Wang Fei's Disciple

"The Contract" Chapter 3

Nia awoke in the early morning before the dawn to see that the door leading to the other part of the house was opened. Getting up she washed and moved into the other room. Nia didn't see the young man in the house, but there was a bowl of hot porridge on the stone table along with a spoon and stone cup of what looked like tea. Nia tested the food and tea for poison again and finding nothing in them. She ate and cleaned the dishes stacking them up neatly on a small counter that was against wall that separated her room from the other part of the house.

Nia walked outside and saw the young man siting cross legged meditating on a flat courtyard of sorts. Nia went and sat down facing him but he didn't open his eyes, so she closed her own eyes and meditated as well. 

After several hours of meditation he opened his eyes. "Come" His soft voice once again sounded and he rose elegantly and strode around the back of the house.

 Nia followed and when she rounded the corner of the house she saw another stone table. The man sat down in one of the stone chairs and gestured for her to sit in the other that was across from him. When Nia sat down she noticed a dim gold parchment paper on the table between them.  It shimmered in the afternoon light, it almost seemed alive. Nia scolded herself for being silly and looked up to see the man staring at her silently. He then opened his mouth and said three words. 

"Be my disciple" His silver eyes serious and calm like a frozen lake. 

Nia was taken back, just what did he mean by disciple? Searching through her body's memories she found a reference that was similar to the apprentices of her former life. She thought long and hard then after a few minutes she looked up again. 

"Okay, I will become your disciple" her voice was sweet and had bell tones to it. Nia almost stuttered, this was the first time she had heard her new voice. And she was unused to such a young and soft voice.  

The man looked at her and then stretched out his left hand in front of her. Nia placed her right hand onto his out stretched hand. Their hands where over the parchment on the table. The man muttered something softy and then he used a small pale gold dagger to slice the tips of their thumbs. He pressed them together and let their combined blood dripped down onto the parchment. The parchment glimmered and spun around faster and faster till it burst in a bright shower of pale gold sparks. Nia closed her eyes against the light, when she opened them she saw that the parchment was gone and on her thumb was a pale white line that encircled her finger like a ring. As the man removed his hand from under hers she saw his pale thumb also had a ring like line like hers but his was bright red. Nia noticed that the colors matched the other's hair, she wondered if that was connected to the contract. 

The man spoke again and once again said a single word. "Come."  

He lead her into the house again and then took from the desk a pale gray translucent crystal square and placed it onto the table. Then he took her hand and placed the index finger against lower right corner. Instantly it lit up with a grid of several colors like a bar graph with different levels.  There was red on the left side it was the lowest one of them all, slightly less than half way up. Next color bar was green it was quite high three forth's of the way to the top. The next color was blue and it was half way to the top. the next color was copper and it was the highest it almost touched the top of the crystal square. The last color was white and it was just a little bit lower than the copper bar. 

Nia looked at crystal square with interest then she looked up at the man beside her as he looked down in concentration at the colors on the square. Just as Nia lifted her finger from the square all the colors on it bled into each other and turned to a vibrant golden green that filled the whole crystal square in a swift flash. Nia didn't see it because she was looking up at his side profile. A strand of his white hair hung down concealing his eyes from her view. But when the man saw it his eyes briefly flashed with a hint of surprise then just as quickly turn back to their normal icy calm.