15 Ashan 721
Released.
Ha!
His prison was not the four walls he'd been trapped inside. His prison was the metal wrapped around each wrist cutting him off from his closest companions. When people, animals, and spirits were silent, he always had the elements... at least he used to have them. He had not heard the voice of the elements in more than thirty trials now and it was the voice he missed most. He thought it was Elisabeth'd first- the voice he missed the most, but he had her again. He did not have to miss her voice because he heard it all the time. He didn't hear the elements. That was the worst part of it all. The binding around his wrists actually did help in some ways despite the constant torment. He hadn't recognized it for quite a while but the silence he had chosen helped him realize it.
The Rupturing spark pushed him and made him loath inactivity. The Defiance spark made him... aggressive to say the least. Cut off from them, he found it a lot easier to think and plot through things slowly. He'd spent most of his initial capacity plotting things Vri would have been cross with him about if he'd ever acted on it but Balthazar's discipline was the discipline not to strike first. It was not the discipline to mind your words... or at least it hadn't been. He felt now more than ever that not a word he said went unwatched or unreported. If he wanted to do anything he did it under the eyes of the Flame Troopers who'd been sent to ensure he kept to the sentence he'd been given. If he said anything, they heard it. So when he had been told he would need to address the rumors in his settlement, Balthazar found himself in a difficult position. He needed to speak and he knew what he said was going to be reported. Three troopers had been dedicated to making sure he went to his little therapy sessions and didn't break the special bracelets he had to wear all the time. Oh, and of course, he could not investigate anything for the Elements. That wasn't as bad as the bracelets. Independent work paid better. Regardless, he was sure each one of the troops would gladly report to Rand or Markus with anything Balthazar said.
However he found his mind far more silent now than it had been before. Was it harder to think or were there just less sources feeding him thoughts? He heard Fuego's voice all the same but when he thought now, his own inner voice seemed strange, like it was alone in a big room where others should have been to absorb the noise. The quiet in his head made it easier to figure out what he wanted to say. He saw the small points to address like a tree map in his mind and he noticed the words to avoid. Unpleasant, mature words that the younger in the settlement did not need to hear. He had to remind himself, a few times, that this was his settlement. He would help it grow and prosper despite Kura and Rand meddling.
Meddling. He knew that wasn't fair but he didn't really care to be fair. He'd ruined their investigation but Jacien could have stopped that if he had just hadn't let Balthazar in to see him. Jacien let Balthazar in knowing it would compromise him. Balthazar had come to that conclusion in the trials that followed. Jacien set the trap that Balthazar fell into and then the deep investigation that turned Kura's opinion even further against the mage began. She thought him another Ellasin in the making- no perhaps that was giving him too much credit. Kura probably didn't think that much of the mage at all. So she'd tried to take his magic away until the bad little mage learned how to be responsible. How was he to do that without the magic? He didn't know but it didn't matter. What mattered, and what frustrated him the most, was that they'd taken his magic from his settlers. Any issues they had they would now have to face with the few resources they had and whatever Balthazar could improvise now that his greatest and most used asset had been taken from them. In the short time they'd known him, he'd been asked if he could just 'magic' an issue far more times than he wanted to count but now it wasn't an option... well... not domain magic. His darkened nails remained a lasting reminder of his deal and allegiance to Vri. It was a reminder that kept him from his more base impulses and kept him focus on preventing the deaths of his people. It was also a reminder that he had more that domain magic at his disposal... not that he wanted to let the Flame Troopers constantly watching him know that.
The blackened fingertips and nails were the only other part of Balthazar that looked similar to how he once had than his scars. All mutations had been washed away by the cuffs leaving a much darker man than the one the settlers were familiar with. When he had first returned, there had been a great deal of confusion about who he was and what was going on until he found Balder, Silk, and Ronan, and explained a brief version of the situation to them. They were furious but it was hard to tell who at. They weren't entirely in the dark about it though because the Elements had come through and asked around a little bit loudly. Ronan explained that there was a rumor spreading like wildfire through the settlement that Balthazar was trying to buy and sell slaves, utilizing the settlement as a base of operations for it.
Balder explained that they had tried to cull the rumors before they spread but the repeated visits from the Elements made things worse. Seeing Balthazar arrive with an escort and devoid of the magic he'd promised to use to help them had pushed it beyond the control of the three guards. Perfect. They've dragged my reputation among the settlers through the sand too. He could fix that too though. What had he told Nimue when she doubted his ability to win The Copper Prince Tournament? He was more than his magic. Kura, Rand, and Jacien thought he was cocky but that was just because they didn't like his brand of confidence. He thought Jacien was an ass but Kura seemed perfectly content with his behavior at the trial- granted Balthazar had really been the one to crack there so... in hindsight there were better, more discrete responses than 'chew sand.' Still, it felt good and Balthazar got off with a warning so he called it a win compared to other things.
Regardless of how he felt about the trial, Balthazar was back on Faldrass a different man than he'd been when he left but not less useful. Just... useful in a different way. Now he truly could teach the settlers everything he was capable of. He could still teach Elisabeth too, as much as it pained him to do so. He didn't want to stop her progress because Kura had stopped his. He had all the knowledge and memory of how to use the magic, he just could no longer do it... much like Xanax. Balthazar chuckled to himself, the thought that he was like his old master crossing his mind as he moved down to the beach where he had told the guards to gather the settlers so he could address the rumors head on. Xanax had a wheelchair which had limited him while Balthazar had his hands literally bound. Hopefully Elisabeth didn't flay him in his weakened state! That thought made him laugh too but the amusement faded as he came to the crowd on the beach. The notion was funny, the act was not and so the joy the notion Brough was fleeting.
The settlers were speaking among each other, speculation and conspiracy theories running wildly through the crowd which seemed nervous to hear what Balthazar had to say but as he approached the crowd grew silent. Balder, Silk, and Ronan maneuvered their way to the front of the crowd while the Flame Trooper on shift to watch Balthazar stood a little bit behind him doing just that. Balthazar's hand ran nervously through his short brown hair and he found himself scratching the back of his head while the last of the murmurs in the crowd faded.
"It has come to my attention that as a result of the visits from the Elements, rumors have begun to spread about me." He said in a calm tone, the first words a few settlers had heard from him since he arrived, "Specifically rumors that I have been involved in slave trading. I want to assure you all that these rumors are lies and nothing more. I received a letter indicating there would be a slave auction in Almund and thought it my responsibility to all of you and to Scalvoris to see if there was any truth to these rumors. While we took our trip back to Port Diabolo and the bazaar for supplies, I decided to look into it without asking for permission from the Elements and interfered with another investigation because their agent allowed me to compromise him." Balthazar's glance shifted towards the Flame Trooper at his rear and then back to the crowd. "Elisabeth, the young defier who has offered to help us in lieu of my new deficit, and I were taken and imprisoned alone for as long as they could legally hold me so that they could investigate my movements over the last arc. I went to Viden, Quacia, Melrath, and Rharne but the Militant and Albarech thought I should have stayed here in Scalvoris. I was tried for what they decided was inappropriate behavior and convicted in a room with three other people shortly after being told my charges on the thirtieth trial." Balthazar paused again, knowing that what he wanted to say would not be the words he spoke.
"The Albarech, in her wisdom, has decided to make me wear these," Balthazar raised his wrist to show the cuffs restricting his magic, "Until a time that she thinks I'm fit to wield my magic again. As you might have suspected from my appearance, they cut off my connection to my sparks, and consequently I will be unable to use any of my more familiar abilities to help you." Balthazar lowered his hand. "But rest assured, I am more dedicated to seeing you all succeed now than ever before. I've been freed of my responsibilities to the Flame Troopers allowing me to focus all of my attention on-"
"And what good is that without magic!" A voice cried out from the crowd, causing a few others to follow with similar jabs. The discontent began when he told them that he couldn't use his magic and it only grew as he explained why.
"Most people endure without magic, we will too until the Albarech sees fit to give it back to us." Balthazar said in a stern voice causing the uproar of questions to end. "She kept you all on your feet while I was away but I have returned. From here forward if you have trouble bring to Elisabeth, Balder, Silk, or Ronan and they will get it to me. I will do everything I can to help every one of you while we get the buildings finished and start preparing farmland. I know that this is not what many of you planned or wanted, but we will endure and create a haven for people like us. People who have the will to shape the world and the courage to try it. All of you have more courage than any other refugee from Faldrass in Beacon, Almund, or any other island because you came back, all of you, and dedicated yourself to making something better. So put your trust in me and we will build something better than what was here before."
It seemed then that the speech had ended and it should have, but when Balthazar turned to leave and saw the Flame Trooper there again he was reminded of an impulse he was too slow to stop. Balthazar turned back towards the settlers. "The Albarech has also seen fit to assign me a constantly rotating watch dog. This is my current one," Balthazar gestured to the trooper. "You are to pay them all the same respect you would pay any member of the Elements, but remember that they are not here to help with our troubles. They only care that I don't leave. So if you need help, Silk, Balder, Ronan, Elisabeth, or I can provide it."
