at his retreating back, then whipped around to see the old woman approaching. “Take off your clothes, girl, we must hurry.”
Julia shook her head and backed away. There was no way. The old woman followed her and gulped at the look in her eyes. Things weren’t going to end well.
A bit later, Julia found herself in a stolla of dark blue and trimmed in red. Around her waist and over her shoulder was a loose sash of a lighter blue and her hair was being tisked over. The woman had summoned help and they combed and pulled at her hair until Julia’s eyes watered. She cursed at them and they cursed at her hair until they finally tamed it into some complex knot at the base of her skull. Twin curls bounced at each side of her face, framing her strained smile.
Shoes of soft fur were provided and she gratefully slipped into them. They left her alone, then, promising more outfits by the end of the week. She smiled when they left, waving happily, hoping never to see them again.
As she followed them out the door, Merius was approaching the man from his office. The man was carrying a handful of books and was frowning mightily. The frown only grew when he laid eyes upon Julia.
“If you insist upon dressing her like she’s a freewoman, you’re going to run up quite a bill.”
Merius’ eyes roamed up and down Julia’s body and she instinctively warped her arms over her chest. She reverted to a glare. He smiled. “But well worth it, don’t you think? Firefly, come,” he held out his hand toward her. “I have a desire to see you in jewels.” Julia rolled her eyes.
She turned to walk back into the room and he reached out and snagged her by her elbow before she could make it too far. She made a low noise in the back of her throat, similar to Merius’ irritated noises he made so often around her.
He chuckled and pulled her along with him as he and his aide left the courtyard and entered yet another room. At the door, Julia stopped dead and gaped at the display of riches. There were weapons of all sort covering the walls and cases of armors lining the walls. Thick carpets made of wool and delicate threading padded the floor. What really held her attention though, was the case that was laid open, filled with jewelry. She slowly walked toward it and felt Merius’ grip drop from her elbow.
The gold was wonderfully worked, set with ambers, jades and even sapphires and rubies and emeralds. She dared to touch a finger to a particular piece then turned to face Merius. She shook her head. She could never wear anything like that. Of course, he ignored her and reached past her to select a piece himself.
He grabbed her wrist and slid on a bracelet that tightened around her upper arm. She frowned down at it. His hand shot out to stop her from removing it. “Leave it, Firefly.”
He pulled out a necklace. He let her look at it only a moment before he placed it over her head. The thick chain framed a small sapphire and let it settle in the hollow of her throat. He brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “You understand, don’t you, Firefly. I want everybody to notice you. I want men to want you and women to be jealous of you.”
“You’re a pig,” she said without thinking, slipping into Latin.
Instantly, a huge grin split his face. She flushed and cursed. He pulled her close, his arm around her waist. He pointed to the man still standing in the doorway. “He heard you speak. I have a witness.”
She gave Merius an unimpressed look. His eyes were twinkling with mirth as he looked down at her. He was quite something, she thought, unable to keep a smile from her lips.
“Who is he?”
His smile turned to a smirk at her Latin. “My scribe. He’s going to estimate your worth and report it to the treasury. Insurance, you know.”
She shoved away from him and stalked out the door. As she left, she heard him chuckle. “Do you think if she burnt my house down, the quaestor will accept an application for help to rebuild with funds from the treasury?” he asked in a jocoserious tone.
She didn’t hear the response, but she had another goal in mind rather than eavesdropping. She lightly skipped up the stairs and back into the now empty office. She went right to the book shelf and pulled scrolls out of their holes and unrolled them, one at a time, on the table, over the maps.
There was nothing of interest to her in them. She turned back to the books and pulled one out, nearly dropping it when it turned out to be heavier than she had suspected. Grasping it in two hands, she set it on the table and frowned over the faded ink. It appeared to be a work on the Night Terrors.
Beasts, dark in appearance and awake only at night. They lived toward the north of the cities of the Empire. They feasted on human meat. Stomach curling, Julia wondered if this city was anywhere near the edge of the empire. She worried her bottom lip and looked up at the crack in the window shutters. She took a deep breath and shook her head. If she could get back home, then she would never have to worry about such a thing as black beast with giant claws and deadly teeth.
Or whatever they looked like.
She pulled another book and then another. It was the third book that proved helpful. She grinned and ran her finger down the pages as she quickly skimmed the spells written out. Her heart pounded in her chest as she found some that she recognized.
She slammed the book closed and ferreted it away in her room. She tucked it under the bed and looked out the door, having a feeling that Merius was going to be calling for her soon. It always seemed to work that way, didn’t it?
Indeed, she found him standing next to the pool, still speaking with his scribe. She leaned over the rail and watched him. She didn’t understand him at all. One moment he was a warrior, then the next he was as engaging as a charming prince who belonged in fairytales. He felt her gaze on him and looked up at her.
“Where’s Dymitr?”
She saw his body tense. His hand fisted around the hold he hand on his sash. “He is tending to his own family, Firefly. Forget him, you’ll not meet with him again for quite some time.”
She frowned in confusion. Was he angry that she asked about him? Then she remembered his comment before they arrived to the villa the day before. He was jealous. She grinned winningly and spun away, back into the room.
At least it gave him some of his own back. She plopped down on the bed and began reading.
