The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit) (21 page)

Familiars were actually treated very indulgently, far better than most any other servant. They were valuable and extremely hard to replace. But that didn’t mean they got to put on airs and pretend to be equals. There were limits to how indulgent you could be. He planned to treat Alice well, but she needed to understand her proper place.

“Want to see how much I have?”

“What?”

Alice shook the purse. “Want to see how much I have? I never bothered to keep track. I just kept it hidden away.”

“Certainly.”

Kneeling down Alice carefully poured the coins out into the grass. Waldo noted there was no gold. There was the reddish glint of copper along with flashes of silver here and there.

Alice’s hands moved quickly, with practiced ease. She first separated out the silver and then began silently counting out the copper ones and stacking them into one pile after another. When she was done sorting everything out she announced what she had. “Fifteen silver dalters, two silver wolves, twelve hundred and twenty three copper coins; traks.”

“So you have the equivalent of twenty nine silver pieces and twenty three copper, or one gold piece, nine silver, and twenty three copper.”

Alice stared at all the coins. “I have been working and saving all my life and this is what I have to show for it.”

“Well considering how low your station was its actually very impressive.”

Alice frowned. “Really?”

“What? You were a slave. Having anything is a surprise.” He held his hand out. “I’ll take possession of them now.”

She began scooping them back into the leather pouch. “No.”

“Alice, as my familiar, whatever you have automatically belongs to me.”

As she tied the purse back to her side, she gave Waldo a shake of the head. “As your wife, I consider this to be our money now, but I will decide how we spend it.”

“You have the wrong attitude.”

“What do you mean? Men are always horrible with money. They waste it without a second’s thought. I’ve seen men spend a whole month’s wage on one night of drinking and whoring. So I will be the one who decides how we spend our coin.”

“This is not how the master, servant relationship works Alice.”

“Well I am pretty sure this is how it works with husbands and wives.”

“You are supposed to obey me without question.”

Alice sighed. “That’s cute. So, Middleton?”

Waldo was at a loss. Since he could not compel her with their contract there was nothing he could do.
I can’t even get her to call me master.
“Yes, we’re going to Middleton. Unless you know of somewhere I can pick up a new spellbook.”

Alice blinked. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Well I’m not sure, but maybe there is a place.”

“Really?” Waldo asked suddenly very interested. “Tell me more.”

Chapter 12

White, Dark, and Independent

"Well I'm not sure, but maybe there is a place."

"Really?" Waldo asked suddenly very interested. "Tell me more."

“Well, as a barmaid I got to hear lots and lots of different stories from folk from all over Lothas.”

Waldo nodded.

“One of the stories I’d hear would be about this old hermit by the name of Roger who lives near the village of Bittford. They say he could make it rain or make the sun come out. That he could always tell when someone was lying. That he could cure sheep and cows. That he could find lost children. There was even a story about some bandits who came to Bittford. He drove away when Walton summoned a dragon!”

“A dragon?” Waldo repeated dubiously.

Alice nodded her head. “That’s what the stories say.”

“Well if that’s what they say then I’m sure it’s true.”

Alice narrowed her eyes. “Lots of people told the same stories about him. An old hermit living in the woods who carried a wand and wore brown robes. People would come to him and ask for cures or help with crops or herds. He hardly ever leaves his home so folk who need his help have to seek him out. I don’t know if he could help with a spellbook, but I thought you would want to know.”

“Well, I have my doubts about summoning dragons. Otherwise, he sounds like a hedgewizard to me.”

“What’s a hedgewizard darling?”

“It’s what we call magic users with no formal training and no connection to a powerful house or patron. They’re also called local mages or unschooled mages. They’re the weakest sort of independent mages.”

“Independent mages?”

Waldo sighed. This was basic information, at least for someone like him who was born into one of the Seven Great Families. He was going to need to teach her quite a number of things. “In the world there are three types, or schools, of mages; White Mages, Dark Mages, and Independent Mages. White Mages come from the Misty Isle of Avalon. Dark Mages, like me, come from Alteroth. Independent mages can come from any other country.”

“Oh! I’ve heard stories about the White Mages of Avalon! They go around helping people and giving advice to kings and lords! They aid knights on quests and protect the common folk! Everyone says they are very powerful and very wise.”

“They’re idiots.”

“So they’re not good with magic?”

“No,” Waldo admitted. “They’re very skilled. In their own way they are as well taught in the mystic arts as my people. They’re idiots because of their philosophy.”

“I thought they just liked helping people.”

Waldo nodded. “They do, that’s what makes them such idiots.”

Alice shook her head. “Darling, you’re doing it again.”

“What?”

“Talking and not making sense.”

“All right, let me explain. The White Mages of Avalon have a philosophy based around, ‘Unity, Justice, and Peace.’ Their ultimate goal is to unite the Shattered Lands into a single nation and rid the land of strife and injustice. They dream of returning to the days of the Amoran Empire, before the Shattering.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“No it’s not! Can’t you see what they’re up to? It’s obvious!”

“Helping people?”

“It’s a plot to dominate the world! Those idiots go around telling people they’re serving a higher cause. They go preaching about, ‘Unity, Justice, and Peace’ pretending to have no ulterior motives. They offer advice to local rulers and help the subjects, all the while telling people about their ridiculous ideas and trying to convince them how much better the world would be if they would only join together under Avalon’s leadership! It’s all just one vast conspiracy to take over the world and destroy Alteroth!”

“Ah, could it be they just want to help make the world a better place?”

“Don’t be naïve, who thinks that way?”

“I do, I like helping folk.”

“You’re not a mage. Wolves don’t go around protecting sheep. It’s unnatural. It’s obviously all part of a conspiracy to secretly take over the world.”

“Darling, no one thinks the White Mages would do that. They’re just good people.” She paused. “Well, I have heard a few nobles and merchants say they shouldn’t be trusted.”

“Which only proves how effective their conspiracy is. They have almost everyone fooled.”

“People think it’s the Dark Mages who want to rule the world.”

“That’s just propaganda,” Waldo waved the idea away. “We’re actually happy with things just as they are. Conquering more land would just mean the seven families would be at each other’s throats over how to divide up the spoils. We don’t want to conquer the world, we just want the world to think we want to conquer them so they don’t try and conquer us.”

“Darling, you sound paranoid.”

“How is it paranoid to think the White Mages and everyone else are out to get us?”

Alice gently patted his arm. “It’s all right, I promise to protect you from the scary White Mages.”

Waldo sent her a hooded look.

“They don’t sound so bad to me.”

“Did I mention they would put you to death if they could?”

“What? Why? What did I do?”

“You were born a succubus.”

“So? I’m a good person!”

“That’s not the point. They want to create an ideal world; one without war, injustice, or strife. They also want a world without evil, which means no undead, no Dark Mages, and no monsters.”

“What do you mean no monsters? What would they do with all of us?”

“Didn’t you hear me say they would kill you if they could?”

“But… but… how is that just? Killing people simply because they weren’t born human? Isn’t that evil?”

Waldo shrugged. “Not to them. They are only interested in justice for their own kind. Their ideal world has no place for people like us.”

“I can’t believe people could be that cruel. It makes what Elsa did seem almost merciful by comparison.”

“In any case, my original point was that magic users are divided between White, Dark, and Independent. In general we and the Whites are the strongest because we are the most thoroughly trained and have access to libraries filled with arcane knowledge. By comparison, most magic users from outside Alteroth and Avalon rely on the apprentice system. How well trained they are and what spells they have access to varies wildly. A lot of mages will actually join us or Avalon of their own free will, just to get access to our knowledge. The weakest sort of Independent is referred to as a hedgewizard.”

“Most magic users will try to find a wealthy patron. They typically end up in some court or in the employ of someone rich. Hedgewizards, on the other hand, choose not to serve any particular master. They live on their own, often in the same place where they were born, and usually deal with only the locals. Often they are never even apprenticed and are self-taught or only acquire a few spells from occasional meetings with other mages. Since they lack any formal training, and aren’t in a position to acquire spells or arcane material, they are usually very weak. It’s not unusual for a hedgewizard to only know one or two rudimentary spells or how to brew potions or have a small talent for telling fortunes. In Alteroth we don’t see them as real mages. The very idea that someone like that could summon a dragon is ridiculous.”

“Well it was just an idea darling. If it’s no good that’s fine.”

Waldo looked unhappy. He considered for a long moment.

“How far away is Bittford?”

“Not too far I think. I never left Stratford, but it should be about a couple days walk to the west of here.”

That was going away from Middleton. Going there would add a few days to his journey.

“I suppose it’s worth looking into. Okay, we’ll go there first and then head to Middleton.”

“Really? I thought you said he wouldn’t be a real mage.”

“I’m not saying he is, but even a hedgewizard will have a spellbook, or even just a few scraps of vellum.”

“Vellum?” Alice had never attended school, but felt like she was in one now.

“It’s a special sort or parchment that you can write magical inscriptions on. If you write them on ordinary paper they will light on fire when you read them.”