MAGE TALA
Five years earlier:
“You have more potential than our most prominent high mage.” Randika grins at the young teenager. “Your talent and intellect are extraordinary, but your pedigree is predictable.”
“My pedigree?” Tala fires back, outraged by the perceived put-down.
“Ahhh, I’m getting too old for this,” Randika complains to his colleague, Mage Kanti. Sinking fingers into his silver hair, he shakes his head. “They should have sent someone younger!”
“They did.” Kanti returns a confident grin, and then addresses Tala.
“Mage Randika simply means that many of us come from Priangan Villages. Nothing worse than that.” Kanti extends a calming hand toward the pretty youth accompanied by a gracious smile, then wraps an arm around the girl’s shoulders. Together, they stroll toward the town’s open square.
“Are there more women mages—besides you?” Tala asks, staring intently into Kanti's eyes.
The mage winks and gives Tala a motherly hug.
“Yes, but there's room for more.”
Hearing those words, Tala bounces on her feet and dashes off to her home to seek permission. Randika and Kanti have no idea that they've recruited 137-year-old Dayang Sumbi, a shrewd and desperate woman, into the center of power.
“You have more potential than our most prominent high mage.” Randika grins at the young teenager. “Your talent and intellect are extraordinary, but your pedigree is predictable.”
“My pedigree?” Tala fires back, outraged by the perceived put-down.
“Ahhh, I’m getting too old for this,” Randika complains to his colleague, Mage Kanti. Sinking fingers into his silver hair, he shakes his head. “They should have sent someone younger!”
“They did.” Kanti returns a confident grin, and then addresses Tala.
“Mage Randika simply means that many of us come from Priangan Villages. Nothing worse than that.” Kanti extends a calming hand toward the pretty youth accompanied by a gracious smile, then wraps an arm around the girl’s shoulders. Together, they stroll toward the town’s open square.
“Are there more women mages—besides you?” Tala asks, staring intently into Kanti's eyes.
The mage winks and gives Tala a motherly hug.
“Yes, but there's room for more.”
Hearing those words, Tala bounces on her feet and dashes off to her home to seek permission. Randika and Kanti have no idea that they've recruited 137-year-old Dayang Sumbi, a shrewd and desperate woman, into the center of power.
