Thief’s Magic (12 page)

Tyen could not yet see how he would free her, but he was determined to do it. As his father had always advised, he’d broken the task down into smaller ones. He needed to persuade the Academy to let him use Vella. To do that he’d need to convince the Director it was both safe and beneficial to do so. The chances of having the Director’s ear would be better if Tyen had Kilraker’s support. To do that Tyen would have to restore his standing with the professor by being a first-rate student.

Since that required remaining in the Academy, and his father had saved barely enough to send his only son there in the first place, the most pressing task for Tyen was to earn enough money to cover the extra half-year of rent, food and, since his Academy-sponsored trip to Mailand now wouldn’t count towards his scores, another expedition.

And with his lessons suspended, it wasn’t as if he’d have much else to do between now and the end of the half-year.

Turning a corner, Tyen found the street he was looking for. He took in the neat, evenly spaced buildings with their matching gold-painted signs and hesitated. Unfolding the job advertisement page, he located the address he sought. Grand & Pog Insurance Co. was at number 36. He was standing by number 2, belonging to Mill & Sons Finance and Investment Brokers. It became clear, as he walked along the street, that this was where Belton’s main accountancy, insurance and law firms were based. He doubted any of these respectable businesses would wish to employ a history and sorcery student when there were plenty of more suitably trained young men in the city.

An hour later, proven right, he had almost reached the Academy when a man handing out pamphlets stepped forward and pressed one into Tyen’s hands.

“On the back,” the man told him.

Continuing on, Tyen looked down and felt a wave of nausea at the bold words shouting out from the page.

“
MAGIC IS RUNNING OUT!
”

His hand clenched, crumpling the paper, and he was about to throw it away when he remembered the pamphlet man’s words. Smoothing it out, he turned it over.

“
Meet me at the deloom.
”

Tyen’s heart sank. It had to be Gowel. The adventurer had said Tyen should leave a message at the deloom once a meeting with the Academy had been agreed upon. Tyen hadn’t had the heart to tell the man his chance of being heard had grown slimmer. Reaching the Academy gate, Tyen paused then kept walking. If it was Gowel waiting for him, he would give him the bad news. Tyen didn’t want to waste his time. Perhaps Gowel would be able to suggest a way to persuade the Academy to use Vella, too.

When he reached the street where he’d found the deloom he realised he wasn’t entirely sure which it was, since last time the front had been shrouded in fog. It was only by peering inside that he recognised the place. It was crowded and very smoky and, once inside, it took him a few minutes to realise that Gowel wasn’t there.

“Are you Tyen?” a voice asked.

He turned to find one of the servers at his elbow.

“Yes.”

The man bowed slightly then gestured to an alcove. “Take a seat. He will be here soon. Can I get you something?”

“Lall, please.” Moving over to the alcove, Tyen sat down. After a few minutes noting the people in the room while trying not to be obvious about it, he settled for examining the page of job advertisements, mentally crossing out those he now realised he was never going to get and reconsidering a few he’d judged too menial or beneath his standing. He only had to work until the start of the next half-year, after all.

Before long he had read every word on the page, the lall had arrived and he had drunk it. He took Beetle out of his pocket but the insectoid attracted some alarmed looks from other patrons so he put it away again. Bored, he reluctantly brought out Gowel’s message. Some arrangement must have been made with the pamphlet man. He’d recognised Tyen. Unless the message had been written on the back of all the pamphlets.

It was such a vague message it wouldn’t matter if the man gave it to the wrong student. He wondered how many other students went to a deloom today to see if they could spot who had sent the mysterious message, or assumed it was from a friend. He turned over the sheet of paper.

“
Citizens of Leratia be warned
,” it read. “
MAGIC IS RUNNING OUT! We are fast speeding towards a FUTURE without sorcery. Without HEALERS. Without a DEFENCE AGAINST INVADERS. Without MACHINES. The Society of Magical Preservation invites you to learn of this IMPENDING PERIL, and how it might be AVOIDED.
” A date and place had been scrawled on the bottom of the sheet.

The message might be a ploy to get people to keep the pamphlet, or leave it in a deloom when nobody turned up to meet them and perhaps lure other patrons to a meeting with the radicals. He sighed. And he had just fallen for …

“Tyen Ironsmelter.”

Tyen jumped and looked up to find Gowel standing at the edge of the table. “Ah! Gowel!” He glanced at the door of the deloom, sure that he hadn’t heard anybody enter, then turned the pamphlet over. “Did you send this?”

“Yes.” The man removed his hat and sat down in the opposite seat. “Are you well?”

Tyen shrugged. “Well enough.”

“For a student suspended from lessons?” Gowel asked, his eyebrows rising briefly before his face relaxed into a grim smile. “I heard about it from some old Academy friends. I guess your meeting with the professors didn’t go as well as you hoped.”

Tyen shook his head.

“I am sorry to hear it. Their choice of punishment seems a little extreme. In my day, attempting to keep treasures was almost a hobby among Academy students. But maybe they’re trying to stamp that out by making an example of you. They kept the book?”

“Yes. The Director locked her – it – away in the library, with orders that nobody is to open it.”

“Now, that is a pity.”

“Yes. I still hope to persuade them to listen to you, but there isn’t much point mentioning your idea until they trust Ve— the book.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

Tyen shook his head. “Unless … unless you know of anyone who can give me a job.”

The adventurer’s eyebrows rose. “Thinking of leaving the Academy?”

“No. I need to pay the rent until I can start lessons again.”

Gowel grimaced and shook his head. “There’s not much work about even for an honest young man like you. Sorcery won’t help you, since you’re not allowed to use it. The restrictions are forcing companies to move their factories to other cities and other lands, so the city is full of men of all kinds of skills seeking new employment. Do you have family?”

“Only my father, in Tammen.”

“Can you move in with him for a while?”

“If I move out of the Academy I’ll lose my room and have to rent in the city when I start classes again.”

“And pay double for the inconvenience.” Gowel sighed.

Tyen nodded. “I need to stay here. Earning Kilraker’s approval is my best chance of regaining everyone’s respect and trust.”

“And since he and I don’t get along so well now, being seen with me won’t help you,” Gowel said. “As much as I try to keep my distance from the Society of Magical Preservation, I have friendships there that I am not willing to sever and so I am tainted by association.”

The admission made Tyen’s stomach sink. He’d not thought how meeting Gowel might spoil his chances of regaining Kilraker’s trust, and the man’s admission to links with radicals filled him with dismay.

Gowel shrugged. “I will understand if you don’t want to meet me again. But … if you do, I may be able to enlist their help to retrieve the book.”

Realising what Gowel was suggesting, Tyen stared at the man.

“I am not recklessly suggesting we do this unless you have run out of options and are willing to accept the consequences, of course,” Gowel added.

Disbelief was replaced by temptation, but that was soon chased away by the thought of the punishment he’d face for such a crime. At best, theft from the Academy would have him expelled. At worse it would see him incarcerated.

Then he remembered something that made him realise Gowel was teasing – or testing – him. “It’s in the library vault.”

“That will be no obstacle.” Gowel smiled.

Tyen raised his eyebrows, not bothering to hide his scepticism.

“You don’t believe me.” The adventurer chuckled. “I can’t tell you how, of course, but be assured it can be arranged – on relatively short notice and at no risk to you. Of course, if my friends are going to be taking that risk they will want access to the book. Would you consent to that?”

Access or ownership?
Tyen wondered. But then, perhaps it would be better if Vella was used by the radicals than locked away in the Academy library.

“I … guess so.”

“Well, in my view, it would be better to find a solution that involved the co-operation of the Academy,” Gowel said. “And you will be more likely to succeed if you are not seen to associate with me. I will see what I can do about finding you a job. When I do, I will have the employer contact you directly. In the meantime, keep hunting for one so nobody thinks it odd when they do.”

Tyen made himself nod and smile with a gratitude he didn’t quite feel. “Thank you.”

“I can’t guarantee that it will involve magic.” Gowel sighed. He stood up. “I hope you weren’t planning on making a career out of sorcery. If only it were true, what the radicals believe. All we’d have to do is take up painting or something, and we’d have all the magic we’d need. A pleasure talking to you, young Ironsmelter.”

Tyen rose. “And you, Gowel.”

Feeling uneasy, Tyen watched the adventurer retrieve his hat from the stand and exit through the main deloom door, then he headed back to his room.

All the way there and through the afternoon, Tyen could not shake the feeling of disquiet their conversation had generated. He tried to distract himself with work, finishing three insectoids and delivering them to their buyers. Having some extra money should have cheered him, but instead his thoughts kept returning to Gowel’s words. As soon as he returned from dinner, before Miko joined him, Tyen cleared a space on his desk, took out a notebook and pen, and wrote a list.

1. Gowel does not believe creativity generates magic
   
2. Gowel has friends in the Society of Magical Preservation, who do believe this
   
3. Gowel says the SoMP can steal from the library vault, which is supposed to be the most secure place in the Academy.
   

Next he began to write a list of questions.

–
Why would the SoMP want to help me steal Vella?

The obvious answer was that she currently agreed with their belief that creativity generated magic. But they didn’t know she did. They didn’t even know she existed. Unless Gowel had told them about her.

–
Why would Gowel want to help me steal Vella?

To convince the Academy of his idea about the source of magic. But stealing her would not achieve that. For the Academy to accept the idea they needed to trust and use Vella, which couldn’t happen if she was stolen.

Perhaps it wasn’t the Academy Gowel hoped to convince. If enough people outside the institution were persuaded by his ideas, the Academy would have to investigate. Gowel would recruit people with power and influence, who could push for the implementation of laws to reduce the use of magic.

If Gowel was right, he needed the SoMP to steal Vella. They would hardly risk such a daring theft without a good incentive. Tyen looked at the previous question.

–
Why would the SoMP want to help me steal Vella?

Gowel might hope that Vella would turn the SoMP to his way of thinking, but he wouldn’t tell them that. He’d tell them she supported their beliefs. They wouldn’t steal her to help Tyen, they’d do it for their own benefit. He doubted Gowel’s motive was to help a young student either. When Gowel had assured Tyen that it would happen “at no risk to you” he meant he didn’t need Tyen’s involvement at all.

Looking back over his questions, Tyen crossed out “
help me
” in the last two questions. He sat back and regarded the result.

– If Gowel is right, and the SoMP can steal from the vault, then I may be about to lose Vella for good. The only thing stopping them stealing her was simply not knowing that they might want to.

Gowel knew that Vella read minds, but the society didn’t. Would its members be willing to use her – to steal her – if they knew? Tyen grimaced as his mind took a leap sideways. He hadn’t yet told anyone that it took a touch for her to read someone, afraid that the Director would decide she was too dangerous ever to be removed from the vault.

Perhaps she was. From the way the Director and professors had spoken, and the care they’d taken not to open Vella, it was clear they wanted to protect
something
. Something that Gowel and the Society of Magical Preservation would discover if they stole Vella.

Tyen’s heart lurched. What if the information Vella had gathered was so important it would endanger the Academy if it were discovered? What if it threatened Leratia? Or the whole Leratian Empire?

Though he resented the Academy for locking Vella away, he would never wish harm upon the institution. Not only because he was hoping it would be his future employer, but because he was, like many Leratians, proud of its achievements and its noble aims. He had worked hard to earn a place there. It had been his dream, and his father’s, that he would become a graduate of the Academy one day.

At that moment he realised he had never seriously considered stealing Vella, just as he had never intended to keep her for himself. He was determined not to abandon her either. His fight to free her was as much about helping her as it was about supporting and improving the Academy, because they both had a lot to gain from each other.

That would never happen if someone took her away.

It wouldn’t hurt his chances of regaining the professors’ trust either, if he alerted them to the fact that the radicals believed they could steal from the vault –
how was it that Gowel had put it?
– “on relatively short notice”.