The Young Magician (The Legacy Trilogy) (18 page)

‘Lomar told me there was no such thing as real magic,’ Samuel said.

‘In some ways, that is indeed true, but I think that Lomar was merely protecting you. It is not in most people’s interest to even know of the existence of magic, especially in these times. Even if he guessed you had some pre-disposition towards magic, it is not always easy for one to come to terms with that fact. It is not a whimsical ability as people think, but a challenging force which forever commands our mastery. It is a skill such as any, but one which is rarer than most and more powerful than any other in the right hands. Common folk find it awe-inspiring and therefore elevate the use of magic to levels of godlike or devil-like powers, but it is not really so. For us magicians, it is merely a matter of fact, like tying your bootlaces. It is, however, a great responsibility, for if magic were misused it could mean disaster for the common folk. Come now, get some rest. You will learn more soon enough—once you have recovered.’

Strangely, Samuel did feel suddenly tired again. For a moment, he thought he saw a tiny string of shining aura flicker out from Mr Kelvin towards him, but perhaps it was his tired mind playing tricks on him. He tried to mumble something, but his tongue was as heavy as his eyelids and neither would do as he wished. He felt hands lower him back onto the bed and the covers being pulled high up around his neck. Mr Kelvin then pushed his chair back and dimmed the lamp a little bit more and left the boy to his already deep sleep.

The sound of Kans fossicking around the room roused Samuel and, looking towards the window, he judged it to be very soon after sunrise. His muscles still ached, but he longed to stretch his legs and be out of that room. A ravenous hunger also had hold of him and Samuel could smell breakfast streaming in the partly open doorway. Kans departed at the sight of Samuel stirring and left the boy to himself, closing the door softly behind. Samuel sat up and felt all his muscles aching. He clambered slowly out of bed and stretched his arms up towards the feeling. Every muscle and fibre felt stiff and wiry, yet, beneath the soreness, there was also some excitement of being, as if he were a tightly-coiled spring ready to be released.

Closing the door behind him, Samuel in his new clothes and soft boots, found himself in the unfamiliar halls of the guesthouse. Kans’ tapping footsteps approached and the wiry man, looking as sullen as ever, waved his finger towards a large, double set of doors before striding off again from view. Samuel stepped over, his boots echoing in the polished hall and waited a moment. For some reason, he felt nervous, for he wasn’t sure what could be waiting for him on the other side. Taking a big breath, he pushed open the doors and entered. He found himself in a grand dining room, filled with talk and chatter and where Mr Kelvin and the guests were just beginning to breakfast from a table full of steaming and delicious-looking foods. They looked to Samuel with great interest and the excited talk only increased further.

‘Ah, sit down, please, Samuel!’ Mr Kelvin called. ‘You must be hungry and we are eager to speak with you. I trust you are feeling well?’

‘Yes. A bit stiff,’ Samuel replied, rubbing his arm just to emphasise his point. His stomach groaned from the smells that filled the room and he quickly filled an empty seat. Cook appeared and placed some steaming soup before him with a nod and a smile.

‘Samuel,’ she said in greeting, before hurrying back into the kitchen. Samuel plucked up his spoon and began scooping the soup into his mouth like a sailor bailing water from a sinking boat.

‘Now, Samuel,’ Mr Kelvin finally said after Samuel had finished his second bowl. The guests had been whispering and nodding towards Samuel throughout the meal. ‘When we found you, you were saying something, some powerful words. Tell us, how did you learn these words?’

Samuel bobbed his shoulders, still intent on finishing a large loaf that he had smothered in butter. ‘I watched sometimes through the window above the stable.’ Samuel had already decided to accept any punishment and was too hungry to be bothered telling any stories.

‘From the stable roof!’ one of the men exclaimed excitedly. ‘I
often
had the strangest of feelings that I was being watched.’

‘As did I,’ agreed another and there was much nodding.

‘And which words were you reciting?’ asked the first.

Again, Samuel bobbed his shoulders as he swallowed the last bit of crust and Mr Kelvin pushed the fruit bowl towards him.

‘I’d say the whole ordeal was subconsciously controlled,’ Mr Kelvin explained to the others. ‘He was probably sensing ethereal vibrations and he memorised the words subconsciously.’

‘Why it’s fantastic!’ one man exclaimed and they all nodded and agreed to each other once more.

‘But I can sense no talent in the boy,’ a newcomer declared. ‘And yet you say he was clearly
several
feet above the ground when you found him, and exuding power like there was no tomorrow?’

‘Yes,’ Mr Kelvin replied. ‘Several feet. And, as for his aura, I can’t explain why he does not emanate even the slightest hint of energy. I observed him the first day I met him and thought it was
most
curious. I only allowed him to stay because I thought he would be interesting to study. I was growing quite tired of every rogue in the town trying to get their spies through my door, but a curiosity like that was just too much to ignore.

‘You
knew
Mr Joshua sent me here?’ Samuel explained with surprise.

‘Oh, I have no idea of the workings of the town gangsters and scoundrels at any given moment, Samuel, but it is much simpler to let them put someone in here and feed them a little information as I choose, rather than have them cause more of a bother than it’s worth.’ Samuel was dumbfounded. ‘You obviously seemed to be working for one of the more successful groups or you would have disappeared much earlier—like your poor unfortunate predecessor. Now can you see why I didn’t want you wandering around in town? Now, we still have the question of your missing presence. Indeed, such a
complete
lack of an aura is more than just a curiosity. Even concealment spells can be detected under close enough scrutiny, but he has nothing. It’s truly perplexing.’

Men nodded.

‘Can he do something now for us?’ the doubting man asked, but Mr Kelvin threw him back a dark look.

‘The boy needs his rest and it would be better if he did not use magic until under the supervision of the teachers.’

‘So you truly intend to send him to the School of Magic—to become a magician?’ The man sounded truly incredulous. ‘He’s not even Turian!’

‘There are more students being accepted from the territories with every year. With need, we find we are forced to break from our old traditions—and I think this is actually one of the better changes.’

‘And don’t forget about the Grand Master!’ someone else piped up from the back.

The doubting man
humphed
and then crunched into a juicy apple.

Samuel’s ravenous hunger was beginning to abate as he finished his second banana, but the sight of such a delicious apple had him reaching for one himself.

‘Samuel?’ Mr Kelvin began to question. ‘Have you decided what you want to do?’

Samuel quickly swallowed his remaining mouthful. ‘Do you think I should become a magician, like you?’

‘Well,’ Mr Kelvin said with a chortle. ‘It takes a lifetime of study to reach our level of experience and you may
never
attain such skill, but you certainly have some potential, from what we have witnessed. I think it would be a great loss if you did not at least try. You can always return here if you find some problem.’

‘But how will I pay?’ Samuel asked. ‘I don’t have enough money to go to school.’

Again, Mr Kelvin laughed. ‘Oh, you don’t need money. The Order of Magicians is very wealthy and you will be given an allowance to study, be it somewhat humble. However, I think you will understand after a short time that magicians really have little use for money.’

Samuel considered and then agreed. He would actually get paid to go to school? And if he could always return here, then he had nothing really to lose.

‘Very good,’ Mr Kelvin declared. ‘Master Goodwin is leaving this very day for Cintar. Perhaps he can escort you.’

‘Can the boy ride?’ the younger, moustached Master Goodwin asked. Samuel had only seen him on one previous occasion and he seemed even more mysterious than the others, rarely speaking—even to the other guests.

When Samuel shook his head, Mr Kelvin said, ‘Then you may take a wagon and we will have it returned another time.’

Master Goodwin seemed somewhat displeased with the idea, but nodded in agreement.

‘Well then, Samuel. It is decided,’ Mr Kelvin spoke. Then to Master Goodwin he turned. ‘Go and tell Kans to ready a wagon.’

Samuel stood. ‘I can do it, Mr Kelvin.’

‘No, no, Samuel. You need your rest and, another thing—as you now have some knowledge of the Order of Magicians, you should call me
Master
Kelvin from this point on, as is my title.’

‘Yes, Master Kelvin, but I can do it,’ Samuel said, but Master Kelvin would hear nothing of it and set Kans to ready the wagon beside the stables.

Samuel spent the morning being questioned by the guests in the Burning Oak gardens, but he could not even begin to answer most of their questions. He told them of his success in summoning the glow-balls, but kept his terrible mistake with the strange spirit to himself. They even tried to convince him to summon some magic, against Master Kelvin’s wishes, but Samuel was adamant that he would not. He was not even sure he could.

‘Why is Cook not a magician?’ Samuel asked Master Took, who promptly burst out laughing.

‘Women cannot use magic, Samuel,’ he replied.

‘It’s not their nature,’ Master Gunthem added.

‘Why is she here?’ Samuel asked.

‘We have studies and duties to attend to, young Samuel,’ Master Copperpot answered. They were all crowding enthusiastically around him. ‘None of us has the time to prepare food all day. She is the niece of a mage and so we have no need to hide our true nature from her; though of course she doesn’t know our innermost secrets.’

‘What secrets?’ Samuel asked.

‘Ah, that would be telling,’ Copperpot returned mysteriously. ‘You will learn everything in good time at the place where you are going. Have patience. All good things come to those who wait.’

‘Why do magicians have to be so secret?’ Samuel asked.

‘We are the very bastions of the Empire,’ Copperpot explained, ‘Although we do not display ourselves openly and do not have direct contact with the people like the Emperor’s armies, we are still a symbol of the Empire’s might.’

‘The very Empire that conquered these lands,’ Master Gunthem put in.

‘Yes,’ Copperpot continued. ‘In Turia, we openly walk the streets, but here, far from the centre of civilisation, it is not wise for us to advertise our presence. In fact, worse than the fact we represent the Empire, is the fact that we represent magic itself. Magicians have been regarded very poorly in the past. In some regions, we would be in mortal danger if we revealed ourselves. We rarely go to such places, except when absolutely necessary and, even then, we must travel in disguise. The Emperor has been trying to change the old superstitions, but progress is slow and people do not change their ideas easily. We are only here to
help
people, but sometimes it can be very difficult to make them understand that.’

Samuel nodded. It seemed very complicated.

‘Tell us, Samuel. How did you start to use magic?’ Master Gunthem questioned.

‘Yes. Show us what you can do?’ Master Took asked once more and Mr Copperpot raised an intervening finger.

Master Kelvin’s calling brought a sigh of relief and Samuel hurried back to the inn, with the magicians all trailing behind and bickering with each other.

Kans brought the single-horsed wagon to the front and, with his few belongings and his purse carefully packed, Samuel received a firm handshake from Master Kelvin and each of the guests. It was strange to have men, who had barely granted Samuel more than a few words, now gripping his hand and shaking it like dear friends with beaming smiles.

Samuel finally hopped up beside Master Goodwin and they began away, passing through the gates past a grumpy, dirty-faced, Kans. As the wagon passed through, Samuel shouted his goodbyes and Kans’ face showed the slightest hint of a smile, as he promptly shut the gates behind them.

Just then, Samuel remembered Jessicah and Mr Joshua. In all the excitement, he had forgotten them entirely.

‘I’ll meet you at the bridge!’ Samuel blurted out to Master Goodwin and jumped down from the wagon before the man could utter any form of response. He was away and zigzagging his way through the town streets in a heartbeat.

He was panting and breathless by the time he came to the doors of the Three Toads Inn. A patron was just coming out, and Samuel spied Jessicah standing idly inside beside her father. He carefully eased the door open a crack and waited for his uncle to disappear into a back room, before darting in and dragging Jessicah out by the hand.