Word: Condign

condign

  American   

kuhn-dahyn] / kənˈdaɪn /

adjective

1. well-deserved; fitting; adequate.

   condign punishment.

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The was going wild. That was understandable. The fight had been quite the spectacle, after all. Especially because of the upset victory. Who would have expected the arena champion to lose to a woman? A champion losing was nothing new. It was practically expected that a champion would eventually fall to a new fighter. But to a woman? That was unheard of.

                The noble’s box had a much more subdued reaction. The people there were dead silent. To them, what they had just witnessed was a complete impossibility.

                “She must have cheated.” One of them said, breaking the silence.

                “Agreed.” Another replied. “I bet she seduced him into losing.

                Many others gave their own ideas as to how she won. All of them involved underhanded or sneaky tactics. Several of them even thought the now former champion had simply gone easy on her. Only one man stood silent amidst the chatter.

                “What about you, Marcus?” one of the nobles asked the silent man. “You can probably tell better than any of us. What tricks did the woman pull?”

                Marcus slowly looked around the room. Most of them had ignored the question, and were engrossed in their own wild speculations and conversations.

                “Her trick? Easy. It’s an old one called being better than her opponent.”

                “What?”

                “It’s simple. She was the more skilled fighter, so she won. It’s as simple as that.”

                “That’s impossible. There’s no way a woman can win in a martial contest.” The man scoffed. Marcus did not remember his name. Nor did he care to be reminded.

                “Why not?”

                “Why? It’s obvious. Men are easily twice as strong and capable as a woman.”

                “Even if that was true, which it isn’t, then the solution is simple. All she had to do was train twice as hard.”

                “But that’s—”

                “I guarantee you whatever you’re about to say has absolutely no merit. When you look at her, I imagine you see some delicate little thing playing with a sword. I see a warrior who has dedicated herself to the blade. If you look at her, really look at her, even you should be able to see it. See the scars along her arms? Wounds from fights she’s been through. And beyond that, I dare say she has more muscle than you, just trained to be compact and efficient. A warrior’s build if I ever saw one. She earned her victory through blood and sweat. I can’t even begin to imagine how long she spent training.”

                “Oh please. No woman would have the temperament to undergo that amount of training.”

                “I disagree. I’ve met many a woman who have more of a warrior’s spirit than any ten men.”

                “But that’s—”

                “Enough.” Marcus said, firmly cutting off the other man. “The fact is she used no tricks. No underhanded methods. She fought well and earned her victory through her skill and efforts. Nothing more, nothing less. Your misplaced beliefs in the capability of women won’t change that. Now, I have better places to be.”

                Without waiting for any further comments from the unpleasant man, Marcus left the noble’s box. He had a very interesting lady to meet. He was very eager to test the results of her efforts with his own blade. And maybe he would have a new retainer on hand, if things went well for both of them.

Word: Thaumaturgy

thaumaturgy

American  

 [thaw-muh-tur-jee] / ˈθɔ məˌtɜr dʒi /

noun

1. the working of wonders or miracles; magic.

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                Jessie knocked on the door. Her small hands barely made a sound against the old wood. She felt her eye twitch. She hated that her normal knocking was so unimpressive. She was not even sure the person inside had heard her. Maybe it was for the best, really. Considering the state of the hallway, could she really trust someone who would live in such run-down conditions?

                The hallway was covered with dust and cobwebs. The floor was splintered and cracked. The walls were peeling and dented. The lights were either broken or dim. The door she knocked on was in fair condition, but even that was faded and warped in places. She felt more like she was in a haunted house than an apartment building.

                Before Jessie could reconsider her course of action, the door opened. A ratty looking man stood in the doorway. His hair and beard were greasy and untamed. His clothes were torn and filthy. He was definitely unwashed, considering the dirt on his hands. And the smell. It made Jessie wince and recoil slightly. But there was something off about him.

                Something Jessie could not quite place. If she looked beyond the dirt and mess, she swore she could see something more. Something better than what her eyes told her.

                “I ain’t giving out candy, kid.” The man said.

                “I’m not looking for candy.” Jessie said. “I’m looking for something more specific.”

                The man slowly blinked, then let out a long sigh. “Look, I don’t know what you heard, but this ain’t a place for brats. Get lost and go find someone to give you chocolate or something.”

                “No.” Jessie said firmly. “I came here because I heard rumors that the guy here is a wizard or something. Normally, I wouldn’t believe them, but given my circumstances, I can’t afford to discount rumors like that.”

                “Fancy words for a kid.” The man muttered. “The rumors weren’t right. I ain’t a wizard.”

                Jessie sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

                “I’m a thaumaturge. Seriously, a wizard. Folks could at least get it right.” He said with a huff.

                Jessie paused. “What?”

                “Thaumaturge. Not a wizard. There’s a difference.”

                “Uh…”

                “Look, kid, there’s a bunch of different kinds of magic, but they all fall into two big categories. Divine and Arcane. I won’t go into the details, since you won’t get any of it. But us thaumaturges? We thread the needle between the two. Not quite one or the other but has parts of both.”

                “So…can you help me?” Jessie asked, not sure what he was talking about.

                “No. Sorry, kid, but like I said, I ain’t giving you candy.”

                “I don’t want candy. I need magic.”

                The man groaned. “Fine, kid. Tell me what the problem is.”

                “The fact that you said kid is the problem.”

                He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. He did not seem impressed.

                “Look, how old do you think I am?” She asked.

                “Seven or eight.”

                “I’m 29.”

                He looked at her and blinked. “Ah. What was it? Curse? Poorly worded wish? Something with the fae, maybe?”

                Jessie rolled up her sleeve, showing him the odd mark that had appeared on her upper arm right before she de-aged. The man looked at it critically.

                “Well, shit. That’s gonna be rough to deal with. You’d better come inside.”

                “Is it that bad? Can you get rid of this thing?”

                “Oh yeah, it’s bad. I can get rid of it, but it’s gonna take a lot of doing. So the sooner I get started the sooner I finish. Now get in here.”

                Jessie hesitated only slightly as the man entered his apartment. She just hoped this visit would be worth it.

Word: Cicerone

cicerone

 [sis-uh-roh-nee, chich-uh-, chee-che-raw-ne] / ˌsɪs əˈroʊ ni, ˌtʃɪtʃ ə-, ˌtʃi tʃɛˈrɔ nɛ /

noun

1. a person who conducts sightseers; guide.

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                For some reason, the tour group was lost. And not lost in the normal way either. They were in a completely different place. The tour guide, Becky, had no idea how that had happened. She had given hundreds of tours since she started. She knew the ruins like the back of her hand. And yet…

                “Are we lost miss?” Asked one of the tour group members. This one was a little boy who could not have been older than seven. He looked up at Becky with those wide eyes that only kids can manage.

                “Uh, no. No, of course not.” Becky said. “I’m just taking you all on a…super-secret special tour.”

                The other children in the group seemed thrilled by that. The parents, on the other hand, were not fooled in the slightest. They saw the sudden change. The fact that all the ruined, barely there outline of stone buildings had suddenly been changed into buildings that seemed more like crystal. They were still very much ruins, given the cracks in the material and overgrown paths, but there was no way anyone could think they were in the same place.

                She looked around, putting on her best tour guide smile. She had made the lie to placate the child. Now she just needed to sell it. She could discuss what was going on with the other adults.

                “This is the little known…Lunar City. Named after the prominent, uh, quartz towers. Experts believe these large crystals were found in the nearby deep caves and brought out because they resembled moonlight.”

                Becky thanked the ever-loving stars for her time in drama camp. And all those improv classes her ex-boyfriend insisted she take. She hoped that at least sounded kind of plausible to young minds. The parents looked at each other. One of them picked up the slack and let out a suitably impressed Oo and Ahh. Another one took a quick picture with his phone. Becky had no idea if the photo was actually taken, but that was not important.

                “Now, we don’t know why these big crystals were taken here, but we think…”She looked at the tops of the towers. Some of them had clear layers on top of them. Sort of, anyway. It was hard to tell, but it was enough to work with. “Because they admitted light, probably for ritual purposes.”

                “Can we go inside?” A little girl asked.

                Becky looked at the nearest door. It looked shut pretty tight. Plus, she had no idea what was inside. There could be dangerous animals or pitfalls inside.

                “Sorry, but no.” she said, doing her best to sound regretful. “The insides are very delicate, you see. We’re still studying them, so we don’t want anyone to go in yet.”

                The kids all gave a collective groan of disappointment. The parents looked grateful for her refusal though. Many of them were probably thinking similar things as she was. Now though, she had a problem. How was she going to spin it about why they couldn’t return to the ruins they were actually supposed to be touring. That would be a challenge. Even kids would know something was wrong pretty soon.

                “Now, normally we don’t let people into the Lunar City. But since this is a very special group, we get to do something really cool.” The kids practically held their breath in anticipation. “Even though we can’t go into the buildings, we get to stay here tonight to see how the light runs along the walls of the towers. I hear it’s a really cool. Almost like magic!”

                The kids were practically buzzing with excitement at the word magic. That would not last long when they realized there was no camping equipment. Or food. Hopefully someone would be able to find some edible plants. But that was a problem for later. Right now, it was Becky’s job to keep everyone from panicking and keep the group together. The real planning would happen once the kids went to sleep.